Because I am Furniture Blog #7

Because I am Furniture 

          So, things have changed so much since the last time I blogged about his book, and only like 4 days passed. Honestly, I think this is the book I've been most interested in. I just can't stop reading it. I've been going to bed so late, and the next day I go to school all tired because of it. You can say I'll probably purchase this book, because I am really addicted to it, I just love it! Anyway, so last time I blogged, I said that Anke was a very shy girl, that wouldn't be able to stand up to her dad. Things totally changed! Like so fast! Remember how she was doing volleyball? Well, once she started joining volleyball she had to start calling the ball, "MINE". Who knew that from that voice she could gain so much confidence! She's a whole new person, ready to speak to her dad, however she wants. But, the ending is very sad. Something tragic happens. Not going to spoil it, but it is very sad. You have to read to find out, because it can change the whole story, and it will have you in tears. Or maybe i'm a cry baby, but I cried a lot.

 My Opinion on this book

          What do I think about this book? Well, many things went through my mind while I was reading this book. Mostly I was angry, and sad. I would get mad out of no where and just scream random things because of how mad I would get. See, this book would just give you like some context clues but not actually tell you what was going on at times, so you really needed to pay attention and be on the look out for clues! I would get mad because Anke would be about to take a decision, but the something suddenly happened that made her change her mind. Then, I would just scream like "NO WHY, STOP!" Because its just too fascinating. Also, there were moments were it would just be sad. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend. I love ready like Teen Fiction books because its just conflicts that you can really relate to. Maybe someone that's going through a struggle that's similar can be helped by books like these. I would recommend everyone to read this book! It had me on my tippy toes from beginning to end!

           

Because I am Furniture Blog #6

I am Furniture

          This book is about a girl named Anke. So far, I've read to the point where Anke is feeling upset. She doesn't go into any detail, but she explains how she's not being noticed. How she isn't noticed around the "beast" but that she prefers to stay invisible, rather than be visible but abused. She's into volleyball, and she loves doeing sports. Volleyball to her is very important, and also a distraction from the horrible things going on in her life. I believe that she is being abused by her father and that everyone else in the family is too. But, no one actually says or stands up to him. She has some flashbacks throughout the beginning of the book, explaining how things used to be different and how she missed the old times of joyful and cheerful memories. 

Character Analysis

Anke is a very quiet girl, but she's very open minded. Not only with herself, but with her best friend. Her best friend knows everything that's been going on since they've been besties for a while. When everything used to be good, she would come over all the time. Then things changed, and no one would dare to show up at Anke's house anymore. Everyone was too afraid of her father, or what attitude he would take towards them. Anke is afraid of speaking up to her dad, She's afraid to seek help, or even stand up to him. Although she would love to shout to his face to stop abusing them and to stop treating them the way he does, she's too afraid of what he would do to her. I know this because in the beook, she explains how when she was small, she could confess everything to her father and now she's too afraid to even direct the word, or say good morning to him. 

Deadline Blog #5

Deadline

          I am reading  a book called "Deadline" by Chris Crutcher. My last book was "Staying fat for Sarah Byrnes." This book was also by Chris Crutcher. I loved his book, and my teacher  had another one of his books, so I decided to read it. This book first takes place in early August. The main character, Ben Wolf, wants to spend his senior year learning information that he can use in his future. He is from a small town in Idaho that only has about 943 citizens. He is very smart and has a good chance of getting into almost any college he wants to go to. He understands that many people want to enjoy their senior year and just kind of throw it off. He wants to make sure that he makes the best out of it so he can go to a great college. All this "throwing off" doesn't really interest him. He's a very smart student, focused on himself and he knows what he wants. Im excited to see what is going to be the turning point in this story. 

Character Analysis

          I think that Ben is a very focused, independent and mature person. I know this because he knows what he wants, he wants to make the right choices so he can go to a great college and work at the career he likes and wants. Also, he's very focused. He is a straight A student, and he knows he can't throw his time off like that and that he has to take advantage of every opportunity he gets. I know this because in the book he says "Seniors want to be spending off partying and drinking, I've worked too hard to get where I am, I know I won't be doing that." This shows that he's a good advocate, that he knows what's good for him and what is not. I think that is very responsible.

Brown Girl Dreaming Blog # 2

Brown girl dreaming is an outstanding book, but its very challenging. I love reading, and I love challenges. I can say this was definetely a challenged book. Specially when it came to writting the blogs. It was hard to explain everything and give a detailed summary when a story wasn't really being telled, but at the same time it was. This book by Jacqueline Woodson is written in the form of poetry. Its kind of hard to comprehend at some points, but its what makes the book exciting. 

The overall summary will be given here.  In Brown Girl Dreaming, there are many conflicts. Man vs Society conflicts. One of them, is that there is discussion of violent threats that are being made. In the 1960s-era, civil rights marchers and many others feared about traveling to the South at because of violence and cruelty towards against African Americans. The main character seems to always be confused, and angry towards all these unfair treatments based on their skin color. Other than that for the most part the people in the book are positive in their portrayals. But, it seems like Somethings are about to change. Why don't you read to find out what other turns this story is going to take? 

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson. Check it out!

Marginalization of American Indians

 

Native Americans Marginalization

American Indians were being marginalized. They were being marginalized by kids being taken away from their homes simply because the culture, beliefs and anything that had to do with American Indians was "wrong" to Americans. These kids at first weren't forced to leave their homes, but afterwards they were taken away with no choice. They were shown how to be "proper" as of what whites thought. Americans were determined to "kill the Indian." Not literally kill them, but kill the traditions and whatever has to do with Indian culture. I know this because in the article it clearly states that: "It was not Pratt's plan to simply educate these children and teach them English. He also planned to "civilize" them- to strip them of their traditions and ways of life. Pratt believed that the children needed to completely abandon their "Indian-ness" in order to succeed in America." This shows that Indians were not "good enough" so they wanted to kill all their traditions and what represented their culture. They probably felt like they didn't exist because if Americans wanted to change them so bad, it was probably because everything was wrong with them. Also, they most likely felt like they had no voice since they couldn't do anything afterwards about their kids being taken away.

Shanice Britton's essay purpose was to show people that Native Americans are not much different from others. Throughout her essay she explains her culture, traditions and many other reasons why she's different, and why she's not. Every family has different ways of doing things, or the way they think things out. Every country has different cultures, traditions, food, celebrations, and many others. She explains that just like other countries are different and have different cultures and beliefs, so does she, but that doesn't make her much different. She wears jeans, t-shirts, a hoodie, she's just a regular teenage girl. Also, she explains that not all tribes are similar, they sometimes do other things differently. I know this because "Some people think that all Native Americans have the same culture, but I explain that each tribe has its different traditions." She wants to show people in her essay that although she's different, she's not much different from any other person. Just like any others, she can be successful as well!

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes Blog #3

Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes

          Right now, I'm reading a book called "Staying Fat For Sarah Byrnes" by Chris Crutcher. The main character's name is Eric Calhoune, but peers, and family members call him Moby. Moby is a high school student and he is currently a senior. His best friend is Sarah Byrnes. Sarah was sent to a hospital because she is refusing to speak. Sarah Byrnes was disfigured when she was burned at the age of three. Moby and Sarah have always been best friends even when Moby was being judged by everybody else because he was overweight. Sarah has always been a very strong girl. I know this because in the book on page 77 in the first paragraph it says that "I've spent more than ten hours in the psych ward with Sarah Byrnes - really and truly the toughest person in our solar system- and I'll tell you what, if life can shoot Sarah Byrnes out of the sky, it can nail me blindfolded." This explains that Sarah is and admired person by her best friend for being so brave and tough.  Im at a point in the book, where the cards are turning. Sarah is going through a lot and she is very depressed. She refuses to talk or tell her problems. Moby doesn't know if she's faking her problems, but either way he is determined to help his best friend just like she helped him.

Character Analysis

I think that Moby is a very determined and secure person. Before, when he used to get bullied his best friend was there for him, but he was insecure, shy and very depressed. But now, he's not over weight anymore. He helped himself and is now very secure and has a positive attitude towards himself and others. Very kind as well. Moby was determined to lose weight. Not just because of the bullying but because he wanted to shoe others hoe much he cared, and his determination helped him achieve his goals. Now he is determined to help out his best friend! 

          

"Tolerance"

Tolerance - The ability or willingness to allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of something in particular the existence of opinions behaviors that one does not necessarily agree with.

    When you think of the word tolerance, what comes to mind? To me, tolerance is patience or someone that's willing to respect others opinions no matter what they believe. For example, i'm christian. If I'm Christian, and someone says they don't believe in god I'll accept their belief. I won't stop talking to them for it. Although, I may try to convince them or show more about him, I won't judge. I'll respect and be tolerant. Tolerance has a lot to do with patience. Sometimes theirs always going to be others that make some comments that will bother you. For example, I dislike it when my mom judges my friends when she barely knows them. You can't judge a book by their cover, and i dislike when my mom judges them based on their appearance. If you want to be tolerant, you need to communicate and tell the other person how you feel. Now, that i really understand the meaning of tolerance I'll be more careful about the words of phrases I use. Things like "That's so gay" can be really harmful to others. If I can prevent myself from hurting someone in any way I will, and so should you!

Invisible

 “I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids…I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.       

                                                                                                               - Ralph Ellison

A quote so deep into thought by Ralph Ellison that explains the thoughts of many. We've all felt invisible at least once in our lives. I remember the last time I felt unknown, unheard, invisible. It was in sixth grade. Two years ago I made a lot of mistakes for a sixth grader. I was a really mean kid back then, I always talked back to my mom and my dad. My grades weren't bad, but weren't good either. I was influenced by my surroundings at school. In sixth grade, my parents (specially my mom) would pay much more attention to my older brother, and my little brother. My older brother had just got here from Colombia so he would be just as spoiled as my little 5 year old brother. I felt invisible every time they would go out to dinner and just bring me back what was left. Whenever they had a family reunion, my voice didn't count because I was a bad kid. It was my fault, but making me feel invisible didn't help. Specially, since I was going through a lot more than what they thought and later found out. I was being bullied at school as well. Drama, girls wanting to fight. It was bad at home, and also at school. I couldn't hang out with friends or go to the park because I couldn't be trusted. After the whole year of sixth grade and me feeling invisible, the summer of sixth grade i made a terrible decision. I ran away. I know, a very stupid idea but, I was a dumb kid just trying to figure things out so I could be happy. After I ran away, I went to a hospital where I was helped, and I was given advice. My mom changed a lot. She found out the reason why my actions and attitude was so terrible. She cooped with me and we both went to therapy. Afterwards, I became my mom's little girl. I started being better, more respectful and my mom and I had a better relationship. Of course we had our ups and downs but, it was much better than that past year. When 8th grade came, I matured and my mom became my best friend. I am very happy now because I feel included at home and at school as well since I moved and learned to not let others affect me. 

Blog # 1 Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

           This book is about a young African American girl that is raised in South Carolina and New York. The author Jacqueline Woodson explains in vivid poems, what it was like to grow up as an African American girl in the 1960's and 1970's during the civil rights movement. Although not everything was great during her childhood, she managed to tell every single detail in her page by page poems. She shows her point of view and her daily struggles in this story. So far in my book, she explains how her family works things out, she talks about freedom. How freedom is not a choice in her life. At least not yet.

          This book is written in the first point of view. The author is Jacqueline Woodson and she is amazing! In this story, the inspiring novel is not being told as a story. Much rather it is written in poetry, so you have to think much farther. The book looks long, but honestly its short because of the way it is written. Although it is a bit challenging because of its poetry, it makes it a little different and better to read. I am loving this book so far, and I think I will be blogging more than I usually do on any other books.

Hunger Games

Hey guys! I decided to read a different genre that I usually don't read. I am reading the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. This book is fiction but reading it makes it feel so real. In the book I meet Katniss Everdeen and so far in the book she waked up on the day of reaping. When the tributes are picked out from a small bowl they will have to take park in the "Hunger Games". Katniss's mom and her little sister are sleeping near by. Her dad died in a terrible explosion many years before. I then come to the part of the book were it talks about Katniss sister being chosen to play in the Hunger Games. Katniss refused to let her little sister participate in the Hunger Games so she decided to contribute in the game instead of her sister. Katniss then goes hunting and in the woods outside of her district which is District 12 with her friend names Gale.


Character traits

Katness: Katness is a very outgoing person. She is determined. She shows these traits in the book when she's not willing to give everything up and die. Although her competition wasn't easy, she didn't give up. She was willing to fight and stand up for herself since she was already put in that position. Just like her, Peeta is very competitive

Counting by 7's

Counting By 7's

By; Katerin Martinez

I am currently reading a book called Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan. In the book I learn about Willow, her life, and her family. Willow was adopted and is recognized as a "different" kid. She is diagnozed with some medical conditions. The book then transitions to how she lost her parents in a car accident. She didn't know until she was informed by the police. Even though she's a quiet twelve year old, she's gone through many things and this is just one more of them. By reading this part of the book, questions started popping in my head. Now that her adoptive parents are gone, who's going to take care of her? Is she gonna end up going back to the orphanage. Well, counting by 7's is a great book, and I think you should read it and find out more!

Character Traits! 

Willow has many character traits such as being smart, different, quiet, outgoing, and shy. In the book on page 37, Willow has to take a standardized test in the state of California. Willow got a perfect score and teachers didn't believe it because of her medical conditions. They sent her to the office because they assumed she was cheating. She was then sent to the office to talk to Ms. Rudin the principle and it shows the dialogue they were having. Just like the text shows; "Willow do you know why you're down here?" "No" Said Willow. Ms. Rudin then replied with "You cheated!" Willow replied and said "Your left elbow displays the firth form of psoriasis an erythrodemic condition characterized by intense redness in large patches." Just by this quote from the book you can tell that Willow is a very smart girl. Just because her medical conditions might affect her body in some way, doesn't mean you can judge her by that. 

Dell Duke:

The Maze Runner Blog #2!

The Maze Runner

Okay, so I just finished the book Maze Runner, and it was a really interesting book. Also, they have a movie, so I was waiting to just finish the book and watch the movie. The movie was really fun and it was very similar to the book, except some small twists here and there. The ending of the book was really interesting because it left like some suspense. For example, Thomas found out that he worked for the "bad people" and that they were planning on leaving them there. Also, he didn't want to give up so he told the rest, that if they wanted to get out of there, that they just had to fight hard and follow him.I absolutely loved this book and I would recommend it to anyone who like Fiction.

The genre of my book would have to be fiction. It would be fiction because they get their mind wiped of all things that are personal. Also they are sent into a place called the glades and they were never told about it. In addition, they could be killed. Another thing that tells me that this book is fiction is that they could get stung by a griever which is a human killing robot that roams the ground of the maze at night when the walls shut close. Lastly, the evidence that shows me this book is fiction is that they have giant walls that move and that wouldn’t be possible because they have no force doing it, they just close automatically. Based on that evidence from the book, I can say the book is Fiction. That okay though, because I loved it!

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner!

The book I am reading is called The Maze Runner by James Dashner. So far in the book I I’ve gotten to the part where thomas is taken into the glades.He gets to the glades with no memory of his past life or who he was. Also thomas meets chuck which becomes his closest friend in the glades. Thomas could not believe the fact that in the glades the walls sealed shut every night to keep out the “Grievers. The second day thomas was there he was woken up by Alby and he was showed a  griever that was inside the maze. That’s what I have read so far in my book.   

The conflict in the book would be considered Man V. Man. The conflict in the book so far is that Thomas doesn’t remember anything of his past. He doesn’t remember his family, where he lived, who his friends were, and at first he didn’t even remember his name. He’s trapped in a place he doesn’t even recognized, in reality its called “the glades”. Its in the center of the maze, but of course they didn’t know that. Thomas meets a couple of people that have no idea why or how they got there either. That is what the conflict in the story is so far.

The Pregnancy Project Blog #2 !

PREGNANCY PROJECT

         I have just finished the book "The Pregnancy Project" by Gaby Rodriguez and it was amazing! The outcome of this project was really great, but also devastating for others. Some were really amazed but understood what Gaby did, and why she did it. Of course it was really surprising but at the end, she had the support of her family and her boyfriend who at some point became her "Ex- Boyfriend". The point is that even though Gaby went though so many obstacles, she made it through all 9 months where she was supposed to have her "baby" but instead gave an inspirational speech about stereo types of pregnant women. I think Gaby is a really strong character because no matter the comments, mean mugging and her family's disapproval she went managed to get passed it and of course know how hard it would've been if she was really pregnant. I think Gaby's a strong girl because in the book it clearly states; "Having people give you that "look" everywhere you go is enough to make pregnancy a demoralizing experience." This shows that just a look can make pregnancy so depressing. This shows that Gaby was strong enough for 9 months to show what pregnant women go through.

 


          The genre of the book "Pregnancy Project" would be non-fiction and drama. I say this because the book has happened in life. Certain events in the book has happened in schools. I know this book is Non Fiction because Gaby is a real life girl that wanted to experiment what it was like to be pregnant, and show the world that all these stereo types about pregnant girls weren't true. In the book it says; "Maybe some of them were forced to think about the comments they had made about me or the girls who really were pregnant,and they didn't like what they had to face." This shows that in this part of the book they're a lot of drama and conflict!  personally really enjoy reading realistic fiction. I enjoy reading these types of books because your reading a book that can happen. Certain things that happen in a Realistic-Fiction book can happen in life. I would love to read new genre books that I have not yet read so far! I would want to read more mystery books because I don't read many books like that. 

The Pregnancy Project

The Pregnancy Project 

          Okay! So, i'm sure many of you have already read "The Pregnancy Project", and if you have you guys know its one of the best books ever! I barely started reading it, so Im barely at the part where she's introducing her family and all that her mom went through when she was younger. Right now, from what I've read her mom had a lot of kids from just one guy, and that guy used to hit her all the time and well abuse her and her kids. He took them away from their mother and lied by saying that she left them. He won court for some reason, that I don't even comprehend. Just to leave them behind when he left with the smallest child and his new girlfriend to Washington. I don't know about you, but I would've hated to have a dad or a husband like that. You can already make lots of connections with that. So far, I am loving this book. This isn't even the start to this amazing book. I think i'm going to blog more and more throughout this week to keep everyone updated! You can join me by reading this book!

          Okay, well I've decided to make this second paragraph of my blog a "Prediction" paragraph. I don't know anything that's happening so far, since i've just read through the intro. As of what I know, Gaby is famous for her "Pregnancy Project", based on what I've read I don't think Gaby would get pregnant. In addition, the book is called "The Pregnancy Project" It's a project. I think that it's going to be a class project, or she's going to fake the pregnancy maybe to show others how hard it is, or to imagine the pain that her mom went through. Maybe not having the baby, but just the criticism. Either way, i'm looking forward to keep reading this book! Hope you join along with me!

Blade Silver Blog #2

Blade Silver

             Blade Silver is a book with MANY conflicts in it. A book always has a main conflict. In the book Blade Silver the main character Ruth is going to depression. Real bad depression. I just finished my book, but honestly, there are some parts in there where it's just like a movie. You just want to yell out loud "NO! DON'T DO IT." I actually did it and scared my mom a bit. Occasionally she would yell out "Go read outside!" If only she would read it with me. She would understand why I was so anxious. Anyway, back to conflicts; Ruth is struggling so much right now. She has lots and lots of problems. Specially with her mom who just tried to commit suicide. Just put yourself in her shoes, how would you feel? Awful right? You can only read this book to see how Melody Carlson explicitly explains Ruth's pain.



         How does this book make me feel? Well, as I mentioned in the paragraph above, it made me feel anxious! I was done with the book after a week and like 4 days. I would yell out in some parts because it made me feel so mad how some things were being resolved. Im only 13, but I believe I'm pretty mature. Lots of teenagers are mature by this period in their life. Therefore, as a mature teenager I knew that the solution to many of these problems were definitely not right! I was mad, anxious and also sad. The part where I was mostly sad was when I finished the book. I love reading books I can relate to. I was sad because I wish this was like a never ending book. Everything was so clear I could picture it. In addition, I was also sad when I found out why Ruth was cutting, because of problems at home. Its not easy to see your mom die, and its even harder seeing her trying to kill herself. This book made me feel so bipolar but, it was worth it and I loved it! I would recommend it to everyone. Have fun reading Blade Sliver! 

Blade Silver

Hello bloggers! Its been a while since I've blogged about any of the books I've been reading, but here I am! Ready to start blogging? Here we go.

BLADE SILVER   

     Blade Silver is a book from the series "Color me Scarred" or "True Colors" by Melody Carlson. The purpose of the author in these books are to support kids, specially teens. Blade Silver is book number 7 of these series. Through these books, Melody Carlson writes tragic but common stories that most teens are probably going through. She starts normally, later on the problem is shown, but at the end it always shows a solution. This means that she's here not only to entertain some readers, but she's also informing. She's informing because she's showing that there's always a solution, but she's also showing others how some of their classmates, or friends are being affected. It works both ways, and I personally can relate to a lot of these books. So, I thank Melody Carlson for her inspiring stories!

    Okay! I know after reading the author's purpose you're probably dying to hear what this one book is about. Well, I shall tell you now. Blade Silver is about a girl who's been through a lot. It all started with her mom having suicidal thoughts, and eventually trying to commit suicide. Of course, Ruth's mom is her daughters image, so Ruth follows in her footsteps. After Ruth's mom trying to commit suicide, Ruth started thinking about everything so differently. That's right, the blade seems to be the only option, and solution in this story. She cuts, a lot. She cuts so much, she doesn't even remember how many times she's picked up that blade and sat there in the bathroom just watching her blood dripping. Ruth wouldn't stop. Summer came and only after a friend spotted the scars on her arms is when Ruth started to face the problem. We all know that a lot of times when you try to solve a problem, a bigger problem is created. Will Ruth get past this phase of her life? Read more and find out!

GOALS FOR 2015

        I've been making changes trough out last year and this year. My grades have been going up and i love the smile my mom gives me when i show her all the improvement i've been making. Last year, i made a goal to this year get a's and b's. This quarter i got a C, next time i know i have to make better decisions with the people i work with. For the next two quarters my goal is to get mostly a's if not all of them. I will try harder in all of my classes, i will try to focus more. Also, i put a new positive ring tone to my alarm, so when i wake up, i wake up dancing and with a positive attitude to come to school and learn.



My personal goal, is to forgive all the bad things that happened in 2014. Forgive, not forget. If there wasn't a person i liked, i wont force myself to like them but I will respect them. No mean mugging, no bad facebook comments. Also, I would try to to smile more. Some might ask, how's that possible? Well, i love laughing and smile, being mad over things isn't my thing. I think that if you laugh, you will have a much more positive day! I really hope this year goes as great as 2014,  even better, not even get one C.