Free Post for the Hate List

I really admire what Valerie is doing. Even though a lot of people hated her she went back to school anyway. She faced her fears and went through a whole year. She made friends with one of the number one people on the hate list and she got over Nick. She came to realize that nick was dead and no matter how many people hated her, or how alone she felt, he would never be there.

I think Valerie was admirable because she faced her dad during her parents divorce. I think that was one of the most scary parts of the book and it made me scared for her. She dealt with it the right way, I think. She handled it on her own AND she told her mom and Dr.Heiler about what happened.

When Troy threatened her it was also very sad. I thought she was at the party to have fun and she might finally have a boyfriend. I felt the same way she did, so when I found out that she was being babysat I was devastated. How could someone do this? It was horrible. Then when Troy threatened her with a gun was super scary. No one should feel the fear that went through her mind. He also hurt her. That was a part in the book that as a reader it was hard to read.

After all of this happens she still has the courage to go and apologize to people WHO SHE DIDN”T EVEN KILL. She went to houses of people who looked at her like dirt some didn't even want her in their house. But I was so shocked at Chrisy Burters parents because they were he most forgiving and nice to her. Their daughter was practically the cause for the whole thing.

Free Post: Hate List

          This book has so many problems. One is teen depression. There were these two kids names Valerie and Nick. They were both outcasts at Garvin High School, and people made fun of them and bullied them every day. Valerie was once popular but then she realized that she was not like these girls. So she changed to all black and baggie clothes. People started to call her sister death and thats when everything changed. People started to avoid her and call her mean names.

        When Nick started at Garvin it was only a matter of time before they became friends. Valerie introduced him to her little circle of friends and they all clicked. Soon the two of them were hanging out together after school, walking to class together, meeting at each others lockers, they became really close. But it wasn't until Valerie went to his house and found out that he loved shakespear, a total dent in the baggie clothed i don't care attitude that he had, that she realized she was in love with him. They were still out casts, and everyone made fun of them. But they were bullied, and were outsiders together.


       It all started as a joke. No one thought it would end up in a Garvin high massacre. It was a little red notebook. Nothing huge. A list. But then it turned into a whole bunch of names of people who bullied, and tormented Valerie and Nick.

        All the signs were there Valerie just never noticed them. She never realized that she was implying that she wanted the same thing that Nick did, for all of them to be dead. This is why it came as a total shock to Valerie when Nick told her he would "handle it" she didn't realize that he would take out a gun and shoot her worst enemy. Then he started to shoot everyone. It took a while for her to realize this but everyone who he was shooting was on the list. The hate list!!

       Valerie does not realize this but as reader I noticed that it seems like Nick just had enough of all of this and went crazy. Valerie insists that he was not depressed and has all these flashbacks of how happy he was. I am not saying Nick was depressed but just sick of all of the people who were giving them a hard time and it was just him for of pay back.

      This is why being a reader is sometimes interesting because you have different perspectives and opinions from the narrator. You are forming your own opinions and you get to have a persecutive different from anyone else, with is the benefit of books and not reality.

Social Justice: Deadly Little Secrets

How does the text make you think about justice in the world?

In my book I think that a big social issue is rumors. In the book they all live in a small town so when ever something happens the whole town finds out with in minutes. So when this innocent town gets hit with this big bad "killer", everyone avoids him as though he is a contagious disease. He is immediately discriminated aganst. Everyone talks about him and makes fun of him.

Rumors are hurtful to many people. This book makes that very clear, rumors. Are not something to mess with. Just because someone says something or seems trustworthy it doesn't always keen that they are. For example in the book the secondary character: Ben, has. Supposedly killed his ex girlfriend, so when the main character started to hang out with him and then start being stalked her friends assumed right away that it was Ben. The only one who didn't. Think it was Ben was the one who truly knew him, his only friend. The main character was the only one who bothered to know him before fully making assumptions about him. After she. Got to know him she didn't fully trust him but she waited to know him and then make her own dissuasions and opinions about him instead of listening to everyone else.

This point brings me to the next social issue which is followers and people who think for them self. Kimmy the main characters best friend assumed he was dangerous because of what everyone else was saying. She chose to listen to other people instead of thinking for herself. This is not good because one person who she listened to instead of looking into it was actually the real killer! When you listen to other people or are not afraid to be different it can prevent you from saving yourself (at least in this story).

Sadley I don't think it would be much different in the real world because I think where ever this kid would go someone would find out about the past eventually (secrets never end up in any good) and then the kid would be made fun of, teased, and no one would trust him. I know I can say how bad it is that people didn't trust this kid, but I have to think not only how I feel as an outside reader but how I would feel in this situation myself and I hate to say it but I probably wouldn't trust him anymore than anyone else did. I think that it was really amazing how the main character completely pushed away everyone else's thoughts (mostly) and just focused. On how she felt because it was her gut feeling and her life that was in danger.

This really makes me think about how maybe for me life is okay but there are people going through loads of horrable things because of how humans act, and what some people believe and think is fair and others don't. Ben was lucky because in this book he had someone who thought it was fair to give everyone a shot and go with your gut. Sadly though a lot. Of people disagreed and thought she was crazy for thinking what she was doing could be right. This is like the discussion we had in class because very one has their own idea in this book of what is right and wrong or fair and unfair.

Blog Post 4: Social Issues

What really hard things are happening in the book?

             In the pretty little lires book #8 there is big problems. One issue is that one of the four main characters has an eating problem. she used to be fat and ugly but she thought the only way to get a boy friend is to loose a whole bunch of weight. The only way to do that is to puke up EVERYTHING! and not eat anything but healthy stuff.

           This is a big issue because this is how a lot of people think and if this author can make it really big then we might change how a lot of girls feel about them selves. If they see that there is more than just being skinny to be popular it might stop people from puking and and not eating. This is a big issue and hard for some authors to address but she makes it seem simple and she shows the good and bad of going to a mental hospital.

         

            This Issue affects a lot of teenage girls. Even if their state comes to the worst as going to a mental hospital she shows that it is possible to make friends. Even mental hospitals have spas and a gym! (at least this one does).


                 When you are bolimic or anorexic your mind always thinks that you are just getting fatter and fatter instead of getting skinny. This is horrible because it gives you bad mental problems and you can not control it and unless you get serious help.

               This is a big problem especially for me because my moms sister died of this disease. It has always been a hard topic to discuss for me. I feel bad when ever someone says something or makes a joke about being anorexic or bolimic. This is a serious matter because it is not a joke it is a social issue. and it is NOT funny.

Blog post #4 AM I BLUE?

SETTING

     I think that the world that we live in has a BIG impact on the way people (gay or straight) express them selfs. If people are gay (congress men, t.v. stars, anyone!) and are afraid to show it, and they sometimes make fun of other people who are really just like them. This is not always peoples fault though, sometimes it is how they were brought up. In the book Am I Blue? The main character was brought up in a polite manner learning that  saying faggot and queer are hurtful and impolite, but the fairy god father was brought up learning that those words were just another part of speech.  

     Some people were taught that being gay is wrong so they discriminate, and hurt anyone who is like that. Sometimes they hide it from them selfs and the rest of the world because they think it is wrong. The world that we live in effects the way that they act to people that are gay or really people that are anything that is just different from what that person is used to.

     "Me and my friends called each other faggot and queer... to take away from the people who want to hurt us"-Fairy God Father. I think he is trying to state that people often say it to each other to subside the pain of someone saying it to them who really means it. But in my opinion it is like ripping off a band aid. You can do it 100 times and no matter how fast you do it, it will still hurt the next time. No matter how many times someone will say it to you jokingly it will still hurt the time someone says it to you who really means it. I don't think it is possible to take the meaning gout of hurtful words no matter how many times you say it.

     In this book it talks about stereo types and how a lot of people say "Oh that person is not gay because he has a wife" but people really are just assuming. When he got the gaydar/blue vision the main character realized that he wasn't alone. People who were just assumed to be gay ere not and people who were assumed to be as straight as they get were actually gay. This is all because of how people assume stuff that 1/2 the time is not even true. At first he felt very alone and thought no one was like him, but then he realized there were people just like hime EVERYWHERE. Just half the people were in the closet and the other half were an even bigger shock because they were the ones bullying the other gay people!

      I think a weird thing is that they talk about bullying too in this book an say how gay kids are bullied. Yes you can think about how horrible the bullies are ESPECIALLY the ones who are also gay and just trying to hide it. But what happened in the end made me look at it from a different perspective. In the end the main character wanted to get back at his bully by showing the world that he was really gay too. This makes me think that the main character might be just as bad as the bully. If you want the whole world to know someone is gay by making them blue, isn't it just as bad as spreading a rumor that someone is gay. Yes i understand that you want to get back at a bully, and I'm not saying I might have not done the same thing. But as a reader i see it in a different perspective and I think at that moment the main character was bullying everyone else. 

     I really liked this book because it opened my eyes to issues i did not even think existed. It stated facts and information in a kid friendly way, and did not make it boring! I think it was really interesting and would suggest it to anyone who wants to learn more about what gay people go through. Or someone who does not want to feel alone (if you are gay).

Blog Post #3: And Then There Were None

 Conflict

      Someone is up to no good. 8 people got letters inviting them to a place called soldier island. All of the letters were from old friend so why wouldn't they want to go? There is no harm in catching up with your old pals. The only odd thing was that all of the letters were signed U.N.O. None of the letters inform them of the other seven guests and the 2 house keepers that will also be staying in the house with them. 

     THE COUNTDOWN:
     They all acknowledge the other guests staying in the house. They have a variety of different people. There is the proper old lady, the doctor, the lawyer, the house keepers, the young lady, the general, and more. Why would someone want to get all of these people into one house, when they are all so different? They all have one thing i n common: They have all taken part in the killing of one to several people. A lot of them deny it when the crimes are announced from an unknown voice on a recording. After the recording there is a sip of a drink and one man is proclaimed dead. Surprised and shocked  by the fact that the house if full of criminals Ms.Rogers faints and then dies in her sleep that night. Thus begins the countdown until there are none....

    10 LITTLE SOLDIER BOYS:
   In every room of the house there is a poem about 10 little soldier boys:

Ten little soldier boys went out to dine; one of them choked himself and then there were nine


Nine little soldier boys sat up very late; one overslept himself and then there were eight


Eight little soldier boys traveling in Devon; one said he'd stay there and then there were seven


Seven little soldier boys chopping up sticks; one chopped himself in halves and then there were six


Six little soldier boys playing with a hive; a bumblebee stung one and then there were five


Five little soldier boys going in for law; one got in chancery and then there were four


Four little soldier boys going out to sea; a red herring swallowed one and then there were three


Three little soldier boys walking in the zoo; a big bear hugged him and then there were two


Two little soldier boys sitting in the sun; one got frizzled up and then there was one


One little soldier boy left all alone; he went and hung himself 


AND THEN THERE WERE NONE


at first this poem seemed like coincidence since they are on soldier island but when the deaths started to correspond with the poems deaths things started to get a little weird. Then came the little soldier boys that started disappearing as the people started disappearing. Now this is just madness! all who are left are going crazy!!! Who is it? Why me? What is happening? The questions are eating them alive... until their are none.
 

Freak the Mighty: Post 2

How did this friendship change Max and Kevin at the end of the story?

I think that both Kevin and max benefited from this friendship tremendously. They both were outsiders even if Max emphasized the fact more often than Kevin they both knew it deep down. People avoided both of them and they both did not have a lot of experience with friendship. They had their strengths and weaknesses. They saved the good and bad. This is what made them Freak the Mighty!

Kevin (also known as Freak) did not express it that much but this friendship helped him hugely! Freak was always an outside, even if he didn't realize it sometimes. In pre school, Freak was the weird one with crutches who was small. He did not matter, to anyone except one little boy called kicker who was jealous of him and his crutches. Later when Freak and Max reunited, Freak went from walking 2 above the ground to high above the world! Freak was born to be 30 feet tall and has a personality to fit 10 people! This was all considered weird until he had max to admire it.

Max is a 7 foot tall 8^th grader. Do I have to explain why he was an outsider. If he wasn't considered weird before, then after his dad killed his mom people started to avoid him like the black plague. He was the little boy who thought freaks crutches were cool. He admired Freak even before they were friends. Max lived in a basement and did nothing all day, until Freak was his friend. Together they went on quests to save damsels in distress at the break of dawn, they walked miles to find treasure, they fought off evil knife carrying villains, they were FREAK THE MIGHTY!! Max never would have had that experience if it wasn't for Freak.

At the end of the story freak dies, but their friendship will stay in Maxs' heart for life. You just can't forget someone who saved you from your psycho killer father. Someone who yells out what chemical combination the fireworks are on the 4^th of july. Freak might have died but what he did for max will never be forgotten.

Dead or alive this relationship gave them an experience that they will hold onto for eternity. A new and different friendship. Max became stronger with and without Freak. He gradually gained confidence in himself that he never knew existed. Max was just right for Freak even if it didn't show Max helped Freak just by being Max. By the end both are stronger even without each other, just because of the friendship they had together.