The History of Love

     I just recently started reading a book called The History of Love. It is actually a really good book except it is very challenging. 

     I am not far into the book at all but so far is about a old man who lives in the city and he is actually kind of depressed. I think the author chose to write in the point of view of this man for a reason. There is a certain reputations for people that others just kind of assume.

     For example, people with a lot of friends are happy and have an exciting life. Or people that are alone are very sad and boring and this book proves that wrong. The man is not that boring. He may be alone but every day he does something even if he just stays in the apartment. 

     He even gets a job to be a nude model. i think the author is actually trying to reach out to the readers and saying something. Everyone has a life, feelings, and even if they are alone doesn't mean that they don't have a life. This guy may be a little depressed but he has things that matter. He has a best friend, bruno, he has an apartment and he lives in an amazing city.

     This guy thinks he is completely invisible he even goes out sometimes and bumps into people just so that they would know he was there. That is extremely sad but at least he is trying.

     Even if this book is extremely hard its also fascinating. And i hope as i go on, this guy can find some happiness, he deserves it. 

Perfect

     Recently, I read a really great book called "Perfect" by Natasha Friend. Natasha Friend was also the author of the book "Lush" which was also a really good book. Perfect is about a girl named Isabelle and she has an eating disorder called bulimia which is a very serious disorder. You throw up on purpose to be skinnier.
     Isabelle is only thirteen years old and already she has been through so much. Her dad died and everything turned upside down for her. She started throwing up and it wasn't even supposed to mean something the first time. She was in the bathroom and it just happened. But then she starts doing it more and more and it becomes an addiction and a huge problem.
Isabelles mom makes her go to therapy and everything to make her better but it doesn't exactly work.
     Bulimia is really scary and it can damage your body and it can be so bad as it can kill you. Throwing up all the time is not safe and it has side effects like your teeth yellowing.
I think that Isabelle really just needed her dad. she was hurting and she just got all caught up with being skinny and once you are in such a dark place like that we all know that it is extremely hard to get out. When Isabelle was in therapy she met a friend named Ashley that had the same problem and they even ended up doing it together. A lot of people think its stupid and of course you can control yourself but thats not the case at all, it is a serious eating disorder.
When people are bulimic sometimes what they do is eat a lot, like  an abnormal amount of food and then throw it all up.     One line that really stands out for me is, “When you believe in something, stand up for it, even if everyone is sitting.” i think that this line really means a lot like isabelle needs to believe in herself so she can stop throwing up even if she has to do it alone. I did not realize how serious and common this issue was among teenage girls. After reading this book I am now more aware. 

The Secret Life of Bees

     I am currently reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. It is a really fantastic book and it is set in the 1960's. It tells the story of a fourteen year old girl named Lily Owens. I am not that far into the book but so far its mostly about how Lily's mom died when she was four years old. Her and her dad have a tough relationship and the mom's death has been extremely rough on the whole family.
     Lily has a lot of questions with things like growing up and things that she can only ask her mom. That is where her “step in mother” Rosaleen comes in. This story sets place where there were slaves and black people were treated awful and Rosaleen was black. But she is like a mother to Lily.

     I think the author chose to write in first person of Lily’s perspective for a reason. The author chose to leave out other really important people in the story for a reason. Someone’s perspective who is missing is the dad’s. the author makes it seem like the dad is a really bad guy but the dad is also hurting a lot from the Mom’s death just like Lily. The dad is really harsh on Lily and I think they author didn’t put him in the story because it shows how hard Lily’s life is. If the readers knew also how the dad felt they wouldn’t feel as bad for Lily and I think the author wants people to feel bad for her. 

Looks

     In the book “Looks” by Madeline Geroge, there is a very big plot line. It is about two girl who are outcasts. One is names Aimee and the other is named Meghan. They both have weight problems and the story is told in two different perspectives. The perspectives are the two girls and the way the author writes the book, it seems like the two girls are completely opposite when that isn’t entirely true. Meghan is very overweight and Aimee is way too skinny. They look very different but they aren’t that different in personality.  In life, they both have no friends and they are both outcasts.

     Both girls try to lower themselves. Aimee tries to make herself weigh less and Meghan tries that too. Also, neither of them have very high expectations of themselves. They both think of themselves as losers and people that will never make it. In fact, that is not true at all and they really shouldn’t think that low of themselves because its sad to hear. They are not like that. Also, Aimee mentions throughout the entire story that she needs an escape from not eating, and although I'm not exactly sure how because I've never been in that position, I can understand how having an escape might be necessary. They both need escapes from the ton of kids at school, and I see how that may end up causing stress on a person. Sometimes, I get nervous before tests or drama performances or interviews or even essays. A thing you can do is to take a break from stressing over what you are nervous of and instead have a relative escape.

     Although the two girls are very much the same, they are also different. Meghan actually wanted to have friends at first. She tried to talk to people and when they ignored her she was sad and upset. But for Aimee it was different. She was not interested in other people. She was going to just mind her business and not worry about other people. And in that way they are different.

     This book was really good. It tought me a lot. I think that there is more then just what someone looks like. Someone could look really strong on the outside but be really weak and fragile on the inside.

Sonnet

Our city is drenched with rain today

Sad silence comes to us on rainy days

A gushing wind that sweeps us all away

Feelings not mutual, shall we p’raise

Staying inside all morning and all night

Until the sun comes back we wait and wait

We can only wish for the burst of bright 

If sun does not come it just was not fate 

Although without the rain there may be drought

Crops will grow and thirst will be quenched 

Lives will go on, the rain shall not fade out

For rain is good, not something to be benched

Rain may cause some change at heart but it’s good

We like things like rain, just as we should

Stay

     The book “Stay” by Deb Caletti is a really good, complex book. It’s about a girl named Clara. Clara is like any other teenage girl. She thinks and feels normal. 

     But then Clara finds true love and her life turns into a complete crazy mess in good and bad ways. At first, Christian seemed perfectly harmless and normal. They met each other and it was love at first sight. They were harmless; just two people who spend all their time together.

     But then Christian gets more and more obsessive and it gets worse. Clara can’t even have dinner without him being there. It gets so bad that he starts stalking her and Clara starts to get scared.

     If I were Clara I would be really scared myself. It is unimaginable to be stalked.  Even if it is your boyfriend. They didn’t even know each other very long when he started acting strange and creepy. Clara tries to break up with him but he does not leave her alone. Eventually, they have to go as far as telling her dad and calling the police.

     This story makes me think a lot about how intense that must be for a family. Clara’s mom had also died. You don’t find out until the end that she had drowned and that it was the dads fault. It was a really intense scene and really scary. Especially since after that, Clara almost drowned.

     I also feel that if Clara's fathers perspective was included, the book would be completely different. He is a big part of the story. He had to do with many of the events that took place. I like how Deb Caletti decided to only share Clara's part because we would have already known the mysterious secrets if the dad's point of view was revealed. 

Martin Espada

    Martin Espadas poems “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” all show discrimination. I think that Martin Espada has experienced this type of racial discrimination in his life. This is based on the furry he expresses in his writing. I can also relate to many of his points about unfairness.
    In the poem “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” Martin Espada gives the reader a clear picture of boys speaking Spanish in the bathroom of an English school. The principle is in the bathroom stall when he hears his name. Although he does not know what the boys were saying about him, he assumes the worst and immediately bans Spanish from being spoken in the school bathroom. The action of banning Spanish was discriminatory towards the boys because they were not even given the chance to defend themselves. Their language, a huge part of their culture was taken away from them without a fight. Martin Espada did not express his anger so openly as he did in other poems. Instead, he made the poem brief and made the reader acknowledge the discrimination by getting right to the point. As I thought about this for a while, I came to a conclusion that the principle was most likely white and had never had his culture or language taken away from him.
    In “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” there is a boy who is upset because his name is continuously mispronounced. I can infer that his name is of great importance to him because of the way he describes how he wants to “hijack a busload of Republican tourists.” I also feel as though this poem is based off of the author’s personal experiences. I think this considering that his name is Martin. It is a name descended from a non-American culture. It is Spanish and is usually pronounced differently in America. Perhaps it is culturally special to him because the mispronunciation affects him greatly. It is unfair and discriminate towards people who’s names are always mispronounced when people do not care enough to try to get it right. I can relate to this issue because my name isn’t very common and it is annoying when nobody can pronounce it.
    In “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” Espada sets a scene from the past. It involved vigilantes taking charge and people being hung. I think Martin Espada wants the readers to think about the abusive power in this situation. People of different cultures were being tortured and discriminated. Another sign of the authors relationship to Spanish culture is when he involves Spanish rituals. This includes “the Virgen de Guadalupe” and “Dia de los Muertos.”
    The three poems, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, and “Two Mexicanos lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877” by Martin Espada, all show discrimination. Though all the topics are different, the author seems to relate back to discrimination in every poem. According to his writing, it is something he is passionate about and feels he needs to get his point across. I agree with these multiple issues. Discrimination is a big problem and must be identified by all people.