I just finished reading "The Lonely Hearts Club," by Elizabeth Eulberg. It's about 15 year old Penny Lane Bloom, named after a Beatles song and a daughter of long time Beatles fans. Penny has had a long time struggle with boys, and after being hurt for another time by one, she decides to make the Lonely Hearts Club. She was sick of being hurt directly by guys, but also being hurt by her "friends" that would ditch her for a guy. The problem was resolved in the end because of the club bringing together her true friends.
The club brought together her old and new friends. In the process of swearing off boys for the rest of her High School existence, she got her old friend Diane back. Diane was actually the girl who dumped her for a guy, but soon they realized that all the memories they had could not be forgotten. Dine knew she made a mistake back then and fixed it throughout the story. She turned into the popular head cheerleader, to the girl she wanted to be, all thanks to the inspiration of Penny. I really was hopin gthis was going to happen for them because I could tell that Diane was an important character. The author brought her up in the story very early on and kept mentioning her like she was going to return to the story soon.
Penny's club inspired many people throughout the book and she realized that all she actually wanted was true friends who supported her. And that not all guys were jerks. By the end of the book the rules of the club changed "never dating in High School," to "always knowing who your friends are, and never leaving them for a guy." I was really happy for this change because Penny always had a constant fear in the story of falling for a guy, and then breaking the club rules and leaving her friends. Which was the complete point of the club! I think two of Penny's best choices in the story were making the group, and standing up for herself against the guy Nate, who cheated on her, and was pretty much the main cause for the Lonely Hearts Club.
All in all I really loved this story and its moral of friendship, and always knowing who will be there for you.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements 2
I'm still reading "Things Not Seen," by Andrew Clements. Bobby is still struggling with his own invisibility problem, but more have come. His parents got in a car crash, and he is fending for himself alone. Being afraid and not being able to actually get help is hard. Fortunately he has found a way to disguise himself in clothes to go out, or just go out naked - not being able to be seen. He is over coming challenges on his own now. By making a new friend and being courageous in a time of crisis.
At the library Bobby found Alicia a new friend, that is actually someone who can see see him. Metaphorically. Alicia is actually blind, and even though Bobby could have lied to her about being real, he didn't. He was brave enough to tell her the truth about him. Which I think is the most courageous part of the story so far. If it was me, I'd tell the truth too because I wouldn't know when she would find out. But after some speculation from Alicia it turned out she finally made Bobby smile for the first time in a long time.
It would be hard to for me to live on my own, and if I was in Bobby's place, I'd really need a friend like her. To cheer me up, and not judge. It must be hard for Alicia too, because she still doesn't fully know if he is just pulling one big joke on her. And the parents already are putting extra trust in Bobby, because he does have the upper hand.
All and all, I really want to see a stronger relationship form between Bobby and Alicia. And for the parents to come home and realize that if Bobby took care of himself in this condition alone, and was fine - they should trust him more. Because even though you can't see him he's not actually gone.
At the library Bobby found Alicia a new friend, that is actually someone who can see see him. Metaphorically. Alicia is actually blind, and even though Bobby could have lied to her about being real, he didn't. He was brave enough to tell her the truth about him. Which I think is the most courageous part of the story so far. If it was me, I'd tell the truth too because I wouldn't know when she would find out. But after some speculation from Alicia it turned out she finally made Bobby smile for the first time in a long time.
It would be hard to for me to live on my own, and if I was in Bobby's place, I'd really need a friend like her. To cheer me up, and not judge. It must be hard for Alicia too, because she still doesn't fully know if he is just pulling one big joke on her. And the parents already are putting extra trust in Bobby, because he does have the upper hand.
All and all, I really want to see a stronger relationship form between Bobby and Alicia. And for the parents to come home and realize that if Bobby took care of himself in this condition alone, and was fine - they should trust him more. Because even though you can't see him he's not actually gone.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements
I have recently started, "Things Not Seen," by Andrew Clements. About Bobby, a boy raised from a philological dad, and literature expert mom. One day he wakes up, and all of the sudden he's invisible. And for once he needs to use his parents knowledge to help him figure out what's wrong with him.Though he wants to get back to normal, he also has issues with his mother and father. He needs to overcome the challenge of working with his mom and dad to help himself.
To Bobby, his mom is the professor, and he can never slack off. He doesn't really agree with his father either. His father relates everything to science, and doesn't really give Bobby many opportunities to prove himself to his father. The incident does bring Bobby and his dad together when they can talk about what might be happening to Bobby. I think during the time when Booby is invisible, him and his parents will get closer together.
All in all, I think Bobby needs to understand his parents better. But Bobby's parents have to have more trust in him. he has the power now, and i think his parents might be way more protective them they have to be with him. Obviously Bobby doesn't want to hurt his parents, so why would he?
To Bobby, his mom is the professor, and he can never slack off. He doesn't really agree with his father either. His father relates everything to science, and doesn't really give Bobby many opportunities to prove himself to his father. The incident does bring Bobby and his dad together when they can talk about what might be happening to Bobby. I think during the time when Booby is invisible, him and his parents will get closer together.
All in all, I think Bobby needs to understand his parents better. But Bobby's parents have to have more trust in him. he has the power now, and i think his parents might be way more protective them they have to be with him. Obviously Bobby doesn't want to hurt his parents, so why would he?
Thursday, January 10, 2013
The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart
SPOILERS
Over the summer I read "The Boyfriend List," by E. Lockhart. It's about a 15 year old girl named Ruby who has severely struggles with boy problems. But not only that, but she gets very serious panic attacks, and has to start seeing a therapist, Dr. Z. And that's when Ruby is told to make a list of boys that she has ever been more than friends with. She always tries to stay true to herself, but ends up getting confused most of the time. The list ended up to be 15 boys. Throughout the story you see Ruby's struggle with her friends, almost always about some boy, and of course, Ruby's struggle with herself.
Ruby tried to keep a handle on her life, but it always seemed harder for her. When ever there would be a rumor, like Ruby and Noel, or someone else, Ruby would have to rethink her plan of action. And she would always have a panic attack when someone went wrong in her life - which was a lot. That's why she needed the therapist in the first place. She realized panic attacks were all made in your head, and Ruby got to talk out anything she needed to with Dr. Z. Through the boyfriends like Jackson, to her flings like Cabbie. But I always had trouble seeing what Ruby would do next, she would always reference her house boat. Saying if she ever needed to, she could just float away. She liked to keep her opinions to herself, but it seemed like not until the worse possible moment she would let them slip.
In the begging of the book, the reader gets the impression that Ruby and her friends loyalty to each other will always stay constant. But I don't think the author ever intended to write the book that way. Ruby and her friends try to stick with each other through all the boy problems. But it get complicated when one of Ruby's friends start to date Ruby's ex, that she really like. And it gets even worse when someone gets a hold of the list and makes copies and puts them all over the school.The list was also up for interpretations, it was just a list of boys with numbers. Rankings? Soon Ruby got the wrong impression from everyone at her school of being a home wrecker, and lost her friends. I felt really sympathetic for Ruby then, because as the reader, I had seen her grow through out the book. And seeing her being crushed so easy after all this time, it was hard not to feel many things.
I really loved this book, even though the ending did disappoint me. I hoped for a big ending, at least a happy one. When all of her friends left her, it just seemed to end. I think the author made the end like this so the reader could really interpret for themselves what would happen next.
Over the summer I read "The Boyfriend List," by E. Lockhart. It's about a 15 year old girl named Ruby who has severely struggles with boy problems. But not only that, but she gets very serious panic attacks, and has to start seeing a therapist, Dr. Z. And that's when Ruby is told to make a list of boys that she has ever been more than friends with. She always tries to stay true to herself, but ends up getting confused most of the time. The list ended up to be 15 boys. Throughout the story you see Ruby's struggle with her friends, almost always about some boy, and of course, Ruby's struggle with herself.
Ruby tried to keep a handle on her life, but it always seemed harder for her. When ever there would be a rumor, like Ruby and Noel, or someone else, Ruby would have to rethink her plan of action. And she would always have a panic attack when someone went wrong in her life - which was a lot. That's why she needed the therapist in the first place. She realized panic attacks were all made in your head, and Ruby got to talk out anything she needed to with Dr. Z. Through the boyfriends like Jackson, to her flings like Cabbie. But I always had trouble seeing what Ruby would do next, she would always reference her house boat. Saying if she ever needed to, she could just float away. She liked to keep her opinions to herself, but it seemed like not until the worse possible moment she would let them slip.
In the begging of the book, the reader gets the impression that Ruby and her friends loyalty to each other will always stay constant. But I don't think the author ever intended to write the book that way. Ruby and her friends try to stick with each other through all the boy problems. But it get complicated when one of Ruby's friends start to date Ruby's ex, that she really like. And it gets even worse when someone gets a hold of the list and makes copies and puts them all over the school.The list was also up for interpretations, it was just a list of boys with numbers. Rankings? Soon Ruby got the wrong impression from everyone at her school of being a home wrecker, and lost her friends. I felt really sympathetic for Ruby then, because as the reader, I had seen her grow through out the book. And seeing her being crushed so easy after all this time, it was hard not to feel many things.
I really loved this book, even though the ending did disappoint me. I hoped for a big ending, at least a happy one. When all of her friends left her, it just seemed to end. I think the author made the end like this so the reader could really interpret for themselves what would happen next.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
We Want You to Know: Kids Talk about Bullying
For my non - fiction book of the month, I have currently been reading, "We Want You to Know: Kids Talk about Bullying", by Deborah Ellis. I have been reading this book for my picture book project, during December. One of the things I liked about this book was that each chapter had a different bullying tactics like "Not being Good Enough"and other excuses that bullies might use. I think this book was really important because it showed real life experiences, and showed examples of all kinds of bullying.
This book was mostly made out of first - hand bullying experiences. The author Deborah Ellis let everyone tell their story from ages 9 - 18. I really liked using this book for my project because I think it was really nice to find a book made out non fiction stories. Instead of a book of possible bullying scenarios and reasons why people might or could bully. Because these people were brave enough to tell their stories, and talk about how hard it was for someone to be hurting them. One girl, Emily, who had a cyber bullying experience was someone I based my picture book off. She was being bullied because someone had started a page that everyone wrote on about why the didn't like her. Though I added that in my story, my version is completely different. But she talked about her sisters experience with cyber bullying, and I liked how many of the kids who wrote in the book talked had their siblings bullying experience in the book too.
This book didn't only have real experiences from different kind of bullying, but in the beginning of each chapter (and new type of bullying/ stories) they explain the topic. Any thing from "Looking Different", and then stories of girls and boys being excluding form cliques and school because of how they my look and act. Most of the kids in the book were being bullied for reasons beyond them. It showed a lot about how many victims are innocent. There was stories about cyber bullying and several about kids with mental disorders being left out of many school activities or cliques be cause of how they looked and acted.
I really admire those people who were brave enough to go talk to an author to actually get their stories publish. To show everyone the real effects of bullying, and cyber bullying. The many examples of bullying, but definitely to show the true stories and real experiences of many.
This book was mostly made out of first - hand bullying experiences. The author Deborah Ellis let everyone tell their story from ages 9 - 18. I really liked using this book for my project because I think it was really nice to find a book made out non fiction stories. Instead of a book of possible bullying scenarios and reasons why people might or could bully. Because these people were brave enough to tell their stories, and talk about how hard it was for someone to be hurting them. One girl, Emily, who had a cyber bullying experience was someone I based my picture book off. She was being bullied because someone had started a page that everyone wrote on about why the didn't like her. Though I added that in my story, my version is completely different. But she talked about her sisters experience with cyber bullying, and I liked how many of the kids who wrote in the book talked had their siblings bullying experience in the book too.
This book didn't only have real experiences from different kind of bullying, but in the beginning of each chapter (and new type of bullying/ stories) they explain the topic. Any thing from "Looking Different", and then stories of girls and boys being excluding form cliques and school because of how they my look and act. Most of the kids in the book were being bullied for reasons beyond them. It showed a lot about how many victims are innocent. There was stories about cyber bullying and several about kids with mental disorders being left out of many school activities or cliques be cause of how they looked and acted.
I really admire those people who were brave enough to go talk to an author to actually get their stories publish. To show everyone the real effects of bullying, and cyber bullying. The many examples of bullying, but definitely to show the true stories and real experiences of many.
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