peace,love,and baby ducks

In the book "Peace,Love, and Baby Ducks" by Lauren Myracle, the main character Carly and her sister Anna experience their first year being together at high school. Carly is older, and Anna is just starting. They struggle from the beginning, but make it to the end. they have many issues with friends, new and old, family, boys, school, and themselves. They both change a lot, for the better and the worse.

Carly changes more than she thinks. She forms new opinions of her old friends, and her sister and her friends. And whether or not she realize it, they change the way she acts/thinks/feels. She also changes her opinion on her close friend, Rodger, who has had a crush on her for years. She finally accepts that and considers his feelings. She grows up a lot. she positively changes in a lot of ways because of mistakes. I think she becomes more accepting and less judgmental. She's all about not judging people for their appearance and other people's opinions, yet she judges the people who do. Or more the people that she thinks do. Anna also changes, aside form growing up. For the worse, she lets school shape her personality. She lets others influence her. For the better, she decides to turn that around before it got harder. She stops caring so much about the wrong things, and puts more effort and focus on the things that do, for her own good. IN the end they're their for each other and family/friends, which is all that matters.

Being at the same school was a challenge, because no matter what they do, they get compared, and they compare each other.They also judge each other. Carly starts grouping anna with the kinds of people she dislikes, which almost makes anna more like them. And Anna does the same, though the people she dislikes is the opposite of Carly. And they're both their own people,theyre different. Anna is better at some things, and carly is better at others. But their peers don't see that that does't make the other one better. and it puts a lot of pressure on them, and that hurts their relationship.

I think they also realize the root of their problem. Its them. They think it's their friends and family causing them to hurt each other. though they are involved, the girls decide to involve them. They realize that they need to stop blaming everyone else for their problems, and look at what they can change about themselves to make it better. they use the other people to hurt each other and express their feelings. For example, Anna kisses the guy Carly likes. I mean, that matters, but the real problem is what Anna was feeling that made her do that. Anna just did that to hurt Carly. The real problem is why she hurt her.

This book really just made me think about how people are only as good or bad as you make them out to be. It's other people's choice how they want to think about someone, and it's yours about how you want to. And you are only how you want to be. It's nobody else choice about who you are. Its your choice if you want to let what they say and think change you, but you're the one in charge. with that, if you don't like something in your life, change what your doing to make it better, don't worry about what others are doing. And i think thats what Carly is pretty much trying to do, and teach everybody, Just be yourself, don't worryy about the people who are there to tear you down.

Absolutely normal chaos by sharon creech

This book is actually pretty good. Its fun and really interesting. I'm never really bored with it, the plot and idea and timing definitely works well and is well planned out. So far, it's pretty much about a pretty typical teenage girl who grows up in a small town and a big family. She's experiencing love, real friendship, family, secrets, etc. for the first time. But you experience it only from her point of view, you read the journey entries she keeps throughout the summer.

I think it's interesting to see the story from just one characters point of view. You know everyone else, and see everything else through her eyes only. You don't know what actually happens in her life, and what she interprets/changes/enhances through her eyes. You don't actually know how other characters feel or think. You don't know whats real and fake, you sort of just have to go along with her ideas. She pretty much controls all your thoughts and opinions on other things and people, because of the way she feels. And that sort of reminds me of the essay i am currently working on. Its about self acceptance and just being your own person really, and it just makes me think that like I'm just basing my thoughts off of hers.

I also really like the character you see the world from in this book. Her name is Mary Lou. I'm not really sure what it is, she's just so realistic, but also sort of imaginative. Just the person she seems to be i like. even though she's just a character in a book, i admire her a lot. For the way she handles situations and how she acts. But also for how she seems to see things. I just feel like she see's the world in her own way. She's like that typical teenager, but also almost completely different. She has a very strong opinion but is also very understanding. She thought it was gross and weird how her best friend was all over a guy, but she still listened to it, and she stuck with her friend through all the fazes she went through. She's always there for the people who deserve it. And she seems to have a pretty good judgement of who that is for her. She's not all hung up on who she could be or what she could be doing, she's focused on herself, friends, and family. She just minds her own business when she should. Which works out better for everyone. Mary Lou is just a very good role model in my opinion.

Reading response: Bridge to terabithia

I am reading the book Bridge to Terabithia. I saw the movie a while ago, and liked it,  and i was interested in reading the book, because I had never had a chance before. I'm not very far in the book yet. I've just really read about Jess' family, and how he loves to run.

Jess gets up early every morning to run. He runs because he loves it. I think it's really great how much he cares about it. It seems to be the one thing he has. Their is nothing in it for him, except the happiness. He doesn't do it for money, fame, or anything else. Even if he isn't able to continue this hobby as he gets older, i think its good that he's taking advantage of the fact that he has spare time. And instead of being lazy, or doing stuff we would do these days like watch tv and use a computer/phone. It seems that Jess shares a special connection with running. He runs for hours on end. Again, for what? Just because it's what he wants. He doesn't let anything or anyone get in the way of it. Even though his family, especially his sister, always complains how dirty/sweaty he is afterwards, he doesn't let that affect him and his opinions. He stays strong on his beliefs no matter who supports him and what anyone says.

I think everybody could work on this trait a little. Everybody lets people bring them down. And everybody gets insecure because of what people think and say and feel. And these feelings get in the way of our happiness. They make us think twice about whether we should be doing the stuff we love to please ourselves, or if we should hold back to please others.

The courage to be yourself: Non fiction

The book The Courage to be Yourself is about real life teenagers. They tell their stories very honestly. Sometimes they're kind of mean, but i think that's what really gets the idea across. The stories are so real and interesting to read. They are all relatable in some way. They are also very believable. While reading them you can clearly see that it's the kid speaking, and their point of view. Plus it's not all edited  and stuff, it's straight from the kid.

One passage that I didn't like very much was called Gay on the Block, By Jeremiah Spears. It's about a guy who came out at an early age, and was judged for it by the kids on his block. I thought it was actually pretty good until I read the part about how the guys didn't bother him anymore, because he stayed clear of the street he lived on mostly. I just feel like he left a big issue unresolved. It just kind of seemed like he was taking the easy way out instead of working through what he was struggling with. And then when he said "I just need to satisfy myself", I don't really agree with that. I just feel like people always say that, but it's not really even true. You can't get through life on your own, and never be concerned about what people think of you. For example, your boss. You can't only be pleasing yourself with the work you do, you have to work to meet your bosses requirements.

Later on though, I started to like this passage. I started to see how maybe Jeremiah staying clear of the boys on his old block was his way of dealing with it. Maybe he went to therapy or wrote in a journal to get through the problems he experienced as a child. He just needed to move on, and focus on the more important things and people in life, instead of worrying about people who were un accepting and mean to him. Also, him only worrying about satisfying himself in this situation was probably best. It isn't worth it to compromise yourself for people who aren't worth it. Plus, he was honest. What happened happened. And he told the story truthfully, probably knowing that some people would dislike it and disagree with it.

The big overall lesson I learned is that what happens happens. You can dislike it and disagree, but you can't change it. And it's best if you dislike the truth, then like a lie. Life isn't perfect. And if you're telling a truthful story, it won't be either.

Becoming Naomi Leon

I just finished reading the book becoming Naomi Leon, by Pam munoz Ryan. I liked it a lot. It was fun and interesting to read. And it was very different from most books i've ever read. It's about a girl named Naomi Leon who struggles with a lot of things, like speaking up for example. But she's pretty much always made the best of living with her Gram and brother, Owen. Then her mom, Skyla, who has a drinking problem, and a new boyfriend, has revisited after leaving her kids with her ex husband's (the dad) mom for seven years. And after she kisses up for a while she reveals the real reason she's here; to take naomi, just naomi, to live with her. Naomi decides that she wants to meet her dad before going to court against her mom, and she is glad to have met him when she goes home and faces her future. Once naomi wins the argument in front of the judge, her mom leaves. Leaving Naomi almost thankful for the things she taught her.

I think this book is really about how some little things matter. But some really don't. It didn't matter when Skyla bought Naomi a bunch of clothes, Naomi still wanted to live in her home, not with Skyla. It didn't matter that Skyla was her real mom. She would never be her real family. certain things don't make an imprint on us. I think it's mostly because of the past and sacrifice.  It didn't matter that Skyla was her mom, because she wasn't there for Naomi like Gram and Owen always were. And it didn't matter that Naomi got a bunch of clothes, because it didn't really coast her mom anything.

I think it's pretty much the same for the good little things. It only matters where it comes from in you, and what you really sacrifice for it. It mattered when Skyla bought Owen a bike. Because She always treated Owen second best, and now her got the first best for once. Also, when she says Clyde (her boyfriend), spent good money on it, i think she really means she had to work for him to do buy it. It also mattered when Skyla knocked over Naomi's favorite soap carving. Because That's something that mattered to Naomi, but didn't matter to her mom, which it should've. It's not the fact that Skyla broke it, it's the fact that she didn't care, and never cared about it in the first place.

People often say the best things are little. But i thing that most little things that matter actually aren't all that little. It's more like the specific act may be simple, fast, or little, but the gesture is big. Like the bike was just a little present. But it wasn't to Owen. Because it meant his mom did care. It meant more that his mom loved him than that he had a bike. Because i think that all that disapproval Skyla gave Owen was actually directed towards herself, for leaving him when he was struggling so much and needed her. I think its the little things that go so much deeper. And they're special because it only matters like that for you, no one else in the world.

Non-fiction blogpost

I read the article, "Drought Leaves Cracks in Way of Life" By John Eligon. I see how droughts are serious.People cancel their whole vacations just because of a drought. People lose their crops and homes. And even their food.

THE SHAPE OF WATER

The book "The Shape of Water" by Allen Spollen, is mainly abut a girl that has to deal with a loss of her mother. Her mom dies and she is left to deal with a lot of emotions she doesn't know how to handle
On top of that her dad is getting remarried to a women who has a son. And she has many encounters with way different people as she struggled to figure out her feelings. And then there is another crisis in her life that she then has to deal with. I think that having the 'random' encounters is a way of saying that anything can  happen when ever and where ever. I think that the author was more directed at the idea of loss and healing. But i really noticed the more 'small' things she but in there.

Allen showed what i got of her writing mostly through big gestures. Such as death, and abandonment. I think that's what makes the ideas noticeable but the little things make it different. You meet so many people that have been through so much. And the ones who you get to know, even just a little bit, leave an impact on you. The happy ones show you that you can feel better. you can heal and if you want to and if you try you can be happy. The sad ones show that they've been through so much and either you don't want your life to be like that, you want to be the one who makes it out stronger. Or that their are people who have been through worse than you. There will always be people who have less than you and worse situations, and you should be thankful for what you have. I think that all of this, meeting people, is part of the realization of the healing process. That's the first step, you feel sorry for yourself, then you experience and start to realize, then you work with the people who care about you to get through the tough times.

There's always that one thing that sets you off. It's different for everyone, and when it happens to you, it feels like the end of the world, whether it is or not. And seeing different people and seeing different situations helps you put things into perspective. To see what others go through help you see that it'll be okay, it will help you make it okay. It helps you see how different the situation can be, but how the same the pain can be.

People say it's the little things that count. But that's not true, they all count. the little things may help more, and the big things may help more, that what really makes it count. And people never seem to see the little things though. They're waiting for a big giant sign to some along to change everything, when a little thing all along could've helped, and it just need a little work put into it. The girl in this story waits a little to late to realize this, and that helps me realize that i shouldn't wait, just from a small story from a girl i don't even know.