I Didn't Mean for Anyone to Die...

 So far in the book "The Hate List" by Jennifer Brown, Valerie the main character has to overcome the conflict of guilt. She has such a hard time to get the idea of the hate list out of her mind. Nick Levil, Valerie's boyfriend has shot many people at Garvin High School's common area which is the cafeteria, and I think it is the wrong way to solve any problems you have with a person you dislike.

"For about the millionth time since the shooting, I felt an enormous pang of guilt." This quote basically describes how Valerie feels so far.

Nick Levil had problems with many people, so he created a list of people he hated. He called it the Hate List. Honestly, I think that Valerie was involved in it as much as Nick was because she also helped him create the book, and she wrote down the names of people that she hated. Usually the people in the hate list involved the people that bullied, or bothered them. But there is no reason to go around and shoot the people you don't like. That just makes matters worse and creates more drama. People are always staring at you in shame, they are trembling with fear whenever they are around you, because they think you will shoot them as well. That's exactly what happened to Valerie.

I think the right way that Nick should have solved the problem was by ignoring the people that bother him. Also, Jeremy one of Nick's friend isn't the greatest role model. Nick shouldn't have followed Jeremy around and he wouldn't have gone crazy and shot the students in his school. Jeremy was an older guy in the story who abused his girlfriend when he wasn't with Nick. I think Jeremy stuck the ideas of shooting the people in Nick's head, because Jeremy is obviously a bad influence... I mean he ABUSES his girlfriend.

I admit, throughout my life I have hated MANY people. But I didn't go and kill them like Nick did. I just ignored them and it helped. I especially did not create a list because if that page or book got lost, I would be in big trouble. I also don't really think I have any friends like Jeremy. I hope I don't.

Valerie thinks that she also killed the people in the list because she involved them in it. She literally hates herself for creating that list, because it killed some of her friends and put herself into depression. She doesn't want to go to school and face anyone, not even her own mother. If I were in Valerie's shoes I would of probably did the same thing. I would be to ashamed knowing I made a hate list, and my boyfriend killed most of the people on the list. It's just not right.

This is why I think Valerie and Nick did the wrong thing on making the list and shooting the people on them. 

 

Prince Charming

      In the story Am I Blue? by Bruce Coville, the protagonist Vincent has to go through a few challenges such as getting bullied by Butch Carrigan, meeting a fairy godfather, and most of all he has to go through confusion.
 
       "And my third wish? I've decided to save it for when I really need it - maybe when I meet the girl of my dreams. Or prince charming. Whichever." This is one of my most favorite quotes in all of the books or stories I have read. This quote was a great way of ending the short story, because to me, I feel that it is a strong sentence.
  
      Vincent was given the power to see people in blue if they were gay by his fairy god father. And turns out Butch Carrigan was one of them. I was pretty surprised to read that Butch Carrigan liked his own gender because he bullied Vincent for being gay, even though he wasn't sure.
 
       Bullies tend to hurt others to cover up their emotions and their problems. And in this case, it perfectly suits Butch Carrigan. I think that Butch doesn't want other people to know that he is gay so he tries to act tough and beats up Vincent. Maybe Butch had a crush on Vincent, but didn't know how to express himself.
  
      Vincent on the other hand is confused on which gender he likes. In the quote it said "The girl of my dreams" which means he could like a girl, but then it says "Or prince charming. Whichever" which means the opposite.
  
      While Vincent was in the bathroom in his house, he still had his power to see blue. He saw a little blue on his face as well, which I guess scared him.
  
      My friend always gets made fun of by the way he acts, and speaks. He is also always hanging out with girls and never boys. Most boys make fun of him jokingly, but he takes it to heart. He often cries about it too. Sometimes it gets carried away but not to the point where he gets beat up like Vincent does. Many people tell him, including me, to be himself. Who cares what anyone thinks, right? Wrong, not him. He cares. He tries to fit in with everyone else but it doesn't work for him. He should really hang out with the boys more often, but he's scared he will get beat up.
   
      At the end of the story Vincent doesn't give much thought if he likes the other gender. He is not as worried as he was before, which to me is a great thing. The quote also describes him changing as well throughout the story from being confused to being eased up about the whole idea. =D