I'll Take Care of You :)

I have recently started reading the book "Make Lemonade" by Virginia Euwer Wolff. Although I haven't got far in the book, I am still able to visualize a few conflicts going on in the story. One problem I noticed was that LaVaughn the protagonist in the story comes from a single mother who can't afford for LaVaughn to go to college. Another thing I have noticed is that Jolly a seventeen year old single mother takes care of two kids when she can't handle her own self. The two kids are Jilly and Jeremy who come from two different absent fathers that Jolly has been with so that's another problem. The last conflict I have seen so far is that Jolly had almost been raped by her boss and she has recently lost her job for stabbing him with a pencil. I know, disgusting. There are also a few differences between LaVaughn and I that I seem to find a bit interesting.

LaVaughn portrays the picture of being a girl who has internal strength. She is a strong young girl who loves Jilly and Jeremy. She cleans up the repulsive mess around the house, even the filthy roaches. I honestly admire that about LaVaughn, she doesn't give up so easily even if the place looks like garbage, isn't in a good building and from a single mother who is only seventeen. She also tries to keep up with school and homework/projects.. The difference between me and LauVaughn is that I wouldn't have been able to do what she has done for Jilly and Jeremy. Though she has been doing her homework and projects she isn't maintaining a good status on tests. Her grades are slowly decreasing from the lack of studying, that is because she has been so busy on taking care of the kids. I know that with my school work and the future ahead of me that I plan of living doesn't involve babysitting any kids like LaVaughn.

I have a mother and father, along with an older brother when Lavaughn has only a mother. She has no one to argue with in the house for going on the computer or watching TV when I do. I know that if I were an only child I would have been pretty darn upset because I was all alone. Lavaughn has made it through and she doesn't give much thought on having a sibling. I keep pondering to myself that if I were in LaVaugns shoes, how would I have taken care of myself? How would I keep up my grades while taking care of two kids? My mind remains blank.


"Can I go to college when I am big?" Lavaughn asked her mother.
"Nobody in this building"-"ever went to college in my family." says the mother.

I can't really relate to this idea because my parents want me to go to college and they have been to college before, when Lavaughn's mother hasn't, so this is actually a major difference between me and Lavaughn.. The thing that really gets to me is that how shocked the mother was when LaVaughn had spoke of college. Just the word "college" probably frightens the mother because she doesn't have the money for her daughter to go to college. That is the only reason why LaVaughn took the babysitting job, to earn a little cash to save for college fees. I think that whatever she is doing to get her dream of going to college is a great idea. She is trying her absolute best and I just really admire that about her!

These are the conflicts I have noticed so far in the story along with a few differences between LaVaughn and I.

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

   

Drummer Boy of Shiloh

In the Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury, the protagonist Joby faces many challenges in the story. I myself have been through what he has been through. These challenges that Joby faces changes him throughout the story like I did in my life.
   
At the beginning of the story, Joby was terrified of entering a battle he wasn't ready for. He was nervous and worried and thought he couldn't do it. He was the youngest soldier there who wasn't ready to fight. He even started to cry because he didn't feel like part of the war. Joby didn't even want to be involved. I personally wouldn't want to be involved in a battle if I was as young as Joby.

"If he stayed very still, when the dawn came up and the soldiers put on their bravery with their caps, perhaps they might go away, the war with them, and not notice him living small here, no more than a toy himself." This is a quote from the story, which makes me think that Joby feels as if he is just a toy and not human. No life, and no action, just useless. 

 In my life I have changed a lot as well. I would never have thought my life would be as the way it is right now. I was an outgoing girl when I was younger. Now I am not as outgoing as I was before. I didn't care if I was loud, or  what people thought of me, but now I do. I get nervous, scared, and worried. And just like Joby, I cry.

As the story went on and the general came along, he motivated Joby to be a part of the battle and be involved. As for me, I feel confident when someone motivates me as well, I feel stronger. The general  helped Joby out of his fears, and Joby was now confident as ever, and was determined to lead the other soldiers into the battle and be the Drummer Boy of Shiloh.

This is how Joby changed throughout the story, and how I changed as well. 

It's Kind of a Funny Story

The book It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini is about a boy named Craig Gilner, who is depressed. The idea of the story to me is very interesting because Craig isn't the happy boy he was before. There are many differences between me and my protagonist Craig. Some of the differences are stated below.
     
 One way Craig and I are different, is that he doesn't enjoy life when I do. Craig just hides himself in the bathroom when it's dark, and the lights are turned off. That's his way of peace. being alone and trapped in the bathroom.He also thinks peeing is great, and that it's something his body has to do. I don't think being in the bathroom is peaceful. Nor the dark. And both of them combined, no way.
     
The second way Craig and I are different is that Craig thinks life is a nightmare. His dreams are where he wants to stay most of the time. He doesn't think life is amazing, or fun. Even if his dreams were a nightmare, he would consider it better than life. I think that's pretty crazy. I am glad to wake up every morning to start a new day, when he isn't.
     
The third way Craig and I are different is that he is always depressed and never has a smile on his face. He has to go to shrinks which are kind of like guidance counselors, to express his feelings. And it is pretty much all the same things like not enjoying life, or life being a nightmare. But towards the end of the book, he tried to enjoy life more, and it worked. He kept a hold of a job, he drew, he ran, he went home and enjoyed himself being alive once again like his childhood. But I have never been depressed for a long period of time, and then started to enjoy life again, when Craig has.
     
 I don't really understand why Craig has to be so depressed, he has friends who like him and want to spend time with him. Also a loving Mother who takes care of him. These are the reasons on why Craig and I are different stated above.

Are You Replaced?

The book The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff, was a very interesting book. I have never read anything like it before. The book is unusual, and has a mystery to it. Mackie Doyle the main character in the book isn't a normal teenage boy hanging out with his friends or going to parties, in fact he has to be forced to be out by his friends. To me Mackie is very strange, he doesn't act like a normal boy, but he tries too, which  makes it worse because people always asks him why is he acting so weird and if everything is okay.
     
 Mackie was a replacement of a real boy about 16 years ago, coming from a world of puddles and dark tunnels, which is called the Underground world of Gentry. As I read the book, I had many questions like "Why do the parents of Mackie still accept the fact that he is not a full human, but a half human and half demon?" Mackie is allergic to many things that are important in the human world such as iron and blood, so its really hard for him to cooperate with it. As the book went on, Mackie started feeling uncomfortable and tired everyday, and the reason he was feeling that way was because he was dying. Yes... dying. This replacement of a baby 16 years ago, was dying. His skin was turning pale and he felt dizzy and just couldn't work with anything.
      
As for Emma, Mackie's younger sister is a happy person who is just like a normal girl, until... she finds out that Mackie is dying. She does whatever she could to make him all better again and make him live. She finds out about it by her friend that usually comes over to her house. She knows that he is a replacement, and exactly where he comes from which is the underground world of Gentry. Emma is courageous because it takes a lot of courage to go to a world where your not from, especially if its full of demons and dead people walking around. Emma gets this little drink for Mackie in order for him to stay alive. But, Mackie has to do many things to keep Emma away from danger from the demons.  I think of Emma as a sweet girl because she accepts Mackie knowing he is a replacement of her real baby brother 16 years ago.
      
The Replacement is a very good book, and I think many people would enjoy the book as much as I did. It is filled with many details that make me want to read the book even more. Everyone should read how "Mackie is an outsider, even in his own home."