Response to Farha's Post!

  

  I am writing a response to Farah’s post about the book Girl in Translation. When reading her bog post I noticed that I had the same thoughts and feeling/emotions while reading this book. I agree with Farha 100%. The book is touching and i like how Farha compared it to her life.

     I agree with Farha because she points out how Kim's aunt can be very cruel and that putting her sister in an apartment that did not meet the requirements for a safe home is absurd! I actually noticed that Farha said that the aunt wanted to make Kim and her mom regret coming to America and i never thought of it that way. I really thought that was an interesting way to put the way the aunt treats them. After reading that part of the post it started to make more sense and that probably was the reason why Kim and her mom get treated so badly.

     Farha also pointed out that the teacher was mean to Kim and that was one of the main points in my post. i really liked when she said that maybe the teacher only saw what he wanted to see a dumb girl who will probably get nowhere in life. But if he took the time to actually help her then he would realize that she amazingly smart and she wants to learn. i also thought about how the teacher was being rude to one of his students, teachers are suppose to be there to teach and help the student not lower their self esteem.

       I also really enjoyed how she compared the book to her life. I liked how she said that no matter how annoying her brother was she would never treat him like Kim's aunt treats Kim. It’s the same with me i love my brother even though he can get on my nerves. I felt very sad for Kim's mom because her own sister doesn't love her and she is too blind to see it. if i noticed that one of my family members put in a crappy apartment because they didn't love me trust me I wouldn't talk to them anymore i would try to get a job and move out because those living conditions are horrible you wouldn't wish your worst enemy that.

        Over all I really enjoyed her blog post. She made me realize things I hadn't about the book. I liked that she was able to include something from her life. She really thought about Kim and how she was getting treated so badly. I would definitely reread the book because I noticed many things from farhas post that hadn’t before and that way maybe I could understand the book better.

 Farha's incredible blog post!

Twisted problems with people in the book!

      I'm currently reading the book Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson, this book is about a boy named Tyler who is in high school. In the book Tyler has a lot of problems with different people starting with his dad. He also has problems with kids at school. So he struggles and it's hard for him to control his emotions and anger. 
      His father is really mean to Tyler and his family. He treats his wife like she is the most retarded person on earth. He treats Tyler like a criminal and pushes him to do things he doesn't want to do. When they were at this party Tyler was arm wrestling Chip Milbury who is the son of Tyler's  dad's boss. And Tyler dad told him to make himself loose just so that his boss feels he has power and so that his boss doesn't get humiliated in front of all the important people at the party. I think that is what makes Tyler do so bad in school and not focus. He feels that he is forced to do what his dad wants just so his dad can appear like a big shot.  If I were Tyler I wouldn't have let myself loose I would have kept going so that I could win and I would stand up for myself because his dad is just plain mean. 
     Another person or persons Tyler has problems with at school is Chip and his friends. They believe Tyler is a dork and that they can do what they want to Tyler whenever they want. But what they don't notice is that Typer has changed since junior year he isn't the same dork he was. He got all tough and grew and they would stand a chance with him. But I wouldn't do what Tyler does in the book that is not a way to deal with problems. I would ignore them or report them to the principal's office. I wouldn't threaten them because fighting never leads to anything good. 
      I think that Tyler's obstacles aren't really things it's people. He doesn't know how to handle his anger and feels he has to unleash. But I do not like the way his father treats him, he makes him feel like garbage. I know that no kid likes to feel that way. Kids need their parents by their side even throughout very tough times. Reading this book is definitely teaching me lessons, it's teaching me how sometimes the pressure of a parent can lead you to do certain things just so you can be in their side and get a little of affection from them. 

Appreciation for Flipped!

     I have finished reading the book Flipped by Wendlin Van Draanen. I really enjoyed reading this book because it was funny and interesting and the best part was that you got to see the problems from two different point of views.
      I really liked how the author really used a lot of detail to describe the characters feelings and use details to describe not only settings but feelings. I also liked how the author didn't use a lot of dialogue, I feel that when the book has a lot of dialogue it makes the book boring. I enjoyed the end of the book a lot. I feel like it was a good ending because both Bryce and Juli learned things about themselves and the people around them. I also really enjoyed how at the end Bryce notices that he has always had feelings for Juli and I enjoyed how he got jealous because she was eating with a another boy. It was a romantic yet mysterious ending and I love books that end that way. The secondary characters even though the story wasn't really about them they were ver well introduced and they were all important to the story in their own way. 
      Somethings that I didn't like  was that the book ended right when they noticed that they liked each other. It would have been interesting to see how they react after they finally talk to each other and confront each other. It left me with the curiosity and it left mystery. Another thing that I didn't like was the way the way the years went by so quick so it was just reading snippets of what had happened and their relationship had evolved  since Bryce moved in. I would have changed a couple of those things to make the book more fun but otherwise it was good.
     I really enjoyed this book, and would definitely recommend it to someone else. It is fun to see what kids go through in life and not just from one point of view but from two! I would read this book over and over again. It has become my new favorite and I think the author did a magnificent job writing the book for kids and I think adults might also enjoy it. 

Blog post Flipped issues/problems in the book

   In the book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, a lot of new things have occurred a lot of new problems have occurred. Julianna and Bryce have had a lot of mixed emotions about each other. Bryce has had problems with his grandad and his family is a mess.
       Julianna and Bryce had a problem over eggs. Juli being the nice and considerate person she is, would give Bryce and his family eggs for free that her chickens lay.Bryce would throw them out because his family thought they had salmonella and that they would get poisoned. Then one day Juli catches him and when he told her that he was throwing them out because they might poison them because she got them from her chickens who lived in hr messy backyard. She took it to heart and determined to fix her yard. I felt really mad at Bryce because he was extremely mean and he made Juli feel awful. Juli seems like a really strong person but inside I think she is very sensitive and she is in love with Bryce and to see it was coming from the person who she liked it must have affected her a lot. I like Juli in particular because she is determined and she never let's anything bring her down. Many people should learn from her because after what Bryce told her she was determined to fix her yard.
    Bryce grandad is another issue that Bryce has to deal with. Bryce's grandad is not mean with Bryce but he doesn't show Bryce that grandfatherly love that we all expect from our relatives. And I thunk that the problem gets even bigger when Bryce sees his grandfather helping Juli and that he preferred helping Juli instead of him. But then then later in the book he finds out his grandpa isn't such a bad person an actually likes him and then Bryce feels better.
      Bryce is also affected by his family. His dad insults the Bakers all the time and calls them retarded and thinks  that something is wrong with them. Bryce's mother thinks that they  have been really unjust with the Bakers and were too quick to judge them. I agree with Bryce's mom and think that everyone should get to know one another before you judge someone. I see that all time and sometimes I find myself doing the same. Then I feel bad about it because I wouldn't want people to judge when they haven't even got to know me yet.
    Bryce know is beginning to understand things he didn't know before and fixing mistakes he made. He also has to fix many of his problems because I think he would benefit from being friends with Juli and learn things about life. I would love to be friends with Juli she seems like the kind of person who would help me see things in a different perspective and help me see things more clearly.

Blog post on the book Flipped #8

     In the book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen, the book is told by two points of view. The first point of view is Bryce who is this boy who moves to a town where there is a girl named Julianna who is the other point of view of the story. I personally think that makes the book more interesting because you get two see the opinions and thoughts of two different people on the same topic. 
     Bryce in the book sees everything with a sort of negative perspective. He doesn't think posting and he always shown like a boring character but he isn't really. He thinks that everything that Julianna does is bad and that she abnormal. He also thinks she a know it all who is obsessed with him. I think that Julianna just acts like that because she doesn't have any friends and she sees something in Bryce that she didn't see in the other kids. I think Bryce on the other hand is afraid to accept what he truly feels for Julianna. He is afraid that if he becomes friends with her he will become just as crazy as her. If I were in Bryce's position I would be her friend maybe he will find that she is not so bad and is just trying to get accepted by someone for once in her life.
     Julianna is the more fun character she doesn't care if the gets covered in mud or if she different from all the other kids. Her perspective is the complete opposite of Bryce. She is absolutely in love with him. She always talks about how his eyes are the most amazing thing ever. Julianna is never afraid to try something new or day what is on her mind. Bryce is and I think that is what makes Julianna like him so much. She does make lots of effort to try and be his friend but he wants absolutely nothing to do with her. Sometimes I find myself reading the book and feeling sad for both of them. But in particular Julianna because Bryce can't learn to accept her for the say she is.
     I think that Bryce wants to be Julianna's friend but he is afraid to accept that. I think Bryce has to learn how to accept people for they are. Also he has so much pressure from his family because his dad and sister call him coward for being afraid of Julianna, so he gets even more scared if taking to her. He might just be afraid that Julianna won't accept him. But I think that they would make great friends because they somehow look like they can get along.   

Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok (The issues of immagrating to America for a young chinese girl)

    I’m currently reading a book called Girl in Translation by Jean kwok. The book is about a girl named Kim who immigrates to America with her mom from Hong Kong. In the book Kim so far has been dealing with school, working in a sweatshop and living in a horrible apartment where the living conditions aren’t great.

     One of the problems Kim is facing right now is her home. She lives in this building where it appears to be only her mom and her living. She has to sleep on the same bed as her mom and the bed they use is just a mattress on the floor. The floorboards are so weak that when she and her mom walk on them they could collapse at any minute. There is a problem with rodents and roaches. She talks about how she can feel something walk across her every night and how they roaches crawl on the floor every day. She doesn’t have any good windows they are all cracked or there is plainly no window at all. They also don’t have any heat which means they freeze all night and the only thing covering the windows is trash bags. The saddest thing of all is that her aunt Paula doesn’t care she always tells Kim’s mom that they will move them somewhere better but they never do. Also Kim wants to go back to Hong Kong where her life wasn’t perfect but it was better than what she is going through now. I personally would stand to live in a house like that. I would rather go live in a shelter where I know there is someone there who is going to care for me and look after me.

     Another problem that Kim faces is school, her teacher Mr. Bogart always accuses her of cheating and gives her zeros. She even started skipping school because she didn’t want to go to class just because she felt that Mr. Bogart was going to pick on her. In Hong Kong she was the best student and she would always get a prize for being the best. I think that Mr. Bogart should cut her some slack because she just got to a new country and she doesn’t even speak English and she is just trying to learn like everyone else. She shouldn’t get treated that way and that isn’t very teacher like. Teachers are suppose to be there to teach us not bring us down.

     Kim’s life overall right now is very difficult and she is very young to be dealing with so many problems. She should be learning to get around not wearing about rats walking over her and feeling bad because of her teacher. If I were in her position I would have begged my parents to take me back to Hong Kong because I would not stand it. She is like a role model because as such young age she acting like an adult and sucking it up so her and her mom have a better future.

I'm still reading "When You Reach Me", and there are some serious social issues and other small ones. The main character Miranda talks aboout her life day by day and her thoughts on everything. The book has made me think about the world and how sometimes we say things and people might not understand or misinterpret us.
Something that i noticed in the book is that people misinterpret things which then they causes a bigger issue among the characters. Miranda called Julia this girl in the book Swiss Miss and then when somebody stole Jimmy's flinstone bank he said ghat it was Julia. I was very surprised and I asked my myself why JImmy would say that because in the book Julia is suppose to be a very rich person. Then Jimmy said a really racist comment. He was accessing Julia because she was black. I was extremely shocked and so were the characters in the book. I asked myself the same question Miranda did why would Jimmy say that just because she is black? Then he compared it to whatiranda said earlier and said he said it for the same reason Miranda had called her Swiss Miss. I think that the author put the issue of racism to show how sometimes what we say can be misinterpreted. I think that Jimmy should have thought about what he said befoe he said it. Its not correct to judge someone or accuse them of doing something just because of their skin color. Not everyone is the same. In Miranda's case I probably would gave told Jimmy that the comment about Julia wasn't what he thought it was from the beginning that way there wouldn't have been a confusion.
The next issue I wouldn't exactly say it was a major issue but the issue of acceptance and recongnizing that you were wrong about a person comes up in the book a lot. When Miranda notices that Julia isn't such a bad person is important. She notices that in life we have to learn to like them even if we dont like the person's attitude or the way they seem. Sometimes people turn out to be better than what we expect. That something this book taught me. We have to put aside people's differences and learn to like them or try to be friends with them. The issue of acceptance is important too. Miranda thinks that Annemarie will judge her because she doesn't live in the fanciest place. But what she doesn't realize is that it doesn't matter where she lives as long as she is happy and is healthy that's all that matters. I learned that you don't have to look at appearances but how the person is and if they are mean or nice. Sometimes we just have to learn how to be ourselves and not care about what others think.
In all there are some pretty important issue and each one taught me a different lesson. We have to think before we talk or take any sort of action towards somebody and also to accept life and how we are. All we need is to be happy and people will accept us that way.