Reading Response

Juliette Daignault 802

             Maintaining friendships in high school can be a challenging thing. The book Ttyl by Lauren Myracle deals with the struggle of high school drama, and friendship. The three friends Maddie, Angela, and Zoe are beginning their sophomore oh high school. Fresh with great memories from their summer together they promise each other to stick together during the year. But besides this the book is also a banned or challenged book. As I read this book one question that I had was why it was banned? I did not read anything that I didn’t think could be happening in real life or was wildly inappropriate. So why was this book banned? Some reasons may have been because there was alcohol use or inappropriate relationships with teachers.

            During the book the character Maddie goes to a party and gets drunk, and dances without a shirt on. This was one of the few scenes that could be seen as inappropriate for teens to read. But this kind of thing can happen in real life and be something to be aware of. If you are aware of these things then you can try to prevent them from happening, but if you are sheltered you may be more likely to do something like this because you are oblivious to these subjects. Another scene that may be seen as inappropriate is when the three best friends are in the hot tub with the teacher Mr. H. The character Zoe is invited to go hot tubing with her teacher and she feels obliged to say yes. So her friends have to interfere and they come into the hot tub with Zoe and Mr. H and get Zoe to leave with them. This is another example of an inappropriate scene but something that could happen in real life.

            These are probably the only two inappropriate scenes in the book besides the use of bad language, and talking about sex. Theses are all things that do happen in teen’s lives and should be exposed to teens to learn more about the subject. Reading about these subjects doesn’t mean it will make teens want to do things like this, it just means they will be aware of the consequences that doing things like this will happen. Teens should feel free to read what they want even if it may seem inappropriate.

            Reading Ttyl has given me a glimpse of a banned book and why people may think it should be banned. I now know that I disagree with why these books are banned because things should be exposed to teens who want to learn about things that happen around them in their lives.

Reading Response  Juliette Daignault 802

In the book Rules by Cynthia Lord the main character Catharine has an autistic brother named David. It is summer time and Catharine is hoping to make friends with a girl named Kristi who just moved in across the street. Catharine tries to befriend Kristi without letting Kristi know too much about her difference from other families. She never brings her to her house when David is around, and never mentions him to Kristi. She is faced with the trouble of whether Kristi could ever be a true friend when she conceals thing from her. By looking at Catharine's relationship with Kristi throughout the book we can see how they aren’t actually true friends. In our own lives we can apply this to how we distinguish true friends from fake friends by how we feel around them.

In the book Catharine feels embarrassed about having an autistic brother, and tries to conceal it from Kristi. Catharine thinks that if she tells Kristi about David too early she wont want to be friends with Catharine. "I peek over, but the girl isn't glancing now; she's staring right at us." In this scene Catharine has just seen Kristi for the first time. She wants to make a good impression on her, but David is outside as well and is drawing attention to him and Catharine. Catharine doesn’t want Kristi to think that her family is strange, that's why she was peeking over at Kristi to see if she was looking at them. When Kristi looks over at her and David, Catharine feels self-conscious. By looking at this the reader can instantaneously see that they would not become that close of friends. Even though they had just met, they should feel comfortable with each other, which Catharine clearly does not. 

Later in the story Catharine realizes she cant always worry about her brother, and if someone really wants to be her friend, they would understand her families differences. Catharine finally understands the importance of true friends, and how her brother needs her. "Tomorrow I'm going to tell Mom she has a point about David needing his own words, but other things matter, too. Like sharing something small and special, just my brother and me." Catharine wants to share things with her brother, and begins to understand him better. She knows that being with her brother is important, and that it's good to have quality time with him. She appreciates that her parents were right and that people will understand that her family is different. She learns that a true friend will accept these things without judgment, and that if you don’t feel comfortable with someone and try to evade them, then they are not a true friend.

Overall Catharine was embarrassed by her brother, but she learns to get over it. Catharine realizes that if a person really cares, you don’t need to cover things up. She begins to see that it's not worth it to get frustrated at someone just because you feel self-conscious about something. I recognized that every one feels embarrassed sometimes, and the hard part is understanding that you shouldn't feel bad about things. Catharine has moved on from feeling humiliated and understands the importance of being honest. She knows she can be herself when she's around someone who really cares.

Finished Booklist

Stolen by: Lucy Christopher
Perks of Being a Wallflower by: Stephen Chbosky
Sold by: Patricia McCormick
Gone Girl by: Gillian Flynn

“Ashes” Reading Response                               Juliette Daignault 802

             Divorce is a major difficulty that many teens face in their life. In the short story “Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer, the reader is brought into the life of a girl named Ashes who is affected by the challenges of divorce. During this time Ashes feels the weight of being torn between her very different parents. Her father who makes promises he cannot keep and her mother who is grounded and realistic. In the story, we can see how complicated relationships affect the choices we make.

            In the story the character Ashes talks about her father in a kind, caring way, making him sound like a special person in Ashes’ life. He gives her what she thinks she wants, and she loves him for it.  For example, Ashes says, “That winter, it felt like every time I saw my father, the sun cast off just a little more warmth than it had the day before.” We can compare this quote to how winters are cold and bland, like what her life could be like. But then, it explains when she’s with her father its seems to be warmer, meaning her father makes her feel happy. Ashes describes her father as wonderful person to be around, and someone she feels comfortable with. As the story progresses her father asks her a deeper question that may change opinions on whether he is truly a good person. Ashes’ father asks her to take money from her mother’s “safe jar.” “I looked out the window and saw only ash gray sky. In the cold stillness of the night, I could hear my fathers car keening in the distance.” At this moment Ashes is deciding whether to take the money. When she looks out she describes the sky as gray and dark, unlike how she had mentioned him before. This leads us to believe that her father in the end was not the parent who provided for Ashes.

            Not only is Ashes’ relationship with her father complicated, but she also has a complex relationship with her mother as well. She never portrays her mother as being a unique or impactful person. “With Mom, there are a lot of rainy days and she takes a grim sort of pleasure in being ready for them.” This quote is also a metaphor in saying her mother isn’t the parent who makes things necessarily fun or gives Ashes what she thinks she wants. We can see that there is a drastic difference in how Ashes describes her mother from her father in the beginning of the story. Ashes makes her father seem like the better parent and her mother less important. Yet, after Ashes dad asks her to take the money from her mother we question who the better parent is. “The apartment was quiet. It always felt a little colder when mom wasn’t there. Even with the lights on, it seemed a little darker.” This is where Ashes’ feelings towards her mother shift. This is after Ashes’ dad asks her to take the money. Ashes is now describing what it feels like without the mother and is now mentioning the mother as the one who provides the warmth and light in her life. Now, we see how Ashes might be realizing that the mother has been the one who has been giving her what she needs.

            This story shows us how people can be more complicated then they show themselves to be. The story on the whole might be teaching us a lesson on how relationships can complicate even the simplest things. Taking money from someone is wrong in many senses, but yet for Ashes it is something she really has to think about. This may be the result of how her own relationships complicated making decisions of wrong from right hard. This can be a real life lesson as well, and should be something to learn from. The complications of others around us can influence how we make our own choices. All teens can apply this to themselves when making decisions and take into account who has affected the choices we make.

Reading Response                Juliette Daignault 802

During the summer I read the book The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This book describes the life of a young man named Nick, who moves from Minnesota to Long Island where his cousin and fiancé are living. While there he discovers he is a neighbor to the well-known Jay Gatsby. As the story progresses you become aware of the romantic history between Gatsby and Nick’s cousin Daisy. Throughout the book I believe the author does a great job with character development by creating the sensitive but mysterious character, Jay Gatsby.

In the beginning of the book, you don’t have a clear idea of who Gatsby is and he is made to seem very mysterious. There isn’t much description of Gatsby except for the rumors the people have on him. For example some say the Gatsby killed a man, while others say he was part of World War I. This creates a space for the readers to begin imagining things about Gatsby. The things the people have said make you think that Gatsby is not the best of a person and that he has a reputation for doing something. I believe the author does a great job of setting up the character this way. You are fed little bits and pieces of what is known about the character. Personally, I believed the character Gatsby wasn’t a very reliable person in the beginning of the book. But then the author changes perspectives a little and you begin to see the more caring and sensitive side of Gatsby.

As the story progresses and the character Nick and Gatsby become better acquaintances and you realize that Gatsby is different then you thought. Fro example the author says, “He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come four or five times in life.” This shows that the character Gatsby is a very sincere person. You can also tell that the character, Nick was surprised by Gatsby’s response. I think he assumed that Gatsby would live up to the rumors about him. I believe that even the readers were surprised by his kind reaction. This is very good writing craft and character development.

In conclusion, the author did an amazing job with developing the character. This book made my feel passionate towards finding out more about the character and engaging in the change of the character. I know that people in the real world can sometimes be more complicated and hard to understand then the fictional characters of a book. But, in this case the author brought out all the parts of the character Gatsby and made him seem real and relatable.