The Raft

I just finished reading the raft by S.A. bodeen. This was one of my favorite books I have ever read. Any one can read this book because it written from both an adult/teenage perspective. The story takes place in Hawaii (3 different places in hawaii) Midway atoll, the island, the raft, the airplane, and Oahu. In the beginning of the book we are introduced to the main character Robbie, Robbie is 15, a little rebellious, and bored. She want's to take a break from her everyday life in Midway with her parents so, Robbie flies to L.A. where she meets her aunt A.J.

Robbie is looking forward to spending time with her aunt but unfourtenalty, her aunt has work in chicago. Robbie convinces her aunt that she can stay by her self, after robbie was attacked by the man, she hopped on the next flight back home. Shortly after her flight takes off, the plane encounters severe turbulence. Larry, the pilot, attempts to fly ahead of the storm front, but the plane loses an engine and begins to experience hydraulic failure. Larry attempts a controlled crash on the water, which enables Robie and Max (the co-pilot) to escape. 

Color Of Water

For English class, I just started reading The Color Of Water by James McBride. The book starts off with James mother (Ruth) talking about her dark  childhood. Ruths  part of the book takes place in Sullfok Virginia, where she grew up.   Later on Ruth explains "I am dead to my family." (McBride 23) to her family as a result of her marriage to Andrew Mccbride (james father) because he is an African American. 

(This book is written from the mothers and the sons perspective) 

When the book gets to James part, he talks about when he was little and how he didn't know his mother was different. "How come you don't look like me?" (McBride 10) This quote shows that James knew his mother was different but didn't understand why. In this chapter, the bicycle that his mother rides through the neijborhood is discussed a lot. James thinks that his mothers bicycle symbolizes his embarrasment because his mother is white. 

I am really enjoying this book because the author tells his story really well and the book is written from two different perspectives. That gives the reader a chance to get an idea about what not only James, but what his mother was going through. I am not even halfway through the book yet haha but I can tell it's impactful and gives off a good lesson. 

Readers take a moment and ask yourselves: Have you ever been embarrassed and not wanting to talk about where you come from ? dun Dun dun 

Life As We Knew It

"I guess I always felt even if the world came to an end, McDonald's would still be open.” 

  I just finished reading Life As We Knew By Susan Beth. The book  explores what happens to an ordinary family in a normal  town when their world changes forever. An asteroid hits the moon, knocking it into a closer orbit. This causes all kinds of disasters that bring the world to a halt. Without shops, food, electricity, heat and water, Miranda  ( the main character) and her family face problems together and struggle to survive.

The book is about a normal teenage girl named Miranda normal sixteen-year-old girl who goes to  high school and thinks about friends and boys. The story is told in the form of her diary, allowing the reader to see her private thoughts and feelings 

Everyone at her school is excited about the asteroid that will hit the moon, but when it happens it is not the exciting as they all thought it would be. Instead, the asteroid knocks the moon closer to the earth, causing tsunamis, storms and earthquakes all over the world.

As the book goes on more tragic events keep happening. Miranda's friends are nowhere to be heard from and her family is in danger, all of the members of her family get infected with the flu except for her and food is running out. Miranda decides not to eat all the food they have left and save it for her family and hope that they will get better 

This book was amazing to read. But it was very sad and didn't have a happy ending :( one lesson that I can take away from this book is that you should be greatful for what you have and that your life can change in a matter of seconds to a completely normal person.  One of the other things that i absolutley loved when reading this was that Miranda's story is written in the form of her diary. The reader is able to see clearly through her thoughts and what she is going through, she also addresses some of the not so great sides of being a teenager which, anyone can relate too. 


Heres a book trailer if you're interested Hope you Enjoy!!! :) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vtXlkHmzGc 

Resillency

                                                                Resiliency 


In I am Malala, Malala shows a lot of resiliency by standing up for her beliefs and not letting the Taliban pose as a threat to her. Even in the most difficult times when it seemed like there was no hope for her country (Pakistan) and when she was put in a dangerous situation, Malala continues to be resilient. 

Malala still remains resilient by surrounding herself with the people she loves like her family and friends. " My family was scared, but our fear was not as strong as our courage. We must rid the valley of the Taliban, and then no one has to feel this fear,' he said" (Yousafzai 138). This quote shows that Malala and her family are very strong people and they didn't let anything stop them from fighting the Taliban. 

What helped Malala reach her goal was that she took charge of the problem, thought of things in perspective, and figured out a way to spread ways that people could help fix the problem that was heating up in Pakistan. Malala is an inspiration not just for girls, but for everyone around the world. She makes evevryone know that if you want to make a difference in the world, put your mind to it and you can and will succeed. 

I just wanted to finish this post off with one of my favorite quotes :) and just because it relates to the book 

  

"Be the change you want to see in the world." 

I Am Malala Discussion

Today in English, we discussed these 2 essential questions 

1):How do people stand up for their beliefs? 

2): What do personal stories teach us about our connections to others' cultures and humanity?)

For the first essential question, How do people stand up for their beliefs?, I said that Malala and her family don't give up on the things they love and what they believe in, for example Malala's fathers school. In the book it says "For us a turban is a public symbol of chivalry and Pashtun-ness, and for a man to lose his turban is considered a great humiliation. But then he started up again. "I never said those things to your clerk. He is lying." My father had had enough. 'You have no business here,' he shouted. 'Go away!' (Yousafzai 99). 

For the second essential question, What do personal stories teach us about our connections to others' cultures and humanity? I said that it teaches us about how things effect people differently around the world. Obvisouly, 9/11 had a different effect on the people who live in the U.S. and the people who live across the world. For Malala it caused war and chaos in her country according to her. 

This quote says that other people thought differently. "some of our religious people saw Osama bin Laden as a hero.  These people said 9/11 was revenge on the Americans for what they had been doing to other people around the world, but they ignored the fact that the people in the World Trade Center were innocent and had nothing to do with American policy and that the Holy Quran clearly says it is wrong to kill" (Yousafzai 85).  

I think what Malala stands for and what she has done is awesome. She has truly made a difference in the world. Sooo.. Im just trying to encourage all you readers out there to take charge of your beliefs and don't let anyone try to bring you down!! 

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I am Malala

For English class I am reading, "I am Malala." By Malala yousafazi. The book is about a teenage girl who lives in swat, Pakistan. Malala's home gets invaded by the Taliban and they prevent girls from going to school and getting an education. Malala speaks against what the Taliban are doing, and as a result of standing up for her beliefs she gets shot in the head by the Taliban at age of 15.

Honestly, I thought this book was going to be really boring and that it was just go on and on about importance of education. But instead I loved this book, Malala starts off the book talking about her parents and the important roles they played in her standing up for her beliefs. I think Malala started the book of talking about her parents because she didn't have much to write about. Disregarding the fact the her country was at war and she still got shot she is 17-yeas-old.

One thing that I learned from this book was how events around the world can effect you. I have never really questioned what events around the world effect me. Usually when I hear something tragic happen I do feel extremely bad for the people it effected but I tend to push it to the side and carry on with my life.  In I am Malala when 9/11 happened it changed Malala's world. "We did not realize then that 9/11 would change our world too, and would bring war to our valley" (Yousafzai 57). " That part of the book really stood out to me. I never knew that something on the other side of the world could effect someone not even close to that.

I really enjoyed reading this book and I recommend to anyone who has gone through discrimination or a hard time in their life.

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I just finsished  reading "The Color of Water" by James McBride. This novel is "thoughtful contribution to litterature on race." I am enjoy reading this book, the main reason being, the author writes the book from 2 different perspectives. This book was impactful and taught a good lesson.

What I enjoyed about this book the most was how the author portrays his mother, and how she plays a big role in all her children's lives/carrers.  Some of the things she says in the book explains what all mothers do to protect their children. I often think my mom wants to start a fight for no reason about anything. But, reading this book helped my understand what she's doing. 

Why do you think parents go to/ would go to an extreme level to protect their children? 

Reading this book made me realize how greatful you should be for the things you have. The main character in the book had 12 siblings, not a lot of money, a small house, and a rough childhood.He went from having nothing to becoming a famous author.