Perfect Chemistry: Weekly Blog Post

Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles

          Perfect Chemistry is mainly about relationship that grows and grows. But it's filled with dark problems. Brittany, is the good girl in the story. Alex, is the bad boy in the story. They face through stereotypes, gangs and drugs, and heartbreak together. Their relationship is based on the these problem, but a darker problem lies beyond them both: family.

          Stereotypes. Brittany is from the north side. Alex is from the south side so it means they can't communicate in any way. Even them working on a chemistry project is a big problem for each person's group of friends. So when Brittany and Alex becomes more than just chemistry partners, things get messy with friends. Brittany's boyfriend, Colin breaks up with her and Alex's mom is even more furious than Brittany's mom. It's impossible to date especially since Alex's friends, including Carmen his ex is always teasing him.

          Gangs and drugs. Alex was a in a gang and it affected his relationship with Brittany a lot. They got into arguments and fights. Alex's gang friend, Paco was even killed during a drug dealing. Gangs and drugs eventually led to heartbreak. Alex became frustrated because he had no choice, but to stay in the gang. Brittany didn't understand that. After heartbreak, comes family. Both of them have major problems with their family including death and having a mentally disabled child in the house. This affects them by putting permanent scars on them and this also makes them similar.

          Perfect Chemistry's problems make the book what it is.

Glass: Weekly Blog Post

Glass By Ellen Hopkins


          Glass is a book with a lot of hard things going on with Kristina, the main character. One problem is addiction. Kristina is addicted to drugs and she won't stop. The drug, also known as the "monster" kills her and her family inside and out. Her family has to kick her out of the house because of this addiction. She goes to a point where she can't stop no matter what she does. the monster tears her and her family apart meanwhile bringing her close to her druggie friends and her druggie boyfriend. Her addiction has led to teen pregnancy and jail, but what actually caused this addiction was peer pressure.

          Teen pregnancy is also a problem. While addicted to the monster, Kristina has a baby that she barely cares about. Her baby, Hunter is also affected by her addiction by hurt. Kristina has tried to stop using drugs for her baby, but things got even worse. Hunter got injured several times and it was clearly a sign for Kristina that she needs to stop using drugs, but she went deeper into her addiction. Kristina has no control of herself or baby. Jail has been a problem, too. Kristina and her druggie boyfriend, Trey get arrested and they both go through the pain of separation from drugs and from each other. In jail, Kristina also finds out that she is pregnant again and now this baby will be even more hurt than Hunter. 

          Peer pressure caused the addiction. Kristina's first love, Adam introduced her to the world of drugs, and all her boyfriends after Adam were addicted. Kristina's friend Robyn affected her the most. Robyn did lots of drugs, dealt with drug dealers, and she got Kristina hooked up to addiction. This book is really about how addiction can change your life and everything in it.

Lock And Key: What really hard things are happening in the text?

Lock And Key by Sarah Dessen

          One really hard thing is mainly about how Ruby gets abandoned by her mother. It is the most obvious problem, but the problem leads on to many other things. One thing that is caused by Ruby's mother's abandonment is opening up and kind of fitting in. Ruby is not a "average teenager" from her words and it's mainly because her mother left her. For example, Ruby does not like to waste money and she learned how to not waste money during her mother's absence.  She also knows how to work hard because later on in the book, she even gets a job and volunteers to help out other people too. After her mother left, she was moved to her sister's house and had to go to a new school. That only made things worst. She only had one friend at her new school, Perkins Day and unlike all of the other students, she doesn't even think about college until her sister and her husband, Jamie mentions it.

          Her mother's abandonment leads on to a new life, house, and of course boys. She even gets hooked up with beer and drugs with a boy named Marshall. Another boy is Nate and he is the person who changes Ruby and her perspective on life which was"Expect the worst so you'll never be disappointed" to a much more positive attitude on life. But Nate leads her to troubles which involves parent abuse and Ruby is tangled with Nate's life and she wants to save him from his father who constantly abuses him and yells at him.

          This story's issues are not as harsh because most issues aren't even focused on Ruby even though it does involve Ruby. But all of these issues were caused by abandonment.

         

Girl In Translation: How does the text make you think about justice in the world?

Girl In Translation by Jean Kwok

         Girl In Translation is mostly about fitting in, child labor and poverty, and the biggest problem of all: racism. The problem with fitting in and trying to fit in makes me think about what happens at our school now. There's a bunch of cool, popular kids and there's the bunch that has no friends at all and they're always feeling lonely. I feel even more bad for them at lunch because they don't have a friend to eat lunch with. Not everyone fits in and not everyone has a good friend or just a plain friend and I think that's really unfair. I always see a lot of people teasing them and it's really unfair.

          Poverty led Kimberly, the girl facing all of these problems to having no friends at all at first. It led to so much teasing, especially when all the girls were changing in the locker rooms.  All of Kimberly's clothes were home-made except for her uniform, but her underwear was and she didn't have any bras or socks because she was too poor. Buying those things meant wasting her hard earned money from working with her mom at the clothing factory gone. She always got teased by kids because of that. It makes me thing about how in the world, not everyone is rich and wealthy so no one should tease someone because of that. It's unfair because it's not her choice and it wasn't a choice to be born like that and she didn't choose to be poor.

          Racism is so much of a problem. Kimberly and her mother came from Hong Kong to America, New York, Brooklyn and she did not know that much English. At school, her students and even her teacher teased her and laughed at her because she didn't understand what the teacher was talking about. Outside of school, most rich and white people teased her and her mother. When her mother wanted the man to fix the oven, he broke it instead and even charged her for money. It's unfair because just because they don't know English, that does not mean they are stupid or stupid in any way. It makes me think about how a lot of people in the real world try to cheat money off of people that can't speak English. It's disrespectful and rude.

        

Burned: What really hard things are happening in the text?

Burned by Ellen Hopkins         
          Throughout this whole book, it is filled with problems and they lead to even bigger problems. Let's say the main character, Pattyn is just really messed up. But it's not all her fault. It deals a lot with her family too. One main problem is child abuse and adult abuse too. Her dad beats her up and beats her mom up too. He is very strict and expects everyone in this huge family to follow his orders. Pattyn didn't listen and the more she didn't care, the more he beat her up. Pattyn didn't want to deal with him, but she couldn't just let her dad boss her around like that. He only used Pattyn's mom for sex and that got Pattyn thinking about that too. There is also a deep problem that causes most of the family's problem.

          Religion. Religion nearly tore the whole family apart. Religion was why Pattyn was sent away to her aunt's ranch in the summer. Her dad is deeply religious and that's why he's so strict. Pattyn was a Mormon and was supposed to be a good one, too. But she started kissing and making out with guys, almost having sex with a useless boy that was soon forgotten, and started to drink and use drugs. She also did have sex in the summer and even became pregnant. Obviously, this is not what a Mormon should do. Her dad didn't like it and the people at church didn't like it either. A Brother at church said Pattyn was possessed by the Devil. Over the summer, Pattyn wasn't a Mormon anymore. This led to a big problem that wouldn't be fixed.

          Homelessness. When Pattyn's friend, Trevor learned that she had a secret love who she had sex with (Ethan) he told on her parents. Trevor even got Ethan's car with Ethan, Pattyn, and Pattyn's baby in it arrested and it crashed. Ethan died and so did the baby. This led to her dad being furious and disowning her. He already had a new son (his only) and Pattyn was useless. She had nowhere to go anymore.

          The pages in this book are really Burned and it shows a lot of problems teens outside deal with.

Reread: The Phantom Tollbooth Archetype Entry

          "Of course, if you've ever gotten a surprise package, you can imagine how puzzled and excited Milo was; and if you've you never gotten one, pay close attention, because someday you might. 'I don't think it's my birthday,' he ouzzled, 'and Christmas must be months away, and I haven't been outstandingly good, or even good at all.'" Page 12

          These are the words of a clueless hero. Milo was a hero because he saved the princesses Rhyme and Reason, but also because he saved himself from literally dying of boredom. He was the one who wanted to open the package and he also discovered a whole new world from it. He also has a lot of sidekicks or companions like Tock and the Humbug who helps him finish his task to find the princesses and rescue them and they were the ones who stood with Milo during the worst situations. For example, on page 234, Tock helps out everyone by helping them escape. The Humbug, is the shapeshifter. He keeps on getting in the way. For example, he got Milo into jail and he's also wrong most of the time. But I guess the Humbug can help in some ways to Milo. But Milo is the true hero even though he's wrong a lot of times because he mainly saved Rhyme and Reason and he was usually the one who met a lot of new people who helped them along the journey. Milo is the true hero.

Reread: Charlotte's Web Archetype Entry

          "Templeton grinned and lay still. 'Who made trip after trip to the dump?' he asked. 'Why, it was old Templeton! Who saved Charlotte's life by scaring that Arable boy away with a rotten goose egg? Bless my soul, I believe it was old Templeton. Who bit your tail and got you back on your feet this morning after you had fainted in front of the crowd? Old Templeton. Has it every occurred to you that I'm sick of running errands and doing favors? What do you think I am anyway, a rat-of-all-work?' Wilbur was desperate. The people were coming. And that rat was failing him. Suddenly he remembered Templeton's fondness for food." Page 168

          This paragraph shows how Templeton is the shapeshifter.  He's not always bad, but he does play a big role because he did so many things even if Wilbur had to bribe him or the old sheep had to talk some sense into him. At the end of Page 168, Wilbur bribed him and Templeton finally "bared his long ugly teeth" and saved Charlotte's daughters. Templeton did save Charlotte at last, but then he changes his side again. He eats Wilbur's food and is a lazy old rat. But there are some things that Templeton does and nobody has to bribe him or talk sense into him. On Page 159, Templeton bites Wilbur's tail, although it was good that Wilbur woke, Templeton did it for fun. He even chuckled. It's like he's evil, but sometimes he can do something for the good side if he gets something good for him. He's really selfish if he's told to do something and there's no bribe. He will not budge. This is why he is the shapeshifter.

Reread: Charlotte's Web: Connecting Annotation Entry

           "'Tell me a story. Charlotte!' said Wilbur. as he lay waiting for sleep to come. 'Tell me a story!' Page 101 ......But Wilbur was already asleep. When the song ended, Fern got up and went home. Page 104"

          A pattern I notice is that Fern keeps on popping out of nowhere. She barely does anything during the chapter and at the end of the chapter, she just leaves. She does not interact with Charlotte or Wilbur. But on the next chapter, Page 105, Fern always talks to her mother about it. Fern would just sit and listen and then she would interact a whole lot with her mother. It's showing how Fern doesn't even want to talk to Charlotte or Wilbur, but it's also a pattern that's somehow saying that Fern will grow apart soon, Fern will not take part in Wilbur's life soon. It made Fern seem far apart from the story and far apart from Wilbur and Charlotte's life. Fern was like a mysterious figure who just sat and watch. It was like she was just observing the way of animal life. It was like E.B White was using Fern as a speaker for himself because she's observing everything and it's almost like she's talking during the chapters where she's in the barn with Wilbur and Charlotte.
        
          Pages 44 to 47, Fern didn't speak the whole entire time. You would almost think that Fern was gone, but then she popped up again in the picture on Page 46. Pages 48 to 51, Fern didn't do anything except for "grow rigid on her stool" when she learned that Wilbur was going to die. It was Charlotte who offered to save him. Fern was only mentioned two times in this chapter and it surprised me because Fern was still mentioned even though Charlotte was supposed to be focus. Fern still pops out of nowhere and she is only there to listen to a conversation that she is not even in. She really did grow apart and nothing can change that.

Reread: Charlotte's Web Expanding Entry

"Fern loved Wilbur more than anything. She loved to stroke him, to feed him, to put him to bed..." Page 8

          This line really shows how Fern used to really love Wilbur and would constantly think about him. Fern showered Wilbur with love. E.B White is giving us just a glimpse of how Fern reacted when she first met Wilbur, but of course, it won't last forever. At the end of Chapter 2, Page 12, Fern didn't argue as much as she did when her dad was going to kill Wilbur. Fern let go of Wilbur and that was already a sign that Fern was going out of focus.  On Chapter 3, it mainly focuses on Wilbur's new life at the barn and the new animals there. Fern and Wilbur are really separated when Wilbur moves into the barn because they can't do anything together. Fern just sat there watching all the animals and Wilbur and not talking. On Page 46, there is a picture of the geese, Templeton, and Charlotte. But Fern is sitting in the corner and that's another sign that E.B White is giving us that Fern is growing up. It seems like Fern would never "stroke" or "feed" him much less play with him. In that picture, there is also Wilbur behind the fence and far away from everyone else. It's like the drawing is telling us that there is a line between Fern and Wilbur's relationship now. I have a feeling that Charlotte has replaced Fern. Charlotte cares so much more about Wilbur than Fern does and she's even willing to save him. Sometimes Charlotte teaches him words, too.

"Fern liked to sit nearby and watch. One afternoon she heard a most interesting conversation and witnessed a strange event." Page 55

          Fern only watched Charlotte and Wilbur. They never all actually talked and played. This shows how Fern is so distant from Wilbur. Fern never joins their conversations. On Page 71, Fern said she was going to visit Wilbur, but it mainly focused on Avery almost knocking out the spider web and the spider itself. But, Fern by not doing anything did bring Charlotte and Wilbur closer. On the cover of the book, Wilbur and Fern are looking up to Charlotte. Wilbur got his mind off of Fern and being lonely by spending time with Charlotte. Both of them became a team and that's what matters.