Reading Wishlist

Christine's to-read book montage

Christine's favorite books »

Book Talk

Post 7: Wonder

Despite the physical differences, there are not that many that are actually in place.

I read Wonder for book four. The center of this story is about August, a fifth grader who is entering his first public school. Auggie stands out from the other 10 year olds. August has a facial deformity that he’s had since birth; “mandibulofacial dysostosis”( or the Treacher Collins syndrome).

A little about this deformity and how it has effected August is that his ears are little, hardly there, his hearing is deteriorating and his eyes lie halfway down his face with no eyelashes or eyebrows, he has no cheekbones and had to have part of his hip implanted to his face for him to have a chin, which would keep August from drooling and his tongue hanging out of his mouth.

August had a very rough start to his first time attending a public school, even though Mr. Tushman had three students come in over summer to tour August around the school and to befriend him, which doesn’t exactly turn how expected. Julian Albans turns to be a huge bully who causes many issues with Auggie’s life. Charlotte doesn’t speak to August in school as she is too caught up in school to focus on anything other. Finally, Jack Will. In the beginning I liked Jack’s character a lot. Jack spoke and sat by August in all the classes they shared, and eventually the two considered each other to be friends. That is, until Halloween when Jack Will tells Julian he would commit suicide if his face looked as Augusts’, and August overhears.

August ventures through the school year with tears and smiles and friends to no friends and A+ with a friend at lunch to receiving an award and no more bullies. August deals with bullies everywhere he goes, but by the end of the school year Julian is switching to a different school and the students who had followed Julian’s footsteps upon being rude have taken noticed to how normal August actually is, and they begin to stand up for Auggie on field trips and don’t mind if they touch his hand; August is no longer seen as the boy with the “Plague,” the boy with a birth defect who seems like he was in a fire. August is a normal school boy when their fifth grade graduation comes.

As I read this book, I would think Wow, I understand August, fore I have a brother who has cerebral palsy and I’ve dealt with the reactions and everything that comes with a syndrome or special needs, but when it all comes down to it, I don’t relate to August. No matter what we do or what event we encounter, we all experience them differently. I can’t put myself in August Pullman’s shoes because I don’t know what it’s like, and I never will. My brother has the opportunity to speak normally and can be capable of typical actions in the future, but no matter how many plastic surgeries August goes through, his face will still be different than another’s.

This book taught me a lot on how to view others, especially in a school as diverse has Mason High School. We will always judge others and be surprised by the differences we face, but we can help how we react and treat the other person. We can be nice to them and give them a friend; they may have never had a true friend before in their life. We could invite them to parties; they may have never attended a social gathering outside of family events. We could stand up for them. Humans, let alone children will always have to deal with bullies, it’s something we can’t control, but we can control whether we react or don’t react to the situation. If you are to keep quiet in the event of something, you are enforcing the opposing side. If we are to speak up and take a stand, we are supporting what we stand for.

   Treacher Collins syndrome is something that affects about 1 in 50,000 people. The syndrome affects the bone development and tissues of the face. This syndrome is developed from a mutations of the genes TCOFI and POLRID and 60% of those diagnosed with Treacher Collins have no history of a disability in their family. Although this is a rare "autosomal dominant congenital" disorder, this disorder is still present and still affecting the lives of children.

"There's always more to a person than what there appears."










Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacher_Collins_syndrome
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/treacher-collins-syndrome
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/t/treacher_collins_syndrome/stats.htm

Post 6: Thirteen Reasons Why - Listicle

5 ways Hannah Baker helped us learn from our actions

Hannah Baker stated the 13 reasons she committed suicide. As she explains what each person did that affected her, it surfaces that many of her reasons are things we all do often. After seeing the consequences of the actions, we can see how we could better our self.

1.      The after math of rumors

Since Hannah made the Who’s Hot list, boys have been eyeing her more often. After a rumor circulates around the school of what Hannah and her first kiss, Justin did at the park, boys begin to take advantage of her. After Justin’s lie spun off into other things, Hannah had to experience the consequences of the rumor. Marcus Cooley attempted to sexually harass Hannah, Tyler Down takes photos of Hannah in her bedroom, Bryce Walker sexually abuses Hannah. “But eventually, as they always will, the rumors reached me. And everybody knows you can’t disprove a rumor.” (Asher, 222). The fact Hannah tried to disprove the rumors about her, she found it to be no use, so as she continued being one of the only to know the actual truth, she continued being the mouse and the others as the snake.

2.      The definition of being a true friend

Hannah never had a friend to turn to; her “friends” would ride to a party and then leave once the two hit the door. They would leave Hannah alone even though they’re aware that’s the last thing that should happen. Hannah’s friends forget about olly-olly-oxen-free, and act as if they don’t know Hannah at all. All she needed was a real friend who she could turn and talk to about these sort of things; how she felt. “I wanted people to trust me, despite everything they’d heard…” (Asher, 199).

3.      Ignoring a topic, means you help the opposing side

Hannah makes Clay leave her when she’s upset, and soon after he’s gone Bryce Walker lead Jessica Davis into the room. As Hannah sat in the closet, she heard how Jessica was being raped by Bryce, and she knew Justin Foley was standing guard on the door, but neither of them were taking the chance to prevent the assault. “Think about it. He raped a girl and would leave town in a second if he knew… well… if he knew that we knew.” (Asher, 91). Hannah had the opportunity to stop Bryce from what he was doing, and so did Justin, but no one did anything.

4. Take responsibility

Hannah speaks about Jenny Kurtz in cassette 6, how she offered Hannah a ride home from a party. When Hannah finally agreed, Jenny was reckless and had an accident where she knocks a stop sign over. Jenny tries to convince Hannah that it’s no big deal; she doesn't need to call a report, so she kicked Hannah out of the car. Later in the evening there was a wreck. Because of the stop sign. Because Jenny didn’t take responsibility of her actions and call the police. The responsibility, or lack thereof, caused the loss of a teenage boy. “We’re all to blame,” [Tony] says. “At least a little.” (Asher, 110).

5. Speak up

Throughout the book, Clay realizes he should have tried to speak to Hannah more than lie in the background of her life. Clay obviously liked her, and vice versa. As Clay continues to listen to the suicide tapes, he notices how important one conversation could have made; that Hannah just needed someone to trust. Hannah had no one to turn to about her emotions, no friends or family she could talk about it with. Clay noticed the differences in her appearance, and how they screamed she was thinking of taking her own life. Clay and Hannah’s teacher even passed out a Suicide Prevention/Awareness paper to the class, and there was number one: a sudden change in appearance. Yet Clay still didn’t speak up.

Hannah Baker unfortunately, took her life. But in her explanations she had mentioned things that were very familiar with many typical teenagers. These are the five things we could do differently, that could have a big impact. If we could change just a few things, like listed above, we could change a life. We could keep another suicide from happening again.

Post 5: Truths in Memoirs

                 If a book is to be categorized under non-fiction, the book should at least be 97% true. The 3% gap in where the non-fiction book does not need to be true is where the author can add in some of the fiction. The author can add small details here and there to keep the readers from falling asleep. The main rule for this exception is that the author mustn't change the MAIN story-line. The facts should still be present, and the main picture/focus of the book intact to the last word of the last sentence.

               Although I believe it is okay to add in a teeny tiny bit of fiction scattered throughout the book, half-truths are big red no. If you are going to bend the truth of your story to publish it, it wouldn't be considered non-fiction any more. It would now be found on a scale of realistic fiction. If you are going to bend the truths (although I don’t recommend so) at least make the bend plausible, while also being close to the actual truth.

                I believe we do need lines between genres. Many readers tend to pick favorite genres, and without the lines, how would we know which book we would or wouldn't like? We could spend $20 on a hardcover book, without knowing whether the book was true or fictional beforehand, and then, 100 pages into the book you realize that you are not interested in the book- which could put any into a reading slump. Although we need the fine lines between genres, many sub-genres or crossover genres would be helpful. For those writers who create a story meant to be non-fiction that turns to be only 95% or less true, should have a genre the book could fall under. A mostly-true-but-also-fiction genre. With genres where books cold be categorized under for those half-and-half, there would be less confliction.

Post 4: Adapting American Sniper

                One of the most important decisions made in adapting American Sniper is what the book would be adapted into. I would pick for the book to be made into a movie rather than a musical or TV series. Kyle mentioned his family, his friends with his SEAL group, his sniping skills, and many more important roles in his story. A movie would capture the story all in one, with no need to make sure the endings if it were a TV series to tie into the next beginning, the movie would have it all there with no waiting for another week to see what happens next.

                In order for this book to become a movie, we would have to make a considerable amount of cuts for the film to not be ridiculously long. In the book Kyle included many in depth explanations, so as a director I would order that cut from being in the film. The next thing I would keep from going into the movie theaters would be Taya’s (Chris Kyle’s wife) for she was also a part of the book, but a lot of her inputs were unnecessary, making the book longer than needed. I would make these cuts in order for the audience to continue being reeled into the plot, the cuts would avoid the audience from getting bored of the film. The storyline without the long explanations and Taya’s input would be much more interesting and eye-catching.

                The soundtrack for the movie would include songs such as Centuries by Fall Out Boy, where this song captures the image of being a hero, but “some legends are told, some turn to dust or to gold,” which helps in the characterization of Chris Kyle. Kyle was very humble and proud to be fighting for his country; if he died, he wanted it to be on the battle field. But Kyle never considered himself to be the BEST sniper ever, or the worst, he didn’t take bragging rights, he gave recognition where needed instead of taking it for himself. Another song that would be played during the movie would be Red, White and Blue by Lynyrd Skynyrd, where the song goes “My hair's turning white, my neck's always been red, my collar's still blue, we've always been here.” This song signifies Kyle’s pride he holds for the country. The song I would place at the closing credits would be American Soldier by Toby Keith, because throughout the song the lyrics speak about a soldier who is trying to be a father and a loving husband, while saving the country. “And I will always do my duty, no matter what the price. I've counted up the cost, I know the sacrifice,” this lyric from the song relates tremendously to Kyle, because Kyle was very loyal to the USA, and he would do anything to continue fighting. Kyle would reenlist to the Navy time and time again, regardless of his wife’s or parent’s protests, he would do so for the country, in full knowledge of the sacrifices he’d have to make. American Soldier is a very powerful song that would end the film really well, tying all lose ends and leaving the audience to walk away from the theater holding pride for their country as Chris Kyle did.

Post #3: Book 1 Project: Fan Experience

Did you just LOVE Let It Snow? Did you hate it? No matter how you answered those questions, I would definitely recommend taking this quiz! You can see how well you know each character, and the book in whole. You get the percentage and an opinion on whether the quiz thinks you liked or disliked the book! Better yet, you can challenge your Goodreads friends, share on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram. It even will recommend book to read based on your score and whether you enjoyed the book or not!

            In the book, Jubilee’s parents ran into a little incident… Tobin comes to realize something he never has before… Addie is on a journey to find who she really is and wants to be.

Now you get to find who you are; something you may have not thought before! All from the insides of Let It Snow! You simply click start, answer each question to the best of your ability and see your results once you finish! “Sometimes when we forget to do things for others, it’s because we are too wrapped up in our own problems,” (Let It Snow, Lauren Myracle). Maybe you will discover the book brought out your selfishness, like Addie where she was so self-absorbed at times she didn’t focus on other people, like her friends and family. “Once you think a thought, it is extremely difficult to unthink it,” (Let It Snow, John Green). You may also find you are more like Tobin or the Duke, where you are oblivious to something that may be crystal clear to another. You don’t realize it at the time, but when you do, there’s no going back to the before. “Tired, but not the kind of tired that sleep fixes,” (Let It Snow, Maureen Johnson). You may even be told you are like Jubilee, and you are exhausted, but exhausted of life. You don’t know how to fix it, until you fall in an icy creek with a stranger named Stuart and stay at his house for Christmas. After you read who you seem to be more like or know the most knowledge of, hit next and you get to share your quiz results or challenge your Goodreads friends. Once you get past that slide, you see other books that you may be interested in based off of your answers to the questions of Let It Snow.

            Your result will include an explanation, why the computer thinks you know the most or hold a better interest with that character. This quiz can net the book attention by pulling the readers or fans into the fictional world. The interesting questions, books recommended, explanations and quotes can help you be more interested… Heck, maybe you’ll even like the book even more after this quiz! Depending on which character’s knowledge seemed to stick with you the most, which could help the taker involve more into the author of the character.

(597 words).