When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

     I just finished reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead for the third time. Sometimes after books multiple times you realize things that make you like the book more, or you realize things that make you like the book less. In this case, I liked it even more.  Since I have finished this book I am going to do an overview/review of When You Reach Me.
     The first thing I'm going to be talking about are the notes Miranda gets from the Laughing Man (Marcus). At the beginning Miranda is unaware the notes are from Marcus and she pretends they are not for her because she is scared. The first note is addressed to her as "M". She tells herself that M could be anybody and so does her mom, but they both know that the notes are for Miranda. And if the first note wasn't scary enough, having a stranger telling her that her best friend was in danger and asking for her house keys,  the second note was worse.

Most people would think that the since her full name was included in the second note that would make it more scary, I disagree. Miranda knew that the notes were directed at her in the first place. What I think is scary is when he says, "I know you have shared my first note. I ask you not to share the others please. I do not ask this for myself." She says after reading the note, that it scared her because she was alone. And that's exactly how I feel.
      For some reason when anything creepy or scary happens to me, being alone makes it ten times worse. I think that if you're with someone at least you have somebody to talk to. But since Miranda doesn't know who is sending her the notes, and if they knew she shared the first note they would probably find out if she shared the second one. Since she has absolutely no idea who is sending her the notes, for all she knows they could be dangerous. Because Miranda is very independent, she doesn't want to get into any trouble.
      In conclusion, these notes can be perceived in many different ways. It may seem like the notes were a small part of the book, but if you really think about it the notes build up the whole story. This is one of my favorite books, and after reading it again I've noticed even more things, in the last reading response about When You Reach Me I listed other things I noticed, but the notes are much deeper. Think about how you would feel inside if a stranger was sending you notes telling you that they know you and predicting your future and you couldn't let anybody know about any of it.

Revolt of the Evil Fairies, by Ted Poston

Revolt of the Evil Fairies

discrimination

     

     In “Revolt of the Evil Fairies” by Ted Poston. The main character wants the part of Prince Charming for the school play, but he can’t get it, because he has darker skin. The main theme in this book is discrimination, no one cares about anyone’s personality, only their complexion.

     The first example of discrimination is towards the beginning of the story when the main character says, “The good fairies wore white costumes and the evil fairies black. And strangely enough most of the good fairies turned out to be extremely light in complexion.” This quote shows that there is discrimination within races. Even though all of the children and the teachers in The Booker T Washington Grammar School were African American they recreated the unfairness they felt in the rest of the world inside their own community. This is not fair, no one has a chance at being successful, if their skin is dark.

     The teachers didn’t actually care about talent when casting the role of Prince Charming, they only paid attention to skin color. In the middle of the passage it is explained that, “Roger was not only dumb; he stuttered. But he was enough to pass for white, and apparently that was sufficient.” I think that this is unfair, because the main character got good grades, and practiced as much as he possibly could for the part of Prince Charming. But the teachers didn’t care about his hard work. This also shows how different things are now, if a kid in this time period got bad grades, they probably wouldn’t get a big part in the school play, no matter how they looked.

       My last example of discrimination in Revolt of the Evil Fairies by Ted Poston is when the author talks about the community. “The yallers had the best of everything. They had the most teaching jobs in Booker T Washington Colored Grammar School. They were the negro doctors, the lawyers, the insurance men.”

This shows that this discrimination doesn’t only take place in the school. I know that things like this in schools can be part of bullying, but this proves that discrimination goes through the whole african american community. The fact that people can be racist amongst their own race is ridiculous. It shows us that some people need to discriminate others in order to feel of value, because in their mind, compared to others they are.

     In conclusion discrimination is the theme of Revolt of the Evil Fairies by Ted Poston. Discrimination takes place even where you don’t expect it. I find it interesting and upsetting that people can feel so awful about the way things are working in the world around them that they need to create the same concept within their own people, just so they can feel better about themselves. Imagine how much discrimination it would take for you to create exactly what’s making you upset, again with your own people.

     

When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead

     I just started When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, for the second time, I like reading books twice in general, but after reading The Girl who was on Fire, I was inspired to read When You Reach Me again, because it is one of my favorite books, and I want to see what new things I notice.

     The first thing I noticed after reading just the first chapter was that all of the chapter titles start off with "things that..., or things you...,"I noticed this before, but I just figured it was part of Rebecca Stead's style of writing, but then I realized/ remembered that Miranda's mom is entering the $20,000 pyramid, (a game show,) and on the $20,000 pyramid, that's how the questions are formatted. This may seem obvious, but it's just a little example of how even obvious thing can only be noticed when thought about.

     Another thing I thought about, is Miranda's mom's trust issues. I've always thought it was a bit weird that her boyfriend Richard who has been with them for a long time, and is almost always at their house, still doesn't have keys to their house, it seems as if Miranda's mom somehow doesn't trust her own boyfriend in someway. Miranda claims that he always eats dinner with them and is at their house whenever her mom is home (otherwise he wouldn't be able to get in) so Miranda is very confused at why he doesn't have a key.

     Adding onto Miranda's mom's trust issues, Miranda is "a latch key kid" which basically means that she is very independent. She walks home alone, and then spends time alone at home, until her mom comes home, it's not weird to me that Miranda's mom trusts her own daughter, it's just strange, that she feels a difference between letting her 11 year old be completely alone for hours, and letting her boyfriend who she has known for years, and is always at her house, have access to her house.

     In conclusion, when you re-read a book you notice, and start to question things you never did before, this is very interesting, and I can't wait to notify you again once I have noticed more things.

Finally done with The Girl who was on Fire

     I know I didn't post on sunday, and that was very bad of me, but in a way, it's kind of a good thing, because I only finished the book yesterday. It would be hard for me to talk about the book as a whole, since there was no plot, so just incase you didn't know, The Girl who was on Fire is a book essays about The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. They talk about different aspects of The Hunger Games, that you probably didn't notice, or think about.

     Even though this essay is only in the middle of the book, it is still probably my favorite, besides the one about people being watched, which I already wrote about, this essay was about outfits and costumes, which is perfect, since today is Halloween. It is called Crime of Fashion, and it's written by Terri Clark. This essay talks about appearance, and how it effects you as a person, and even your life.

     Terri Clark says at the beginning, ""fashion statement" means our clothes speak for us. I think that this is very true. Clothing is looked at to be very superficial, and it really can be, but not always, it is what makes us us. Imagine a world where everyone wore the same thing, there would be no individuality, as Terri said, our clothes speak for us, people who wear bright colors, are usually generally happy people, when people are depressed they usually wear darker colors, they most likely don't even realize that there clothes represent their personalities, it's just something that we do.

     People can usually figure out what someone likes, by looking at them. If someone wears sports jerseys all the time, it is fair to assume that they like sports, especially the team on their shirt, if someone wears lots of makeup you can generally assume that they are insecure and care a lot about how they look. Just like how in The Hunger Games the sponsors decide who they think will win, by looking at them.

     In conclusion, our clothes speak for us, even if you don't really care about fashion, think about the clothes you wear, and how they represent you as a person.

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins

     I know I've been talking a lot about The Girl Who Was on Fire, and I apologize, I am almost done, so most likely I will talk about the whole book next week, but for now, I thought it would be interesting to share my thought and beliefs on The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. The main thing that I found extremely interesting, was how most parts of the story were not very detailed, so the reader could interpret them how ever they wanted. In the next paragraphs, I will be talking about this.

     Katniss' relationship with her sister Prim, is a huge part of the story. If Katniss didn't love Prim, she wouldn't even be in the hunger games in the first place. Prim was supposed to play in the games, but Katniss volunteered to take her sisters place, because she loved her, and didn't want her to die, (something most people wouldn't want to happen to someone they cared about.) The funny thing is though, that Suzanne Collins never actually said that she volunteered out of love, it's just something we assume, I as the reader doubt that Katniss actually wanted to play in the hunger games, so I assume that she took Prim's place, because she loved her, even though Suzanne Collins never mentioned that.

     Another example is when Peeta announces his love for Katniss. The author never mentions if he is telling the truth or not, Katniss thinks he's lining, but me as the reader am positive that he is serious. He tries to prove to her that he really does love her, by telling her stories of their childhood, and how he always thought she was beautiful, but she still thinks he is making it up for sponsors. As the reader I was getting very frustrated, because Katniss still wasn't buying it, when it was so extremely obvious to me that he really loved her. Suzanne Collins never mentions if he is lying, or telling the truth, so it is up to the reader to decide. Even though I don't think he's lying, doesn't mean I'm right, once again, Suzanne Collins leaves it completely up to the reader to decide.

     In conclusion, The Hunger Games is a very open book. What I mean by that, is that even though it is very detailed plot wise, the are lots of aspects in it that are left open for the reader to interpret in their own way. Personally I like this, because it makes the book even more fun to read, since you get to think of it how ever you want. This really show the expression "show not tell," because Suzanne Collins shows a lot, and does't tell anything.

The Girl Who Was on Fire, essays by many authors (spoiler alert)

     I am a very slow reader, so I am still reading The Girl Who Was on Fire. Usually since I am such a slow reader, I notice things that fast readers wouldn't, because they are skimming the pages a little bit, but this book keeps on bringing up things from the Hunger Games, that I really never even noticed, which is very interesting.
     The main thing that stood out to me was the essay written by Lili Wilkinson, called " Someone to watch over me." This essay talks a lot about the similarities in the hunger games arena, and life in a city today. I never would have even thought to compare the two, considering the fact that the hunger games take place in the future, and it is in such a dystopian society that I didn't notice how it could be at all similar to present day. Even though the times seem so different, Suzanne Collins (the author of The Hunger Games,) lives in this time period, so she must have gotten her idea of the hunger games from her life now.
     In the hunger games, even though it is completely real, the contestants are being forced to kill each other, it becomes an all day, and all night television show, which basically shows every thing that is happening in the games. The "show" goes on twenty four hours every day, until the games have finished, (there is only one contestant left). This "show" is filmed by hundreds of hidden cameras all around the arena, the contestants know they are being watched, but they can't see the cameras. There is always a chance that they aren't being watched, but there is an even bigger chance, that they are.
     The essay talks about the present day cities, the subways and busses, the streets, restaurants, and even some schools, etc. have security cameras which pressures us to do the right thing, even though it's mostly out of fear. Now that I think about it the criminals in this society are not only bad people, if anything, they are extremely brave. When a person waits on a long line in a crowded store, or restaurant, it's most likely no one will notice if they don't pay, but they are scared of getting caught, so they pay. In the hunger games the contestants were sometimes scared of killing one another, because they were scared of people not liking them, specifically the friends and families of the people the killed, but I'm sure they are also pressured into killing one another, because they want to seem fierce, so that their families, friends, and specifically sponsors have faith in them; it is also good for them if the other contestants think that they kill a lot of people, because then it is much more likely that people won't mess with them.
     In conclusion, the hunger games are some what similar to life now, it now makes sense how Suzanne Collins came up with the idea of the hunger games. Maybe now that the similarities have been brought to people's attention, we can prevent anything like the hunger games from happening.

The Girl Who Was on Fire, essays by many authors (spoiler alert)

     Currently I am reading The Girl Who Was on Fire. The Girl Who Was on Fire is a book of essays written about The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. I am going to be writing an essay about the essay in the book called Team Katniss, written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes.
          In Team Katniss, written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, it talks about the love portion of The Hunger Games. For those of you who have never read the hunger game, Katniss (the main character) has two boys (Peeta, and Gale) in love with her, the difference between their relationships is that Katniss and Gale are very close friends, and Katniss and Peeta barely know eachother, although Peeta has always had a crush on Katniss. Peeta and Katniss are put into the hunger games against each other and are forced to kill each other. Katniss is very skeptical of Peeta's love for her even though it's very obvious to the reader that he loves her. 
     I personally didn't like Katniss's character, because I thought she was to skeptical, and the idea that anyone liked her was shocking to her. She always seemed very tense to me, and it annoyed me how she was mad at Peeta for saying he loved her, because she thought he was lying. Even if he was lying,(which he wasn't) it's a complement, so I don't understand why she can't just accept that.
     In the last paragraph I explained why I didn't really like Katniss's character, but in In Team Katniss, written by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Jennifer Lynn Barnes, explains why she does like Katniss's character, she explains that Katniss has absolutely no desire to be famous, which is true, but I still feel like she should be proud that she won, instead of acting like it was a burden, now don't get me wrong being in the hunger games is not fun, but it's an honer to win it, so I think she should be a little bit more proud, tons of other kids would have loved to win, and here she is with amazing food for a year, and every one in district 12 thinking she's a hero, and she's complaining about it.
     In conclusion, I think Katniss is a very strong person, but I think she should be more aprecitative of the good things in her life, instead of focusing on the bad ones.