Book Club Essay: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Book Club Question: How are a character's decisions affected by the situations they are put in, and how does that relate to decisions we make in everyday life?

       In The Fault In Our Stars, there are many different depressing situations that each character was put in.  Each character was confronted with a conflict, either internal or external or both, and was forced to find there own resolution to it.  Each character had their own ways of dealing with these problems and their own ways to escape.  For example Hazel had cancer and would watch lots of TV to escape.  Augustus played lots of video games.  The author of An Imperial Affliction drank.  The author, John Green, showed no mercy when it came to speaking the truth about these fictional characters' feelings and thoughts.  There was no holding back and that is one of the ways that makes this book so relatable and touching.  Everyone experiences sadness and everyone attempts to escape it, even if only for a little while.  Another relatable part of this book is that the characters never find a way to get rid of the pain, they only find a way to live with it.
       I think that Augustus and Hazel, who were both dying, lived very much in the moment.  They weren't sure how much longer they had to live so they made the most of it.  This is also true for their parents.  They didn't know how much longer they had with their children so they tended to give them more freedom and cherish every minute.  Augustus and Hazel enjoyed every moment they had together and never took it for granted.  This is something that many of us who are not dying might need to work on.  It is hard to not take some things in life for granted.  This book shows that even something as simple as having enough oxygen in your lungs should be valued because there are some people that wish only for that.  Towards the end of the book Hazel begins to fully understand how lucky she is to have gotten as much out of life as she had.
       The characters decided to hide things from their loved ones to keep from hurting them.  This is in a way a selfish act that was done with selfless intentions.  They do not want to make each other's life any worse in any way possible because it has already been hard enough.  Though sharing important things with your loved ones even if it might hurt them is almost always the right thing to do.  For example Augustus felt the need to not tell Hazel that he had been diagnosed with cancer almost everywhere in his body.  Hazel's mom kept the fact that she had more to her life then just her daughter with cancer for over a year.  Neither Augustus nor Hazel's mom wanted to hurt her so that's why they kept these things from her.  This is very relatable because everyone hides stuff in their life in order to protect people they care about.  The author of this book used the story of this cancer patient to inspire his readers to live life to the fullest and appreciate every moment.

Reading Response #2 to Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

       I am currently reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.  So far I am really enjoying it.  It is really intriguing and I can't wait to see what happens next.  This book is about a girl who was killed in a car accident.  She "relived" the day of her death everyday for about a week.  The day would always start the same but go differently depending on how her actions changed.  This day was basically repeating itself with drastically different outcomes each time.  I think this was happening in order to help teach Samantha a lesson.  She realized how much what she did affected other people.  She learned that she needed to change her actions.  For example, Samantha and her friends had been bullying this one girl, Juliet Sykes, for years.  They called her names and harassed her a lot.  Then on the day of Sam's death, Juliet would kill herself.  The different way that Samantha acted affected the way she would kill herself.  Samantha learned that she needed to figure out a way to make it right with Juliet and to force her friends to stop bullying her and see what a a kind, beautiful person she is in order to save her life.
       I really like this book because it talks about the issue of bullying in a more interesting way that really connects with the reader.  I think it is books with messages like these that can really make a difference in the way people treat each other and in our society.  It also shows just how drastic of measures is needed to get people to change their ways.  I mean Samantha had to die and repeat this one day over seven times in order to realize how terrible a person she was being to some people.  It took so much just to get her to even think about acting differently.  I predict that she will wake up from this repetition once she has made things right.  I cannot wait to see what will happen next.

Reading Response to Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

       I am reading the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.  I am about half way through and so far I am really enjoying it.  It is an interesting book about a popular girl who gets into a car accident and is killed.  Though she keeps reliving the day of her death over and over again.  She can change the outcome of that day by her actions, but so far even if she hasn't died she repeats that day over again.  She is getting extremely frustrated and annoyed with having to do this day over and over again.  The same basic things keep happening to her and she doesn't know how to get out of this cycle.  She needs to be able to tell someone and she wants answers badly.  Though she can't talk to anyone because she is scared they will think she is crazy.
      During the day she was killed the popular girl, Samantha Kingston, was mean and unfair to multiple different people.  I think that the reason she is reliving this day over and over and over again is so she can learn to treat people that may not be as popular and pretty as her with respect.  She also needs to learn to stand up to her friends when she disagrees with their actions.  They can be really mean to people and she goes along with it in order to avoid being the one they taunt.
      I think a lot of people can relate to Samantha.  People treat others poorly when they see other people treating them poorly because they are scared that they will become the victims if they don't.  This is understandable, but needs to be changed.  Everyone should learn that people who bully others have a very low self esteem and aren't very comfortable with themselves.  We need to learn to stand up to our friends if they do something that we don't think is right.  We need to face our fears and help other people that are being disrespected because if we were in their shoes, we would want help too.

Reading Response to The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George

       This book is really interesting.  It is about two young girls that share a "forbidden love".  I have enjoyed reading it even though it is a little strange.  One girl, Jesse, cuts her hair with an army knife, and wears large rubber rain boots.  She has about two friends and doesn't care much about what people think of her.  The other girl, Emily, is student council vice president, very popular, really pretty, has beautiful soft hair, and a boyfriend.  These two kissed each other by accident and then sort of met up weekly from there on to hookup in secret.  Jesse would be fine if the whole world knew about them, but Emily on the other hand had a lot to lose and wanted to have a good reputation.  These girls are so different that they disagree on almost everything.  They especially disagree about a large company's involvement with their town.  The will to prove the other wrong about this company has given Jesse more confidence.  She finally earns the guts she needs to tell Emily that she is tired of hiding so they can't 'see' each other anymore if she wants to keep it a secret.
       In this book, The Difference Between You and Me by Madeline George, Jesse is blinded by her love and excitement as well as confusion and guilt for her relationship with Emily.  She doesn't notice how great the two friends she has are, and how they are there for her when Emily is not.  Jesse wants to tell her friends about Emily, but decides against it for Emily's sake.  I think it is for the best that their relationship didn't work out because Jesse deserved more respect then she was getting.  Her best friends, Esther and Wyatt, treated her so much better.  Emily felt that she had a power over Jesse just because she was pretty and popular, and Jesse believed her in a way.
       It was interesting to read this book because it has a slight hint of a Romeo and Juliet theme going on with the forbidden love and the meeting in accident.  I wonder if this is what the author intended or if just a coincidence.  Whether if it is supposed to have a Romeo and Juliet theme or not, it is still a great book and I would recommend it to students in middle or high school, or anyone that likes a little realistic fiction.

Reading Response #2 to The Street by Ann Petry

       The book I'm currently reading called The Street by Ann Perry is very slow-going so far.  It has a ton of description which can be good and bad.  I think description needs to come in moderation, because too much dialogue can be confusing and too much description can be boring.  There is not a lot to talk about that is happening in the book because there is no major conflict or major character flaws appearing just yet, even though I have been reading it for about a week.  I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it because it is taking forever to read.
       One character trait that is present in the mother, Lutie Johnson, is that she is slightly overbearing towards her son and wants to protect him from everything.  I think this theme is very interesting because it is timeless.  All mothers are going to be overbearing and protective of their children at one time or another, because they simply want what's best for their babies.  Though most all children, especially in today's culture as well as books and movies, always seem to rebel against this affection or simply misunderstand it for cruelty and therefore grow apart from their family.  This is something that every child goes through and so does Lutie Johnson's son, Bub.
       Bub is attempting at making some "extra" money for he and his mom by shining shoes on the streets.  Lutie is always saying how "they can't buy this" or "don't waste your money on that" because they are not rich.  They are one of the many small families trying to survive in Harlem in the 1940s.  They didn't have a lot of extra spending money.  They barely had enough for food and rent.  So Bub thought the least he could do was help out a little buy making a few cents each day after school.  Though his mother did not approve of this.  She believed that boys who shined shoes on the street would never aspire for more and end up living on the streets all their lives.  Of course she wanted way more of her child so she slapped Bub when she found out what she was doing.  This confused Bub and made him sad and angry, because all he was trying to do was help yet he still got reprimanded.  Though once Lutie explained they figured things out and he understood.  This is a lesson for all children that parents just want the best for you, even though sometimes they can be confusing and aggravating.

Reading Response to The Street by Ann Petry

       I've begun to read The Street by Ann Petry, and so far it is a really interesting book.  I have barely gotten to the second chapter so there is not a huge conflict or anything, just a setting of the scene and stating the already existent problems, such as money and a child and its education.  These are common problems of most people in today's society so this makes the book more relatable to begin with.  This book though is a fictitious story about an African American family (a mother and a boy) who live in Harlem.  They lived with some family, but the mother decided that that was not a good environment for her young son, so she went looking for another apartment that they could move into.  This small life change would hopefully help her son grow into a prosperous young man instead of a drunk like some of his other family.
       The theme of doing what is best for your child and not for you is present here.  I think this is an important idea and difficult concept of parenthood because when you become a mother or father, it is no longer about you or what you want.  It is about what you child wants or needs.  The mother in this story knew that she had to get her son to a better home so she spent what she had worked for and saved to buy them an apartment.  She didn't think twice about it.  Even though this was her money and she would have been fine to stay living where they were living, she decided that the best thing to do for her child, rather then her, was to spend that money and move away.
       As I said, I have barely gotten to the second chapter so there is not much more in the story just yet. This book seems very good so far and is extremely descriptive of the setting.  I find that most stories lack a decent description of the setting, so that makes this book even better and fun to read.  I would recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction, especially that takes place in New York.

Reading Response to Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

       I just started reading the book Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult.  This book is a little strange so far and I'm having a hard time getting into it.  I think that it is unlikely that I will finish reading it.  The story line confuses me and I am not completely sure what is happening right now in the book.  From what I can understand the main character, Paige, had a hard time living with her father once her mother left them.  She left home as soon as she turned eighteen to go make it on her own.  She was struggling and finally found a job at a diner where she met her future husband, who happened to be her first customer.  Paige dreamed of saving enough money to go to art school.  She was an extremely talented artist that had the ability to draw people's secrets into their portraits.  Paige drew portraits of the customers in the diner and the manager hung them up.  I am not very far in this book so no massive climax or problem has occurred other then the fact that she is on her own and barely making a living.
       A theme that seems pretty clear in this book is the people leaving their families to go do what makes them happy.  I support doing what you love and following your dreams, but I don't think you should have to completely abandon your family to do this.  Though there are some specific circumstances where you may want to get as far away from your family for whatever reason but overall I think the right thing to do is to include, or try to include your family in your life and goals and dreams.  They should be supportive of you no matter what.  That's what they are there for.  It is also a tad selfish to abandon your family for yourself.  They need you just as much as you need them.  There is no bond stronger than that of family and people need to keep that in mind.  You will always be connected to your family in some way whether you want to be or not.
       I find it sad that Paige ditched her father, whose wife had already left him.  Maybe when I get farther into the book I will discover the reason why the women in his life don't like him enough to want to get so far away from him.  Or it might possibly have nothing to do with him at all, just with their dreams.  I hope that Paige will be able to reconnect with her father at some point, and I am interested to find out what happens with her future customer and life as a diner waitress.

Reading Response to Cracked by K.M. Walton

       The book Cracked, by K.M. Walton, tells the story of a bully and the bully's victim and how the both end up in the same mental hospital.  This mental ward is specifically for children who have committed suicide.  They all have their different stories of why they thought it would be best if they weren't alive.  They work and support each other.  The bully, Bull, didn't actually try to kill himself.  He attempted at shooting his grandfather who was beating Bull, but somehow ended up shooting himself in the leg and played it off as suicide so he wouldn't go to jail.  The bully's victim, Victor, feels unwanted in the world.  He is a loner, and his parents hate him.  No one pays attention to Victor, except Bull.  Bull only pays attention to Victor when he is beating him up and abusing him.  Victor's only reason to not kill himself was his dog who he loved very much. But when his dog died, Victor saw no reason to keep him from ending his life.  This book shows the struggle of all of these kids and how Victor and Bull come to know each other better and work out their problems.
       Suicide in children is increasing rapidly nowadays.  I think this topic is just so depressing.  How can people possibly feel so bad about themselves that they don't want to live another second?  How can someone find joy in abusing someone to such an extent to where they no longer want to go on with life?  I simply do not understand.  Suicide is such a serious and depressing idea in our society today.  I personally like this book because these kids didn't attempt suicide for the most common reasons: bullying, cyber bullying, etc.  Those are common and terrible but I don't think people recognize that just not paying attention to your child can make them feel so unloved and terrible.   Most all of these kids in this ward were not given enough support to keep them from killing themselves.  This is so devastating I don't know how to comprehend it.  I am fortunate to have loving parents that have taught me so much.  But not everyone is as lucky.  I think that we need to find away to make everyone feel loved.  Everyone is special in their own way and no one deserves to think they are not good enough for this world.

Reading Response to Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

      I just finished reading a book called Article 5 by Kristen Simmons.  It is a dystopia about America after some HUGE war that changed everything.  The main character, Ember, was alive before the war and before the government drafted the only boy she had ever loved, Chase.  She remembers how everything used to be.  Though she hated the police (Moral Militia) she tolerated them being in her life. That was until they arrested her mother and executed her.  Her mother's "crime" did not deserve this at all.  The entire story describes Ember's journey back to her mother and how she is adjusting to the new Chase.  He told her that her mother was still alive to protect her feelings even though he knew she was dead.  Chase and Ember's love reignited after a lot of hardship and tragedy they experienced together.
       One element I found very interesting in this book is how all the sadness and anger has bonded so many people.  After the War a very strict government took over that hurt people every day.  Over time people started to stick together and form a resistance.  I think a main reason why people can bond over sadness is that there is just so much emotion and empathy that can be shared and related to.  People that have similar situations usually end up getting along, so if half the country all experienced the wrongdoing of the strict soldiers they were all able to form an alliance and friendship.  Everyone had lost so much and they needed people to be there for them.
       Another thing I found interesting was how even though someone can appear to have changed so much, they still are always going to be the same person deep down inside.  This was shown in the story when Chase was a sweet, kindhearted, protective guy who expressed his feelings before he was drafted.  Then after he met up with Ember again, which was to arrest her mom, he appeared to be a cold-hearted, empty-headed, soldier that didn't feel emotion or cared what happened to Ember.  Though throughout their journey and rebellion his old character began to show through again.  It started with the description of the pain in his eyes when he say Ember hurt.  Then it evolved to basically giving up his life to preserve hers.  This book had many different plot twists and I loved every minute of it.  I was never bored and looked forward to reading it.

Reading Response #3 to Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

       Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult is an incredible book.  It tells the story of a school shooter and how he is dealing with all of the pressure and realizing what he did.  This is such an interesting and conflicting element of the story.  I understand Peter's, the shooter's, side but also feel for all of the families that were either directly or indirectly affected by this terrible tragedy.  Peter doesn't feel what he did was wrong because he had no one.  All of the 'popular' had ruined his life so he believed he had the right to ruin theirs'.
       Another reason this book is so amazing is that there is a character for every reader to relate to, with their own problems.  The plot line is so intense that it is some times difficult to keep up with who is who.  There is everything from gay, to suicidal, to special ed, to popular, to nerd, to distressed mother.  I think it is interesting because all of these people are so different and have hardly anything in common. Though one thing that will bond them together for the rest of their lives, is the shooting.  This connects them in a way that nothing else can.  No one else, parents or police officers, can truly understand what they are going through.  The only people they can rely on to relate to is each other.  This is a really intense way for the author to bring all of the tons of characters with their different personalities together.
       Another issue in this book is gun violence.  I do not believe there is enough action against gun violence right now.  There have been too many school shootings, though gun violence doesn't just apply to this.  Though this is where the media stresses it.  This book truly touched me and made me realize just how hard it must be to go to school with people you know and love in the morning and then when you come home they will never be there again.  I really like this book and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Reading Response #2 Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

       So far this book is really, really good.  I am so immersed in it and it is constantly exciting and shocking.  It is about a high school shooting.  An overprotected nerdy outcast, named Peter, decided to shoot as many people as he could in his high school.  He had been tormented and bullied and believed what he was doing was only fair.  Peter didn't see the wrong in what he was doing.  He thought that since the bullies never got in trouble for ruining his life, why was he getting in trouble for ruining theirs'?  He didn't see the difference.
       I think that this is a very important issue in today's society.  Gun violence is a very dangerous and terrible thing that needs to be stopped, but more importantly....the motives need to be stopped.  If Peter wasn't bullied and was actually helped by his teachers and parents than he wouldn't have found the need to murder people.  If people had treated him a tiny bit better, or if he had one single friend that could have talked him out of this.  Lots of kids would have still been alive.  I feel like this is a scary topic that is becoming more and more common because of the recent school shootings.  This is a common thing today that needs to be thoroughly addressed and stopped.

Sonnet: Fragile

All love is fragile, much like a mirror

Forcing you to see yourself much clearer

Though be careful, love tends to disappear

You should enjoy it, do not live in fear

When you drop a mirror, it will shatter

The pieces will never fit the same way

If you cut yourself it will not matter

The person you once loved has moved away

But these mirrors and loves have their upsides

They show you what you really want and need

To think of yourself for once and decide

If the best thing for both is to proceed

So I will leave it up to you to choose

Who you still want to keep, and who to lose

Reading Response on Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

       In Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult there are many different characters that have not yet connected with each other, and there perspectives on their lives.  This makes summarizing the story so far a little difficult.  Therefore I have decided to describe the theme and lessons from one of the characters and her point-of-view.  This girl's name is Josie.  She is everything everybody wants, pretty, straight-A student, popular, and has a popular and hot boyfriend.  Though she knows that this girl that everyone sees on the outside is not who she really is.  She is afraid that no one will accept or like her if they find out the true her.  So she pretends.  Her days are full of fake smiles and fake looks.  Josie wants to let the world know who the real Josie is, but just can't bring herself to do it.
       I think that this is an important lesson that the author is trying to bring attention to the reader.  Many people, most all people actually, especially in high school are afraid to let there true self be exposed.  I think that this is because not many people can handle there true personality and looks being judged and criticized like they will in today's society.  It is easier to be fake and be what other people want or envy.  I believe that this is taking the easy way out.  Life would be more enjoyable if everyone was their true selves one hundred percent of the time.  Unfortunately, this is impossible.  I think Josie is already more advanced then most because she recognizes her true self and knows that what she is acting like is not it.  She understands that it is easier to be what people want then what you want.
       I hope that Josie will find the strength to show everyone who she really is.  This is a brave thing to do and requires a lot of courage.  I hope she will overcome her fear of being judged and criticized so therefore she can appreciate life more and not hid anything.  This book is inspiring.  It teaches us the values of the simple goal, "to just be yourself."

Literary Essay on the Theme "Lack of Voice" in Martín Espada's Poems

        The idea that many racially diverse people have a lack of voice compared to powerful, usually white, people is displayed in all three of Martín Espada’s poems that we read in class, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877”, and “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School.”  I feel that this theme slowly advances and grows stronger as the reader advances from one poem to the next.  In “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson” Martín Espada talks about what he wants to do when someone does something as simple as pronounce his name.  This poem never states how he actually does anything about the mispronunciation; it just talks about how it makes him feel.  In “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School” Hispanic kids are banned from speaking their native language (Spanish) in the bathrooms.  Here they both figuratively and literally don’t have a voice.  Then finally in “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May, 3, 1877” shows how to Mexicans were murdered for being racially different.  This theme of lacking a voice grows more intense through each of those three poems.

            In the first poem by Martín Espada, “Revolutionary Spanish Lesson”, he describes in detail what he wishes he could do when people mispronounce his name.  He never says that he actually does anything about it.  Espada shows that he feels disrespected when people do this, and therefore he wants to disrespect them by hijacking “a busload of Republican tourists from Wisconsin, force them to chant anti-American slogans in Spanish, and wait for the bilingual SWAT team to helicopter overhead, begging me to be reasonable.”  He wants to force people to feel like their culture and native country is being put down by forcing the Republican tourists to chant anti-American slogans in Spanish.  Though the reader is unsure if he actually says anything or just lets it go by.  I think Martín Espada wanted us to infer this.  I think that he is trying to prove that even though he might have said something about his name and the correct pronunciation, many others don’t and they need to gain their voice against “authority” again.

            The second poem, “The New Bathroom Policy at English High School”, shows the theme of a lack of voice for diverse people a little stronger.  Here the reader doesn’t have to guess whether the victim stood up for himself or not.  It is obvious that the Hispanic kids got their voice taken away, literally.  The principal banned them from talking in Spanish in the bathrooms.  This all occurred just because the principal was uncomfortable hearing them talk in this foreign language to him while he was in there.  This shows how selfish people of authority can be and how they can overuse their power and overstep their boundaries.  This is taking away some people’s basic rights, such as freedom of speech.  There is no good reason to take away this freedom in the first place.  This makes these people feel uncomfortable and unwanted, and it makes them feel like people are being ignorant against their culture, because they are.  These kids need a voice against power, because right now they are lacking one.

            The final poem, “Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877”, shows how two Mexicanos may have had a voice, but now they very forcefully have had it taken away from them.  These two people most likely were hung because they spoke out against society.  They have realized that they were being mistreated and tried to get their voice back, but were killed for it.  Though hopefully Martín Espada meant to tell as many people about this event as he could to inspire people to take a stand because they deserve to be treated equally as everyone else.  People should not have their life, and voice, taken away from them for their culture.  This is such a terrible thing that happened and I infer that Espada wanted us to remember that there are risks when trying to speak out, but it’s possible to have some big advantages and improvements of treatment come out of it. 

            Many racially diverse people’s voices were lacking in this time period against the authorities.  This was shown numerous times throughout Martín Espada’s poems, especially these three that we read in class.  His ideas and opinions on this theme grew and developed throughout them.  I think that he first was just stating his personal feelings, then he used some small evidence such as a change of a bathroom policy at a random high school, then he used some intense evidence that two people were murdered for either speaking out or their culture.

Reading Response #2 to Stolen by Lucy Christopher

       Stolen by Lucy Christopher shows how people are not always what they seem.  Gemma met this nice, cute guy looking at the airport.  He bought her a coffee and was very smooth and charming.  Though when Gemma wasn't looking he drugged her coffee.  She became unaware of what was happening and ended up in the middle of a barren desert in Australia with no sign of society for miles and miles.  She has no where to run or go to.  No one will be able to find her, who would suspect that she would be in this desert where apparently "no one" is?
       This story shows how easy kidnapping is.  Gemma wasn't doing anything stupid to get herself stolen, she was simply buying a coffee and on her way back to her parents.  She did nothing to get herself into this.  Bad people like that guy can take you so far away from everything before anyone even realizes you are missing.  This shows how we need to be able to fend for ourselves.  I don't yet know what will happen to Gemma but hopefully she will either be rescued or escape.  The panic and depression she must be going through is truly insane.  A lot of kids are kidnapped every year.  I think this issue needs to be addressed further then it already is.  Gemma wasn't raped or anything but she still has almost zero chance of getting back to her life.  This story shows how you don't always have to talk to the wrong person, be walking down the wrong streets late at night, or follow someone into a van to be stolen.  It happens to undeserving, innocent children.

Reading Response for Stolen by Lucy Christopher

       This book is very intriguing.  It draws the reader's attention in just by reading the first paragraph.  It is written in first person.  There are no names yet, just you and I.  I think the very first part of the book is a flashback.  I always find it interesting when an author starts off a book with a snippet from the past. It gives background information in a more creative way then a prologue.  I have only read 8 pages so far, but I can already tell it is very well written.
       The topic of this book is love at first sight.  I think this is a very controversial belief.  I personally believe that love at first sight is possible, but doesn't occur very often.  I think believing that you will have an instant connection with your soul mate is setting your standards too high and will most likely disappoint you.  Though this makes for a great story plot.  It is fun to imagine that this could happen to you.  It helps the reader connect and fantasize along side the characters.  I can't wait to read the rest of this book and find out if love at first sight works out for the main character.

Reading Response to Skinny by Donna Cooper

       Ever Davies weighs over three hundred pounds.  A vicious voice insider her head, named Skinny, tells her the unwhispered thoughts of her classmates.  Ever knows she is fat and probably will never be loved, but Skinny makes sure she never forgets it.  She pushes people away because she thinks they think a certain way about her because of what Skinny has told her, but they don't.  Skinny thrives on making Ever's life miserable, as if it isn't hard enough being an obese teenager in today's society without having to know everyone's unspoken comments.  She is terrified of having to answer questions in class or go up to the board.  She hates the tiny desks because she cannot fit into them so people make fun of her.  It's not like she wants to be fat.  She basically "ate her feelings" because from when her mom died.  She had a connection of eating with her, and she thought that eating a lot might bring her back somehow.  People can be very cruel.  Our society doesn't mind judging people based on unimportant things like weight.  Ever hated herself because she was large.  Though she took this hatred and put is somewhere good.  She used it as a drive to change.  She went through a risky surgery that cut her stomach into a small pouch to make herself skinnier.  She saw what she wanted to do, and did it no matter how hard it could be.
      I admire Ever Davies in lots of ways.  She pushed herself to do something extremely difficult physically and emotionally.  Even though she accepted herself others didn't.  Though I hate that she thought she had to risk her life in order to be accepted by society.  Skinny is just an example of what people's thoughts can do to a person.  How much they can dictate a person's life even if it is "just a joke."  This is a very important thing to understand.  Small comments that don't mean anything can do a lot of damage, without you even knowing it.

Reading Response #3 to The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

       Scarlet finally took a step towards expressing her feelings for Hayden.  Though it might not been the best choice.  Scarlett got caught up in the moment, and kissed him.  He began to kiss her back and then immediately pulled away because the wrongness of what they were doing pulled him back into reality.  She was very ashamed, and wished her feelings for him were still her secret.  I think maybe not this particular action, but variations of it make this book so relatable.  We all do things that we regret as soon as we have done them.  Embarrassment helps you learn from your mistakes.  It is not the worst thing in life to have to deal with.  I think Scarlett and Hayden's friendship will be able to survive this awkward setback.  They are so much alike that they understand each other completely.  Though Hayden was definitely not expecting this.

       There is another problem that they are dealing with.  Juliet, Scarlet's sister and Hayden's wife, has been gone from the house for over three days when it was only supposed to be one night.  Scarlet knows that she is at her old ex-boyfriend's house doing very immoral things with him.  Though Scarlet and Juliet's mother refuses to accept this.  She is just letting Juliet work out her problems all on her own, though she doesn't understand that Juliet is in desperate need of some guidance before she ruins her life.  She is married to a really great guy and is pregnant.  She cannot mess all of that up, including her unborn child's life, for some disgusting ex.  It is like she doesn't even care about Hayden's feelings.  She is so moody and back and forth that no one knows what to expect with her.  Scarlet has harbored a lot of hate for her, because she can see how much Hayden loves her and she wants him to be happy so she cannot stand what Juliet is doing to him.  She has tried confronting Juliet numerous times though has found them to be ineffective on her poor decision making.  Hopefully Scarlet, her mother, and Hayden can help pull Juliet together before she gives birth so that the child will not be born into an already broken up family.  No child deserves that.

Reading Response #2 to The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

       The main character, Scarlett, in The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti has changed a lot throughout the book.  She started off as a quiet girl who kept to herself.  She found joy in helping others and never really thought about doing things for herself.  Scarlett thought that life would go along without obstacles if you were nice to everyone and selfless.  Though she found this to not be true.  Problems occurred in life no matter if you were nice and never thought of yourself, or did things for yourself every now and then and didn't always try to make others happy.  Scarlett learned this and it helped her to accept some of her feelings.
       She unfortunately had fallen in love with her sister's husband.  She could tell that her sister wasn't treating him, Hayden, right and that he was going to get hurt.  At first she tried to ignore these feelings for him because she knew nothing was ever going to happen.  Though as these feelings grew the more she spent time with him she learned that even though nothing was going, or could ever, happen she could still accept them for what they were.  Love.  They developed a connection because he truly understood her, when most others including her mom and sister didn't.  This feeling of empathy coming from him made her feel so much better.
       Scarlett also changed because she started to do things that her friend didn't like.  She knew that her friend was madly in love with this boy, though the boy acts like he has a crush on Scarlett.  This of course makes Scarlett's friend, Nicole, feel devastated.  The boy talks to Scarlett and she talks back.  She is in love with Hayden but still wants to be friends with with this guy.  Though Nicole wrongly mistakes this for flirting and thinks that Scarlett has betrayed her.  The old Scarlett would have immediately stopped talking to this boy so Nicole doesn't feel threatened, but the new Scarlett does what she wants for once.  She likes his company and doesn't mind talking to him.  She tells herself that she can talk to whomever she wants, and she is right.
        Although Scarlett has undergone a lot of change throughout the story, she still possesses some of her same traits.  She is trying to be happy for her sister and Hayden.  She gives him tips on how to make her sister, Juliet, happy.  She also is working on a large project for her old neighbor across the street who needs some joy in his life.  Scarlett has changed, but for the best.  She is letting herself have some fun, as well as helping others just like she used to.  Everyone deserves to do stuff for themselves every now and then, but it is also important to do stuff for others and Scarlett definitely does that.

Reading Response to The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

       This book is very interesting so far.  The main character is a girl who likes to keep to herself.  She listens a lot and just watches life.  Though she has a lot of conflict with her mother, who wants her to be more social like her older sister.  This is a tough and uncomfortable situation for a younger sibling who most likely does not want to be just like her older sister.  No one likes getting told to be more like someone else.  The main character, Scarlet, doesn't see the problem with being quiet and only having a couple of close friends.  Then Scarlet's sister, Juliet, comes home again with a big surprise.  She had gotten married without telling anyone because she was, accidentally, pregnant.  Though when she brought her new husband home, Scarlet felt a connection with him that she hadn't felt with anyone else.  She could relate to him, he understood her.  There was only one problem, he loved her sister.
       The story shows a lot of conflicts that Scarlet has to keep to herself.  She thinks of herself as one who helps others.  She thought if she was just quiet and nice and followed the rules that she could avoid problems.  Though it never occurred to her that she might have problems of her own that she needed help with.  That is so out of her personality.  Though I think that Scarlet will be able to handle her problems on her own.  She might need a little of help, but that is what her best friends are for.  Scarlet is really smart and reads a lot of psychology books.  She understands stuff that others do not.  Hopefully she will be able to move on from her first crush that will not work out.