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.