American Born Chinese

American Born Chinese By Gene Luen Yang

            American Born Chinese is a different type of graphic novel; because it doesn’t tell one story throughout the entire book, it tells three different stories that all combine into one in the end. I was a little confused at first because I didn’t understand what the monkey section had to do with the other two sections. When all three story lines came together though I understood why they had to put that part into the graphic novel.

            This graphic novel was written for young adults, because it relates to issues that teens are facing today. The issues include things like fitting in when you are thought of as an outcast, and finding out who you are. Jin, the American Born Chinese boy in this graphic novel doesn’t want to be a boy from Taiwan because he is in love with an American girl. He wants to be an American boy. Danny is an American boy that has an obnoxious Chinese cousin who comes to town once a year and ruins his reputation so he has to transfer schools. I feel bad for Danny/Jin because he doesn’t understand the value of family in the beginning of the graphic novel, he just wants to look cool at school and with his cousin he cannot. Towards the end of the novel we realize that Jin is Danny. Lastly there is the monkey king, who wants to become an immortal god in heaven, but he isn’t allowed to go to heaven for he is a monkey.

            I enjoyed reading that all three of the characters had to learn how to manage their problems through each other’s help. It was good to see that the reason that the characters succeed is because of a friendship. It was nice to see that being truly nice to someone that you have never met before is a good thing. Through this graphic novel teens can see that having a good first impression is a good thing, they can also see that being nice to someone who is different then they could also lead to a great friendship. Like my parents always said to me, don’t judge a book by its cover.

            It also rings true to teenagers because friends do fight, and sometimes it is over girls, like in this graphic novel. When Jin and Wei-Chen get into a fight about a girl, many teenage boys can relate to this because sometimes fights do break out between friends.

            I feel like this was a really good graphic novel to read, not only because the words are very meaningful, but the pictures are also. The art for this novel is outstanding; the pictures pop out of the page and almost scream at you to look at them. The author did a great job in matching the words with the graphics, each graphic really tells its own story. I would definitely teach this graphic novel in my classroom because it does have a good moral to it, and it would be fun for the students to read something other then a book for class. I feel that it would really get the students involved within the readings, especially the males. I feel that they would become very interested in reading a graphic novel. 

Monster

Monster…

                After reading Monster by Walter Dean Meyers, I feel like I have a better understanding of what is going on in the life of a teenage boy that has grown up in a bad neighborhood. I thought this book sounded very interesting from the beginning, even before I found out that it was written like a movie. I read the back of the novel and began thinking to myself, “how scary would that be, to be put on trial for murder at the age of sixteen”. This book reminded me in a way of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, not only because someone was killed but because the teenagers were afraid of getting in trouble. It was slightly different than S.E. Hinton’s book because Steve doesn’t actually kill anyone, whereas Jonny does. Steve is just in the general area when the man in the drug store is shot. Again, I thought that these two novels had some similar themes to them, The Outsiders being that nothing ever stays golden. Meaning that you have to lose your innocence sometime, you can’t stay a child forever, and in Monster the theme is once again you have to grow up sometime and take control of your own actions. Steve learns this the hard way; he is on trial for a dumb mistake that he got himself into. He knew that robbing the drug store was wrong but yet he still did it. I feel that on page 2 of the novel, we can really see how distraught Steve is with his situation. “They say you get used to being in jail, but I don’t see how. Every morning I wake up and I am surprised to be here” (Meyers).  I feel like these two sentences really show us the type of character that Steve is. Through reading this I knew that Steve was an innocent boy, who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

                I feel like I would teach this book to my students in a heartbeat. This novel is a pretty easy one to read, and it is very interesting in the fact that it has crime, murder, and a good underlying moral. This novel would be pretty easy to teach also, because since it is written like a movie script, the students would be able to act some parts out in class. I feel like this would really help the students out because it is something fun for them to do to interact with one another.  I feel like the theme of this novel and the attitude presented by Steve is a strong one that even the students can pick up on. Like I said in all of the other blogs that I have written, I feel like a novel should have a strong moral that is brought out within the readings of the novel, and that the students can relate easily to the novel. It also doesn’t hurt if the students learn something about themselves or others as they read. This novel does all three of the previously mentioned items; it has a very strong moral to it, it also it easy for some student to relate to, maybe not in the literal sense but in some other ways. And lastly the students have the potential to learn something about themselves through reading this novel. I feel like this novel is easy for students to relate to because it is written by a ‘teenager’ and it’s through the eyes of a teenager.

I feel like this novel is one that should be taught in schools because it is different than all of the ‘classics’ but it serves its purpose well. It may not be a classic but it sure will get students interested in reading. And that’s what we need to do as teachers.

Meyers, Walter Dean. Monster. New York, Ny. Harperteen.1999. Print.

Speak

Speak.

By Laurie Halse Anderson

When I began this book, I knew nothing about it. I didn’t look up what it was supposed to be about or look up anything that the author had previously written, I just picked up the book and began reading it. At first I thought that the first few chapters/classes were very boring, I didn’t understand why I was reading a book about a teenage girl being depressed. Then as the story continued on I was beginning to get curious on why she was so depressed and why she exiled herself from the rest of her classmates. The first time that Laurie Anderson talked about a boy and called him IT, I knew exactly what this book was going to be about. On page 46 in the novel is the first time that we hear about IT. “I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey Cheerleader. IT is in my nightmare and I cant wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I’d throw up” (Anderson). I feel that though this moment, though Melinda never says it in this chapter, we know that IT has raped her, or done something seriously harmful to her.

       I personally feel that the way that Anderson writes this book and though all the symbols that she uses, we actually know from that moment that he did rape her. There are so many signs in the book. She used to have friends, but she no longer does. She used to talk and be social, but no longer. She used to get good grades and was a good girl in school, but no longer. We know that she is the girl that called 911 at the party at the beginning of the year, but we haven’t been told why yet in the novel. Though the symbolism that Anderson uses in this book we can see that she is dead inside because of this trauma. In art class Melinda is supposed to be drawing a tree, but she can only ever make the tree look like it is dead. The tree symbolizes Melinda, Melinda is ‘dead’ so the tree is also. Its not until Melinda actually tells someone what happened to her, that she starts to become alive again. And in the end when she is holding the glass shard up to Andy Evans thought that she really is alive. She has confronted her nightmare and she can now speak openly about it.

       This novel is an excellent one to talk about in schools because it could show students how to speak up for them selves. Like we talked about in class today, one in four women have been raped in their lives and many of them do not know how to deal with that trauma. I feel like this book could show people how Melinda is dealing with this pain, and maybe it could help them through an ordeal that they are going though. This novel is also a great one because it shows the truths of the real world. Many people in high school don’t understand what's out there, they just know their little high school bubble, I know it didn’t know. 

       This novel is one of the best Young Adult novels I have read in a while, not only because it was entertaining, but because it told life how it really is. It shows the audience that, yes, you can move on after something very terrible has happened to you. You just need to confront your fears and life will go on. That is why this is a good novel for teenagers, it shows then that they can live through certain things in their lives. They do not have to just die inside, like Melinda did in the beginning, they can move past it and begin to grow. 

Forever

Is Forever really Forever in the eyes of a teenager?           

     I feel like this novel is written very well, I feel like Judy Blume wrote this book to relate to teenage girls, and to show them that what they are feeling is normal. Like I stated before in my “Chocolate War Blog,” When I am reading a book I tend to look at how this book makes me feel. I want a book to be engaging and fun to read, I don’t want it to have long dry spots where I am just skimming the book to get through it and not really reading it to understand it. I still feel like the books should have an overall meaning to them that tells the young adults a moral, and not just written to be written. That is what I think that Forever  is good book to be taught in schools. This book is written for young adults and it deals with things that teenagers can relate with. This novel deals with the issue of having sex for the first time, and for most teens this would be an awkward conversation to have with the parents. Therefore I feel like they could fall back on this book and see what they can do to better understand what is going on.

I feel like this novel would be considered as a realism novel, because it is showing the reader what happens in real life after one has sex. It shows that there could be consequences, like getting an STD or getting pregnant, or there could be no consequences at all. I also felt like this novel really portrayed that Forever isn’t really Forever in the eyes of a teenager. Judy Blume shows the reader that there is a difference in love and being in love.  She shows us that not everyone that “falls in love” in high school marries that person. She also shows the reader that life does move on after you break up with a person that you have been sexually active with.

After reading Forever by Judy Blume, I feel like this book should be taught in many schools around the country. I feel like this book is very educational and it shows the true consequences of having sex. Though Katherine does not have any major consequences of having sex, many others do. Michael gets an STD on his first time, and Sybil actually ends up getting pregnant. I feel like the moment we find out that Sybil is pregnant and doesn’t know who the father is, we as readers, are almost expecting this. I was expecting something bad to happen to one of the characters in this book because there were so many times within this book where Judy Blume was  trying to teach the audience about safe sex, so I knew that there were going to be some consequences of having sex written within this novel. Later in the future, if I have a daughter, I will want her to read this book because it will help her have a better understanding of what to expect. I would also want her to discuss some of these issues with me if she has any questions about what is going on.

The Chocolate War

When I am reading a book I tend to look at how this book makes me feel. I want a book to be engaging and fun to read, I don’t want it to have long dry spots where I am just skimming the book to get through it and not really reading it to understand it. Books should have an overall meaning to them that tells the young adults a moral, and not just written to be written. I also feel like young adult literature needs to be written for young adults. What I mean by this is that I feel like young adult literature needs to focus on things that young adults can relate to. Young adults can relate to being bullied in high school, or being picked on for being a little different, but most young adults cannot relate to heavier issues like murder or jail time.

As a future teacher, I really think that the books that young adults read in high school should deal with high school problems. I feel like some of the students need a novel that they can relate to and that they can see that things will work out for them.   I also think that these books need to face the issues that teens are dealing with in today’s society. I don’t feel like a novel that is talking about how a girl’s hair is messed up is an appropriate subject to talk about. Teens in today’s society are dealing with abuse, drugs, and pregnancies, and they need to read something that shows them that it will all work out in the end. For a realism novel I think that it should present things that happen in the real world at that time period. I feel like a realism novel should show young adults the realistic repercussions to their actions, and not sugar coat them.

I don’t think that The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier does a good enough job with showing young adults that everything is going to be okay. This novel is doing the opposite of that. It is showing us that if we defy the “Universe” then we are going to get the crap beat out of us. I think this novel is a good one to read up until the end because it shows how determined Jerry is to do what he feels is right. He is sticking with the decision that he made no matter what anyone says. That is a good moral for young adults. But when he gets beat up, the readers will not want to stick to their decisions because they will not want to get the crap beat out of them just for doing something that they want to do.  

The one realistic thing that I think this book encompasses is its description of people in general. I feel like though this book doesn’t have a good ending, it does tell the readers something about life.  In the conversation between Archie and Carter in the end of the novel, Archie tells Carter, “You see, Carter, people are two things: greedy and cruel. So we have a perfect set up here. The greed part—a kid pas a buck for a chance to win a hundred. Plus fifty boxes of chocolate. The cruel part—watching two guys hitting each other, maybe hurting each other, while they’re safe in the bleachers. That’s why it works, Carter, because we’re all bastards.” I feel like this part in the book shows the reader what it’s like in the real world. It shows young adults that the real world is tough, and you need to be prepared.

Overall I think that this book was a pretty good book when talking about the realism genre. I do not however, think that this book has a good moral ending. I feel like Archie and Brother Leon should have had some repercussions for the wrongs that they inflicted on Jerry and the rest of the school.

Literacy History

When I was younger my reading abilities were dramatically lacking. It would take forever for me to finish the simplest of books, not because I was a bad reader, but because I couldn't sit still for long enough to really get into a book. My father thought it would be a good idea to start reading me books at night to get me really interested in books. I loved this because that meant that I didn't have to read them my self. 

My dad and I loved "story time" because I would gather up my dog, my cat, and my little brother and bring them all into my room, where I would sit on the edge of the bed and listen attentively to my father read a wide variety of books. My favorite memory of “story time” was when we began reading the Harry Potter series because it was my type of book. We did not get to finish the Harry Potter series because I was really busy with school and sports at the time, so I actually didn’t get to finish reading the Harry Potter series until this past summer. I was absolutely in love with them though. I think I ended up reading all seven books in less then two weeks, and that’s with working over forty hours a week. 

After we finished with all of the Harry Potter books that were out at the time, we started reading the Inheritance Trilogy, as it was called back then, this is the saga (Eragon, Eldest, Brisingr) that Christopher Paolini has recently written. The only book out that that time was Eragon. I know these books didn’t come out that long ago, my dad read me books up until my junior year in high school. Since my dad would only read me books that he was interested in, I also began to be only interested in fantasy and science fiction novels. I now love fantasy books, science fiction books, and any book that has a dragon in it. I'm kind of a nerd, I know.

During high school I began reading more and more by myself, because it was hard to read the ‘classics’ with my father because he thought that they were boring and out of fashion. I was lucky enough to be in the AP English class in my high school, so I was able to read a little more then just the ‘classics.’ My favorite books from high school were The Lord of The Rings and Beowulf. I was in love with Beowulf, it was one of the most interesting books that I have read. I love all the action that happens within the story, it also doesn’t hurt that its science fiction.

Our course readings have helped me better understand what types of books are being read in schools today, and what the children think of these books. I thought it was very interesting to see what some of the children thought of the ‘classics.’ We know that the older generation of people thinks that the ‘classics’ should be read within the school, but what about the newer books that have to deal with the relevant issues that teens deal with today.

The main purpose of this blog is to tell the other people, who are interested in young adult literature, about the books that I read and what I think of them. I know I like hearing someone else praise a book before I read it, so I will be the person praising the book for someone else to read.