Random Family

Random Family

        I am currently reading Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.  It is about a girl named Jessica, coming of age in the ghetto.  She deals with love, drugs, trouble, and living in the ghetto in the Bronx.  I am at the beginning of the book, but I have some predictions and observations that I foresee happening.

        In the beginning of the book, Jessica mentions that her family members, mostly boys, are selling drugs in the ghetto, and that some of her past boyfriends did too.  She said that boys were attracted to her wherever she went.  Most of her boyfriends were more high class than her family, or at least they thought they were.  This is because they were all drug dealers.  It's true that the drug dealers did make more money than the people who weren't, but their behavior is so obnoxious, that it seems that they're millionaires!  It really bothers me that that kind of fake personality can attract women who should be able to see what's really inside a good guy.  The problem is, Jessica's a nice loving girl on the inside, but her personality is fake too.  If she really wanted to be who she was, she wouldn't be accepted in the ghetto.  But the best place to be in life is the place where you feel comfortable being yourself.

        What I predict is going to happen is that Jessica is going to "Fall in love" with a drug dealer.(She said that for all the other boys she dated too.)  And when she gets too close to him, he's going to get busted by the police, and he's going to blame it on Jessica, as a last resort.  I think this is going to happen because I know that she is going to date a bad guy, who is going to become really close her.  And when he does, she's going to realize the truth inside these people.  I just believe it's going to happen in this way.

        My hope is that these fake people can one day let themselves be who they are, and that will change the attitude of the people in the ghetto, drug dealers or not.  Because this book shows how much can be inside a person, even though their outside shows nothing but a fool.

The Catcher and The Rye

The Catcher And The Rye

        I just read "The Catcher And The Rye" by J.D. Salinger.  It is about a guy in Pencey College, named Holden Caulfield.  He is rooming with a guy named Stradlater, who is a ladies man who is stuck up.  Holden gets tired of his school and comes to Manhattan, to try something new.  It takes place in the 1950s.  I believe that Holden is a very negative person, and that he has very high expectations for almost everything.

        Holden lets jealousy and negativity take over his impression on his life, sometimes even life in general.  Like when his roommate Stradlater went on a date with Holden's old friend Jane, he was in his room worrying if Stradlater was having sex with her, and he kept thinking about how he thought Stradlater was a goddamn sonuvabitch if he was doing so.  He doesn't realize that it's none of his business and that whatever Stradlater was doing on his own time shouldn't make Holden hate him.  When I'm mad at someone for whatever they've done, I try to think of things from their point of view, and I realize how ridiculous I'm being.  But Holden doesn't have the ability to do that, so almost everything anyone does bothers him.

        Whenever Holden meets someone, he is very excited for a serious discussion on his thought of the world.  But as we all know, a lot of people don't want to do that all the time.  For example, he had a prostitute in his hotel room, and wanted to talk to her about what he thought of Manhattan and his school, and his life and her life.  Not that prostitution is ok or anything, but I don't think that's what a prostitute is so interested in.  But the main problem is that if someone isn't willing to do that, Holden believes that it's completely their fault, and they're not a sane person.  No one else expects what Holden expects, and that is why he has such a hard time getting along with people.  What everyone in the world should expect from other people is themselves, and if you don't like that, than it's not their fault.

        Overall, I think that Holden Caulfield's main issue is that he doesn't have the social ability to respect that not many people in the world are like him.  I think that he should embrace that about himself, but not use it to make himself think badly of everyone else in the world.  If I were in Holden's shoes, I would start to think of things from other people's points of view.  Mabye I would even start thinking about changing myself, and my personality. so that I wouldn't have to deal with the social difficulties he's going through.

Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

        I just read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky.  It's about a 14 year old boy who is just starting high school, and is socially inactive.  But he wanted to turn things around.  His first day wasn't successful.  But he met 2 seniors, Sam and Patrick.  They became friends with him, and showed him fun.  They were misfits, just like Charlie. (The main character.)

        Charlie changed personalities, and lifestyle.  For example, he made friends who he could trust, and that loved him.  That can be so uplifting, especially after being a person as lonely as him.  Also, he started doing drugs such as L.S.D. and Marijuana.  It had only been a few months, not even!  I can't even imagine changing that fast.

        Some people think that Sam and Patrick were bad influences.  In some ways they were.  They got him into smoking, and drugs.  But luckily, that didn't take over any of their lives.  They were nothing more, nothing less, than great, loyal, friends.  And that's all anyone needs.  When I'm down, I go to a friend, and they cheer me up.  If you don't have that, life can be harder.  Loneliness can wreck you inside, but having friends you can trust is even more powerful.

Scared To Proud, Boy To Man

Scared To Proud, Boy To Man

        I just read A Jew Grows In Greenwich by George Tabb.  It's a life memoir of George Tabb's.  In it, he is a protagonist.  George had a very rough childhood, and it really messed him up.  His parents went through a rough divorce when he was very young, and his dad moved to Greenwich with George and his two brothers, Luke and Sam.  George, being the oldest.  Lester, their father, beat them almost every day for stupid reasons.  They hate their step mother Cybil, who also joins in on the beatings.

        Through his whole childhood, the conflict made him a scared and uncomfortable person.  But it didn't stop his confidence for that long.  This is how he changed.  He decided that the only way to get out of his uncomfortable position in life was to take it like a man, and make the best of it.  To be stronger than what pulled him down.  That's really hard to do for me.  It takes a lot of confidence to face a position as horrible as the one that he was in.

        The last few the lines of the book displayed his reverting to his confident old self.  He shot his father with a pellet gun in the back of the neck, and his father never knew that that was what happened.  

He always thought that a bee or a wasp stung him, but what he should have known, is that his son triumphed against the one thing that forced him down, and changed his life forever.

        It must have been hard living with someone so close to you, who hated you, and made your life crap.  Parents aren't meant to be like that.  Parents are supposed to give you advice and guide you through life.  Lester was just a selfish jerk who wanted nothing but a giant home, sex, and his several million dollars.  And almost everything but his three lovely kids.

Am I Blue Reading Response

Am I Blue?  Reading Response

        I just read "Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville.  It's a short story about a 16 year old boy who's still trying to figure out his sexual orientation.  He gets bullied a lot by a boy named Butch Carrigan because he's a "faggot" or "fruit", according to Butch.  One day, after Butch beat him up, a fairy godfather appeared next to him.  The fairy godfather (Melvin) had had experiences the same as the boy's.  He thought he could help him out.  He tried to teach the boy how cruel this world could be to gay people, but it wasn't until later that he actually realized.  In the end, the boy realizes that Butch Carrigan is gay, and is very surprised.  He realized that trouble with your identity can turn you completely against yourself, and other people like you.

        Some people feel bad for the people who hate their identity.  Including me.  But with people like Butch Carrigan, I don't tolerate it.  If you have problems about yourself, don't take it out on people similar to you.  People like that are trying to stay as far away from their identity as possible.  But you should embrace your identity, and if you don't like it, than don't make yourself believe it's other people's faults.  For example, Melvin gave the boy a Gaydar for a day.  He made it so that every gay person the boy saw would appear blue.  While the boy was watching TV, a homophobe politician was blue.  And when he sends Melvin to go turn Butch Carrigan blue, he was already "blue as a summer sky".  These people think they're protecting themselves, but they're only hurting themselves.

        This kind of hypocrisy is used every day.  But it's usually unnoticeable.  When people are hanging out talking, and someone says something insulting about something, sometimes, people agree with it, just so that they won't be the odd one out.  But the truth is, no one is the odd one out, most of the time.  The person who says the insulting thing is sometimes the hypocrite.

        Hypocrisy is going on every day in everyone's life, sometimes for good, and sometimes in anger or fear of people themselves.  Sometimes you have to ask yourself, is it better to be a hypocrite, or to come out and embrace your identity, and not live with fear and shame.

Small Boy, Large Impact!

Small Boy, Large Impact!

    Prompt:  Describe your protagonist.  In what ways do you relate to him?  Be specific and explain.

    "The Drummer Boy Of Shiloh" Is about a scared and insecure drummer boy in the Civil War, who goes into battle every day with the soldiers.  He is terrified and nervous at first, since he is only armed with a drum and two sticks to beat it.  But by the end of the story, the drummer boy (Joby) recognizes his importance in the army.  It was a drastic protagonist change.

    This story brought up many questions, and almost all of them, I can relate to.  But one of them really stood out to me.  Joby was talking about how the soldiers felt that they were protected by "raw youth". I've felt that I could get away with anything because I was young, and could get a way with it.  However, raw youth is just what protects you from your own fear, not the situation.  Joby was smart enough to not feel that way.  I've been a spectator, just like Joby, and sometimes, I was just like the soldiers.
    I have definitely felt that raw youth protected me before.  Believe me, it's a great feeling, but it's only a fantasy.  Sometimes, I've had to walk away from something that was falsely protected by raw youth.  I've had many cases like that.  If there's anything that I've learned from Joby, it's that you can't let your fantasized protection take you over.  It can only protect your fear.

Impulse Theme

    Impulse Theme

    I've been reading Impulse by Ellen Hopkins.  I had never read such an intense book before.  So I never saw a message from a book that hit me this hard.  There are actually 3 main messages that come from 3 different people in the book.  And these three messages unite as one theme.  Just like how the three people unite in the book.  One girl, Vanessa, teaches us that love is something primarily needed in life.  It warms the soul in a way that can sustain happiness in your life.  Connor teaches us about acceptance.  His family didn't accept him, which made him try to commit suicide.  Not being accepted, wether it's your peers, or your family, can crush someone inside.  I even went through a mini version of that.  Being a sensitive person, I know how much it can hurt.  And finally, Tony teaches us about trust. This is my favorite one because I can relate to it so much.  Trust is what kept me from going insane in some situations.  Therapy is supposed to make you feel better, right?  And what do you you share with a therapist? Trust.  Trust helps you.  Trust heals you, in times of need.  Sometimes trust can even save your life, as we see in the book.  Love, acceptance, and trust are the most essential things in life.  I believe that if everyone was loved, if everyone did love, if everyone was accepted, and if everyone shared trust with someone else, this world would be perfect.

                                      -Daniel Rentzer

       

                                                  803

Summer Reading Book

From Baghdad With Love

    From Baghdad With Love tells the true story of the love shared between a little puppy and a colonel in the war in Iraq.  The main setting is Fallujah.  While searching an abandon building, the colonels squad find a little puppy, and they keep it and take care of it, and they named it "Lava."  Lava stays with them at their base, and all the soldiers develop a connection with him.  But none of the soldiers had a connection with Lava like the colonel.  The colonel slept with the dog, fed it the most, and got to know it the most.  In fact, when the soldiers were moving out of their base, he couldn't let Lava go.

    The rest of the story consists of the trouble and depression that the colonel went through as he tried to get Lava back to the states.  In the end, the colonel goes back home, and gets to spend the rest of the dogs life with him.

    This book told a story that was very good for me, considering I love dogs.  But that's not all.  The story taught me about the agony most soldiers go through in the war, wether it's about your friends dying, or just a dog.  But my favorite thing about this book is that it tells you two things/two messages:  You can have relationships with anything, like its a relative, and that war can destroy a person inside.  Those are two things I will never forget.

     

                 - Daniel Rentzer 803