Parvana in The Breadwinner

Hola, reader! Today I’d like to talk about a book I read in my English class called The Breadwinner by Deborah Ellis. It is about an eleven year old girl named Parvana living in Kabul, Afghanistan under Taliban rule. It talks about the struggles she faces before and after her father’s arrest (which is in the beginning of the book). I found this book to be entertaining since it is in the perspective of Parvana and also educational for the reader because they learn more about the living conditions of Afghanistan in this period of time. But enough about that, let’s get on to the main reason you’re here!

Towards the end of the book, Parvana goes into a crumbled, ruined building to find shelter from the rain outside. Later on in the chapter, she hears a girl crying nearby. Immediately, she rushes to her side and tries to calm her. Then she openly tells the stranger at the time her secret of dressing up as a boy. This confuses me because she doesn’t know who the person really is, why she is there, and her views on the secret Parvana told. Also, she is not supposed to tell that to anybody (except her family who know already), let alone a stranger! Why would she do that? I guess she was trying to make the girl feel better but she didn’t think that through apparently. This was not a smart choice of Parvana’s in my opinion because a Taliban solider or citizen could have been walking nearby coincidentally and heard the conversation being held.  Parvana wouldn’t even know that happened considering it was pitch black outside during the conversation (if the person didn’t approach her).

Thanks for reading!

Strength in Before We Were Free

Hello, reader! Today, I would like to connect a book I am reading for my Social Studies class called Before We Were Free, to a newly launched, viral music video by Katy Perry. First of all, this particular book is a pretty good book in my opinion. It had a kind of slow beginning, and slow patches, but I feel that it is really coming together now that I am approaching the climax of the story. This story is about a 12 year old girl, Anita de la Torre, and her family living in the Dominican Republic during the time of a dictatorship (1960’s).  Anita lives a pretty good and stable life until people from her family start fleeing from the Dominican Republic to the United States. As the book progresses, you later learn that she was always thought to believe that their dictator, El Jefe (The Boss), is a good person until she gets other strong opinions from her political activist uncle, Tio Toni, parents, and  neighboring diplomats, The Washburns. Before We Were Free captures the essence of secrecy, an unstable government, and point of view from a child’s perceptive.

There is one part of the book were Lucinda, Anita’s sister, receives flowers from El Jefe. This is a terrible thing because El Jefe has a dirty reputation in the Dominican Republic for taking pretty teenage girls and making them whatever he wants because he is a dictator. What he does with them was not straight forward in the book, but it makes you believe that he rapes them. Obviously, it was something as atrocious as that based on the family’s reactions. Anita is so upset, confused, cautious of men now considering the previous incident. She says that she wants to cut her hair, change into men’s clothes, and change her identity to become as equal and respected as a man is there. This connects to the music video, Part of Me by Katy Perry because the video revolves around becoming equal, showing that she has integrity, strength (physically and mentally), perseverance, and courage by joining the army after her boyfriend or fiancé cheats on her. In the video, she does cut her hair, changes into masculine clothes, and covers any feminine parts of her body like how Anita wants to. Katy, in the video, becomes this “Joan of Arc” character that Anita strives to be and describes throughout the book.
I feel that this is an important topic to share to the female sex especially and I am glad that both of these pieces of media or communications are famous and respected. Thanks for reading!

Part of Me by Katy Perry

My Perspective on Let America Be America Again

Hello, reader! Today, I’d like to share my opinion and evaluate a poem and time we learned about in our English class. It’s called Let America Be America Again by Langston Hughes. Previously in English, we have been looking at his poems and studied the rhyme scheme, figurative language, and finally evaluated it. When I was looking at it closely, I found some lines very interesting. The way he puts his point across fascinates me. Actually this whole conflict that took place in the US appeals to me! That is why I decided to write about it.

I think that one of the things I like the most is learning about is how the people of this time reacted to all the events that surrounded them. At first I had this idea that all the African Americans hated what the White people for what they had done to them all those years, becoming more aggressive and wary of them. But by reading the lines, “But opportunity is real, and life is free.” and “Must bring back our mighty dream.” He doesn’t seem aggressive or wary at all. In fact, you could look at it as if he’s being positive to working together and reaching their final destination of equality. I feel like this is a very bold and wise way of thinking.  Now, I do understand that some people did believe violence and hatred towards other races was right but Langston Hughes and others easy to idolize at the time were very courageous and smart because they knew that the way others treated them was not right to repeat. In many cases that I’ve seen recently like in the movie The Help, the character Abilene had a very respectful poise to negative comments and same goes to Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and Langston Hughes. By realizing this, it makes me feel proud of these role models. That they could make positive decisions even though nasty events and words came their way. 

After I’d thought and thought about this piece of writing, I wondered how I would react if I was put in their position. Now that I think of it, I think I would just be as nasty as they were to me since they would put me in such misery and rage. It’s just remarkable what these people did.

Thanks for reading!

Hazel in the Son of Neptune

Hello reader! Today, I have another connection for you. Now, you might have noticed that it is not on the book, House of Scorpion. I have recently finished that book and I’ve started The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. So far, it is a fabulous book and I highly recommend it. Honestly, considering the amount of books I’ve read written by him, he is an amazing author and I recommend any of his books. Even the books I have not read, I’ve heard great reviews from my friends and classmates. Well, back to the book, I would like to talk about a new character the author has introduced to the series. Her name is Hazel Levesque and she has an interesting story about her godly parent and her mortal parent.

In the story, she explains how Pluto comes to convince her mother not to leave for Alaska. Unfortunately, they do leave because Queen Marie (mother) doesn’t believe him since she thinks he gave her daughter a curse and left them. Later in the book, she also mentions how this was a terrible action and it leads them both into terrible things. Although, something she also says, is that she never met Pluto before that moment nor asked her mother about him before. When I read this, I thought that maybe if she asked her mother about him or her curse, she’d get a clearer picture of both sides and eventually have an opinion about leaving for Alaska. Since Hazel never asked, she can’t say to her mother that she’d like to stay for certain reasons. If I was Hazel, first, I think I’d be curious as to who my father was and my background. I suspect Hazel is just not curious or she didn’t want to bring up the subject because she wasn’t ever fond of her father. If you look at Percy Jackson though (another character in the series), he didn’t want anything to do with Poseidon (father) but he still knew key things as to why he left and more. I just can’t understand why she never brought it up even if it pains them both. I feel like it’s something they should have covered as a family. She could’ve had an effect on her sad future if she did.

Thanks for reading!     

Chacho in The House of The Scorpion

Hello, reader! I’m about three chapters away from finishing the book, The House of the Scorpion and I’m excited that I’ll finally get to read the ending shortly. This book is different than others then I’ve read in the past. The book is divided into categories based on Matt’s (the main character) age. Since I am finishing the book, I am reading the category, La Vida Nueva or The New Life. This book is so unique because in this category completely different problems occur then the rest of the book although it still ties in with the original conflicts and plots from previous chapters. Along with new plots, come new characters, one I’d actually like to talk to you today. His name is Chacho and he is a Lost Boy from Aztlan.  

            Chacho is one of my all time characters in the book because of his complex personality. He can come across extremely tough, stubborn, and hostile but yet have good intentions and sympathy for his loved ones at the same time. Here is one example of Chacho’s behavior: “Jorge paced back and forth, whisking the cane. Any second now he’d break into a run. He stopped. He gathered his strength for the initial blow. He lunged forward- Matt hurled himself at the Keeper. He drove his head into Jorge’s stomach and tore the cane from the man’s hands. Jorge reeled back, gasping for breath. Matt brought the cane down hard on his shoulder and then used it to force the Keeper to the floor. Chacho came out of nowhere and threw himself into the battle, pummeling Jorge with his fists. “You- hit- little- kids!” At this moment, I can see why some people might take Chacho’s actions as violent and wrong but deep inside, I feel like he’s doing it for a good cause. He’s trying to save his eight year old friend from a beating by their master. Even though he is using force, he is trying to save his friend. Also, there was time where the same friend, Chacho, and Matt were eating and the Keeper (master) prohibited Fidelito (friend) to eat. So, what Chacho did was stare intensely at another boy and boy was so frightened that he gave him half of his lunch. Then, Chacho gave it to Fidelito. This might be seen as bullying, but I also see it as again helping out a friend.

            This might be a weird comparison but Chacho can be compared or similar to the characteristics of a sea urchin; tough, scary, and harmful on the outside but soft on the inside. Alright, thanks for reading!

Two Similar Instances in Two Different Books

Hello, reader! I'm still reading House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer and I'm beginning to like it better. I am getting deeper into the suspenseful parts which make the book more interesting. One of the juicy parts I've come across, is the answer to the question: Who and Where is Maria's mom? She is never mentioned in the book... *SPOILER ALERT* If you read on, Matt then figures out that Maria's mom is not dead (which Maria thought) because of the book Tam Lin gave him. That Senator Mendoza made up this lie to make up for her leaving because of their divorce. Later on, Matt then tells Maria about his discovery and the way she reacts is the connection I'm writing about for you today.

When Maria is told, she is confused, devastated, aggravated, and tons more emotions fill her up. She cannot believe that her father and sister (Emilia) had been keeping this huge secret from her since she was a toddler. The fact that Senator Mendoza lied to Maria about her mother's death is depressing although, in many movies and books I've read including divorced parents, this lie has also been told to their children. For example, I read a book called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon in 5th grade. The main character, Christopher goes on this adventure to find the murderer of a neighborhood dog. *SPOILER ALERT* On this adventure, he then realizes that his mother is not dead (a lie told by his father) and she had been trying to reach him. I included this because there is a connection between these two books. In both books, these character's reactions to the news, makes them both absolutely crazy. Frankly, I think they have every right to be because for the longest time they could never communicate with their parent thinking that they had passed.

Personally, I think this a disappointing action of both fathers in the two books. I do realize that divorce is difficult, but pretending that they are dead is over doing it. To raise a child well with divorced parents, I feel they should try to have as much communication between both parents so they still feel at home even though they might not be close in distance. If not, thinking that one of your parents is dead, is one of the worst feelings in life. Since the parent told this lie, and the child(ren) found out, I feel like they might do something stupid or wrong.

Thanks for reading!

Predictions in The House of the Scorpion

Hello, reader! I've read more of the House of the Scorpion and I still like it. While I was reading, the chapter I started was when Matt, Maria, and Tom go to the hospital. Now in the beginning of the chapter, it makes you think that Matt and Maria will make up after what happened at the party. But what really happened is  all three of them go through the hospital looking for the cat (this part wasn't very relevant. That's why I did not include the cat part) and end up at the room of MacGreggor's clone. By seeing the clone, Maria was traumatized, witnessing a troubled and ferocious clone screaming his heart out.

I predict that since Maria has seen what a typical clone looks like, she won't be able to be around or stay friends with Matt. I feel that she will be reminded that Matt is a clone too, all these bad memories will rush back to her. Hopefully, my prediction is incorrect because I really like Matt and Maria as friends. Unfortunately, at the point I am now in the book, it seems that Maria will be scared of Matt.

Now, if you read more into the chapter, Matt then talks about what he thinks of doing. This is the quote: "It wouldn't do Matt any good either, except to convince her he really was a beast." He also talks more about showing her that he is a beast later on. Personally, I don't think this could help Matt. The only reasoning I can come up with is by showing her he is a beast, Maria would then want to help him since they were good friends. He would hope that it would conquer her fears towards clones and towards himself.  But actually, I think it would be better for Matt if he did the opposite.