Blog Post on Coming of Age Book (Speak)

     I read the book Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson for this Coming of Age reading unit. The book is about a young teenager named Melinda who suffers through many different issues and problems in her teenage years. The main problem that happens in the book is that she goes to a party over the summer and calls the cops because she almost got raped. Then when she goes to high school, all of her old friends that she knew before give her an "attitude" and hate her because of what she did at the party. Little do they know that she almost raped at that party. I think that the protagonist in this book (Melinda) has changed a lot. She was a dynamic character because if you take all the big events and her attitude towards them, and turn it into a timeline based story, she does change a lot. She becomes a much stronger person.

    In the beginning of the book shes just a young teenager who's very excited to start high school until she begins to notice how everyone hates her. She walks through the hallways and see's everyone giving her dirty looks and then she hears people talking about her in the gym locker room. She tries to confront some of her friends but they just give her an attitude just for calling the cops. But then again, none of her former friends knew the reason behind the call. Melinda goes to high school hoping to start fresh, hoping to make new friends, get good grades, and be ready for a change and transition from middle school to high school. She feels deceived to know that all her friends hate her after such an incident. Because of all her friends hating her, and making fun of her, she suffers through a silenced high school year. She keeps everything to herself and she never really expressed her feelings out to everyone. That was just her school life. Since Melinda felt "unwanted", she couldn't concentrate on her own studies except for Art class. She got D's and C's and even some F's in all her classes except in Art she got an A. I think this happened because in the book the author really spent a lot of time talking about how Melinda put a lot of depth and thinking into her art. She relates her own life to her artwork. She is able to express herself. Also after getting her first marking period report card her parents get calls from teachers saying that they expect more from her. Also her parents are getting her really stressed because they aren't recieving the grades there child is getting.

    In the end of the book she changes a lot because she becomes much more stronger.  Loneliness is a really big issue in this book too. This is because Melinda has been through such a big incident in her life and really has no one to talk to and share her feelings with. The entire school pretty much hates her for calling the cops at the party so there's no one at school that is willing to talk to her and be there for her. Her parents don't have any time for her and shes slacking in most of her classes and because of that, her parents are always yelling at her and they don't know about the rape and she feels its embarrassing to tell them. She really has no one to talk to because no one has time for her. If the rape hadn't happened then she would be lonely at all! At times I've been pretty lonely my self and it feels like you have no one that cares about you, and you have no one to ask for advice for. Its just like a scream of voices in your head struggling of what to do. This is how loneliness is a really big issue in this book.

   In conclusion I think that rape and loneliness are both really big issues in the book because they both affected Melinda's life a lot and its very scary and sad. Rape affected her life because she got raped over the summer and called the cops and because of that she isn't who she used to be. Loneliness is a big issue in the book because she has no one there for her and she has trouble in a lot of things but no one to tell too. This is why rape and loneliness is a big affect on her life. 

Reading Responce : Stiches by David Smalls

            The book Stitches by David Smalls is a powerful book. It doesn’t have many words but the pictures show a depth meaning behind it. The book is about David Smalls (the author) having his vocal cord removed, not being told that he had cancer and that he was expected to die. His family is very harsh on him and he’s always in his own little world. But no one knows that he’s a very talented young adult. What I noticed about the book Stitches by David Smalls is how the book deals with loneliness and self esteem which is what a lot of people deal with in the world.

           

            In the book, he’s very lonely. He has no one to talk to, no one to share his thoughts and feelings with, and no one that shares the same interests with him.

I think this because his family is filled with secrets, and not only him but everyone is in their own little world. He lives with his brother, mother and father. His mother was secretly a lesbian, and was depressed with David having cancer. She seems to regret the fact that he’s his son and isn’t able to show any love towards him. His father was a doctor and was very quiet. He always seemed to know what he was doing and never took any advice from anyone. And his brother would always just beat on his drums.

He has no one to relate to. “And I, too. Had learned a way of expressing myself wordlessly…” (18). This quote shows that he tries to hide his loneliness but entertaining himself. “Getting sick, that was my language” (19). This quote shows that he really does need some love.

Something else I observed in the book was that he has no self esteem and is lacking it. I think this because when he found out he had cancer from a letter the doctor wrote the the mother, he automatically lost all self esteem. First he never received love, and now he knows no one loves him. I think he just also lost all respect for himself because everyone he was around with had no respect for him either.

“Back in school, at first wildly self-conscious… I soon learned… when you have no voice… you don’t exist”(212). This quote shows that he really did lose all respect for himself and he thought that there was no reason for living.  

This book is very deep and interesting and I think that every teenager or maybe even adult can relate to this book because there’s always a time in life where someone does feel really alone and not loved. Being not loved can really affect a person and it really does hurt and I think that David Smalls really did show that throughout the book. 

Two Voice Poem : Global Warming (Issue)

All : I don't care.
A: I don't care. I will make a change.
B: I don't care. Why do I have to waste my time "helping the environment". Other people are probably doing it so I don't get why one person not doing it is gonna make a change.

All : Its stupid.
A: Its stupid. Other people should really help because we're all in this together and we can do this if we try!
B: Its stupid. Sorting cans and papers in bins, isn't gonna save the planet.

All: We have to do this!
A : We have to do this? ha, funny. The world is still gonna be alive until I'm alive. So I don't care!
B : We have to do this! Our lives are being passed on generation to generation and if we don't make a change, what will become of our next generation? Crap. Garbage.