I was the victim

Imagine you walk into a store to buy a mint, and you don’t find the one that you want. So you leave the store. The next day you hear in the news that the store clerk/owner has been robbed and murdered. You hear a knock on the door, and you open it to see two police officers. They ask you to come to the station for some questions. You refuse, so they put you in handcuffs. Now suddenly you're on trial for the store owners murder. That was the exact situation of Steve Harmon. In the book Monster, by Walter Dean Myers, there is a African American boy named Steve Harmon. Steve is a normal boy, but he lives in a bad neighborhood. Just because he was in the store that day, and he’s been bullied by one of the suspects before, he is on trial for taking part in the murder of Mr.Nesbitt. One of the many themes that goes on throughout the story is injustice. Steve didn’t do anything wrong that day, but he was on trial with the odds stacked against him due to racial bias in the jury.

One part of the book that shows injustice is when Steve thinks to himself in the jail cell. “The incredible story of how one guy’s life was turned around by a few events and how he might spend the rest of his life behind bars.” Steve is sorry for himself. Steve knows he’s going to jail for something he didn’t do. Which relates to my point about injustice. He didn’t do the crime yet he still might do the time. He has no experience in this position. It’s his first time on trial, so he doesn’t know what’s going on. He’s stuck in a place where they are talking about him being guilty for something he didn’t do, while all he can do is sit there and listen.

Later in the story Steve says to himself, “What did I do? I walked into a store like anybody else. Why am I on trial for something everyone can do?” At this point you can tell steven is feeling victimized. He’s is extremely resentful towards the prosecutors. He didn’t do anything wrong yet he’ll be spending the rest of his life in jail, and with people that actually did do something wrong. He feels like he is being treated unfairly because of who he is. All he did was look for mints and now he’s accused of being one of the accomplices of the murder and robbery. Even though he didn’t make a dime from the robbery. It’s the perfect example of injustice in a system created around the idea of justice.

In conclusion, the story Monster relates to issues going on today. In the news there have been a lot of police brutality and injustice. It gives people a sick feeling knowing that this happens all the time. People being wrongly persecuted and put in jail. Just think, What if it was you? What if you were the person wrongly persecuted?

Like Father-Like-Son

In the book Champion by Marie Liu, the elector, or Anden, says that he is good for the Republic and that he is different from his father. Over the course of the story he gets more and more like his father. In the beginning of the story he is telling everyone that he hates his father's policies. But now that the story is in the rising action stage he is referring back to all his dad's policies. Day is starting to notice that they are becoming more similar, which puts him on the edge.

Anden has a lot of ideas and ideals. Anden wanted Day's support when he was trying to win over the republic. Which his father would have never done. The Senate hates Anden because he's young and is trying to make changes. The Senate worshipped Andens father. When he didn't have the support of day he had rebellion. His father had the same kind of rebellion that Anden had. Anden hates his father for all the bad things he's done. Andens father loves Anden, and wants Anden to be just like him. Anden and his father both believe that the sectors should be separated between poor and rich. Both of them are hated by Day, even though Anden got Day's support, Day was extremely reluctant and is ready to take it back in the blink of an eye. Anden is trying to stop a giant war from happening. His father was the main cause of the war by using genetic weapons to spread deadly diseases. Anden has many people in the ranks that are traitors and are trying to undermine him. But his dad had no traitors because they liked his policies and he had an extremely strict goverment and military code.

Even though they have a lot of differences, Anden said that he was nothing like his father. But it seems they have more similarities than he thought. If he didn’t know how many similarities they had at the start what stops him from having even more. Anden is becoming more and more like his father. Which is exactly what his father wanted.

I’m realizing that this story has the theme of father-son relationships.Children might dream to be different but eventually they grow up to be how they were raised. Anden dreamed of being the best elector but he is becoming his father, which is how he was raised. You may think that you will be better than your parents, but you will go back to your roots and act how you were raised to act.

Making Tough Desicions

Prodigy by Marie Lu is a story about an indecisive girl's troubles. June is indecisive, it's one of her very few flaws. She loves day, then hates him. She loves the republic, then hates them, then loves them again. She is faking an alliance with Anden, then its for real. Her indecisiveness gives her one choice: Day or Anden. As a reader , you can learn that having bad decision making will leave you in a world of trouble. Sometimes you just have to reason it out.

June should pick day because they have a lot in common. Day and June have a history together. In the book, Legend, June was trying to find Day. She ended up finding a poor boy, who she had a crush on. They connected even when she found out he was Day. June helps Day gat out of trouble and Day does the same for her. When June thought Day was the killer of her brother she captured him. But once she found out he wasn't the killer, she helped him escape the maximum security jail cell that he was in. Day helped June when she was being held at gunpoint in the colonies he broke in with Kaede and saved her. "Suddenly the balcony's glass door shatters into a million pieces. The soldiers spin around, bewildered. Everything is whirling. In the midst of the shouts and footsteps, I see two people breaking into the room from the balcony. One's a girl I recognize. Kaede? I think incredulously. The other is Day." Day loves June, in Vegas he said that he loves her. "Day pulls me close enough for our noses to touch. 'I love you." Day and June have a lot in common. That's why she should pick him over Anden.

June should pick Anden because they have alot in common. Anden and June went to the same college and both had high rankings in the Republic. They can both talk about their time at Drake. June has a little crush on Anden. She is always looking at him in full description. Describing how he talks, walks, and looks. Even how he kisses. Anden promises to fix the Republic. All June wants to see is that the Republic is changing for the better and Anden feels the same way. Anden is the only person who can do that because of the power he has. The elector is better than a criminal. That's why June should chose Anden over Day.

With June having to make a big decision. Readers will see how she tries to work through it. It can help if a reader learns how to make a tough decision in life. She works through her problem, thinking about every detail to make sure she makes the right choice. That's how readers, especially teens and young adults preparing for their future, can learn how to deal with tough desicions.

Different But Very Much The Same.

Prodigy by Marie Lu

Tells a story about the differences and similarities of it's main characters. Day and June are different but also very much the same.

This book is the sequel in the Legend book series.

Day and June are similar in many ways. Including skills and loss.

Concerning skill, they both have brains and brawn. Also they both got perfect score on the trials. Even though they told Day that he got an extremely low one.

Concerning loss, They have both lost their respective past lives and family. Day and June had separate families but both were killed by the republic. I'm realizing that the republic doesn't care about it's people. Another loss that Day and June both suffered is their past lives. Day was a homeless criminal mastermind who still provided for their family. June was a girl from the rich sectors and had a family that worked for the republic. Now neither of them are living the same. They are now patriots on a mission to kill the new elector primo.

Day and June are also different in more than one way. They come from different pasts and they have completely different opinions on most things.

When it comes to opinions, Day and June don't always agree. for example, when finding out that the plan was to kill the new elector they had different reactions. June was shocked and thought it was extreme. Day thought that it was fair and it was the price to pay to start a rebellion. June thinks that, "most people who kill, kill for the wrong reasons." Which is the opposite of what Day thinks.

When it comes to past, Day and June couldn't get more different. June was rich and was a military prodigy. Day was poor and the republic's most wanted criminal. That is the reason why they have different opinions on most things.

Even though they have differences and similarities. They are together as a team. They won't let anyone between them.

Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other.

-Tom Robbins 

Avenging Your Loved Ones

If the person care about the most is dead how would you avenge them?

Day and June would carry on.

Legend by Marie Lu

is a story about a criminal who is most wanted and a prodigy who has a great future in their military/congress. The story takes place in the future when the United States is broken up. It is in a war against the “colonies of america”.

Day is from the slum sectors and June is from the rich sectors. When Day and June deal with grief, this book becomes a help for teens who are struggling or who have ever struggled with grief about a loved one.
One way this book teaches about how to get through grieving is when June lost her brother she got very depressed. But a few days later she realized that she could avenge him by capturing his killer. “In my mind, I make a silent promise to my brother’s killer. I will hunt you down.” I’m realizing she’s going to do what Metias, her brother would’ve wanted her to do. Which is a great lesson for teens struggling with grieving.
Another role model for teens can have for grieving is Day. Day has to deal with his brother, Eden, having the plague. Also he has to find out what the strange symbol on their door means.

But he continues to search for and save up notes, the currency of the republic, to buy some meds. “Twenty-five hundred notes. Enough to feed us for months... but not enough for vials of plague medicine." In other words, he is saving up to get his family what they need. Hopefully, teenagers will read this book because a teenager could learn that even if they are grieving, they should continue on. Because that’s what their loved one would’ve wanted.

Which is whats most important to me,

what about you?

"Sometimes problems don't require a solution to solve them;

Instead they require maturity to outgrow them."

-Steve Maraboli

Summer Reading

My Summer Reading

One of the books I read was The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi.

It was about the struggle of an Iranian girl in war time. It really BLEW me away. It was very deep. There was multiple climactic parts.
 

SPOILER ALERT 

She ends up surviving the war (obviously, it's an autobiography) and moves to France. I was happy to see that she was finally able to find a country to live in.

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Another book I read was Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina.

It was about a Latina girl who had moved into a new school and had to deal with the struggles of peer pressure, family, poverty, and bullying. I suggest this book for anyone who wants to read about the struggles of high school.

SPOILER ALERT

 It all ends up okay in the end. She still struggles with trauma but she transfers into a school for advanced science. Away from anybody from Washington Heights. No offense to anybody from Washington heights, in the book Piddy is afraid of going around there.

I look forward to writing more about my reading in the near future.

"If I don't see you guys, good afternoon, good evening, and good night."

-The Truman Show (1998)