The Watcher Blog 7

As I continued reading the book The Watcher, I discovered that the mysterious girl from the beach is named Margaret. This girl continues to watch over the same family everyday that I mentioned in the previous blog. Although she keeps her eyes on only two strangers from the beach. Everyday she leaves her family to forget about their horrible problems, and she comes to the beach to write a fairy tale story about her perspective on two strangers from the beach. One of the strangers is the lifeguard who works there, and the other is the family son about the same age as Margaret. These two boys seem perfect for her so she decides to write a story using them in it.

In this book, Margaret has pretty much the main role. She is a very unknown person by many, especially those that she watches over. In the book, the narrator mentions that her family makes her fell invincible. Therefore she does not like to be with them. Margaret is a spectator type of person and she has a very creative mind. I know this because she makes up fairytale stories about peoples lives without knowing anything about them just by observing.

The Watcher

The book I started reading is called The Watcher; By James Howe. The beginning of the book introduces a character; but they don't mention her name. The girl was at a beach and she was watching a family that was visiting the beach. The book is written in third person point of view so it is not the girl telling the book. The book also mentions that she had lost her family, her whole family, somehow. So that is the reason why she strangely stares at the family at the beach for a while.

In the very start of the book it mentions how the girl is in a sort of invincible form. "The dream of having a family once and loosing them." This sentence makes me wonder what is the story behind the girl's history? Did her family abandon her? This is why she probably keeps an eye on the family because she wishes she had hers back with her.

Wintergirls Blog 5

The book finishes by Lia going to Elijah's house because her dad kicked her out and her mom does not want to pick her up. Lia tells Elijah everything that is going on. She shows him all the scars and blood on her body from her cutting. Lia later ends up fainting because of the lack of food that she hasn't eaten. She later sees and talks to Cassie's ghost for the last time. Lia apologizes for not answering her calls when she was about to die. This was the last time they talked. Afterwards, Lia ends up in the hospital for 10 days because her heart had stopped but she thankfully she was ok and recovered. Lia goes to a treatment place and gets extra help to recover from her depression. She continues to see Cassie's ghost but she no longer talks to her. Lia ends the book by improving in her eating disorder and being in a better relationship with her family members.

As I finished the book I noticed that there was an Again and Again moment throughout the whole book. Lia always seem to feel guilty about the death of her friend Cassie. The scene of Cassie killing herself always flashes back to Lia's mind. "....body found in a motel room, alone..." "Lia is not available. Please leave a message when you hear the beep." "She called me thirty three times". All these text pieces from the book seem to go through Lia's head again and again. I think that this is what affects Lia the most and she blames herself for it all the time. 

Wintergirls blog 4

Lia continues to suffer from her daily negative thoughts about her body. The persistent act of her seeing Cassie's ghost in her life terrifies her. One night, she was going to get her sleeping pills and she over heard her stepmom and her dad discussing about her. Jennifer mentions that Lia's real mother, Chloe, has been trying to get Lia to have a sleepover at her house. Jennifer also mentions that Chloe feels like Lia is not truly recovering by living at her father's house. For this, Lia gets very shocked for the fact that her mother is planning to take her back and doesn't know what to decide. 

The conflict in this book so far has been Man vs. Self. Lia the main character has faced her herself in many battles. From her school problems to her personal problems at home. "I was a good girl because I didn't poke holes in my skin or write depressing poetry and I ate and ate." This sentence from the book explains how Lia thinks on a negative note about her past body and suffers daily about thinking she is still the same.  

American Indian Response

Native Americans were often made to feel like they were marginalized in many ways. In the article it states, "Pratt believed that the children needed to completely abandon their Indian-ness in order to succeed in America." This sentence from the article explains how Indian kids were told that they were going to fail in life if they continued living their Indian lives and they were told that they could no longer be themselves. Americans were trying to make them "white man" and completely whip out their family, culture, and all other stereotypes Indians consider having. In conclusion, American Indians most likely felt underestimated about their culture and people when they were told that they wouldn't be successful in America living as a stereotype Indian.

In the essay reading Life on the Rez written by Shanice Britton, she talks about her life living in the Rez. She wrote this essay to inform other cultures that Native Americans today are just the same as any other ethnic group. She wants to let the readers know that they do not live in the same manner their ancestors might have lived. Although their lifestyles are not the same as the "Indian stereotype lifestyle", they continue to pass down their traditions from generation to generation. Shanice also explains her experience in her college which she finds exciting and is determined to success in life by being a veterinarian.

Wintergirls Blog 3

The book I have started reading is called Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Wintergirls is a story of Lia, an 18 year old girl who suffers from anorexia. All her negative thoughts about her body and her life are increased when she finds out her best friend, Cassie dies. Lia later finds out that Cassie attempted to call her 33 times the same night she died. But Lia did not answer since she had no clue that Cassie was calling her because she was in trouble. Investigators do not know yet how Cassie died but they were predicting that she might have committed suicide on overdosed pills or she might have hung herself. Lia now lives with the haunting of Cassie. Literally everywhere Lia goes, she can hear Cassie calling her, waiting for Lia's turn to commit the same incident.

This book is something very different from what I have read in the past. The book is written in a poem-like way which makes the book ten times more interesting. In my opinion, the book by far is fascinating in ways that the author attracts you to the reading. I also like that the story is written in a poem style and you have to deeply read between the words to understand the story.

Blog 2 Perks of Being a Wallflower

I have continued to read the book Perks of Being a Wallflower. As the book continues, Charlie continues to write letters to the anonymous person. One event that happens is that he meets two really intresting people, Sam and Patrick. Sam and Patrick changed Charlie's life ever since Charlie met them. They taught him how to "live life" as a teenager. Charlie feels happy because he knows that they might not be good influence but they are the only friends Charlie has had besides Michael. Eventually, Charlie falls in love with Sam but he does not tell her for the fear that their friendship will break. On page 49 it says, "I am really in love with Sam, and it hurts very much." This sentence explains how Charlie is too hurtful to tell Sam about his feelings. He talks to Patrick about how he feels but he just seems to tell him to keep it to himself because Sam is too old for Charlie.
As I read, I noticed that there was a memory moment with Charlie. One or two times he seems to go back and think about his friend Michael who passed away. At one part of the book, Charlie attends a football game at his school and remembers the times he used to go with Michael. In my opinion, I feel like the death of Michael was pretty tough for him because he seems to flashback to the good times they spent together and seem upset about it. But then again, he remembers that he has two good friends that are close to him just as Michael was.