The Stolen Party is a book about classism. Rosaura is poor because her mother is poor. The difference between her and her mother is that Rosaura has a way out of poverty because she is doing well in school. Rosaura goes to a rich friends birthday party where her mother works. She is asked to help serve food and drink thought the party. At the end instead of a gift from the goody-bag, she is given money as payment for helping. Rosaura is angry about this.

Rosaura wants to be an equal to her rich friends but as it mentions in the book she slips unseen from the party multiple times. This shows how little care they give her and is an allusion to how little some rich people care about those with less money. She is also raised differently then many of the other rich kids. She lives a life in which she is physically active when apparently the others do not. This becomes clear when she wins many of the party games. This is an allusion the the "Idle Rich."

  Senora Ines, Luciana's mother sees Rosaura as nothing more then a copy of her mother. (Luciana is Rosaura's rich friend.) Senora Ines sees Rosaura as another low class "peasant" to work for her. She has Rosaura serve Luciana's rich friends by giving them hot dogs, orange juice, and cake. Senora Ines fails to see Rosaura as an equal even though Rosaura is smart. (It says in the book that Rosaura is in the top of her class.) This book is trying to say that we need to look past net worth, and stock options, and see what is really inside of a person before we judge them.

My favorite book of 2013 was "Looking for Alaska." "Looking for Alaska" is about a boy names Miles who goes to boarding school for his Junior year of high school. He becomes close friends with three other juniors named the Colonel, Takumi, and Alaska. They go on several adventures until half way through the book Alaska dies. The remainder of the book is about Miles ans the Colonel trying to figure out why Alaska died.

I really enjoyed "looking for Alaska" because of the characters and their interactions. John Green clearly spent a long time developing the characters before he started writing. The evolve through out the book and their interactions evolve along with them. The dialogue is smart and fun. The setting and description really tie the book together. The whole book was well planed and well written.    

Role models in books Spoiler Alert!!!

The reading inquiry for my group is "what are examples of good role models in books?" I was reading around and I noticed a pattern. Role models are often the people in the toughest situations. When you put coal under pressure it creates diamonds. The example that most stuck with me was Tris from Alliengent. She is put under a lot of pressure because both her parents are dead and her brother sold her out to people who wanted to kill her. She has to keep her group of friends together and try to save every one in Chicago from getting her memories erased.

Tris is a good role model because she is willing to risk her life for others. She always stays strong for others and she does die so that others can live. Just to clarify, I'm not trying to say that if you don't risk your life or die then you aren't a role model. But people who have the bravery to do that for others are good role models. Also Sharpe from Waterloo is a good role model. He fights the French to protect all the peopel in the English Empire. Sharpe fights so that others don't have. He is willing to sacrifice himself so others can stay safe and innocent. His bravery make him a role model. All in all, people who are brave in bad situations are good role models.

Social Justice all Around the World

When I think of social justice I think of something that everyone needs to work together on. I think that social justice is a global solution to the global problem of injustice. But when you glance around at the world you would see a place in terrible shape. Wars, economic inequality, brutality, and climate change. National Geographic had a story and a map that showed what the world will look like if climate change continues unchecked. Huge portions of land underwater. Also in Mexico City, the coldest day of the year could be over 100* F by 2033. This kind of rapid temperature increase could kill many species of animals as well as be dangerous to many humans. War is so bad that people complain only when chemicals weapons are used. Anything else is seen as bad, but it's "just" war.

I decide to look a little deeper and I saw a lot that inspires me. Groups like The Nature Conservatory, The World Wildlife Fund, and the Sierra Club all work hard to protect the environment. People like Malala Yousafzai and the anti-war protesters in Syria risk their lives to try and make the world a better place. I think that if everyone just does a little bit more then together we can bring social justice.

Banned Books Week 2010: A Response to Ellen Hopkins

Ellen Hopkins so titled "Manifesto" is really journey of self discovery into the deep dark world of others minds and others opinions. She begins by talking about a book talk she had given in Columbus, Georgia and when she was done and the room had emptied a young women had come forward a told her story about how Ellen Hopkins first book, Crank, a book about meth addiction saved her from her own downward spiral into addiction and helped her save her life. She then talks about how it hurts her when she is dis-invited from speaking engagements because a small short sighted minority is too afraid to talk to their own children that they stop everyone else from having a chance to read, learn, and grow. Ellen Hopkins the talks about other times she was dis-invited and how when she was dis-invited from the Teen Literature festival 5 of the 7 other authors left in protest. She concludes by saying that one size, one world view does not work for everyone.

I definitely agree with Ellen Hopkins on this one. Both my parents work full time jobs but when ever I need to talk they are there for me. They also let me read just about what ever I want to and I think that reading a wide variety of things has given me a better understanding of the world. Now of course every one is different and has a different set of circumstances. But even if someones parent doesn't want them to read a book that doesn't mean that they can decide for everyone. Censorship and misunderstanding are a real danger; ignoring a problem won't make it go away. The only way to fix a problem is to face it whether it is censorship or substance abuse and knowledge is always a good way to face something. That is why reading is such a important privilege and cannot be decided by the few for the many.      

The Mortal Instruments

How much difference is there really between fantasy and reality? In the series the Mortal Instruments by Clarissa Clare, not as much as you would think. The Shadowhunters are society of magical warriors that keep the world safe from demons. But magic doesn't mean perfect, they have quite a few moral problems. The interesting thing is that the moral problems the Shadowhunters face are similar to a few of the moral problems that plague us today.

One similar problem is homophobia. This is a problem that we are just starting to get over in the U.S. It is a big problem for the Shadowhunters though. Alec, a central character is gay, but he has to hide it from his parents and almost everybody else except his sister. In the end of the third book he comes out and is largely accepted. I think that this is similar to what is happening on a larger scale in the U.S. right now, with gay marriage now legal in many states and gay rights are now federally recognized. However in later books Alec hints that he still has trouble with many Shadowhunters about his sexuality. This reminds me of a time I was web surfing and I went to bored button, a website that sends you to a random URL every time you hit the button. Thus time it sent me to a website called "How Far We Have to Go," it showed stats on homophobia. I think it is a good reminder that we aren't done yet.

Another problem that we share with share the Shadowhunters is racism. In our world it is Stop and Frisk, and the Supreme Court striking down color blind college enrollment and regulations to make voting fair while allowing unfair regulations to sprout up around the country. In the Shadowhunters world it is faeries, vampires, werewolves, and Warlocks who face discrimination and profiling. Collectively they are called Downworlders, they are subject to unfair laws and a lack of representation in the government of the magic world. They can gain respect only through power and fear. This has a mostly happy ending in the books as the Downworlders and Shadowhunters team up to fight of a demon army and then the Downworlders gain representation in the government. However in the real world we have not yet had a breakthrough like this and it seems that we have taken steps backwards. This is a stark reminder that we always have to fight for social change.

What I am really trying to say is that if you look past certain elements fantasy can be a good allegory for the real world. I think that this book is a very good example of this because it deals with big, contemporary issues. I think books like this are also good because they teach tolerance and respect, two characteristics that often seem in short supply nowadays.

City of Ashes

I just finished City of Ashes and I really liked it. It was inventive and exciting keeping just enough from the first book in the series, City of Bones, but also adding brand new things to keep it fresh. The theme of City of Ashes is that sometimes water can thicker then blood. The main characters father separates her from her brother, kills her grandparents and puts her mom into a coma. But the kicker is that he expects to be forgiven and loved even after all of that. Another thing that keeps the main character, Clary, from accepting her father and joining him on his plan to take over the government is that she grew up without him and that her brother is against him as well as a close friend of her mother who acted as a father figure.
All in all, the theme is that the title parent is not taken freely, it has to be earned.