**Twilight**

        I decided to take a step back in time and re-read one of my many favorite fifth grade books. This one being, Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Now that I have gotten older I view this book in a different way that I did three years ago. I am also willing to dissect a problem that I think most people ignore because they just dont think it's important. At the beginning of this book, has anyone ever noticed Isabella's and her fathers relationship? Well, I have! So far, Isabella Swan is the new girl after moving from Phoenix, her hometown to Forks where her father currently resides. May I just add that before her mother let her live with her father she solemnly said to her, "You don't have to do this." But in her own free will, Bella replied lying straight through her teeth "I want to go." I believe that she feels awkward and uncomfortable living with her father by her attitude and body language towards him being that it's been a couple of years since she last visited him. I believe that Bella, deep inside still has feelings for her dad emotionally but is hiding from it.
        I mean come on! First, she secretly calls her father by his first name "Charlie" in her head but denies it and refuses to do so to his face, why may this be? This made me wonder what kind of father-daughter relationship they really have? Most teenagers don't really think about what name they should call their dad. I also know that it would be considered rude now a days if you called a parent by their first name, aside from joking. Then, as a gift for moving in with her father he surprised her with a red Chevy truck, which I find very exciting. Now, I am not trying to just blame this on Bella, Charlie contributes as a factor to their awkward relationship also. Bella even stated that her father was not comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud and that she possibly inherited this trait from him. I find it odd. Could it just be that they are not used to seeing each other a lot so there just going through an awkward stage? I sure hope so because this is not how a father-daughter relationship should work. Even if it is awkward at first, they should learn to get over it and get pass that.
        Also, I find it intriguing how Bella says that one of the best things about Charlie was that he doesn't like to hover over her like her mom does. For example, as she was unpacking her clothes and getting settled into her new room, Charlie did not come in and interrogate as she would expect her mom to do. This could mean one of many things. Maybe, she doesn't want her father's guidance or him up in her personal life. Either way, it shows the lack of confidence and parent to child love in their relationship. This made it clear to me that she was not expecting any "love" or "affection" from Charlie. Is that a good or bad sign/thing? Where could their relationship really be headed?
        In conclusion, I anticipate to see massive improvements in Bella's and Charlie's father-daughter relationship. I will continue to track and observe their relationship and stay updated. 

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky!

            I am currently reading "The Girl Who Fell From The Sky" by Heidi W. Durrow. This novel has been breathtaking for me so far. My (MC) Rachel just moved in with her grandmother. She is of mixed descent and as others would call it "different." In the new school that she attends the kids make fun of her a lot because they don't see her as their own kind. The kids say that she is light-skinned-ed, talks white, has ashy knees and thinks that she's full of herself because of the texture of her hair. Basically, they agree that she's different! Hence the title "The Girl Who Fell From The Sky" With all of the emotions that arise from her she places it in an imaginary bottle that she keeps in her stomach and she adds her feelings when necessary instead of exploding.
            Rachel is truly a strong, confident and prestigious character. If this was me I would have exploded already. It amazes me how she can just hide all of her emotions in a blue bottle and seals it with a cork stopper. After the terrible accident that occurred back in Chicago in her previous home with Rachel's mother, brother and sister all dying from jumping off the top of their apartment building, things have not been the same. Out of curiosity, maybe shes learning to cope with her feelings in different ways than usual by placing them in a bottle? During class, Anthony Miller kicks the back of her chair repeatedly making a "bump" sound. Another boy named Antoine mocks her in a baby voice when she answers the questions right and all of the girls ENVY her. Despite all of these events, she still keeps going. I feel inspired and motivated by her to keep pushing if I was ever in a situation like this. I think people like Rachel are very rare to find in the world.
            I believe Rachel is a strong person within because after the tragic event of her family and having to adjust into living with her grandmother was not an easy thing to do. On top of that, when she attends school people try to bring her ego down with their negative vibe and slurs. The theme of this book is that you should overcome obstacles in life, no matter how hard they may be and you should ignore those in life that wont benefit you in any way. Rachel is an amazing character and I would love to play her role any day!

The Little Deer by Frida Kahlo (My Art Inspiration)

     I came across this picture on the internet and I just loved it. I think that this image has a lot of meaning to it. For one, this image is half human/half animal. I found this very interesting because you don't see much work like this being displayed anymore. This image also made me feel a lot of emotion. After observing it, I found way more meaning and expression in just this one picture. I guess the saying "A picture is worth a thousand words" is true.
     This portrait is worth more than just an animal in the deep woods. I believe this picture entails loneliness. Just by looking into the eyes I can see that this woman is trying to communicate with the world that she feels lonely. The arrows injected into her body might indicate misery, pain, sorrow and possibly difficulty that she has or will be preparing to go through. The trees that are surrounding her give the impression that she somehow is trapped and cannot escape. I observed this image even deeper and noticed that she doesn't seem phased by the arrows in her body by her facial expression and the bad weather in the background. This made me think that this image is describing strength and courage to withstand all of this that's occurring. This also makes me wonder if she's saying that even though times can get rough, she's ready for the challenge and can handle anything.
     Frida Kahlo did a great job with this picture. This simple picture, can mean so much more than it looks. This can relate to humanity because everyone as an individual has strength and courage but it's whether you decide to use it or not that's the important thing. Ms. Kahlo expresses these two items in an artistic way. I think that this picture is also asking a question. Can you withstand anything that will come along your way, no matter how challenging it may be? 

The Nominee for "All Star Mentor" goes to:

     Gabi Casagrande! http://myclubhouseforbooks.blogspot.com/  Gabi exemplifies an "All Star Mentor" because it shows throughout her work. She always follows all of the instructions for the structure, contributes many examples and details to her posts and uses correct grammar and punctuation. In this post especially, called When is the final goodbye? she introduced it very nicely and it showed that she put effort and time to create it. All of Gabi's posts are thought provoking and really makes you wonder; which I think is a great asset to have as a reader and a writer. She tends to do this by making her readers think about what they have read by putting question marks. I think this is great idea and it's a great way to start and end posts. She is always on topic and even gives page numbers, quotes and dialogue translations to help a reader get a vigil image of whatever her topic is about. When I read other blog posts, most of the time I did not see this. The same with mine, I think that I could improve on giving my posts a little more structure and specification. Overall, Gabi did an excellent job with her posts and she is a great example of what posts should look like.          

TTYL

        "TTYL" by Lauren Myracle is quite intriguing. Since Angela, Maddie and Zoe started the tenth grade, they had a lot of ups and downs. On the first day of school, they promised each other that they would be best friends to the end and that high school problems wouldn't split them apart. Who would have known they had another thing coming?

        They enjoy school life and become supportive of each other. Angela has her eye on a boy who quickly becomes her new boyfriend. Maddie counts on her friends to help her through the conflict with Jana, the popular girl at school. And good girl Zoe gets involved with a teacher - claiming that it is no big deal. Then things start to change. Angela gets jealous when her boyfriend becomes friendly with another girl. Maddie suddenly becomes friends with Jana and joins the in crowd she hated so much in the past. Zoe finds herself confused when her flirty teacher makes a move on her, and then she isn't so sure whether or not she likes his action. 

        Then everything starts to fall apart. Angela is dumped by her jerky boyfriend and puts herself into denial. Maddie makes a huge mistake that has the whole school talking; she then starts ignoring her two best friends because she learns that they were also talking. Zoe's teacher is obviously into her, and she finally realizes the seriousness of the situation. This soon continues with something bigger than she ever wanted it to be. Now Zoe is in trouble, and she and Angela don't know what to do. Although Maddie is the only one who can give them immediate help, she still won't talk to them.

        The big question is will she own up to herself and get passed her pain to help her real friends or will she allow all of their drama to break them apart? I really love this book, especially because of the way it was written in. Almost every teen can relate to IM. (Instant Messaging.) via text or internet. I really loved the humor the three girls show, It shows how real friendships should be between friends.

 

Fat Chance- (One of my childhood favorites.) By Leslea Newman

          I decided to read this book again. It was one of my favorite books in elementary school. Now that I am older, I decided to read this book with a closer eye and pay attention to more details. Still, I think that Leslea Newman did an excellent job creating such a magnificent character. I love Judi Liebowitz. She really speaks her mind and has her mindset on one goal which is to loose weight. Which nowadays, America has alot of contriversy about this topic. From eating disorders to suicidal kids, this is a serious topic!
          Again, with the "image" epidemic, Judi believes if only she had those creamy thighs and perfect cheekbones she would be the happiest person on earth. Can you blame her? Aren't most girls insecure at Judi's age about them-self. This is all she knows and her environment, she's surrounded by "beauty". That everything evolves around looks. Judi Liebowitz has two goals:to be the thinnest girl in her school and to be the future Mrs. Weiss (her secret crush).When Judy stumbles into Nancy Pratt's "beauty secret" she realizes just how dangerous looking thin can be.   She goes through many obstacles to achieve this as well. One being that she is bulimic. Not a soul knows that she has this eating disorder but Nancy Pratt. One of the thinnest girls in school and also an advice giver to Judi. Once Nancy ended up in the hospital, guess who came to support her? Judi, of course! She even snuck her laxatives to her room like she asked so that she could keep her weight off.  
          I believe that this book is setting an example for all girls and they should learn from it. If you were in Judi's position, you can only imagine how right she thought she was.I know that in reality, this is false and this is not good. Everyone in general should learn a life lesson from this. You should always have confidence in yourself. 

For Colored Girls (Anthology)

        I've recently started the book For Colored Girls by Ntozake Shange. I found it very interesting to read the rhythmic lines and the other conventions of poetry all in one. I loved all of the different perspectives within each poem. For example, all of the poems seemed to build into one main point so far. Even though the language of the book was not obvious it meant something. You just have to read between the lines because the messages are hidden. Using replaceable words such as "enuf" meaning "enough" or "wit" meaning "with" were to get the reader into the setting and pick up all sensory details that applied. Although, I don't have one specific main character; I have four. The lady in red, the lady in green, the lady in orange and the lady in yellow. They all tell their own stories about what it feels like to be a "woman of color."
     
        I loved how my characters The lady in green and The lady in red tried to portray what it's like to be an African-American in the beginning of the book with their actions. Also, despite The lady in yellow getting raped and discovering her true identity it matches the plot. The graphic moments were just another. Now i know you may think that this book is stereotypical its not! In fact, this book is for all women who has felt suicidal. The rainbow symbolizes the different women and all of their races. They each tell a different story. For example, the lady in red was diagnosed with HIV and rich; the lady in green was cheated on; the lady in yellow was had a teenage pregnancy and the orange was a prostitute who tried to find a clear pathway in life for herself.

        All of these situations can happen to women of different race and ethnicity. I appreciate this book because it lets all females as well as males know some of the things women go through. After reading this book and watching this movie, I learned that everyone has a story. I appreciate the way that the author used color to help the reader visualize each woman and their dilemma.