My Thirteenth Winter by Samantha Abeel

      I have recently read the book My Thirteenth Winter by Samantha Abeel and found it to be an extremely inspiring story that hit multiple levels of importance. This story brought me to realize that things can be really tough in life, but if one adult puts their faith in you, things can get better with their support. Abeel shows this in a way that can not be justified in words. She shows it so that you can see what life was like through her perspective as a child, and then shows how one adult, Ms. Williams, changes everything around. My favorite part about this specific piece of writing is the way that she transitions between mini memoirs, to just descriptions of life. The way she organized her story made me immediately fall in love, and then her heart warming story put it all over the edge. She's an excellent writer and I'm so glad I got to have the chance to read her story. It was 100% inspiring and well written. It was a great choice for the memoir I read this marking quarter!

When She Went by Gayle Freeman

After completing the first book of the series, If I Stay by Gayle Freeman, it was very interesting for me to transition straight away into the second book, Where She Went.  The first book is all told from te first person perspective of Mia, the main character in a coma; but the second book is told from the the first person perspective of Adam, Mia's boyfriend.

In the end of the first book, it leaves off with Mia hinting at life, and never tells you whether or not she dies, but from all the hints of the book, I'm assuming she does die.  Especially when the second book starts with Adam hating his life.  When I read the first chapter of the second book, it started with Adam doing a recording in New York, which to me is extremely sad knowing that before Mia's coma, she and Adam were fighting about her wanting to leave for New York and him staying in Portland.  I think that there's a point to him going where she could only dream of going, and that makes the big connection saying that Mia is dead.

 I like how Forman switch the perspective not to someone like the grandma, but to her boyfriend.  As a teen reader, books are always more interesting from a teen perspective, especially in this case.  I'm excited to see where this book goes.  I recommend the last book, If I Stay to all.

If I Stay by Gayle Freeman

This week, while reading If I Stay by Gayle Freeman, I focused on two of Mia's friends, and how they built a trust and friendship, based solely on their mutual drive to get to Mia, and help her.

As I've mentioned before, the story goes back and forth between present, and flashbacks in Mia's point of view.  One flashback was of Mia trying to get her boyfriend, Adam, and best friend, Kim, to become friends with each other; because they were the two most important people in her life.  If her flashback everyone got in a big fight because Kim and Adam couldn't be more different, so the story had set up a scenario of them avoiding each other, and loving Mia separately.

This chapter was really great because it showed a common goal between Kim and Adam, and how easily they could work together, and have each other's backs, when Mia was at stake. Their drive to get to Mia was never turned away.  They didn't stop until they reached their goal of Mia, and it was really cool how the author turned them against one another, just to prove that they could get over anything, to protect the one they loved, Mia.

This book has high risk circumstances, and the author does a really good job of weaving in relatable teen stories.  This example of friendship is so strong, and really shows that if you care for someone, you can overcome anything that gets in your way.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

The book If I Stay, by Gayle Forman is really amazingly written because it is such a deep and interesting book with such a great structure.  The author of this book does a really good job of keeping the plot intriguing, and giving a clear difference and perfect balance of past and present detail.  The book switches from Mia's life in a coma, observing what is happening in the real world, to memories of the people around her which she cares so much about, but can't communicate with currently.

I think that it is such a good job that Forman is doing because it isn't the least bit confusing of whether or not you are reading present day events, or one of Mia's memories.  The book also cleans itself up well, and really clarifies what is happening currently in Mia's mind with her flashbacks.  Because the book started pretty much with the car crash, it helps a lot to refer back to moments with each of the characters, because we, as readers, never originally got a basis of Mia's relationships, so it helps a whole lot to flip the format between memory and present interactions.  The author does a beautiful job with maintaining balance and a well written plot, and this book is really keeping my attention through every detail.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I just started reading the book If I Stay by Gayle Forman this weekend, and so far it's really simple and character introductions.  The book hasn't developed at all up to this point, but the main character is extremely relatable through her interests and family conflicts and relations, even though she is seventeen years old.  Being that I just finished the first chapter, there was only one substantial excerpt that I felt had some meaning beyond introduction purposes.  It might just be a short setting opening, but when I read through it for the second time, it showed importance, and poetic development of the future plot.  The first page reads, "Everyone thinks it was because of the snow. And in a way, I suppose that’s true.  I wake up this morning to a thin blanket of white covering our front lawn. It isn’t even an inch, but in this part of Oregon a slight dusting brings everything to a standstill as the one snowplow in the county gets busy clearing the roads. It is wet water that drops from the sky—and drops and drops and drops—not the frozen kind."

I'm not sure what the "it" is in the first sentence of this paragraph, but I think her description of the snow has some foreshadowing insight within it.  I think that describing the snow as "thin" and saying "it isn't even an inch" shows small change.  I think that it is showing the lesson that even the smallest of actions can make a difference, and that even if you are just one person, you can change a lot in the world.  This also goes into the next line, "a slight dusting brings everything to a standstill."  I think this is showing the change that each action can make.  Further on in the story, I believe that Mia, the main character, will have a series of life changing/world changing actions, that may be small, yet still have a large outcome.  The repetition at the end of the paragraph sort of helps this description flow into the next idea of the book, but also shows, within the lesson that I got from this opening, how change isn't sold, or all there at first, but it slowly drips its way into the world to make a difference, even if the people around you (the snowplow) try and wipe away your change. 

This section reminds me of two quotes:

"But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream."

"A person's a person, no matter how small."

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The main character, Tris Prior, from the book Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is a character that I can relate myself to, and strive everyday to become more like her. Tris starts out weak, and works her way up to being very strong; and she has the courage to make change, as well as lead that change; but along with both of those fantastic traits, she still has the heart to care about how her decisions affect her family, friends, and all those around her in her life.  Those aspects of her personality are ones that I admire and wish to adapt and maintain throughout my life.

Tris put her life at risk multiple times to protect those in her community, she went into war knowing that she was the most wanted person from the government.  Also, because she switched factions, she knew nothing about the process of being a dauntless, but took her previous knowledge to formulate something of herself.  Tris was not the best, but always strived for better, and that is very admirable.  When you are trying to be brave and make change, it can be very easy to forget about your loved ones, but throughout the entire time she was becoming a dauntless, she never lost site of her heart of an abnegation girl.  Tris balanced her life well and is an extremely amazing role model.

Scat by Carl Hiaasen

I am currently reading the book Scat by Carl Hiaasen.  The chapter I most recently finished displayed the beginning of a lesson that having good role models around you can help build your character in a more positive way.

This chapter showed a kid, who majorly disrespected his teacher, and continuously talked back.  The argument ended between student and teacher with this kid eating the teacher pencil that she was pointing at him.  When the book described the kid from the perspective of the main character, Nick, it put the idea in my head that he was a bully, and that all of the teachers except for this one were afraid of her.  I believe that all bullies are formed from prior bullying in their own life, or an insecurity about themselves,  but in this case, "Smoke"'s attitude came from an unstable home environment.

The boys dad didn't care where he was all the time, and didn't care about his grades, and didn't maintain a clean home.  According to the dad, he had recently bee through  divorce, and had no respect whatsoever of his previous wife, or her mother, who is funding "Smoke"'s private school education.  Because of his fathers relaxed and non-caring attitude, I think that "Smoke" has never had a fulfilling example of how to behave and care about your life.   I also think that there is lots of anger building up inside ""'s head and that he will later be developed into a character in which the reader is supposed to care for, because of some deep backstory,  or heroic action.

--Ali