Beautiful Boy

The book Beautiful Boy by David Sheff is about a memoir about a father’s journey through his son’s drug addiction, and how he tries to help his son, Nic. In this book, it’s kind of a comparison on how Nic used to be before meth and he started using meth. This story may have needed Nic’s thoughts through out the book. I think it would have been interesting to show Nic’s side of the fight through this book.

         In this book, Sheff talks about his son’s on going therapy and drug use. He talks about how different therapists had helped his son change for a period of time. He had said that one therapist had Nic feeling good about him self and signing him up for teams, strengthening his school work. He tells of the conversations he had with Nic and that helps the reader imagine the kind of boy Nic is. For example, reading about Nic and knowing about his childhood my thoughts have come to this: Nic is a fun loving boy, wants to excel at school, and wants to maintain responsibilities. But why did he get arrested? Why was he in rehab? Addiction, as I have learned is a scary thing. I'm guessing that stopping is hard, the wanting to stop but you can’t seem to push yourself to stop. It feels that way with my use of internet. I can never get bored. I can for hours on end without having to stop. Nic’s addiction is probably the feeling meth gives to you. Addiction is something people turn their nose at but no one ever really knows the hardship of it. I feel worried for Nic as the book progresses.  Sheff has given me several thoughts on this problem all by giving me detail into Nic’s life.

       You wonder about Nic, about this addiction he has. It makes me think of what he was thinking that gotten him into this mess. Was it peer pressure or was it curiosity?  This is why I think the book, as amazing as it is, should also have Nic’s point of view. What did he feel when was forced into rehab would good to know. I want to how this compromised his close relationship to his father, step mom, and his half siblings. And what about his other set of parents? It seemed to me that David was paying, working hard for all of Nic’s treatments. Did Nic not tell his mom on purpose, scared to tell her? Honestly, maybe knowing how nic felt, why he acted the way he acted, gives some insight on his struggles, and battles.

       This book challenges one to see how a small decision can change our way of life and how it affects the future. It shows us not to give up on someone, because the outcome of your support just may be successes in the end.  

Chasing Brooklyn

     The book Chasing Brooklyn by Lisa Schroeder is about how a boy’s (Luca) death affected everyone he was around, specifically his girlfriend Brooklyn and his brother Nico (Both of which have point of views in this book). Everyone is in a different position in the story, and they are dealing with Luca’s death differently.

       Brooklyn is having a hard time letting go. She writes to Luca in these journals. The journals aren’t very sappy at all, more an observance of her life surrounding his death.  I think she is trying to scream her words on a page. But writing in a journal I think, has her calm down and writing in a way that makes her think and give words feeling and a momentum instead screaming nonsense. She is also seeing dreams about a friend who also killed himself because he believed he caused Luca’s death. Gabe is chasing her around and he always traps her. Brooklyn is confused when she wakes because she sees no reason for Gabe to be chasing her. I think that dreams about Gabe because she’s living in a dream like state, just like he was before he killed himself. And so I think the dreams are to make her think twice. So that she doesn’t end up causing anyone grief.

       Nico is having a harder time dealing with his brother’s death because he sees things all the time that remind him of Luca. This is a serious case nostalgia because I think that’s how he wants to remember Luca, a kid who no one associated death with. Everyone does this when someone dies because it’s a way to mourn. Nico also said that Luca was the family’s favorite son, and that he feels ignored of how after the favorite son had died, that he had to deal with the depression of the family. That can be true maybe because he feels abandoned and has to deal with own feelings, one feeling as that no one wants to talk to him or give him the right answers. He feels angry at mourners who aren’t making him feel any better, until he realizes he’s a mourner himself.

        I fit into the mourner group. The mourner group consists of no one who was close to the victim. It consists of people who are remembering a victim that was close to them or they have sympathy to those in pain. When Sammy died, I was remembering my friend who died from brain cancer last summer. It pained me to see so many dying. It brought back the ugly truth that my tutor told me “Out of 8 billion people, 10 million are going to die in this decade” What’s even more depressing is that Sammy and my other friend had to be part of that group.   

        Death can do many things to people. It puts many in depression or it brings back many memories that some hold precious to. Death is part of life, but sadly not everyone dies when their skin is wrinkly. Someone who dies at a young age hurts others more because they hadn't had the chance to live life to their fullest. It affects everyone around them. The pain never really goes away. 

Flipped

               The book Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen is a teenage book about how a boy (Bryce) and a girl (Juli) feel about each other as they grow up. This book teaches one about a lot of social issues. One big issue is money which gets thrown around a lot in the book. Money has a lot to do how the characters are the way they are in the book.

  Juli's family has financial problems in this book. Their house is not like every other house. It is actually rented. Their yard is a mess and they have a very old car. Bryce's family is pretty wealthy. But Bryce's father ridicules Juli’s family for being this way. This is unfair. A person shouldn't be judged for the amount money they have in their wallets. They should be judged for whom they are and if they work hard. One should understand why someone is the way they are. And even if one was wealthy then they should be judged of maybe how they spend their money. Is the money being given to charity? Is it being used to make someone else’s life better? If these are all the qualities in a person, they are wealthy no matter the amount of money they have.

   There is also a reason for the financial problems Juli’s family has. Juli’s uncle is mentally and physically handicapped. All the family’s money goes into investment for her uncle. I think that the situation proves something. It proves that Juli’s parents were giving up some comforts to make sure that the uncle got most of his. They are giving up what they worked hard for so that the uncle is treated with the best care. That shows understanding and it shows heart. A lot of people in this world can’t do that and I’m sure that Bryce’s father wouldn't have been able to. Giving up so much for someone else is very hard but living with financial problems so you can give care to someone makes it worth it.

    

     Flipped shows that being wealthy doesn't matter, what matters is that you use your wealth, whatever it may be (money, knowledge, love, etc.), for the greater good. Juli has certainly learned that and Bryce’s dad may have to. Situations spring up on us, but as they may, we have to tackle them, even if we have to give something up.

Interview with jonah

 I interviewed my friend Jonah on what was good and bad about this world. This is what he said:

Good- people who help other people; Friends; the idea of school (the opportunity to have an education).  

 Bad- poverty (people that don’t get an education); bad things that happen to good people; high school process.  

        I think that Jonah is right about the fact that people that help other is a good thing. It shouldn't be a good thing, though. It should be expected. Honestly people have become so busy these days that they can’t see the fact that someone needs help. We’re always in a hurry; we can’t notice many things because as time goes on so fast and we’re becoming self absorbed. Also, at this age friends are crucial. Everyone needs one friend or many friends that they count on. Because honestly, lets face it; life is lonely and miserable without friends. Jonah had said that he didn’t like school, but the idea of that he always can go back to it is important. I think that’s true but it’s also linked with the idea of friends. Normally school is to help you lean academically but also socially as well. This is where you meet your friends and you grow and prosper with them.

        To contradict that idea, he had listed the fact that because of poverty people may not get the opportunity of education. I think that’s true. In many places there aren't public schools and parents have nothing to pay for the education of their children. I kind of think that we take school for granted. For example: We go to 51 and we get such good education and pay nothing for most of the part. And 51 helps us to keep us ready for the future. Not everyone gets that. Jonah had also listed that bad things happen to good people. I think he was talking about a death of a classmate we just recently lost. It affected all of us in different ways. Sammy was a good kid from what I had known of him and I know he never deserved what happened to him. As eighth graders in New York City we have the pressure on us to go to high schools. Not any of us likes this. Every other city in the country just sends their children to the zoned school. We have to compete with millions of other kids. I do not think it’s fair. We don’t need all this pressure on us. But no one wants to hear us out.

                 

Banned books Essay

Dear Mrs. Berner,

  It has come to my attention that you have wanted to take out books from various sixth grade libraries because you believe they are too mature. I believe that if sixth graders read them then they should make the choice deciding if they are ready or not to face reality of the world.

     Some books are banned for no reason at all. In the video “Top 10 banned books” the book   Where’s Waldo is banned for a tiny illustration of partially naked woman. This makes no sense because no kid who is looking for Waldo will be looking at the partial naked woman. In the same video, the dictionary is banned for inappropriate words but that also doesn’t make any sense because a dictionary was meant to find meanings of all words.  This isn’t letting Kids decide for their own and if you take books from sixth grade libraries then you will be taking away their choice and decision.

          Some books are thought to be very heavy with very sad scenarios. The article “darkness too visible” by Megan Fox Gurdon is about how these days all YA books are too much and filled with dark matters. She says that teen books had an influence on a “child’s happiness, moral development and tenderness of heart”   That is not true. Kids in this school have already dealt with the loss of a peer. They’ve dealt the struggles of facing reality.  I don’t think this made us any less  tender of heart, that are just made us a little innocent but this may not lead to things like depression. An article by Michelle Pauli defends banning books by saying “illness, depression, sexuality, - these are all issues that teens are going to bump against in their lives”. I agree, because you never know what’s going to happen. There are so many realties in life Ms. Berner; we need to be prepared for them, the earlier the better.  

         Some may say that sixth graders are too young to deal with many books. Such as a book like Scars, this is about a girl who cuts herself. Yes, that is true. Some are scarred or unprepared to read this. But there is an alternative. Have parents sign a paper which tells you what type of books their child should read. I don’t think it’s up to anyone but the child and maybe their parent to decide what to read or not. That’s because then the child can come to their parents to understand the meaning of what they are reading. Bill Moyer had once said “A lie can be exposed, but censorship can prevent us from knowing the difference” this means that you can’t see books as they are but you have to see who it can affect and if it doesn’t affect anyone then don’t ban them.

        I hope this essay challenges you to think about not banning books without asking sixth graders first. Whatever you are banning affects the sixth grader and how they want to see the world. You cant shelter us forever because we all have to grow up and face reality one day.

                             Yours Truly, Areebah Pervez

The Death penalty Debate

The magazine Upfront has many interesting articles.  One of these articles, written by Diann Rust- Tierney and Joshua Marquis, is called “Should the Death Penalty be Abolished?” In this article these two debate about the fate of an important capital punishment.

       Ms. Tierney argues that the death penalty should be abolished. She says that 142 people have been freed from death row because of human error of putting those people in jail in the first place. But several of unknown innocents may have died because of human error. Also that 2/3 of the world’s countries has also ended the death penalty. The death penalty discriminates race because death penalties seemed issued when the victim is white. It also discriminates the non wealthy who can’t afford good lawyers. I agree with her. Death penalties shouldn’t be given out. I think it’s better if a criminal was sentenced to be jailed for the rest of their lives. Though killers have done the worst imaginable, I think killing them makes us killers as well. And if they are executed, I feel that we are more below them than we were above.

     

     Mr. Marquis disagrees with Ms. Tierney. He says that a death penalty is “reserved for the worst of the worst.” That as many have been executed, the murder rate in the U.S has decreased by 24%. Also, that now a test of DNA can reveal if one is guilty or not. He justifies it with saying that taking precautions won’t hurt if the killer wont be released and kill again. I disagree with him, because killing someone anyone won’t solve anything. There has to be compromise, isn’t that what trials are for?; to come to a compromise between the public and the defendant. There has to be equality between everyone.

    This article challenges readers to see that how harsh government rule is. There is a quote that says “an eye for an eye” I think that’s not right. Killing one is not right but executing the killer isn't right either. Its always better to better than someone else, no matter what. Because that’s what really counts.

      

Persepolis by Marjane Satarpi

                   The autobiography Persepolis by Marjane Satarpi is about her childhood and later, adulthood in Iran in the 1980’s when a war was going on. This is unique book because she chose to tell it in a comic. Really, Marjane had been through a lot in her childhood, faced so many issues especially when she was a Muslim girl in a not really religious family.

                   In the book, when a war is going in Tehran, Iran, Marjane’s family is super cautious of the rules. Because Marjane’s family is not very religious its hard for her to act like a proper woman. For example, wearing a hijab to school, or not wearing skirts and other things which break dress code. Her family protests against the government, especially her mother who once was almost raped. Once her father’s car had been stopped by a policeman stopped because he smelled like he had drunk alcohol. So her father devised a plan to get rid of all the alcohol in the house. On page 109 her father says “Grandma! Marj! When we get home, get out first. I’ll try to stall him. Flush all the alcohol; down the toilet.” And they do just that. And Marjane’s father is safe from being arrested.

                   Later in the book, Marjane gets married to her boyfriend. At first their marriage is all happy, but she soon realizes she is not herself with him. They fought on every little thing. Marjane blames this on rules of Iran. Couples who were not married in Iran were not allowed to be near one another out in the streets. Marjane only knew him inside her house or his. To her, married life was very different. But her friend had divorced and she was hit on by multiple men. Marjane didn’t want that for herself but with encouragement her family convinced her to divorce him. One night the couple had a talk and she told him “when I was in love with you, you didn’t let me in. Now it’s too late Reza. I don’t love you anymore.” And so they divorced and Marjane lived happy by herself

                     Persepolis reflects how a young girl’s (Marjane’s) perception of life must have been growing up in Iran. How cruel life and government were. How people criticize what gender you were or what social class you were from. In this book most took Islam to the extreme. Islam is extreme (I’ve had experience). I can see how it unfair it seemed to Marjane, especially since her family was so modern. I’ve had boys tell me to put a hijab on my head because they didn’t want to see my hair. Or tell me what to wear because I was a girl. I am devoted feminist in Islam. I’m the one who tells boys to back off when they are being sexist.. I can tell Marjane was much like me. She came from a modern Muslim family but was surrounded by religious rules that didn’t satisfy her. And like me, she was devoted to Allah. I don’t think its fair how sexist people are, especially in Islam. Everyone is supposed to be equal, female/male, lower/middle/upper class, and white/Asian/black/Hispanic.