Reading Blog #6 Blackbox by Julie Schumacher

          Blackbox is a realistic fiction story about a 14 year old girl named Elena who has a sister named Dora that was hospitalized and sent to an illness ward due to depression. Elena finds herself dealing with problems throughout the story because everyone is is it focused on Dora but once Dora gets out of the ward, Elena begins to only focus on Dora.

          I like this story so far because it shows how Elena really is trying out do whatever she can in her power to make sure that Dora is okay and safe. Even if it's little things, she still tries. Like when Dora was in the hospital, Elena, "brought Dora's favorite pajama pants and a sweatshirt that said 'IOWA SURF CLUB'(...)". This is showing how by bringing what Dora really liked that she cared about Dora and that was the most she could do at them moment. This is how any other family should be though. Helping family out in the hard times. Even if it something little, it doesn't matter. It's the thought that counts. You've at least tried.

Gift

           A gift that I wish I could buy but I have no money for is jewelry for my mom and sister. Every year, my dad got my mom and sister some type of expensive jewelry like a necklace, bracelet, rings, or earrings but now that he's not here, I want to keep it going.

Quote

My favorite quote is "Quiet people have the loudest minds." I like this quote because it's me. I'm a quiet person but I do think a lot.

Reading Blog #5 Can't Look Away By Donna Cooner

         Can't Look Away is about a girl named Torrey Grey who is internet famous because of her beauty vlogs. In the beginning of the book, her sister is involved in a car accident that caused her to die. People begin to call Torrey various names because the death looked as if it was her fault in some people's eyes. The conflict in Can't Look Away is Torrey trying to find herself. She faces a lot of conflicts of finding who her real friends are, over coming the fact that she watched her sisters death, getting over the death, and trying to prove to people that she was never a bad sister. Everyone was saying nasty comments under her videos about her death just because they were fighting a few minutes before everything had happened. Her struggle in the story was being under the spotlight. Everyone knew about the death. It was a public thing that she couldn't escape. But she end up meeting a boy named Luis who tought her a lot of things but the main thing that stuck to her was el Dia de Los Muertos. That was her way to speak to her sister and how she realized that you can never get over a death.

Reading Blog #4 Runaway by Wendelin Van Draanen

          In Runaway, the main character is 12 year old Holly. Runaway is about Holly never finding somewhere to stay. She was always on the run trying to find a family that would not call her in or report her to the police. She didn't have her parents anymore so all she really had was herself and her thoughts.  Her internal conflict in Runaway is finding herself. She has no one to teach her right from wrong and has to learn all on her own. Although she is very smart, she does face many problems because she has no one to guide her. Her external conflict is finding somewhere to be. She's been on the run for a while and has to go though every day struggles of finding food, money, and a place to sleep but she's trying to not see herself as homeless. She doesn't want to except the fact that she is. She considers herself as a gypsie. The only thing she really has is her journal to write all of the problems she really faces.

Reading Blog Goals

I want to read more books this year. I want to try reading about 30 pages a day instead of the 20-25 to pick up the pace of reading to get through more books. I don't want to challenge myself too much but I want to try little by little. Also, instead of just reading teen fiction, I want to try to read an autobiography to get the vibe of it and see if I like it. I think it would be a difficult change but I just need to try.

Reading Blog #3 Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

          The whole idea of Backlash is online bullying and what comes along with it. The backlash of what happens when you bully people. One of the main characters in the book, Bree, did actions before she thought which had a negative outcome and causes her to feel very guilty at the end. Bree had acted out of anger and that's were everything went wrong. The book Backlash is telling you to think before you post because you never know what could come out of it. Bree did not expect what happened to happen.