Guided Response - Speak

I started reading the novel “Speak” by Laurie Halse Anderson. So far I am half way through the second marking period, as they call it. Melinda is the main character in my book. She has lost all of her friends from something that she did at a party this last summer. Everyone hates her, until a new girl named Heather, who is from Ohio, befriends her at school. In school you have to belong to a group, and now Melinda doesn’t belong to any of those groups, she is a loner. Heather wants to belong to a group so bad she tries to get Melinda to join one with her. Everyone at school is very mean to Melinda because of what she did. They call her names, they cuss at her, and they even kick her down the bleachers. I can’t imagine what she did to get everyone to hate her so on I go to finish reading to try to find out why.

Free Choice- 13 reasons why

In the novel that I read called, “Thirteen reasons why”, I found it a little disturbing. The question I asked myself the most was, why she didn’t cry out more for help and was her life really that bad that she needed to commit suicide? I guess I can understand why she didn’t cry out more because usually people who try to commit suicide won’t just come out and say that they need or want help. I guess I look at it from a mother’s point of view instead of as hers, a teenager. The reasons that she listed was quite valid, but I didn’t see any of them to be so bad that someone would want to commit suicide. Yes some of them were pretty horrific but her life was not as bad as some people have it in this world. I kept wishing that someone would have reached out to help her.

Thirteen Reasons Why- Questions to the Author

I have finished my novel called “Thirteen Reasons Why”. I would definitely recommend this book to other readers. I stayed interested in the book the entire time because it always kept me wanting to know more, wanting to know what was on the next cassette tape that Hannah Baker made before she committed suicide. She was very creative in thinking of putting her thirteen reasons why she committed suicide on cassette tapes. The detail that she speaks about is very great in depth. The only thing I would have changed about the story or I guess what I didn’t really understand is that when she was at the party with Clay Jensen and they were in the bedroom together kissing, why didn’t she let him know that she liked him? Obviously he liked her or he wouldn’t be in there with her, so why didn’t she just let him know that she was in pain and needed his help. He had never betrayed her so why didn’t she feel that she could trust him? Although I guess I can understand that when people feel they are at their lowest and about ready to commit suicide they don’t run to people and tell them they need help, they see that their only way out of their pain is to kill themselves. But her reasoning was because of the effect that everyone else had on her and how they took everything from her, except for Clay. I feel she should have at least tried to talk to him.

Guided Response

So far in reading the book called “Thirteen reasons why”, in my opinion, I do not see what went so wrong in Hannah Bakers life that caused her to commit suicide. For the reasons that she listed on her cassette tapes, it seems like normal teenage problems that any teenager would go through. There are much worse things in life that people go through. Maybe I will understand more the farther that I get through the book.

I am glad that I chose this book. It is so good that I don’t want to put it down. It is the type of book that makes you want to keep reading on until you finish the entire book. I don’t relate to this book in any way because I have never thought about committing suicide. It makes me feel sorry for Hannah but then it also makes me question what really went on, which I hope to find out in the rest of the book.

Week 9- Thirteen Reasons Why.

I chose to read, Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher. Even though I haven’t read as much as I would of liked to by now, I am glad that I chose this book. It has been very interesting from the start. So far what I have read makes me want to keep reading the entire book until I finish it.
When Clay Jensen finds a package on his front porch addressed to him he was very excited, that was, until he learned what was inside of it. It was a set of 13 cassette tapes. He went out to his garage where his dad kept an old stereo that played cassettes. He saw that the tapes were numbered so he put in the first tape to play. He was very shocked to hear that it was the voice of Hannah Baker, who is now dead. She committed suicide and is now going to tell the story of her life and why it ended. She says that if they are listening to the tape that means that they had something to do with her death and that their name will be mentioned on the tape. There are 13 tapes and 13 reasons (people) to why she is dead. She tells lucky number 13 that they can take the tapes to hell. She has two rules for them to follow. One: for them to listen. Two: For them to pass it on to the next person on the list. She tells them that hopefully neither rule will be easy for them.
I can’t wait to continue on in this book, when she talks on the tapes it makes me want to know more and what that person has to do with her death. She was very clever in setting this up the way that she did. It took a lot of time and dedication.

Week-7 Liar

When Micah’s parents didn’t believe that she didn’t kill Zach it kind of shocked me. Micah knew the white boy was the one who did it yet she had to prove to them that it wasn’t her. When she did prove it to them by bringing the white boy home to her parents and with him admitting it, her parents didn’t even apologize to her for blaming her for something she didn’t do. When her parents had taken her and the white boy up to the farm to see the greats I had no idea that they would leave her there and not even think twice about it. I can relate with Micah and how she felt after she found out that they left her there never to return for her. If she felt any way that I did, when I was 16 and my mom dropped me off of my dad’s door step and then left me, then she felt disowned, abandoned, broken hearted, betrayed, and so many more feelings that run through your body. I felt for her when I read that part because it brought up so many memories for me that was deep down.
I am glad that she ended up feeling sorry for the white boy and wanted him to live. Even though I would be so angry with him that he had killed Zach it wasn’t necessarily his fault because he had no idea what he was or what had happened to him. If he would have had all of that information then yes he would be to blame. When I read the part where the greats wanted to cherish him and use him to mate I was excited for him. He will end up having a great life living there with the greats.

Week 6-A change in Micah

When Micah was just twelve years old she went through a change, from human to a wolf. It was a very painful experience for her, not only in the flesh but in her mind also. She wasn’t sure what was happening to her, yet she did know by what the greats had explained to her. After she had turned into a werewolf and felt what it was like to truly be free, she loved it. She loved how it felt to be free, to be able to play, sleep, and eat whenever she felt like it. The best part about it was that she could run faster as a wolf than she could as a human. After the first time she turned, that was all she could think about. She had thought about being a wolf all the time, to stop taking her pill. But on the other hand she also thought about what it would mean for her life if she stopped taking her pill. She would have to live on the farm, she wouldn’t be able to finish her education in high school and/or college. She wouldn’t be able to be around the ones she loved. Putting all of that together she thought it was best to continue taking her pill so she could stay with her family. But, if she had ended up doing that she would be worry free, she wouldn’t have to lie anymore about anything. I guess you have to weigh the importance of everything and see what you really want out of life.

Week 5- emotions

As I continue in this novel “Liar” it brings emotions from deep inside out. I don’t understand why Micah thinks that she has to lie about everything. For example, why would she tell us that her Great Uncle Hillard is dead when he is not? I mean, to us readers why would it matter? I am very intrigued by this book but on the other hand it makes me despise Micah. I have a family member who is a pathological liar and it not only hurts me but it also hurts my family as well. For as long as I can remember my mom has always been a liar. What I don’t understand about it is that a mom is not supposed to lie, they are not supposed to talk bad about their children. I do not believe that lying is heriditary. That person chooses to lie whether it be because they want more attention or that they are so caught up in their lies that they don’t know what is the truth and what is not. Micah and my mom are a lot alike in many ways, except I think my mother may lie more. Do they not think they are causing damage by doing this? Micah is labeled a freak and liar at school, what person would want to be dis-liked, why would she not want to have more friends and have them trust her? I can understand lying about little things like if someone asks you if their hair looks okay, that is to spare their feelings but not lying about someone being dead or having cancer (my mom). I work very hard at not being the person Micah or my mother is and I never lie to my kids because I don’t want them to feel the way I always have since I was little.

Week 4- Liar

The main character in the book “Liar” is Micah Wilkins. She is a habitual liar who can not be trusted with anything that she says. When you read this book, Micah makes everything sound so believable in one part but then in the next she contradicts herself and shows herself to be a liar. Micah is not worthy of praise and one can only give criticism about her for many reasons. First, telling lies is never a good thing and will always catch up to you in some way. From birth we are taught to always tell the truth but when it comes to habitual liars, to them lying is the truth because when they lie they actually start believing it and can see no other way.
Micah knows that she is a liar and knows that it is wrong but yet she still continues to do it and for no good reason. The things in this book that she lies about are stupid things to lie about like being a boy her freshman year, and a hermaphrodite. The only benefits from telling those two lies is to get in good with other male students and to play basketball, so why couldn’t she of just played it off as a tomboy and did it that way, then she wouldn’t be lying to everyone. Maybe if her parents were more involved in her life and gave her hard discipline then she would try to change the way she is living her life and become a better person that everyone can trust.

Week 3

Hi, my name is April. When I read it has to be in a very quiet place. I can not concentrate on the meaning of the book if I hear the t.v., music, or any other distractions. To get the complete understanding of the book or the words in the book I have to read slowly. Sometimes I have to re-read a sentence or a paragraph to get the real meaning of it. My favorite place to read is cuddled up on the couch with a blanket, and with my book. I also like to cuddle on the couch with my 6 year old son and read to him. I don't get a lot of time to read as much as I would like to because I have three kids, they keep me very active and are almost always in a sport. Before starting school I would have to have my entire house clean, all of the laundry done and put away before I would even consider sitting down to read. I like to read a variety of books but my most favorite to read are love stories, true stories, horror stories, and crime stories. If a book doesn't keep my attention within the first chapter or two then I usually set it down and never pick it back up. That probably has something to do with me not being a patient person with most things. On top of reading books, I like to get on to Facebook and read all of the posts that my friends put on there.