How does this book help you think about social issues you care about or causes your committed to?

I am reading the book Ask Alice Anonymous, the book is about teenagers taking drugs. It also mentions rape and running away from home. The thought of teenagers taking drugs, especially serious very dangerous drugs, makes me uncomfortable. Drugs bring out a different side of people and make people make bad decisions. Drugs lead to teen pregnancy and runaway teenagers and teenagers in jail. Taking drugs come from stupidity and peer pressure. This topic is also very serious because little kids look up to us teenagers and teenagers are sometimes stupid and give kids drugs. This also happens in the book.

Is this story fair?

I am currently reading the book 12/22/63 by Stephen King. I personally don't feel that the story is fair because I feel like the universe is against the main character and there is no way of controlling the universe. The universe is against the main character because the main character is trying to change the past, and the past doesn't want to be changed. My main character prevented a murder of a family, a serious injury that could've handicapped someone for life, and is trying to save President John F. Kennedy. The main character keeps getting hit with obstacles and I can tell he is exhausted from all the work that he's putting into to save Kennedy. Also, the main character is attached to emotional strings in the past, so when he has to go back to the present, it will be a lot harder for him to let go. Also he has to lie to the people  he loves because he can't tell them that he is from the future.

          I feel that teens are portrayed as more than what we are. People act like teenagers are such a pain and put of control. Yes, some people are, but not everyone. It isn't fair to us regular kids. All teens are labeled dumb and reckless. Teenagers are always doing something wrong in movies and t.v. shows. Teens are always having sex or doing drugs. When actually us teens are just stressing over high schools and trying not to get pimples.

          Teenagers are portrayed differently according to race. Black people are always ghetto, Chinese People are always Smart, White people are always rich, and all Spanish people all speak Spanish. The sad part about all these stereotypes is that teens hear this and think that that is the way they have to act. Just because someone expects you to act a certain way, doesn't mean you should give them the satisfaction of letting them judge you. This is what is wrong with the world. People can never stop judging. People don't handle knowing someone is different or can be different. Teens find it easier to just go with the crowd than be different because that is how we are stereotyped. Anyone different is a loser.

          Teenagers in movies and t.v. shows have a lot of influence on little kids. They see that behavior and think that when they get older, that is how they're supposed to act. This is how bullying and peer pressure occurs. People don't realize what a big influence teenagers are on little kids. We are their present and they are our future.

Dear Ms. Berner,

 

Every year new sixth graders come into the school and they're all excited and ready to learn, and you just want to squeeze them and not let them go. But this is what middle school is, preparing young kids that just came from fifth grade to go to high school. You can't protect kids from life, kids read about bad experiences and it's better to read them than  go through them, even though most kids go to these experiences during middle school. Books give kids an opportunity to learn from other people's experiences and think about it for themselves. And saying this, I think you should not ban books in sixth grade the libraries. 

       

I have done a lot of research on this very important matter. I have watched videos, read articles, looked through magazines this topic is a very worldwide and important. One  of the articles that I have read that really sticks out is "Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood" by Sherman Alexie. Sherman Alexie is the author of the book  "The Absolutley True Diary of a Part-Time Indian". This book is about Shermans true life experience as a kid. Sherman was a mentally challenged addict who tried to make a better life for himself. In his article Sherman talks about how kids in life go through these experiences and need books to learn and conquer their experience to get out of what they're in. People can't protect kids from life it just happens, the best thing to do is to prepare them for it. Sherman visit schools and talks to kids about their experiences and how his book has helped them and when he heard that they were trying to ban his book he wrote this article to show that kids need his book, well they don't need his book but like kids can use his book as a guide to to figure out what they have to do and to make a better life for themselves. 

        

I have also read articles about why books should be banned to get more of the perspective of the other side and to evaluate both sides equally and to make sure I know what I'm talking about and to make the correct decision. One of these articles is "Darkness Too Visible" by Megan Cox Gurdon. Megan starts off her article with a story about Amy Freeman a 46-year-old mother who was trying to buy her 13-year-old daughter a book but couldn't find it because everything was too dark and not a single thing that she could imagine giving to her daughter could because it was all vampires and suicide and self-mutilation and very very dark stuff. Megan argues that if books show what life is teen fiction can be like a hall of fun house mirrors constantly reflecting back hideously distorted portrayals of life is. I feel that Megan doesn't realize that not everybody's life is the same most authors write off of their own experience or other peoples experience so it's not like they just need something up to scare children or rather young adults which are supposed to be mature enough to read these books. Young adult books are in between children's books and adult books but there's a difference adult books don't always have to have a happy ending some young adult books don't but most do because young adults most aren't mature enough to process that life doesn't always have a happy ending so that can be mind-boggling to young readers and can affect their perspective. 

        

 Young adult books are like a heads up for teenagers that life isn't what you may think it is, it can get crazy, it can be depressing, it can be infuriating but books are meant to prepare you for that to set you up for for real life and to help you think about your experiences and to learn from them and make your way through life without without fear. Sixth graders need to mature for high school because high  is going to be very very very tough and if they're protected all their lives then what are they going to do in high school? What are they going to do in college? How will they manage a job? Sixth grade  is very crucial because that is when the maturing process begins.

         Sincerely, Amiya Castro

      This week I have been reading the book "Glass" by Ellen Hopkins. The book is a sequel to the book "Crank" also by Ellen Hopkins. The books are about a girl named Kristina that is addicted to cocaine/meth/crystal meth. Kristina has gotten to very desperate desperate low points in her life. With

 using the drugs, Kristina has lost most of her self control. She will practically do anything for drugs. Her love of drugs has gotten her raped and pregnant. 

       Kristina chooses to do drugs instead of facing her problems. Kristina has gotten kicked out of her house by her mother and has a dead beat boyfriend, who cares more about meth than about her. Kristina gets mixed up in sex, drugs, lies, and scandals. Between all the drama, it seems that all Kristina can do is keep smoking (crystal meth). She chooses not to handle her problems, but to kick them aside until they blow up in her face, in a need of attention.

    Themes reveal a why a story was written and the moral hidden in the story. The theme of "Faithful Elephants", a short story by Yukio Tsuchiya, is to never lose hope. As the title says "Faithful Elephants", the elephants never lost hope and stayed faithful to the very end. 
    World War II required killing every animal in the Ueno Zoo in case a bomb was dropped on it, freeing all the dangerous animals. The last 2 of the 3 elephants were being starved to death. Knowing that their trainer rewards them for doing good jobs in performing, the 2 elephants use the last if their strength to perform their special bonsai trick. Their trainer couldn't help himself and fed them and gave them water. The elephants were able to live another day.
     The elephants weren't the only ones who never lost hope. When the trainer didn't follow rules and he finally fed the elephants, the rest of the staff pretended not to notice. They all hoped that the elephants would survive longer. They hoped that the war would end before they died. They couldn't bear to part with their beloved elephants. 
     War affects everyone and everything. Once you go through war and see its affects, it changes your perspective. "Above them, in the bright blue sky, the angry roar of enemy planes returned. Bombs began to drop on Tokyo once more. Still Clinging to the elephants, the zoo keepers raised their fists to the sky and implored, 'Stop the war! Stop the war! Stop all wars!'" Even if it seems hopeless, never lose faith. This is what the short story "Faithful Elephants" has taught me. 

Over the summer, I read the book The Future of Us by Jay Asher. The Future of Us is about Emma Nelson and Josh Templeton. This book takes place in the 1900's. Emma finds a link to FACEBOOK on a software disk her ex- best friend Josh gave her. Once Emma realizes that the facebook website is real, and the profile she's been browsing is actually her in the future, she tries to change her future by sending little ripples in time. She doesn't like how her future is turning out. Josh on the other hand has the future of his dreams. He ends up marrying the popular girl from his high school, having beautiful twins, and living in a gorgeous house on the lake. Emma keeps changing every future she ends up with because she keeps comparing it to Josh's future. Over the course of all the messing with the future, Josh and Emma bond and start to rekindle their friendship. But when Emma's changing goes too far and it's all just fun and games for her, she kisses Josh like its a joke and Josh doesn't talk to her for about 2-3 weeks. Messing with Josh's old feelings really hurt him. But both Josh's and Emma's best friends bring them together and they KISS and make up. They know the kiss will change both of their futures, for the better.