Perfect Match By Jodi Picoult 2

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

"Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult is about a young boy named Nathaniel whom is molested at the age of five and how his Mother, Nina deals with this conflict. Nina is a prosecutor against child molestation cases and when he own child's mental health is at stake she will do anything possible to help bring the rapist to justice. At one point Nina even points the blame at her husband Caleb but when he is proven not guilty she begs him to forgive her and their marriage happily continues. Nina finally decides that a certain priest is definitely the molester and she shoots him in court. During all of this conflict I noticed another side story. 

There is a very conflicting love triangle that has ensued in "Perfect Match". The love triangle is in between the mother named Nina, her husband Caleb and Nina's best childhood friend Patrick. The deal with this triangle is that Caleb is devoted to his wife but knows that Patrick has an undying love for Nina. Nina talks to Patrick for advice but doesn't truly see that he is anything more than a best friend. The whole time while reading the book you truly realize that Patrick is a good guy and Caleb is just....distant. 

Patrick has always shown a loyalty towards Nina and refuses to speak to her when she tries to tell him about why she killed the priest. Patrick knows that he must testify in her trial since he was a witness but he doesn't want to put Nina in jail for the rest of her life by telling the truth to the court. Patrick at one point says, "Nina is the only one I'll ever love" when he meets a pretty girl at a bar. He doesn't let the girl get to him and runs to Nina's house to comfort her in a time of need. I think that Patrick is a great guy for her because he is completely devoted to her and will do anything to protect her.

Caleb, on the other hand, seems to love Nina in a very distant way. He always mentions that he knows her completely and that nothing surprises him anymore which is not healthy for a marriage. Caleb always seems to find more comfort in his son than in Nina and doesn't ever try to intrude on Nina's close friendship with Patrick. He doesn't even say anything to protect their marriage which doesn't make any sense at all. This is what I thought of the love triangle in "Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. 

The Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

I am currently reading "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. The book is about a young boy named Nathaniel and his mother Nina, who is a lawyer to persecute rapists. One day Nathaniel stops speaking and is not acting normally. He suddenly begins to show signs of a traumatic experience and soon his parents are afraid. Nina then uses her past work to discover that all the clues add up to one thing, Nathaniel was sexually assaulted, even though he is only five. The book is mainly about how Nathaniel will tell his parents who molested him and how he will recover. I wanted to solve the social action question: "whose perspective is missing?".

I think that Nathaniel's traumatized perspective is missing in the story. The author splits the narroration between Nina, Nathaniel, the father (Caleb) and their friend Patrick. Whenever Nathaniel's perspective is written he always seems normal and talks about the toys he wants to play with. It seems as if he is completely unaware of why he cannot speak or of what happened to him. Without this voice the book is not as disturbing and the story becomes more of a mystery because the reader is limited. I also found the fact that the author included Nathaniel at all makes the story much more fascinating to read. This is because you really feel as if you're experiencing the story and trying to solve the mystery along with the characters. 

Nathaniel's perspective stands out from others, partly because he is the youngest character in the story and his mindset is clearly in the writing. Without the assailant's perspective you mostly rely on Nathaniel to help you understand what truly happened. If the molester's point of view was shown then everyone else's view would be completely obstructed. Perspective truly makes a difference in this story because the author used the craft of using everyone's perspective except the culprit. These are the perspectives in "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. 

The History of Love By Nicole Krauss

There are many difficult and complex things going on in "The History of Love". The book is about a family dealing with the death of their father/husband and a man trying to accept the fact that he is aging. I found that the man, Leo Gursky, has a lot of complex issues that were really deep. Leo struggles with the concept that he is growing older and that he cannot do certain things. For example, Leo never looks in the mirror because he doesn't want to see the sagging under his eyes.

Leo is also a fascinating character because he has never gotten over the love he lost. Leo lived during the Holocaust in Poland and the love of his life left for New York City before he could chase after her. It took him about ten years to finally see her again but she was already happy and remarried with two kids. While Leo uses his love as an excuse to live in a pig stye and never try anything new, I still feel awful that he must live alone. Leo also has a friend named Bruno who tried to commit suicide because he didn't see the point in living if he wasn't doing anything anymore.

I think that Leo really wants to do something with his life but he has a strong barrier between trying to reflect on his awful past and getting over the past in order to do something in the future. I find this really complex because I have never had any experience like that because I am so young. I think that the author will change Leo to make him leave the house more often. These are the things and ideas that are really complex in the book, "The History of Love".

Everything Is Illuminated 2

***SPOILER ALERT***
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***SPOILER ALERT***

In the book, "Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer, I found the character of Brod to be very unordinary. According to the Jonathan (the main character), Brod is his "very great-grandmother" who dates back to the 1800s in The Ukraine. Brod was found as a baby in the river, she was said to be a miracle because her father did not survive and probably drowned in the river. Her adoptive father is chosen by lottery and Yankel, a very old and wise man is the winner of the child. Yankel teaches Brod many things which changes her personality forever.

In the book it says, "life is an empty void" according to Brod. Brod struggles with a deep sense of depression based upon what Yankel taught her. Yankel's wife left him, and in his response to create something more lively for Brod to imagine as her Mother, he imagines the most perfect woman. This unknown Mother seems to create Brod's depression and she cannot truly grasp the idea that her depression is not normal. As the reader I didn't understand why she should be so depressed because her life is so perfect and yet she still finda a way to make herself miserable.

At 15 or so, Yankel now such an old man dies and Brod is left to marry the man named, "The Kolkier". Her husband is a very sweet and gentle man that wants nothing more than to please Brod, though it seems that their love is not deep but physical. Throughout their marriage, Brod seems to misunderstand love and when "The Kolkier" states he wants to live apart from her she says, "love is a room". Personally, I know that love is not where you are but it's who you're in love with and that was when I knew that Brod had never loved nor knew that she was loved.

Brod Safran is a character I truly do not connect with, mostly because her emotions and actions do not make sense to me. Brod is sweet and gentle but doesn't understand her emotions, so she just tries to go along with where life takes her and does not take risks. I think that the author used Brod as a little loophole you could see the past through and realize the very cycles we go through as we grow up. That is why I found Brod to be such a strange, thoughtful and unique character.

Everything Is Illuminated

"Everything Is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer seems extremely interesting in the way the author decided to organize his writing. The character, Jonathan who is based off the author, goes on a journey to meet the woman who saved his grandfather during the Holocaust. I saw part of the movie two years ago and I found the story fascinating because the author decided to do something very unique. The narrator is a Ukrainian translator that knows some butchered English and Jonathan is an accomplished writer. The author wanted the narrator to tell the story using extremely sophisticated vocabulary words and as the sentence continues the words are extremely simple and do not make sense with the very accomplished word he had previously used.

The author also wanted to tell the story of a Jewish culture during 1791-1793. The translator suddenly launches into the story of a man who vanishes (or may be dead) and how he had left behind almost everything he owned, including a baby, in a riverbank. It also shows a very comedic side to the Jewish holiday in the story they call, Trachim, after the man who vanished. The author also talks about the very long prayers that are screamed from the rabbis and the strange townspeople. The author created an entire world of extremely gossipy and nosy people whom are very interesting.

The author is extremely creative in the way he decided to write the book and create the all those completed characters. The world of Jonathan Safran Foer is fascinating and a thrill to read. The movie was particularly funny from the almost psychotic characters thrown into the quest. For anyone who can carry a dictionary with them while their reading this will probably enjoy this, even though I've only read about 30 pages myself.

The Book Thief

*****THIS CONTAINS SOME SPOILER ALERTS *****


"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak, is the best book I have read this year. The story is about a German Chrisitian girl named Leisel Meminger, who moves to Munich (Himmel Street) during the Holocaust, after her mother abandons her. Leisel moves in with her new foster parents and begins to read many books, even ones that have been banned by Adolf Hitler. As the story continues, the writing truly shows the struggle of the community between choosing to support the "Fuhrer" or trying to save the Jews. Eventually, you see that Leisel's adoptive father despises the Nazis and will do anything in his power to save the Jew he hides in the basement, Max.

The part of this book that really hooked me in was the narrator, who is actually the spirit of death. The author chose to write from the perspective of an omnicient character who even reveals that some people may die in the book, what may happen to some of the characters or what a character is actually thinking on the inside that none of the other characters in the story know. By using this character as the narrator you are able to see a perspective I don't think anyone has discussed about the Holocaust. Many people say that it is unfair to tear loved ones away from us, for any reason. The fact that the author included Death in this plot is even worse though because these loved ones that were taken away, were tortured and everyone was convinced that death was truly evil.

The author actually tries to portray the character of Death to be somber as he manages to retrieve every soul. The author at one point included that, "God gives us these tasks. We cannot control what we are meant to be. Sometimes I curse at God and ask him why he gave me this job out of all. He never responds, yeah you're not the only one he doesn't talk to". The narrator also feels bad, not just for the Jews that are killed, but for the Germans that were killed during the many bombs that struck Germany during World War II. I felt very simpathetic towards the narrator because he has to see the pain that we all have to face when we lose someone. When one of the characters died in the book, I began to sob uncontrollably because it reminded me that we can never see that person once again, you only have your memories. Towards the very end of the book, after one of the main character dies, he states, "she was able to tear herself from the ground. It amazes me what humans can do, even when streams are flowing down their faces and they stagger on, coughing and searching, and finding".

I found the narrator to be a major part of why I loved this book so much. The author was so creative and inspiring to me because that is a character that us, humans do not understand or know because we do not know what is on the other side or if god truly exists. The fact that she could give a symbol a personality and fears astounds me. To anyone who read this response and has not read the book, please read it. It's one of those books you cannot put down and will be one you will never forget. I still get chills just thinking about how much I loved this book.

Water For Elephants 2

SPOILER ALERT ***********


Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is about a man named Jacob who reflects his life when he hops a circus train, to abandon his old life without his family, and ends up taking the job as a veterinarian. While in the process of working at the circus Jacob meets a schizophrenic equestrian director named August, a brilliant and very pretty girl named Marlena (who is the wife to Augustus) and Uncle Al the ringmaster for the circus who will do anything it takes to make his circus anything alike to the ringling brother circus. As the story continues Jacob's desire to run away from his nursing home increases. Jacob will do anything to have an adventure in order to abandon the sad life he lives, in almost complete solitude. I discovered that a theme to this story is to do what you want and not let anyone stop you.

As an old man Jacob can barely walk, he is usually wheeled everywhere and can barely make it down the hallway with his walker. The sad part is though at one point Jacob says, “Nothing wrong with me but old age". This shows that he could easily leave the nursing home in order to live his dreams but “the horse-faced" nurse keeps him from leaving. Also at one point in the story Jacob tries to make a run for it but a nurse suddenly calls to him and asks him where he's going. Then Jacob is moved back in his wheelchair to his room where he dozes and thinks about his life in the circus. My Mother is an elder law lawyer and she always explains to me that all over the country many elderly people want to leave the nursing home but, the only reason the elderly are living at nursing homes is either because, the person can no longer take care of themselves, or that the family can no longer have the time or the money to take care of that person. 

At another point Jacob has a romantic fantasy about an exotic dancer who worked at the circus. Jacob is soon woken up to a nurse and is completely embarrassed when he learns that he was mumbling things about his dream. I felt that this truly shows the desperation Jacob feels to escape his life and go back to the adventurous times he had with the circus. The romantic fantasy also helped explain to me, as the reader that Jacob feels very lonely since his wife passed away and, now he is all alone. The nurse doesn't even comfort Jacob but tells him, “well you were talking in your sleep, that's sure enough". I think this part of the story truly told me that Jacob's ideals for his life to end were very different compared to the way the nurses wanted him to live. 

At the very end of the book Jacob begins to wait for his son, Simon to take him to the circus that just moved across the street. Soon all the visitors have talked to their parents or grandparents who live at the nursing home and Jacob is left sitting alone. The nurse then tells Jacob that Simon was too busy to go see his father. Jacob realizes that he shouldn't sit around to daze about his old life and, wait for other people who don't have time for him. Jacob suddenly believes he should make the choice to start living again. Jacob then gets the strength which is (metaphorical and literal) to walk out of the nursing home and go see the circus. I feel a lot of respect for Jacob because I wish that I could accomplish certain dreams but I am always too scared or too nervous to do so. 

I think that Jacob throughout the book learns from his mistakes of watching his life go by. Instead of waiting any longer he goes to live and finish his life by going to see the circus and, finally joining the new circus. I think that this is an underlying theme throughout the book, since so many people focus on the plot in his past life but, I felt that this was a main rule of life to follow and promise. I never want to end up in a nursing home, that's boring. I'd rather go out and start a new journey or path, than fantasizing about how I wish I had the strength to fulfill my dreams. The best part for me about this story was that Jacob could've given up and stayed at the facility but he joined the circus, at 93. Now that's an accomplishment I want to achieve but I would need to have the strength and the mental capability to do so. That's what I believe the main theme is in Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

Water For Elephants

"Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen is a very interesting novel that I am currently reading. The story takes place in the early 1900s, and is about a boy named Jacob Jankowski who jumps onto a circus train after leaving veterinary school. Jacob felt depressed after his parents' tragic death so he cannot focus during his finals and illegally jumps onto a circus train. He is then found out to be a veterinarian and he starts to take care of the circus animals. It is then that he meets the very fascinating character of August. I became very interested in August after I realized that his mood switched so drastically from day to day. I've always wanted to be a little unpredictable but all of my friends can tell what I'm thinking or know how I'll feel most of the time.

August changes from a very angry and awful man to having a sweet and generous personality. When Jacob first meets August, he is very kind to Jacob and leads him on an adventure through the train cars to go meet Kinko. He doesn't ever threaten to throw Jacob off the train as it is famously known they do at this particular circus. Instead, August puts his trust in Jacob and lets him join his equestrian team by helping the horses and, the other animals. As August leads Jacob through the train cars he says, "Turn around. I want you to see something...It's a beautiful sight, isn't it, Jacob?". This shows that August wanted to show Jacob a nice sight even though August didn't have to be nice to Jacob at all.

However, August has a very vindictive side towards how he acts towards others that are not Jacob or Marlena, August's wife. At one point, August tells Jacob that he needs to leave the animals out in the extremely hot weather without water or else Jacob will be kicked out of the circus. August explains, "'you better believe that Al is going to mess with you. Do you understand?' he speaks through clenched teeth. 'Do...you...understand?' he repeats, coming to a full stop after each word. I stare straight into his unblinking eyes".  This shows that August gets extremely angry when he is tested by anyone including Jacob.

I also discovered that August is very unstable when he is drunk. When August starts to dance with Marlena he suddenly starts staring intensely and he begins to nod or act very silly. He then almost begins to cry before he falls down onto his bed and doesn't move for the rest of the night. After Marlena settles August into bed Jacob is confused by the whole situation. "What the hell was that?" Jacob finally blurts. Marlena suddenly looks tearful before she responds, "He's mercurial. He's capable of being the most charming man on earth. Like tonight. And, well, he has...moments like today. He nearly fed you to a cat".

I think that August is a very unstable character and will grow to become more unstable as the book progresses. There is a rising action in the air about the fact that there is a new elephant and August's behavior has been drastically changing from day to day as the plot continues. I think that August will have to learn to not take his temper out on the animals or his peers but as long as he continues treating others around him very poorly he will never learn his lesson.

"Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville

In the short story, "Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville, the character of Vince changes drastically. Vince is very confused as to if he is gay or not. Throughout the story Vince changes his perception on if he wants to be out and proud if he is gay. "Am I Blue?" relies on change though because if Vince didn't change then the message of the story would be to not be proud of who you are. Ray Bradbury wanted Vince to be proud of who he is so he made Vince change over the course of the story.

At the beginning of the story, Vince is beat up by a bully named Butch Carrigan since he doesn't like Vince since he may be gay. Vince is vulnerable to Butch and he would stand up for himself but he is scared that he may be beat up or that he might actually turn out to be homosexual. I know what it feels like to be vulnerable to bullies and most of the time a bully can be insecure about themselves and, use their strength or words to hurt other people to make themselves feel better. Suddenly, Melvin a fairy godfather appears and tells Vince that he has three wishes. Melvin has a very feminine attitude as well as walking "swishy". Vince doesn't like being seen with feminine Melvin since he is scared to be beaten up for everyone thinking that the two of them may not be straight. To make Vince feel stronger and more confident Melvin says, "the world is crawling with faggots. But most of them are in hiding because they're afraid they'll get treated the way you did". All over the world, people are beat up for being thought of as gay but Vince is strong enough to deal with the hate.

Vince wishes to have "gaydar" which is the ability to see who is gay or not. Using gaydar Vince is able to see people turn a different shade of blue based on how certain they are of their own homosexuality. Vince begins to understand many people all around him are gay and that no one realizes certain people you may suspect to be heterosexual might be gay. Vince begins to see many celebrities that are gay on magazines and on television. There is one man that truly inspired Vince to truly change his perspective. In the story, Vince sees a homophobic politician who is bright blue. Vince grows angry that people cannot see the cowards who abuse the people who share their own sexuality. Vince wants everyone to be able to share his ability of gaydar with him for one day.

Vince then wishes for the people who are gay to all turn blue for one day so everyone in the world will know who they are. Vince is brave since he will even go to school on "blue day" even though he has a slight blue pallor to his skin. Vince is proud to go to school just to see the people all around him who may be bi-curious as well as Vince. Still, Vince feels slightly vulnerable and uses his last wish to ask Melvin to turn Butch Carrigan blue. Melvin then returns and tells Vince, "Butch Carrigan was already as blue as a summer sky when I got there". This statement gives Vince confidence since he knows that the only reason that Butch used to beat Vince was because Butch was uncertain if he was gay or not and wanted to hide his sexuality.

Vince feels ready to go to school even if people see that he is bi-curious. This shows that Vince is brave and he is proud of who he is. Still, not everyone in the world would be as brave as Vince and come out to the entire community. Vince changed from not wanting to be seen with anyone who may be mistaken for being gay, to walking out in public with his blue skin. I believe this is how Vince changed throughout the story of, "Am I Blue?" by Bruce Coville.

The Drummer Boy of Shiloh

“The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by Ray Bradbury is about a young boy, Joby who is in the Civil War and it’s the night before the Battle of Shiloh. Joby is the drummer for the army and he feels that he may be killed because he has nothing to protect himself and he is scared to die. Joby begins to feel overwhelmed and starts to cry because he feels he has no purpose in the war and that he won’t do his best in the battle the next day.

The author explains in the text that Joby is barely fourteen. I’m turning fourteen this year and at my age, I would never try to fight in the war. Joby joined the war to be brave (as I would too) but realizes he may have made a fatal mistake. In the text it states, “Raw, raw the lot of you…Did you run away or join legitimate boy?”. This quote states that many boys who were Joby’s age made the mistake of joining the war. This shows that Joby wanted to be brave but can’t face the fact that he might not return home. Many soldiers today experience the fear that they may die, as this is normal, especially for someone at such a young age.

As he cries, the general goes to talk to him and tries to calm him down. The general tells Joby that he is important to the war and must beat his drum with all his pride and strength. The mentor in any story must teach a character in need of guidance or the answer to the big theme in the text. This proved that the general must be the mentor of the story. I wondered though, what’s the conflict of the story and who is the antagonist?

After searching through the text, I think the conflict is that Joby is unable to find his confidence. In the text it states, “Me, thought the boy, I only got a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield”. This quote talks about how the young boy, Joby doesn’t have any sort of weapon to protect himself. At the end of a war it doesn’t matter if he should protect himself because if he does his job well, then he made a difference in the outcome of the battle.

Throughout the story Joby is the problem of his own conflict. In the text the boys who are around him say, “Me, I’m the one, I’m the one out of all the rest who won’t die. I’ll live through it. I’ll go home. The band will play. And I’ll be there to hear it.” If Joby felt the same way as the boys he wouldn’t have been so insecure and scared to die.

After realizing the conflict I knew that the antagonist was Joby, himself. I think that Joby is standing in the way of making his goal come true, which is to live and come home to his family after the war. When the general says, “boy I need you” Joby responds “me!’ the boy’s lips barely twitched”. This means that Joby doesn’t think he can accomplish anything. I think that when Joby stepped out of his own way at the end of the story and he was able to go back to sleep he knew he would do his best to win the battle and go home.

I think that “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” proves that sometimes the problem that you are truly suffering from is your confidence. Most of the time, I discover that I am afraid of something because I think I won’t be good enough. Many kids that are me and Jobys’ age suffer from a lack of confidence. I think that “you must have confidence to succeed” is an important message Ray Bradbury wanted the reader to learn, as well as teach us that sometimes our problems, even our enemies may be ourselves.

"Make Lemonade"

Over the summer, I read "Make Lemonade" by Virginia Euwer Wolf. The story is about a girl named Verna Lavaughn and her Mother who both share the desire for Lavaughn to go to college but they don't have enough money to send her to college. In Lavaughn's attempt to make money, she applies for a babysitting advertisement she sees one day. When she meets Jolly (the mother who posted the ad) Lavaughn is appalled by how non-sanitary the home is, how the kids are unable to read and that Jolly is a seventeen year old high school drop out that cannot even spell. Lavaughn suddenly sees that she must do her best to help Jolly and her two kids (Jeremy and Jilly) at whatever costs. As the story goes on, Jolly starts to get help and the kids are starting to learn with the help of Lavaughn. The only problem is that Lavaughn is almost never paid and her Mother feels that she shouldn't be working for Jolly since the Mother feels it is a waste of time. The story continues as Lavaughn sets her main goal to fix Jolly's life.

I really liked the book but I wouldn't ever read it again or recommend the book to anyone. This book was like a normal summer school book that is supposed to teach you certain lessons. It wasn't something that I really enjoyed reading. I also felt that this book really teaches the lesson, that you should never do certain things just for money but for the greater good. There was also a theme to never give up since Jolly's life took a turn for the worst since she gave up earlier but with Lavaughn's help she begins to improve and save her family for the greater good. I also discovered that the symbol of the lemon seeds really showed that Jolly had given up over and over again but at the end her life blossomed into something that never could've happened without the help of Lavaughn. I think that this book is a clear tool to help see really important themes but I personally didn't find it interesting.