We Can Make A Difference

     Today in ELA, we talked about a girl that has been raising money by selling lemonade to buy crayons for people in her brothers hospital. The main focus of the article is that we can all make a difference. 

     I think we can make a change in this world by showing what you believe to others. Something that I strongly believe in are to end gender roles. A gender role is rules that society gives to each gender, such as only boys can play sports and only girls can wear makeup. I believe gender roles should end since I want equality in this world, and how can we have equality if gender roles still exist? I can make a difference by not supporting gender roles, and to help other people's voices be heard. 

     One of my favorite quotes is by Ghandi, and it says, "Be the change you wish to see in this world." This shows me that I can't expect change if I'm not part of the change. 

Positively Beautiful

      The book I have been reading is Positvely Beautiful by Wendy Mills. I've only been reading it for a couple of days, but so far I know the main character is a sixteen year old girl named Erin. She has a best friend named Trina.

      Something else you should know about her is that her father died when she was very young, so she lived with her mother. Something that makes her life change is when she finds out her mother has breast cancer. In the book, it says, "I have cancer," she says simply. And my life cracks into before and after just like that." In my opinion, I do not like the way she let that secret out, and it should have been more mysterious. I don't know anything else, but that's what I've read so far.   

     Some predictions I have for this book is that her mother might pass away, and she will find her way to live without her. Another prediction I have is that Erin will do anything for her mother to live, or try to make the best of her life. I know I would if I was close to losing someone I love. 

Cut

     The book I have been reading is Cut by Patricia McCormick. This book is about a girl named Callie who cuts herself, and goes to place where other girls go through similar problems. The book doesn't give an explicit reason as to why she does this, but it may have been because she thought she caused trouble to her family. I came to the conclusion of this since in the book, it says, "I thought it was my fault, Sam getting sick." This shows how she thought something was her fault, so that could be the reason she started to self harm. 

     In the beginning of the book, she would not talk. She had felt like she had lost her voice since she hadn't used it in so long. I believe this book is aimed towards teenagers who may also be going through similar conflict as Callie, and the theme may be that not evrything is your fault, and to not blame yourself for existing. I also think this story is encouraging to not self harm, and to realize that you're not alone. 

     Something that I really liked about this book was that there was a character that added more conflict into the story. Her name is Amanda, and she brought in a different idea to self harming. Most of the girls in the group would self harm because they felt alone or insecure, but Amanda said she did it for pleasure and because it made her feel good. In the book, it says, "It's a high. I mean, you feel amazing. No matter how bad you felt before. It's a rush, like suddenly you're alive." I like how Amanda brought in another perspective l, and it introduces the idea of how not everyone does certain things for the same reason. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to introduce themselves to the topic of self harm, and the different perspectives of the idea.