Jessy L's blog

I am currently reading the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I have really connected to this book, so for my genre piece I have chose to write about which character I would like to be. I would like to be like Katniss for many reasons, one including the way she acts with the skills she has.

Katniss shows a lot of maturity in these books and it really makes me look up to her as a person. She has a lot of nerve for as young as she is to get married to save her family and friends, and also shows a lot of respect as a leader. Through out the whole first hunger games they were in, she had to stick for herself. She also had to think a lot when Peeta and her paired up and Peeta was injured. I think that a lot of people can look up to Katniss even though she is a girl. But just because she is a girl, doesn’t mean that boys can’t look up to her as well. She shows a lot of qualities that a boy can look up to such as her hunting. Her being able to shoot a bow better then anyone in the hunger games puts her to an advantage that anyone would want to take. Katniss makes herself stand out, but not in obnoxious ways, she shows everyone what to be afraid and who she is without any fear inside her. I think that if I were like Katniss I would a life that wouldn’t be made around all the bad things in life and what is bringing me down, but made by what’s inside of me and how I can be who I am and show others that too.

The main Character Katniss in the Hunger Games series is quite like Scout in the book To Kill a Mockingbird in many ways. Katniss is a very tom-boy like girl. She has to hunt and fish to keep her family alive and away from starvation. In this same way is Scout, she loves to play outside and get all muddy with her brother and neighbor. Katniss also has to face many adult like situations, like being in the hunger games themselves. All the brutal killings and thinking smarter then her opponents are some things she really had to take seriously. This makes her life change so much. It changed when she got back to her hometown, she is supposed to act lady like in front of the camera from the capitol and not be the person who she really is there at her own house. In the same way Scout had to face going to the court and seeing what her father is truly like to save someone’s life. This really showed Scout the side of people that she has never seen before, and made her change as a person as well. Also because of her aunt Alexandra staying with them, Scout has to act lady like because that is how she says girls should be acting. This is a side of Scout that she isn’t used to because she is usually just being like the boys and  not having to drink tea and do other things that women do. Both main characters, Katniss and Scout, can’t show who they really from where they are at in the book, and these two characters really should speak up for who they are and what they like because for right now they are just kids, and have all the time in the world to change to ladies.

At this point I am finished reading Take Me There by Susane Colasanti. I am writing about how if I could change the ending, how I would do so. In this I will show the parts of the ending I liked and I think were well written and also what I would change if I could.

If I could change the ending of the book, I would make it have a more specific meaning. The end of the book doesn’t really go anywhere; it just recaps the entire feeling of the book. A meaning I would try to accomplish would be either a relationship beginning between James and Rhiannon or just a friend relationship being stated. I think that ending the book like this would make it more complete and have a true meaning. I also think that there should have been something said more about Nicole and her relationship with Danny; her ex. When James received a letter from Mrs. Schaffer I think that the book should have continued after that so that we as readers could feel James’s reaction and connect more to what happened to him and others around him. I think with these things changed, understanding the book would be easier and a great amount of things to connect to.

In the book Take Me There by Susane Colasanti I can relate to James and Rhiannon’s relationship a lot to my life. They treat each other with the utmost respect and can just be two great friends without anything in the way.

They have a relationship that most people don’t have. Because they are both a different gender it could make it hard for them to get along just as friends when they are together so much. I have a friend like this that is also a guy. I even consider him one of my best friends because even though he is a guy I have known him for a long time and we have been through a lot. This sometimes comes with its flaws though, like if Rhiannon were to date someone the boyfriend could think bad of James’s and her relationship, that’s when you really have to see how important the friendship is between them both. I think just like Rhiannon and James, my friend and I have had our fights and the times we can’t stand each other, but I believe that is what brings people together. James treats and sees Rhiannon like a little sister, protective and loving. This really shows the connection that they have. My friend does this too. Sometimes this can be for the better; they can really tell you what they want no matter what it will do to you. At other times though, they could be too protective. James is really protective to Rhiannon, but only because he doesn’t want to see her hurt by a guy. I think of all the different types of friendships out there, this could be the best because you have a brother, a best friend, and a great person always by your side.

In the book Take Me There by Susane Colasanti my favorite character is James, because he is a great friend to Rhiannon, but yet he knows he feels so much more.

Even though Rhiannon is still completely in love with her ex-boyfriend, James is always there for her through all the times she is thinking about getting back together with him. James hates the fact that Rhiannon wants to get back to him because he didn’t treat her right. James and Rhiannon both feel that they are so much alike, but James can be the only one to show the relationship that they really have. James always says how he feels more, and I think that he should come out and say it. But because he doesn’t say that he likes her, it makes his and Rhiannon’s relationship so much stronger. James also isn’t afraid of showing Rhiannon how he really feels, no matter how Rhiannon will feel. Rhiannon should be grateful for a friend like James. If it weren’t for him Rhiannon would have a much harder time getting through the situations she has been through. I think that having a friend like this is always a good thing because you always have someone who is there for you. James shows a lot of support for Rhiannon, but most importantly they both know how much they mean to each other.

Below is what I would think of to be a journal that Rhiannon would write about her life. Through even the beginning of the book she has developed a lot.

Saturday,
Steve and I broke up. I try not to cry because I don’t want to be a totally depressed person. I still love him, and the worst part is I want him back more then ever. When does the pain go away? I just keep thinking if he feels the same. If he wants to be back in my arms the same way I feel. Where did all that love go that we used to have? I miss being by his side and not having to think about the world around me. Even if eventually I get better, my heart will always be broken.

Sunday,
Last night I went to a party with James and Nicole. Nicole and I always go through the same things at the same time. James and I went to the cupcake shop to get cupcakes and my favorite ones were there too! He tries to help me through the break up to, but the truth is that he doesn’t like Steve so he doesn’t mind that we broke up. James is so much like me and if I had a boyfriend like him everything would be perfect. The thing is though that James and I don’t feel that way about each other. We are just great friends.

Tuesday,
School was a huge joke yesterday. Chemistry was the worst part too. No one truly understands where I am coming from because no one is like me. But then lunch came, and I was sitting with James which in nothing out of usual. I look across the cafeteria and there was Steve staring right at me. We had complete eye contact for at least 10 seconds. James didn’t take that well, because he got up and left.

Tonight Nicole and I decided to do something that would embarrass Steve to the extreme. We wrote on the sidewalk in front of the school “Steve – My chemosensory organ occludes your phenethyl Love, Me” And of course he will know who it’s from if he really does love me back. But not even the smartest guy will know what it means at first. Even if tomorrow turns out totally embarrassing for Steve and I, it will be worth it when we are back together.

Theo is stuck in a situation, so all he can do is runaway and find somewhere to clear his mind. Theo is in the problem of telling the police that he was at Jess’s house before the murder that they assume that Jacob had committed. He is afraid that something bad is going to happen to Jacob if he doesn’t speak up, so he flew to his dads in Florida. Even though Theo doesn’t talk to his dad he feels this is the only place that someone will understand him, and he can get away from the whole mess. Emma, Theo’s mother, is terrified when she finds out he left without her permission. I think that Theo needed this time away, but so does Emma. Theo should have told his mom he wanted to visit his father so she wasn’t so worried. I think everybody needs a break from life every once and a while, but you shouldn’t do it so selfishly and you should think about how others will feel about the choices you make.

Jacob isn’t meant for the jail life, so he is now at home, and the investigator is trying to truly figure out if he committed the murder. Emma, Jacob’s mom can’t try hard enough to tell everyone that Jacob didn’t commit the murder but its hard when he has all the thought need to do so and get away with it. I think that Emma should keep pushing to get her son out of this. Even if she doesn’t know for sure, he is her son and she should do anything for him. Sometimes it seems as if she would love to give up the life of dealing with someone with Asperger’s but Jacob means to much to her to give up and I think that is a great way to keep moving through life. If Emma can’t think of someway to keep herself motivated she will lose Jacob and have to deal with being the person who sent her own son to jail. Emma deserves a lot of credit for dealing with what she has to with Jacob, and I think any mother that has to do that should be recognized because of what they have to do. If Jacob gets out of the murder the end will soon come to all the frustration in all of the family, and I think that would make it better for everyone.

Right now in my book House Rules by Jodi Picoult Jacob has been sent to jail for the murder of Jess Olvigy his helper. His mother Emma is the one who called the police to say that Jacob’s blanket was on Jess when she was found dead. Now Emma and her attorney have to figure out a way to get her son Jacob who has Asperger’s out of jail and back to his loving home. I think that Emma and the attorney will find a way to get Jacob out of jail. The only proof that they have that shows Jacob could have killed Jess was the backpack that he took from her house and the blanket she was rapped in. I also think that Theo will break down and tell the police that he had snuck into Jess’s house and saw her before her death, even though this could send him to jail. I think this will happen because Theo really believes that Jacob did not kill her so he wants to find a way to help him even if it is turning himself in. I think that Theo has been worried about his brother because he has Asperger’s and he doesn’t know how he will take it in jail. I think because they haven’t found any other information on Jess’s death Jacob will stay guilty unless Theo or someone else comes forward with more information they could use.

The book I am reading is House Rules by Jodi Picoult. This book is about a mother and her two sons, one named John with Asperger’s and the other named Theo who just can’t understand why things aren’t normal.

A passage from this book that I find to be important is “In my mind, Asperger’s is a label to describe not the traits that Jacob has but rather the ones he lost.”  (5) This passage is important because it shows how Jacob’s mom feels about the disease that he has. I think that because Jacob’s mom thinks this that it brings them closer because she is the only on who truly understands him. This is also important because Theo, Jacob’s brother, just can’t be normal because of Jacob. jacob wants to be a investigator and Jacob’s mom knows he can’t which breaks her heart, and she just never knows what to do. I think that Jacob’s mom has a lot to go through in this book so far, and I think if she keeps being strong she can get through it all.