Revised Reading Response #3

I recently finished the book Art Geeks and Prom Queens by Alyson Noel, in this book the main character,Rio, just moved with her mother to California. Throughout the book Rio changes a lot, she doesn't only change her personality but she changes the way she looks, she turns into a completely different person. In the beginning of the book Rio wasn't really interested of hanging out with the "popular" kids, she just wanted to start the new year in her new school and just be herself. Rio also made two new friends Mason, and Jas, Rio was really happy when she met them because they were just like her, they were interested in Art, and they seemed real and friendly. Everything was going fine and she was being herself until Kristi,one of the most popular girls in school, started talking to Rio. Even though Rio is a smart person it will take something really bad to happen for her to realize how much she has changed.

  When Kristi and her clique became friends with Rio, Rio had to change the way she dressed herself, the way she acted around others, and she couldn't be friends with just anyone. At first Rio didn't know if it was a good idea but then she started to like being noticed and that's when she completely changed. She stopped talking to Mason, and Jas, Rio became the person that she never wanted to be. "The next rule is you can't be friends with everyone, but you have to be nice because people expect a lot from you but you can't be friends with them. Kristi is basically telling Rio that to be friends with her she has to ignore all her true friends; this shows that Kristi isn't a real friend because if she was she wouldn't care about who Rio was/is friends with. She did things that she would've never done and she said things that she would've never said before and she didn't even notice that she was doing it. Rio changed so much that she was starting to become like Kristi but worse.
 
   I don't think Rio is going to realize that she has done things that weren't right until her "friends" do something really bad to her, because Rio hasn't realized that she doesn't even have her own opinion or thoughts anymore. She can't control her life anymore because Kristi controls it for her, Rio can't talk to her real friends and she can't like anyone that's not a jock, or a college guy. "I'm not even the host of my own party because my mom and Kristi have planned it all for me". This shows that Kristi doesn't let Rio do anything for herself, not even control what's going on in her party. If Rio ever realizes what's going on I think she'll break down and she won't know what to do or who to be anymore because she was always an independent person but know she doesn't even know what's going on in her own life. I liked how Rio was before because now I just think Rio is like Kristi's clone and that's not a good thing.

   In conclusion Art Geeks and Prom Queens is a really good book that can show people that they don't have to change who they are just to impress someone because if you like who you are then it doesn't really matter what everyone else thinks. Also it's not worth all the work changing the way you look, and act just for one person. I really liked this book and it got me thinking a lot about why anyone would agree to become part of something that they know they're not even if it got you noticed.

Blog post #4: Reading Response

     I'm currently reading the book Evermore by Alyson noel. In the book Ever, the main character, has psychic powers but she's still not use to them that's why she hides underneath a hoodie and listens to loud music that she doesn't even like until she meets Damen. Damen is a new kid that everyone is obsessed with and he's one of the only people that can make Ever feel normal again but she can't figure out what it is. Ever since Damen came in to Ever's life Ever has been getting sweaty palms, and she has even tried to dress like she used to before the accident. This really surprises Ever because ever since the day she lost her family Ever hasn't felt normal and no one has been able to make her feel like her old self anymore because nothing's the same.
 
    When Ever's teacher introduces the class to Damen, Ever refuses to look at him because Ever could hear everyone else thought and according to the whole class Damen looked like an amazing person. Later on one of Ever's friends',Miles, forces Ever to look at him and Ever freaks out. "And what I see leaves me unable to speak, blink, or move", Ever has never been paranoid over a guy since she had to move California with her aunt. This shows that Ever might actually like Damen and that he can make her feel like her a normal teenager with a normal crush again.Even though Ever realizes that she has a crush on Damen she refuses to admit it because there's nothing normal about Damen he's always doing these "magic tricks" like making red tulips appear and the fact that he has no aurora is even weirder because everyone has an aurora the only people who don't are the ones who are already dead.

    Afterwards Ever gains more confidence and she decides to trust Damen even though she's not sure it's a good idea. I think Ever made a good choice by accepting Damen into her life and not questioning why he has no aurora and why she can't read his thoughts. Damen also kind of gets more mysterious throughout the book, he starts to leave without saying where he's going and he's always drinking this really weird red liquid, Ever has even realized that he doesn't eat. "How can he make me feel so normal yet he's not normal at all" this shows that Ever does feel normal but she's starting to realize that Damen isn't and she barely knows anything about him and when she tries to ask him about his family he always tries to avoid the subject in any way possible.
   
     I think Ever should just forget about the past and the bad things in her life and focus only in the good things; she also shouldn't completely trust Damen because she doesn't even know him that well. Ever is a strong person and even though she questions everything and she's a very secretive person it's okay because she has gone through a lot and she just needs to learn that she can't blame herself for everything.This book can actually make readers learn that it's okay to have changes in your life and changes happen to everyone so you shouldn't hide yourself and completely ignore the world and everything around you because it's not going to make you feel better it might actually make you feel worse.

Drummer Boy of Shiloh Reading Response

 
     On Thursday morning a woman came up to me on the bus and asked me how old I was, I told her that I am thirteen, the woman then said that she was asking because her nine year old daughter is also very tall, but she was self conscious because she was the tallest person in class, this connects to the story because Joby isn't confident until the general talks to him and makes Joby feel better about himself. In the story The Drummer Boy of Shiloh by Ray Bradbury Joby wasn't confident with himself until the general talked to him because he was the only soldier without a shield.This shows that everyone feels self conscious at some point in life.

   In the beginning of the story Joby had a hard time being the drummer boy because he's the only person in the war without a shield, all he had was a drum. "Me thought the boy, I got only a drum, two sticks to beat it, and no shield. There wasn't a man-boy on this ground tonight who did not have a shield". This shows that Joby is thinking about how he doesn't have anything to protect himself and it also shows that Joby feels alone because he's the only man-boy without something to protect himself."This drum was worse than a toy in the game to be played tomorrow or someday much too soon". Joby's thought show that he doesn't want/care about his drum he only wants to be able to protect himself and he wants someone to be there for him. 

   Towards the end of the story Joby was a little bit more confident with himself because the general talked to him. "If he, Joby, beat slow tomorrow, the heart would be slow in the men. They would lag by the wayside." Basically Joby's thinking that by not caring about how he's beating the drum and by beating it slowly all the soldiers would get tired and they just wouldn't want to fight anymore. "But if he beat a sure, steady, ever faster rhythm, then their knees would come up in a long line down over that hill, one knee after the other, like a wave on the ocean shore. Had he seen the ocean ever? Seen the waves rolling in like a well-ordered cavalry charge to the sand? Well, that was it, that's what he wanted, that's what he needed." This is when Joby realizes that it's a good thing that he's a drummer because when the soldiers hear him play the soldiers will be more energetic and there would be a bigger chance that they will actually win the war.
    
    All in all, everyone feels self conscious or alone some times but it's good to talk to someone because that person might make you feel better about yourself or they might make you feel more confident. I think this story is a great way to show people that you should always feel confident about what you do or who you are because you might not know it but you might be helpful to other people. It might be hard at first to accept who you are but then you have to realize that you can't do anything about it and who you are will always be a part of you, so you might as well accept yourself.