On a Scale of 1 to 10 is about a girl who is being transferred to a mental hospital and we don’t know why at first, but as the book continues we figure it out. This book changes perspectives of a young girl named Tamar from before she was in the mental hospital to during the time she was in it. Tamar is having a rough time because she thinks she killed her friend Iris, which is not what happened at all and you'll learn that towards the end of the book. During her time at the mental hospital she goes through ups and downs. One of her ups was making new friends, and one of her downs is just the fact she has to be there. A lot of things happen to her that aren't necessarily good in this book. When perspectives change, It helps a lot with letting you know what happened to make her have to go to the mental hospital. In the end, one of her really good friends, Elle, she met there has to leave her, but Tamar gets to go home. She ends up figuring out her purpose in life and knowing her worth. Some things that surprised me in this book was how hard it truly is to have to go to a mental hospital. Having friends you meet there having to leave and not being able to see them again, being watched twenty four seven, and having to be away from family. I noticed that this book was very detailed in the writing. The author had the first person (Tamar) explain her story very well. I have a very hard time understanding books, so I liked how this one was easy for me to understand and didn’t mix words around in weird ways. I also love books where people tell their story. Not action or anything, just someone telling what they went through and what they have overcome through their life. Something I learned about myself while reading this book was that although it was very sad and hard to read at some points, I enjoyed it. Watching her overcome certain things in her life that were very challenging to her made me happy, especially in the end when she felt like she was actually worth something. This book has changed me in the ways I think. You truly never know what someone is going through, so before assuming, stop and think. This book was a very sad book, and made me feel sad sometimes, but I think people should read it even though it may be a sensitive topic for them. It truly shows what people can overcome after the hardest things in life. It shows to never doubt yourself and never give up in life even though it may seem like a disaster. This was a great book and I'm glad I got the chance to read it. by Joey M.
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Destiny tells the story of a teenage Syrian boy, his family, and the people that they meet along the way. As a nearly decade-long war spreads through Syria, Tareq’s once peaceful life is uprooted when he experiences a loss like no other. He, his father, and his 4-year-old sister, Susan, must embark on their long resisted journey to Europe. With a Daesh threatening pit stop in Raqqa, the family must quickly make their way to Turkey with the newly joined company of Tareq’s teenage cousin Musa. Once they arrive in Turkey, Tareq and Musa are sent to Istanbul, to find work, while Susan and his father remain in Gaziantep. After experiencing the challenges that Turkish life holds for Syrians, a resistant Tareq leaves Musa behind to smuggle his family to Greece. With the little money made, the family is able to send Tareq and Susan across the unpredictable Aegean Sea into Lesvos, Greece, an Island off the coast of Turkey. After a dangerous and uncertain smugglers' ride to the Island, Tareq is met with the generosity of many volunteers, including American college student Alexia, who makes a life-lasting impression on Tareq and the people that mean the most to him. This book opened my mind up to a refugee's journey in a completely new way. I was always aware that making the decision to leave one's home can never be easy, but I was under the impression that there were many people whose job was to make it easier on the refugees. Instead, throughout this book, I found that more people are making it extra challenging to cross borders, which is happening on top of the already life-threatening situations refugees face. What surprised me the most was that many of the smugglers were Syrian refugees themselves. It was hard to believe that someone who had escaped from that kind of danger wasn’t fighting harder to get their fellow Syrians out safely. Reading this book really made me think about the life that I have and how it is sometimes taken for granted. Here we are losing ourselves over a lost sports event, or a failed assignment, while kids all over the world have bombs exploding left and right. One thing that is highlighted in this book is the idea that what is ultimately the most dangerous for humanity is the divide between the love in our hearts and the hatred that our mind convinces our hearts to feel. This is something that affected my opinion on a lot of conflicts around the world. I think that in the future, it will be a little bit easier for me to understand the pain and the loss that the people fleeing these countries experience. Tareq’s life was so different from mine that it was easy to see that this book was fiction. However, after reading, I keep thinking about how real this journey is for so many people, and that was difficult for me to grasp. By Kera W. Trust, food, and freedom are all commodities only given on short special occasions for Cristian Florescu. As a teenager living in Romania in 1989, Cristian has to navigate life while continuously avoiding informers and keep his negative opinions about Romania in his notebook. After the Soviet Union’s collapse, a man by the name of Ceausescu rose to power and took control of Romania and established a dictatorship under himself and his communist party. Ceausescu cleverly portrays Romania and himself positively to the rest of the world while the mast surveillance, censorship, and informers kept Romania under his control. One day, Cristian’s crimes were exposed to the Securitate, Romania’s secret police force. He is met with two options: betray everyone his loves, or secretly use his intellect to overthrow the corruption within Romania. Cristian continues to write in his secret notebook while tactically battling against the Securitate with his arsenal of information. However, it soon becomes clear that the Securitate wouldn’t be the toughest opponent Cristian has to face. Hatred can be often wielded as a powerful weapon against foes, but love made it difficult to raise swords against another. There is always conflict or an objective for Cristian to clear. Immediately, Cristian is forced to become an informer and relay information about an American diplomat to the Securitate. This made me question my point of view of the story and deduce what was the best decision for Cristian. I quickly began to realize that it was not his fault that he became an informer, and shifted my attention to the system. The Securitate’s method of blackmailing him was effective because they threaten his family and forces him to choose between that and an American friend. They were able to exploit his kindness and use him as a pawn under their control. Cristian’s best friend, Luca, is my favorite character within the story. Luca’s personality and his relationship with Cristian, combined with the way in which he was written, creates an immense amount of emotions to build up as I read the story. Sometimes I liked him, sometimes I questioned his actions, but he was always fun and thrilling to read. Ruta Sepetys presents enough information for us readers to infer what could happen in the story without making it obvious, her style of writing creates incredible suspense within the story and keeps the reader engaged. From reading this book, I realized that I absorb information quickly without questioning it. There were many foreshadowing carefully hinted throughout the story, but I missed most of them because I had only looked at the situation from Christian’s perspective without giving it proper thoughts. This changed how I view informers, I believed that they were people who sided with the Securitate to gain a higher social standing while ruining the lives of others for trivial reasons. However, it soon became clear that many informers were forced into it due to enormous blackmailing and threats that kept people from rejecting the party. This story made me feel more empathetic towards people living under harsh conditions without freedom. I was under the impression that when the Soviet Union collapsed, these Eastern European countries such as Romania became free of dictatorship rule, but reality was the very opposite. This book captures the unfortunate situation of Romania in 1989 while also showcasing the strange happiness Cristian was able to experience despite the horrible circumstances. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning more about history from the perspective of others, but this story can be read, understood, and enjoyed by anyone. By Phuong D. Do you believe in love at first sight? The book Camp, by LC Rosen is about a 16-year-old boy that is sent to a queer summer camp by his parents. Randy Kapplehoff decides to change a lot about himself all for Hudson Aaronson-Lin. This summer, instead of the nail-polish wearing femme boy named Randy, he takes on a new identity as “Del”. Del is an athletic butch boy, or in other words, Hudson’s ideal type. Del is constantly telling himself that it was all going to be worth it in the end when he will be the first one that isn’t just one of Hudson’s two-week conquests. The book is being told in the perspective of Randall AKA Del throughout the whole book. The conflict in this story is how Randall has to completely change everything about himself just to try to get Hudson to fall in love with him for more than just his usual two-week period. Going into this book, I didn’t originally expect it to have as many sexual references as it did.There were some bits of imagery in some of the interactions between Del and his friends in addition to multiple scenes between him and Hudson too. That’s also one of the big things that really surprised me when I started reading this book. After reading this book, I was thinking about how people in the LGBT community are constantly discriminated against even now in the present day. The way that this book centers around the queer kid's time at the queer summer camp is a really nice change in perspective since it's essentially a safe place for all those queer kids in this book. One other thing that was really nice in the book, and that added to the overall read, was the author’s use of writing. The author used plenty of descriptive words throughout the book in addition to tons of imagery that added another level of entertainment to the story. It was very well paced in my opinion too. This book was a very great choice to read. I feel like I can really connect with some of the characters, especially Del. The way he changed himself all for Hudson kind of reminds me of how I’ve tried changing for people. I learned that if you were to change for someone, you would most likely be having a ton of second thoughts about if changing nearly everything about yourself is really worth it. This book changed my perspective of having deep feelings for someone and if it's right or not to change yourself just to appease them and get them to notice you. I feel as though I’m more empathetic since I feel it's easier for me to understand the thoughts going through Del’s head when he decided to change pretty much everything about himself all for Hudson. By Kaylee H. Racism…what does it mean to you? To 16-year-old Starr Carter, it means her best friend being shot by a police officer in front of her, having to pretend to be something she’s not, and conquering obstacles that stand in the way of relationships and friendships. Starr Carter tells the story of her best friend, Khalil, being shot by police officers in front of her. Then, Starr is on a journey of finding the courage to speak out about the racism that police officers and society has against African Americans. She must dig deep inside of her to find that courage that will combat the trauma and hatred of the situation. The Hate U Give surprised me by showing the amount of gang related violence that can go on in neighborhoods. Growing up in small town Decorah, I am not exposed to the violence that is in the book. The violence challenges my thinking because I didn’t realize the effect this trauma has on kids my own age. This trauma then changes the individual when they are with others. Starr went to a private preparatory school in a wealthy white neighborhood where she felt like she needed to change to fit in and hide her background. I have felt this way before. In middle school, I would change myself to be a happier person even if I was feeling sad, lonely, and upset. I did this so no one would ask questions or worry about me. I feel like Starr was doing the same thing. She didn’t want anyone to ask questions about her and her background, so she kept all of it hidden. Even though this is not the same situation, we are still hiding from those “friends”. Starr was a good storyteller in this book. The book was first person central, meaning that Starr was the narrator and the main character. This allowed Starr to express her thoughts and emotions while telling the story and sharing how she is on a journey to find courage. The Hate U Give changed my perspective of situations like this one. My perspective used to know only the law enforcement side (my dad is a law enforcement officer) but this book helped me get a glimpse into the other side of the story. It opened my eyes to the hatred and racism that surrounds people's daily lives. It changed my perception of racism as a whole and the effect it can have on people. Even though you may think it is a little thing, to some people it is their entire day if not more, it could consume their mind. I believe that this book has made me more aware of how people of color are treated and how much hatred that is in the world for all races. The Hate U Give has helped change my opinions and actions in everyday life. I may not be in the same situation as Starr, but I can be more aware of what is going on around me and how others are feeling. By Addison W. The 57 Bus shows development through adversity. The book is based on a true story about an agender teen who got lit on fire because they were wearing a skirt. The 57 Bus begins with introducing someone named Sasha. Sasha began to explore different topics about whom they might truly be, whether it was their sexuality or what gender they might identify as. Sasha was surrounded by many supporting figures in their life. Richard was an African American male who was trying to turn his life around. Richard’s goal was to graduate high school. Richard and Sasha both took the same bus home every day, the 57 bus. One day, Sasha fell asleep on the bus while Richard and his friends were screwing around in the back. Richard was dared to light Sasha’s skirt on fire because they looked like a guy wearing a skirt. Richard thought it would cause no harm, so he lit the skirt, then got off the bus right away. He turned around and saw Sasha engulfed in flames. Richard was arrested the day after the crime was committed, and Sasha began a long recovery process. Eventually, Richard signed a plea deal that imprisoned him for a total of seven years. As for Sasha, they began a long recovery challenge starting the day of the attack. They weren’t able to talk to their friends face to face for over 3 months. Sasha went through many struggles while recovering, but not having their relationships affected them the most. Sasha’s family didn’t get the two written letters until after the case was over, but when they read them, their opinion on Richard changed. Eventually, when Richard was released, he and Sasha met up again and Richard was able to formally apologize. The book being written from the perspective of Sasha and Richard allowed me to see their opinions and thinking on certain events. This allowed me to bond with the characters to a greater extent. Once the middle of the story began, the style of the book changed. After Richard lit Sasha on fire, the book’s rhetoric changed to a more objective tone. This objective tone was still very meaningful. The author was stating facts about the event without a bias. This allowed you to form an opinion for yourself. Not only did this allow you to establish your own opinion, but it also allowed you to critically think and piece everything together. Throughout the book, I was mainly thinking about the end result. Although I was concerned about Sasha’s recovery and Richard’s court case, the main idea I was worried about was what would happen between Sasha and Richard. The book was hinting at a unity between the two. It mentioned the letters Richard wrote to Sasha and Sasha’s family multiple times, but it would also talk about Sasha’s opinions on Richard. Not only would it talk about Sasha’s feelings, but it would also mention Sasha’s family’s feelings. Mostly, the feelings consisted of confusion. “Why would he do that to me,” but every so often Sasha’s family would understand what Richard was currently going through. Eventually, all these hints confirmed my thoughts. Sasha and Richard reunited. The fact that Sasha had the courage to meet Richard formally, and Richard had the courage to face the person’s life he changed forever, surprised me. The beginning of the book changed me in a few ways. I got to see the perspective of an agender person's life. This enabled me to be more open to different types of people because I realized that everybody is living in the same world. Everyone might not be suffering the same problems, but we’re all here together. Reading The 57 Bus caused me to view things differently. It taught me to see where other people are coming from, instead of just centering on my point of view. Throughout the whole book, the opinions that Sasha and Richard have on each other resurface commonly. This taught me to think about the people that I have affected. Before the book pointed this out to me, I didn’t realize how my actions might influence other people’s lives. What are the opinions that they might have on me after I’ve done something? This has made me be more conscious about my actions. I think about what will happen before I do something now. This not only allows me to make smarter decisions, but it also causes me to build better relationships because I’m not angering people through my actions. I’ve also changed to be more considerate of others. By Grant Z. 91,779 people. That’s the fully packed Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena, with the 2 teams that play, plus the announcers and workers. That’s also the amount of people that died of an overdose every single year. My book, Dopesick, by Beth Macy, was an in depth look into the inner machinations of the opioid epidemic. This book goes on a journey through time, starting with “soldier's disease”,an early form of Opioid, lovingly referred to by its victims as “Oxy”, had a horrifying grip on the smallest coal mining towns of highland Appalachia. Next, the author moves the lensto the growing heroin issue spiraling out of control in more urban, industrialized more urban, industrialized areas like Philadelphia and Cleveland, as the epidemic started to grow. The final drug the author talks about is Fentanyl, freshly imported on the dark web from labs in China, used to “cut” heroin, to bulk it up and get an extra high. Unfortunately, this“cut” heroin is extra deadly, and can actually cause death on the first injection. This book was absolutely amazing, and I would recommend you read it if you haven’t. Some of the things that surprised me about this book is how hard it is to become sober after you’ve become addicted. And with opioids like Oxy, it’s really, really easy to become addicted. The best and most reliable way to get sober is only available if you’re a doctor, a pilot, or some other very important person that cannot be easily replaced. It also costs 40,000 dollars and lasts for 5 months. The next best option is available to more people, but costs from 6000 to 14000 dollars. This is called MAT, or Medication Assisted Therapy. MAT is a system of therapy that uses less potent opioids like buphrenorphine, suboxone, or methadone. With this method, the addicted person goes to a therapy appointment, where they are injected with one of the two drugs and monitored for a couple minutes, then released. These drugs satisfy the cravings of the addicted and stave off dopesickness. Dopesickness, the namesake of this book, is an awful, debilitating disease. If an addicted person stops taking or is forced to stop taking opioids. According to Brian Rinker, a former addict writing for the Men’s Health magazine dopesickness causes “cold sweats, nausea, diarrhea and body aches, all mixed with depression and anxiety that make it impossible to do anything except dwell on how sick you are. You crave opioids, not because you necessarily want the high, but because they’d bring instant relief.”. Without MAT, it is almost impossible to get sober. Only 1.2% of people addicted get sober every year, and most of that number is using MAT. This book has changed me in a number of ways. Before I read this book, I thought what I think most people do, that drug addicts are a small subset of the population that aren’t very important and that they aren’t humans, just like all the rest of us. But this book has completely changed my view on them. Just because someone is addicted to a drug does NOT mean we should cut them off completely. Addicts need all the help they need in this trying time. The author of this book followed a lot of addicts into therapy, and one of the things that she discovered from this was that a user that has made up their mind to come clean only has a few hours to work with to get into therapy, before they are sucked back into the underground of drug use. These few hours could be the most important few hours in the user’s lives, and we need to always be there for them in this fleeting moment. The author of this book did an amazing job with inducing a feeling of empathy for me. With every addict she interviewed, she did an exceptional job making them human. So many of the other sources I’ve read have barely regarded drug users as humans. The first step to fixing the drug epidemic, I believe, is realizing that users are the same as the rest of us. They have wants, they have needs, they have feelings, and we need to respect that. This book has brought a completely new perspective on addiction for me, and I thank Ms. Macy for that. By Jack S. No one understands struggle like a refugee does. Sandra Uwiringiyimana lived in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a child. Her people were stateless, meaning they did not belong to one certain area. Her world was full of happiness one moment and angry battles the next, because anyone who looked like her was discriminated against. War was a part of her normal, everyday life. It forced her out of school and moved her into temporary refugee camps. Her community would have their lives turned upside down for a few months, but then everything would return to normal. When Sandra was ten, another battle broke out, this one not temporary. Armed men came into their refugee camp and slaughtered everyone they could reach. Tents were set on fire, and Sandra was able to escape by only a miracle. She and her broken family had to pick up the pieces of their former life, but were unable to return to their sense of normalcy. Through a UN refugee system, Sandra and her family were able to immigrate to America. She imagined America as if everyone was rich and shiny. Upon arrival, though, they had to struggle yet again through hunger and discrimination. Sandra found a way to use her voice against racism and learn to heal from her traumatic past. I was surprised that the book wasn’t all sad or regretful. Many refugee stories focus only on the hard parts of their past, but How Dare the Sun Rise also allows good memories to surface. Many chapters are dedicated to the strength of her people and the beauty of her childhood home. Sandra found ways to let the light parts of her story in, making it seem much more human. I found this form of writing to be much more emotionally impactful, because you could see the drastic changes she went through in such a short amount of time. This book has changed my thinking process quite a bit. Many times throughout the story, I had to remind myself that it was a memoir, and therefore completely true. It is easy to read a book and disconnect from the story it is telling, simply because we allow ourselves to believe it is made up. I am definitely more open-minded towards people who’s past I don’t know. It really reinforces the fact that the people around you can come from many different walks of life, and how they could be struggling in ways you aren’t aware of. Empathy was a big part of this book, but it took effort for me to try and understand how I would’ve reacted in her situations. I’ve realized that I have to try harder to actually understand someone else’s point of view and not just feel sorry for them. By Bridget B. “No one ever says good-bye unless they want to see you again,” (Turtles All The Way Down, John Green, 286). Turtles All The Way Down is first and foremost a book about mental illness. The plot does consist of a separate story though. The book starts with two best friends learning about a huge award for finding a missing person. When their search leads them to old friends, both of their lives are changed. Aza Holmes - the main character and storyteller - struggles with OCD, anxiety, and probably other mental illnesses. While there is an intense plot that consists of murder, money, and relationships, the most important part of the plot is Aza’s struggle with herself. We get a feeling of what it’s like in her head, and throughout the book understand how her mind changes. As the plot goes up and down, how does her mind manage the whirlpool of her own life. In Turtles All The Way Down John Green manages to give us a mystery, coming-of-age, and romance all in one. I originally chose this book because I thought it would be interesting to see the world through the eyes of someone who struggles with a deep mental illness. I was surprised to learn that I could relate to Aza more than I thought I would be able to. I feel as though a part of this is the style of writing. By having Aza tell the story, we get an insight into what her head is like. It was easier to understand her story, because we spent all of our time in her head. This also made the end more impactful. By the end of the story it is revealed that the story was being written down by an Aza Holmes who is older. That shift in perspective at the end of the story was extremely powerful, and it made you feel not quite sad, but somberly nostalgic. I can think of two main challenges I faced while reading this book. The first was understanding Aza. While I could relate to her symptoms, it was hard to understand the cause. It took a while for me to accept that there wasn’t always a pattern in what made Aza spiral. The other challenge for me was to keep reading even when it was difficult. By that I mean that John Green didn’t shy away from cruel reality. While it is innately comforting to me, it also meant that it occasionally hit a little close to home. To follow the thought of hitting close to home. I felt that there were moments that were easy to connect with. The easiest thoughts to connect to were parts about “thought spirals.” Essentially, these are moments where Aza’s brain was like two people. The logical part of her brain would say one thing to calm her down, but the other part of her brain would force her to think about the thing she was worried about. While I worry about much different things than Aza did, I felt as though that was a good way to describe my own thoughts sometimes. A thought spiral that starts to spin faster when you’re worried. If there was one moment that really resonated with me, it was when Aza’s best friend Daisy is telling a story. The story goes: “a scientist is talking to a crowd about the earth and how it was created and evolved, and at the end of his lecture this woman stands up and says ‘that's nice and all sir, but the earth is actually just a plane resting on the back of a giant turtle’ and the scientist asks her ‘well then what is the giant turtle standing on?’ The woman replies ‘another giant turtle’ and the scientist then asks what that giant turtle is standing on, and the woman replies ‘you don’t understand, it’s turtles all the way down.’ After telling the story Daisy says to Aza ‘You’re trying to find the turtle at the bottom of the pile, but that’s not how it works,’ Aza replies ‘Because it’s turtles all the way down,’” (Green 244-245). I felt as though this was an excellent way to end the arc of these characters, because they finally shared a second of understanding. This story finally brought the book full circle. I realized that I couldn’t ‘solve’ Aza’s mental illness, because it isn’t something that can be fixed. There isn’t a logical explanation to mental illness or life in general. You can’t get to the bottom of the problem, because it’s turtles all the way down. By Grace B. Punching Bag is a memoir of Rex Ogle and his upbringing. Ogle talks of how difficult his home life was, between his likely mentally unwell mother and his abusive stepfather. In this story, Ogle is only 16 and is continuously trying to protect his younger brother, Ford from not having such a childhood as he’s had so far. The setting is always at home, almost as if the author is trying to convey how inescapable this terror really was. Ogle was consistently urging his mother to leave his stepfather for a better and less abusive life, but every time his mother refused. Ogle suffered this utter pain and torture for 18 gruesome, bloody years. This book is very intense, to say the least. As soon as the book opens, you’re immediately introduced to the mood of the book and how tiresome this constant abuse truly was. It made me think and worry quite a bit about my peers around me-- what if they were going through a similar situation? What if their home isn’t safe? What if? It shifted my worldview just a bit, just enough to want to do something about it. But, really what can you do? In this book, the cops are called for a disturbance in Ogle’s home after a fight between Ogle’s mother and stepfather. Instead of telling the police the truth, Ogle lied to protect his mother. How many abused children have done this? How many abused children have had to cover their bruises and scars? How many abused children have had to protect the younger ones from harm? From their own parents? Most of all, the book hurt my heart. I felt angry at Ogle’s mother because she wouldn’t leave him. Ogle did a wonderful job putting you into each and every situation with intense word choice but somehow keeping it adolescent to remind you that he really is just a kid. I constantly felt as if I was walking on eggshells right along with him, I felt helpless for him. He can’t leave, he has nowhere to go; he can’t leave, he’ll leave Ford behind; he can’t leave, his mother will find him soon. There is no solution for him, and he perfectly conveys that in his memoir. I sincerely hope he is doing well today. By Kealy H. |
AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
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