It is estimated that over 400,000 juveniles pass through detention centers every year. The book Juvenile In Justice, by Richard Ross, talks about youth’s real world experiences with juvenile detention centers by incorporating the perspectives of current and former inmates. Some of the youth in these detention centers come and go within days. Others however stay in these types of systems for most if not their entire life. It also talks about the flaws in our justice system and how that can affect the kids in theses systems. Something I learned from this book that surprised me was about the amount of gang violence that exists amongst youth. Growing up in Decorah, I hadn’t seen much gang violence. However, in some bigger cities, gang violence is a normal part of everyday life for some people. Some of the kids in this book have killed people, due to gang retaliations, and they don't even realize that what they did was wrong. It’s stuff like this that really challenges my thinking just for the fact that I clearly know it is wrong. To me it almost seems impossible to think that killing someone isn’t bad. A kid killing someone nonetheless. This book definitely taught me a lot about myself and the life I have. It showed me some of the effects of growing up in the conditions that some of these inmates grew up in. It taught me to really appreciate what I have in life because others aren’t as fortunate as I am. This also goes to show that you can’t judge people because it may not be their fault. Some people just grow up in the wrong part of town, or they may have a great life but just make dumb choices. You just never know. One quote that changed the way I feel on gang violence was, “She kissed one of them on the mouth, pulled out a gun, and shot him in the back of the head…” (Glass 17). This quote really touched me. Just the thought of someone my age doing that is unthinkable. Nathan M.
0 Comments
I read the book You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner. The book focuses on friendship and the conditions of Julie, who is a deaf girl attending a new school with hearing students, and who loves art, especially graffiti. “Having an interpreter in every class is like having a giant neon sign hanging around your neck, blinking: Freak Freak Freak. I’ve been here three weeks and people are still confused about how it all works. It’s not hard: teacher talks, interpreter signs, I understand” (Gardner 12). That’s what Julie thinks how people see her in the new school that she’s attending. Julie is a deaf and very artistic high school student who gets expelled from her old high school when she sprays graffiti over another graffiti in the gym. The graffiti said something mean about her former best friend. Jordyn betrays her by going to the principal’s office and telling him what Julie did. Julie ends up getting expelled and attending another high school with hearing students. Distrustful because of her experience, Julie doesn’t find friends until she gets to know YP better. The author chose the main character to be a deaf teenage girl who gets into trouble a lot, especially when it’s about graffiti. What surprised me is that I would not expect a deaf person to get into as much trouble as Julie is getting into. I always expect deaf people to be quiet and to stay out of trouble. The book also showed how difficult it sometimes for the deaf people to lipread. They can also get annoyed when hearing people try to impress them with sign language, even though they only know one sign. The book showed me that all I know about the deaf culture are stereotypes. But reading the book made me realize that they are just like we are, they can be troublemakers and individuals who are independent. Julie also expressed that she is proud to be deaf and really appreciates her culture. She doesn’t always want be helped with hearing aids. This really surprised me because I always imagined deaf people would want to hear, although she hasn’t experienced it any differently. While her being deaf didn’t play a huge role in the book, the friendship part did. Her friendships are as complicated as any other person. Reading this book made me realize how very similar, but still how different we all are. This book stood out to me because the main character is completely different from me. At least that was what I thought. She is deaf, she loves art and she gets into trouble a lot. Reading this book made me see that she also has friendship problems and for her own protection she loses faith in friends and stays on her own. This changed how I think about deaf people. They are strong and as independent as we are. They may not be able to hear, but they make everything work anyway. And I admire that. This book made me admire deaf people. By Johanna H. “Hate ricochets, but kindness does to,” a theme that echoes throughout this story (Roe 178). The venom that these characters face is strong and at times overwhelming, but the perseverance and enthusiasm of the characters is just as tenacious. A List of Cages by Robin Roe is written through the perspectives of two high school boys, Julian and Adam, and their story of coming together. Julian's parents died in a car crash, leaving Julian alone. His mentor and only friend, Adam is an older individual that Julian finds solace in. Adam finds out that Julian’s guardian, his uncle, has abused Julian to the point of submission. Julian's abuse leads to Adams intervention and reinforcement as they persist on to fight the evil in Julian’s life. The author shows the reader that anyone can get through tough times, no matter the difficulty. Any wall can be scaled. A List of Cages was one of the most riveting stories that I have ever read. What happens to Julian throughout the story had me in utter shock. There were many points where I had to put down my book, stop, and try to comprehend what was going on, or just let the horrors of what I just read sink in. I think the part that shocked me the most is the fact that this could happen, and how grounded in reality the story felt. It changed my view on Decorah especially. I think of the horrors that Julian endured, and I think,“this couldn’t happen in Decorah.” Our town doesn’t see very many people struggle through tough times like Julian does. If something like that did happen, our perception of our community would alter considerably. I think what the author showed me is that anything can happen to anyone. Julian didn’t ask to be abused, but he unfortunately succumbed to the torture. But also the author accented his comeback and Adams assistance to help Julian back. I think in this story, Adam represents us, the reader, the normal person. Julian on the other-hand is the special case, the case that sticks out. Adam is the helping hand to the fallen friend, the one to dust off the dirt and get them back going again. Reading this book did many things to show me who I want to be: The harsh tortures and abuse that Julian suffers made me stop, but the response and comeback of Julian and Adam left me inspired. What I pull from this story is that no matter what happens, I can bounce back, or help someone come back. I think of it as Newton’s third law of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. No matter how hard someone hits, no matter how deep the cut, you can comeback hitting just as hard. What this book made me think about is how I can help others that struggle. I learned to strive to help others on, to look on the bright side of life. An analogy I like to quote is, “There is always a light in the darkness,” always a hand to help you up. This book gave me the ability to look for the positive, and to know that someone will be there for you. Like Adam helps Julian, there is always someone to help. Whether I am the helping hand, or the one in need, A List of Cages has taught me the lesson of perseverance. By Mitchell L. The time period of World War 2 is not easy for Japanese Americans. They have been sent to internment camps in fear that they still have loyalty to Japan. That is what happens to Yuki Nakahara. Yuki has pledged full loyalty to America, but other American people still don’t trust him. He decides he needs to prove it by enlisting in the United States Army and fight against the Germans. He convinces his friend Shig to enlist with and after about a year of training, they set sail to Italy. Yuki is part of the Japanese American regiment known as the 4-4-2. The regiment is put through countless seemingly impossible battles, because the generals believe that the 4-4-2 is less important than other regiments composed of white soldiers. Yuki does very well in battle, but loses many of his friends that he met in training camp. This book is told by the author, Dean Hughes. I think Hughes wants the reader to know how the Japanese Americans were treated in America and the Japanese American soldiers fighting in the war. It’s something that people need to know so we can learn from it and not let history repeat itself. One part of the book that both challenged me and surprised was when Yuki returns home from war. He is taking a train back to the internment camp that his family is currently living in. the train stops in Denver for an hour, so Yuki decides to get a haircut. When he enters the barbershop, the barber says, “Sorry soldier, but we don’t cut Jap hair here. You need to turn around and walk back out that door”(Hughes 229). Before returning from war, Yuki had received a purple heart and a silver star for going above and beyond the call of duty. He was wearing those medals on his uniform when he walked into the barbershop. To me, getting a purple heart and a silver star is proving loyalty to your country. But the barber just thinks of Yuki as another Jap that he can’t trust. This book helps me realize that at the end of the day, no matter what race or religion, we are all Americans. Everybody has the right to live in this country with the same rights as anybody else. They should not have to risk their life, go through the horrors of war and receive a life threatening injury, just to get a haircut.Also, after reading this book I have a new perspective of World War 2. I always that that our white American soldier fought back and defeated the Germans for the United States, which did happen. But I had no idea that there was an entire battle regiment composed of all Japanese American soldiers, and that they were a major help in winning the war. Without the 4-4-2, who knows how the war might have changed or ended. By Galen I. Jeanette Walls is reflecting on her life when she states, “I wanted to let the world know that nobody had a perfect life, that even the people who seemed to have it all had their secrets” (Walls 270). The book The Glass Castle is an autobiography about Jeanette Walls’ life growing up. Her father was frequently intoxicated, and her mother was helpless and couldn’t stand up for herself. Because of the lack of steady income, Walls’ family moved often. People didn’t always know or understand her full story, so but Walls’ family had secrets, which I think may be part of the reason she wrote this book. The Glass Castle was a difficult book to read, but at the same time, it was thought-provoking. Walls had a drastically different life than mine. I’ve lived in the same house my entire life, my parents have a steady income, and I’ve never been worried about if I’m going to eat an entire meal three times a day. Walls, on the other hand, even handled her family’s finances for awhile in seventh grade. Because she had such irresponsible parents that didn’t raise her properly, Walls learned from a young age how she needed to be self-sufficient. She couldn’t easily rely or depend on her parents, so she grew up very quickly and very much on her own. I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to be living in the same house as my parents while also knowing that they don’t necessarily have my best interests over their own in mind. After reading The Glass Castle, my perspective on growing up has changed. I may only be in tenth grade, but I’m counting down the days until I can leave for college, which will lead to getting a real job. However, I realized that growing up is something to take your time on. For people like Jeanette Walls, she had no option but to grow up quickly and start making her own money and decisions at a young age. She moved out of the house before she even graduated high school. Although that may sound like a pretty good deal to high schoolers dying to get out of the house, the reality is it may just be better to slow down and take a couple breaths. Walls had reasons for her speedy maturity, and they weren’t pretty. By Kaya H. Imagine serving the country you love while being discriminated for your sexual identity. In the eyes of the 1994 American Military; lesbian, gay, transgender, or bisexual men and women should never have the right to serve their country. This sight later turned to reality, and this reality was the outcome of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell (DADT) policy. For 17 years, this senseless regulation prohibited LGBT service men and women from serving the country they love. These men and women soon formed together to share their stories of how they had to live under the DADT policy while serving in the military. These stories created the book Our Time by Josh Seefried. In this biography, the author shares stories of LGBT service members and how they had to hide their true sexual preference under the DADT policy. These stories are told first hand from past and present service members who took a stand to defend their sexual identity and distinguish the DADT policy. Although I have never had any experience with discrimination, these stories of LGBT servicemen and women showed me firsthand of what it would be like to serve your country, while still being discriminated. This challenged my thinking in several ways, in some stories I would notice how hard an LGBT service member worked every day just to come back to the fact that he could never reveal his sexual preference. Yet, in other stories, some service members could no longer hide their identity and finally came out to their peers, which later formed their discharge from the military. However, throughout all the stories and all the differences, I noticed how each experience had something similar. Each service member was battling the same problem, no matter how hard they worked, all it came down to was their sexual preference. One part of their true self could change their whole career. Before reading this biography, I rarely had any interest in even picking up a book. However, these stories shared by real people, with real experiences, have drawn me into reading more and more. With this, these stories have opened up my sense of thought even broader than I could have imagined. At first, I had no idea what the DADT policy was and how hard it was for LGBT service members to serve their country from 1994-2011. However, I can now happily share my opinion and stories about these service members and how much courage they had in order to endure the discrimination they went through. All in all, I highly recommend this book to anyone who agrees or disagrees with LGBT people serving in the military because I know it will change the way you think about discrimination to gays, lesbians, transgender and bisexual people. "My friends who know about me being gay, tell me that not only am I in the closet, but I am living proof that the whole military is a big closet. They think I’m crazy for remaining in the military, yet here I am still doing my job to the best of my ability and proudly serving my country every day” - LGBT Service Member in Our Time by Josh Seefried By Beau H. “I’m really pissed because you swore you would never die and yet here we are. It hurts even more because this isn’t the first promise you’ve broken.” Two young men fall in love after being best friends since they were very young. They are the happiest they have ever been when they have each other to hold. Nothing can separate Theodore and Griffin until Theo chose to go to college across the United States. Griffin and Theo were forced to break up since they were thousands of miles apart. When Theodore was gone, he met a new guy, Jackson. Theodore told Griffin all about Jackson, and Griffin was extremely mad and jealous, and quite devastated. While Theo is at college, he died in a terrible drowning accident. Griffin tells the sad story of his life with, and without Theodore, in a flashback structured writing. Jackson comes to New York, where Griffin and the funeral are, and Griffin tries to avoid him no matter what. No one understands Griffin or Jackson’s pain, besides each other. There are many more puzzle pieces that go together in this amazing page-turner. In this book, I was surprised by the realistic events, everything was thought out well by the author, everything correlates with another part of the book. I was challenged by the harsh “reality” in the fiction book. The events were very realistic but very very extreme. I feel like bad luck played a really big role in the book for the main character. While reading the book it’s extremely noticeable that it’s written in flashback formation. It starts off with a flashback and then it jumps back and forth from history to now. Having a reading assignment is one of the worst things in my eyes. Once in a blue moon, I'll find a great book that I like, but I've never enjoyed one that I've had to read. This book is a very good and interesting read. All the feelings I have experienced from these two characters have really opened my eyes to what it’s like for other people. I thought that I had it pretty bad, and even though this is fiction, It’s very realistic, and a big eye-opener. By Gunnar G. A must read story; truly inspirational. I read the book The Complete Persepolis, an autobiography of the author Marjane Satrapi. The story is shown through the eyes of a young girl and the troubles she faces with identity, religion, and life in Iran during the Iranian Revolution. Going more in depth, Marjane experiences death in her family, friends being bombed, a period of depression, religious issues, and trouble finding herself and her identity. Although Marjane faces many troubles during her childhood, she learns a lot in the journey of life and goes through a series of coming of ages. Because the story is told in the perspective of Marjane, I was able to quickly realize what the theme and motif of the book was. Marjane Satrapi, the author, used this technique of first person perspective and brought the message of the book to a whole new level. Throughout this blog, I will be showing you the theme of the story. I chose this book because I wanted to read about something that I wasn’t very familiar with. Going into this book, I knew it was an autobiography which influenced me into the choice of this story. Because I live in America and am privileged, reading this story was very new to me; in a way, it changed how I think. I am now much more knowledgeable and aware of the people who live life in more grim situations and environments. This makes me think of how lucky I am to be living in Decorah, Iowa. While Marjane in the story is facing problems like bombings and religious prejudice, the most I worry about is homework. One example that hit me hard is when Marjane comes home to Iran finding out that some of her best childhood friends are dead. I can’t imagine losing some of my best friends and family. After reading this story, I learned one big lesson that I will carry on forever. It changed me and gave me a sense of what is happening outside of America. I know I am lucky and I hope to help and defend people like Marjane in the future. I imagine she lived a darker life than she hoped which motivates me to be more generous, giving, and unselfish to all people. Marjane isn’t the only one affected by religious prejudice, bombings, and close family and friends’ deaths. Her story is only one of the millions of people going through hardships. It really makes me think of how lucky I am to be living a peaceful and unbothered life in Iowa. Marjane’s story is an inspiration to me and people need to hear her story. “Saying goodbye is a little like dying.”- Marjane Satrapi By Joseph S. The United States is a country where over four percent of its citizens identify with the LGBTQ community. That’s more than the Russian, Chinese, and Swedish populations living in our country combined. With such a large group, it’s kind of surprising that we don’t know more about how LGBTQ community members feel and what they go through in everyday life. The Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin uses the first person perspective of Riley, a gender fluid high schooler, to shed light on this issue. Riley is starting fresh at a new high school and decides to start an online anonymous blog to vent their every day feelings and struggles. Riley’s congressman dad combined with the harassment from other students leads to internal and external conflicts throughout the story, but Riley always stays one step ahead. Throughout the book, we learn how far a little bit of kindness towards others goes, and how being different isn't always a bad thing. In the book, Riley describes being gender fluid, “It’s like I have a compass in my chest. But instead of north and south, the needle moves between masculine and feminine” (Garvin). While that may seem strange to many people, to me it makes perfect sense. Humans are incredibly complex creatures, so there's no way that all of us fit into perfectly binary sub-groups. We all have our own little quirks, and we all have our own internal compasases. This book made me realise just how big of an impact these issues can have on people. For Riley, this constant polarization is a major everyday struggle, leading to severe panic attacks and depression. This book challenges the way you feel and the way you think, revealing a whole new world to people like me who don’t have these experiences. When I first started reading, I thought the book felt really cheesy (one of Riley’s friends makes his introduction by bursting through the door and playing a crazy air guitar solo, eventually ending by sliding on his knees and breaking the invisible guitar on the ground) but by the third chapter I was surprised by how heart-felt it was. I was suddenly relating to these characters as if I was there with them, going through the same stuff. Seeing through Riley’s eyes sheds a whole new kind of light on these issues, provoking thought about how I affect others around me. Garvin uses the first person perspective beautifully in conjunction with his theme, proving that no matter how different we may be from each other, we are all still human. By Will S. Written by Sara Farizan, the novel If You Could Be Mine describes the lives of Sahar and Nasrin, two young women living in modern-day Iran. They have wonderful families, and have been the best of friends since they were toddlers. However, they hold a life-changing secret. They have been hiding their love for years, knowing what will happen if they come out. In Iran, homosexuality is seen as a crime, often punishable by death. Sahar will do anything to be with her one true love, no matter the cost. She begins to plan how to leave the country with her lover, only to be stopped by Nasrin’s parents arranging a marriage. At this point, there is one option for Sahar and Nasrin: sex reassignment surgery. Sahar dreams up her life as a man with Nasrin, caring for her, loving her the way she was meant to. Unlike homosexuality, sex reassignment is completely legal, and generally accepted in their society. Farizan goes more into detail about how Sahar thinks, acts, and reacts to the seemingly never-ending struggles stopping her from being her true self. Sahar and Nasrin’s life is almost polar opposite of mine. She is an Iranian lesbian woman, and is treated very differently in her society than I am. Iran’s traditions are very strict and conventional, as this is how it has been for decades. As a teen struggling to being herself in a society where they forbid it, Sahar is impacted greatly. She goes through very tough times internally, and only has one person to talk about it with. The amount of hiding and fear these girls went through seemed almost constant, always being very cautious with each other. I really gained a new perspective on what teens all around the world go through, and how individuality in society can be so hard to reach. After reading this book, I have a better mindset on what is means to be yourself. I have learned to be more accepting and understanding. This book also highlighted how cruel and mean people can be to others who are different than themselves. It makes me think about how high school, a place where you supposedly find who you are and be yourself, can be so constricting and judgemental. I think the biggest take-away I got from this book is how society and tradition influences the way you act. Because of the rules and constrictions of society, Sahar and Nasrin changed the way they would’ve acted because of their fear of ridicule and punishment. I got a lot from this book that can apply into my everyday life. I definitely recommend this book to anyone, because there is something in it that everyone can relate to. “I need an answer from you. Please don’t treat me like I’m some silly girl, because we’re too old for that now. If I were a man, would you be with me? Would you leave him for me?” -Sahar in If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan By Payton S. |
AuthorSTenth grade students at Decorah High School share how they're reading outside of their own experiences and how it has changed them. Categories
All
Archives
November 2022
|