When I was mulling around books to choose from, I noticed one word jumped off the cover of this book; Indian. Today, we know to use more appropriate terms like Indigenous or Native American, but the fact that this was a diary drew me towards it. This Native American person was calling himself an Indian? Compulsively, I sifted through the general summary of “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” and could not put it back down. This book follows Arnold Spirit Jr., who goes by Junior. Junior was born on the Spokane Indian reservation (“the rez” as they call it) in Wellpinit, Washington with a rare condition called hydrocephalus. Excess cerebrospinal fluid puts very harmful pressure on Junior’s brain and leads to often seizures. Junior is a brilliant student and a very talented artist, expressing himself and his feelings through cartoons. However, he grew up on the rez being bullied, with an alcoholic dad, and with practically no friends. He did have one friend, though, and he was Junior’s best friend in the whole world, Rowdy. Rowdy and Junior were polar opposites, apart from their shared love of basketball. Rowdy could’ve beaten up anyone on the rez, and Junior could’ve been beaten up by anyone on the rez. They were perfect for each other. Until Junior decided that he needed to leave the rez to truly live. So, Junior enrolled in Rearden High, the white-dominant high school outside the rez, and effectively became a traitor. It was a collision of worlds when Junior transferred to Rearden. He learned that you couldn’t solve everything with violence like the rez, that people are racist, mean, and even more racist, and most importantly, that among those mean and racist people, there are some great humans. Throughout the entire book, Junior overcomes struggles with deaths in his close family, being around alcoholism, and struggling with poverty. Junior summarizes the physical and figurative differences between Rearden and Wellpinit with this quote on page 199: “I’m fourteen and I’ve been to forty-two funerals. That’s really the biggest difference between Indians and white people.” “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” surprised me mostly due to my naivety about Native Americans in the United States. The thing that shocked me the most wasn’t the impoverishment, it wasn’t the alcoholism, it wasn’t even the 42 funerals Junior attended. It was how similar yet so different our lives are. We all go about our days so similarly. We wake up in the morning, go to school, sit through our classes, go to practice after school, do our homework, and repeat it the next day. On the rez, they do all of this with so little given to them. They create every opportunity leading to where they are. This is why Junior left the rez, he was making an opportunity for himself. It challenged the way I thought about Native Americans to see this new narrative. We’ve always been taught of their tribe-like behavior as if they still live in tipis. So we don’t think often of them, while silently they draw every legal short stick. Strength and resilience are two words that have been instilled in my character for as long as I can remember. Growing up I’ve always prided myself on being a strong and resilient person, but I can’t even begin to imagine being as strong as Junior was throughout his upbringing. The lessons about strength and resilience explored in this book had a very profound impact on me. Junior faces many challenges as he strives to break the cycle of impoverishment within his family on the rez. I discovered, through Junior’s trials and tribulations, that strength is not just physical, but emotional and intellectual. Junior’s literal and figurative escape from the rez shows how resilience holds true throughout even the most adverse situations. I am beyond glad that I picked this book up, and will forever carry the lessons it taught me about constituent resilience and strength through all circumstances. - Trevor K.
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How can you live without something that once defined you? This was a difficult question for a small town Iowan named Brendan Leonard. Brendon became an alcoholic at a young age due to his choice to underage drink. Drinking quickly became a part of who Brendon was. Due to his heavy drinking, many problems started to arise for Brendan. After getting a DUI arrest, Brendan had to serve a short time in prison. He had a long time in recovery. During his time at jail and recovery, Brendan realized the many freedoms that were taken from him when he drank. Brendan decided to move out to Montana to go to college and pursue a future career in journalism. This was very difficult for Brendan since he had to leave his family and his old friends behind. Brendon spent the first semester of college avoiding people, but after he came home and was given a climbing rope from his brother, his life was changed forever. Brendon started mountain climbing and found out that he had a growing passion for the thrill of climbing mountains. Brendon decided he wanted to quit smoking because it hurts his lungs at the high elevations while he was climbing. Brendon even made some climbing buddies and started to cimb more and more. Brendan got married. He didn’t have a good relationship and ended up getting a divorce. After the divorce, Brendan decided to continue climbing and started climbing even more, since it kept his mind off of his past life and made him feel a strong sense of redemption. At the end of the book, Brendon realized that drugs, which once defined him, were no longer a part of his life. The new thing that defined him was climbing. After reading the book Sixty Meters to Anywhere, I was very surprised that this story had occurred very close to where I currently live. This story really woke me up to the harsh reality that events in this story could happen to me, or to anyone I know. While reading the book, I even recognised places Brendon worked or visited during his time in Iowa. After finishing the book, my perspective changed on alcoholics and drunk driving. I always thought that people who were alcoholics and drunk drivers were only selfish bad people, but really I just needed to separate the bad from the good. Brendan wasn’t a bad person, he had just made some bad mistakes. Brendon was such a good person, that he wanted to warn others of the mistakes he made. After reading the negative impacts alcoholism and chain smoking had on Brendon, I feel that my knowledge of why not to abuse these substances are even stronger. If Brendon had just decided not to try these harmful substances at such a young age, then he would have had a better high school and college experience. One thing I noticed while reading this book was how painfully honest Brendon was while writing this book. He not only told us his whole life story, but all the horrible mistakes and sorrow he had during his addiction and time of withdrawal. After finishing the novel, I learned that I am way too quick to judge people. When I read the first couple chapters of the novel, I immediately thought Brendon was a very bad person for his actions such as his DUI arrests, destruction of property, and how he acted at parties. Now I realize that Brendon is a good person, who went down a really bad path. This book completely changed my thinking on what I believe defines me and others. I know that there are many things that define people, both good and bad. After reading this book, I now know that people need to replace the bad things with something they are passionate about. The next time I want to watch youtube for a couple hours, I should instead go fishing or go play soccer with my friends. When I meet or hear about people who are drug users or alcoholics, I feel that I will now be more compassionate towards them, as I now know that they are good people who just went down the wrong path. I am now confident that I will not judge people based on bad decisions they make in their life, because everyone makes mistakes and has to learn from them, myself included. -Riley B. 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. Addiction at its finest is an evil that is so hard to overcome that once you have recovered, there’s around an eighty-five percent chance that you will relapse again. In the book “Heroine” written by Mindy McGinnis, the main character Mickey Catalan is an above-average softball player. Although she always seems stuck in the shadows of her best friend and star pitcher, Carolina, Mickey Catalan has a bright future ahead. Mickey and Carolina have been best friends since they were kids. They’ve built their connection around softball, Carolina pitching and Mickey catching. On their way home, Mickey is driving when they lose control and crash. Carolina comes out of the crash with a broken arm and Mickey sustains more serious injuries. In order to recover in time for her senior softball season, Mickey pushes herself as hard as she can. With the help of her meds, she can play by the time their season starts. Although the meds helped her recover, she now starts to realize that she’s becoming addicted. As the drugs start to overtake her life, she meets new people and finds herself in new places. This book was difficult to read because the author takes you through the whole process of addiction. I found myself wanting to help the characters throughout different situations. This book challenges the way I think because I always thought of drug users as lazy or depressed. The author creates a very intense mood towards the end of the book but still writes in an unbothered tone. The author of this book made addiction seem human and I now can understand the thoughts behind the actions of addicts. I was surprised at how much I had in common with Mickey but also how much I despised some of the decisions she made. I felt very uncomfortable at a lot of different parts in this book but I think I’m a lot more sympathetic to people living in similar situations as Mickey. “Heroine” is an emotional rollercoaster. My feelings towards the book and characters changed from angry, sad, happy, and regretful. Watching Mickey throw away her future and feeling out of place in her own body was something that I can definitely relate to. I also really relate to Mickey when it comes to the pressures around sports, school, and always being pushed to do your best. Mickey’s escape from life was always softball, but after the crash, she started to fall out of love with softball. The drugs blinded her from the things she loved and she began to have a much different perspective on life. By Sara Johanningmeier 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. Drug addicts are often misunderstood, or rather given a single story that people can not look past. In Jacqueline Woodson’s Beneath a Meth Moon, Laurel Daneau is living a normal life that she enjoys very much. Her normal life changes when Hurricane Katrina comes to the coast of Louisiana; where Laurel lives. Her mother and grandmother died due to Hurricane Katrina’s harsh conditions. She now has some PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) to water and rain. Because of her house being ripped apart, Laurel moves to a small town, Galilee, and is the lead cheerleader. She falls in love with the basketball team’s co-captain: T-Boom. He offers her a strange substance she has never seen before, and her life will change forever. The story is being told from Laurel’s point of view, so as readers we get a chance to see what she is feeling and what she thinks. The author wants us to know how hard it can be for young addicts after they have already started drugs, and how anyone can fall into the trap of drugs. In Beneath a Meth Moon it is very evident what Woodson wants her readers to see. Through having the story be told through the point of view of Laurel, Woodson is trying to create empathy for the character. She is trying to show the struggles kids have when peer pressure is upon them to try things that are extremely unhealthy. Also, Woodson wants her readers to see how hard it is for kids to get back off drugs after they have started. I was personally surprised in seeing how an innocent girl with a great family background gets caught on drugs. After her mother and grandmother die, she feels as if nothing can get her to feel good like T-Boom and drugs do. I noticed that the author, Jacqueline Woodson, is very passionate about what she is writing, and that only makes the characters more alive, the situations feel so much more real, the pain feel real, and every word she puts down meaningful and purposeful. In reading this beautiful piece of literature I become much more thoughtful not only toward drug addicts themselves, but all people with a rough background. Those people are not gifted as to get guidance and help along in life. They are sometimes on their own, but they can not always be blamed for that. This book will help me to become a better person through many, many ways. Obviously, however, something that has definitely changed me for the better is now being more understanding of kids with rough backgrounds, especially drug addicts. Anyone can truly get caught into those very bad habits, no matter if your parents are very strict or if you do not even have any parents. I also now understand how tough it is to get out of drugs now, too. I am now different because of this book. The book has changed my compassion toward others, especially those from rough backgrounds. I used to sort of wave these people off, but now I can understand the struggle, especially because it is told through Laurel’s point of view. “I felt like I was holding up the whole world and there was no water anywhere, no roads in front and behind me filled with empty land and tore-up houses.” -Laurel in Beneath a Meth Moon by Jacqueline Woods By Elijah M. Imagine a young nobody, who is enveloped within a group of loving people with ease. This story is about a young lad named Charlie who happens to be this “young nobody”. Charlie is a wallflower. This means that Charlie is a very passive, observant person, and doesn’t say much if he sees anything. He is this way, until he is invited to party shortly after the beginning of school. At this party, he makes many new friends who are very welcoming towards him. He becomes a real hit with his new group when he obliviously wolfs down a weed brownie. Charlie’s life has completely turned around until one day, at another party, he makes a regretful choice. Charlie’s life turns back in the wrong direction and he turns to drugs such as marijuana, as a coping method. He continues to go downhill and has an extreme mental breakdown. Fortunately he lets us, the readers, know that everything will be okay. One of the main ways my perspective was altered by reading this book, was by learning the power of literature. This novel helped me greatly grasp some of the ways literature can be so powerful and moving. This is even represented within the novel, with our main character, Charlie: “It's strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book” (Chbosky). This quote from The Perks of Being a Wallflower is very ironic to me because not only is the main character moved by a piece of literature he read, but I as well, thought this was a very poignant novel. After reading this novel, I have personally learned to be more considerate of others. We never know what someone walking past us with a smile or frown on their face is truly going through. By being more considerate, I can help change other people's lives for the better. Being more considerate means as much as not saying a smart remark to showing empathy to someone and helping them with a stressful situation. Being more considerate towards each other is all it takes to resolve a lot of unneeded distress and conflict. By Owen B. |
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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