Judging a book off of its cover is something that we all do. Brayan Stevenson is studying law and is getting his major in becoming a lawyer. He gets the opportunity to start a non-profit organization in helping people get off death row and young children get the right punishment instead of life in prisonment. In the 1980s, people viewed black people as a threat. Stevenson is introduced with a case about Walter McMillian, who is accused of murdering a young woman. He is sentenced to death and life in prison. Stevenson gets drawn into this case and starts digging into the details and trying to fix the case. After many years of finding evidence and figuring out that McMillian was forced to say that he had done the murder, Stevenson is shocked. The judges didn’t look into the case, they just saw a black man accused of murder and assumed that he had done it. McMillian would have then spent six years on death row, severely traumatized, lost all of his family, and most importantly his dignity. One misconception led to a man spending his whole life in prison and dealing with the trauma the rest of his life. Stevenson takes on the case of many other death row cases. He sees many investigations about kids being raised without the right adults in their life and end up getting themselves in trouble and spending the rest of their life in prison starting at a very young age. Stevenson goes into court and fixes the unfair punishment for kids, and makes the court rethink how they are punishing people. This book really opens your eyes to the world we live in but also how we see other people in our eyes. Stevenson has a fire that I wish I had. He never lets the judge make the final decision in the cases. McMillian sets himself up for death row in admitting that he killed the woman. The jury decides on the punishment but once Stevenson gets involved in the case it takes a twist. He unfolds the whole truth about the case and saves McMillian's life. Even with the other cases, he uses his whole heart in trying to make these people earn the justice they deserve. Our court system should get the whole truth before sentencing someone to death or life in prison. Children when they are 13 haven’t even matured into their body or developed everything in their head. They are raised in a poor home with abusive, drugs and alcohol all around them and make one poor decision and their life is changed forever. Before the children even realize what they did, they are on their way to spend the rest of their life behind bars. Stevenson uncovers these cases and tries to save as many lives as he can, when he is hurting. He wants justice for all of these people seen as bad guys just because of their color. McMillian fought for justice, his life, and for many other black people. He ended up dying a few years after being released from trauma. He had his whole family waiting at home for him the night he was arrested. We make so many assumptions of people just because of their past. Stevenson says this “The bad things that happen to us don’t define us. It’s just important sometimes that people understand where we’re coming from”. McMillian fought for his freedom. He didn’t let the bad things define him when he stepped in the courtroom. Finishing this book opened my eyes on how I am going to see the future. I know that I have made poor choices, but when I step into the classroom, or up to the race line, my past is going to be there, but I will never let it stop me from going somewhere, just like the story, Just Mercy. ~ Natalie S.
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The book, What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker, is a unique narrative and window into the life of not just any man, but a black man facing modern society. His story is told uniquely through a series of essays that cover his life as a whole. The narrative begins when he is in his youth, with a quickly changing cover of his school history. His father remains unemployed, and his mother is forced to cover their family. Even though it is just Damon, his father, and his mother, his mother is not quite able to support the Young family by herself. Because of this, the family goes through many financial struggles, in the beginning and throughout the story. The author covers his life, struggles, and most importantly, inner feelings and thoughts as he navigates through life, as a person always wondering, “Is it because I’m black?" Despite his relatively financially unstable youth, Damon begins writing poetry. While his poetry started as a way to seduce girls, it developed into a potential career for him. Throughout the book, he continuously uses his skills to pursue careers in the writing industry, beyond just teaching. Going into this book, I believed that the black-person reality of discrimination was something of the past. Despite my original thinking, I can say that it was neither confirmed nor denied. Even more so, I now realize that I can’t actually understand the effect of having a black definition in today's society. In my best interpretation of it, the black community faces a notable amount of direct and indirect discrimination. However, indirect racism becomes the dominant pressure, an act of hiding its existence at all. It was a surprise to me—a shock of cold water—to come to this realization. The whole book was a surprise to me. Indirect racism became almost the focal point of this book, with even less direct racism examples. Rather than being called slurs, he more often faced the question, “Is it because I’m black?”. The book becomes a collection of stories that when looked at singularly could be just an unlucky experience. However, when he takes the pieces and forms his whole story, you get to see racism in a light only visible to the one facing it. This book, a window into another life, only allows people to touch the tip of the iceberg. The window that this book built allowed me to see a glimmer of how actually to describe racism today. It forever changed my thinking from the undeveloped thoughts I had before. The book forced me to realize that I had, without thinking, forced racism into this box that I only allowed positivity to leak through. The rest of it, the reality that racism is still heavily prevalent today, was trapped because of my unconscious will to see that part of life positively. Part of growing up, however, is my realization that these shades of white are diluted with drops of different shades. This book did much to develop and grow my thinking beyond the assumption that something is either completely present or completely gone. -Ashton S This book was different from any other book I have read before. I have read many other books with multiple main characters but I don’t think that any of them had followed that format. Another thing about the writing of this book that surprised me was there wasn’t just one author, there were two. This writing style was very unique to me and I found it very interesting that there were two completely different thoughts and brains working together to create this book. The authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Keily, were both white and black. This really helped to create a special story, both of these people could relate to the characters they created. Something that surprised me was that almost all teens could relate to these characters. The authors created these characters like actual teenagers, instead of a basic stereotype teenager (Doesn’t care or Doesn’t listen). Something that the authors do is they use language like a teenager, they don’t sound like robots or just old people acting, they sound like us. They use dialogue that is not outdated and someone in our minds would use. I really enjoyed this book, it reminds me of the documentary we watched in class that showed us the two different lives of the Israeli girls and the Pakistani girls. This book showed me that there are always two different sides to a story, and you can be on either side. Even though this is not a true story this book was made for a reason. This book was made to show awareness to all people about what is going on in the world. I would recommend this book to anyone, this book was one of the best books I have read for a project. -Amelia R. What would you do if you were falsely accused of stealing and beaten? What if someone you were very close to accused someone of stealing and put them in the hospital? In my book “All American Boy’s” this happens. In this book a boy named Rashad is accused of shoplifting and beaten, he spends the entirety of the book in the hospital. The person who beat Rashad was named Paul, Paul is kind of the father figure to the other main character Quin. Quin’s father died in the Army. Both of these boys are in highschool. The book swaps between two points of view throughout the story. One being Rashad and the other being Quin. As I said before the main conflict in this book is that Rashad was beaten and falsely accused. This book was different from any other book I have read before. I have read many other books with multiple main characters but I don’t think that any of them had followed that format. Another thing about the writing of this book that surprised me was there wasn’t just one author, there were two. This writing style was very unique to me and I found it very interesting that there were two completely different thoughts and brains working together to create this book. The authors Jason Reynolds and Brendan Keily, were both white and black. This really helped to create a special story, both of these people could relate to the characters they created. Something that surprised me was that almost all teens could relate to these characters. The authors created these characters like actual teenagers, instead of a basic stereotype teenager (Doesn’t care or Doesn’t listen). Something that the authors do is they use language like a teenager, they don’t sound like robots or just old people acting, they sound like us. They use dialogue that is not outdated and someone in our minds would use. I really enjoyed this book, it reminds me of the documentary we watched in class that showed us the two different lives of the Israeli girls and the Pakistani girls. This book showed me that there are always two different sides to a story, and you can be on either side. Even though this is not a true story this book was made for a reason. This book was made to show awareness to all people about what is going on in the world. I would recommend this book to anyone, this book was one of the best books I have read for a project. -Tony P. Here we are, in the 21st century, with racism still running rampant. Russell Bordeaux is the star tight end for the mostly-black Jackson Jackals varsity football team. His best friend, Marion LaSalle, is the starting varsity quarterback. Together, they are the senior varsity captains. Marion was wrongfully arrested and kicked off the team by a corrupt cop after a fight broke out during a football game. In retaliation to this unjust act by the police, Russel Bordeaux took a knee during their next game. This brought an uproar to his name. In 2 weeks, both of them had their chances of getting a scholarship to a big college slip away. Throughout the story, Rus’ actions swayed from fighting racism to fighting for his future. In the end, Marion and Rus both choose to fight racism to help fight for their future. Marion and Rus participated in a protest that ended up swaying the public view on what happened with Marion. Marion got his charges lifted after a new video angle was released to the prosecutor, thus allowing for him to be on the team and thus allowing him to return to the team. In the end, Marion and Russel got their rematch and the rest is history. In this book, I was surprised to see how much racism was still in our country. This book was based on true accounts of racism in our country within the last 5 years. To see that this is still painstakingly common in our country was horrible to hear. I noticed that this book was written in a way that emphasized personal actions over group actions. The internal battles that Rus was facing and the external grief that Marion was showing were common topics. I also sometimes get tired of books that just recount so many different true accounts over and over, so this book that had 1 account of racism, yet explained in a way that is descriptive enough and ties into sports really helped me. Something I learned about myself in this book is that there are some things that we do that hurt others without even realizing it. The scale of our small problems may not seem like a lot, but it may hurt someone else more than you know. Little things can add up and mentally destroy a person into believing that they should change. Hearing about all the small negatives that Rus went through in such a short span of time made me realize how important those little things are. You never know what a person has going for them in their own time, so don’t assume that if they have a smile on their face, they are happy. They may be hiding themselves to try to fit in. This book has some very powerful points in it. It truly shows some of the hardships that people still face with racism in their everyday lives. This was an eye-opening book and I am happy I got a chance to read it. -Noah M. Have you ever been in trouble for something you didn’t do? Instead of being sent to the corner for 20 minutes, imagine being in prison for 20 years. "Just Mercy" is an eye-opening book that delves into the criminal justice system in the United States through the experiences of Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and social justice activist. The book focuses on Stevenson's efforts to defend individuals on death row, particularly Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully convicted of murder. Stevenson exposes the pervasive issues of racial prejudice and systemic inequality within the legal system. This book had a profound impact on me. Personally, having two black siblings, I always knew that they would face inequalities in their lives. However, after reading this book, I was shocked to discover that these inequalities extend to our own justice system. Reading about Walter McMillian, just an ordinary man who was convicted and sent to prison, and almost killed on death row, made me realize the possibility that, out of the blue, my siblings could be taken to court, convicted of murder, and then sentenced to death. Obviously, that isn’t the case, but only a few years ago, that was the situation. The aftermath of reading this book has significantly altered my view of the world. I can't wrap my mind around the fact that the United States Justice System consistently exhibits prejudice against people with colored skin. This book has me contemplating how this could personally affect my life. Reflecting on how this could impact my siblings fills me with deep distress and a protective instinct for my family. It is painful to acknowledge the extent of injustice in America's court system. This book seems surreal; I cannot even begin to describe how incredibly upset it makes me. The court system is designed to justly punish those who committed a crime. However, I had never considered how the court system could wrongfully convict an innocent person. Not only convict the wrong person, but also be aware of that fact. It disgusts me, and knowing that this is happening currently leaves a pit in my stomach. It’s a horrible feeling. It's unimaginable that innocent people—not blacks or negros, but people—are convicted and killed for something they didn’t do. It's horrific to think that the same men and women who were convicted were murdered simply because of their dark skin. If that is all it takes to end up on death row, I can’t process the thought of losing my little brother or sister. That is beyond disgusting and horrible. I can’t begin to describe how furious I am about this whole situation. It’s disgraceful on a level that I can’t even imagine. -Jameson 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. How many people in Decorah can say they don’t have a home? Esperanza, the narrator of “The House on Mango Street,” has a place to live, but she doesn’t have a home she feels she belongs in. “The House on Mango Street” is a book composed of vignettes detailing various scenes from the life of a young girl living amongst the minority. Esperanza is a Mexican-American girl who has to live a life that is dictated by her social class and her race. There are many books written about people different from me, but I chose this book for the way it describes Esperanza’s experiences—the vignettes feel personal, like reading straight from someone’s diary. There was no overarching plot throughout the book that jumped out to me through the story, but the style of writing was prominent throughout the book. “The House on Mango Street” reads like a diary, like memories that were important for one reason or another. Esperanza often wrote about small details, like candles on top of a fridge, a song, a couch, that it felt so vivid and personal to read. Another thing that I noticed was closely entwined with the emotions and feelings Esperanza had was the actual house itself. The house on mango street was not what her immigrant parents wanted—it was neglected, poor, looked down on—and I noticed the house seemed to be representative of Esperanza herself. When Esperanza gets her future read, the only thing found was “home made of heart”. This stuck out to me as representing the house, and the fact that the only thing homelike about it is what Esperanza can find in her heart with her family. Together these vignettes don’t have a specific plot, but rather an evocative emotion ingrained into each chapter. From first glance, Esperanza and I do not appear similar—we are from different ethnic backgrounds, different classes, even different time periods—but we feel the same. Esperanza tells her stories like she is tired, like she has a bone-deep weariness at the end of each day. Thinking back on the book, I feel as though I am remembering this story as though it is my own, and it helps show that no matter what country your family is from, how much money you have, how you are treated—there aren’t any new emotions. Teenage girls are teenage girls no matter who the world thinks they are, and all feelings are universal even if individual circumstances are unique. -Klara Kelly There are some books that once you read them leave an impression on you for the rest of your life. Then there are some books that become part of your childhood once you read them. The book Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is both of these things. Eleanor is a bigger girl with big red hair and even stranger fashion. Eleanor moves to a new school and has to ride the bus every day to school; this is when she meets Park. Park is the only Asian kid in the school and has always felt different. Throughout the story, Eleanor and Park fall for each other and learn about themselves. Eleanor and Park go through so many challenges of growing up and going through high school together, however, the biggest challenge is Eleanor's stepfather. Read the book Eleanor and Park to find out if the two can overcome the challenges of life and love or if they break apart over time. I went into the book knowing it was meant for people about my age or a little younger so I didn’t expect much. I thought it was just going to be a silly book about two kids growing up and had close to no expectations. I was quickly proven wrong about my original thoughts. The book is meant for a younger audience but it is anything but a silly little book. The book made me think a lot about how different people are treated in high school and if I was in their situation if I could even overcome it. Reading this book while I was also in high school was the perfect time to read it because there were so many times when I put myself in their shoes and I truly don’t think I could have done what they did. I have always tried to fit in and I don’t like being the odd one out so for Park to give up on his old friends to hang out with Eleanor even though she is the weird kid and I wish this weren’t true but I don’t think I could do that in high school. I went into the book thinking I was too old to read a book like this but now I realize I was the perfect age to read this book and for my opinions to change for the better. As I said earlier this book really changed my opinions on myself and others around me. Looking back I don’t have close to anything in common with Eleanor or Park. The main challenge around Eleanor is her messed up family but I couldn’t relate to that if I tried. My parents are still happily married my two brothers love me and I don’t have nearly any of her family problems. I also have close to nothing in common with Park. I am not a minority by any means I am a straight white woman and have never really felt out of place as Park did before he met Eleanor. Though I have almost nothing in common with these two characters they still changed me in ways I never thought would happen. The book changed the way I looked at others and the way I perceive others around me. I have started to think about my classmates for what they do and not what they look like or for their family. There are so many people that you just make a judgment on without thinking. Some of these judgements are rude and some are just harmless thoughts that you have. For example, some of my peers wear off-brand clothing and I have judged them for it. It wasn’t anything harsh but in my head, I started to think about them differently. Until I read this book I never realized that I took a person's clothing into consideration about their personality way more than I should. I have started to look at people for who they are and not for what they wear. This book has truly changed me for the better based on my perception of others and the way I simply see people. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to read about Eleanor and Park when I was in high school allowing the full impact of the story to affect me. -Clara 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. |
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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