An Important Quote in Prada & Prejudice

            I am still reading Prada & Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard. Callie is still stuck in 1800's England, and she has pretty much accepted that she is going to be there for a while. She is doing her best to adapt by following instructions from her friend Emily, who she just met and is staying with. On page 111, Callie thinks "Why did I think it would change? Flying thousands of miles to Europe didn't change my fate. Traveling two hundred years, it seems, didn't change it either", and I think that this is a very interesting quote. 
            First of all, I think that Callie is saying in this quote that even though she's in a whole new time period and setting, the conflicts in her life stay the same. Callie went on the trip to London with her classmates because she thought things would change for her - that she'd make friends and be included in the group. But the girls were still mean to her, and she ended up being lonely, just like at home. When Callie woke up in 1815, things didn't change either. There were still people who put her down, like Duke Alex, Emily's conceited cousin.
            I think this is an author's intrusion and that Mandy Hubbard is talking about the world in this quote. I think that she's saying that people can think that things can change for themselves if they go somewhere else. But that's not always the case. That person can't just escape their old environment, they also have to do things. I think that in Prada & Prejudice, Callie hopes that people will suddenly like her if she seems cool by wearing high heels, but she still doesn't get included in the cliques. A person's attitude and personality stay the same wherever they are, and the problems and conflicts they have stay the same too.
           In conclusion, I think that "Why did I think it would change? Flying thousands of miles to Europe didn't change my fate. Traveling two hundred years, it seems, didn't change it either" is an important quote in the book. I think that Callie, at the beginning of the book, thought that her classmates would suddenly like her if she did things that she thought they would think was cool, like wearing high heels, but that doesn't change anything, as she still is excluded. I also think this quote is an author's intrusion, and that the author is saying that people think that changing their setting and going somewhere new would suddenly solve their problems, but that doesn't always happen.         

Similarities Between Settings in Prada & Prejudice

            I am in the middle of reading Prada and Prejudice by Mandy Hubbard. It's about a girl named Callie who is on a school trip to London when she finds a pair of high-heeled bright red Prada pumps. Callie spends all of her money on them and can't wait to show them off to the other girls on the trip who exclude her, when she trips and falls down while walking in them. She then wakes up in 1815 London, and has to pretend she's a long-awaited visitor to a rich family, where she meets a girl her age named Emily and her conceited cousin, Duke Alex. Something that I thought was interesting in this book is the setting. It first takes place in London in the twenty-first century, and then Callie goes back in time into the 1800's, and even though these time periods are very different, I think that she feels insecure about herself in both centuries.

             When Callie first arrives in England, while still in the present day, she feels very left out. She has no friends on the trip and the other girls are all in cliques and don't allow her into their groups. Callie feels the need to impress some of the girls, and to show that she is more than what they think she is, and hopes that she may be invited to go out to a party with them that night. That is why she bought the expensive, very high-heeled shoes, which she ends up falling in and hurting her head drastically. I think it would have been better if Callie just acted like herself, instead of being pressured into buying and wearing something she didn't feel comfortable in, because it ended up doing more harm than good.
          
              When Callie hits her head and finds herself back in 1815, she also feels very insecure about herself and again ends up doing something that she didn't feel comfortable doing. Callie must lie and say that she is the long-time friend that Emily and her family were expecting to visit them. Callie is living a lie, pretending that she was born in the 1800's and was a girl named Rebecca. In both centuries, Callie needs to do something to be accepted by others around her. I can see why Callie has to pretend she's someone else in this time-period, where no one knows her or can help her unless she is a person they know, but I hope that when she goes back to the twenty-first century, she will realize that it's important to just be herself, and to be true to who she is.

             Callie acts the same way when she's in the modern-day and also when she time travels back to the past. Of course she's very confused and scared in 1815, but she's also very insecure and afraid to be herself, and she must pretend she's somebody else and not who she truly is. As I read more into the book, I wonder if I am going to find more similarities between Callie's actions and feelings in the 1800's and in the present-day. Another book I am curious about is Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and if there are any similarities between the 1500's in Italy and America in the twenty-first century.

Protagonist's Journey in Paper Towns

            I am almost finished reading Paper Towns by John Green. Quentin is in love with his very mysterious neighbor, Margo Roth Spiegelman. He is currently looking for Margo, who has disappeared from her home the day after she and Quentin spent the night together vandalizing homes and getting back at the people she thinks mistreated her. Quentin, the main character, is obviously the protagonist, and we, as the reader, go on his journey. I can tell that Quentin has changed a lot from the beginning of the book to the part that I am up to now, almost at the end. 
          At the beginning of the book, Quentin was very hesitant to follow Margo's instructions on where to go and what to do on the night they hung out for the first time since they were little kids. He didn't want to commit any crimes or risk hurting his future. At first he was afraid to break into Margo's friends' houses, and he was very nervous about getting caught. But as the night went on, I could see Quentin becoming more and more obedient towards Margo. He breaks into Sea World with her, something he didn't want to do. He even breaks into his bully's room and shaves off his eyebrow. Quentin started to become more like Margo that night, very laid-back and not very careful or cautious. 
             Now Margo is missing, and Quentin really, really wants to find her. Along with his best friends Ben and Radar, he drives to an address that Margo left for him on a piece of paper. The place turns out to be an abandoned mini-mall, and even though the building is very old and creepy, they still decide to go in. If Margo hadn't taught Quentin to follow his instincts, I don't think he would have done this. He wouldn't have missed school, and he wouldn't have gone to so much trouble and hassle. Margo is kind of like Quentin's archetype and mentor. She teaches him to let loose and not care as much. I don't really think that Margo taught Quentin for the better, but either way he, as the protagonist, has been greatly affected by her. 
             In conclusion, I believe that Quentin has changed a lot from the beginning of Paper Towns to where I am now. He is less tedious, and he doesn't care as much about following the rules. I think that Margo caused this change on the night when they went on their crime-spree together, and Quentin decided to listen to her. That night, Quentin became more like Margo, willing to do whatever his heart desires, to be adventurous no matter what. I'm very curious to see if Quentin finds Margo, and how she'll react if he does. I hope that Quentin does find her, because even though I don't think she is a good influence on him, I know that she makes Quentin happy.