Important Characters in "When You Reach Me"

            I am still reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. Many things have happened to Miranda, the main character, since I wrote about her in my last blog post. Sal still won't talk to her, and she has to make new friends. The key that Miranda's mother keeps in the staircase of their building goes missing. Then, suddenly, Miranda starts getting these letters that say creepy things like "I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own" and "please remember to mention the location of your house key." These notes are obviously very frightening, as Miranda does not know who they are coming from. There are many characters in this book that play an important role in Miranda's life, and I would like to write about the ones that I think are the most important to her and to the story.        
          Sal, Miranda's former best friend, stopped talking to her after the day he got punched by a boy on the street, while walking home with her. Ever since that day, he's started to ignore her. They no longer walk home after school together; they no longer hang out at all. Because of this, Miranda must make new friends. She starts hanging out with her two classmates Annemarie and Colin. I wonder if Miranda misses Sal, whom she knew since they were babies. I feel like Miranda doesn't really care about her friendship with him anymore. She doesn't talk to him anymore, as he told her not to. If I were in Miranda's place, I don't know if I would be able to just stop talking to my best friend and to have him suddenly ignore me, like he doesn't know me. But at a point I would probably just give up on the friendship. 
            Annemarie and Colin are important to Miranda. They all get jobs at a sandwich shop, and beyond becoming best friends with Annemarie, she also starts to like Colin. I think that Miranda would miss Sal much more if she didn't have Annemarie and Colin.   
           Also, I think that an important character in When You Reach Me is Marcus, who keeps on showing up. He turns out to be the boy that punched Sal. Marcus is really smart, and he loves math and reading. Miranda and Marcus have many conversations about the book she's reading and about time travel. It seems like Miranda is connecting more with Marcus now than she did with Sal. But still, Miranda knows that this is the boy who punched her best friend, and who caused Sal to stop talking to her. I wonder why Marcus would punch Sal, who did nothing to him.
             Lastly, I think that a third important character in this book is the one that Miranda doesn't know, or at least she doesn't think she knows. The writer of the letters remain a mystery. Two days after her and her mother's extra key goes missing, Miranda finds the first letter. It says things like "you must write me a letter", "I will not be myself when I reach you" and "please remember to mention the location of your house key." Then she finds the second one, in a bag of rolls that Miranda is counting at the sandwich shop. The third letter she finds in her coat pocket. The person writing the letter knows her name, about her friend Colin, about a science poster she did about yawning, and about how she shared her first letter. Miranda has know idea who the person is who is writing the letters, and why. 
             In conclusion, there are many important characters in When You Reach Me, including Miranda's ex-best friend Sal, her new friends Annemarie and Colin, Marcus - the boy who punched Sal, and the person writing the mysterious letters to Miranda. There are other important characters in this book, such as her Miranda's mother and her mother's boyfriend. I'm curious to read on to see how Miranda's relationship with all these other characters changes or grows, and most importantly, who the person is who is writing the letters to Miranda. 

"When You Reach Me" by Rebecca Stead

            Today I just started reading When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. So far, I know that the book is about a girl named Miranda, who lives in New York City in the 1970's. One day, when she's walking home from school with her best friend Sal, he gets punched by a boy on the street. Ever since that happened he hasn't been talking to Miranda. I have a lot of questions at this point, mostly about why Sal doesn't want to be friends with Miranda anymore. I don't really have many ideas about this book so far, but I do see a recurring theme, and that's safety.

           Miranda and Sal used to walk home from school together everyday. They've been friends ever since they were babies and their mothers met in the lobby of their apartment building. Like I said earlier, one day Sal was punched by a boy on the street who hangs out with other boys that they pass by on their way home. But ever since that day, Sal doesn't want to walk home with Miranda anymore. Now, she has to fend for herself, walk down the street, past the boy who punched Sal and his friends, past the crazy man who stands on their corner and shouts out random things. Miranda no longer has her best friend to walk home with.

           Secondly, Miranda's mother has many rules about safety for her to follow. These include always having her key out before she reaches the front door, look straight ahead if she sees someone acting strange, and to never show her money on the street. To me, these seem like pretty good rules to follow. But Miranda has her own rules. Instead of ignoring people doing strange things, she instead says to them, "Excuse me, do you happen to know what time it is?" in order to sound like she's not afraid of them. It sounds to me that her mom really tries to protect her, but Miranda knows how to take care of herself.

            So far, I really like reading When You Reach Me. I think that a theme so far in this book is safety, and I am very curious to read on for more themes and issues. I also really want to know what happens with Miranda and Sal's friendship, and why Sal has grown so distant ever since that day.

"Homeless Bird" Title Analysis

            I am at the end of reading the book Homeless Bird. Continuing on since my last post, not only has Koly's new husband died, but also her father-in-law died. Also, her sister-in-law, Chandra, has gotten married and Koly doesn't get to see her anymore. Now Koly is stuck living in the home of her deceased husband, Hari, with her mother-in-law who forces her to work all day and isn't very nice to her. In my last blog post, I ended the conclusion by discussing how Koly is like a "homeless bird", and I'd like to make this the theme of this post and continue on with this idea, because not only is it the title, but I also really think it represents Koly.
             I still believe that Koly is like a bird. She obediently marries her husband, and goes to his home to live. She follows all the instructions her mother-in-law gives her. But often while doing her work, Koly daydreams about one day being free - and being free of the hold her mother-in-law has on her. This reminds me of a bird wanting to fly away from it's nest. The nest Koly dreams of being away from is her husband's house. After she got married, things just kept on going downhill. She finds out that the only reason her husband's family wanted her to marry Hari was because they wanted her family's money so that they can go to a special river to hopefully cure their very-ill son. Then, her mother-in-law takes all of Koly's money that she gets from the state since she is a widow. She then uses it towards getting her daughter, Chandra, married. 
           Koly doesn't feel like she has a home. Her home was with her parents and brothers. But now, she's in a whole new village and now her family is her husband's family. Koly liked her husband's sister, Chandra, and her father-in-law, but now that they are gone, Koly is very lonely. She's out of hope that things will get better. It's like her life has become just being a servant to her mother-in-law, and nothing pleases her. Koly does not fit in at this home, and she feels very displaced. One day, when Koly is walking through her village's market, she sees some birds in a cage, looking miserable. They are not in their correct home, they are locked in a small space. Birds need to be free, allowed to fly where they want to go. Koly also deserves to be free, to make her own choices.
             In conclusion, I think that the title of this book, Homeless Bird, represents Koly, as she is not in her rightful home. She's like a bird, as she follows others as to where to go, but as I said at the end of my last blog post, she hopes to fly freely one day. She's also like a trapped bird, stuck in a cage, with no independence. I hope that Koly gets the justice and freedom that she deserves by the end of the book.
       
             

What Really Difficult Things are Happening in "Homeless Bird"?

            I am reading Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. In the book, Koly, a 13-year-old girl who lives in India, is forced to marry a boy that she's never met before. She is also forced to leave behind her whole family to live with him and his parents. There are a lot of injustices in the book, and at a lot of parts where I feel empathy for Koly.
            First of all, Koly does not get a say in anything. When she was living with her parents, she was not able to go to school like her younger brothers did. Instead, she was forced to do the women's jobs - caring for the house and cooking. I can't imagine being in Koly's place, unable to go to school just because I am a girl. Then, her parents tell him that she suddenly has to get married. She has no voice in this decision, and it is only up to her father. Koly must then say goodbye to her parents and brothers, and move onto her new family that she's never even seen.
           After her marriage is sealed, things only get worse for Koly. Her new husband is very sick and younger then they said and she can't see him or talk to him. Her mother-in-law is not nice to her, and forces her to do all the housework. Koly's new husband starts to get more sick, and on a trip to the Ganges River, which his parents think will hopefully cure him, he dies. Koly then finds out that the reason the boy's parents wanted him to marry her was because they needed the money to get to the Ganges. Koly is a widow at age 13, but is still unable to return to her family. Her mother-in-law continues to order her around, and Koly has no control.  
               In Homeless Bird, I think that Koly's perspective is missing in a lot of situations. For example, at the beginning of the book, when her parents announce that they will be finding her a husband, Koly could not disagree or say that she's too young even if she felt she was. She has no choice when it came to leaving her parents, brothers, and village and moving to a place far away. She had no voice in her family - when she wanted to talk with her husband, her mother-in-law would not let her, and she realizes that she had simply been used for her parents' money. Now that her husband is dead, Koly's mother-in-law just thinks of her as another mouth to feed. Throughout the whole beginning, it seems like Koly's situation is just getting worst, and the power she has to dictate her own life starts to shrink.  
                In conclusion, there are a lot of really difficult things happening to Koly in Homeless Bird. She is forced to marry a boy who she's never seen before, and his family is not very welcoming of her. Also, Koly's voice is left out of many decisions about her life, including if she was ready to get married or not. I think that the title "Homeless Bird" represents Koly. She is without a home because she is no longer living with her parents and brothers, she is now living with her in-law's and they do little to welcome her, and it's really not where she belongs. It's not a home to her. Koly is also like a bird, because she flies to wherever she has to go, but also dreams of flying elsewhere.   
 

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.