Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

                        In the novel Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine, Caitlin deals with Asperger's Syndrome and she's always gotten through it with her brother Devin by her side. Devin is later killed in a school shooting along with another student and their teacher. Caitlin must now face the world without Devin to guide her. 
                 Caitlin is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in the first grade which is four years before Mockingbird takes place. Asperger's Syndrome is a very mild form of Autism. The Syndrome was named after the Austrian pediatrician Hans Asperger. In 1944 Asperger studied children in his practice who were clumsy and showed little empathy for others around them. Only after Asperger's death did they name the syndrome after him. The cause of Asperger's Syndrome is unknown. Caitlin's life with Asperger's causes her to show little empathy towards towards others and manages with behavioral therapy with is common for most people who have the syndrome especially when they are young. 
                   Caitlin doesn't have many friends as a result of Asperger's. Her only friend was her brother Devin. Devin helped Caitlin keep low profile by teaching her kids that normal kids like him would act. When her brother dies in the school shooting Caitlin feels alone and left behind, she even shows some anger by breaking things in her room. Later in the story Caitlin meets the son of the teacher who was killed in the school shooting who also claimed the life of her brother. Although he is in the second grade she seems to relate to him more and this friendship leads her to build another friendship with the cousin of the shooter at the school shooting. This friendship leads Caitlin to something bigger, closure. 
                    Towards the end the book Caitlin starts to draw. Her first picture was a mockingbird for a school project and kids in her class praised her for it. She suggest doing it with her therapist as a way to help her get closure.  

Coming of Age Writing Prompts

Writing Prompt #7) What are the main similarities and differences between adulthood and childhood ?
(I wrote a list of what childhood and adulthood meant to me and others at my table)

Childhood                                                                                                             
- when your young                                                                                              
- Your in childhood when your in between the ages of 0-18
- You could be an adult but never grow out of childhood Ex: If your 40 and you still act like a child then you could be considered a child

Adulthood
- When you are a grown up
- At the ages of 18 to the end of your life
- You could be young but have already grown up because you were forced to Ex: In the Hunger Games, Katniss was considered an adult because she did all the work and kept them from starving

           I think that there are fine lines between adulthood and childhood. Some children grow up while they are young for various reasons. Some reasons like there is no parent figure or have one that isn't around of emotionally present. While some adults never grow out of childhood for various reasons as well.

Independant Reading Response *Final Revision*

        In Wintergirls Lia Overbrook and Cassie Parrish are best friends have been, as they get older they both develop self-deprecating diseases. Lia is a victim to anorexia, while Cassie deals with the demons of bulimia. They each drag each other further down afraid to face their problems on their own until Cassie breaks off their friendship, leaving Lia destroyed. Six months after the girls falling out Cassie leaves Lia thirty-three messages but Lia refuses to answer still upset. The next day Lia learns that Cassie has died from purging too much in a motel downtown Lia puts together that Cassie was calling for help and feels awful and guilty. Lia’s parents divorced and consumed in their own lives don’t notice their daughter start to slip away into her old habits.  Thesis Statement:  In Wintergirls there are many examples of symbolism some of these examples include the term “wintergirl,” the epigrams about Sleeping Beauty and Persephone, and the last is they symbolism of the crossed out words.

          In the book Wintergirls Lia and Cassie refer to themselves as “wintergirls” meaning cold and heartless but beautiful. This really struck me because I love to be myself and have confidence in my body unlike these girls, so it struck me that these girls could deprecate themselves like that. I think the symbolism of winter and the cold that is found throughout the entire book and the role it plays in building the main themes of this novel. I think the whole “wintergirl” meaning started when they made their New Year’s Resolutions to be the skinniest because they had made it into a competition which helped pull them deeper into their eating disorders.

             There were two epigrams in the beginning; one was an excerpt from the story of Sleeping Beauty and the other the myth of Persephone. The story of Sleeping Beauty starts by Sleeping Beauty falling into a deep slumber after pricking her finger on a rose as soon as she hits the age of fifteen, she then stays asleep for a hundred years waking to the kiss of a handsome prince. The second epigram was an excerpt from the myth of Persephone who is arranged to be with Hades by Zeus, but her mother Demeter. When learns of the arrangement by Zeus she sends Hermes to get her. Hades gives Persephone a pomegranate fruit and she eats seven seeds making he stay in the Underworld with him.  Hades and Hermes later create a compromise, Persephone may stay with Hade for four months of the year, and while she is gone Demeter will bring snow until her return in spring. They agree and go on their way. The symbolism relating to roses and pomegranates thrives in this book, and clearly Laurie Halse Anderson has taken the themes of both these stories as guides to Lia’s life and struggle with Anorexia and Self- Mutilation of her arms and legs.

             The last major example of symbolism is in Lia’s writing she crosses out certain words explains how she feels about the person or object and replaces them with words she should be saying. Ex: Lia crosses out the word Mom and replaced it with Dr. Marrigan. This example gave me a different perspective on why she crosses out words because in another section she crosses out the word prison and write clinic so it could possibly be things she doesn’t want but she also doesn’t want her mother. I later came up with a new theory what if she’s lying to herself by crossing out the improper words, to convince herself that she’s not slipping away/succumbing to anorexia and that she has everything under control.  

             In conclusion, in the book Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson, there are many examples of symbolism three major examples were the term “wintergirl,” the two epigrams in the beginning of the book and the crossed out words which is shown throughout the whole book.

Vocabulary Extra Credit

Brainyflix.com

aghast
aloof
anguish
annul
genial
ornate
ostracize
premonition
solicitous
staid

Crossword Puzzle

Puzzle

Solution

Word Sentences

1)   I think that Transformers was a good movie but it didn't compare to the              , Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
        a) sustain                b) sequel           c) bask

2)   I knew I was in trouble when my mom said, "Lay down on the             ,  we need to talk
        a) muster                 b) apparition     c) bolster   

3)  To this day if you remind Alex of when his pants fell down on graduation he will give you an                      expression.
         a) abashed              b) anguished       c) premonition

4) When Charlie decided to pants one of his classmates he didn't think of the                , so now Charlie is in detention instead of playing outside with his friends.
          a) abashed             b) reprocussions   c) facetious

5) As Joey was led away in a police car he tried to come up with a                  story for why he was caught with jewelery in his backpack, sadly he could not come up with one.
           a) sustain             b) bolster               c) plausible

6) Emily's mother sent Emily's Barbie doll back to the manufacturer because there were many                  .
            a) epitaphs          b) defects              c) scapegoats

7) When Amanda reached her grandfather's                on his gravestone she was in tears
            a) epitaph             b) scapegoat          c) ample

8) I am sick and tired of being the                         I never do anything wrong and I am always geting in trouble!
             a) nonentity           b) scapegoat            c) epitaph

9) We                new laws to try to disipline unruly people.
              a) prodigaled        b) obsessed             c) instilled

10) Graveyards are known for rumors of                      , especially during Halloween.
              a) apparitions        b) scapegoats            c) amples

Reading Response to a Independant Reading Book

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
                            

Focus: My focus is how Cassie’s ghost stays and haunts Lia, and how this pushes Lia to go further into her struggle with anorexia.

          In Wintergirls Lia Overbrook and Cassie Parrish are best friends have been, as they get older they both develop self-deprecating diseases. Lia is a victim to anorexia, while Cassie deals with the demons of bulimia. They each drag each other further down afraid to face their problems on their own until Cassie breaks off their friendship, leaving Lia destroyed. Six months after the girls falling out Cassie leaves Lia thirty three messages but Lia refuses to answer still upset. The next day Lia learns that Cassie has died from purging too much in a motel downtown Lia puts together that Cassie was calling for help and feels awful and guilty. Lia’s parents divorced and consumed in their own lives don’t notice their daughter start to slip away into her old habits.

        One important observation that supports my focus is that when Cassie’s ghost is around Lia tends to fight her off by going on the stair-stepper to get Cassie to go away. I think this is an important issue because Cassie’s death in the first place is where Lia’s anorexia has started to escalate. Lia also starts to cut herself to deal with the emotional pain. I also think that Lia deals fights her demons harder when Cassie is around even when others are around.

        Another important observation I made while reading Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson is when Lia does see Cassie she has moments where she wants you to see Cassie and others where she doesn’t. For example when Lia is her therapist’s office she makes a big deal of Cassie being there and then acts like nothing is wrong.

         Another important observation I made while reading this book is that Lia always two steps back when she is in the presence of Cassie. I think this is because Lia feels that if she gets to close she might be sucked back in to mess she and Cassie were in.then I realized it could’ve also been that Lia feels guilt because she didn’t answer that phone call which could’ve saved Cassie’s life and saved Lia from anorexia faster.

Looking at others blogs

The three blogs that I really enjoy reading are Sarah Safran in 807, Gabby Vazquez in 814 and Jarmady Riascos who is also in 814.

Sarah Safran always does an amazing job on her reading response I especially like her response to Crank by Ellen Hopkins. I am a huge Ellen Hopkins fan so it was nice to see someone do that. I loved how she pointed out that Kristina's poems vary in tone depending on if she is high or not. Sarah didn't just do a good job on her Crank blogpost, Sarah does a good job on all of her blogposts they are all really thought out and it's obvious that she puts a lot of work into it. I also love her Twilight quotes I always find myself refreshing the page to look at new ones!

Gabby Vazquez like Sarah always does a great job one her blog posts. I was really enjoyed Gabby's poem topic because it really showed what fashion means to Gabby. I also really like Gabby's blog because she always puts a lot of thought into whatever she's writing. A blogpost that I really enjoyed reading was Social Issue: Anorexia I really enjoyed it because I think anorexia is such an interesting topic and Gabby showed that she knew what she was talking about and really cared about the topic.

Another blog that I found myself coming back to a lot was Jarmady Riascos. I really enjoyed Jarmady's blog because she always writes really good writing. I also love reading Jarmady's poetry, I love how she changes up the font to relate to the words she writes. For ex: in one of Jarmady's poems she writes the word shade, but she used a different font than she had previously been using, making the word shade darker and bigger to show it's importance.

January Reading Challenge

  Identical by: Ellen Hopkins
      This book was incredibly sad. This story really relates to real life because this happens all the time and it’s just terrible. The story is about Kaeleigh and Raeanne Gardella identical twins, Kaeleigh is daddy’s little girl, she has been ever since she was nine and her father started sexually abusing her. To cope with the pain Kaeleigh binges, cuts herself and purges striving to forget what is happening. Raeanne, usually ignored, takes part in riskier and riskier behavior just screaming to be heard. To cope with the fact that she’s not loved like Kaeleigh she uses drugs, alcohol and sex. Both girls suffer in silence, living behind the facade of a perfect, all-American. Kae Gardella is the twins’ mother; she’s a congresswoman and a regular absentee, not around to witness the sexual abuse on Kaeleigh, when she is around she doesn’t acknowledge anyone around her. Raymond Gardella is a respected judge; he has a major drinking problem, which consists of him sexual abusing Kaeleigh.
      The main themes of this book were sexual abuse, self-abuse and physical/substance abuse. The sexual abuse came from Raymond Gardella, the father of the two girls, he sexual abuses Kaeleigh. This affects Kaeleigh because she can't say no because she doesn't want to disappoint him. This also affects Raeanne because she secretly wishes that he would care for her like that. Kae Gardella has no knowledge of this since she is never around. The self-abuse happened to Kaeleigh, she began to cut her legs and thigh area with a razor penetrating deeper that she should. I believe she did this because she needed a way to get away from her father's abuse. Physical/Substance abuse is also a very big issue because the whole Gardella family is in this. When Kae Gardella is home she blocks everyone out and drinks her troubles away, Kaeleigh feeling the need to be close to someone usually joins her mother. Kaeleigh turns to binging; eating mass amounts of food to stuff down her terrible feelings, purging and drinking until she can't feel the pain deep inside her. Ray Gardella drinks and has affairs to cope with his pain; sometimes he takes his prescription Oxycontin with his glass of scotch. Raeanne copes with her issues by getting high with her sex-buddy Mick, until she meets a new guy named Mick he shows her other ways to cope with pain he introduces her to sex-games and drugs worse than her usual. She also has a habit of "borrowing" her father's Oxycontin when he doses off.
(THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS A SPOILER ALERT)         The conclusion in the book is that Kaeleigh really has a split personality causing her to create the memory of her sister Raeanne, who died in a car accident caused by Ray Gardella. Kaeleigh moves in with her grandmother and was fighting the pain of her sister's absence. When I finished the book I realized that there were hints to show this split for ex: After Kaeleigh cut herself with a razor blade, Raeanne had perfectly shaved legs, also the sister's never came in contact with one another throughout the whole book.
Impulse by: Ellen Hopkins                                           
      This story also by Ellen Hopkins was just amazing and brilliant just like all of her work. Impulse takes place in Aspen Springs Rehabilitation Center, where three patients put aside their differences and become friends. Together they try to overcome the things that got them in there in the first place; popping pills, the blade, and a gun.   
      Anthony “Tony" Ceccarelli has had the hard knock life but who hasn't? His Dad walked out on him when he was nine, and his mother wasn't the mothering type, and has had her share of boyfriend. One boyfriend Tony will always remember is Larry the boyfriend that turned him into a "man" by sexually abusing him. Tony couldn’t get anyone to believe him, which caused him to snap. Snapping landed Tony nine years in a juvenile detention center, he was charged with the murder of Larry. Tony was let out early due to good behavior he put into the care of Philip. Philip was his best friend, foster father, and father. When Philip died, Tony had no one to turn to so he turned to pills. (I'm not sure how Philip died, the book he was sick I think he might have died of AIDS) After he tried to swallow a half bottle of Valium is landed into Aspen Springs Rehabilitation Center. Tony is doing well and reaches Level 2 in Aspen Springs allowing him to attend school and church. He then meets Vanessa and is totally entranced, this makes Tony question his sexuality because he is gay. 
    Vanessa Angela O'Reilly has also lived the hard knock life. Vanessa keeps her secrets bottled up inside and only lets them come out with the blade. Many things keep Vanessa coming back to the blade for one her mother, the crazy one who kept talking to her "angel" Damian and wouldn't get proper help for her Bipolar Disorder. Since Vanessa's mother passed and her Dad is in the line of duty Vanessa's Grandmother has been taking care of her and her brother. Vanessa cut a little too deep one afternoon, and drifted off leaving her little brother Bryan to find her. She woke up in the Aspen Springs Rehabilitation Center. Here she met Tony and Connor who take big impact on her life. Vanessa soon has to deal with the fact that she inherited not only her eyes from her mother but Bipolar Disorder. Tony and Connor are there for her, and she is put on Lithium which helps her control the ups and downs of the disorder. Vanessa soon realizes that she's attracted to Connor and knows that Connor feels the same way; she then has some moments with Connor. Vanessa also realizes that she has feeling for Tony as well. She is then torn between two guys and has to make a decision. She will soon learn that her decision will be made for her.   
   Connor is the last of the trio but certainly not the least. Connor's perfect at least on the surface. He's handsome, gets good grades and is great at sports. But if you look under the surface things aren't what they set out to be. Connor and his sister Cara are supposed to be perfect. Cara has lived up to that honor but somehow Connor cannot and once he couldn't live up to his parent's impossible standards, he pulled the trigger. When Connor gets to Aspen Springs Rehabilitation Center, he wants nothing to do with it. Connor decides he will play his way out of there and be on his merry way. Connor meets Vanessa and Tony and things start to change making Connor want to strive to be better. Then Connor's parents com for a visit and remind him to keep up his grades even while he's in Aspen Springs. This is the start of Connor's downward spiral leaving him lower than he was to begin with.
    Soon the friends reach Level4 meaning their last test is to go on a 3 week hike. Tony is kind of scared to go on this adventure because if he completes it he'll be out and Tony isn't sure how to react to this. Vanessa is happy to be going on an adventure but isn't sure what to make of it. Connor who is still spiraling out of wild proportion isn't sure what to make of the trip. When the three go on the hike with other people from the Rehabilitation Center they are sure they can do this. They start by learning the basic stuff how to make our tent, and what to if they are in danger. The rehab members are given then given their meds for the day. Vanessa and Tony realize that Connor is not taking his meds, they feel the need to tell but aren't sure if it's necessary to do so. Soon a week goes by and the Vanessa and Tony still worry about Connor who has totally stopped taking meds, they want to tell but they feel Connor deserves his space. The group gets a surprise, letters from their families. Tony's is from his father saying he wants to make up for all the time they missed and hope's Tony will forgive him. Vanessa's is from her father saying he is coming home after his tour for good and he wants things to change between them. Connor's letter is from his mother, she hopes that the adventure is keeping him fit because football tryouts are coming up. She also talks about how she sent college applications to all of the school on THEIR list and his sister got into Stanford. Connor has now hit rock bottom. Connor, upset and angry turns the letter into a paper airplane and throws it as far as he can letting the wind take it away. The next day the group learns how to rappel so they can rappel into a cave. The group starts practicing on very tall trees. Connor still upset over his mother, and the idea of perfection and being like Cara leans over and lets himself drop and fall to the desert floor.