English 10

I am reading Percy Jackson and the titans curse by Rick Riordan and I believe that the author uses characterization in a very good way. He portrays the characters in unique ways and he also uses different techniques to give life oot the sevral characetr sin the book. fro exmaple in the part where Percy satrts deabting wehter one of the characters is extremely lucky or unfortunate for being the daughter of a god he still finds compassion in his herat to undertand her and he believes that it is important to find a balance between the good and the evil. Also this si shown in another part when he is becoming hesitant about Ananbeth. This is shown by the following quote

“As anxious as I felt about Annabeth—all I wanted to do was search for her—I couldn’t help feeling sorry for the di Angelos. I remembered what it was like for me when I first learned I was a demigod.” Page 30

This qoute shows how the charavters start to develope an identity for themselves and how they are being constructed upon by the author but it also adds another layer of deepness to the story and to the overall characters. This is because like in this quote the characters have to take choices and some may be better than others but in the end they have to choose between some that might be the least bad. Like Percy that becomes hesitant about Annabeth and when he has to choose between two options later on which would either be saving annabeth or trying to save one of the other characters he has to choose the lesser evil.

Whilst reasing The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, I was able to identify the way Khaled Hosseini characterizes people in his book. Khaled Hosseini uses events that happen to the character in order to describe the kind of person that they are. We can tell the type of person that they are by reading what the character decides to do in an unfortunate or fortunate event. We are able to tell if they are a strong person or a weak person, an intelligent or unintelligent person. When an event happens to someone, they need to figure out how to comprehend or find the strength to keep on going when something unfortunate happens. Khaled Hosseini uses events to show us how the character reacts to said events.

But before any of us could do say or do a thing, Kamal’s father shoved the barrel in his own mouth. I’ll never forget the echo of that blast. Or the flash of light and the spray of red.

The event that happened to Kamal’s father was very unfortunate. His son had died in his arms. This would be enough to drive anybody to the point of Kamal’s father. Someone else, however, could have chosen differently and continued living on for their son, rather than taking their own life. It is a waste of a bullet and a waste of a person to take his life. The way Khaled Hosseini described the events that happened to Kamal’s father, we can tell that he isnt a super strong man and I am able to picture what he could look like appearance wise just by reading the decisions that he made.

I am reading the novel The Kite Runner from Khaled Hosseini. It tells the story about a young boy named Amir from the Wazir Akbar Khan district of Kabul. You can notice really quick what method Khaled Hosseini is using for the character Amir. Amir is represented as a sensitive and intelligent son of a well-to-do businessman, so he grows up with a slight sense of entitlement. His best friend is Hassan, and he has two feelings against Hassan. First being a loyal friend and second being jealous and attacking Hassan whenever he receives Amir‘s father‘s affection. Amir is a closed personality who lives mostly in his thoughts but who feels a lot. His sensitive character makes it easy for the narrator to use the characterization thoughts and feelings. The following quote makes a good example for Amir‘s strong thoughts and feelings.

I watched him fill his glass at the bar and wondered how much time would pass before we talked again the way we just had. Because the truth of it was, I always felt like Baba hated me a little. And why not? After all, I had killed his beloved wife, his beautiful princess, hadn’t I? The least I could have done was to have had the decency to have turned out a little more like him. But I hadn’t turned out like him. Not at all.

This quote shows the characterization thoughts and feelings of the main character Amir really good. The narrator reveals really deep feelings of Amir in this quote. The thoughts and feelings of Amir are revealed by the narrator to the reader. The other characters in the book don‘t get anything to know about the thoughts and feelings from the character, Amir is by himself. Amir‘s desire to win his fathers approval is one of the main points in the novel. He believes he caused the death of Baba‘s wife by his birth. He shows a sad and desperate feelings, because all he wants is for his father to look at him with pride and respect. Amir also thinks like he owes it to his father to turn out like him, but doesn’t even feel like he manages that. I chose this particular quote because they show deep thoughts of Amir. It shows how deep he feels and just wishes for his father’s approval. He questions everything in his own thoughts and the narrator made his feelings really clear.

In the book Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen’s way to describe characters is by words. Her favorite method to do it is to describe them honestly and truthfully. She annalizes the character from the very begging of the meeting with a character we have in the book.  Jane Austen is not waiting for us to make an image about them but fully says everything and then shows examples of their behavior throughout the book.

Elinor, this eldest daughter, whose advice was so effectual, possessed a strength of understanding, and coolness of judgement, which qualified her, though only nineteen, to be the counsellor of her mother, and enabled her frequently to counteract, to the advantage of them all, that eagerness of mind in Mrs. Dashwood which must generally have led to imprudence. She had an excellent heart; her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong; but she knew how to govern them: it was a knowledge which her mother had yet to learn; and which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught.

This is one of the examples of Jane Austen’s description of character. It is a straightforward description. The way she puts it makes us think the same about the character as Jane thinks about them. Their behavior in the book is then based on their description. Sometimes the characters in her books look a little cringy and old-fashioned, they always act as she first described them. Elinor in the book is always taken as a cold-hearted person, always the smart one who wants real people and connections which fits her first description we got. It is like a trailer for the character and then we watch them act as they are supposed to. And maybe, sometimes, they outgrow their personalities.

It is fairly easy to notice the methods Katie Lowe uses to characterize Violet in The Furies. As we have Violet’s point of view, since she starts narrating in the beginning we can notice how the events that happen to Violet in the past clearly have a big impact in her actions and thoughts. Violet’s father and sister died in a car crash where she was present but came out as the only survivor. Her mother never recovered which makes her relationship with Violet a lot more complex, and even if she mostly acts unaffected by it all, it is clear on the way she sees things later in life that it influenced her entire character on many ways. Violet honestly feels like a sad character, she is always just looking for people’s approval, that one of the first things you will notice about her. She cares deeply for her friends but still seems to be difficult for her to trust anyone. Her thoughts and feelings make her seem like such an inofensive character, which makes her actions later in the book surprising and confusing. She gets influenced easily, her actions and thoughts being entirely marked by her relationships, mostly her friends.

“We were from different circles; would pass in corridors without so much as a glance, as though this conversation had never taken place. I see it now, among the girls I teach: the oil-and-water separation of types, hard to define and yet instinctively known. It’s a power one learns as a girl and never forgets: the ability to place one’s peers in their hierarchy with little more than a glance. Impressive, I suppose, in its own, cruel way.”

― Katie Lowe, The Furies

She cared a lot, I suppose it is normal to care about it but it is just that she just went along with whatever her friends did. She, at the same time, cared about the little stuff way too much but sometimes seemed so unaffected by it to the point she only seemed to feel when things reached an extreme. This, is what I would say defines the character of Violet the most, the unfortunate events of her past, the situations these create, and the thoughts that come after them.

In the second chapter of She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick, we are introduced to one of the two protagonists of this story: Molly. The two authors characterize Molly by immediately sharing her circumstances prior to college. We quickly learn that she didn’t have any friends through high school, indicating that she is a rather introverted, anxious but loving character. In the second chapter, authors characterise Molly by how she summarises her high school experience just before leaving for college. In this quote, Molly is getting ready to leave home and her best friend, her mother. The way authors worded this passage reveals just how big of a change this event will be in her (previously unfortunate) social life.

I give her another hug because while I know it’s lame. we’re basically best friends. We’ve never explicitly called each other that, but when you’re this close with someone, it doesn’t need to be said. She’s been my closest friend all through high school. My only friend, if I’m honest.
Now, somehow, I have to say goodbye to her, this person who has been by my side through all of it. It doesn’t feel possible, but if things are going to change this year, I need to let go a little. (p. 21)

Following this quote, we learn that Molly is excited, but extremely nervous to meet new friends at college. We begin to sympathise with her because we know this will be a tough experience, as she’s never really had a friend before. The authors strategically introduced Molly this way at the beginning of the book so that we could really grasp the introverted essence of her character. The phrasing of the passage is also extremely significant, the punctuation used shows just how nervous Molly is for this brand new experience. Both paragraphs end on a slightly different emotion compared to the paragraph leading up to it, which only emphasizes this anxious feeling more. The way that Molly’s situation is immediately revealed helps us fully grasp her character from the very beginning.

“They Both Die At The End” by Adam Silvera is a story with just two main characters. Adam has to characterize both characters almost all the time. I feel that both characters are characterized by the method of a situation and events that happen to the character. Mateo is introverted, kind, and gentle, but he wants to be carefree and live his End Day to the fullest. Rufus, a 17 year old Cuban boy, is the complete opposite of Mateo because he rejects social media and prefers to live in the real world. Rufus is brave and bold.

“The number one person I’ll miss the most is Future Mateo, who maybe loosened up and lived.” (p. 9)

“Because I refused to live invincibly on all the days I didn’t get an alert, I wasted all those yesterdays and am completely out of tomorrows.” (p. 10)

When Mateo receives the notification from DeathCast, he laments it. This guilt becomes an inspiration for Mateo’s development into a new, more vibrant human being, which serves as the novel’s main story point. Mateos’s characterization is being changed as the story goes along, as well as Rufus. They develop and explore new emotions and ways to think about life, because of the situation they are living.

The recent book I have been reading is called The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. I had been given this book by a family friend who enjoyed reading these types of books and recommended them for me to try myself. In this book the main character is named Dr. Sheppard who was a friend of Mr. Ackroyd before he died. Dr. Sheppard also has a sister named Caroline who despite his warnings loves to know all of the gossip in their little town. Another important character that will be in this quote in the butler of Mr. Ackroyd whose name is Parker.

It was a quarter past ten as we went up the stairs. I had just reached the top when the telephone rang in the hall below.

“Mrs. Bates,” said Caroline immediately.

“I’m afraid so,” I said ruefully.

I ran down the stairs and took up the receiver.

“What?” I said. “What? Certainly, I’ll come at once.” I ran upstairs, caught up my bag, and stuffed a few extra dressings into it.

“Parker telephoning,” I shouted to Caroline, “from Fernly. They’ve just found Roger Ackroyd murdered!”

***

I got out the car in next to no time, and drove rapidly to Fernly. Jumping out, I pulled the bell impatiently. There was some delay in answering, and I rang again. Then I heard the rattle of the chain and Parker, his impassivity of countenance quite unmoved, stood in the open doorway. I pushed past him into the hall.

“Where is he?” I demanded sharply.

“I beg your pardon, sir?”

“Your master. Mr. Ackroyd. Don’t stand there staring at me, man. Have you notified the police?”

“The police, sir? Did you say the police?” Parker stared at me as though I were a ghost.

“What’s the matter with you, Parker? If, as you say, your master has been murdered.”

A gasp broke from Parker.

“The master? Murdered? Impossible, sir!”

It was now my turn to stare. (p. 45-46)

 

This was the exact moment where the book starts to show its real plot and starts to be more interesting. I choose this quote because this was the most exiting part of the book so far and really made me continue to read. This is important because if the book isn’t exiting or intriguing it become more like a chore to read and you won’t enjoy it. This is my first time reading any of Agatha Christies books and so far, im enjoying it.

“Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood is mainly made of a monologue of the main character. Most parts of the book are only about the main character, so the author’s characterization of her is crucial. As the main character is in the position of a handmaid, who is not allowed to be expressive, her thoughts and feelings compose the characterization. Her thoughts and feelings are revealed from a first-person point of view, and show how she thinks about the system of a dystopian society she lives in.

I wait. I compose myself. My self is a thing I must now compose, as one composes a speech. What I must present is a made thing, not something born.

(pg. 66)

Don’t let the bastards grind you down. I repeat this to myself but it conveys nothing. You might as well say, Don’t let there be air; or Don’t be. I suppose you could say that.

(pg. 291)

Throughout the book, she shows a recessive attitude, yet doesn’t get completely brainwashed. She leaves a comment on the system as if she was accepting it as some kind of logic she should follow in order to survive. This gives the readers a characterization of the main character in depth. The author characterizes the main character as someone clever enough to learn how to survive in the worst situation possible. Her thoughts focus on survival and are careful. The fact that she actually doesn’t follow society with her heart is shown in what words she uses. When she is describing herself, she mentions “a made thing,” implying she is pretending to be a sacred believer. Also, when she describes society and oppressing leaders, she calls them “bastards,” expressing her hidden rage directly. With this characterization, the main character has become a strong-willed survivor.

The book I am reading at the moment is The Furies by Katie Lowe. I was searching for something easy but interesting to read, some kind of mystery or fantasy. The Furies managed to catch my attention and I couldn’t stop reading.

In 1998, a sixteen-year-old girl is found dead. She’s posed on a swing on her boardings schools property. dressed all in white, with no cause of death. There are a lot of rumors going around but no clues or answers on what happened. But, there are some people that do know, and there is one girl that will never forget. The narrator, who appears to be a grown up now, a teacher, telling the story of what happened to her when she was a teenager, one year ago before the dead of that mysterious dead. The name of our narrator is Violet, who was a new student on Elm Hollow Academy, an all girls boarding school on the outskirts of a sleepy coastal town. This is her fresh start, after a tragic car accident on the past kills her dad and sister. She was desperate to fit in when she arrived to the school, she soon finds herself invited to an advanced study group, led by her peculiar art teacher. There, with three other girls, the five of the dive into the schools long buried grim history and mythology of Greek and Celtic legends, result of the schools founders interest in the occult; the gruesome 17th century witch trials. They girls began to feel more and more drawn to ancient rites and rituals, even if their teacher warned them many times to be careful and that it was just history and mythology. Violets finds her friends taking darker actions and they seem to spiral out of control. She doesnt now she can trust, there are a lot of rumors on the girls but to be honest, you can tell how she wants this power as much as they do.

“Every breath, every moment, possessed with an illusion of glamor, of filthy decadence, purely because it was ours, we two our own radical world, a star collapsing inward and bursting, gorgeous, in the dark.”

Katie Lowe, The Furies

You could notice a desire for more in each of the five girls, they wanted to be noticed, they wanted the power that it gave them, the connection that was made. They were so drawn to the possibility of performing this rituals and of everything going their way, they were out of control. There was a point were they couldn’t stop, after experiencing a ritual one time, they seem to feel like it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

I am currently Berserk, by Kentaro Miura, its very strong and I would reccomend it, my favorite character is guts with the berserker armor, he does not hold back. Its really thoughtful how he wants a good life, but he gets chased everyday, everynight by literal demons of hell that kill everyone he knows.

That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron

People say this quote about guts sword all the time, and it is a true comment, its more like a raw piece of metal, and guts just carries it like a champ, killing every demon to eventually kill his best friend, Griffith

In Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, book 8 of the story gives us the main characters, Phoebus and Fleur-de-Lys. These two characters are lovers in the book, but Fleur-de-Lys is having some doubt if they are even going to get married, as seen by the quote.

Phoebus. Fleur-de-Lys said abruptly in a whisper. We are to be married in three months.Swear you have never loved any women other than me.

I do swear it, my beautiful angel! Replied Phoebus. His adoring eyes combined with his sincere tone of his voice convinced Fleur-de-Lys. Perhaps he even believed himself in that moment.

This quote really shows the type of person Phoebus is. He is willing to lie straight to his girlfriends face in order to convince her to stay with him, rather than being honest. He is one of the more shady characters in the book, and this quote supports that theory fully. After reading this quote, it made me want to read more to find out if Fleur-de-Lys ever found out about his lie, and what the outcome would have been.

In the first parts of the book, Percy jackson, the titans curse, by Rick Riordan there is a bit of a heavy atmosphere because percy was a little “jealous” of Thalia but he was also somewhat sympathetic. This was shown by onw of the parts of the first chapter that said the following

“Not that I resented Thalia. She was cool. It wasn’t her fault her dad was Zeus and she got all the attention….Still, I didn’t need to run after her to solve every problem. Besides, there wasn’t time. The di Angelos were in danger. They might be long gone by the time I found my friends. I knew monsters. I could handle this myself.”

This part of the book shows how Percy is jealous but at the same time undertsnds what thalia is oging through. He also had in mind the broader mission and the ongoing “war” against the monsters which was the main conflict of the books.

In this powerful novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, Amir has broughten in his father to the doctor because he saw that his father’s cold was leading him to coughing up blood. The first doctor told them that there was a suspicious spot on his lung. Amir’s father threw a fit though, when he heard that his doctor was Russian. Amir tried to calm him down by saying that the doctor was an American because he was born in Michigan. His father was not having it and the ended up having to call in a second doctor which Amir’s father approved of. This second doctor was Iranian and Amir’d father approved of him. This second doctor was named Dr. Amani and he discovered that Amir’s father had a terminal cancer.

The next pulmonologist, Dr. Amani, was an Iranian and Baba approved. Dr. Amani, a soft spoken man with a crooked mustache and a mane of gray hair, told us he had reviewed the CAT scan results and that he would have to perform a procedure called a bronchoscopy to get a piece of the lung mass for pathology. He scheduled it for the following week. I thanked him as I helped Baba out of the office, thinking that now I had to live a whole week with this new word, “mass” an even more ominous word than “suspicious.” I wished Soraya were there with me. It turned out that, like Satan, cancer had many names. (p. 164)

The fact that Amir’s father had a type of lung cancer caught my attention because my family has had it’s fair share of lung cancer. My grandfather had passed away from lung cancer when I was younger. Recently, I think it was this year, my uncle also passed away from lung cancer. He had gotten it before this year. Unfortunately I was unable to visit either of them when they were dealing with this because I had school to attend to and they were over in Japan. I dont know exactly what kind of lung cancer but I know they died of a lung cancer. Amir’s father in the book has oat cell carcinoma which is a cancer. Oat cell carcinoma usually starts in the lung before quickly spreading into other parts of the body. In the book, Amir’s father’s cancer spreads to his brain.

In Rachael Lippincott and Alyson Derrick’s book She Gets the Girl, one of the two main characters Alex is searching for a job. She has just moved to Pittsburgh and had to leave her previous occupation as a bartender in her hometown. Alex’s mother struggles to provide for herself and requests money from her daughter several times a month. After buying all of her school supplies and paying rent, Alex is down to her last few dollars. she sees a flyer advertising a position to work at a food truck, so she takes the opportunity given. Once she reaches the detailed location, she goes on to describe it as a wasteland essentially.

A ginormous, run-down storage facility sits in front of me, with enough rust and broken windows to convince me that no one should actually think their belongings are safe here.

It looks abandoned.

Tumbleweeds of old plastic bottles and snack wrappers roll across the empty parking lot, graffiti lines the garage doors, and an out-of-service train track runs parallel to the building, with overgrown grass and brush covering the metal rails.

Is it abandoned? (p. 124)

Quite honestly I’m not quite sure why this passage stood out to me so much, maybe because it’s a relatable and upsetting feeling? Seeing areas where nature and our environment have been torn apart to put in this industrial work is damaging enough to the Earth. But when these modern developments are made and not being upkept, it seems almost pointless. Why would you build this industrial area in place of a lush and earthy one, only to let trash overtake it? These descriptive passages of the setting that the characters take place in are always my favourite components of books. With this being one of the few that appear in this novel, I feel that it has a very strong effect on how any events in this area will take place.

“Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini is mainly a story about Amir recovering from his childhood. Amir, who was born rich in Afghanistan, faces struggles as the country gets invaded by the Soviets. Even though he could manage to escape to America with his father, his childhood friend Hassan is left in the middle of the war. After many years, Amir finally looks for Hassan in Pakistan ruled by the Taliban. While that, he also finds out that Hassan was his half-brother, and only his son is alive, sold to the Taliban.

“Where is yout slingshot, Hazara?” Assef said, turning the brass knuckles in his hand. “What was it you said? ‘They have to call you One-Eyed Assef.’ ”

(pg. 76)

I blinked the blood from my eyes and saw it was one of the brass balls from the ring in the table base. Sohrab had the slingshot pointed to Assef’s face.

(pg. 304)

When Hassan and Amir were young, Amir left Hassan to get beaten up by Assef as he didn’t have a slingshot. The scene in the present where his son, Sohrab grabs a slingshot to end their family’s fight against Hassan symbolizes how they keep surviving against the invaders. Right at this moment, Amir decides to take Sohrab with him to America to accept him as one of the family, showing him hope without the Taliban.

The book I’m currently reading is called “They both die at the End” by Adam Silvera.  After Mateo and Rufus meet through Last Friend, Mateo, and Rufus decide to go out together for the day. Mateo wants to visit his father, who has been in a coma for two weeks, so Rufus offers to go with him to the hospital. after that Mateo and Rufus went to the cemetery to visit Mateo moms grave. they started telling stories about their experiences and everything they had been through. They talked about if they believe in god and in fate. Rufus claims he doesn’t actually believe in God and that heaven is only a resting place for the dead.  Mateo says he hopes reincarnation is true but that, if people let him, the afterlife is like a theatre where he may witness both his own life and that of others.

“Here we are, two boys sitting in a cementery as it begins drizzling, trading stories in my half- dug grave, as if were not dying today. these moments of forgetting and relief are enough to push me through the rest of my day.” (p. 221-222)

I choose this quote because generally this chapter talks about how we just have one life, and you have to take advantage of it. since these two guys have a death date, they have been regretting about some things that they did, but that is not the point of these situations and they talk how they need to get over it. How life is just a moment and it can end really easily and fast, just in one blink of an eye.

The book I’m reading now is Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Jane Auten is an English writer from the 18th century. She started to write books at a young age and became one of the first and most famous writers in history. People mostly know her by the book Pride and Prejudice which I personally adore. Sense and Sensibility is a story about a family named Dashwoods. The family has three sisters and one mother named Elinor, Marianne, Margaret, and Mrs. Dashwood. Their father (Mr. Dashwood) recently died and they were forced to move from the house where they lived their whole life. Dashwoods found a new town to live and the book describes their life and love affairs.

A gentleman carrying a gun, with two pointers playing round him, was passing up the hill and within a few yards of Marianne, when her accident happened. He put down his gun and ran to her assistance. She had raised herself from the ground, but her foot had been twisted in her fall, and she was scarcely able to stand. The gentleman offered his services; and perceiving that her modesty declined what her situation rendered necessary, took her up in his arms without farther delay, and carried her down the hill. Then passing through the garden, the gate of which had been left open by Margaret, he bore her directly into the house, whither Margaret was just arrived, and quitted not his hold till he had seated her in a chair in the parlour.

This quote is an important twist in the story. It shows the beginning of the relationship between Marianne and Willoughby. Marianne, I fell head over heels with the guy who helped her. He also fell for her and they spend every single minute together after the incident. I chose this quote because it’s cute and there are, to be honest no more interesting quotes yet. I also love the quote because I haven’t found such a peaceful and romantic beginning of a relationship in any other books than in Jane Austen’s.

Jerry Spinelli’s recently published novel “STARGIRL” allows you to envision any perspective on the story. Stargirl enrolled at a new school, and everyone in the building was enraptured by her beauty as soon as she arrived. However you want to put it, she was regarded as breathtakingly stunning. However, there was something peculiar about the tale of a new, attractive girl enrolling in a school. People weren’t expecting her to be awkward and strange, but it turns out she is. She enjoyed singing to people, which the other students found odd. She enjoyed singing and playing the ukulele whenever she felt like it.

” We wanted to define her, to wrap her up as we did each other, but we could not seem to get past “weird” and “strange” and “goofy.” her ways always knocked us off balance. A single word seemed to hover in the cloudless sky over the school: HUH!?” (p.11)

The book introduced me to the idea that in order to be popular, you must be attractive very early on. Being attractive, having great makeup, being athletic, etc., is how they gain fame. Everyone is weird; we just label some behaviours that all humans engage in as “weird” when they may be considered normal. If you are unusual, people will look down on you as a person. Everyone simply overreacts.

I was always scared of being alone or not having an adult with me to rely on. But in July of 2019 (I was twelve y/o), I decided to make my first trip alone and face my fear. I flew to Toronto for a summer camp for a month. I was the youngest student there. The next younger student before was fourteen y/o. But being the youngest one wasn’t a problem at all. Most of the students were aware of me, and they were sympathetic to me and did a lot to make me feel comfortable. At that moment, my English speaking skills weren’t as good, so it was a little hard for me to communicate with English speakers at the beginning. Still, days passed, and I started to feel more comfortable about my English performance, and my English got better every day.

Since I had no family around, I became more independent. I only had myself to rely on, so I started focusing on myself and my needs, and I learned to put myself first. This trip made me feel in love with travelling. That was the trip that—changed my life in too many ways. Now I wouldn’t say I like to stay in the same place the whole time because I seek the feeling of travelling. I enjoy travelling either alone or with people. I love it either way.

There are many themes that are explored in “Stargirl”, including individuality and acceptance. An unconventional high school student named Leo meets Stargirl Caraway and falls in love with her. He must confront his own feelings of conformity and social pressure as he grows fascinated by Stargirl’s unique personality and behavior. I believe that readers of all ages will be captivated by the author’s thoughtful narrative throughout the book.

In the novel, one of the most significant quotes to me was: “She was elusive. She was today and tomorrow. She was the faint scent of a cactus flower, and the flitting shadow of an elf owl. In our minds, we tried to pin her to a corkboard like a butterfly, but the pin merely went through and away she flew.” I think this perfectly captures Stargirl’s mysterious and captivating personality. The novel also displays Stargirl’s ability to defy categorization and cannot be easily defined.

It’s clear from this quote that Stargirl has impacted Leo’s life – “She shone around every corner of my day.” This quote shows how brightly and uniquely she illuminates his world. Stargirl shines love and positivity in a dark and oppressive world.

In my opinion, Stargirl should be for anyone who’s ever felt different or had a hard time fitting in. This novel will stay with you long after you’ve turned the last page because of its beautiful prose and poignant themes.

Ive recently been reading Kite Runner, a novel by Khaled Hosseini, It’s about a boy named Amir, and his best friend Hassan in Afghanistan, but they get separated due to the effects of war, and they dont see each other again, until Amir gets a message from someone over the phone, making him want to go back. I want to talk about chapters one to five, were Amir and Hassan are just living their life in Afghanistan as 10 year olds, where they just go day to day as normal kids, learning lessons throughout the days they live, learning about change, growth, and friendship.

That was a long time ago, but it’s wrong what they say about the past, I’ve learned, about how you can bury it. Because the past claws its way out. Looking back now, I realize I have been peeking into that deserted alley for the last twenty-six years.

Chapter 1, p.1

This quote made me reflect on my past mistakes, or others past mistakes, even if you forget about it, live your day to day not even getting a slight memory of what you did or who you were, the past always comes back to haunt you, that ofcourse if you did something bad or messed up, thats the only way I believe you deserve your mistakes to be shown to you once again, what you would call, karma.