Post 12: Reading Wishlist

This is my reading wish list. Here are few of the books I want to read:

• Eleanor and Park- Rainbow Rowell
• Heaven is for Real- Todd Burpo
• Looking for Alaska-John Green
• Where'd You Go Bernadette- Maria Semple
• Uglies- Scott Westerfeld
• Before I Fall- Lauren Oliver
• The Host-Stephenie Meyer

Post 11: Book Talk

Book 3 Review: Angle 3

            Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen and Skinny by Ibi Kaslik are two completely different books. Someone Like You is about a girl name Halley who has the “perfect” life until one summer. Her best friend Scarlett gets pregnant. To make matters worse, Scarlett is pregnant with her dead boyfriend’s child. Halley has to grow up quickly and be the strong one for Scarlett. Skinny, is sort of the opposite of Someone Like You. Skinny is from the point of view a college girl named Gizelle and her younger sister Holly. Gizelle had anorexia and bulimia and she is trying to heal from it. Her younger sister is deaf in one ear and has to deal with her own problems. Gizelle and Holly build a closer relation and bond through their struggles because they start to understand how each other feels. Although these books have different plots, they actually are connected in many ways.

 

            One way these books are connected is through their themes. They both have a theme of how trust and friendship can be strong enough to overcome anything. For example, in Someone Like You Scarlett’s mom wants her to have an abortion. Scarlett is torn. She doesn’t want to have to sacrifice the rest of her like for this one mistake but how could she kill the last piece of her dead boyfriend. Halley understands this. She looks out for Scarlett and supports her with the decision that she make unlike Scarlett’s mom.  Even though Halley gets in a huge amount of trouble she does it because that’s what best friends do. She gives up her freedom, her reputation, and her boyfriend all to help her best friend. In Skinny, Gizelle and Holly portray this same theme. At one point in the book, Holly is really struggling with school. She is getting in a lot of trouble and she can’t seem to understand math. Holly wants to drop out of school. She’s been in fights and been to the principal’s office on numerous occasions. Gizelle and Holly haven’t been getting along but when Holly comes to Gizelle, and truly tells her what’s going on, Gizelle is there for her. Holly opens up about her struggles and Gizelle first just listens and then when Holly is ready, she helps her find solutions. This really shows how just by them building a relationship not only as sister but also as friends helps them get through their

problem better.

             Someone Like You and Skinny are connected also by the way their characters grow. Holly may seem like a shallow character at the beginning because she’s just a teenager doing her own thing, but she develops into a strong and mature character. This shows how truly strong she is because it is way harder to become something you didn’t even know was possible than just already being there and maintaining that. An example of this is when in the beginning Gizelle uses anorexia and bulimia as an excuse but Holly doesn’t let her do that. Gizelle has just gotten out of the hospital after passing out from starving herself. She is living at home and still can’t accept herself for who she is. Gizelle and Holly get in a fight because Holly just wants her to realize that she is beautiful. Holly tells Gizelle, “So many people love you, Giselle, so why can't you, just a little?” This quote shows a lot of maturity because Holly is just a teenager and she is Gizelle’s younger sister. This shows how much Holly grows. Halley from Someone Like You has a similar transformation. In the beginning Halley is the one who waits for Scarlett to make the first move and is more reserved. She says, “Scarlett has always been the strong one…”, so it makes it hard for her to step up. When Scarlett’s life starts crumbling and her mom won’t support the decision she made about keeping the baby, she actually gets scared. She says to Halley, “It’s not like she’s being that supportive. This is all me, you know? I’m on my own, and it’s scary.” Halley realizes that Scarlett needs her for once. She steps up to the plate and act as Scarlett’s mom. She supports her at school where everyone gives them weird looks and she just listens to her when she needs to vent. Their roles completely switch. This show how much Halley grows as a person.

            A first glance, both books may be misinterpreted. Skinny is not a book about anorexia and bulimia. Rather, it is a book about overcoming it and how it affects your entire life even years after. Someone Like You is not just about drama and two girls summer. It is a lot deeper. It is more like a cautionary story of how your actions can affect your life. Both of these books are connected by this. People may think they are airy and shallow, but both of the book deal with serious topics and how these things can affect your life. They show the impact you decisions have on not only your life but your family and friends and everyone around you.

Because of its depth and plot in general, I would give Someone Like You 4 stars. I loved how relatable the characters are and I love the plot because there were many twists. I didn’t really like some minor characters because I thought they took away from the main characters a little but the author may have just been using them to show how developed the main characters were. I would give Skinny 4 ½ stars because I loved how it had a lot of surprises that were evenly spread out through the book to keep you interested. Also I love the plot and all the little subplots. It was a little confusing at the beginning because the narrator switches between Gizelle and Holly but once you get the hang of it, it’s amazing and I recommend it to anyone.

                                                                                           

Post 7: Book Trailer

 

Post 9: Likability

            The book I’m reading is Skinny. It has two narrators because it is told from two sisters perspectives. The older sister, Giselle, isn’t really a likeable character so far. She has a lot of problems and doesn’t cope with them well. She is anorexic and she kind of takes advantage of this to act like a brat. Her younger sister Holly is pretty likeable though. She calls Giselle out when she’s being rude and is like a typical teenage so she’s relatable. I think Holly fits in with the argument Wiener was making because she is predictable and easy while Giselle on the other hand is completely different. Readers like characters like Holly. Giselle is an angry female protagonist which is what Messud was saying rarely happens but she likes this type of character.

            I think Holly and the genre of the book, realistic fiction, fit together because usually in a realistic book there is an everyday female protagonist. Holly fits in with this stereotype. Giselle does not however. She is angry and she blames Holly and her dad for a lot of things. She is a little unruly and isn’t really likeable. I like how the author included both characters because I think it adds a lot of depth to the story. It allows you to see how the story would be told for the “typical” view and from an unconventional, real view. It helps you see two sides to the story and gives you a better perspective on the same situation.

Post 8: Memoirs

I think that memoirs and nonfiction need to be 99% true. This is because the genre that they are publishing it in is telling people before they even read it that it is true.  People are expecting a true story and if they weren’t they would read a different genre. I don’t think the author should use half-truths just to make the story more interesting. As readers, we are relying on the author to tell the truth and most the time we don’t really have a way to verify it is the truth so if authors start telling half-truths, it will hurt their credibility. Saying this though, I believe that everybody’s opinion on an event or story will be different so what one person may think is true, another person who went through the same thing may think otherwise.

I disagree with David Shields because I think that the genre labels help readers find books they like. Although many books aren’t just one genre, I think readers acknowledge that. I think the labels that distinguish between fiction and nonfiction are important because if we didn’t have these labels, readers would be curious as to whether or not these things actually happened. The labels help us find the books we love and naturally gravitate towards rather than having to go through an entire book store. Even though many authors may not like the fine line between fiction and nonfiction I think readers like it and appreciate it so we definitely need these labels.