Why?

The Hour I First believed by Wally Lamb

I just started this book, but one of the first things that happened was a school shooting. It was done by two boys, Eric Harris and Danny Klebold, in their high school. I couldn’t help but relate it to what happened Friday in Sandy Hook Elementary.

It struck me how accurate Lamb’s description was. After the shooting, the school became a crime scene, and parents were hopefully reunited with their children at a separate location. There were memorials and funerals for the gone, and there were crosses put up in their memory. Teachers made sacrifices for their students, and were recognized for their bravery. Lives were lost for no reason, and people mourned.

I really got what his characters were feeling throughout and after the shooting, especially because of what just happened. I think that because of the shooting Friday, I got the story more and it struck me more deeply. I wish it hadn’t happened, but it helped put my book into perspective.

One of the differences in the two stories was the motive. In ‘The Hour I First Believed’, Eric and Danny were sick of being bullied. Of being picked on by the jerks. Of getting shoved to the back of the lunch line. They decided to do something about it. That ‘something’ turned out to be planting bombs and shooting. But they warned the few people they called their friends, let them get away. Whereas in the tragedy on Friday, no one was spared, and his motives are unknown.

All shootings are horrible, especially the one on Friday. But we can learn from them. And in the case of this book, they help us understand it better.

What Is Beauty?

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

What is beauty, really? Is it what’s on the inside or outside that counts? These are questions tested in The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker.

The story is about Truly, a girl that is the size of a giant. Even as a newborn, she weighed about 20 pounds. With a ‘perfect’, gorgeous, skinny sister like Serena Jane and no mom in the family, Truly’s life was a mess. She moved in with the crazy, poor family while her sister was adopted into a rich one. And when Serena Jane married the doctor and died, Truly was forced to move in with him for the sake of Serena’s son, Bobbie.

Serena, from the start, is the beautiful one, at least on the outside. Yes, she was nice, too but she didn’t care for Truly. Truly had the more beautiful inside. But no one judges from the inside. Everyone loves Serena more, and no one pays attention to Truly except to tease her. Only Marcus, another outcast, even speaks to her. He loves her, and he sees her for what she really is, not what everyone else thinks. I think that he sees what everyone else should. He sees real beauty.

I think that without seeing Truly’s side of the story, you would start to think what everyone else thinks. You might not want to, but you can’t help it. A poor girl who wears boy clothes and is huge- what would you think? People can’t really help but think like that. No one wants to, but it does happen.

I think that Truly really shows what beautiful should be like. She stays strong even with all of the teasing, doesn’t want to get revenge when people bully her, she worked so hard in a family that wasn’t hers, and left that family to take care of her nephew. She was a kind, selfless person, and that should be what beauty is about.

A Scream of Triumph? Or Despair?

Fox by Margaret Wild and Ron Brooks

This week I read Fox by Margaret Wild and one of the lines that stood out to me was, "In the stillness, Magpie hears a faraway scream. She cannot tell if it  is a scream of triumph or despair." 

Fox is about Dog and Magpie, Two best friends who help each other. Dog helps Magpie "fly", and Magpie helps Dog see. They live happily together until Fox comes along. He pretends to be their friend, until he finally convinces Magpie to go with him. He runs across the desert and leaves her there alone. Magpie realizes what she did was wrong, and goes home to try and fix it. 

The scream in the quote comes from Fox after he leaves Magpie alone. I think that it is a scream of both triumph and despair. I think that it was a scream of triumph because he had accomplished what he wanted to, taking Magpie away from Dog. He succeeded in what he wanted to do. But it is mostly a scream of despair for what he had done. 

Confucius once said, “Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.” I think that this means that revenge will not only hurt the person you are out to get, but yourself, too. And this applies to Fox screaming in despair. He didn't realize that what he had done was was wrong until he had already done it, but by then he was already hurt. Fox had separated the only two creatures who took him in and accepted him and were his friends. He was back to square one, all alone again. He was hurt by his actions, which was why he was screaming in despair. If you do something that bad to two friends like Dog and Magpie and end up without any friends, you will not only be guilty but even more lonely than before.