Non-Fiction Blogpost on Sara Tucholsky Article

 In the article we learn that a senior, Sara Tucholsky, hit a homeroom in a playoff softball game.  After hitting 1st base, she fell and hurt her right knee.  She could not walk and no one from her team could touch her.  So two opposing members, Liz Holtman and Mallory Wallace, carried her around the bases. Tucholsky's team still won the game even with out Tucholsky's hitting.

I chose to write about this article because I think it demonstrates good sportsmanship which is a key component of the game. I think that Tucholsky was very thankful and the girls did the right thing. 

Overall, the Article is teaching us that sportsmanship is a good thing.  Like when two members of the opposing team, Holtman and Wallace, volunteered to carry Tucholsky around the bases so that she could be rewarded her home run. 

choke by chuck palahniuk

I think that Choke was a very interesting book because it was about a man named Victor whose mother is in a nursing home and has Alzheimer's.  Victor is very confused about his identity and who his dad is.  While Victor is on a mission to find out his true identity, he also has to pay a lot of money to pay for his mom's health care.  since Victor doesn't have enough money, he decides to go out to up-scale restaurants and pretends to choke on food.  People then save him, and feeling responsibly for his life, they pay for some of his health care bills.  

Victor is a selfish man and he only cares about himself so he really would want to just kill his mother, but his mother is the key to figuring out who he really is.  Eventually, Victor finds a small black journal that belongs to his mom victors mom wrote about how her son is Jesus, so Victor believes he's Jesus and goes and spends all his money, and then he goes crazy.  

In the book, everyone complimented Victor on how nice he was to spend most of the money he raised himself on his mom.  Really, they didn't know the truth.  No, it was not always obvious to other characters that Victor was scamming a bunch of people, including his mother.  The truth about Victor Mancini is that he is NOT Jesus Christ and NOT a trust worthy person according to one of the mom's nurses, Paige Marshall.  

Room by Emma Donoghue **SPOILER ALERT**

This week I read Room by Emma Donoghue.  It is about a 5 year old boy named Jack and his mom who are being held hostage in a garden shed.  The mom, who is just defined as 'Ma' in the story, has been held captive for 9 years and is a victim of sexual abuse.  Jack has grown up only knowing Room.  He also tends to call objects such as table, bath, and rug, proper nouns.  Eventually Jack and Ma make a narrow escape from Old Nick and make there way to a health care facility where they are reunited with old family. 

Jack often confides in his mother and wishes that he was back in Room.  Every time I read about Jack wishing for this I was thinking "Would it be better if Jack was back in Room with just his mother?"  Jack is only five and is very confused about how the real world works.  Even in room, Ma would often explain that there were tons of people in Outside.  I think Jack is very overwhelmed by all the things everyone is telling him. 

One place where I see Jack being overwhelmed is when he hops off of Old Nicks truck to find the police.  since the story is told from Jack's perspective, he is describing his emotions.  He is so overwhelmed that he can't even find the right words to describe his emotion.

I don't think it would be beneficial for jack to be in a confined space with Ma again.  There are two sides to the story.  Jack may feel like he wants the relationship with his mom to continue and he doesn't want to deal with Outside any more.  But the mother wants to be free. Jack didn't understand that Ma was forced to stay into the room, and he didn't know how bad everything really was.  Ma deserves to be free and raise her son normally.   

** SPOILER ALERT** Room by Emma Donoughue Answering SARQ#3

Question:  How does "Room" make you think about justice in the world?

Answer:  In Room, justice is not served because Jack still had to grow up in that room, and Jack and Ma will always remember that because it was a big part of both their lives.  This reminds me of justice in the world because even if we don't know about it there are still people being kidnapped, held hostage, or dead because of a kidnapping.  Every time you pick up the book, you are being forced to think about Jack and his mom being held hostage because that's the only thing the narrator knows.

Jack used to think TV wasn't real.  And yes, Dora isn't real, but he didn't know about the animals on National Geographic being real.  When his mother told him, he got upset and claimed that she was lying until he got a glimpse of Outside.

Old Nick is the one blocking justice.  He is the one who took Jack's mother when she was 19 and has her  kidnapped for 7 years.  I think that his motivation is enjoying holding them hostage and enjoying using Jack's mom for sex.

Jack and his mom really want to escape but since Ma has tried every way and Old Nick made the walls really soundproof and the glass extra thick and put a padlock on the door, they are ready to give up.  Jack tells his mom that he really wants to see Outside for himself so Ma gets motivated by her son and fines a way for them to escape.

Berlin boxing Club

Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow is about a boy named Karl who gets the chance to have  boxing lessons from a famous fighter.  The book takes place in the 1930's-40's in Germany.  Karl gets bullied a lot so he has the chance to be able to fight back.  The lessons really fulfill him as a person.  

In Berlin Boxing Club, there are many complex ideas that are happening.  One example is that Karl and Greta are forced to have a secret relationship because they are different religions.  This could be considered complex because Karl has to find a way to stay the person he is even with all the changes in his life, Greta being a big one.  Karl has to learn to balance boxing, his family, school, hiding his religion, and his girlfriend.  I noticed that at certain points in the book, you could tell that he is struggling but uses people to overcome his sturggles.

First he uses his little sister who is nicknamed Winzig.  Even though Winzig is younger Karl and her really have a strong connection and they are always there to stand up for each other.

Second, he relies on the boxing club and Max.  He feels that if he learns to fight he will never get beat up again and he can prove to his dad that he is not a disgrace and it wasn't a mistake to take the boxing lessons over the money.

Finally Karl relies on his family.  He always thinks to himself "no matter how hard my day is, I can always come back to my house with my sister and my parents and sometimes my uncle."  But what Karl doesn't realize is that even though his parents try to cover it up as much as possible, they are still poor.  Karl knows this but he chooses not to think about it.  But he's always relying on the fact that  that when he comes home he is going to have a house and everything will be good.  But what would happen if the governemtns takes his house away because of there religion or they cannot afford to pay rent?

Another complex idea is how Karl always contradicts himself while he is fighting or before a fight.  He always compares his lanky body to the other guys' muscular bodies. But Karl underestimates himself even though he wins most of his fights.  When I was reading this book I was thinking, If Karl doesn't believe in himself, who does?  Then I realize that many people believe in Karl and rely on him.  His sister, Greta, Herr Koplek, and Neblig. 

Catcher in the Rye

I have not yet finished the book but I can already tell that Holden and Stradlater have a unique relationship.  It might be considered a love-hate relationship.  For example Holden would always talk great about Stradlater and how he could "always get the girls" and such.  But at the same time when he was saying that, Holden was envious.  Stradlater wouldn't really help holdens anger problems and would often pester him about Jane.  He wouldn't really answer Holdens questions directly.

 It also seems that their sides for each other changed, for example Holden used to be perfectly fine with Stradlater until he found out that he took Jane out on a date. That is when Holden began asking questions and his opinions of Stradlater changed. 

Kissed by an angel

this is a GREAT  book to read because Ivy lost hope but she found out that she should always believe because the people that loved her inspired her and kept her going. Ivy really believed in angels until she claims that an angel was the reason that Tristan (her boyfriend) died in a car crash.  Ivy tried countless times to commit suicide to be with her boyfriend again but her friends, tristans friends, and her own little brother kept her sane.

Ivy was struglling along with life until her and one of Tristan's friends found out that Tristan did not die because of his broken brakes, it was murder and now the murderer is also out to kill Ivy.  The two eliminated their suspects one by one, until they found out who the real culprit was.

One thing I really like about this book was that everyone seemed to have a role in the book.  Tristans role was to try and contact Ivy from the dead and tell her one last time he loved her.  Suzanne has the job to be a good supporting friend to Ivy.  Lacey (Tristans angel partner) had the job to teach Tristan the rules of being an Angel.  Phillip had the job to find Ivy's lost hope and regain trust in the angels and there presence. 

Another thing I really liked about Kissed by an Angel is that Tristan and Ivy are complete opposites, yet they are so perfect together. Tristan is captain of the swim team and the best swimmer in the state but Ivy hates swimming, she even hates water..  Ivy adores cats and owns an abandoned one but Tristan is allergic.  The one major difference though is that Ivy believes in angels but Tristan doesn't.  No one believes in angels until Ivy looses her faith.  Then Ivy's brother, Phillip, started believing.  He took all of his sisters glass figurines and kept them, even when Ivy demanded them to be destroyed.  Phillip wanted to make his sister believe again.