Where the Sidewalk Ends

Last blog of the year, and probably the last blog I'll ever write cos they're kind of a pain! Anyways, I procrastinated to the last second to do the required blog on poetry haha. I decided to blog on the book Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein because I always loved these poems as a kid.
My favorite poem of his is Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out because when I was little I never wanted to take the garbage out so my parents would read me that poem. They would try to scare me by saying:
"At last the garbage reached so high
that it finally touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
and none of her friends would come to play."
I was upset my friends couldn't come to play, but I thought it'd be cool if the garbage touched the sky!
Another poem I've always loved of his is Where the Sidewalk Ends. It always reminds me of when my friend and I were walking home and the sidewalk abruptly came to a stop and turned into dead grass. "It's Where the Sidewalk Ends!" we laughed.
And one last poem of his I love is Hug O' War. If everyone thought like how Shel Silverstein thinks in this poem we would definitely have World Peace.
"I will not play at tug o' war.
I'd rather play at hug o' war,
Where everyone hugs
Instead of tugs,
Where everyone giggles
And rolls on the rug,
Where everyone kisses,
And everyone grins,
And everyone cuddles,
And everyone wins."
Even though his poems all have the cliche rhyming scheme, I still love them. They have great rhythm. And to be honest, what little kid wants to read poetry that doesn't rhyme? Maybe little English teachers-to-be.
All of Shel Silverstein's poems in this book hold a different memory of my childhood so I like going back through the book to read them.
I really like the twists and puns Shel puts to his poems. They're genuine, like no other. Shel Silverstein is reallyyyy talented. He's written so many creative poems, drawn amusing drawings, and he's even written some songs. Last year I had to do a project on him for English, and I found out his first job was for Hugh Hefner. He made comics for him or something haha. Anyways, I love the fun he incorporates in his poetry. I don't think I'll ever grow out of this book :D

The Sugar Queen

Okay, so this week I finished The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I loved this book, it turned out to be a great read. So for a recap, it's basically about this 27 year old, Josey. Josey Cirrini is famous for her family. Her dad, who died when she was a little girl, was the illustrious founder of their southern town. Her mom was always beautiful and quite younger than her dad. As a child, Josey was a very bratty child. She stole candy and food and threw temper tantrums. So now Josey feels obliged to live at home and take care of her mom, even though she just wants to get out.
Even though this story can feel a little like a fantasy, it is very easy to relate to real life. The whole town thinks Josey just has the most pampered, luxurious life. However, Josey is lonely and empty. She wants to travel and fall in love, but she's stuck in her self-conscious life of guilt. I think many people can be like this. We look at people and assume their happy or lucky or miserable or sad. We judge when really we don't know that person's desires or feelings.
So when Della Lee, a well known screw-up, shows up to hide out in Josey's closet, she's surprised to see Josey's unhappy and unaccomplished life. However, as Josey is forced to let her stay, Della Lee swears to herself that she will help out Josey Cirrini. She turns Josey's nonexistent relationship with her mailman into true love, leads Josey to make friends, and encourages her to break loose from her mother's reign.
The quirky characters of Josey, Della Lee, and Chloe (Josey's new best friend) really make the book. They work together so perfectly in order to tell the story. I recommend this book to any girl. It's a very "coming of age" (haha) story in which Josey learns about her past, her family, and with it creates the [almost] happy ending she always read about books.

The Sugar Queen

I gave up on the book I was reading last week because it was soo boring. So now I'm reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I really like this book, even though I'm not that far into it yet. It's about 27 year old Josey Cirrini. Yeah, usually I stick to reading books about teenagers around my age, but I decided this one looked pretty good. And it is. Josey still lives with her mom, she has no boyfriend, and a really pathetic life. She keeps a stash of sweets, travel magazines, and romance novels. The romance novels because she dreams of being in love, the travel magazines because she desperately wants to leave her town, and the sweets for comfort. She knows none of this will ever happen, though. The mailman she has a huge crush on doesn't even notice her, and she has to stay home and take care of her high-maintenance mom. Josie's mom used to be the most beautiful girl in town, and until now, she never even seemed to age. Josie knows she can't live up to her mother's reputation or beauty so she relies on her sweets and candies for consolation. One day, though, she wakes up to find a woman hiding out in her closet. Josie is forced to let her stay, and in return the strange woman vows she'll help turn around Josie's disappointment of a life.
Welll, I'm curious to see how this story continues. So far, I love Josie's quirky character and her youth. The author is mixing reality with just a tiny smidge of magic. But hopefully it doesn't turn too "hokus pokus" because I don't usually like fantasy books. Anywayss--I'm not far enough into the book to write much about it this week, so yeah !

The House at Sugar Beach

So this week I finished reading Handle With Care. Just like the other books I've read of Jodi Picoult, the whole book was amazing EXCEPT the ending. She always turns the story into a tradegy in the last, like, five pages. From now on, I think I'm just going to stop reading her books before those last few pages because then they would be twenty times better. I'd still recommend Handle With Care to anyone. It has amazing writing and characters. Anyways.. after I finished Handle With Care, I started reading The House at Sugar Beach. I thought I'd give this book a try (even though I usually don't like memiors or nonfiction) because it sounded really interesting. The House at Sugar Beach is about Helene Cooper, now a New York Times journalist, and her childhood as a "Congo." A "Congo" is the term referring to the decendents of emancipated American slaves who founded the country of Liberia. Helene, as a young child, lived in a huge mansion with an easy life handed to her. But, according to the book's inside flap, that easy life isn't going to last for long. In 1980, Helene and her family flees to America because the Congos are being attacked and killed. I'm not very far into this book yet, but I'm having a hard time staying focused. It's kind of boring. I'm going to keep reading, though, because it sounds like an amazing story of Helene's life. How can she go from escaping her home country, scared and in danger, and then become a successfull journalist for a major newspaper. I'm really curious to hear her story so I'm going to keep trudging through this book.

Handle With Care

Soo this week I've gotten farther into Handle With Care and already it took a surprising turn. I'm not going to give away the whole book, but I'll recap a little. The O'Keefe family is struggling with their daughter, Willow, who has a disease causing her bones to break at the slightest touch. Willow's mom, Charlotte, dedicates her whole life to taking care of Willow and making sure she's happy. Sean and Charlotte also have an older daughter, Amelia. Amelia loves her sister and her family, but I can clearly see it's hard for Amelia always being thought of second. Willow is always the first priority.
In the story this week, Charlotte and Sean find out they could file a lawsuit against the nurse who helped with Charlotte's pregnancy with Willow. It turns out Willow's birth can be considered a wrongful birth because the nurse should of detected earlier that Willow had the disease. There's two problems though: 1) If the O'Keefes went through with this lawsuit, they'd be claiming that Willow should have never been born (that's basically what a wrongful birth case states.) and 2) The nurse that they would be suing is Charlotte's best friend. However, if they won the case, so much money and assistance would be gained to take care of Willow.
So this is where the book starts to make you think. Do you put your child before someone who helped raise your child? Willow is a happy, extremely smart five-year old. I think Charlotte should be thankful that Willow's even alive. So why would she file this lawsuit? She loves her daughters and can't imagine feigning that she wishes Willow hadn't been born. Also Charlotte would be betraying her best friend by basically taking money from her when all of Willow's life she's been willing to help. Also, I wonder if Charlotte would file the lawsuit because she feels sorry for herself. She has a right to, I suppose, because it would be so difficult to cope with having a daughter with such a terrible disease. Charlotte might be filing the lawsuit,though, because her best friend has a healthy daughter and therefor owes her something. This story ties to so many things in everyone's lives. Should you make decisions out of self pity? Should you always make sure your future comes first, or be happy in the present? Charlotte could just let Willow be happy with her life now, but she cares more about what will happen to her in the future. There's a lot brought up in this book to think about and I'm really liking it so far !

Handle With Care

I quit the book I was reading last week and now I'm reading Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult. I've read two other books by her, My Sister's Keeper and Nineteen Minutes, which were both amazing so I decided to read this one too. I just started reading Handle With Care so I'm not that far into it yet, but so far it looks like it's going to be really good.
This book is about the O'Keefe family, which consists of Charlotte, Sean, and their kids Amelia and Willow. Willow was diagnosed with OI before she was even born. OI stands for osteogenesis imperfecta and basically it means Willow's bones could break easily, by just picking her up or by a simple sneeze. Willow was born with seven broken bones, with many more to come after her birth. I thought why they chose the name Willow was really interesting. Charlotte wanted to name her Willow because a willow is a tree that bends instead of breaking so the name gives their child hope. I'm not far enough to tell what the book is going to be about, but I predict it will be on how the parents struggle with having a disabled daughter.
One thing I really like about Jodi Picoult, the author, is that she chooses to write about all the topics that people tend to avoid. In Nineteen Minutes, she wrote about a school shooting. In My Sister's Keeper, she wrote about a sister, who's twin had cancer. And now, in Handle With Care she's writing about a couple who just wanted a healthy, perfect baby, but ended up with a disabled one. I like how she tackles all of the controversal topics, especially this one in particular. I think you must be a really strong person to deal with having a disabled child because you have to be brave for the both of you. I've read other stories similar to this one: Marcelo in the Real World, Petey, and then in class we read The Scarlet Ibis. I think stories about people who are different than your average person are important, such as stories about disabled people. It's good to experience all different kinds of people's perspectives. This book does a good job of that because it switches back and forth off of characters' views. Welll, I recommend this book to everyone, and any of her other books also. I'm looking forward to reading more of Handle With Care :D

Shadow Baby

Okay, right now I'm reading a book called Shadow Baby by Alison McGhee. This book is about an eleven year old girl Clara Winter. I really love her character because she's very witty and smart. She has a wild imagination and isn't afraid to speak her mind. The story is set up when Clara has a school assignment in which she must do an oral history project on a senior citizen. Immediately she finds an old man, (who throughout the story she simply refers to as the old man.) Clara and the old man become friends quickly. A lot of times, Clara is the only one talking and goes through many efforts to get the old man to say more. As they spend more time together, however, the old man tells Clara of his childhood and the secrets that come with it. Clara has always been overly curious about her past. She knows she once had a twin sister, and though her mom, Tamar, always denies it, she also knows she once had a father and a grandfather. Throughout the story, Clara struggles to dig out the secrets about her never-spoken-of family. And in the process, makes a friendship with the old man she'll always remember.
As this book started out, I liked it a lot, but now I'm getting kind of bored. I'm going to try to keep reading it though because I want to find out what happens. Even though it's a little boring at the moment, it's still a really good book. The characters are thought out very well and the writing is amazing. Though Clara thinks and acts like she's much older than eleven, the author brings out parts of the story where you can clearly tell her innocence and youth. Clara reminds me sometimes of myself when I was around that age because she thinks she knows everything and she's just really quirky and curious with a vivid imagination. Also she reminds me of some other characters like Madeline or Eloise, like it said on the back of the book. Most of the time I read about books about people my own age, but this one is an important exception. And just because it's about an eleven year old doesn't mean the book was made for eleven year old readers. I'm pretty sure and it would be really hard for an eleven year old to read this book and that they would resort back to their Captain Underpants quickly haha. Anyways, I'm curious to see what Clara finds out about her twin sister so I'm gonna try to finish the book !