The Fault in Our Stars

My book club and I just finished reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. For those of you who have not joined the growing group of people who have read this book, it centers around Hazel, a 16 year old three year survivor of stage 4 thyroid cancer. For the past three years, her lungs had been alternately filling with and draining out water, causing a slow and inevitable drowning. She had been living a life of watching television, going to a support group, and going to school, in a steady circle. But her life was soon drastically altered by the appearance of the dashingly handsome, charming, witty, and one-legged Augustus Waters. He himself was now FOC (free of cancer) after his leg had been amputated. Upon meeting at support group, Hazel and Gus immediately formed a connection, and the connection brought a whole new phenomenon to Hazel's life: love.

A question my book club brought up prior to reading this book was "what obstacles do the characters face?" I think that the obvious major obstacle Hazel faces, cancer, which holds not only death but the destruction of body and mind, actually aplies to almost everyone in the book. Hazel and her friend Issac, are affected by cancer because it is currently invading and destroying their bodies, leading to the inevitable blindness of Issac and death of Hazel. They have to cope with the facts that their lives and sight are on time limit. Augustus faces cancer in a different way; he sees it as something that has destroyed his physicality, his talent at basketball. what Gus wants most, live the majority of people, is to be special, to leave a mark on the world. But ***SPOILER ALERT*** when his cancer returns, he has to face that he will never be famous, or make a world wide impact, he will just be Augustus. These all examples of the direct affects of cancer and its physical destruction.

Cancer, however, destroys indirectly as well, affecting those who watch it overtake someone—namely, Hazel's parents. While perfectly healthy themselves, they have to overcome the obstacle of cancer affecting their daughter. This is difficult, because they do have to deal with all of the effects of cancer vicariously through someone they love, not able to stop it. Here, the obstacle is not cancer, but helplessness, a side affect of the disease. All of the parents featured in the book must deal with the fact that they can't stop cancer from claiming their children. Even Peter Van Houten, the author, living in Amsterdam, of An Imperial Affliction, who's daughter died at amoung age of the disease.

In conclusion, I think that cancer, with all of the emotional side affects it entails, touches everyone in the book. It shows how interconnected everyone is, both in and out of the book. It shows how if you care about someone, you live with them, not as a bystander. I thought that this was an amazing book, and while I don't recommend this to those who dislike sad endings, I do to those who want an honest, emotional, and clever read.

Why We Broke Up

I recently finished the book Why We Broke Up, written by Daniel Handler. I must confess, I initially bought this book because (please withhold all judgements) of the beautiful, beautiful pictures. You may be put off due to the fact that the book comes only in hardcover, and weights about 25 lbs, but this is beacause the thick, glossy pages are sectioned off with full page, full color, gorgeous paintings documenting the story. The book follows Min, a unique and clever and, despite her hatred of the word, artsy junior, and her relationship with universally revered Ed, a jock if there ever was one. It's strange format is as follows; the book itself is a 300+ letter to Ed, from Min, explaining to him why they broke up. It is attached, as she originally states, to abox filled with seemingly insignificant items that are in fact all related to the epic tale. These are the items (including two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a box of matches, a folded origami note, a rubber band, a high school pennat, a toy truck, a recipe book, an egg cuber, a comb from a motel room, and a pair of ugly earrings) that are depicted in the photos.

I ended up liking this book more than I thought I would. I could relate to Min, and though the book wasn't the most intellectually stimulating, I enjoyed it none the less, and it made a fair few thought provoking points. It is written believably, a stream of words lacking grammar but bursting with emotion and (obviously) angst. I also liked how Min, despite being mind-numbing lay infatuated, didn't drop her brain off sometime in the middle of the relationship, as I have seen many do in my time as I reader. She wasn't so easily pushed over. Now, this is not to say that she remained levelheaded and practically intelligent throughout the book— the reason they broke up was clear to me far before it was to Min. But I think it is especially hard to be objective in situations involving People you know and love.

Overall, I thought this book was highly enjoyable, and I recommend it to anyone. Also if you love coffee (or as Min more accurately refers to it, Life Giving Brew) you will find a character similarly in love with it in its proper state: drowned in cream and sweetened with at least 3 packets of sugar.

The Secret Cellar

The Secret Cellar, by Michael D. Beil, is the forth installment of The Red Blazer Girls Series. I recently reread the series, and found it—if possible—to be even better than my first time through. If I was pleasantly surprised by the first one book I was astounded by the second, and the third, and the fourth.. The plot in this book was much more interesting, with richer and more believable character development, a wider variety of settings, and a plot filled with surprise and intrigue. An added bonus was the codes and riddles the girls had to decipher; they were extremely fascinating, and it was fun to try to decode them before the characters did. The writer also has a great sense of humor—the main character, Sophie St. Pierre, is hilariously honest in her narrations, and is such a funny, relatable character that more than once did I have to make an effort to not start laughing in the middle of a crowded subway car. I also love the books portrayal of the city, with its diverse and odd variety of people and places, from the small, musty violin shop run by a kind, aged Polish-man and to a small coffee shop who's one floor is partially submerged below street level, hosting a mixture of dilapidated couches and banged-up tables, arranged artfully on a sticky floor, commonly frequented by schoolgirls in vermillion blazers, who are served by baristas with oversize glasses or pink-streaked hair.

The series follows the escapades of four teens—Sophie, Margaret, Becca, and Leigh Ann—who attend St. Veronica's School on the East Side of Manhattan. After accidentally stumbling on a decades old mystery involving a famed ring, the girls find themselves presented with multiple cases. The case the girls are working on in The Secret Cellar began with Sophie attempting to find a Christmas gift for her father. She thinks she has found the perfect one in an antique fountain pen she wins at the auction of a recently diseased old man. When she finds a message hidden in the pen written by the man shortly before he died, the girls investigate. At his large house they find a vast and magnificent room where the basement should be, empty except for a large round table depicting a perfect map of the stars, with a ceiling hand painted with the planets and zodiac constellations, walls and floors tiled in blackest granite and marble, and decorated with golden medallions set in the walls and floor that are etched with designs that they discover, when turned in the right direction, unlock a hidden door to a secret cellar holding untold riches. I cannot WAIT for the next book—I'm excited to see how the story continues. I recommend it to everyone!

Messy

After finishing Messy, a book written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, a duo famous for their   snarky and hilarious celebrity fashion blog, I was in a state of shock. The book followed Spoiled, in which after the death of her mother, sixteen-year-old Molly Dix must go live with the father she never new she had: world-famous movie star Brick Berlin, and her gorgeous, spoiled half-sister Brooke. While at first Brooke attempts to do everything in her power to sabotage Molly, Molly endures her sister's siege, and the two become close. Along the way, Molly befriends Max (Maxine) McCormack. Messy follows Max, mainly secluded and slightly cynical, attempting to get a job to raise money for the NYU summer writing program. Desperate to get away from the notoriety-seeking people of LA, she believes she has found the perfect opportunity when an anonymous request for a blogger to write under the name of an up-and-coming teen It Girl appears online. She soon finds out that the "It Girl" is none other than Brooke, who she loathes. Both girls are shocked when the blog becomes huge, and find themselves becoming friends the more time they spend together. But it isn't long before the lie threatens to blow up in both of their faces. The who,e situation becomes very, very messy.

I read Spoiled, and thought it was entertainingly enjoyable, but I was blown away by Messy, which exceeded all of my expectations. Told from Max's perspective, It was hilarious, and brutally honest, with ironic observations about the outrageousness of Hollywood. The writing was descriptive, and I especially enjoyed the various references to and commentaries on pop culture. What really made this world of fame-fueled, image-obsessed people relatable were the desires shared by people world-wide—to be noticed, to be liked. The unique and rich personalities were the touch that enhanced the entire book. Brooke and her demanding charisma, Max and her smart snark. I think that this book appeals to a lot of people, and I highly recommend it as a future read.

Bright Young Things

Recently, I was pleasantly surprised by Bright Young Things, by Anna Godbersen. Similar to her first series, the Luxe, which followed the interweaving stories of the high society residents of New York City in 1889, the series's three books center around three friends and their exploits in the NYC summer of 1929. In the book, Cordelia Grey and Letty Larkspur have just escaped from the stifling confines of Union, Ohio, the small town the girls grew up in. They are heading to the city, Letty with dreams of being a singer/actress, Cordelia with hopes of finding her estranged father, Darius Grey, now an extremely rich bootlegger, profiting off the market of illegal alcohol in the age of Prohibition. When Cordelia seeks him out at Dogwood, his colossal estate on Long Island, he welcomes her. There she meets Astrid Donal, the gorgeous and vivacious girlfriend of Cordelia's brother Charlie. The girls soon become friends, but the life Cordelia has just discovered, and the life of her father, is soon threatened by Darius's rivals, the Hales.

I really enjoyed this book, much more than I thought I would. The plot was engaging and surprising, and I thought Godbersen did a great job balancing going back and fourth between the events happening to each girl. It was fast-paced without being confusing. The writing was descriptive, and I especially loved the details that were specific to 1929.  The book was also chalk full of dramatic irony. In the prologue it talks a bit about the 1920s, and the lats sentence is "at the end of the fateful summer, one would be famous, one would be married, and the other would be dead," which stays with you thought the entire book. Another piece of dramatic irony was the whole time period. I know that the stock market crash that started the Great Depression took place at the end of 1929, so I know that after this last summer, things are going to change dramatically. Overall, it was a great book, and I can't wait to see what else she has written.

A Fiery Tide

It is bittersweet with a dark, rich tang.
Sometimes light's blinding; it seems you can't miss,
When overwhelmed with life's boisterous bang,
Then you're pulled in a despair-filled abyss.

It ebbs and flows in a varying beat.
Like the tide, lead by a glowing beacon,
A pounding heartbeat like feet on a street,
The beacon hope; refusing to weaken.

But we continue, despite obstacles.
Choosing to work for the beauty, the light.
Finding joy in a simple popsicle,
Hoping to find happiness after plight.

Do not be deterred by life's chill bite,
Its fire will warm you, red, burning, and bright.

Martin Espada

In class we have recently read the poems "The New Bathroom Policy at English High School," "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson," and "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877," by Martin Espada. They all share a central theme—discrimination, prejudice, and ignorance towards another culture.

In "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson," a principal overhears a group of boys conversing in Spanish. He doesn't understand the language but recognizes his own name. He shows prejudice by making the assumption that the boys were speaking negatively about him, and banning Spanish in the bathrooms. He didn't bother to talk to the boys about what they had said. This is discriminatory towards all Spanish-speakers in the school, not just the boys in the bathroom, as he generalized the entire Latino/Hispanic population in the building instead of focusing on the boys. He assumed that all Spanish-speakers were in the wrong when it was only a few boys who may not have been speaking negatively about him in the first place. The discriminatory connotation of the principal's actions are central to the text.

In  "Revolutionary Spanish Lesson," The narrator says "whenever my name is mispronounced" implying that it is mispronounced often. While it is understandable that a name, especially if it is uncommon to the person saying it, will be mispronounced, continuing to mispronounce it after being corrected a number of times shows disrespect and flippancy towards the culture of that person. this is an example of discrimination, because it shows the unjust and prejudicial actions of not bothering to pronounce the name of an individual of a foreign culture. My name, Selena-Alicia Martínez, is often pronounced 'Sah-lee-na Ah-lee-sha Mart-in-ez' rather than 'Sah-lay-na Ah-lee-see-a Mart-een-ez.' While I know that usually it is purely accidental, I can understand the feelings of exasperation in Espada's poem. Continued mispronunciation is a form of disrespect, which is a form of discrimination, which can inspire the angry emotions present in this particular poem. The common mispronunciation of the narrator's name is a major theme in the poem.

The poem "Two Mexicanos Lynched in Santa Cruz, California, May 3, 1877," is about a group of men who lynched two people for the 'crime' of being native to another country. The "gringo vigilantes cheered the rope that snapped [the necks of] two Mexicanos," states the poem. This is a huge example of discrimination because it shows people judging others by ethnicity, something that no one can control about themselves and no one should be persecuted for, to an extent where they go so far as to kill them for their race. The abhorrence towards a person based on their origin is a huge main idea in this poem.

In conclusion, unjust and prejudicial treatment of people based on their ethnicity is a theme in all of the Martin Espada poems we read in class. Whether clearly stated or underlying, it is always evident.