Enrique's Journey

http://blogs.uww.edu/introtolatinamerica/2011/11/07/enrique%E2%80%99s-journey-by-sonia-nazario/



Enrique's Journey certainly wasn't a unique one. He, like many other illegal immigrates, accepted the dangers of riding the trains to a new life. I felt like this picture spoke of his experiences. He was constantly running throughout his life. Running to escape trouble. Running to get his next high. Running to escape deportation.  

Preppers

I actually used to make fun of my dad for watching the show "Doomsday Preppers," but after reading Life As We Knew It, I've started to realize that you never realize what the future holds. While my parents aren't quite as extreme as some of the people on that show, my dad thinks it's important to be independent and have the means to be self-sufficient if necessary. This makes sense too.

The characters of the book were in no way prepared for the horror that followed an asteroid's collision with the moon. Even though astronomers were aware that this collision would take place, they didn't know the exact effect and people everywhere were grossly unprepared.  Miranda's family was among them. They thought they would just watch the asteroid hit the moon and then go on about their lives. This event changed their lives though. Earth's climate shifted, gas prices skyrocketed, supermarkets closed, school was almost impossible, and communication was dysfunctional.

This book almost seems to make preppers look like the smart people. While other people were struggling to keep warm in the now unimaginably cold winter, starving without any food, and unable to find clean water, preppers would have been carrying out the plan that they had been devising for years. They would be the ones with plenty of resources.

While an asteroid hitting the moon and having this effect is probably never going to happen, that's not to say something else might not happen. I think it's good to plan for the future, but not to be so captivated with the unknown that a person forgets to live in the present. For now, I guess today's preppers are sitting with their stockpiles waiting for the end of the world.  

Pictures of Hollis Woods

For my Realistic Fiction choice, I read Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff. This is the story of a twelve year old girl struggling through the foster care system. Abandoned as a infant, Hollis Woods has only ever been able to long for a permanent family of her own. She often feels alone in this world, running from foster homes until she is taken to another one. Hollis does have an amazing gift of drawing though. This gift made me think of the quote from Wonder, "the universe takes care of all its birds." Even though Hollis was dealt this incredibly difficult hand, the universe blessed her with the ability to communicate with people through her art. Hollis is able to get work through her problems with her drawings because she sees the world differently when she draws things. This is how she returned to the foster family she loved so much. She had ran away because she thought she was driving a wedge between the father and son, but after working through her artwork from that summer, she realized that it wasn't true. She thought "...sometimes what you see is so deep in your head you're not even sure of what you're seeing. But when it's down there on paper, and you look at it, really look, you'll see the way things are... That's the world, isn't it? You have to keep looking to find the truth." Hollis was able to find that truth and return to her true family.






http://wowlit.org/blog/2011/06/20/responding-to-literature-as-a-community-transactions-with-pictures-of-hollis-wood/

Response to Megan's "the universe takes care of all its birds" Blog

I will be commenting on Megan LaPrade's blog post http://malyalblog.blogspot.com/. I really liked the personal aspects that were added to the blog. She not only commented on the parts of the book that she particularly enjoyed but also added her own reflection and interpretation of what certain quotes meant to her. Because Justin's quote "the universe takes care of all its birds" especially stood out to Megan, she reflected most on this idea. She pointed out that there are less artful ways that society has portrayed this idea. I think this shows that it resonates not only with Megan, but with many people trying to find their strength. I do appreciate how Megan found a sort of inspiration in Auggie's story of strength and perseverance.

Casting August Pullman as "the sun"

Upon my first few sections in the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio, I was not expecting the sort of ups and downs that I would be taken on throughout the story. While I was a little curious as to what August actually did look like, I'm still not sure if I can actually picture him the way that Via describes him in the "August Through a Peephole" section (Pg. 88-89). Yes, the cover does suggest that his ears and eyes are a little lower than usual, the cover does not prepare you for the scars that she describes. This may seem like something that sort of spoils the "wonder" of Auggie for the reader, but it does provide some insight to what he actually looks like. This helps the reader to sort of better understand different scenes where children run away screaming or people audibly react to his appearance. From the description, Auggie does seem like him might be a bit unexpected to say the least.

To me the book is more about Auggie learning to not let those initial reactions get to him. He's learning to focus on the way the universe is taking care of him because "the universe takes care of all its birds" (Pg. 204). Justin, Via's boyfriend, helped to provide those words of wisdom when he entered the Pullman's life. Justin saw what an amazing support system Auggie had for dealing the hand the genetic universe had given him. Justin was able to see Via who loved Auggie unconditionally, Isabell Pullman who did all she could to make sure Auggie was just where he needed to be, Nate Pullman who helped Auggie realize that he couldn't hide from the world behind an astronaut helmet, and of course Daisy who gave Auggie a glimpse of heaven. Auggie wondered shortly after Daisy died "how it would feel to be in heaven someday and not have my face matter anymore. Just like it never, ever mattered to Daisy" (Pg. 227).

While Via does love Auggie very much, there is a sense of her not wanting to be known as "the girl with the deformed brother." Because almost everything in her life does revolve around Auggie or her mom can't watch a movie with her because she has to go pick up Auggie, I can understand how Via sees her universe this way:
"August is the Sun. Me and Mom and Dad are planets orbiting the Sun. The rest of our family and friends are asteroids and comets floating around the planets orbiting the Sun. The only celestial body that doesn't orbit August the Sun is Daisy the dog, and that's only because to her little doggy eyes, August's face doesn't look very different from any other human's face. To Daisy, all our faces look alike, as flat and pale as the moon" (Pg. 82).
I sort of understand what Via feels like in this sibling type of way. It's not that she doesn't love Auggie, it's sort of that she feels like she's not her own person. I understand that because in high school I was sort of known as "Levi's little sister," I was living in his shadow, and I couldn't wait to get to college where no one knew any of my siblings. Here I am my own person. While I do love my brothers and my sister, it is nice to be known for my own actions and not those of my siblings before me. Although my situation isn't quite as extreme as Via's, I can understand that sometimes she wants to be the sun.