Under the Looks

   Hooray! I recently just finished an amazing book called Echo by Pam Munoz Ryam. This book is hand off one of the best books I've ever read, besides The Grimm Conclusion. However, this book has its differences. For one, this book has 587 pages, which makes this longest book I've ever read. Also, there are no grim things in the boo k. And the point of view in the book is different also (blog on that coming soon!) Anyways this book is about three different people and their story, Friedrich, Mike, and Ivy. All of three of them have a taste in music, and a harmonica. And this harmonica isn't just any harmonica, it's a special harmonica. How is it special, you ask? Well, one is when played it sounds as if there are other instruments playing with it. Also, the letter M is on the harmonica. And each time the character play it, it takes them to another world,
 But, their story takes place in different times and places. For example Friedrich's story/life takes place in Trossingen, Baden-Wurttemberg German, in the year 1933. While Ivy's story/life takes place in Southern California, USA, in the year 1942. This book definitely has its ups and downs, which makes me made, but still want to continue reading. Try giving this book a read, and hopefully you enjoy it as much as I did! However, this is not what I wanted to blog about. I want to blog about the similarities and differences this book, specifically Friedrich's life, has compared with the book Wonder by R.J. Palacio.
   The book Wonder is about a boy who has a disability, which makes him look different than other people. He also talks about the difficulties he has with being different than everyone else and having to deal with his newest obstacle, school. This is kind of similar to Friedrich's story in the book Echo. He doesn't have a disability, but he does have a birthmark on his cheek, that make people look at him. A quote form the book says "But there was no hiding his blotchy birthmark. It was as if an imaginary line had been drawn down the middle of his face and neck. And on one side, his skin was like everyone else's, but on the other, a painter had dabbed shades of purple, red, and brown, turning his cheek into a mottled plum. He knew he looked horrid. How could he blame people for staring or being frightened?" This quote shows that the book Echo and Wonder are similar because it was their appearance that caught people's eye. Disability or not people started at what was different from them.
   Even though there are similarities between Echo and Wonder, there can be differences too and one being the theme. The theme is the message or moral of a story. One of the themes in the book Wonder is just because someone looks different than you, doesn't mean that you both have similarities. Mostly because throughout the middle to the end of the book, all goes well for August and people ended up seeing him beyond his face. And one possible theme for the book Echo is what goes around, comes around. There are other possible themes in the book, I just think that one fits the book. To prove you guys that what goes around, comes is a possible theme for the book Echo, I will have to look at the last part of the book. Before a new part in the story starts it shows tells the reader the month, year, and place the next story takes place, with a song on the next page. The song in part four of the book is called Some Enchanted Evening. The lyrics in the book perfectly explains why I think the theme of the book is what goes around, comes around. The lyrics say "Some enchanted evening. You may see a stranger. You may see a stranger, across a crowed room. And somehow you know. You know even then. That somewhere you'll see him again and again." This song from the book is important because it's saying that someone or some people are reuniting in the book. And the people ended up meeting after using an object, that was given away for the next musical person to use in the next few years. As you can see the theme for the book Wonder is different from the book Echo. Wonder focuses more on August's story, like is struggles and good days. While Echo focuses more on three different people who are musical and only one of the people worry about how they look, in front of other people.
   There you go. Those were some similarities and differences I found in the book Echo compared to the book Wonder. If you do end up reading Echo or even Wonder, I hope you enjoy it. Echo does have happy parts and sad parts and ruin the happy parts, but makes you keep reading, I still kept reading and I ended up finishing the longest book I've ever read. I wonder if I'll read any books longer than that. Did you read any books longer than 587 pages? Also, if you already read Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan, did you enjoy it or hated it? I know I said this ten times, but I did really enjoy it, and really hope you do to.

Spring Break Problems

   Hello everyone, I hope you guys are having a great day! So today I checked the weather, and this week is going to be around the 50's. To me, that's exciting because it tells me that Spring is coming closer, and I don't have to worry about freezing to death when I walk home from school. It'll just be relaxing smelling the nice fresh air. Since Spring is almost around the corner, that also means Spring break is coming closer too. I have two emotions when a Spring break comes to mind, happy/ excited and sad/nervous. "Why, Spring break is suppose to be relaxing and cheerful because you get a whole week off of school," is what you're saying or thinking and I have to agree. But also, disagree. Why? Multiple reasons. One, I usually don't do anything in Spring Break, just watch YouTube videos all day. Two, I possibly will not go outside because I am quite lazy. Three, after Spring Break there are going to be very few weeks until the quarter ends, so I have to get stuff done before that, which can be a little stressful.

   However, I would like to do something interesting during Spring break. Like go outside at least once, or going outside and draw/paint. Unless the weather is bad, then I can draw/paint or throw a ball around and try to catch it (without breaking anything.) Do you have any ideas about what I can do for Spring break, besides watch YouTube videos. Also, nothing too extreme, something nice,calming, and entertaining. Anyways, do you guys have any plans for Spring break that similar or different than mine, which you probably do, considering I'm doing absolutely nothing interesting. How about we just believe that you and I will have a decent Spring break, and enjoy the relaxing week off school.

The Truth

   Welcome back to my final blog on signpost I found in the book, The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz! Today's signpost blog is going to be about A-HA Moments. In case you don't know A-HA moments happen when the character(s) in your book realizes, understands, or figures something out. It's like in Scooby Doody-Doo when the gang finds out who the "ghost," is. Or in Criminal Minds, when the gang find out who the killer is. Or in Toy Story, when Buzz and Woody find out they're not that different at all, and they're equal. So, it's kind of like the end of a Disney movie, everything is solved and they all live happily ever after. Anyways, let's get onto the point. In the book, I found that the A-HA is when Jorinda and Joringel realize that the "advice" their mother gave them wasn't good adivce at all. However when I hold it I saw that they're split in two different pages. On one page it is the beginning of the realization and on the other is the actual A-HA moment. If you don't understand, then just give me a minute or two, to explain. Now let us begin.

   The first A-HA moment I found is kind of a mini A-HA moment, like I said, the start of the realization. This happens on 218, when the children talk to the man. I've talk about this man in part one of the signpost blogs (Good and Bad Words). He is the one who said the good words of the wiser to Jorinda and Joringel. But I didn't mention that it was also an A-HA moment, or at least a tiny one. He says to the children "All I'm trying to say is that it's okay to feel things sometimes. In fact, I think feeling things, even painful things, can be good." This advice shows that the children are beginning to understand that their mother's adivce isn't good adivce, a   This quote from the book is the actual A-HA moment Jorinda and Joringel had. On page 270, Jorinda and Joringel are talking to a creature and his grandmother (trying not to spoil.) The grandmother wanted the children to tell their story because she wanted to know why they were there in the first place. They tell their story, which probably took a long time, and when they finished the grandmother felt bad for them. She said their mother neglected them and the children disagree. Jorinda and Joringel blame themselves for all that happened and they had made horrible desisions. The grandmother completely disagrees with both of them, she tells them that they shouldn't blame themselves for their actions and even though some of their desisions were dumb, but they were for the better. She also said, it's their mother's fault for giving them terrible adivce. The next paragraphs after that says, "Tears slowly made their way over the children's cheeks. They shrugged. But Jorinda smiled. Joringel half laughed. 'It was kind of silly,' Joringel rough a crooked grin, sniffling. 'We were just born.' 'Yeah,' agreed Jorinda. 'That's all we did. And I wanted to marry a prince. That's not so bad.' 'Not so bad at all,' Joringel said. 'Not so bad at all.' He signed a deep, rattling sign." This clearly shows that Jorinda and Joringel realize that their crazy life isn't their fault. Also, the line "Tears slowly made their way over the children's cheeks," shows that they accept the fact that it's okay to cry/their mother's advice was horrible adivce, by letting tears roll down their cheeks.

   And that is the end of my final blog about signpost, I really hope you enjoyed reading it, and are convinced to reading the book The Grimm Conclusion. Let me know what you think it, or if you find the same or different sighpost! "See" you next blog, bye!

Same Words, Same Memories

   Hello everyone, welcome to part 2 of my signpost blogs. This signpost blog is going to be special because I am going to be writing about 2 signposts, memory moments and again & again. Like I said last time these signposts are going off from the book The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz. Memory moments is when the author interrupts the action to tell a memory. Again and again is when a word, phrase, object, or situation is mentioned over and over again. You can kind of see why I'm putting these two signpost together. Let's start with again and again.

   Now the phrase that keeps repeating over and over is the terrible advice Jorinda and Joringel's mother gave them, or words of the wiser (signpost blog part 1 'good and bad words'). In the first blog I said that those words haunted those two throughout the book, always in the back of their heads. Well here is my evidence. On page 25, it says "Jorinda, kneeling beneath the tree, tried to choke back the tears that pressed at her eyes, just as her mother had told her to do." This quote proves that the words her mother said to Jorinda affected her, she thinks it the right thing when really it not. 

   In the book I marked every time the phrase is repeated, or parts of it and there are a lot of sticky notes in this book. But on page 170 and 175 it shows how it affects Jorinda and Joringel, and to me it was sticking out, more than the other times the phrase pops up into the children's heads. Page 170 says, "Don't feel it, Jorinda told herself. Smother it down, choke it back stamp it out." Also, in the next paragraph it says she frowned at people who waved, fighting the pain she had. On page 175, it shows what Joringel did, with his mother's words in his head. It says, "Choke it back, he thought. Just as he managed to wrestle the sickness in his stomach into submission...." Those two quotes are important because it also shows that the phrase keeps popping up in Jorinda and Joringel's mind, as the story continues. Now it's time for memory moments.

   Memory moments and again & again to me are similar. They both involve with going into the past, which is why I up them together in one blog. There are fewer memory moments in the book than again & again, but it's a decent amount. An example of a memory moment is when the children think about their home, and the things their mother did. The text says, "At night, thought of her mother's closed study door, and of a great iron stew pot, and of her brother standing and watching her ride away rose before her whenever she closed her eyes." This shows that she remembers her mother's closed study door, and it must have affected her a lot, which also causes her to remember the words her mother gave her, over and over again. 

   This happens again when Jorinda and Joringel meet the man who gave them good words of the wiser/advice. Before the man tells them the words, Jorinda and Joringel tells the man parts of what their mother told them (bad words of the wiser) and he is saying is that what you really need to do, to help ease the pain. Then the text says, "Memories pressed down upon the two children. Closed doors. Chests of apples. Birds and stepsister and princes on horseback. Their faces flushed. Jorinda's nostrils trembled. Joringel was holding hid reddening eyes open unnaturally wide." Clearly, this shows that all the past events that happened to the two of them, which includes trying not to cry or choking back the tears, came crashing down. They're realizing that is not how you deal with pain. And I agree with both of them.

Good and Bad Words

   Hello everyone! I hope you guys are having a wonderful day. Now, for today's blog I am going to be writing about different signpost I saw in the book The Grimm Conclusion by Adam Gidwitz. If you don't know the book The Grimm Conclusion, it is the last book of three, that tells the real story's of fairytales. The first book is called A Tale Dark and Grimm, where it tells the true story of Hansel and Gretal. The second book, In a Glasss Grimmly, tells the true story of Jack and Jill. The third and final book, tells the story of Jorinda (YOUR-INDA) and Joringel (YOUR-INGLE). These guys were born in an odd way and they're story is also quite odd and Grimm. In fact all three books have Grimm details in them. Grimm means "ghastly, repellent, and sinister," (exact definition in the book.) It basically means it has blood, guts, and multiple deaths, which is explained in vivid detailed. Read these books at you're own risk, I promise you will like it (hopefully.)

   Anyways, let's get to the point. The reason this blog is being created is because I found 4 different signpost in the book and I am going to write about them. All the signpost that I found mix in together, which is pretty cool! The first signpost that I found in the book is Words of the Wiser. Words of the Wiser is when someone old or wise tells the main character(s) advice and it either helps the character(s) or not. Some books only have one words of the wiser but The Grimm Conclusion has two, one is good one is bad. The bad one was in the beginning of the book when Jorinda and Joringel's mother gives them "advice". She says, "And never cry. Choke back your tears. Tears are waves on the ocean of sadness. You will drown in them if you're not careful. Believe me. I know." This quote is important because throughout the book those words kept coming back in childrens' minds. Like they were stamped on their brains.

   The good one is near the ending of the book when they are talking to a man (trying not to spoil). He said "All I'm trying to say is that it's okay to feel things sometimes. In fact, I think feeling things, even painful things, can be good." This quote is also important because it kind of changed the way Jorinda and Joringel feel things. They have been told terrible advice, by their own mother, and this man tells them that's not how it goes. I guess you can say their minds have been blow, with realization.

   In the end, this book was enjoyable and I'm kind of sad that there are no more books after this one, which is probably the third and final book is called The Grimm Conclusion. It wasn't just thedetailed Grimm stuff that made this book great, it was also the different emotions I had. Most of them were shocking, but it did have a some sad and happy parts. The story in all three books were very unique, and made me realize that this is extremely different from the story's Disney tells us. I guess they don't want us to know the truth. It too late now, I know what really happened, you can too if you read A Tale Dark and Grimm, In a Glass Grimmly, or The Grimm conclusion by Adam Gidwitz.

Anne Frank and I Problems

   For the past few days my ELA class was reading Anne Frank's play. I think it was pretty similar to the diary (didn't read the diary) but I did get to know the story of Anne Frank and her family. If you don't know who Anne Frank is, then I'll tell you. Anne Frank was a girl who hid away with her family for a few years from the Nazi soilders, who were trying to kill her and her family because they were Jewish. While hiding Anne had a diary and wrote in it. Sadly the Nazi soilders found her and her family and killed them all. However, her diary was found and people told her story about hiding away from the Holocaust. While hiding away from the Nazis,

Stand Up!

   First of all I think people stood by and just watch others get hurt because they thought it wasn't a big deal and will wait until the situation gets bigger. However, this is a bad idea because the situation will get worse and now people can't do anything about, since it's already too big. Second of all, people stood by and watch because they were afraid that it was going to happen to them, they thought they were going to get attacked. However, even if you did not do anything, and you were Jewish, Gypsies, or homosexual, then you would be attacked as well. I think what inspired others to stand up/resist to the Nazis was they knew that this wasn't fair to the Jewish people. Also, they knew it was the right thing to help them even if they had to risked their lives. If I was in one of the people's shoes I think in would have help some of the Jewish people. Why? It's because people shouldn't be kill for that kind of reason. Being killed because of your religion, it not fair. I think I would kind the Jews in a chamber like how the family hide Ann Frank and her family. Or have them "work" in a factory when really there also hiding, like what Oskar Schindler did. Who knows maybe I could have saved a lot of Jewish people in that time, just how those people helped a lot of Jews.