Lesson #1 ( independent book )

When I first started this novel, I instantly thought that it would our typical young adult novel. Caucasian girls who are annoyed with all of the money that their family has. Lesson number one..never stereotype a novel. Yes this novel has caucasian females, but it also contains an African American female as well.
Being one of the few African Americans we have in our high school, I could definitely relate to Ama and the way she sees things. For instance, her hair. Ama has your typical ethnic hair. Her hair requires daily care with certain products, which are not allowed on her hike. Her directors don't understand why it's such a necessity to have them. But I do!!!! My hair is very ethnic, so I also use products. These products help you to manage and maintain your hair, usually to make you hair less ethnic.
Though Ama seems like she drifting away from the story she really isn't. If anything she makes the story more interesting by finding he true potential.

Close connection ( independent book)

In my novel, " 3 Willows", the characters remind me of many girls my age. I have many friends who have known each other since they were young girls, yet they refuse to hang out with one another because they don't fall in the same social circle. I think that it's a bit childish to act this way.
I don't really understand why social status is as important as it is. When I go to college every person is treated as in individual, so why not practice that in high school? In the novel, Ama notices that she isn't really the kind of person to go hiking in the woods. And the other students around her notices this and still talk to her. They talk to her because they know that social statuses aren't natural, they aren't apart of nature. So why do we all act a if they are?
They was a show on television that went to high schools across America, and expressed to students that we are all alike. The characters in this book should look into finding this show and watching it. Maybe it will teach them a bit about our peers and the hidden connections we have with them.

Changes ( independent)

  Remember leaving the eighth grade, and going into high school how easy it was? Yeah, I didn't think so. The transition into the role of a more mature student doesn't come quickly, especially when your friends aren't always there to help you along the way. "3 Willows" by Ann Brashares, explores the relationship between three girls (Ama, Polly, and Jo) trying to overcome their differences and become friends again.
   Jo discovers that being popular comes with a very large bill. She makes fun of her best friend Polly, doesn't speak with Ama, and she disconnects the relationship with her father. But what for? She gets fired from her job, her "boyfriend" leaves her, and her parents are splitting up now. What Jo doesn't see is the path of destruction she caused. Being respected and cared about is worth more than popularity on any scale.
.

Dominating Materials

      Thoreau believed that in order to live well, we must reduce the number of material goods we have. Otherwise things begin to dominate us. In my eyes, this is very true. Nowadays, many material thing (IPod's, XBox's, etc.) aren't things that we necessarily need but want. Many kids often spend hours in front of the television with a controller in their hand, rather than going outside to play. Then when the turn eighteen, they are very lazy and have no ambition to go make something of their lives. This would be okay if on a job application, they asked how many hours you play video games a week.

        To add on to dominating material items, IPods. Each and every morning I listen to my IPod because it bloks out excess noise. But the mornings that I do not have my IPod, it feels like I'm sleeping in the Artic without anything to keep me warm. Painful. I feel as if there is a missing piece to me.IPod's are very useful and fun to have, but happens when you don't have it? Thoreau was right, we need to reduce the number of material items. They're starting to dominate our lives.

Prime Numbers

" Prime numbers are what is left when you have taken all of the patterens away. I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them." - Mark Haddon

  I believe that the qutoe by Haddon is very accurate. Prime numbers are a lot like life itself, specifically the formation of life. For example, Darwin's theory of evolution vs. the religious point of view on how humans were created. Both arugments are very logical, but either way you look at it finding out how humans were created is nearly impossible.

   There is many patterns to life: aging, education, having children, and even falling in love. These patterns are unpredictable, there isn't a specific way to work out life problems. No two people age alike, when age is measured in maturity. No one has experience or opinion on their education. Everyone has children at different ages ( both the parents and the kids). Some people fall in love young, while others may fall in love when they feel older and more mature. We appoint life to patterns, but in reality there are no patterns.