Book Three Project

Chelsea  is a Tragic Hero

When reading the book Speechless, your first thoughts of the main character is that she has to be the antagonist. After all, within pages of starting the book she reveals the secret of a boy she knows, to her whole school for purely selfish motives. She tells everyone that he’s gay and the result of this news, a couple of boys from the basketball team go and beat him up.

I was quick to put her in the villain category because surely there’d be no way for her to recover from this.  After hearing that the boy ended up in the hospital, Chelsea is quick to realize what she’s done. She tells her parents and informs the police what happened and who hurt the boy.

Chelsea decides to take an vow of silence, hoping that it’ll teach her to think before she speaks. The vow causes Chelsea to meet some new friends and through a crazy turn of events be able to right all the wrongs she made.  She even goes as far to apologize to the boy she outted and to give up the life of lies she once led. 

Chelsea fits the description of a tragic hero because she made an error. A huge one. One that almost cost a boy his life. And with all of her old friends against her and some new ones to help her, she realizes her mistakes and tries to make up for them. By the end of the book, she was friends with the boy she hurt and even his boyfriend.

Speechless really taught me that the words you say can have a huge impact on another person’s life. A small blurb of gossip here or a not-so-teasing comment there, can hurt someone. I took a lot more away from this book than I had originally suspected and was happy to have this as my book number 3. 

The story of Chelsea being a tragic hero can be a learning experience for all who read this book

Reflection #10

Why We Remember Villains

For me it’s always been easier to remember the villain in a story or a movie. I don’t know if it’s because what they do is so horrendous, but I can never seem to forget them. Their actions seem to overpower the goodness of the hero.

Another reason why villains are so interesting to me is probably because they’re so different than the life I live. I don’t go out killing anyone, so when I read a book or see a movie about a serial killer, I’m always so shocked by their actions. They’re going to be what I remember because those ideas are just too foreign for me.

And finally, in some crazy twisted way, maybe we can relate to the villains. In the movies, whenever the antagonist begins to tell the story of why he turned evil, I always end up feeling sympathetic. It’s not because I agree with what they are doing, but I think that we’ve all felt underappreciated or judged. A lot of the times, it’s because of these feelings that someone becomes a villain. Deep down, we can understand why they choose the path of a villain.

Reflection #9

Speechless has been a great book so far. Although I'm not very far into it, there are three distinct parts that stand out to me as the "spot the moment" scenes. 

The first one is the part where Chelsea asks Tessa, a girl at a party, a couple of questions about a sneaky relationship with her best friend's boyfriend. Now that Chelsea has answers- and proof- she can black mail Tessa into doing something for her. I'm not far enough in to know why Chelsea needs Tessa, but I have a feeling it'll come back later in the book. What made it a big moment so far, was it really revealed Chelsea's character and that she's not as sweet as she seemed in the beginning. I'm predicting that this may be part of the reason Chelsea takes a vow of silence. 

My second "spot the moment" scene is where Chelsea tells everyone about a boy in her grade being gay. As she's narrating the story, she sounds reflective already, which makes me realize that she regrets ever telling anyone about it. Most of the story so far has been Chelsea gossiping and telling other people's secrets. I'm anticipating something bad to happen because of all the rumors she spreads. 

The next scene I got goosebumps reading. The boy the Chelsea outed for being gay ended up having to go to the hospital because he was badly beaten. Whatever Chelsea said to those guys at the party must have enticed them to go and beat up Noah.

 I'm really excited to see what the rest of the story has to offer and see what Chelsea does in reaction to this news.

Top Five Favorite Books Growing Up

My Top 5 Favorite Books Growing Up

1.       Mr. Popper’s Penguins 

 Growing up, this was my all-time favorite book. I could probably still re-read it today and enjoy it as much as I used to. Basically, this book is about a man who receives a penguin in the mail and after a few months another arrives. Eventually 12 penguins are a part of the Popper family and the book is all about how the family learns to love and get along with them.  I think I enjoyed it so much because it was funny and just a strange scenario to imagine. I recommend reading this book if you like funny stories and if you’re a kid at heart.

2. Harry Potter Series


I also religiously read Harry Potter from age 9 and up. Looking back now, it was kind of strange how obsessed I was, but definitely worth it. Harry Potter is about a boy who finds out he’s a wizard and the man who killed his family comes back to take over the wizarding world and Harry is the only one who can stop him. I liked the series so much because of all the twists the plot takes. Not to mention, J.K. Rowling does a great job a creating a clear picture in your mind. Read these books if you like adventure and a story that will always keep you wanting to know what will happen next. Don’t let the fantasy title scare you away.

3.       Two Way Street

My next favorite is Two Way Street. It’s about a couple, who recently broke up, going on a road trip together. I liked it so much because it was funny and was more than just a “romance novel”. The main boy in the story was hiding something and you had to get to the end to find out what it was. I would read this if you like quick reads and humorous stories. It has the Nicholas Sparks feel to it, but without all the sadness. It’s a great read and I still reread it now.

4.       I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have to Kill You (series)

I still remember going to the book fair in sixth grade and picking this book out. I picked it up because I thought the title was funny but ended up falling in love with the books and the series. It’s about a girl who goes to a spy school disguised as a boarding school. She deals with life of being a teenager and going on secret operations. I liked this series so much because when I was little I wanted to be a spy. This book was my dream and to finally see it in book form, made it seem so cool. I would recommend this to any young girl who would like a funny story about an awkward spy girl.

5.       Christy Miller (series)

My friend showed me this series when I was in middle school and I couldn’t put them down until I was completely through them. The story is about a teenage girl finding her faith and dealing with the day-to-day life that any teenager goes through. When I say it like that, it sounds boring, but I promise you that it’s not. I liked it so much because I fell in love with the characters. My friend who showed me this book and I talked about them like we knew them. I was a great series that I would still reread today. You would like this book if you like realistic fiction and stories about faith. It also has a cute love story too, and that never hurts.

These books were my favorite things to read growing up and still have a place on my bookshelf today.

Book Project Number 2

13 Reasons Why in Photos

I read the book 13 Reasons Why, where a girl named Hannah Baker creates a set of 13 tapes, each a reason for why she kills herself. Instead of making tapes like Hannah, I created photos, each trying to depict the main reason on each tape which ultimately results in her suicide. 

Without giving too much away about the book, I'll just explain some of the photos that I took.

In the fourth photo, there's a boy peeking in on "Hannah's bedroom" and taking photos. Hannah explains how this guy from school was watching her and taking pictures of her in her own bedroom. The one place she could escape- her room- now felt violated and all of her privacy was gone. 

In the seventh photo, there's a brown bag with Hannah's name on it. In one of the classes she takes, people  put compliments from the day's discussion in the bag to support one another. Someone begins to steal Hannah's notes of encouragement, which leaves her feeling under-appreciated and depressed.

In the final photo, Hannah tries one last time to reach out for help. She talks to one of her teachers and when he doesn't give her the advice she needs, it confirms her choice to end her life.

I thought that since Hannah chose such a creative way to explain her suicide, that I wanted to capture the same things she talks about, just in a different way. The photos are supposed to represent glimpses in to her life of the things that contributed to her death.