So I’m extremely confused about what was required for us blog-wise this week so I responded to my two literature homies and now blog a little about the book I’m reading. I also apologize for the lack of punctuality, it is very uncharacteristic of me I promise but it’s just been a really rough week. Anyways, to the book….

I’m only on chapter five because I keep finding poetry books and reading those entirely in one day (BTW PLEASE KIM JAXON CHECK OUT SALT- Nayyirah Waheed. It’s FREE for kindle on amazon. She covers a variety of controversial subjects ranging from love, to white supremacy, to racism, etc. creatively and romantically put together in the form of thought provoking poems. A MUST READ.) Okay back to the beginning of The Fault of Our Stars, I’m just starting so not much has happened although I have been caught multiple times imagining the movie while I read. There is however, differences so if you have watched the movie and don’t feel like reading the book, trust me you don’t know it all. I feel like I can relate to the book version “Just Hazel” more because there is more detail and more of her thoughts described in the book versus the movie that give you a more well-rounded idea of “Just Hazel”. The way the “Just Hazel” recounts what it feels like to have cancer reminds me of how I felt while I was going through various things. I know the statement I just made is very vague and how could I possibly compare a life threatening disease to “various things” but her struggle hits home with the feelings I’ve felt before.

But something that bothered me about the book is when Hazel (the author) calls V for Vendetta a boy movie. 1.) It upset me because AS A GIRL it is one of my favorite movies of all time and 2.) Goes back to social constructs of society, what it means to be a boy or girl, and how literary works (As well as personal statements, media, advertising) define and impact the way we think. I am completely aware that John Green’s intentions were not to imply or make the assumption that all girls are not allowed to watch movies of intelligence or action such as the historical and futuristic satire like V for Vendetta, and they are only allowed to watch shallow movies where the main concept is a girl falling in love with a boy, aka “girl movies”. Do not get me wrong I loved the movie the Fault of Our Stars, I will probably love the book as well, and I don’t mean to personally attack John Green because it’s not just John Green who has contributed to the social construct that imprisons both genders – it’s everyone. I don’t mean to make something out of nothing but after our class discussion I have been more conscious of what is said by people or in the media; even if it is, just ONE sentence in a book, The Fault in Our Stars is read by many girls who will now think V for Vendetta, a highly intellectually stimulating movie, is now off limits because it has been deemed a “boy movie”. These comments people make are the equivalent of littering, at first it’s just one piece of trash and soon it escalates to an even bigger problem, like pollution or ocean contamination.  So think before you expel your trash and trashy thoughts out to the world.

Chapter one

Miller discusses and brings up such important points about reading that I’ve never realized. I had one teacher in the fourth grade, Mrs. Schmidt, who reminds me so much of Miller and the way she conducts her classroom with a great emphasis on reading. Mrs. Schmidt was the first teacher I had to ever care about her students enjoying the books they read and she was dedicated to doing whatever it took to get her students to read. It’s because of her that I have some wild reader characteristics in me. I want to find my way back to being a wild reader and Miller inspires me to change the way I see reading while providing concrete evidence supporting how and why it’s necessary that I teach my future classes how to be wild readers as well. Throughout the book, but I’ll just discuss the first chapter, she consistently challenges the standard concept of reading, for example she compares required independent reading time in class to band and choir practice within school, students in these extra curricular activities are expected to do well given the extra time in school to practice, well why isn’t the same logic applied to reading?

When I lived in the city, there would be a lot of times I had to wait for the bus or bart so I began carrying a book with me everywhere I went just like in “reading on the edge” and “reading emergencies”. Reading in the wild, especially as an adult, you have to take advantage of those sacred moments because getting a straight uninterrupted 30-minute period is rare. It’s only the first chapter and already, Miller has made me realize the flaws within my own reading habits and methods; going through this process of self-realization and teaching myself how to become a wild reader, will only strengthen my ability transform or shape my students reading habits into becoming wild readers.