Eleanor and Park is an exceptional novel that really grasped my attention right from the start. Eleanor is a misfit at her new school, and while she acknowledges this she is content with being herself (smart, witty, quirky, etc.) However, it wasn’t until she met Park that she realized that there are truly good people in the world. She had it so rough at home, and she couldn’t even escape the horrors at home because of being bullied by her own classmates, but found comfort at Park’s house. I believe this novel strongly mirrors the realities of life because there aren’t necessarily completely happy endings. Sure Eleanor gets away from her horrible stepdad, but it also means she has to be far away from the love of her life. It’s realistic because it tells us the story of a teenager who has to endure her parents’ divorce, abusive stepdad, and submissive mom. Unfortunately for some teenagers, these experiences are a reality. It’s realistic because Eleanor chose to move far away to escape these awful conditions instead of staying for a boy. It’s a love story on another level. Sure, they love and care about one another, but they haven’t completely lost sight of what is important in their own personal lives. Both Eleanor and Park agree that it is best for Eleanor to leave for her safety, and I feel that in a less realistic novel the lovers would choose to do something ridiculous like ‘run away together’. I like the reality of this novel. I like how at certain points I could relate to the characters. I loved the different perspectives. To be able to know what Park was feeling in a certain moment, and what Eleanor was feeling in another was such a great way to convey their love for each other. This wasn’t just a book about high school love, rather it felt like it was more about soul mates. People who are each other’s best friends and will always look out for one another. It’s beautiful, tragic, exciting, and heartbreaking all at once. I was so disappointed when I finished it because I didn’t want it to end. I hope one day Rainbow Rowell writes a sequel.

so much depends

upon

the gentle rain

glistening

on fields of green

flowers

root inbetween

it truly is a sight to be seen

 

This is my poem based on the original by William Carlos Williams that we read about in Love that Dog. I didn’t intend for it to rhyme. When I was struggling to compose the last line I read through what I had completed so far and noticed it rhymed; naturally I had to make the final line rhyme as well.

I never really understood how to create poetry. In school we would have lessons on poetry that rarely had an impact on me. We would basically read 2-3 poems and then move on. Nothing ever stuck with me. Poetry was just something that existed, but I didn’t have (or want) a relationship with.

I was scared of it because I didn’t understand it. Now after having read Love that Dog and Brown Girl Dreaming, I feel I have a deeper understanding of poetry. Poetry it like art, there is no wrong way to do it. It is there to allow the author to explore their creativity and emotions, and I now see that it is beautiful.

When choosing my series books to read for this class, I was instantly drawn to the Babymouse series by Jennifer L. Holm. Sure I could have read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series because my brother has every book, but I have actually read them all already. To be quite honest, the reason I chose the Babymouse series was because I had already read the first one when it first came out (I must have been eleven at the time). To me, this seems a bit embarrassing because it seems like such an easy read (and yes, it is) and it definitely is at a much lower reading level than and eleven year old should be reading, but I was drawn to its fun colors and cute characters. I read the first book, Babymouse: Queen of the World, so many times it is ridiculous. So to satisfy my inner eleven year old I had to choose Babymouse as my series books. I picked up the sequel, Babymouse: Our Hero and the third book, Babymouse: Beach Babe. 

The Sequel is a cute story about Babymouse not wanting to play dodgeball because the last time she did she lost and was embarrassed. The third book is about Babymouse going on a vacation to the beach and she doesn’t have fun because she is playing by herself (and wont play with her younger brother) but once she realizes that her little brother is her best playmate they do everything together. Looking at the stories now, I can see why I liked the Babymouse book so much even at eleven years old. Babymouse stories are full of life lessons and relatable situations for children. Even now I was smiling reading the Beach Babe book because I could relate. My younger brother is my best friend! Sure we don’t do as much together anymore, but we came up with games, stories, art, basically everything together growing up. I thought that it was a sweet story.

Another aspect of this series that I really like is the use of imagination. Babymouse has moments where her mind takes her to another world. She becomes a ‘mermouse’, an inmate, Peter Pan, and several other characters throughout each story. I think this is wonderful because I feel like it encourages the reader to really use their own imagination like this after they finish the book.

I also really like the use of color in these books. Yes, it is all pink, black, and white. However, I think this use of color is what attracted me to this series in the first place at the age of eleven. Little girls (and I’m sure little boys too!) love pink cutesy girly things. I think this design choice was a great one that really encourages girly girls to read!

I think the purpose of this series is to give the reader a little life lesson in a fun/funny way. The dodgeball one talks about courage and facing your fears, and the beach one is about realizing that your sibling is your best friend. While I understand that older students will not be challenged by the reading, I do think that the life lessons (infused with a little whimsy and humor of course) are important ones that can be beneficial to nearly all age ranges. 

I am absolutely taken away with Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller. To me, reading has always been something I loved, but never made time for. After reading this first chapter, I now want to go to the library and check out a few books to read in my spare time. I had never thought about how I could read in smaller increments throughout the day instead of reading for huge blocks of time. Over the summer I read quite a few books because I was nannying. While the kids were in swim and tennis lessons, I had hours to read. I felt really accomplished and really enjoyed spending a few hours a day out in the sunshine just reading. However, I think the best part was when the youngest child wanted me to read to her. Over this summer I had read to her, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Bunnicula (and its sequel), Junie B. Jones, and several other books that I cannot remember the names of at the moment. The little girl was absolutely taken away with listening to me read to her, and I would read for over an hour before I had to tell her I was getting tired of reading (my voice was definitely scratchy after all that talking). Sometimes I would think she wasn’t listening, but she would ask questions and I knew she was focused on the story. I found this experience to be one that really confirmed that I want to be a teacher. Knowing that the kids I babysat loved reading and learning was really neat, and I felt lucky to be apart of their learning experience.

Now, I’m kind of straying away from the prompt of this blog, but I just really loved reading this chapter. I felt like Miller really captured the importance of reading and she made me realize ways to improve my own reading. I was taken aback however by the section on ‘phony readers’. To me, I would have never thought there would be such students. I loved reading and always looked forward to SSR (sustained silent reading) in my day. To see that some students would go to such lengths just to avoid reading really put in perspective how lucky I am to love reading. My mother is a ‘wild reader’ and so since I grew up around that I appreciate reading. I understand not all students will have this experience though and I hope to be the positive reading role model in my students’ lives! I hope by showing my future students just how wonderful reading can be, that I will eradicate all the phony readers. At the very least, I hope these students with aversions to reading will give it a chance with my guidance. Reading is fun, and my students should have the ability to explore all reading has to offer!