Erik Sagrero – Blog 7
Wild Readers Show Preferences:
In Chapter 5 in Reading in the Wild, Miller presented me with information and ideas that I didn’t consider before reading the chapter. While reading I was interested in how on she created and examined student progress so that she incorporate different book genres in her lesson plan that would require her students to be exposed to genres that are out of their comfort zones. Introducing students to a wide range of genres aids to their development because they begin to have an understanding of what type of book they are interested in and find answers to why they dislike other books. When a classroom works and has open discussions about books they are reading they are given a chance to talk about their favorite books and which books they’d recommend to their classmates.
After finishing the Reading in the Wild book, I noticed that I need to read more books outside of my prefered genres. Reading more books makes it easier to be able to provide students with recommendations that are worth their time and books they’d enjoy. I wasn’t always a fan of reading because I wasn’t able to sit in one place for a long period of time without being distracted, but once I began to test other reading methods then I began to read more and find books that are challenging but enjoyable. To improve my reading habits I began to create goals for when I’d finish books and create time so I can go to the library and browse the newly released books.
The Hate U Give:
In the novel The Hate U Give we are presented with different characters who have different outlooks on life due to childhood experiences. One character I want to look at is Starr’s Maverick Carter (aka Big Mav). Maverick is a prideful black, tall, and muscular male with gang tattoos. As a child Maverick lived in an area that was full of injustice and violence that would make him join a local gang. Due to thing he did while in the gang Maverick would be forced to spend three years in a prison while his wife Lisa was pregnant and would later give birth to Starr. Seeing that he was missing important times of Starr’s life he changed his ways, he left the gang and went on to open a grocery store in Garden Heights. Maverick is a supportive father who wanted the best for his kids and only want to keep them away from the gang life because he knows it isn’t the best life. In the beginning of the story Starr and her friend Khalil were stopped by a police officer and then during the traffic stop the officer would draw his gun and kill Khalil who was unarmed. The news and some police officers said that Khalil was a gangster and drug dealer to make it seem like the police officer did the right thing. Her father Maverick wants justice for Khalil murder and encourages Starr to tell her community what really happened the night of Khalil’s death. Maverick is aware of the evils that black communities are faced with and he wanted to change that and make it right, he tells his daughter that when giving her side of the story to make that “nobody’s going to twist her words around…we want the truth to come out.”
I’m really enjoying this novel and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to see how perspective change the outcome of an event. What one person sees/says isn’t always what really happened, Angie Thomas wrote a perfect novel for young adults. When you begin reading it you see how Starr and her community are step out to look like gangsters and drug dealers. The Hate U Give is currently my favorite book that I’ve read this semester, after completing it I’d like to watch the movie that recently released.