Blog 7 (Amreena Khan)

Part 1

Reading in the Wild is a great book with fantastic ideas to enhance reading for self and children. After reading this book and reading different chapter books for this class my entire perspective on reading has changed. I developed an interest for reading like never before. I find myself making time to read and setting goals of how much to read in a certain time period. I have books in line to read one after the other. I don’t consider reading as a task anymore I do it for my own pleasure and Reading in the Wild is the book which had me realize this. I have decided to keep this routine and increase my goal with time. For a classroom, I really like the idea of having children set their own goals and once they have accomplished it pushes them to increase their goal. This gives children the pleasure of accomplishment and keeps them on track. It may also have them taking part in a competition with friends and peers. Giving authority to children on reading goals can make a big difference in reading habits.

Part 2

Eleanor is a girl in high school who is known to be different from other kids. You can say she doesn’t “fit in”. The reason for this is her physical appearance. She dresses like men is chubby and has curly bright red hair. Although she is aware that she doesn’t fit in she doesn’t make the effort to not be prominent but rather stands out. Her stepfather is mean and violent and her mother doesn’t stand against him. This makes her home environment very horrible and negative. Eleanor doesn’t have a good experience with other kids, she is made fun of and is called names like “Big Red”.  Due to these reasons, she’s self-centered and doesn’t let anyone get to her. Her life changes when she meets Park who is an Asian kid at her school. Park loves comic books and music, he considers himself an outsider and wants to do his own thing. His interests set him apart from his father. Even though Park thinks Eleanor is weird an attraction towards her takes place. He shares his comics and music with her and on the bus rides to and from school, they become closer and closer. They both seem to develop a connection and with Parks love and help Eleanor builds confidence to face the difficulties in her life. While Park learns about himself and how to confront about it.  I think this is an amazing book it had me so caught up with each character and their relation. It is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time.  I love this book and would definitely recommend it.