Something that surprised me was when Starr wanted to express her thoughts and feeling her father did not approve. He wanted her to be smart and safe and he thought it would be a better idea to not have her show the way she feels. This surprised me because her Dad has very strong feelings towards equality and even HE shows what he thinks sometimes. Throughout the book I noticed how calm and gentle Starr’s mother is compared to her father. Starr’s father is very strict on his opinions and how he treats Starr. On the other hand her mother is very calm about all the chaos that has been going on in their families lives. 

Starr had two personalities in the novel. She had her “Ghetto Starr” who does not talk properly and messed around while also having the “Starr Version 2.0” who would act proper in front of her white friends at her white school. This led me to realize that I do the same thing. I learned that I act slightly different around my family than I do my friends. Reading this text triggered different emotions in me. Throughout the novel I had bursts of anger towards some characters, but sympathy towards others. There were specific parts of the book where I was mad at the plot and the decisions made by some characters. Overall, the novel Hate U Give by Angie Thomas took me on a roller coaster of emotions that altered my views on equality and our history that went along with it. 

Book
This novel is about the life journey of Drew Brees. He talks about how to overcome adversity by stating his encounters with adversity, never giving up and to always work hard to earn your goals. The story is written by Drew Brees with help of Chris Fabry. Drew Brees wants us readers to understand that no one should give up when an obstacle attacks us; he wants us to understand that we should always try find any way to fight and get past it. Drew Brees also wants us to understand how to be a leader in a community and for a team. Coming Back Stronger reminds me of Growing Up Colt by Colt McCoy and his father Brad McCoy. Colt's book reminds me of Drew's book because they both talk about being a leader and overcoming adversity. They are also both written by NFL quarterbacks.

Head
One thing that surprised me in the novel was when Drew Brees talked about the devastation of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and what the Saints did to help the community. I always knew that it destroyed New Orleans but I didn't know that the Saints let people stay in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, the Saints' stadium. From a football fan standpoint I was also shocked when I realized he was offered to play quarterback for the Miami Dolphins and almost picked them over New Orleans. I believe the author thought I already knew the basis of his football career and devastation of New Orleans at the time of the hurricane. How Drew showed him fighting through his almost career ending shoulder injury confirmed my thinking that anyone can achieve anything if they work for it hard enough. I noticed that there were a lot more challenges than I expected for a star record breaking quarterback like Drew Brees.

Heart
I learned that I respond well to motivation, and a book like Coming Back Stronger can help me work harder at everything I do. This novel made me feel happy. I felt that way because I love seeing stories where someone works hard and their work pays off. It also made me feel happy because it continued to show me that working hard will gain me happiness and goals. My actions and feelings will continue to go in a positive direction of being a hard worker and a better person.

Science Fiction/ Dystopia

The novel is from the perspective of many characters as they deal with their individual problems all relating to the sycthedom falling apart. In a world where immortality has been erased, people called scythes control overpopulation through obvious methods and maybe its a metaphor about world politics and how those are devolving as well. The entire story is told by an omniscient narrator that switches perspectives often from a wide array of characters and occasionally villains. The author wants the reader to know about the hubris of man and how no one should be given the “noble” power to freely kill. The author also wanted to discuss how society and government can lead to devolution when someone is given too much power. In a way, this book reminds me of Lord of the Flies by William Golding. They both discuss the formations and eventually devolutions of societies, both of which stemming from an imperfect human given too much power. 

Something that surprised me was definitely the ending. I did not expect the story to go in that direction, neither did I expect it to end in such a melancholic way. I feel like this reading challenged my thinking as it states the ending results in a world that’s better without a sythedom. Honestly I prefer the idea of a world with a scythedom, at least one without the antagonist. Of course the novel claims there will always be another villain, but I feel like with proper care another villian won’t be allowed in the sycthedom, resulting in a much better system than the one they end up with. Saying this end result is better is like saying there will always be another 🤬 so instead we should get rid of elections and just randomly pull new laws from a box.

I guess I learned more about my thoughts on immortality and how it should be handled. Honestly, the world of Scythe seemed pretty ideal at the beginning of the novel and a lot more dystopian at the end. Just get rid of the villain and make sure no other obviously evil people are let in and we’re good. In a way this novel changed the way I viewed the world in that I further understand the importance of relations between supranational organizations, although I’m not sure if I really feel satisfied with that. I just don’t feel the events of the novel are all that realistic. I mean, as a fifteen year old I probably have more faith in humanity than a however old Neil Shusterman is, but if the characters of the novel had more faith in humanity than I think it would've worked out better. It’s because of their loss of hope that things turned out so… melancholic. I’m sure Neil did that because sad endings are good endings, but in hindsight it just seems so unnecessary. Maybe that’s the point: human are imperfect and we do unnecesary, stupid things. 

Genre: Nonfiction

The book Principles is about the billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio and he talks about the most important principles to follow to become successful and to live a good and happy life. The person telling the story is Ray Dalio. The author wants me to know the best strategies to become successful and live a good and happy life. This book makes me think of Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki because in both the books they talk about strategies and what mindsets to have to be successful and to live a happy life.

 What surprised me in the book Principles is how long it took Ray Dalio to become successful and that he started his profession at a young age. It also surprised me that one of his hedge fund firms had to close because they were out of business. I noticed how hard Ray Dalio had to work to become successful and that you can't just go to a good school and get your degree and become a successful hedge fund manager there is much more hard work to it.

The way this book will help me is it already tells me what not to do and tells me what things I should do and how I should attack the challenges to come in the business world. This book made me feel good because I know I can do the hard work and become a hedge fund manager when I’m an adult because Ray Dalio was able to so I can too.

Genre: Sports Fiction

The Natural is about a young man from the country named Roy Hobbs with a natural talent for baseball. Before his tryout for the Chicago Cubs in hopes of being the greatest there ever was, he was shot and his career was postponed 15 years. After his return he was still a star despite the doubts that arose because of his old age. He carried the team to the playoffs but was facing lots of pressure that came from manipulation and his self centered desires and actions. The narrator primarily focuses on Roy’s perspective. The author wants the reader to understand the consequences that come with poor moral decisions. This book reminds me of the movie Major League because the teams in both stories are run by owners that drive the team down purposely for their own personal benefit. 

The author assumes you know the basic terminology of baseball and have partial understanding of the sport. I noticed that whoever or whatever Roy was focusing on had a direct impact on his performance. Almost like there was some path laid out for him and when he stepped out of line he would notice it in his baseball games. Iris was a symbol of strength and good fortune and 🤬 was the opposite yet more desirable therefore creating conflict within Roy.

The ending to the book made me feel bad for Roy because he accepted the bribe of money to throw the game but once he regretted his decision it was too late. His sellout was exposed and he was left miserable weeping over his mistake. This made me realize that since money is such an important thing in sports and the world, it can sometimes even overcome players' love for the game and good sportsmanship.

There were many unexpected twists and turns in the story but what surprised me the most was the car crash Michael and Sean Jr got in. Michael stopped the airbag with his arm with no regard to his own injuries.  He had a natural instinct to protect others even though growing up, no one protected him. I noticed that throughout the story that his ability to protect others would lead to his success.

Heart
I learned that depending on how you grow can determine what you do the rest of your life; however, kindness can alter any course. This made me feel sad for the ones forgotten in our system because I realized some people can’t help their circumstances and will never really have a chance. As a result of reading this book, I will always choose kindness and strive to positively help others.

 

As a result of reading this Stephen King novel, I believe that my actions and feelings will become much more aware of my surroundings. To have an open mind and sense of knowing the paths laid out before me. As a person, this book made me feel chills and shivers. Every time I think of Brady or Hodges, their past and stories just flow through my head. Its an interesting feeling, Sir King gives us such a bond with these characters. We feel so connected to just one character, and then immediately get introduced to the full mindset of another. This style makes me feel inspired.

Head
Something that surprised me is when Adam Kelly survives the falling tiles. When in searching for the talisman in this distinct house far away from the others. He notices stones stuck out making stairs to the roof, he climbs them and when he crosses the middle the tiles beneath him start giving out. Adam falls but lands in the mud stopping the impact, still his left wrist gets stuck in between a flagstone with his right arm stuck deeply in the mud. Adam stayed in the mud for a bit, until he saw that two remaining slabs came falling towards him. Bracing for impact. One tile fell to the left, missing him. The second one fell towards his right clashing with another tile, making two pieces and one of the pieces hitting his upper arm making him bleed. That beginning part was surprising, because I definitely thought he was going to get more hurt. 
I noticed that when people have some sort of problem in the past they don’t do anything to fix it, and if that problem is still in peoples head then most likely it wasn’t fixed.  I saw this happen with Vivian when we get to learn about her character. She became an author that didn’t write or speak about the situation that happened in Hobbs End, instead she has to be reminded of what happened after forty years. So she had memories of what exactly happened when she lived there.

Heart
Simple: Some things that I learned about myself when reading this, is that I can truly read a book and understand it pretty well. I don’t usually read at all, but this builds my confidence to get more books. I also learned that I have some kind of interest in finding the theme of a book. 
Something I learned from others is that. Banks is still learning how to be a father, no matter how long he’s been one. A father that’s trying not to follow in his parents footsteps. In the book Banks get’s a phone call from his son Brian, telling him what grade he got in this final exam. When Banks heard that he got a score that was below average, he started to question what he’s going to be doing with his life. Brian then says that he’s going to start taking this band he had more serious. That made Banks question even more about his son's future. After a bit more talking, Brian hangs up because he didn’t want to hear it anymore. That really made Banks regret what he said, and he realized that some of the things he said was what his parents said to him when he got a second job. Banks doesn’t want to end up acting like his parents, so he probably wants to apologize and accept what his son has because that comes a longer way.