What Christmas Really Means

We all know that when the holidays come, it's always about buying and receiving gifts. But we don't usually think of the meaningful reason behind the idea of giving presents. It's the good feeling that you get when the other person really likes the gift that you get is the most important emotion. I remember when I was in elementary school, my class would always make handmade ornaments for either our families or our Christmas tree. I remember I made a snowman ornament with my face in the middle of the snowman and when I gave the ornament to my parent's, they already liked my gift and it shows a lot of meaning to me because to this day, they still have that ornament and that makes me happy that they still remember. It also gave me confidence that I can trust my parents because they still care about me and how I feel.

What Quote Represents Me?

There are some times that we go on Pinterest and look at quotes, but there are so many of them that you can't narrow down to just one quote. Some people want to find quotes that represent their personality. But I think this quote by E.E Cummings would represent what I had feared most: growing up. E.E Cummings once said: "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." I think what this quote means is that we sometimes have fear of growing up and we don't want anything to change. But sometimes, we need to grow to find who we really are. I think this quote represents me because I usually don't like changes because of past experiences that I've had growing up, but I now realize, that sometimes we need to grow up and experience these changes so we can become stronger and better people.

Theme of Courage for Beginners

In my new book Courage for Beginners by Karen Harrington, the story is set in Texas where a girl wishes that she was a character in a book. Mysti and her best friend Anibal are best friends, until he ditches her to become a hipster so he can be with his crush Sandy Showalter. I think automatically that the theme of this book is that you don't have to change who you are to please other people. In the book, Anibal says to Mysti, ""Are you going by Missed-teeth this year?" Missed-teeth? Oh. Missed. Teeth. There is a roar of laughter from the other two boys. Of course, they have nice, straight teeth."" This quote proves that Anibal would do anything to get his crush's attention, even though it means that he is hurting his best friend. When you change, who you are, your real friends would fade away and you would be stuck with people who you think that they are your friends. I think this theme is very important to add in our lives because most of us want to change who we are just so we can either be popular, or that other people can see us differently. But the truth is, you are loosing part of who are and replacing that with something you're not. We need to accept ourselves in our own way instead of changing for others.

Special Moment in A Little Something Different

As I was reading my new book, A Little Something Different by Sandy Hall, I noticed that there was a moment in my book that would be very significant as I read more of this book. In this book, Lea's friend is gay. And he hoped that Lea's love interest Gabe was either homosexual (liking both genders in a romantic way) or gay as well. But as revealed by Lea, Gabe is not homosexual. Lea and Gabe both like each other but they think that the other person doesn't like them. When Gabe went to the library in their college, he found Lea and her friend Danny hugging. So now Gabe thinks that Lea and Danny are together, but in reality they are close as friends. This would show that with this confusion, there will be more conflict near the middle of the book. I thought of this as an Aha! moment because this might reveal that Gabe might be jealous of Danny, but in reality, Lea and Gabe are only friends. And this would cause confusion in the conflict of A Little Something Different.

Opinion about The Maze Runner

Even though I am almost done with The Maze Runner, I love this book. I think this book deals with a self vs society conflict because the book takes place in a place called the Glade where the characters that live in the Glade don't have memories about anything that happened before they were forced to be in the Glade. They don't even remember their names or their families. Thomas, the main character of this book questions everything about the Glade and why were they sent to live in the Glade. Things change when a girl, Teresa comes with a note that says "She is the last one. Ever." Everyone is confused on what this means and try to figure out who and why they sent to live in the Glade by themselves. This book is also a movie that was premiered somewhere in 2014 or early 2015. If you like adventure, I would recommend this book.

Goals for 2nd Quarter

With a new quarter beginning, I want to improve on some things to make this blog better for the public. Firstly, I want to a least try making references that involve some type of arts that people can actually relate to. Also, I want to use descriptive details to explain what the book is about that I reading. Also, I want to at least write more than a paragraph because I would sometimes have a lot to say about a topic or idea that I have at the moment. And lastly, I want to at least try putting up a blog post at least once a week because I have a lot of things happening so I don't have time to update this blog. So these are the things I want to at least improve with this blog.

Like No Other

Recently, I just finished reading Like No Other by Una LaMarche and this has been the best book that I have read so far. Reviews say that this book is similar to Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare, but some parts of the book is not similar to Romeo and Juliet. This book would show readers that if you care about something deeply, then you would do anything, even if it means doing things that you had never done. This book is about a girl who comes from a very strict Hasidic family and a boy who is just like you or me living as an American. They both meet in an elevator in the middle of a hurricane in a hospital. They go on this adventure just to be able to talk to each other and make up lies just so they could see each other. But things go downhill because Devorah's Hasidic family find out about her secret boyfriend  Jaxon and how they made up lies so they could be with each other. If you like books about romance and a new version of a classic and loved play, I would recommend reading Like No Other by Una LaMarche.

Movie vs. Book: The Outsiders

With finishing the movie The Outsiders, there are som similar things between the book and the movie and things that were missing from the book that never appeared in the movie. Some things that happened in the movie that is similar to the book is that when Ponyboy and Jonny ran away to the abandoned church, Johnny got bread, balogney, deck of cards, peroxide, and a paper copy of Gone with the Wind to use while they were at the church hiding out from the police. Also, while Johnny and Ponyboy were being attacked by the Socs, Ponyboy was being drowned by them, except they didn't leave him completely in the water instead, the Socs pulled Ponyboy out of the water constantly and then let him drown in the fountain. Most things are similar in the book and the movie, but there are differences that we do notice. In the beginning of the movie, the movie stars off with Ponyboy starting on the prodject that was mentioned near the end instead of coming out of the movies as how the book started. Also, in the movie I noticed that Soda never mentioned Sandy at all when there are moments when Soda and Ponyboy are alone together. Even thought there might be moments gone from the book while making the movie, the movie was still great.

The Glass Sentence

Even though I haven't finished reading The Glass Sentence, I am loving this book so far. The Glass Sentence is about Sophia Tims who is living with her uncle Shadrack because Sophia's parents went on a mission, but they never returned home. While wondering in the streets of Boston, she meets Theo, a refugee from the West who is forced to be in a circus escapes and goes on an adventure  to find Shadrack who gets kidnapped by a group of people. Now it's up to Sophia and Theo to go find Sophia's uncle. I think that the message that this book might show in the future is that you need to be confident in yourself even if it means doing something dangerous for a worthy cause. I think that the character that might develop more as the story goes would have to be Sophia because she never left Boston and she now has to leave to a different part that she never knew and her feeling as a person are developing even more now that she met Theo. As a prediction on how the book might go s that Sophia might find her parents because she would usually somehow talk about where her parents were seen last until their dissaperance. I think people should read The Glass Sentence by S.E Grove because if you like an adventure in a different time period, then The Glass Sentence would be right for you. 

Clothing from My Past

Most of my family has come from Mexico, even my parents. I love the cites that Mexico has to offer, but what we don't normally see is the clothing. Most people we see wear clothes that Americans would wear, but the clothes that we don't normally is what makes Mexico unique. But the clothing that different parts of Mexico is what makes Mexico unique. Each piece of clothing can represent different parts of Mexico. But most Mexicans love the colors that people wore in the past to represent which part of Mexico that they are from. What makes my heritage unique is that there is a variety. There are different parts of Mexico that I share with my family and I'm glad that there are different parts of Mexico that makes my culture unique. Mi nombre es Diana y soy feliz que soy Mexicana.

Reaction to The Outsiders

After finishing reading The Outsiders, I was sad when this book ended because I thought it could have extended a bit more or they could have a sequel to The Outsiders. I think the lesson that was shown constantly while I was reading The Outsiders is that we shouldn't assume people from how the person grew up and where they are from. From chapter 7, the book mentions about after Ponyboy, Johnny, and Dally were sent to the hospital, news reporters flooded into the hospital to see if they can get interviews from Ponyboy from his action about saving the children from the burning church. This shows that even though Ponyboy lived with the greasers all of his life, it shows that the actions that a person makes is how they will be known as. Also in chapter 2 with the conversation between Cherry and Ponyboy in the movies, Cherry says, ""I'll bet you think that the Socs have it made. The rich kids, the West-side Socs. I'll tell you something, Ponyboy, and it may come as a surprise. We have troubles you've never even heard of."" This shows that even though people might come from different status and if we really get to know the person, we might realize that we all have something in common. Even though I loved this book, there was something that confused me as I was reading this book. The only thing that confused me was Cherry. In chapter 2, it is stated that she has a boyfriend Bob, but she also likes one of the greasers. Then near the end of chapter 8, Cherry said that she now liked Ponyboy because they share a lot of things in common. It sounds that the author wanted Cherry to be clueless in the book and can't make a decision about her life. Overall, I wish the book didn't end because this was a good story.

The Outsiders: The New West Side Story?!

What I think of The Outsiders is that it almost reminds me of West Side Story. Except there is no singing, dancing, and what I think is the most important thing: no stereotypical romance between characters. I think that no stereotypical romance is the most important aspect in this book because it doesn't focus on the romance between the two groups of people with different status. What makes The Outsiders so unique is that it's not like any other teen romance that a lot of people normally read about falling in love with another person that is the complete opposite of you. The Outsiders also gives you moral lessons without knowing it especially in chapter 2 between the conversation between Cherry and Ponyboy we learn that even though we might have grown up differently, we all have something in common. I think what makes this book unique is that it is defying the stereotypical teen romance novel. People should read The Outsiders because it shows a different level of realness in a teen novel compared to other teen novels.