Post No. 7----Dear Romeo...

Dear Romeo,

             I have taken notice of your tremendous grief on the tragic ends of your good Mercutio, and 

of Tybalt the Capel. But do not despair! Surely a virtuous youth such as yourself would never murder 

someone out of pure will. These deaths were in a flurry of blind rage and anger, but also out of true 

love. Yes, you read it right---love. You did love your good friend Mercutio, and was devastated of his 

passing. So, in a storm of revenge, you had slain the Prince of Cats, and in turn the Prince of Verona

 had banished you. My advice to you----Do not let the bounds of Verona walls separate you from fair

 Juliet. Remember what you are fighting so hard for!!

                                                                                                    Best regards,

                                                                                                                       Will Grogan

Post No. 6---Every Day

Every Day by David Levithan

              It is a well known fact that when love happens, there will be tears. They come when the one you so love betrays you. And that's exactly what happened in Every Day by David Levithan.
The book chronicles the story of A, who is in a different body every day. This cycle continues perpetually until one day, A wakes in the body of a teen named Justin, and falls in love with his girlfriend, Rhiannon. But as A loves her more and more, he starts to slip away from his morality. A theme of this book is that you cannot let your attachment to true live detach yourself from everything else.
               As seen in the beginning of this story, A laments about the perpetual cycle of his life (if you can call it that) and longs for a life, a family, a body of his own. But when he meets Rhiannon, his life takes on a new meaning. Now A has a clear objective, a goal to give him something to live for. But in order to meet this goal of true love, he begins to sacrifice the well-being of others.
              Although love might provide A with a goal, this is not enough for him. He wants answers as to how he is, why he is and where he came from. And instead of finding them by actively engaging in human life, he lashes out on the world violently. He yearns for death, burying all in his path on the road to true love. And ultimately, Rhiannon has to make the disheartening choice of moving on.
              Over the course of this book, we can see how A takes his love and trust for granted, and how Rhiannon journeys through the path of love and finds that it comes to an end someday.

Post No.4---Graffiti Isn't For Kids

Graffiti Isn't For Kids

               Have you ever done something you've regretted? It's happened to most of us, and certainly to Tyler Miller in Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. In the story, he gets caught spraying graffiti on Washington's school walls and lands himself on probation for six months. In addition, his grades have one foot in the grave and his father is unemployed. A major theme in this book is that love can cushion the fall of regret because although Tyler greatly regrets what he has done, he still takes solace in the fact that people like his sister Hannah and this best friend Calvin still love and accept him.

             First off, there's Bethany Milbury, queen bee of Washington High and Tyler's secret crush. At the beginning of the book, he was the kind of person that faded into the background, that high school nerd who spent way too much time playing Pokémon. But after he sprayed the graffiti---and got in trouble for it---he became the buzz of the school. His new "Danger Guy" status attracts Bethany's attention and, eventually, wins her love. After Tyler does so, he feels fulfilled despite what he had done. He knew that Bethany didn't care what he did---she loved him unconditionally.

              Second, there's Tyler's best friend, Calvin "Yoda" Hodges. Ever since they met in 5th grade, they did everything together---including being bullied. Before Tyler's deed, he and Calvin would be picked on a lot. They were chased home from school every day, pounded against lockers for their lunch money, and had their faces flushed into toilets. Although Tyler went through a lot of suffering in the past, he takes comfort in the fact that he wasn't alone.

             Finally, there's his sister, Hannah. Having two brothers myself, I can relate---siblings fight a lot. But deep down inside, they love each other like the siblings that they are. When Tyler sprayed his graffiti, Hannah did get a little mad. Besides, who wouldn't?
But, like Hannah and Calvin, she still accepted and loved Tyler despite it.

             All in all, Twisted is a story about fulfillment through forgiveness. Tyler, who was once ashamed and regretful, is hopeful and optimistic at the end of the book. Through love and acceptance, others forgave him and Tyler learned to forgive himself.