Water for Elephants

If someone comes up to you and says that they used to carry water for elephants, you could bet your boots they'd be lying! Just ask Jacob Jankowski who, unexpectedly, spent the majority of his years as a young man working with a traveling circus.  Jacob never expected to end up on a circus train when he left, but at that point he didn't care one bit.  Jacob actually was finishing his schooling at Cornell to be a veterinarian along with his dad when tragic events occur.  I'm not going to give away the entire book, because I want people to read it! The book puts readers through many emotions as they see the life of Jacob - we see him grow up and learn the truths about life on the road and the morals of many people along the way.

Sarah Gruen uses an interesting characteristic to separate Jacob from the other men on the train.  Jacob is Polish, and he uses his first language to separate himself from the hard life on the train. For example, Jacob's first day on the train, he must force himself to remember all the norms that the working-men live by.  Jacob is highly criticized when he says something wrong (even though he is usually asking simply questions).  On page 55, Jacob is being shown where he will sleep for the time being, and across the train, he hears a man speaking, but his host tells him to quiet down (in a rather rude manner, I might add).  Jacob recognized what this man was saying "Ojcze nasz któryś jest w niebie, swięć sie imie Twoje, przyjdź królestwo Twoje i nie wódz nasź na pokuszenie ale nas zbaw ode ztego. Amen" as our Lord's prayer.  Jacob does his best to forget about the ignorance of his host, and also says amen.  Gruen also portrays this language barrier when Uncle Al buys an elephant.  The man selling Rosie (the elephant) warned Uncle Al that she is the dumbest animal alive.  Trying to train her, the men became frustrated and treated her poorly.  However, a man working with the circus, yet not responsible for Rosie, had worked with elephants before and knew that elephants were trained in Polish.  Proving this, Jacob says "nogę, Rosalie!" Rosie did nothing.  He then said "proszę?" To Jacob's astonishment, Rosie actually lifted her leg! This goes to show that speaking to and acknowledging one's own language is not only respectful but a moral thing to do.

Happy New Semester!

Why, hello again!  It's a new year and a new semester, but with that comes new books for me to start! What's my New Year's resolution?  I don't have one, because I don't deem it necessary to have a specific day (seemingly like everyone else in our country) to start something that I want to do.  Why wait until the new year? Start right now, no questions asked. My long-term goal has been to read more books, coinciding with my 20% Time project.  I have been doing a superb job so far, but sorry that I've been such a recluse lately, alienating my blog and not updating posts.  Although I abandoned my blog over break, I did not desert my stack of  books in my room!

 Fallen by Lauren Kate




Fallen kind of took me awhile to read, but I got in finished within a day or two or Christmas break. The story is of a girl named Luce that is sent to a boarding school called Sword & Cross for (for lack of a better word to describe all of their wrongdoings) misbehaved teenagers.  We are unsure of what exactly Luce did to get into such an awful place, but we know somehow that she was destined to arrive.  Shadows follow Luce wherever she goes, and with them comes an involuntary feeling of darkness or despair, and Luce doesn't quite know why, but she fights them off (only angering them further).  There are two boys at Sword & Cross that Luce is drawn to, but she doesn't know which one to trust.  Later in the book, Luce finds out that there are angels among her, but they happen to be fallen angels.  We get this clue several times in the book when Lauren Kate alludes to angels at Sword & Cross when she takes time to do an entire lesson on angels.  On page 185, she describes a fallen angel: "there was one who crossed the line" which helps readers know that this angel did something wrong as was punished somehow. Earlier, however, one of the boys, Daniel, wrote an essay on his family for class, and Luce desperately (creepy, right?) wanted to find out this boy's secrets.  So later on in the book, Luce goes to the library to find this book and unveil Daniel's past - only to find that this book Daniel did for his 'family research' was actually a Dictionary of Angels (hint, hint). Luce does not get to read it, because when she opened the book, a part of the library started on fire.  After that incedent, the story unravels and we see who the angels are and who Luce should trust.  I'd recommend this book to younger girls who are into fantasy or love type books.  I wasn't a huge fan, but it's one more book off of my list! *Funny little side note - While I was reading the chapter when the library starts on fire, I was on my way to Barnes & Noble with my mom and there was a fire south of Sioux Falls somewhere.  I had just read a line of how the fire started when my mom said "I hope Barnes & Noble isn't on fire."  How weird would that be!? - reading about a fire in a library while a book store is on fire? Sketchy.

The Hunger Games was next on my large pile of books! Words simply cannot describe how weird, bizarre, amazing, violent, addicting, and how much I loved this book! This is a story of Katniss Everdeen in a post apocalyptic United States where the government has taken total control of the 'districts' and limits anything essential towards life.  Every year, all children ages 12 to 18 are entered into what is called The Hunger Games.  The Hunger Games is an event that 2 representatives from each district (a boy and a girl) compete in an arena against opposing districts and fight to the death. There isn't necessarily a main point to the game but to show the total control that the government has over the people... simply because they can. Katniss and Peeta are the contestants of District 12 and go through an abundance of tribulations during the games, only to find out how strong they really are.  The Hunger Games consists of an adventure of Katniss and Peeta almost defying the government, but who will stop them? The Hunger Games is full of surprises all throughout the book and I guarantee you won't want to put it down!

10 Things

I read this book by Sarah Mlynowski is one day and am almost disappointed to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I would like to have enjoyed it.  April is a 16 year old girl, whose father and step-mother are trying to drag her to Ohio mid-semester of her junior year in high school.  Of course April was reluctant to leave her friends, school, and 2-year boyfriend, Noah behind.  Stubborn and unwilling to go with, she developed a plan to lie to her parents, and she would live with her friend Vi.  The only problem with that was Vi's mother was out of town working as the lead role of Marry Poppins. They developed an entire web of frabrications to get away with it, and the story informs readers of all the things they probably shouldn't have done.

Without giving the entire book away, here is a list of the chapters to give a sense as to what type of journey April and Vi go through alone - and by 'alone,' I mean no parents, which doesn't exclude boys and friends along the way.

number one: lied to our parents

number two: played I never

number three: skipped school

number four: bought a hot tub

number five: lost our virginity 

number six: spent three thousand dollars on a donut

number seven: harbored a fugitive

number eight: threw a crazy party

number nine: hosted the mr. teen universe contest

number ten: got caught breaking and entering

what I did (and probably should have done earlier)

The book is a perfect rendition of the desires of many teenage girls my age and things that many girls endure.  Mlynowski efficiently tells the story through her main character, April, with a rather attractive and likeable voice throughout.  April tells her story about being a teenager and everything that comes along with it: school, boys, love, parties, sex, STDs, and friendship.  It is well written and easy to read, as it is broken down into memories at times, and certain parts of the day in April's words.

I didn't like this book that much because I couldn't relate to it very well.  I'm not one of the girls my age that parties and is obsessed with sex (as I thought the girls in this story were). However this book has a great lesson for many teenage girls to listen to, although may be difficult to deny.  We need our parents to guide us through these difficult, confusing, and hormonal times.  Although I personally didn't enjoy this, I would recommend it to any girl my age that needs an easy read.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ahh, the holiday spirit is in the air. Reunions of loved-ones we haven't seen since Summer, hugs, kisses, and reminiscing... all the great parts of family, right? Or is it leaving the lights on in every room of the house, not throwing away the cardboard from the toilet paper, and being their normal, crazy, weird self anywhere they are... even if it requires doing the "bend & snap" in public? There's kind of a slight preview of my crazy, although small, family. I am going to slightly relate this to The Help, so this is my last post pertaining to the book, because I will be starting a new one tomorrow.  Throughout the book, Skeeter's mother gets sick, making Skeeter realize how much she actually loves her mother and wants her to be okay, even if she's annoying and demanding at times. Skeeter has to see her mother go through pain and suffering that no one deserves.  She watches her mother deteriorate as her cancer gets worse, making her unable to eat.  She watches her mother die. Must we really wait until the last minute to appreciate our family members?

Tonight, we went to Big Cheese - a restaurant on Benson road, on the same building as Jimmy John's. My family is kind of obsessed with eating pizza, because every holiday or occasion that requires coming to our home, we end up eating pizza 2-3 times... in (not even) a week. My parents and aunt and uncle kept talking about surgeries and pain and other factors of old age.  They also talked about their parents.

My grandmother Austin is my only grandparent left living.  After losing my other three, I cherish the time I have with her.  I took for granted having grandparents... I want to be like Eleanora when I'm old, because she is a fabulous cook.  She taught me how to make cookies, and I remember sitting on her counter, singing a song about losing my front teeth while she showed me all her secrets.  My brothers and I always got so excited when we got to spend the night at Grandma's.  We got to watch movies, have popcorn, play with toys, and play games with Grandma all day! It was the best thing ever.

I miss Grandpa Gene. He died when I was a freshman, and I wrote an essay about him shortly after. I'm ashamed to say that when I was very little, I was almost scared of Grandpa Gene... he used to yell at my brothers and me for being loud and told us to go sit down quite frequently.  I always thought he was crabby and didn't want to talk to me.  I realized too late that Grandpa was indeed a very nice man, but he was actually shy when wanting to talk with us. After he was put in the hospital during his last days, I always went to visit him with my mom, and I really listened to what he had to say. Those last months were probably the most I ever talked to my grandfather at once. I wish this Thanksgiving he could sit in the chair where he always sat, my dog Daisy on his lap with Toby by his side, hear his booming laugh and see his crooked grin. 

While at diner tonight, I actually learned that my Grandpa Elmer basically had Alzheimer's all throughout my childhood.  Symptoms increased when I got into 3rd grade.  I don't remember a lot about Grandpa Elmer, except that he was the biggest kid anyone ever met.  All of his friends from Renner enjoyed his presence and sneaky sense of humor.  He used to take my brothers and I up to the crick (which was about 20 ft. from their house) and we would throw rocks, gawking at the huge splashes they made.  I also remember he used to sneak me Tic-Tacs, and I thought he was so awesome, since I wasn't supposed to have them.  We used to have a bowling kit and he would set the pins up, even though my brothers and I destroyed them within seconds - he just wanted to play with his grandchildren.  We used to fight for his chair, too. Grandpa had the most comfortable chair and we had to take turns to sit with him to prevent from fighting. I have few memories of Grandpa outside of the nursing home, because once his memory started fading, I was old enough to realize what was going on... It was painful for our family to watch our beloved Grandfather go the way he did, but every time we speak of him, my mom mentions that moment of clarity.  We could tell his condition was getting worse, we had the whole family in town to say goodbye (he got to meet his second-to-last grandson), and we stood around him, waiting.  Apparently, when I hugged him, everyone could see it in his eyes - those memories...knowing he was hugging his granddaughter. He had that moment of clarity, looked to the rest of his family, and told us he loved us. My grandpa died that night after we left.

LaBelle Brende is my idol - she was one of the most amazing women, friend, grandmother, and mom anyone could have.  She loved her children dearly, had tons of friends, and always saw the best in people.  Grandma was positive, always looking on the bright side, even making fun of herself when she said stupid things (like calling UGG boots "uggums"). One thing I miss about Grandma Belle is she always told me how beautiful my eyes are. She never hesitated to compliment anyone and always had something nice to say.  She was a fashionista, always wearing the nicest clothes, even when she wasn't feeling up to it. I want to be exactly like my grandma when I'm a grandma, because she was an all-around good person, and everyone enjoyed being in her presence.

The real truth is, I love my family with all my heart.  -Every single crazy, loud, and obscene part of them.  I couldn't ask for anything better and am truly blessed with what I've been given. Skeeter saw the strength in her mother, and became proud of her while watching her beat the cancer. I'm not mad about the time I didn't get with my grandparents, I thank God every day for the time he has given me with all of my family. So enjoy your family, make memories, and have a very happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry about the obsessive blogging.

I don't enjoy randomly stopping to blog when I'm kicking a book's butt! I probably read over half of The Help in one weekend, and that's something I don't usually do.

Inequality was everywhere in the 50s: race, social status, education, family, etc. Another aspect that I'd like to point out is the inequality of straight and gay people.  Of course being straight was widely accepted, but people didn't understand why people were gay.  Since Skeeter's book is about the life of the help and the families they work for, she documented both the good and bad parts of their jobs. 
Aibileen describes a rough time she had while helping a family on page 336:

I looked after the Dudley family for too long, over six years. His daddy would take him to the garage and whip him with a rubber hose-pipe trying to beat the girl out a that boy until I couldn't stand it no more.  Treelore near bout suffocated when I'd come home I'd hug him so hard. When we started working on the stories, Miss Skeeter asked me what's the worst day I remember being a maid.  I told her it was a stillbirth baby.  But it wasn't.  It was every day from 1941 to 1947 waiting by the screen door for them beatings to be over. I wish to God I'd told John Green Dudley he ain't going to hell.  That he ain't no sideshow freak cause he like boys. I wish to God I'd filled his ears with things like I'm trying to do Mae Mobley.  Instead, I just sat in the kitchen, waiting to put the salve on them hose-pipe welts.

I can't even fathom what it must have been like as that child.  His father beat him over something he couldn't possibly control.  Society shut him out because they thought something must be wrong with his brain, or something - because it's just unheard of someone to find love, even if it is within the same sex.  Personally, I believe that if one is lucky enough to find their own inamorata, let them be happy.  I would never get in the way or judge a friend based on that sexuality. We as human beings are already insecure enough that we don't need everyone else judging how we feel. Also, remember that not everyone comes from a great home and family, and it is important to be accepting to everyone around us - we have no idea what they could possibly be going through.

love & hate

The dichotomy of love and disdain living side-by-side is what surprises me.

Chapter 19, pages 301-304 genuinely stuck out to me. Women in the 50s usually had hired 'help' for assisting to the care of their children, cooking, and cleaning. Social classes were perceptible in each situation: white women had the nice houses and perfect lives, whereas black women lived in poor conditions, working hard for what they want in life. The section gives examples how many black women help a family for long periods of time, thus developing friendships and bonds with the women and children, even though society tells them that they are too different to even communicate as being anything more than working for the white families. The women and children often spend so much time together that it was difficult for them not to form a friendship, especially when the help basically raise their lady's children. This depicts the love side, but as for hate, these women develop such strong feelings (even though they strive not to), that they hate the boundaries that are supposed to be there.  A white women would never admit to her other friends that she had befriended her help, or that her child calls her help 'mom' instead of her. The children, loving and accepting of their maids, also hated the boundaries because they didn't understand them.  At home, being half raised by their help, they are taught that blacks and whites are the same, just a different color; at school, however, they are taught that black children are too different, dumb, and unworthy of attending school with them - that the white is the superior race.  It is the "dichotomy of love and disdain living side-by-side" is what is frustrating to both races alike. Love and hate, as opposites, might as well be the same thing in all actuality.They are both such strong, intense feelings that sometimes it is hard to differentiate between the two.

The Help: Compilation of Jim Crow Laws of the South

In chapter 13 of The Help, Skeeter searches at the library for certain research topics that she can include in her book.  She can't really ask anyone at the library what she is looking for, because people wouldn't approve of her snooping around about African American type documents.  Since buildings were segregated, her sources were limited, only finding Civil War books, maps, and old phone books. Thanks to Skeeter's height, she comes across a booklet titled "Compilation of Jim Crow Laws of the South."

It is simply a list of laws stating what those people can and cannot do in the Southern states:

No person shall require any white female to nurse in wards or rooms in which negro men are placed.
It shall be unlawful for a white person to marry anyone except a white person.  Any marriage in violation of this section shall be void.
No colored barber shall serve as a barber to white women or girls.
The officer in charge shall not bury any colored persons upon ground used for the burial of white persons.
Books shall not be interchangeable between the white and colored schools, but shall continue to be used by the race first using them.

These were just a few of many of the laws listed in the book, which should give readers a sense of exactly how segregated these people truly were. Think about all the conveniences we have today: hospitals, book stores, schools, movie theatres, water fountains, bathrooms... these were all segregated places, and if a black got caught, for example, using the white water fountain, they would be severely punished.

One of the most shocking things in the book that Skeeter pointed out is incredible to even be a law.

 The Board shall maintain a separate building on separate grounds for the instruction of all blind persons of the colored race.

Why would blind people need to be segregated?  They can't even see! I can't possibly imagine what was going through these people's minds while making these laws. I have an advantage of growing up in a completely different time, but I can't understand how Americans didn't see the similarities between blacks and whites. We accepted immigrants into our country and granted many of them citizenship, but why couldn't be accept African Americans? If they're so different, why weren't the other immigrants from other countries different too? Just because of the skin color? I can barely stand to think about this frame of mind where anything slightly different is bad.

 Although our government isn't exactly the in greatest state right now, it is thinking about times like this that we should be grateful for how we think today as a society.  Think about this, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

And it is to rock the soul and lead the person to immorality, corruption - to forget their prayers, to forget their God. And thus the world has partaken of the spirit of the Negro race, accepting their ways.

                                                             -Warren Jeffs