Wide Reading 2020

Text title –  Where She Went  Author/Director –  Gayle Forman  Text type –  Novel  Date read – 28/1/2020

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The novel Where She Went by Gayle Forman is a narration of one of the main characters’ life, Adam Wilder. Adam is in a rock star band and is trying to deal with the break up with his former girlfriend Mia. Mia who plays the cello and whose family has sadly passed away in a fatal car crash. Their paths cross while in New York, and they begin to spark a connection again for one another through their guilt and their past relationship. Adam finally has the chance to ask Mia the question that has been burning inside him for the past three years so they can both grow and more forward in life. 

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The character I found interesting was Adam Wilder. I found Adam to be interesting because he was the character that I could relate to the most. During the start of the novel Adam struggles with lots of anxiety as he deals with his past, with Mia, his ex-girlfriend and wonders about the future of his life and where Mia is today .”Every morning I wake and tell myself this: it’s just one day one twenty four hour period to get yourself through”. I struggle with anxiety as I over think and work myself up. With my anxiety I deal with panic attacks. I find Adam’s character interesting as I can relate to it and feel for him.By the end of the novel I witnessed Adam was able to grow and become more mature, by finding ways to cope with his anxiety and not blame it on others and the things that happened in his past by moving forward with Mia in a strong fixed relationship.  

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The message that I took from the story is having empathy for people who suffer from  anxiety/mental illness. During the novel Adam suffers from anxiety “it’s some anti-anxiety thing i’m supposed to take when i’m feeling jittery.” Anxiety is (“a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.Dictionary“) Adam feels this in his day to day life and takes caution in his life to prevent  panic attacks. In society mental illness has become something that people are becoming more aware of but it still has a lot of social stigma around coming out with a mental illness such as anxiety and depression. People with Mental illnesses like to hide their feelings or not ask for help. I know this from my own experiences with having anxiety and panic attacks. As people don’t want to be assumed by everyone and misjudged as people in society are fast to assume things and put labels on people, people don’t like messy they like simple they think others will deal with the situation. People don’t want to help, they don’t want to get stuck in uncomfortable situations. Adam tried to hide his mental illness this made things worse but so did the way that people tried to treat him as a person babying him and sugar coating things to protect him. That’s why I think that the message from the novel is something that everyone needs to remember to have empathy for people who suffer from a mental illness. As in the novel people tried to sweep Adams illness under the carpet as he struggled to face everyday life. Everyone deals with things in different ways .

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One challenge that Adam the main character has to deal with is his inside monalong that stops him saying what he really wants “and as soon as I ask the question I want to kick myself  “you got your reprieve now shut up.”” This is self – doubt, most people have an inside voice that stops you from saying things that should not be said. The voice is like your thoughts. Adam’s inside thoughts challenge him throughout the whole novel as he is unable to speak the truth in what he is feeling to everyone including his friends. Adam finally has the chance to ask Mia what happened at the end of their relationship. Why did you leave me? Where did you go? When Mia finally gives Adam clarity on the situation, Adam feels free and is able to move forward in his life and is able to become more open and stop his overthinking. By this Admas character was able to grow though hisself – doubt and move past his old life and into the future. 

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I believe that the title of the novel “where she went” is appropriate for the story as Adam wonders where she went (Mia), and the question has been haunting him for the past three years. Adam gets his anxiety from being stuck in the past and worrying about the future but by meeting each other again he was able to come to ease with his mental illness as well as his self doubt and fix the bond between himself and Mia.  

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I would recommend this book to people with a mental illness or someone who has self- doubt as it shows them to find the thing that is causing their illness and try to fix it with the help of others and that you can be happy, grow and mature from the past.  

Text title –  Divergent   Director –  Neil Burger Text type – film 

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The film divergent directed by Neil burger, is set in the future and follows the main character Tris as she tries to figure out who she’s meant to be, the world tris lives in is divided into five factions based on charastics, these are selflessness, honesty, peacefulness, intelligence and bravery, Tris struggles to find what faction she belongs to as she fits into more then one stereotypical mould, she worries her true self will be revealed.

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The character I found interesting was Tris I found Tris to be interesting because I can relate to her. Tris had to put in a lot of extra time and effort to be able to fit into one faction. I view school like a faction, I believe it’s like a one size fits all, having severe dyslexia makes me work harder to keep up with my classmates and friends, just like in divergent Tris has to constantly work hard to keep up with the others in her faction. Another way I found her interesting was she was told there was something wrong with her and was uncertain how it would impact the rest of her life, just like me when i was first diagnosed with dyslexia I had no idea how it would affect the rest of my life, but by having support there I was able to overcome and grow as a person. In society, people like to put other people and their worth down so that they feel better about them selfs. It’s the human brain every one wants to be the best and will do it even if involves hurting people to get where/what they want or who they want to be.

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The message I took away from the film divergent was that hard work and determination can get you to where you want to be, Tris was uncertain on what faction she would fit into, she wanted to challenge herself, and prove that she could do more than expected, to do this tris chose the faction dauntless (bravery), while in dauntless she was able to grow and become a woman but to do that she had to fight for her place, to stay in her chosen faction so her secret of being a divergent wouldn’t be exposed. In society young women are often overlooked as the weaker and fragile gender, in society it is classed that boys will be boys and girls are to sit straight and look pretty, this mould is slowly being broken in today’s age as gender equality is becoming a bigger issue, this is similar to divergent as the faction Tris originally came from was viewed as weak ” they think because i’m small or a girl or a stiff i can’t possibly be cruel but they’re wrong” 

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A challenge that Tris had to face was to keep her secret of being a divergent, a divergent is when someone fits into more than one faction, they are then considered a threat so are killed off to keep society even, this was very challenging to Tris because she had no idea about her situation or how much danger she was in over something she couldn’t control, Four was there to help her, just like for me with my dyslexia I have people who help and support me to be able to use tools to benefit my learning and enable me to grow, by the end of the film Tris was able to grow and mature as a woman with the help of Four and her faction.

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I believe that the title of the film divergent fits the film as a divergent is someone who is different and does not fit in. At the end of the film tris finally comes out that she is a Divergent, she is different but she is proud of herself “maybe your not quite as dauntless as you thought you were” “your right im not” “i’m Divergent” this is her coming out and being happy and proud. That’s why I believe the title of the text fits the fim, the film is all about tris and her journey of become and accepting herself being as an Divergent   

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I would recommend this film to people who are scared to come to terms with things that are holding them back as they may be scared to come out or follow their dreams just like in Divergent Tris was scared to become divergent and scared about her life in the future. But by the end of the film she was happy on who she had become and was not scared to be different.   

Out Of The Blue  By Val Rutt  Text type novel  Read June 2020 

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The novel Out of the Blue by Val Rutt is a story about a young girl named Kitty who has come to England to stay with her brother Charlie and Aunt Vi, and Uncle Geoff during World War Two in 1944. One late evening on Kittys was back from the choir and she meets a young American pilot, Sammy Ray Bailey. The two lovers fall for one another and fast until Sammy is taken to war again. It’s not until years later that Kitty’s story gets an ending and she feels at peace with what happened, as she discovers the lies and secrets of the disappearance of her lover Sammy.

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I found Kitty’s character to be the most interesting because of her ability to keep a strong front and be resilient. Given that this is set in WW2, Kitty is sacred and worried about her unknown future. Her dad was killed during the war and her mum is now fighting the war too. I admire Kitty for her ability to live in the moment and focus on the day. The way that she deals with her worries is something that I aspire to do. In the novel, she tells herself daily that she needs to live and enjoy the moment she is in. She can not control the future. During COVID – 19, I was very worried about my family’s health and business in this very unknown time. I do the opposite of Kitty and worry about the worst-case scenario and what the future may hold. Kitty’s strong character showed me that I can compress my worries about the uncontrollable future. 

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The message that I took from the book Out of the Blue, was that life and the world work in  weird ways, you never know what might come “out of the blue.” Kitty’s and Sammy’s relationship comes unexpectedly, this relationship shows Kitty that she needs to live in the moment, not to worry about the future as things can change for better or for worse. The book follows Kitty when she was 16 years old in 1944 when she meets her lover Sammy and then changes back and forth to 2006 where Kitty is now 72 years in age, this is where she finds out the truth of her lover disappearances which she is not surprised about, why she never heard from Sammy. In society everyone’s lives come up and down you never know what might happen or come next people are scared of this and then become fearful of change in their lives, this is a part of life and you have to carry on and push yourself. I believe that the author Val Rutt has put this message of changes in life and things come from “out of the blue” into the book for the reader to pull out as it tells them to keep going and that you can live a life after loss or failure, just like in kitty case her losing/not see Sammy again made her grow and mature into a strong woman who could look after herself in a time period where men were very overpowering and controlling and were able to get through and carry on with life after the change.

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A challenge that Kitty had to face was the disappearance of her lover, Sammy. Life during the war in 1944 was hard enough due to the lack of food and work but the uncertainty of his return was eating her up inside. Kitty’s challenge was facing her worries and the burden of more grife “She felt a wave of physical pain as if her ribcage might split open and she could not bear the burden of grief” due to sammy. Love is very powerful and can make anyone do crazy things it’s incredible how much you depend on someone else life to be able to be happy and life you life today in society i believe that people rely on other more then the should they to this to feel valued  but then the blame them for their own actions the thought of being alone for some people is worse than not living the life they want they don’t want to become independent due to the fact the sammy did not come back for kitty he moved on to a new life with another lover made kitty grow and mature as a woman and become her own person doing things she wanted to do I admire her for her strength and reslens and strive to become her own person as sometimes in life you have to be your own cheerleader too. 

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I believe that the title of the novel  “out of the blue” is appropriate for the text as it is the message that the author is trying to get across to the reader. Things come out of the blue for good and bad reasons; it’s all a part of this thing we call life, and so does KItty and Sammy’s relationship. It came out of the blue at first it was a good thing for Kitty but then she was left alone with no answer, this made her grow and mature to be able to move on in life and forget the past until it was time for her to know the real truth of her lover Sammy. 

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I would recommend this book to people who love a drama romance and are interested in World War Two as it gives light into how it was being a teenage girl growing up during the war and how relationships occurred and played out. It also has a message that you have to take things as they come things come “out of the blue”. Although this book is fiction the author says at the end of the book that this was based on real events from her father’s life during WW2 so it does give some true interaction into life as a teenage girl. 

Text title –  Beastly Author/Director – Daniel Barnz Text type –  film 

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The film Beastly directed by Daniel Barnz is about a teenage school boy Kyle who uses his looks to get people to like him even though everyone knows he is mean stuck up. After winning the schools green election by his looks and bullieness he gets cursed by the schools witch and is turned into an ugly beast. He has one year to find true love or he will be stuck as a beast like cureter for life. Throughout the film Kyle slowly starts to fall in love with a girl called Linda. She is able to see past his look and find who he is as a real person. This film is a spin off of the classic beauty and the beast story and tells us it’s what’s on the inside that counts. 

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The character I found interesting was linda. I found her interesting because she was not afraid of Kyle; she even said “I’ve seen worse.” She was able to look past his looks and see Kyle for who he really was as a person. This did take time and Kyle needed to let his wall down for her to be able to see how he really is. In society people are very fast to judge others by their appearances. People in society like to do this and give hate to other  people as it makes them feel better about themselves tearing someone down to make themselves feel better as you may be jealous of how they look or who they are as a person. 

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The message that I took from the movie was that you have to be real, who you are on the inside is more important than what you look like. That’s how you will win in life. During the film Kyle is a stuck up jock high school boy, he uses his looks and states to make people choose him and like him, people are afraid of him so they do what they are told to do. When his looks and ability to be in the spotlight are taken away by a curse he finally see who he has become and is a shame by this, ” I was so arrogant, so vain, so blind not to see and now it rears its ugly hands to my face as I become the monster i finally am”this take time but kyle is able to find who he really is he falls in love with Linda as he is able to open up to her an form a real connection with her as she is able to see what is on the inside and not what is on the outside.”people make such a big deal about looks, but after a while, when you know someone you don’t even notice anymore” In life and society people are so fast to judge you by your looks and come to assumptions about who you are with knowing anything about you. If people just take the time to listen and open up to one another I believe that more people will be real with each other and true to themselves. People are so caught up in what society says about others that you have to agree with what “society says” because society is always right. 

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A challenge that one of the main characters kyle had to face was opening up and creating relationships with people. This was a challenge for him as he did not have his looks to make people like him. Kyle was afraid of opening up to people as he did not want to get hurt. In society people put up a strong front so they don’t get hurt but this hinders their chances of creating relationships with others. People do put up walls so they don’t get judged on who they are as a person as people are so fast to judge without knowing who that really are. When Kyle is able to form a connection and open up to inda he is able to grow as a person and live his life more comfortably as he is treated with respect and he knows he is loved just by being real and open. 

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The title of this film is called beastly I would say that this title relate to the film because beastly is referring to a beast this related to what the main character Kyle and what he looks like it also relate to beauty and the beast as this film is a modern teenage version of the classic film flowing a similar story line. 

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I would recommend this movie to upcoming teenagers as the message of looking past the looks and really getting to know someone is way more important than what is on the outside as you create strong connections to form relationships and staying true to yourself as being in high school comes with lots of pressure to be some you are not.  

Text title –  Five feet apart Author – Rachel Lippincott Text type –  Novel Date read – April

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The novel Five feet apart written by Rachel Lippincott is a heartfelt drama of two hospital patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) Stella and Will who are deadly to each other, but are tired of the space forced between them, the choice of love and happiness must come with the grueling decision of pain and sickness. How far would they go for love, does it have to be a life or death decision or can they break free together?

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A character in the novel I found interesting was Will. When he first came to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital he didn’t care about any of the expensive treatment he was getting or the fancy clinical trial he is lucky to be involved in, he had basically given up, I believe the main reason he had stopped caring about his health and future was because, like many people, he didn’t have anything to look forward to, nothing to get him out of bed and ready for the day, ”If I’m going to die, id actually like to live first” until he meers Stella a witty, caring and beautiful girl who is ready to take on the world and gets Will back on his treatment.

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A message I took from the text was that ‘A life without love is no life at all’ Before Will meet Stella he was lost, he was falling into a depressive state and wanted to leave the hospital he felt captive in and explore the world with whatever time he had left, he was ready to die because he was ill and miserable. However, then there was Stella and she changed everything, she was also struggling with CF but had a positive outlook, one that Will could not overlook he was willing to do anything if this meant he could be with her, similar to many people in today’s society would do almost anything to be with the people they love because losing them is too much. People cherish their loved ones and close friends as personally my loved ones and friends make me happy and are the people who have shaped me into who I am today. I know that these people would do anything for me and that I would do the same for them. I owe the life I have lived so far to them making It so amazing. but I do that In reality, people are less fortunate to have good people and family around them to make them happy and feel loved and worthy in their life, which can have a big impact on their mental health and how/who they go about life. During this will is able to grow and see the positive side of his life due to Stella’s way of living an unknown life and though that love they have for one another. 

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Although there were many challenges the characters had to face throughout the novel such as being teenagers confined to a hospital the characters had to face throughout the entirety of the novel was the constant struggle of separation. They had to stay away from each other as their presence is poison to one another, they didn’t want to put everything on the line all because of a hug or kiss, they couldn’t watch the other suffer while they couldn’t feel a thing. Stella watched her best friend Po die, she’d never been allowed to hug him and now she’ll never be able to, she knows the extreme danger in their love. She wanted to be with Will she wanted to hug him be less than five feet apart but he didn’t want either of them to die, she couldn’t let that happen but she didn’t want to waste her life being afraid she so she started a youtube channel sharing her story and how she copes with the disease, “I hope my life wasn’t for nothing” in society people always want what they don’t have in will and Stella’s case this is unfair but many take what will and Stella cant do for granted.  

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The title of this text ‘Five feet apart’ is fitting as it is the distance they must stay apart, throughout the novel Stella and Will are at a constant battle with this separation but she understands the consequences and the price that must be paid if she breaks the barrier that has been forced between them. 

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I would recommend this novel to teenage readers who enjoy teen dramas as it is a romantic novel with a message of love and hope and there is lots in life to love people just have to slow down and look around by not taking things for granted

Text title –  Looking for Alaska Author – John green Text type –  Novel Date read – September

The novel Looking for Alaska written by John Green follows Miles Halter, a teenage boy whose life has been everything but exciting until he finally convinces his parents to let him go to the same boarding school as his dad once had. This is where he meets his cool new friends Chip, Takumi, and of course Alaska, a young, daring and beautiful teenage girl ready for adventure. This group of four is on top of the world but when tragedy strikes and Alaska is ripped out of their worlds Miles and his new friends take it upon themselves to get to the bottom of what really happened on the dark september night.

A character in the novel I found interesting was Alaska Young. She is an independent female in a group of all boys and it shows they respect her and the famous pranks she loves to pull on the principal (Eagle) at Culver Creek Preparatory High School. Alaska is an inspiring character to all readers as her past truly does haunt her, when she was young Alaska witnessed her mother die of a brain aneurysm on the living room floor while the tiny eight-year-old Alaska was frozen in fear unable to call a possible life-saving ambulance from that day on she swore nothing could scare her anymore, she was over being afraid and fragile, despite this new outlook she still believed the death of her mother was her fault, she still finds it hard to talk about how she just stood there, helpless, useless and numb but she knows it’s now in the past and helped shape her into the person she is today, her way of coping is going to her grave every year on the day she died, to take flowers and tell her about school. “Y’all smoke to have fun, I smoke to die” this quote from Alaska shows that behind the happy face she was still struggling with many things like her mother’s death she doesn’t usually open up to her friends about. 

A message I took from the text is that friendship means everything. Alaska had the best group of friends when she passed away and without them, she would have been forgotten amongst the drama craving zombie the world calls students. Her friends made sure Alaska would be remembered as the fun-loving maniac she was by performing a prank that could never be forgotten. I strongly believe that everyone on planet earth deserves a group of friends as charismatic and witty as those three teenage boys. “ If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane” this quote shows that Alaska gave her all with everything she was all or nothing, constantly taking risks and jumping in the deep end. This is one of the reasons why I look up to Alaska she is able to take risks with out worry. I straggel with alot of anxity I fInd It hard to swch of my mind, i like to worry about every thing and this stops me from doing new thing, i am affrad of what will happen and who will jugde me, in what i am doing i try to find ways to block people out so i dont get over wellend and can be my self, i admier alaska for this skill in taking risk and jupping into anything. Her presents in the boys’ life made all of them grow as humans because she showed them not to let anyone push them around and that you have to believe in yourself as much as you out for your friends. The boys were able to grow from the lesson she taught them.

The major challenge that had to be overcome by the characters in the novel “looking for Alaska” was the sudden death of Alaska, the three boys were lost without her they all loved her in their own way even if they didn’t show it, they didn’t think the girl they all knew so well would end up making the split decision to end her life right then and there, although drunk, Alaska was one to have meaning behind every action. They needed to carry on her legacy of pulling pranks, celebrate her life, and everything she did to make people feel joy. Alaska had forgotten to visit her mother that day and had left right before midnight hoping she could make it time, she felt she owed it to her mother to be there, but soon realized she wouldn’t make it in time, I believe Alaska felt guilty for missing the significant day and was one of the leading factors in her suicide.

The title of the text “looking for Alaska” is a fitting title for the novel as they aren’t physically looking for Alaska, they were looking at the pieces of her that stayed in their presence even after she passed. She was a collector of objects and memories and created stories to be shared, so the boys were looking for everything she left behind for them.

I would recommend this novel to teens as it show the importance of friendship i would recommend this novel to teens as they are in a time in their lives where friend play a big part on who they are or who they are becoming and how you have to stay true to yourself to have friendships and how valuable they are to you in your life.