Advice letter to: Romeo Montague

Dear Romeo,

     I have recently heard a lot about your dilemma with your love, Juliet being a Capulet. I understand that Capulets are a very well known enemy of your family which makes it rather difficult for you and Juliet to have a peaceful relationship. Capulet and Lady Capulet are rational people, they are high class, respected by the people of Verona, and dignified. This isn't very different from your parents, is it Romeo?

     A very healthy way to deal with your anger, and complicated relationship with the Capulets is to be more rational with your choices and be more verbal than physical. Yes, I know that verbal fighting isn't as satisfying as giving the Capulets the what for you think they deserve, but think about how it affects Juliet when she sees you fighting with her family. She's your wife, you should take her feelings into account. Don't make her choose between you and her blood related family. To be fair, yes she is married to a Montague, no longer making her Juliet Capulet, but Juliet Montague. This doesn't give you permission to slay her family.

     In the long run, what are the Montagues and Capulets even fighting for? Does anyone even remember? Killing Mercutio, your best friend accidentally while fighting Tybalt proves that you guys aren't solving anything by hurting each other. What does it do? How does it end? Nothing, it does nothing but make it worse, and it solves nothing. I advise thinking over why you guys are even hating each other. Then, think if it's even worth it. Was killing Tybalt worth getting banishèd, and not being able to see your wife?

     Killing Juliet's cousin only made her realize that you weren't what she thought you were. Juliet referred to you, to nurse, as a "Fiend angelical." And a "Dove-feathered Raven" this is showing that even Juliet, your love, expected more and better of you, Romeo. Juliet seeds you as an amazingly beautiful person, but on the inside, she sees rat you're darker, and more evil than she thought she knew. Show Juliet that you can be better Romeo, don't let her think of you as an ugly, evil bird, hidden under the feathers of the most beautiful fowl imaginable.

The best of luck Romeo. All the love,

signed,

Jordanne

Six Of Crows

     The book Six Of Crows by Leigh Braswell portrays multiple themes throught the story. There are many thought provoking places in the book that made me think about how the characters handle situations and how their personalities really show when they are in serious situations. The book also has a lot of places where it made me think about how I would handle that, if I were one of the multiple main characters.

     In the beginning, the theme of trust was portrayed. Also, greed. At one part, a very important, powerful drug was tested on a girl, Anya. A boy was being tested, so guards were cutting him, leaving it up to Anya to heal him. She healed him fine without the drug, but once she took the drug there was a clearly unexpected outcome. The drug granted Anya the rare power of being able to have control over people's minds. She first told one of the guards to shoot at a glass. The others doubted that he would actually do it, but since she was on the drug, she had control o ear his mind and of course, he did has she told him to. After realizing that she had so much power, Anya wasn't trusted enough by the guards to be kept alive. They were told to kill her, and she was shit at. I think since they didn't trust Anya, it shows how irresponsible they were. If they didn't know the drug or its abilities it wouldn't make sense for them to test it on her. I think they didn't value Anya enough, because this new drug could have killed her for all they knew, and I think since they did this the way they did, shows their greed. Near the middle, my group and I questioned if going to a jail to steal the drug was selfless, or selfish. All six criminals were offered millions of dollars if they could successfully break into the jail and retrieve the  drug. I think there was a chance that the criminals were only getting the drug for the money for themselves, and not so that they could save the world by getting the drug out of just anyone's hands. I believe the act is more selfless than selifsh, because they are putting themselves in danger by breaking into the jail, and getting this extremely valuable drug. The drug is extremely powerful, so if it were to get into just anyone's hands, it might possibly end the world.

     To conclude, I think Six Of Crows was a good book, and I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a more alternate universe in a book. The book was scary as much as it was intresting and thought provoking. For the future if I were to re read this book I would look for even more themes, further than the ones I uncovered reading this book the first time.

Tough relationships can be even tougher to rationalize

     Hi everyone! I've finished reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson - which I recommend to anyone who's looking for a great book - and I've started reading The Nine Lives of Chloe King by Liz Braswell. This book is really good, in the first 17 pages a lot happens. The main conflict should should be Chloes extremely near-death experience, I noticed that a lot is going on with Chloes relationship with her mother.

     I noticed frequently that Chloe and her mom seem to disagree about pretty much everything. She gets annoyed by her mom, I think maybe because her mother doesn't give her much space. At one part, Chloe got up earlier than she usually did and her mother kept bothering her about it. Her mother notices anything out of the norm with Chloe. Also, after Chloe came home from the hospital from her incident, when her mother saw her she didn't even ask if she was alright until Chloe yelled at her about it. I think in their relationship there is a lack of understanding and trust which messes them up. Later in the night when Chloe decided she was going out to the club her mother only asked where she was going and accepted Chloes response, "Out" and left it as that. To further emphasize, when Chloe came back hours later her mother was just sitting, reading, and she didn't ask where she went, or what she did. She only says "I'll be up in a minute." Seriously? She has such lack of control over her fifteen - almost sixteen - year old daughter. Perhaps Chloe acts like this because she feels like her mom is trying to be her friend, not her mother. Chloe says on multiple occasions that her father would understand her better - if he were around. This also makes me think; why did her dad leave? Where did he go?

     To sum things up, I would definitely say that The Nine Lives of Chloe King is a must read. There's so many different themes and conflicts weird enough to make things interesting. This book is really great so far, I'm excited to keep reading and find answers to all the questions I have about it. I definitely wonder how Chloe and her mother will finally see eye to eye, if that even happens. Or finding out what happened to Chloes dad. Mostly though, I really want to know how on Earth did Chloe even survive what happened to her?

People Can Change

     As I'm nearing the end of Laurie Halse Anderson's book Speak, I definitely notice that the main character, Melinda has changed from the start. I've mentioned in the past that Speak is a book for teenagers who feel out of place, and outcast, but now I see that it's also about teenagers that are willing to come out of that. Teenagers who are willing to actually give an effort to try to fix what's wrong in their lives. Melinda definitely demonstrates this in the way that she was trying to look out for Rachel/Rachelle even after contributing to making her life miserable.

     Melinda meets Rachel/Rachelle in the library and I find it to be very brave of her to do that. She 

was afraid to speak up for herself for so long and he got enough courage to talk to her after months, and about a really sensitive topic. Rachel wasn't understanding at all of what Melinda had to tell her, and she said Melinda was "a liar" and "disgusting" and "jealous" of her. I honestly think she should have just thought about what she said about Andy to her, but Rachel didn't listen because she didnt want to hear anything bad about him. Things like Rachel trusting Andy over Melinda might also be a contributing factor to why Melinda doesn't even want to talk to anyone in the first place. It was totally rude of her to leave and accuse Melinda of being so horrible because of what she said about Andy, when she knew Melinda for so much longer.

     In conclusion, Melind did change very much from the beginning to the nearing end of freshman year. While she might not feel amazing about it, she overcame the fear of having no one to understand what really happened on that night. She might not have convinced Rachel that she was telling the truth, but telling her what happened is a definite start of something. Melinda relates to teenagers this way, because sometimes, just telling someone what your problem is makes it slightly better. Even if they take it the wrong way, or if they don't understand. Sometimes, just talking to something other than stuffed animals and brick walls can make the biggest problem seem almost solvable.

What's On The Inside Is What Counts

     Being a teenager is sometimes described as being an important time in someone's life. It's not perfect - but weird enough to make things interesting. There are so many different things someone can feel, and those feelings can go as soon as they come. My book, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is a valuable one because being teenage isn't portrayed as a teenage dream or anything. It's described from the perspective of a high school Freshman, Melinda. Melinda isn't like most people at her school, she's different, she's quiet. She's outcast. Speak is valuable because it speaks deeply to teenagers like Melinda, teenagers that don't want to show the “real them” in fear of acceptance.

     Melinda went through a lot during the summer before 9th grade. She went to a party one night, and left with no friends, no one to talk to, and a horrible reputation. Over a course of days, Melinda goes through having potatoes thrown at her, having her hair pulled, getting kicked (literally) in the back, and being excluded from her - and just about all - friend groups. I know many teens can relate to the feeling of not having a place, and it can cause feelings of not even being wanted around. In one chapter, Melinda suggests that her parents would be divorced already if it weren't for her being born. She thinks of herself as a waste of space. However, as time goes on, Melinda seems to get used to her social invisibility. At one part she says, “I heard her talking about it in algebra. I knew I wouldn't get an invitation.” This also goes to show that being completely on your own isn't as solemn as it might seem. While she is lonely, and friendless, Melinda seems to find ways to occupy herself and make the most of this new life she has.

     Ultimately, this story connects to life because - in my opinion - teens do tend to feel a lot like Melinda. They feel alone, outcast, and painfully afraid to say what they're really thinking. Also like Melinda, teenagers  can feel neglected, or lonely even in crowded rooms. Melinda's story ties to teens in many unspeakable ways. Speak is definitely a book for teens that feel outcast, or lonely, and teens that feel like they can't speak their minds.

My Introduction as a Reader

Hi, my name is Jordanne. My favorite genres to read are mostly realistic fiction, romance and fan fiction. Some realistic fiction books I liked are Such A Pretty Girl by Laura Wiess, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. A One Direction fan fiction I think was good is called Bloom, it has an interesting and kind of funny plot.

I don't have a favorite author because I can be kind of picky with books, and I don't usually read series, or continuous books by the same author. I started to read books by Sarah Dessen, but I find a lot of her books boring — or at least the beginnings are — which makes it hard to finish or even continue reading them.

During the summer I reread Such A Pretty Girl, and a bunch of fan fictions. About 5-10 books total. I totally recommend usuing Wattpad for reading fan fictions if you're into that. But if not, I recommend reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson as I mentioned earlier.