English 485: Expedition Adolescence

I was not able to finish the novel, as it hit too close to home for me. I had never been "triggered" by a book before, but as soon as this book started to ruin my day, I put it down and decided for myself that it was not worth finishing.  However, I think that speaks volumes of the book itself! The author wrote it in a way that was so believable that the tragedy of it all weighed too heavy on my soul. I think that shows the strength of the writing itself, honestly.  Though I have never had suicidal tendencies, I have found myself battling both anxiety and depression, which both have a large negative effect on my life. I applaud the author for exploring these topics and I can see why this type of book would be valuable for an adolescent to read. It can serve as an eye-opening tool for them to see how issues like these are serious and potentially life-threatening.  It teaches adolescents that mental health is important and is not something to be afraid or ashamed of. 

  It's Kind of a Funny Story  is an excellent Young Adult novel.that I would recommend people to read. I really connected to the novel, mostly becuase I resonate alot with Craig and how he feels. I don't use the same terminology that he does when describing his issues, like the Tentacles, for me they are needles that are poking my brain. But, regardless I still relate to how Craig describes his issues. I also like they positive ending that the novel has and how it leads to a hopeful life for Craig in the future. Despite the true tragedy of Ned Vizzini, I think this book serves as an excellent perspective to give teens and adolesecents the tools needed to deal with thier mental health or at the very least give them hope that there will be a better Future.      The novel has many themes, but at its core, the book I believe is really about perspective.  "I look at the map. It's not a brain, clearly; it's a  map ; can't she see the rivers and highways and ...

       I am exhausted as I write this so I apologize for anything that might not make too much sense lmao. Anyway, it is really hard for me to rank this book or even begin to describe how I felt about it. I think what really made it for me was how incredibly connected I felt to Craig and how relatable his experiences and emotions were. Even without being diagnosed with any mental illness, I can understand that feeling of not being good enough and how hard it is to find motivation or even joy in life when something you thought you loved and were amazing at other people find less of a challenge.      This was also one of those books that, as was mentioned during class, made it hard to separate the author from his writing. Every time there was a hopeful spell or an encouraging encounter, I could not help but think of "what happened in the end anyway", even though that is not the "end" of Craig. It honestly sometimes gave the opposite feeling of what was i...

                Unfortunately, I couldn't finish the book; I only read chunks of the beginning and middle, so I only know so much. So I took the option to read mental health websites instead, and here discuss them with the same focus.         First, there's something we were talking about in class that is addressed in one article I read, something that I didn't put into this exact wording till now. I've known it in concept, but don't think of it often.         Mental health encompasses more than actual diagnoses; if you have poor self-esteem, are consistently stressed, insecure, or anything like that, your mental health is suffering. I mean, obviously we know that it's terrible to feel insecure, stressed, self-conscious, but when it's not debilitating and directly hazardous to yours or others' health and safety, it's easy to overlook it, to not think of it as still suffering mentally--but it i...

It’s Kind of a Funny Story is a refreshing take on the life of a young person.  Refreshing might be a strange word to use to describe a book about a kid contemplating suicide, but let me explain myself: YA authors too often love to challenge their teenage protagonists with larger-than-life, spectacular, world-altering problems.  We’ve seen popular YA protagonists fighting corrupt governments and/or taking down horribly evil adults and/or saving the world from certain doom. It's easy to forget that realistically speaking, the lives of young adults aren’t always full of adventure or incredibly spectacular…and there’s nothing wrong with that.  Sometimes, the biggest problem a young adult has to tackle is just how to make it through the next day. This is the problem that faces Craig.  He’s not trying to overthrow the government or kill Voldemort or save the world—he’s just trying to survive. Of course, we see Craig struggle with the idea that he has somehow failed at the...

       The overwhelming challenges that Fabiola faces in American Street are significant to the discussion of xenophobia, racism, and poverty. Though these challenges can be difficult to read for some, they magnify American racism and xenophobia, which are aspects that are ingrained in our culture and need to be discussed at length.       Dealing with the early conflict of Fabiola being ripped away from her mother at the airport, I found myself imagining how I would feel if I were in her situation. There is no way that I could be as strong as Fabiola was during this time, as I would be so scared to be alone in a location that I didn't know anything about. Detroit, especially, as it has a reputation for not being so "friendly".     My favorite part of the novel is the bit at the end when Papa Legba kills Dray. This is my favorite part because it introduces magical realism, which is a technique that I've learned about recently and is somet...

 I believe that American Street  by Ibi Zoboi is one of those novels that begs to be read twice.  The novel absolutely drips with foreshadowing, especially within the dialogue of the character Papa Legba.  Some of these hints toward future disaster are obvious to us, the readers, but are lost on Fabiola in the moment that she hears them.  However, other hints from Papa Legba at first just seem like pure nonsense.  In my post, I want to talk about one instance of Papa Legba's foreshadowing, and why it seems like Fabiola, despite putting huge amounts of faith in Papa Legba, one of her lwas, to show her through, doesn't stop to consider the deeper meaning behind what he is singing and how it might impact the decisions that she can make.   Here, I will examine one of Papa Legba's songs, which are full of forewarning, as well as Fabiola's response to it and why she might have reacted that way.   This is what he sings right after Fabiola has r...

  American Street by Ibi Zoboi is a great book that tells the story of Fabiola Toussaint. The book details Fabiola's transition to life in Detroit and all the pros and cons that come with life in America. The book is really good on a technical level and is a great read and something I would recommend  other adolescent readers pick up when they have the chance. However, I didn't really connect with this book the same way that I did with the previous book.  I can't really explain why, I just didn't get that spark so to speak, but I can say that there are definitely topics in the book that many can relate too even if they don't share directly with the conflicts the characters are involved in. The big conflict being Fabiola's decision to speak to the Detective about Dray and the eventual conclusion it leads to by the end of the book. The big conflict relates to the book's themes about loyalty. Fabiola's personal conflict is in regard to her mother and how th...

       I really enjoyed this book. My favorite aspect of it was probably the character of Papa Legba and the shroud of mystery that surrounds both him and the gun used to kill Dray. The little magic mixed in with more serious problems in society was a nice touch. Besides that, I think that the way the author introduced more and more backstory and personality of each character was so effective and made me want to know more.      The only thing that did not satisfy me was Fabiola's character at times and how naive and hasty she was at making vital decisions. She should have known better, considering the fact that she did grow up fighting and constantly having to look out not only for herself but for her mother as well. Yes, she is just a teen, but being exposed to the things she was exposed to in Haiti would still prepare her more than perhaps a typical American adolescent.      Now, when it comes to issues that were addressed in the novel...

“But then I realize that everyone is climbing their own mountain here in America. They are tall and mighty and they live in the hearts and everyday lives of the people.” ― Ibi Zoboi, American Street, 2017 “We have to become everything that we want. Consume it. Like our lwas.” ― Ibi Zoboi, American Street, 2017 “We fold our immigrant selves into this veneer of what we think is African American girlhood. The result is more jagged than smooth. This tension between our inherited identities and our newly adopted selves filters into our relationships with other girls and the boys we love, and how we interact with the broken places around us.” ― Ibi Zoboi, American Street, 2017 “So trying to come to America from the wrong country is a crime?” - Ibi Zoboi, American Street, 2017 “Creole and Haiti stick to my insides like glue—it’s like my bones and muscles. But America is my skin, my eyes, and my breath. According to my papers, I’m not even supposed to be here. I’m not a citizen. I’m a ‘residen...

 I am actually surprised at how much I enjoyed reading this book. I think Alexie did such a great job at making this book digestible to the common reader and the English major, alike.  Not only was the text itself engaging and highly entertaining, the artwork was phenomenal, so I must tip my hat to the artist himself. The use of artwork in this book does a lot for the reader when it comes to understanding Arnold at his core. Arnold states that he has a hard time expressing himself through words, so he uses pictures to explain himself. I believe this helps the reader understand the text in the sense of relating to how Arnold truly feels about his surroundings.  This book was so much fun to read and I believe that many people can connect to this book because it deals a lot with the feeling of being an outsider. The majority of people know what it feels like to be an outsider whether it pertains to their personalities, interests, etc. I think this book can help adolescents u...

      This book was insanely good and I really enjoyed reading it. It grabbed my attention early on and held it during the entire book. Arnold's sarcastic inner-monologue as he shares his perspective was entertaining because it is similar to my type of humor. Despite the well written humor and events in the book, some of the events held a much heavier tone. They were still well written, but they weighed a little more on me as a reader.     Loss was a big theme in Diary . Like we talked about during our last class, there were different types of loss present in the book. For example, a major topic was the loss of innocence. It's written in an earlier scene when Arnold is with Mr. P and Mr. P tells Arnold "We were trying to kill Indian culture" (Alexie 35). Arnold's thinks about he hates Mr. P in that moment. Growing up on the reservation, he knew how things were between the Indians and the Whites, but until Mr. P explicitly spoke about beating Indians, it seems li...

What struck me the most in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian  is the thematic dichotomy of loss and hope within the novel.  Both are pervasive themes, and often seem at-odds with one another.  Throughout the book, we see Arnold reeling between feelings of hopelessness and hopefulness, often within the same chapters or even the same sentences.  Arnold’s feelings of hopelessness throughout the novel are almost always in relation to a loss that he has suffered.  But the hopelessness that Arnold experiences is unable to overpower his tenacity and resilience.  Indeed, the losses that Arnold experiences throughout the novel galvanize him to cling to hope—to chase his dreams despite the odds.  Or, perhaps more precisely, he clings to hope in order to spite the odds.   In The Absolutely True Diary, the themes of loss and hope are constantly pulling Arnold in seemingly different directions—however, as I’ll explore in my blog response, the ...

       The first thing I have to say is, I have not devoured a book this fast in a long while. I just loved the sarcastic tone and how the author didn't try to gloss over things or try to censor anything that goes on in reservations and the struggles people on them face. Lots of different groups of people can also relate to the characters in the story and sympathize with them. For example, the fact that Junior's sister had a dream to write romance novels and not, instead, go for something like nursing or a "real job" and knew she was not going to be supported in that really resonated with me. Lots of immigrant (my parents) and low income families tend to push their children toward something that will rake in as much money as possible because they struggled with that when they were younger or still do struggle with it. Dreams are considered something that they can't afford.      Another thing that I really loved is how accurately the author portrayed an...

       The Absolutely True Diary of A Part Time Indian , Is a really cool book that focuses on a lot of different issues within Native American/Indian communities in modern America. I find that the book does a really good job of being relatable even if you aren't Indian as one of the major issues that Arnold/Junior faces is his Identity, and not just his race but his Identity as a person.      From the beginning Arnold explains that because of his medical issues he belongs to the " Black Eye of the Month Club" ( Alexie 4). So he may "fit in" as an Indian but he still gets outed for differences he can't control.  However things don't get much better when he first transfers to Rearden, in fact on page 61 Arnold says " I felt like two different people inside of one body" after explaining his two names.  However, there are more specific quotes that give insight into how Arnold sees himself and how he handles going to Rear...

  With regard to Post-Colonial Theory, several scenes from Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian stood out to me. First is the scene in which Mr. P admits his sins to Junior, then tells him to leave, because “If you stay on this rez,…they're going to kill you…you can't fight us forever.” (Alexie 43.) This is just after Mr. P admits to ‘try[ing] to kill Indian culture.’ This horrifying concept should not exist. Unfortunately, however, that is the way the world works—and its effects are realistically portrayed in Alexie’s book. Near the end, Junior tells us that the reservations were intended as a place for Indians to die. This, too, is both horrific and accurately portrayed, considering how many deaths occur in the book, despite the original purpose being forgotten. Alexie realistically depicts white people as they bully or try to be saviors. Mr. P is a bully who saw the error of his ways, and in the chapter titled ‘Wake,’ Ted acts as a prime exampl...