Austin’s Blog

Julien walks with crutches because his legs were weakened by a disease called polio. Polio was a dreaded infectious disease that killed and/or paralyzed millions of people, mostly children in the first half of the twentieth century. Families would live in fear of the disease-children with polio were usually quarantined or separated from families and then were sent to live in sanatoriums to recover. Some children made full recoveries, but most were paralyzed. In the 1950s, Dr. Jonas Salk invented a vaccine to prevent the transmission of polio. Although the disease could be eradicated from the entire earth, it continued to spread in certain areas where children had no access to the vaccine.

When? 1939-1941 after WWII Who? Jews (a.k.a. the Resistance) and Germany led by Hitler (a.k.a. Nazis) What? Germany, led by Adolf Hitler, invaded Poland and killed Jews. Jews were forced into hiding from the Nazis, and there were few spots a Jew could be safe. Your neighbor could be a good a good friend, then a Nazi. You couldn’t trust anyone. Why? Hitler and Germany invaded Poland, and attacked Jews, starting a war.

I gave it 5 stars because it had a good ending, the characters got what they wanted (mostly), and it was a good story.

Arul

Leadership. He had great leadership qualities, he listened to Ruku and gave her a chance, unlike her own sister, he gave the others work, and he wasn’t selfish.

Any Part with Ruku

Although Arul was the best character, Ruku had the best scenes. My favorite one was when she coverd Kutis ears and not her own with the fireworks.

I think that Viji moving on was good. She needed to stop dwelling in the past, and when she did, it did nothing but benefit her. She went to a place she liked with children like her, where she could become a teacher. She made her dad stop hitting people (supposedly), and even let him visit sometimes. She told him about Ruku, and didn’t get yelled at, and had a good life. Even Kutti had a good life and let Viji leave. Everything is better when we move on, and don’t spend every spare second crying and mourning-only sometimes, because the person wouldn’t want us to be depressed all the time and throw away their future because of their death. She should remember Ruku with the good times that happened, not what good times they could be having now. What is your opinion?

I think that the new bracelet business will not work the best. It does make good money, 150 a bracelet, and once a 50 tip. That is good pay, but won’t last-after all even with the 50 tip, it only lasted a week or so. I just think that the demand is to big to keep up with. Say they 600 currency a week, every other week, that is barely enough to keep 3 people alive, not 5+a dog. What do you think?

I think that Viji leaving was a smart idea-but definitely hard one. I mean, I wouldn’t want to be around someone like their appa. When I read that Ruku whispered “amma,” I knew she thought that she would see her again, making it even harder for Viji. More evidence of hard decision making was when Ruku threw Marappachi, saving Viji-but making her more mad.

The Giver by Lois Lowery shows that if you persevere, nothing is impossible. At the start of the book, a plane flies over Jonas’ community, which scares the community “elders” because that isn’t supposed to happen. Towards the middle, Jonas suddenly starts to “see beyond,” and gets a special “assignment” after the last person failed, and applies for release. One night, Jonas watches a release, and finally notices how wbad”sameness” is. In the end, Jonas attempts to leave behind his life of “sameness” in an attempt to reach “elsewhere”

I gave it four stars because it is a good book all around. It has great characters, is funny and serious, and has a great story line.

Drew

My favorite character is Drew because he didn’t let people put him down. When Andy said FB wasn’t everything, Drew didn’t let Andy anger him, and again when Andy talked about the test.

J Signing Andy’s Yearbook

I didn’t put J as my favorite character because I wanted him to be my favorite moment. I think that J is really respectful to give Andy an autograph, and definitely was the best moment.

If I lived in a world of sameness, I would hate it. Especially if 5 people knew about it and didn’t tell anyone. Then, if I found out, I would get mad they didn’t tell anyone and wish they hadn’t gotten rid of it. It would be better for not having to worry about streets and that stuff, but stuff like snow, sunshine, color, climate, hills, sky, emotions, feelings, thoughts, that would suck.

I think that something is wrong with Jordan’s dad. On pages 154-155, Jordan’s mom said that Chuck had a headache and went to bed, but then J saw him listening to music with a spilled cup of tea. Also on 158, J said that his dad thought he was losing him, and he made sure that they lit all 7 Kwanzaa candles, but they usually forget 1. This, Chuck wearing ties, and moving on from Christmas sooner than others makes it seem like something is happening to him. What do you think?