Summer Reading Project July 27th- "Ghost Soldier"

Prompt: Are the character's realistic? Why or why not?
Book: Ghost Soldier 
Author: Elaine M. Alphin
Pages read: 0-124

     The main character's name is Alexander, and he is visiting with his Dad to North Carolina, to meet his dad's girlfriend's family. Alexander is a somewhat realistic person, his parents are divorced and he is a track runner. Which is pretty normal, but the somewhat part of being realistic is he can see and talk to ghost. Other then that part, I would call him an average day Joe. He runs, plays an instrument, uses a Mac, and is into history. His likes can easily be shared with by many people which makes him pretty lifelike. Also, his parent's divorce made a big impact on his life, which is does often to any child of split parents. There is no other way to describe Alexander being true to life.

     Nicole is Alexander's dad's girlfriend's daughter, (whew!) She can practically pass as my sister! (Which makes her pretty realistic,) she is an any day teenager. She thinks her siblings are annoying, she loves going to the mall, she thinks everything that is out of her interest is boring, and she loves to be with her friends. But what I think is the most realistic part of her is the fact that her dad died. Many people have had parents pass away, and I think that's the easiest thing to connect with her. Not even if you had a parent pass away but even a family member. The one part that is easiest to relate to her was her hating things that relate to her late father. Because, usually you don't want to be reminded of anything that has a connection to your deceased loved one.

     Carleton is a very realistic child as well. He reminds me of the little brother from Jurassic World because of his love for dinosaurs. Thinking of that connection, Nicole and Carleton can pass as the brothers inside the movie! Anyway, he loves dinosaurs, and tattles on anything he thinks is wrong. He is basically the average five year old. He loves to ask questions and he throughs fits when he doesn't get his way. A lot of people can relate to this whether from having little siblings, cousins, nieces or nephews. Or from having friends with little siblings, you can't do anything without them squealing on you. Also, he is always wanting to do what he thinks is "big kid stuff", he wants to be exactly like Alexander, and he wants to hang out with Nicole at the mall.

     Rich is not very realistic, well I mean he can and he can't be. A couple of reasons of why he can be realistic is because many people die to protect their family by serving in the army, which is what he did. Rich was sixteen when he decided to join the Confederates in the War Between the States (aka Civil War.) He is also very naturalistic because, he cares a lot about his sister and was always by her side until he ran away to the war. Many siblings have that one brother or sister they are super close with. Whether it's a twin or someone who is closer to your age, you at least like them. Some reasons he isn't very realistic is because he's a ghost! Hence the title, Ghost Soldier. 

Summer Reading Project~ The Color of Water July 22nd

Prompt:  Pick four images that represent the book and explain why, with a quote from the book. 

Book:  The Color of Water 

Author: James McBride 

Pages: 128-291 (FINISHED) 


     The first picture I chose is a picture of the McDonald's that is currently sitting on the same land James', mother Ruth McBride Jordan, lived at in Suffolk Virginia. I think this is important to the book because it adds to the mystery of what happened to the Shilskys? (The Shilsky's is Ruth's family,) no one really knows what happened to them, and especially since their house and their store was abolished. Towards the end of the book, James revealed he went to Virginia to try to at least solve some of the mystery, but he couldn't. "...ordered some food. I sat down at a table and opened Mommy's little hand map. I checked the map, looked out the window, checked it again, looked out the window again. I knew I was on Main Street. There was an old courthouse building catty-corner to where I sat. Behind the courthouse was a graveyard. To my left was a bridge and a slaughterhouse. I was sitting right where her family's store used to be, 601 North Main Street." 

     The second picture I chose was a picture of a Yi and Yang symbol. I chose this not because of the bad in the good and good in the bad. I chose this because, James is always looking towards both of his races, (and I am not saying this to sound racist,) the black and the white part of the yi and yang. Then you have the white in the black and the black in the white, the white in the black would symbolize that even though he is African American, he is still going to always have Jewish (white) blood in him. And the black in the white is the same. He will never be completely black or completely white. Just like how the book is named the Color of Water, it's just how Ruth explains it when James ask if he was black or white, "...She replied "You are a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!” And when he asked if God was black or white, she replied he is the color of water. I think of it as if is never going to be 100% of one race. I don't know if that made sense to anyone else but...

     The third picture is a picture of a Jewish star a

nd a cross in the middle of it.  I chose this picture because, James' mom is the daughter of an Orthodox Jew Rabbi, so she always grew up being a Jew. But, when Ruth met Dennis McBride, (James' dad), she switched her religions so she could be a Christian. It represents the book because, well basically just that. Ruth always knew she still had Jewish blood in her, but she liked being a Christian because she didn't have to follow the rules Judaism put on her. In Ruth's POV on chapter 15, she wanted to go to the graduation parade where she would march to a Gentile church and that's where she would graduate, but her dad forbid her to do so. He told her, "respect your mother and me...don't break the law of the bible, don't go into that Gentile church." 

     The fourth picture is a picture of 12 kids. I think this picture symbolizes The Color of Water because James' has 11 siblings, which including him would make 12 kids. When his dad died, Ruth had a long time recovering over his death. She also had a huge struggle trying to take care of 7 seven kids, and being pregnant. Now-a-days, you think having seven children would be a lot, but that was normal back then. Anyways, Ruth than got married to Hunter Jordan, in 1956 and he helped her take care of the kids. Along with providing Ruth with 4 more kids. "She married two extraordinary men and raised twelve very creative and talented children...and her children's achievements are her life's work." 

I dedicate this blogpost to Ruchel Zylska, (also known as; Rachel Zylska, Rachel Shilsky, Ruth Shilsky, Ruth McBride and, for the last 51 years, Ruth McBride Jordan.) She had the strength to go through 2 deaths of her husbands, her mom's death, grandmother's death, brother's death, and her high school sweetheart having to marry someone else. She had the courage to strut around Harlem, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, and so many other places with 12 biracial children. 

The Color of Water by James McBride 7/13/15

Book: The Color of Water 
Author: James McBride
Pages Read: 0-128
Prompt: Explain how a character is acting and why you think the character is acting that way. 

      During James' younger years, he was very unashamed of his mother. He would love for her to walk her to the bus stop and pick him up from the bus as well. He would love to go walking around the neighborhood holding his mom's hand, and acknowledging her presence. According to James himself, "it became the high point of my day, a memory so sweet it is burned into my mind like a tattoo, Mommy walking  me to the bus stop and every afternoon picking me up..." He saw it like a reward, having alone time with his mom; walking the eight blocks to the bus stop on the corner of New Mexico and 114th Road.

     During James' moody, pre-teen years, he was embarrassed of his mother. He never wanted to go anywhere with his mother. He said himself, "by age ten, I was coming into my own feelings about myself and my own impending manhood, and going out with Mommy, which had been a privilege and honor at age five, had become a dreaded event." He wanted to hide his "white mother" from the world. He would avoid telling his mom where he would play and where he would go with his friends, due to the fact he didn't want her to come and fetch him. In one scenario, his mother wanted him to go to the store with him and he told her he could go by himself, wanting to hide his mom. When he went to the grocery store, the old white man sold him a bottle of sour milk. When his mom saw the milk she ordered him to go take it back, and when he did the man wouldn't take it. So, just like James' worse fear, his mom marched up to the store, doing her crazy walk, and demanded a new bottle. Embarrassed of his mother, he tried to take her home and she wouldn't listen.

     I think James' acted this way was because he knew he was different than his mom, and his friends. I mean, he was half black, half white. He saw it through his eyes, experiencing racism first hand. When his mother would pick him up from the bus stop, she would stand out with black women. He didn't want to walk around with his mom because he would hear people calling her names, and he would reply, then proceed to get his butt kicked. He knew that no matter what, he was always going to be the "in the middle kid." He wasn't going to be fully black, or fully white, so he was never going to fit in.

(I couldn't access Mrs. Larson's blog, so I just googled reading prompts.)