Reading

            This year, I defiantly feel like I grew as a reader. I can now decipher texts with ease and find deeper meanings that are embedded in it. Some books I read this year include:

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Dreamology by Lucy Keating

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

This was my first reading response of the year:

My favorite summer reading book this summer was I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. This book tells the story of two twins, Noah and Jude, from two very important times in their lives. One part of the book focuses on Noah struggle to fit in middle school as an artist and his forbidden love. The other half focuses on Jude's journey to make a sculpture with the world renowned sculptor, Guillermo Garcia. I found out about this book online and I decided to give it a try.

One thing that makes this book so interesting to me is that it is told from the perspective of two different artists. They both use very descriptive language and illustrate characters and places so vividly. I also really enjoyed how it was told from two different times and you could get to know the characters and see how they changed over time. I loved this book and I would recommend it to young readers who enjoy art and romantic novels.

I think this demonstrates how I have grown in interpreting the text, because in this response, I only really described what happened in the book, and I didn't get into what the characters were thinking or deeper meanings and themes in the book.

This is one of my reading responses from later in the year: 

As we read more of Purple Hibiscus, I enjoy it more and more. There was so much change that happened in the most recent reading we had. Some of the things I noticed were the difference in the changes of Jaja and Kambili. Throughout Jaja’s stay in Nsukka, he seems to adapt to this new life fairly quickly. He finds new hobbies like gardening, watching TV, and playing football. He is interested, and he accepts the new life that is put before him like he had never known anything else. This goes to show how unhappy Jaja was in his life with his family.

Kambili, on the other hand, seems to be drawn to try new things, but she is constrained to her old life because of her fear of Papa. She always seemed to think about what Papa would think during their stay instead of doing what she wanted to do. Towards the end of their stay, however, Kambili wants to participate in her new life with her cousins, and Papa doesn’t seem to cross her mind that much. I saw most of the change in Kambili when she went home. She socialized with the girls at school, and she stood up to Papa. I think Kambili always knew there was something wrong with the way she was living, but she just needed something to contrast her family’s ways with.

In this post, I barely summarize the book and I dig deep into hidden meanings. I discuss my theories of what could happen and how it connects to other parts of the book. This is thorough and pensive like a good response should be. I also focused on a central theme throughout the post.

During Purple Hibiscus, I focused on family and the shift of power in it. Reading with a

purpose helped me notice certain elements I probably wouldn't have caught in the past.

Reading over the year has helped me grow as a reader, and I will continue to grow as a challenge myself as a reader.