The List

1. A Visit From The Goon Squad - Jennifer Egan
2. Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
3. The Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
4. The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky
5. The Road - Cormac McCarthy
6. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
7. The Boston Girl - Anita Diamant

Coming of Age

1. An athlete, a basket case, a princess, a criminal: The Breakfast Club

2. Live While We're Young - One Direction

3. It's time - Imagine Dragons

4. She's All That: Zack Siler bets he can turn the most unattractive girl in school into a prom queen, but nothing is easy once feelings become involved.

5. Cosmic Love - Florence + The Machine

6. The Chain - Ingrid Michelson

7. Girls In Progress: Ansiedad tries to cheat her way into adulthood while her mother struggles to work, pay the bills, and engages in an affair with a married man. 

8. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

9. 10 Things I Hate About You : Bianca Stratford, the most popular girl, at school can't date until her older sister Kat, described as a heinous witch, dates. 

10. Somebody Told Me - The Killers

11. Miracle Mile - Cold War Kids

12. Fourth of July - Fall Out Boy

13. What A Girl Wants

14. Teenage Dirtbag - Wheatus

15.  Bright - Ecosmith

16. LOL: 

The Hunger Games: Part 1 "The Tributes"

Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in your favor!

What is Panem? What are the Hunger Games?

Panem is a country that rose out of the ashes of North America. There were thirteen districts, but then came the Dark Days: an uprising of the districts against the Capitol. Twelve districts remained, but District Thirteen was obliterated. The Hunger Games came from the Treaty of Treason that gave the citizens of Panem new laws to guarantee peace and it is a yearly reminder that the Dark Days must never be repeated. The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. Each of the twelves districts provide a male and female tribute to participate in the televised event. The 24 tributes are imprisoned in an arena where they must fight to the death until there is only one tribute standing, the victor. The victor receives a lifetime of wealth and fame at the cost of 23 other tributes lives. It is the capitol's way of reminding the districts that they are at their mercy. 

What are the 12 Districts?

The districts are used to produce necessities for the Capitol. Each district has a job to do. District Four is fishing. District Twelve is coal. The districts have no form of communication among themselves. The higher the number, it seems, the poorer the district seems to be. It sounds almost like multiple concentration camps. 

Who are the Everdeens plus extended family? 

Katniss Everdeen is sixteen years old, the head of her household, and sole provider of the family. She kept Prim and herself from being placed in a community home. Her father died when she was eleven in an explosion in the mines; her mother nearly stopped living because of it. Katniss has never forgiven her mother for blanking out and watching her children turn to skin and bones. Primrose is Katniss's younger sister who looks like her mother. She has blue eyes and blonde hair unlike Katniss with her olive colored skin, gray eyes, and black hair. Buttercup is Prim's yellow coated cat; he has one and half ears and a mashed-in nose. She has a goat named Lady as well. Katniss provides for her family by hunting in the woods with Gale. Gale met Katniss when he was 14 and she was 12. They look similar enough to be related because of the hair, skin, and eyes, but most of the people from the Seam looked like that. They hunt illegally in the woods in order to feed their families; Gale's dad died in the mines too. He's been providing for a family of five for seven years: two brothers and a sister. 

What's with the three finger salute?

After Katniss volunteers for Prim at the reaping, her district touch their middle three fingers to their lips and held it out to her. Its an old gesture of their district occasionally seen at funerals. It means thanks, it means admiration, it means goodbye to someone you love. 

The Male and Female Tributes: District 12's First Volunteer and Peeta Mellark 

Prim's name was called in her very first reaping. Katniss did a very radical thing; she volunteered for her sister. A cry that was heard across the nation. To have your name pulled from the reaping is a death sentence. Peeta Mellark's name is pulled from the reaping as well. When Katniss's mother had checked out of their family, Katniss looked for any food for them to eat. Starvation was the main cause of death in twelve. While trying to sell Prim's baby clothes, Katniss rummaged through the trash bins of the shop keepers. Peeta intentionally burned the bread causing his mother to hit him and having him throw out the bread, but he didn't throw out the bread. He threw the bread at Katniss, and that bread was the meal between life and death for the Everdeens. They had never talked before, but to Katniss, in her eyes, would never stop owing him because the bread and the first dandelion of the year gave her hope. Now with the reality that Katniss will not be around to make sure Prim doesn't starve, she leaves instructions for their survival. Prim will sell goat milk and cheese, her mother will continue her apothecary business, and Gale will bring her herbs she needs and game. Peeta's father visits Katniss and promises to make sure Prim's eating. 

Where did the famous mockingly pin come from?

Contrary to popular belief, Katniss did not get the mockingjay pin from the Hob or from Prim. Madge, the mayor's daughter, had visited Katniss before she was taken to the train station. Each tribute is allowed to wear one thing from their district in the area. She had asked Katniss to promise she would wear it in the arena. 

Makeup. Wardrobe. Workout. Lights. Camera. Action. 

There are more to the games then just murder. The people of the capitol need a show, something to root for to make the games more interesting for themselves. All of the tributes are fed the finest food, bathed until years of compiled dirt is removed, and dressed in the finest silk and cotton the capitol has to offer. After all they are the stars of the show. Cinna, Katniss's stylist, and Portia, Peeta's stylist, design costumes that represent District 12; they set Katniss and Peeta on fire. "No one will forget me. Not my look, not my name. Katniss. The girl who was on fire" (Collins 78). Each tribute must demonstrate their skills, social and physical, in order to attract sponsors. In the training center, they will have a chance to practice with the weapons that could be provided in the arena, and each tribute can see who they would like to become allies with. During each tribute's private session with the Gamemakers, they must show off their skills in order to get a score. The scores help predict the victor and who their opponents should focus on killing first. During Katniss's session, the Gamemakers don't make any attempt to notice her, so she shoots an arrow at them to catch their attention. It does set her apart because of her temper and she pulls an 11, the highest among the tributes. Each tribute is given a three minute interview with Caesar Flickerman, who's been hosting the interview for forty years, but hasn't age a day. In the interview each tribute has to put forth their best "them." The sponsors want to know who they are, their story.

Something to root for.

Peeta always seems to know what to say and how to act to sway an audience. He is the boy in every Nicholas Sparks book that everyone falls in love with just because of his gestures. Really, its an unachievable standard to live up to. Peeta cant win the games because the love of his life came to the games with him. Only Katniss never even knew Peeta liked her, typical. The citizens of the capitol now have something to root for; they have the star crossed lovers from District 12. 

The Hunger Games: Six-Word Story

WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE: KATNISS EVERDEEN

Some people want to be her, some people want to kill her. From the moment Katniss Everdeen volunteered to take her sisters place in the Hunger Games, she was no longer an individual person. She went from being a person to a thing that can be used at the capitol's disposal. She is an object that is suppose to show what a true citizen of Panem should be like; although, it is no longer her choice as to whether she wants to or not. It's the morbidity of volunteering for the games because it is an honor; the morbidity of Katniss's life being up to sponsors and game makers. She is wanted as an object, not as a person. 

Survival Backpack

1. Winter Clothing (Jacket, Pants, Shirts) - In the world of The Road it is constantly cold. The worst feeling is waking up with cold feet or going to sleep with cold feet or being cold overall everyday. Also, since there is no medicine, hospitals, or doctors it would be beneficial to avoid getting a cold. A thermal shirt like an Under Amour, a heavy winter jacket, and snow pants. 

2. Hiking Boots - The boy and the man walk long distances everyday. Hiking boots would allow them to travel more comfortably and if they step in water their feet will not get cold. The world is also destroyed so there is no such thing as sidewalks and the roads are all destroyed. Walking down an avenue will be similar to walking on a hiking trial. 

3. First Aid Kit - The man and the boy avoid getting even the smallest cuts because they don't have any medicine to treat themselves. The only thing worse than getting killed is dying from a sickness that you can't do anything about. A small cut could lead to an infection, which leads to a fever, and with their lack of water supplies the fever would rise and they could die. Band-aids, Neosporin, gauze, antiseptic, aspirin, Advil, hydrogen peroxide, breathing barriers, instant cold packs, scissors, roll bandages, and an oral thermometer all in abundance; enough to fill a small suit case. 

4. Water filter - You can go a week without food, but no more than three days without water. The man and the boy drink whenever they can find fresh water. I, personally, would not survive a day in the world of The Road because I would not be able to drink from a stream without getting skeevy about it. A filter would ensure that anything I take in will not harm me. Drinking bad water or eating rotten food is a quick way to ensure your own death. 

5. Flashlight that never runs out of battery - There is constant darkness throughout the novel. Even when it is day time it is ashy and gloomy. The man and the boy have to stop traveling once it gets too dark to see and it delays them from reaching the ocean. I still am afraid of the dark so pitch black night skies would not serve me well in the world of The Road.

6. Sleeping bag (water resistant/keeps heat in) - The sleeping bag would help keeping the heat in and give something comfortable to sleep on instead of sleeping with tarp. You can literally sweat/sleep a cold away. A good night's sleep would help to motivate me to travel even further per day in order to reach the sea. 

7. Swiss Army Knife - Its small and convenient. It carries tweezers, a small screw driver, scissors, and multiple things that look a knife just styled differently. The knife can be used to skin an animal if they catch one. Its the number one tool sold to most hikers and campers because it can be used in several different situations. Swiss Army Knife

8. A weapon (preferably a gun) - Although killing someone is always a last minute solution, all bets are off when it comes to the blood clots. Being eaten alive is not the way I want to go. A gun allows for protection from a distance. There wouldn't have to be any close combat and a gun is overall understood as a warning to back off. When the boy and the man encounter the cannibals that have people locked away as their food supply, they have to get away quickly because that could be how they end up if they are caught. 

9. An unlimited supply of matches - The matches can be used to start a small fire to cook and warm up food. Along with the flashlight, the matches can be used to light a torch for some light; a literal translation of the boys idea of carrying the fire.

10. Freeze Dried Food - Food is scarce in the world of The Road, and hunger leads people to become cannibals or to die of hunger. The man and the boy don't have a stable food supply or food source. It is a constant struggle of finding food and water everyday. Freeze dried food can last anywhere from 25-30 years before going bad.  

Apocalyptical Poetry - The Road

The world of The Road is barren, silent, godless. It is unknown of what caused the Earth to be ashy, smoky and cold, but it is hinted to be the cause of a super volcano. The world in which the man and the boy live in is similar to that describe in Edwin Muir's poem The Horses.

In the poem there was a seven days war that put the world to sleep. Horses had arrived later at night during the first day. There is no light anymore; there is no way to communicate with each other; there is no hope; there is nothing but fear. There are dead bodies piled up. A plane fell into the sea and after that nothing. Over the radios there is nothing but silence, and even if they spoke they would not listen. In The Road the man and the boy are their own pack. There are two kinds of groups present in the novel: the good guys and the blood clots. There are no relationships built because everyone is afraid of getting killed and it is the ultimate test of the survival of the fittest. The man and the boy experience gruesome scenes of dead bodies, ashes, and a sky that will never be blue again. They live in constant fear, fear of dying and losing the only hope they both have: each other.

Throughout the book there is this constant message of passing on the fire. The man and the boy are hoping to reach the ocean. Along the way they hope to find the other good guys that won't eat them or each other. It is hope that drives them into finding the strength to go on each day. The man depends on the boy because he is represents innocence and good. The boy cares for the other child they find on their journey and worries if they will have enough to eat. The boy on the other hand needs his father for protection and love. What does it take for someone to lose their humanity? The people in the poem are ready to start anew and not bring back anything of the old world. They will start over using methods of farming used by their grandparents. And the horses show up once again. "We had sold our horses in our father's time/To buy new tractors." The horses represent hope and are a god sent. The horses pull their plows and borne their loads. The people in the poem reflect on how the horses were thought of to be owned and used, but they have come to be their new beginning.

The Immigrant Experience: Take Two

            Anyone who is an immigrant is labeled as being an outsider, as being different, as being a problem. Why does every immigration story have an undertone that has been heard throughout the ages? Every ethnic group of people that has immigrated to the United States started from the same place, the bottom. Anita Diamant’s The Boston Girl tells Addie Baum’s immigrant experience and assimilation into American culture. My grandfather came in 1985 from Ecuador to chase the American dream; my father came to chase after my grandfather. Whether it’s 1915 or 2016, there is an immigration story out there of someone’s life changing and adjusting to American culture and society.

            In 1960 there were 6 million Hispanic immigrants making up 3.24 percent of the nations population; today, there are more than 50 million Hispanic immigrants making 16 percent of the nations population. During the Great Depression the number of immigrants ceased to rise, and many Mexican immigrants went back to Mexico. After World War II, there was a farm labor shortage and the Federal Government, “approach[ed] Mexico about the possibility of implementing an emergency bilateral labor agreement.” But Mexico was, “still stinging from the humiliation suffered by Mexican nationals and their children during the repatriation campaigns of the previous decade…” Eventually the agreement was signed, the economy of the U.S. rose for the first time since the Depression and the number of legal immigrant workers grew exponentially. After every boom there is a bust and the demand for immigrant workers decreased, but people still found ways to cross the boarder in order to prosper economically (Gutiérrez).

            On December 18, 1985, my grandparents had decided to tell my dad and his siblings that they were leaving to America. My grandparents would go first, making some money, and have a place for them to live for when they brought my dad, aunt, and uncle. America is pictured as the roads being painted in gold. They believed that they could have a better life in America than they did in Ecuador, but it was not the case. Jacob, my uncle, was 13; Aracely, my aunt, was 10; and Hugo, my dad, was 11 when they left. At the time having a cell phone was only for those who were really well off, most people only had landlines. My grandparents would call to check in on them every month or so, but it was not enough to fill the void they had left behind. About a year later my grandparents arranged for my uncle and dad to cross the boarder with a coyote. They traveled to Mexico with their aunt and were picked up in the middle of the night by the coyote to begin their trip north. They made it past the boarder, but were caught trying to meet up with their parents. My dad and his brother spent two months in juvenile detention until a family friend was able to claim them and take responsibility for them. Education was not at the top of my grandparent’s list similar to Addie’s parents. My dad went from a Jesuit school to Beranger, a whole new environment to adjust to. My grandparents came with the idea of having a better life in America, but they were struck with reality and working twice as hard to get by. My dad was still hopeful to achieve that better life that his parents dreamed of (Zavala).

            Hispanic immigrants came in search for work and were turned away after the Great Depression hit. After World War II, Hispanic immigrants were given working visas in order to make up for the shortage of farm laborers. It was then when Hispanic immigrants saw America as a way to prosper economically; they started arriving in waves. My grandparents later in 1985 came for a better life. The immigrant experience has not changed much from the late 1900s up until the 21^st century.

Work Cited

Gutiérrez, David G. "Immigration." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, n.d.

            Web. 29 Feb. 2016.    

<http://www.nps.gov/history/heritageinitiatives/latino/latinothemestudy/immigration.htm

>.

Zavala, Hugo. "My Immigrant Experience." Personal interview. 23 Feb. 2016.

The Immigration Experience

In The Namesake, we see the immigration experience through Gogol, a first generation immigrant, and his mother, Ashima, an immigrant. Ashima has to learn to adapt to life in America. Gogol on the other hand struggles with leaving his indian culture to adapt to his new American way of life.

Ashima has an arranged marriage to Ashoke, and they move to America. She has never left home and now is going around the world away from her family to start a new life. You can sense how awkward the first days of having an arrange marriage are. On top of having a new husband, Ashima has to learn to adapt to life in America. Her biggest surprise was that the stove has gas 24 hours a day 7 days a week. A simple concept as having constant gas is a new radical change in her way of life. Ashoke leaves Ashima at home to go to work, and he tells her when he gets back he will teach her how to do laundry and common household chores. She is completely dependent on her new husband that she barely knows. When she gives birth to Gogol, the doctor tells her that she must name her child before leaving the hospital. In India the child is not named until they are five years old. A child does not have a name for the beginning of their life. The value of names are stressed in America. They determine how the child will grow up, their values, and essentially determines how their futures will play out. Ashima's culture and American culture were clashing head on. 

Ashima and Ashoke had decided to change Gogol's name to Nikhil, to which Ashima says will be pronounced Nick by the Americans. One day when Gogol comes back from school, he hands a note to his mom stating that he would prefer to be called Gogol in school. When he decided to keep his name he was accepting to keep his indian culture. Sweet innocence. As we see Gogol grow up, he slowly realizes that his culture and life are not like everyone else's. He listens to heavy rock music in his room and does not want to speak to his parents. He starts to detach himself from his parents and his culture. Ashima had to learn to live life in America as an immigrant, but Gogol had to learn to assimilate into the American culture as a first generation immigrant.

As an adult, Gogol managed to completely detach himself from his indian culture. His parents tried to set up an arranged marriage for Gogol, which is normal and a right of passage in India. When the girl had came to Gogol's house she expressed how she detested American television. Gogol and his sister, Sonia, make fun of her. She represented how Gogol and Sonia would have turned out had they kept their culture alive. She was everything that they did not want to be. He later has a white, blonde, American girlfriend and was already spending time with her family. Gogol spent more time with her family than his own. When Maxine first meets Gogol's parents the clash of two cultures is truly seen. It was an awkward meeting for both his parents and Maxine. Gogol's double life was becoming harder to keep separate. When his father dies Gogol does not answer his mother phone calls while he is on vacation with Maxine's parents. After hours of trying to reach him, Sonia is able to get a hold of Gogol. He was trying so hard to erase his past that he ignored his family and tried to become part of another one. At his father's funeral, Maxine had showed up in a black skimpy dress. Even the librarian had made an attempt to show respect and research what happens at an Indian funeral. No one wears black to celebrate a passing, but white to celebrate their life. Gogol feels remorse for not speaking to his parents for the majority of his teen and adult life. He submerses himself into his culture; he becomes closer to his sister and his mother. Gogol learned that he cannot change where he is from, but sadly it took the death of his father for him to realize it.

Midnight Rider

Midnight Rider written by Joan Hiatt Harlow gives you another chance to look into the revolution. Hannah Andrews, an orphan, is sold by her aunt as an indentured servant to work in Boston for the Gage family. Her aunt, along with selling Hannah, sells her horse, Promise, the one thing that reminds Hannah of her father. Thomas Gage, Hannah's employer, governors the colonies and is the general of the British armies. Upon her arrival she befriends Caleb, the stable boy, and Meg, the daughter of Thomas Gage. Meg and Hannah, both the same age, become close friends and assist each other with their shenanigans. Caleb makes Hannah aware of the issues the Americans face under the British rule. In the stables she finds Promise and begins to ride him at night despite the trouble it could cause. Sympathizing with the Americans, Hannah begins to attend meetings of the Son's of Liberty dressed as a boy. She too longs for freedom for she has been dealt with a bad hand from life. 

It is significant to our world today because anyone can relate to the underdog. It is completely different experience to read about the Son's of Liberty in a history textbook and to read from the point of view of a character who is ready for battle. One is able to form opinions on how they wish the story to play out and relate to the character's feelings. It is also a good thing that they made the main character a girl for this time period. This girl who is barely a teenager is starting up trouble among the Whigs and the redcoats. It's perfect. At this time in history, servants were regarded to as ignorants and their free-time activities were never questioned. No one would expect Hannah to be a great horse rider and to be attending meetings that talk of revolution. It is her gender and age that give her the ability to be invisible and have some kind of freedom. Even with Meg, Hannah is not afraid to speak her opinion and she doesn't bend to Meg's will. It's a good reminder for girls to know they can take the initiative, start a revolution. why not? It's 2016. The Son's of Liberty can be related to any group today that stands up for injustices. Most groups don't plan to attack and go to battle, but they hold their gatherings and discuss the issues at hand. Bits and parts of history are always repeating. 

Lydia Lee

"Lydia is dead." This is the first line of Celeste Ng's novel, Everything I Never Told You. From this one line we assume that we will learn only about her life and how she was murdered. The twist is that we never get to know who Lydia could have been. Her life was molded by the expectations of her mother and father, Marilyn and James. Her life was not her own.

Before Hannah, Lydia's younger sister, was born Marilyn decided to runaway to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. She left Lydia and Nath behind to wonder what could have happened to their mother. When she was not able to complete her studies she decided she would live through Lydia. "It was a sign, Marylin decided. For her it was too late. But it wasn't too late for Lydia. Marilyn would not be like her own mother, shunting her daughter toward husband and house, a life spent safely behind a deadbolt (Ng 147)." Lydia would have all the support to become a doctor and not become the stereotypical housewife that Marylin's mother wanted her to become.

This kind of emotional trauma led Lydia to promise to do everything her mother told her to do because she was convinced this was the only way she would stay. Marilyn would quiz Lydia every day with random math questions and read her books such as Why There Is Weather and Fun with Chemistry. Lydia at a young age knew in what direction her mother was pushing her in. The answer for Lydia's future was a) doctor, b) doctor, or c) doctor. Marilyn and James also tried to manage Lydia's social life. Marilyn wanted Lydia to be just like her, perfect and popular. She gave Lydia diaries in which to keep her "secrets" in, but she never wrote in them. There was no evidence of Lydia's own life. She only wrote one word in a journal the year her mother disappeared, "gone." She wasn't given the opportunity to develop into being her own person. James would buy Lydia clothes right off the mannequin. If he saw girls Lydia's age dressing a certain way or wearing the same kind of jewelry, he would buy it for Lydia. They didn't understand Lydia at all, but tried to make her into a generic everyday girl. Lydia had to continue this charade because she was, "the reluctant center of their universe- every day, she held the world together. She absorbed her parents' dreams, quieting the reluctance that bubbled up within (Ng 160)."

When the police are interviewing all the members of the Lee family they doubt every answer they give. Was Lydia a lonely girl? Does Lydia have a boyfriend? Was she sad? Marilyn and James came to realize that her daughter was not living the life that she said she was. "She will find out everything she doesn't know. She will keep searching until she understands how this could have happened, until she understands her daughter completely (Ng 120)." Marilyn knew nothing about her daughter. She only knew that she would be taking advance classes, getting straight A's, and becoming a doctor. Marilyn only knew about Marilyn, Marilyn's dreams and goals.