Princess Diana

Princess Diana is an inspiring person. I just started to read the book called "Princess Diana" which obviously talks about her life. She was born on July 1, 1961 in Sandringham. She was the third child to Edward John and Frances Roche. Her parents hope she would be a boy. They waited for someone to take over the family name and money. But when she was born, they were disappointed to know she was a girl. "Diana knew her parents loved her, but she always felt unwanted. Even when she was very strong she knew that her parents had been disappointed that she was not a boy." Diana explains how the whole situation made her feel. Her parents also divorced when she was young. Her father got complete custody over the kids. It all started after the loss of their son. "Diana had many painful memories of the divorce. She sometimes heard her mother crying when the children had to return him to their father." This was a big impact on her and the younger brother named Charles. They were both not really close to either parent, so everything was going to be a bit odd. 

Diana's parents didn't really make her life much easier. She talked about how she didn't want to seem like she was favoriting any of them. "She worried about showing favoritism for one parent over another if they gave her new clothes to wear." She also remembers hearing her mother cry when they had to go back home. She already saw the conflict between her parents, she didn't want to cause more. Her parents divorce was something painful. It caused her to think worse of things after feeling like a disappointment to her parents.

Speak #5

I swear this is my last blog on Speak! 

 Everything always seems to go wrong for Melinda. First off, Melinda looks back at old memories with her friends on Halloween. It's Halloween night and for the first time in a long time she's spending it alone. "Rachelle is going to party thrown by one of the exchange students' host families." She's heard Rachelle talk about it. From the start she knew it'd have to be a miracle is she got invited. "I knew I wouldn't get an invitation. I would be lucky to get an invitation to my own funeral, with my reputation." She decides to stay home instead and read a book. Secondly, Melinda is a great math student. She exceed in all the topics that math includes but in front of the rest of her class, she "doesn't" know anything. Her teacher, Mr.Stetman, calls on her but she just smile and nods no. He makes her go to the board and then calls Rachelle to help her. After Rachelle shows her how to do it she heads back to her seat, but not before nudging Melinda and entertaining the class. Finally this part of the story made me feel a bit of sympathy for Melinda. Well not a bit but A LOT of sympathy. When she was in Spanish class a class jerk decided to use their new word against her. They called her "Me-no-Linda". You see, Linda means pretty in Spanish. So obviously we see what they meant by "no-Linda" Melinda states, "They called me Me-no-Linda for the rest of the of the period." It hurt her but she just tried to shrug it off. Will this catch up to her in the future and effect her? 

Melinda always flashes back to old times with her friends. But each memory has a smaller memory with Rachelle. In my reading this week she recalls Halloween a year before. She remembers how she and all her friends were witches. But she also remembers how Rachelle and her were the best dressed. "We had used baby-sitting money to rent black satin capes lines in red." This showed that she missed Rachelle. She misses the memories they had together. It also shows just how close they use to be. She had a special bond with all her friends. Even if it was a small bond. She loved moments were they all felt a tight connection. "The wind kicked up, skimming clouds over the surface of the full moon, which was hung just to make us feel strong and powerful." She misses feeling strong. She doesn't want to feel alone. 

Speak #4

So by the title you can obviously tell I am still reading Speak. Melinda is still having a tough time. Her grades are dropping, she's still hated by her ex best friends, and her new friend Heather wants to desperately fit in, even tho fitting in won't be so easy for Melinda. The thing about we parents is that they don't seem like the nicest parents. Her dad starts yelling at Melinda about the grades. While her mom tries to calmly ask Melinda to get her grades up, her dad starts yelling right away. "Cut the crap. She knows what's up." He was really angry. But the things that took me by surprise was Melinda's mom. "We're not asking for much dear. We just want you to do your best. And we know your best is so much better than this. You tested so well dear. Look at me when I talk to you." At the last statement her mother makes, obvious frustration is shown. "I said look at me." At that moment Melinda's mom grabs a knife. She yells "Look at me," multiple times. But Melinda just say there like nothing was happening. Her father didn't even try to stop her mom. (This was probably one of the most surprising things I've read in this book) Heather is looking to join many clubs. Now she wants to join the musical. Melinda says on her head, "The musical would be too easy for me. I am a good actor." What she means is that she's always faked a smile. She always fakes a mood. People can't really tell that something is bothering her internally. She just whips a smile on and she's ready to go. Melinda still thinks trying to fit in would be a bad idea. 

If you would look at Melinda's character overall, you would say she is the type of person to keep things in. In other words, she's lonely. Over the summer she lost her group of friends. Including her best friend Rachel. "Her eyes meet mine for a second. "I hate you," she mouths silently." Rachel even pretends Melinda doesn't exist. She wants to desperately tell them why she never answered, why she never even contacted them. But she can't. It's too embarrassing. Secondly, Melinda doesn't have the best life at home. Her mom is never there, so she has order pizza almost everyday. When her dad arrives home she runs up to her room and hides. When he arrives he already takes a cup and pours himself some booze. Of course she lets him know she's here, but she doesn't come down until her mom arrives, or diner is ready. "I won't take a real nap. I have this halfway place, a rest stop on the road to sleep, where I can stay for hours. I don't even need to close my eyes, just stay safe under the covers and breathe." She leaves her home problems at home, and her school problems at school. But she never tells anyone. Not even her new friend Heather. Melinda keeps it all inside. 

Speak #3

I'm still reading "Speak" and I've felt so bad for Melinda. She doesn't like school so she's always skipping class. She has to run around hiding in old janitors closets. "I find a light switch. I haven't stumbled into a classroom; it is an old janitors closet that smells like sour sponges." Mr.Neck really is a jerk. I understand you don't trust a student, but literally looking for small things they do wrong and getting them in trouble is too far. She even stole passes from her teacher just so she can have an excuse to get to class late. Heather had made a big decision for them both: to join the pep rally. She planned to skip but she failed miserably. Heather saw we and dragged her to cheer. Since no one knew Melinda, and Melinda knew no one, heather introduced her to everyone. Suddenly someone recognized her as the girl who called the police at a party. Because of her call someone else's brother got in trouble. "My brother got arrested at that party. He got fired because of the arrest. I can't believe you did that." Melinda panicked. She wanted to tell them all the truth but she couldn't. "I can't tell them what really happened. I can't even look at that part of myself." When they finally sat down to cheer for the football players Melinda felt the anger of the people affected because of the call. She got her hair pulled and a guy gave her a dirty look. All she wanted to do was forget that party. 

So many little things are leading up to a big problem. First off, her ex best friend, Rachel, hates her. "This was the girl who suffered through brownies with me, who taught me how to swim, who understood about my parents, who didn't make fun of my bedroom." Rachel doesn't even acknowledge her presence. "Rachelle blows candy cigarette smoke ring at my face. Blows me off." She calls herself Rachelle now because she "took in" her European side. Secondly, her family doesn't really seem to care about her. "At first, mom was pretty good about preparing dinners in the morning and sticking them in the fridge, but I knew it would end." Her dad comes home and she runs up to hide. "I hear Dad turn on the television. Clink, Clink, Clink - he drops ice cubes into a heavy bottomed glass and pours in some booze." She stays in her room for the rest of the night. Thirdly, it seems like something bad happened over summer. Something that might destroy her more than what she did to hide it. "If there is anyone in the entire galaxy I am dying to tell what really happened, it's Rachel." It also seems like there were other things she did to hide the truth. "Aren't you the one who called the cops at Kyle Rodgers party at te end of the summer?" This definitely did not give her the best reputation. Now that people knew who she was they made sure to make her feel how they did. "The girl behind me jams her knees into my back." I don't know the clima yet but for sure it will be something explosive. 

Speak #2

The book "Speak", show you the struggles high school students deal with on a daily basis. We finally learn the main characters name and it is Melinda. Her and her family don't seen very close. They seem like they just don't really even talk. Her mom just leaves her notes telling her to order pizza. Her dad turns up the volume enough for the neighbors to hear. Plus, he drinks like there's no tomorrow. The good thing is she makes a somewhat friend. Her name is Heather. Heather, is a new student at her high school. They were both considered "outcasts" in Melinda's point of view. Melinda seems depressed and tired. She mostly just wants to stay home, but she use to be outgoing like her new friend heather. "She always walks around with me down the halls chattering a million miles a minute. My goal is to go home and take a nap." Seeing other people be this way make Melinda a little jealous and disappointed in herself. "I use to be like Heather. Have I changed that much in two months?" She wishes to go back to her old self. Some changes you'll like, some you won't. 

This book is definitely a teen/realistic fiction. This book is about a girl in high school struggling to fit in. Melinda also seems to struggle with home life and self esteem. "Two muddy-circle eyes under black-dash eyebrows, piggy-nose nostrils, and a chewed-up horror of a mouth." That is the way she described herself. Any teenager nowadays doesn't like something about their bodies. Society has this mind set of "you will never be good enough" that no matter what you try, you will never be good enough. I bet Melinda is a beautiful girl. She is facing the struggle of dealing with assuming teachers and ex best friends who are evil enough to ruin your first week. Every person on earth has that person who was their best friend and they're either a stranger or enemy now. This book is really going to take twist and turns.

Speak

At the beginning of "Speak" the author, Laurie Anderson, describes a lonely teenage freshman. This girl sits alone on the bus, the school assembly, and lunch. Her old "clan" totally left her. Her little clan was made up of 5 girls. Nicole, Ivy, Jessica, and the bestest of her friend Rachel. They all just left. But Rachel definitely went from best friend to mortal enemy. Possibly. The first day they see each other after about a month, Rachel basically lets her know how she feels. "Her eyes meet mine for a second. "I hate you," she mouths silently." Apart from Rachel we meet another character who will probably make her year the worst. (Reminder I call the character, her/she, because we still don't know the name.) the new character is the social studies teacher, Mr.Neck. No, that is not his name, but he had a "whistle around a neck thicker than his head."  which is why she nicknamed his Mr.Neck. He just met her and he already thinks she's trouble just because, she didn't sit down right away and because she was walking to the bathroom without a pass. He didn't even care that she had food thrown on her. She just started high school and it was already a mess. 

I just began the book and she's already facing challenges. First off her best friends ditched her at the beginning of high school, and secondly she doesn't talk to anyone at all. At her first bus ride to school, no one sat with her. "As we leave the last stop, I am the only person sitting alone." This shows just how lonely she is. Besides being physically lonely, she is also emotionally lonely. She is afraid of doing things wrong. She is afriad she will mess up on the first day of high school. "I know enough not to bring lunch on the first day of high school. There is no way of telling what the acceptable fashion will be." But almost right away she finds herself in the biggest high school nightmare. She was "nailed" with food. She ran out the cafeteria just to find herself getting in trouble for walking around the halls without a pass. The first day of high school was tragic.