Faith's Novel Partners Post # 3

NAME: Faith Burila     DATE: February 18, 2011 TITLE: Farewell To Manzanar TIME: 2 HOURS AUTHOR: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston PAGES: 96- TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:

Do you think you would read another book by this author? Why or why not? What other character(s) beside the main character is really important to the story? How and why? What does this book make you wonder about? Why?

         During my reading this week, more events happened! One of the events that made me a bit sad was when Woody was drafted (August 1944). I think that he is also a really important character in the story because when Papa was taken away, he was the one who stepped up and tried to keep the family together which I thought was very responsible and courageous of him. The family could of drifted apart faster than anything, but he tried. When he was drafted, I think that he made a foolish choice because who knows what could happen to him in the war. He should of thought of those circumstances before making a choice like this when he could of refused answering to the letter.


         If I had a choice to read another book by this author, I don't think that I would. This book is great in a educational standpoint about Pearl Harbor, but the book is not intriguing. Whenever I start reading it, I just want to put it down already. It does not interest me. Also knowing that the story is legit and real makes it even worse. This story makes me feel sad, to know they just locked you away in horrible camps if you were Japanese or what not. I would not read another book by this author, or any stories that are similar to this particular topic.


         Whenever I read this book, it makes me wonder how life was for all these innocent people. Getting locked up in camps and having to relocate numerous amounts of times must of been horrible. It makes me wonder if that's how life would be if this type of situation ever happened again. Would we be treated just like that? Or would we get more respect, a nicer environment, making it a decent experience? I wonder if people see looking back at Pearl Harbor, if this would be legal? Locking up people in camps for a amount of time, not knowing when they could be let out. It must of felt like a jail. I wonder if anyone from back then loved living in Manzanar.

Faith's Novel Partners Post # 2

NAME: Faith Burila     DATE: February 11, 2011 TITLE: Farewell To Manzanar TIME: 2 HOURS AUTHOR: Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston PAGES: 48-95 TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 47

What is confusing in this book? Why? (Be specific) What was one of your favorite lines (or sentences) in what you read today? Copy it down and tell why you liked it. 


         During my reading this week a lot of crazy events went on, which confused me a ton. The first chapter that I read (Chapter 6), Jeanne talked about the early life of her father, their fathers, and so on. This part was a little confusing at times because I didn't know which generation she was talking about. She would switch people she was talking about quite fast, but towards the end everything was clear to me as I knew she was talking about her own father, and her mother.


         The second chapter I read was all about an interview that Jeanne's father had with a unnamed interrogator which happened in Fort Lincoln, North Dakota. The man asked Papa many questions, such as if he has contacted or been to Japan ever since he has been living in the states. Papa denies both, also refusing that he has been delivering oil to Japanese submarines offshore. The interrogator finally questions Papa who he wants to win in the war, Japan or America, but Papa replies with, "When your mother and your father are having a fight, do you want them to kill each other? Or do you just want them to stop fighting?” I really liked this quote because it gave a perfect example of how Papa really just wanted the war to end, because both countries were his homes. I would feel the exact same way, and I thought that Papa saying that was very wise and direct to his feelings about the war. The interrogator was really annoying me though because he was asking really pointless questions. 


         Something that shocked me during my reading this week was chapter 8. Jeanne explains that Papa is addicted to alcohol now, and one night he threatens that he will kill Jeanne's mom. He raises his cane in preparation to hit her in the head with it, but Kiyo (Jeanne's brother) jumps out of bed and punches Papa directly in the face. When I read this, I got a little nervous to see what would happen to Kiyo considering he might get beat by his father now. I crossed my fingers in hope that Kiyo wouldn't get hurt, and he didn't which relieved me! I hope that Papa gets help and stops drinking so that he will not hurt his loved ones. 


         Something that upset me during the book was how during the interview with the interrogator, Papa named all of his ten children except Jeanne! When he named nine of them but forgot the tenth, I got very sad because how could he forget his own children's names?! That is horrible. It broke my heart. It kind of showed me that he isn't such a great father after all, especially to the fact that he is now an alcoholic or what not.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
         What I predict will happen next in the book is that they will be let out of  Manzanar, and be able to go home because they have no proof of Papa doing illegal activities. I hope that happens because I want them all to go home; it's not fair at all to just be locked up in a camp like that only because you were a certain race. I find that cruel and just heartbreaking! In some ways I see how that is understandable but in most that's horrible.

Faith's Novel Partners Post # 1

Farewell to Manzanar

How did what you read today make you feel? Why? 

         During my reading this week, I got introduced to a lot of the characters. The story is in the perspective of the author, Jeanne Wakatsuki, telling the story of her life when her family was sent to live at Manzanar. Jeanne talks about Mama, Papa, Woody, Bill, Chizu, Kiyo, and Granny. The story takes place in 1942, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. 

         Jeanne was seven years old when this madness occurred. It all started when they found out their home country bombed Pearl Harbor. Her father was taken away, and arrested for delivering oil to Japanese marines offshore because he was communicating with people in Japan which at the time looked as if he was a spy. Soon later, Mama (Jeanne's mother) decided to move the family to Terminal Island which is where other Japanese people live. The family moved two months later to Boyle Heights which is in downtown Los Angeles. About a month later, the government chooses to move the family again, and gives them 48 hours to clear out, and move to a camp at Manzanar, California. 


         During the reading, I couldn't stop thinking about what was going on in all their heads at the time! For Jeanne, she probably didn't understand anything, but I couldn't imagine how hard it could of been for the family to have to keep moving constantly. It made my feel so bad, like I wish I could of been there and tried to help them or something. I think it's interesting seeing how life was in a camp like that during the war, but it shocked me to see how badly they were treated. I guess I understand because at the time, the U.S. was at war with the country they originated from, but it made me feel quite bad for them. The father was not with them at the time which is worse, because Jeanne's father was the head of the family. This resulted in times where the family was lost in what they should do. I couldn't process everything because it was a lot to take in, but overall my reading this week made me sad because of all their misfortunes!

Book Review

The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold

Faith Burila
Humanities ?

          The Lovely Bones is truly a touching story involving the relationship of love between friends and family, and in the bigger picture, teaching acceptance to all the characters. The story starts off with young Susie Salmon, a 14-year-old girl, getting raped and murdered by her neighbor who is known as “Mr. Harvey”.  The tragedy greatly affected both her family and friends. Susie enters her heaven, where from there she watches the ongoing life of the ones she loves, as well as her murderer. Susie’s family refuses to accept that she has been killed, until the day where their neighbor’s dog finds the elbow of Susie.

         Throughout the book Susie told the life of her family, friends, and so on from her heaven. I found that very interesting because it’s cool to see a perspective of the dead watching the living, and seeing Susie’s thoughts of what was going on down on Earth. It was very depressing for me to read about Susie’s sadness and anger about being murdered, and during every chapter I read it felt as if I were Susie herself. I could feel the feelings she had because the author described everything so vividly. I could picture each moment that Susie experienced during the story. I think what also helped, but yet threw me off was knowing what happened in the movie, and comparing it to the book.

         Many things that occurred in the movie, such as the plot, were quite different than the story line in the book. I found the plot for the book very creative and entertaining! It was clear and very detailed, and I always wanted to know what was next after finishing a chapter. I watched the movie before reading the book, so knowing some of the events that took place in The Lovely Bones made it a little difficult to keep up / understand exactly what was going on. I definitely liked this book though, though it’s a little disturbing to know a man like Mr. Harvey (a neighbor) raped a 14-year-old girl, and this was one of many kills he had done. I got goosebumps reading it because problems like these happen very often, and I’m around that age so I sometimes imagine if I were in Susie’s case.

         Other than a slight disturbance you might get while reading, the book was very touching and showed the relationships between Susie and her Family. I could really feel the pain that her mother, father, sister and brother had, and saw how heartbroken they were when Susie was murdered. I understand that it must be hard to lose someone who is a really important part of your life, and that it’s not easy to let go. This book gently progressed to show the acceptance her family as well as her friends, had about her murder. This book also showed and represented love, mostly between Susie and her Dad. Jack Salmon, her father, had a gut feeling of who his little girl’s murderer was. Everyone failed to believe him, except Lindsey, who is Susie’s little sister. Jack constantly told people that George Harvey killed Susie, and it got to the point of where everyone thought he was crazy, which was unfortunate. During the phone calls Jack would make to the police, Abigail, Susie’s mother slowly developed feelings she shouldn’t of felt, towards Len, who is the detective of Susie’s case. She later had an affair with him, later causing her to leave Jack and her children. This really shocked me and in my opinion broke Susie’s heart, as she saw everything from heaven. The book had many different things it represented, but the author did a great job with all the themes!

         At the end of the book, Susie let go, and accepted that she could not live her life on Earth, but she knew the love from her family and friends would never go away. The story was deep and touching, and overall great! I would definitely recommend reading this book if you like suspenseful, yet heart-touching stories!

Independent Reading Book - Post # 3

NAME: Faith Burila 

DATE: October 24, 2010

TITLE: A Million Little Pieces

TIME: 2 HOURS

AUTHOR: James Frey

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 47

START:  FINISH: 114 - 160

 Do you think you would read another book by this author? Why or why not?  

Which character would you like (or not like) to be your friend? Why? 

 What in the book upsets you or bothers you? Why?

         A lot of things have happened in this book when I read this week. One thing was James, the main character, was thinking about committing suicide. He missed his drugs and alcohol terribly. He attempted to leave the facility but Leonard (another patient, and friend of James) encouraged him to try again at becoming better and healthy. James agreed to stay for twenty-four more hours, but if he felt like he did at that moment, he would leave 100%. This really made me mad because I thought it was his goal to become sober other than making it seem like he's forced to be at that clinic. I hope his feelings change and that he stays there until he is absolutely normal again, and healthy. 


         I would definitely read another book by this author, though I'm no where close to finished with A Million Little Pieces yet. I like how James Frey writes, because it is a non-fiction story and it explains his everyday life as a drug addict, and how he tries to overcome his problems. Though most of his grammar and punctuation is incorrect, I think it's just great that someone like him would have the courage to write a book about his personal memories / life. I like reading his books because it's different with the way he writes, making it really interesting and enjoyable to read. Overall, I find James Frey a great author and I would encourage him to write more books or life changing stories.




         If I personally knew James, I'm not exactly sure I would want to be friends with him. I'm thinking this mostly because of how he is an alcohol and drug addict, and also for his criminal records. If I didn't know his background, that would make me even more against with being friends with him. He would seem like a psycho to me and I wouldn't want to be around him at all because I detest drugs a million percent! I'm sure once you get to know him though James is a great and kind person, but just knowing he is addicted to things such as cocaine, meth, etc. makes me not want to be around that even though he is (or has) changing his ways of life.

Independent Reading Book - Post # 2

NAME: Faith Burila 

DATE: October 17, 2010

TITLE: A Million Little Pieces

TIME: 2 HOURS

AUTHOR: James Frey

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 52

START:  FINISH: 61 - 113

What is confusing in this book? Why? (Be specific)  How did what you read today make you feel? Why? 

         During my reading this week, a lot of things happened. James (Drug and alcohol addict), had a very frightening dream. The chapter explained that he was in a room, alone, with bottles of liquor and wine everywhere, along with a large pile of white cocaine and a giant bag of yellow crack. There was also more items on the table such as glue, a pipe, a torch, and a can filled with gasoline. In this dream, James knew that no one was watching him and that no one could stop him from doing anything with the drugs or drinks on the table. He started with the alcohol, because his body was craving it. Eventually, he consumed everything on the table, and enjoyed the high. This kind of confused me at first because I thought it was real and not a dream. Thinking it wasn't a dream, it really disappointed me that he knew this was bad for him, but continued to do otherwise. I really thought he was going to do anything to get better and to become sober. Then I found out it was a dream.

         Another thing that happened in my reading this week was James got into a fight with one of the patients in the clinic named Roy. Roy immediately dislikes James and tries to get him thrown out. He threatens James to clean the group toilets thoroughly and make them "sparkle", or else he will tell on him. This really annoyed me that someone could be so rude, but I later read that Roy has some type of personality disorder. James responds to Roy's threat by grabbing him by the throat, and throwing him against the wall. He does this several times until a few clinic workers come and stop the fight. I was really shocked by this, because I don't see James as a violent person. It made me think about James twice, and weather or not I should be on his side. Something that confused me in this part was James said, "The Fury has risen." I think he was talking about his temper, but he used this term a couple times and it's not clear to me what it is. 

         One last thing that happened in this book so far is he thought of his loneliness, eventually thinking about his friend Michelle. This part made me really sad. She was James' only friend. She was beautiful, popular, and got straight A's in school. She was the only one who saw through his flaws; the only one who didn't care that James was very violent and juvenile. During their 8th grade year, she got asked out by a high school student, who she knew her parents wouldn't approve of. James helped her lie to them, saying he was taking Michelle to the movies while she was really going on a date with the guy. On his way driving back to the Theater to take her back there, he tried beating a train across train tracks. Unfortunately, he was too slow and the train came in contact with the car. She was hit on the passenger side and instantly killed. James was blamed for this accident, and people continuously wanted to fight him for her death. This made me feel really bad, quickly seeing how bad his life was even as a teenager. I felt sympathetic for him, and it made me think about how tough his life is. I hypothetically put myself in his shoes, and imagined his life as a child, growing up and getting a lot of crap from people. This changed my perspective of him, and now I kind of understand why he is the way he is.

Weekly Reading Response

NAME: Faith Burila 

DATE: October 7, 2010

TITLE: A Million Little Pieces

TIME: 2 HOURS

AUTHOR: James Frey

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 60

START:  FINISH: 1 - 60

 What exciting events just happened? What do you think will happen next, and why?

How did what you read today make you feel? Why?

          A lot of crazy things have happened so far in this book. I got introduced to the character (also the author) James Frey. He is addicted to alcohol, and uses cocaine everyday. He also does pills, acid, mushrooms, meth, PCP and glue. His life is extremely messed up! He drinks when he wakes up, consuming as much alcohol as he possible can get. This made me feel really bad. It made me mad too because I cannot tolerate people who do drugs. This made me one thousand percent against things like that! It makes me sick to see that many, many people are addicted.

          Something else that happened in this book which was in the beginning is that he woke up on a plane not knowing where he was going. His front four teeth were missing, his nose was broken, he was unable to open his eyes, and there was “a mixture of spit, snot, urine, vomit and blood” on his shirt. At first I was thinking, “Wow what’s wrong with him?” But later I read on and it explained everything to me; he fell down a fire escape. He then found out he was going to Chicago where his parents would pick him up, and take him to the oldest Residential Drug and Alcohol Treatment Facility in the World. I got excited for him because there he would fix his drug addictions and become a real, healthy human again.

          One last thing that happened in my reading this week is that he is not getting better, being in the treatment facility. He’s tired and feels terrible 95 percent of the day, and I can tell he misses doing drugs. He wants to get well and sober though, so he deals with this pain. I really am glad that he decides to go through with this program because I want him to get better! What I think will happen next though is that he will try to run away or find coke because he can’t handle not having it. I really hope he just stays away from it all 100% while there because in the end I want him to complete his goal of becoming a human again.