Learning from my peers

I read Kiana's  and Regina's blogs.

Kiana's blog was about a girl whose boyfriend died and how the character felt guilty. Kiana's focus was why the book was meaningful to her. Kiana explains this idea by saying how the main character is powerful and expressive. She also thinks the layout and the title of the book are meaningful.  I admired how Kiana wasn't just summarizing the book, there is more to a blog post than just a summary. I also liked how Kiana backed up her focus, using evidence stating that the title and layout were meaningful. That's an interesting spin instead of just focusing on the plot. Kiana did this by explaining that  the layout was like the character's secret book of poems. All in all, Kiana did a really good job with the focus of her blog and making a unique point. Kiana's blog gave me the idea to look at the format of the books I read to better understand the author's purpose.

I also read Regina's blog that focused on her book's  message. The message of treating people the way you want to be treated was interesting  because it was similar to the focus of my blog post. Unlike my fiction book Regina's book was clearly a fantasy/sci-fi book, which I usually have trouble relating to. But, Regina's book's message was very relatable to the real world. Her post was also clear and very understandable. Therefore, I could  connect her book to my book and myself. I learned a lot about  kiana and Regina's books from their posts, as well as different ideas that I could write about in future blog posts.

It's Nice to be Nice

        

It’s important to be kind to everyone even if they’re not always nice to you.  You should try to understand other people and why they act the way they do. You never know if or when you could be in someone else’s shoes.

Em, the protagonist in Runaway by Meg Cabot, demonstrates this lesson. Em has gone through a very traumatic experience. Less then a year ago, she had her brain transplanted into supermodel Nikki Howard’s body.  Because of this, Em is kind and tries to understand other’s perspectives.

Em’s empathy is displayed in many different scenerios. For example, when Em’s friend was trying to save her from a “romantic getaway” with her evil employer’s evil son, Em refuses to leave without Nikki; the girl whose body Em’s brain is in (67).  While Em puts herself out for Nikki, Nikki is not as nice. She criticizes Em to her face and trash talks her behind her back. “Don’t think this mean’s I like you,” Nikki tells Em  (4).  Still, Em empathizes with Nikki and her family.  Em knows first hand how much Nikki has lost.  Em can relate since she lost things too, like her family and friends.  Em tries to make Nikki happy by giving Nikki money and other things. But all Nikki wants is her body back. “I had never seen anyone look as sad as she had,” (127) Em thinks when she tells Nikki she can’t have her body. This shows that Em really feels for Nikki, even if Nikki doesn’t appreciate her for it.

I can definitely relate to Em. I feel it’s important to be nice to people even if they’re not necessarily nice to me and especially if they’re not as fortunate as I am or well equipped. For example, at camp this summer, there was a girl in my cabin with a disability.  She wasn’ t always nice to everyone and everyone wasn’t always nice to her. She demanded my attention and friendship and got mad at me because I had other friends.  But I still tried to be nice to her because I tried to imagine how hard her life must be.  I put myself in her shoes and tried to understand why she was the way she was. I thought that she may have always been treated differently because of her disability and maybe always struggled to make real friends.  I felt how hard her life must be.  I could empathize for her. Like Em,, I tried to be nice and understanding of someone else and their situation. This is a guideline for everyone because you don’t know what it’s like to be someone else until you step into their shoes, literally, like Em.