Bossypants by Tina Fey

I just read Bossypants by Tina Fey. It is a hilarious book about Tina Fey’s life, from her childhood, to her career and starting a family. Since this was a biography, it was also nonfiction. I don’t tend to read much nonfiction, since I find it boring because often there’s no plot. Biographies are different, however, because when you’re reading about a comedic person, like Tina Fey, the book tends to be more comedic, which for me makes it much more interesting. I think that since Tina Fey is an actress and a comedian, her book was more interesting for readers like me, who don’t usually like nonfiction, because it was humorous.

            Bossypants was a very funny book. I usually test that out by how much the book makes me laugh out loud, and Bossypants definitely passed the test. Tina Fey wrote about embarrassing stories from her childhood that many people can relate to, as well as funny anecdotes from starting her job at Saturday Night Live and evolving to 30 Rock, and experiences from starting a family. There was never a dull moment in the book, because it was kept upbeat and interesting almost all the time. I wouldn’t say I was on the edge of my seat, just waiting for what’s going to happen next, because it wasn’t an action type book. It was exciting in a different way, because there was always a joke, and a good punch line on almost every page. A lot of the jokes in the book were making fun of Tina Fey, and that gave the reader even more of a glimpse inter her personality because it showed her sense of humor- a big part of her life.

            I think Tina Fey made her biography more interesting than regular non-fiction because she added humor to it. Typically, non-fiction bores me, and biographies are more interesting because they reflect the personality of the main character. That’s why I chose to read biographies and autobiographies of people who are interesting, or very funny. Obviously, with Tina Fey being a comedian and an actress, the book is bound to be funny. However, Tina Fey didn’t just recite events from her life as they occurred, but she included her feelings from the time, nom matter how embarrassing or humiliating. I feel like biographies can either be good, or amazing, depending on how much of yourself you include in the book. I think Tina Fey made her book amazing by completely releasing all of her experiences and feelings into the book, so that her readers could better relate to her.

Stick Figure

I just finished reading Stick Figure, a book about Mattie, a girl who grows up from 6 to 13 years old during the course of the book. Her mother often gets depressed and her father seems like an alcoholic who verbally and maybe physically abuses Mattie’s mother. Mattie’s dad is often out of the house, performing with his band, or at the bar with his friends, or another lady. The book follows Mattie as she goes on various adventures in her neighborhood, building up to a piano recital planned by her neighbor and piano teacher, Mrs. Farley, at the same time. This book wasn’t challenging at all, and in my opinion, it was very badly written. With that said, it seemed really weird to me that this book discusses very mature issues, yet it seemed like it was written by a young child, or a very illiterate adult.

            Stick Figure wasn’t a challenging book at all. While I read it, it seemed very choppy. Neither the paragraphs nor the story seemed like they were in a logical order, nor did they flow like well-written books I’ve read before. I understand when authors want to throw unexpected plot twists into their stories, but there at least needs to be some logical sense to it. You can’t just use plot twists every chapter, even if they vary in importance or not. For example, Buster, Mattie’s father, gets rushed to the hospital one night, and the next morning he’s recovering at home, so Mattie’s life goes on as usual. But literally the next day Mattie’s piano teacher lost her cat, and all of the sudden that took center stage over the previous issues, until the next day the cat was found in a closet. The plot twists seem un-logical and get resolved way too quickly. I think the author should have stuck with one main issue for a while and used the plot twists sparingly.

            Stick Figure discussed a lot of mature topics, such as alcoholism, verbal abuse, possible physical abuse, suicide, depression, racism (the Klu Klux Klan), etc. It also seemed to be written by a little kid, if not an extremely illiterate adult. There were tons of grammar and spelling mistakes. Even the word “her” was once spelled “hr”. I thought it seemed very strange that such mature topics were discussed with so many grammar and spelling mistakes. I almost seemed disrespectful to the topics and to people experiencing the topics that they were written about it such an unprofessional way. I also wondered why the author wrote about these topics using bad grammar and spelling, and if they were even old or advanced enough to really understand them. They didn’t dwell on some of the most important ones, like racism for example, since there was only one mention of the Klu Klux Klan.

            In conclusion, Stick Figure wasn’t a challenging book with many spelling and grammar mistakes. It was a very unique choice to include so many mature and controversial topics, and only dwell on a few, only mentioning some of the most important ones. It was also different in the way that there were so many odd plot twists. I wouldn’t recommend this book to an 8^th grader, because it’s so choppy and has so many unnecessary plot twists and spelling and grammar mistakes. On the other hand, I wouldn’t recommend it to a younger child, because of all the mature topics. If there weren’t so many, I would, but since there are so many, it seems like it would be difficult to handle.

Looking for Alaska Blog Post

***SPOLER ALERT!!!***

I just finished reading Looking for Alaska, by John Green. It’s an amazing book about Miles (Pudge) and his friends Chip (the Colonel), Takumi, and Alaska as they go on different adventures at Culver Creek, their boarding school in Alabama. They prank students they don’t like, and go against many of the school’s rules and often don’t get caught. One night, their friend Alaska gets a call and hangs up in tears, screaming at Pudge and the Colonel to distract the school’s headmaster so she can sneak out. She takes her car after being very drunk (.24) and after having smoked cigarettes to go put flowers on her mom’s grave for the 8-year anniversary of her death, and drives straight into a cop car without even swerving, being killed instantly. Pudge is fascinated with people’s last words, and I think it’s very fitting (and also really sad) that Alaska died, and Pudge doesn’t know her last words.

            Pudge and Alaska only met at the beginning of the year, and already Pudge believes he’s in love with Alaska. They have a lot in common, and get along really well with each other most of the time. After Alaska’s death, Pudge is pretty scarred by it all, and misses her as much as Alaska’s friends who’ve known her for a longer time do. Sometimes, Pudge seems to feel guilty when he says he barely even knew her, and the Colonel and him also talk about how the forget her, and forget what she looks like. Pudge wrote in his final religion essay that soon, he would forget her, but that it’s okay because Alaska will forgive him just as her mom forgave her, and just as he forgives her for not thinking of anyone but her and her mom when she left. Pudge and the Colonel go on a mission to try and find out where Alaska was going and why she left, and Pudge tries to find out what Alaska’s last words might possibly have been.

            I think it’s fitting that Pudge doesn’t know Alaska’s last words, because he knows the last words of so many people he’s never met, and that’s often the only thing he knows about them. He doesn’t really love them, or know them just by knowing their last words. Pudge has never talked about anyone’s last words that he knows who has died; he only knows the last words of people he never knew. I think it’s nice that Pudge doesn’t know Alaska’s last words, because he’ll get to remember her by the experiences and good times they shared, rather than last words, which will never be able to sum up anyone’s life- especially Alaska’s.

April Non-Fiction Blog Post

April Non-Fiction Blog Post

            This week, I read “’Bully’ Film Is Aiming To Open Some Eyes” by Andrew Atwal. The article is mostly about how “Bully”, a documentary on bullying and the experiences of five kids, who dealt with bullying, is being shown at a Library near the hometown of one of the children. It also talks about how the library hopes to educate the community about bullying, and help people who may be struggling with bullying find a solution. In the article, Kathy Jacobs, the head of the library, is quoted saying, “Our job as a library is to help educate the community,” “The subject of bullying might not be something everyone will be interested in. Some might have questions about the subject but won’t want to come in to a public viewing, so hearing about the movie might make them check it out on their own.” Atwal also wrote that Jacobs believes the movie can spark conversation between kids and their parents, who may not know the things that go on in their child’s school. The article says that Jacobs not only wants victims of bullying to tell someone about the situation, but she also wants bullies to see the harsh repercussions that are demonstrated during the movie. These three details show me how determined the library staff is to educate their community about bullying. They also show me that the movie encourages others to stop bullying, as the title states.

            The author wants readers to think they should go to the screening. (Since this seems like a local news website, the author is mostly referring to people living in the community.) He makes seeing the movie seem very positive, that it’s a good thing to do. He helps do this by including quotes from someone who’s very intent on people coming to see the movie. He only includes quotes from this person, so I wonder if maybe not so many people want to see the movie, or think the screening is a good idea. The author wants us to feel “inspired” to go see the movie, and hopefully make a difference in bullying after seeing it. ““I have all kinds of goals for the screening,” Jacobs said. “The movie is appropriate for those in upper elementary grades on through adults. I think everyone that comes to watch the film can take something away from it.”” This quote from the article shows that the majority of readers probably should attend because it’s age appropriate and you can even take something away from it. This would make me feel inspired to go, but also a bit forced at the same time. I think neither the author, nor Jacobs, is being sensitive to the reader’s feelings, past experiences, etc. I feel that the way this was worded seemed a bit forced, and made me feel obliged to go.

            From this article, I will take away the fact that a community is taking a big step forward in the fight to end bullying, by educating themselves. I will also take away the fact that something as simple as watching a movie can have such a big effect on you and make you feel like you should do something positive to help end a big issue, such as bullying. My thinking has been shaped, because while I think it’s a great movie and the community is doing a great thing by encouraging people to see the movie, the approach the author used to try to get people to come to the screening seemed very authoritarian to me. Since I saw the movie, I’d like to know how others reacted to it. It was a really powerful movie and I’d like to see whether it inspired a lot of people to do something, and whether they actually did. The movie was not shown in all public movie theaters, it was only shown in select theaters, and libraries in this case. I saw the movie on Demand, but I remember hearing controversy on the movie’s rating. It can be violent, and there is cursing in it, but the point of the movie is to have as many people see it to get educated, and rating it PG-13 or R would completely take meaning away from it, limiting the audience. I’d like to know more about the final rating and the controversy about it.

            http://www.yankton.net/community/article_86dc2cac-0075-5ac0-b301-6a729bfd4ee2.html