Vishal

1/26/2016- I felt a feeling of mixed emotions for different people in the Grand Tour. I think Charlotte is talkative, good hearted, and smart. She was kind and friendly and she stood up for August. I think Jack is friendly and kind to everybody. I feel like he stands up for people only when needed. I feel like Julian is very mean and he is a jerk. He also acts differently with adults and he acts the most well-behaved and helpful with them so he doesn't get in trouble. I think August will have some friends but he will struggle. I think that he will be brave and complete 5th grade with many more friends.

2/1/2016- August's September was surprisingly normal. . . academically. He had to get used to waking up early in he mornings, having tons of homework, having quizzes, and having almost no free time to play because there was a different approach when he was homeschooled. But socially, it was not even close to normal. There were more bullies and people like Julian such as Henry and Miles especially when they were sharing a chair and when Miles shot a sad look to Henry because he was sitting next to August. People were whispering everywhere about him although I liked that August took it in a different way of saying that they weren't being mean and they were just saying that he was there. But lunch was the worst and that was when almost everybody there was being extremely mean to August. They were "saving" spots for other people leaving August at an empty table to rot. Although people were being mean to August, there were a few upstanders. There were two main ones. One was Jack. He was the only one in homeroom to sit next to August and he started hanging out with August more and more. They shared five classes with every class having them sit next to each other. August and Jack started developing a relationship and they were sharing jokes and comments. . . even about August's face! The other one was Summer. Although everybody was leaving August alone at the empty table and whispering about him "behind his back", Summer came over and sat with him. She also made a conversation with August and made him her friend. August was also feeling comfortable to talk freely towards Summer. She unlike other people was not whispering about him and gave up sitting next to her friends so she could sit next to him. I think that August's September had a rough start but slowly other people will get used to his face and I think that his October and November will be better then his September.

2/3/2016- I think everything is like a fight. It's like any war or even a video game. For example, there is the Trojan War, World War 2, or even Mario or Sonic. There are the good guys and there are the bad guys. In this case, I think the leader of the good guys is August and the leader of the bad guys is Julian. The fight is August's face and social life in school. Everything was going OK until there was a betrayal. It was August's best friend, Jack Will. This betrayal has hurt August so much that the good guys might crumble since August's pain is so bad that he doesn't want to go to school ever again. What should they do? I think that August should fight his pain and go back to school so he has a chance of getting friends. He also has a few options once he goes back to school. One is that he can just ditch Jack and start trying to speak up and make new friends. Even if he can't, he'll still have Summer supporting him. Next, there is the option of telling Jack exactly what he did so it might make Jack feel guilty for what he did and for everything to be back to normal. If Jack is so mean that he will ditch August, August can try to make new friends although it will be extremely hard. Finally, he can tell Summer, his family, or Mr. Tushman about Jack's meanness and betrayal and see what they can do about it. But, if he didn't go to school, he won't even have a chance of making friends since he won't be showing who he really is. So I think that he should go back to school to give the good guys another chance of triumphing over their betrayal and defeating the mean and unkind kids, Julian and Jack Will.

2/4/2016- I think Via's life is actually extremely complicated and maybe even unfair because of August and his surgeries. I know that August has many surgeries so one of my questions is, can Via cope up and understand that life won't be easy with her parents always taking care of August? I think that her life will be very unfair with her parents not taking care of Via's daily life like toys, dance recitals, or spelling bees. So, I wonder if she understands how hard it is. My next question is, is her social life different from anybody else's because of August? I wonder if her classmates and friends know about August's deformity. If so, is her life being affected by it? Is she getting asked questions that she can't answer or is she getting bullied more than others? My last question is, does Via see August as the kind kid he is or does she see him as a kid with facial deformity? Also, if she sees him as a kid with facial deformity, does she try to stay away from him or make fun of him like other kids do? These questions are burning in my head and, I want the answers to come out in the next part we're reading. If these answers come out, I'll have a much better understanding of who Via is, how she acts, and how much her daily life is being affected by August.

2/9/2016- What I find most surprising and even confusing about Via is that she didn't want her school friends to know about August and her family. I would think that she would be okay showing August and her family and make relationships with school like they were in elementary school. But instead, she wanted them to not think of her as having a unique family. My understanding of why this is going through her mind is not much. Although I can understand that she doesn't want to be less popular or bullied because of August's deformity, I cannot understand why she wants her friends to call her Olivia, or not want her parents to pick her up from school. This was surprising and confusing about Via to me.

2/9/2016- I think Via's Halloween is more emotional, sad, and weepy than August's and that her Halloween is not as happy as August's. One part that is different is that she does not like trick-or-treating or wearing costumes as much as Auggie does because of his face having a deformity and her's not. Also there is a time of sadness and weepiness in Via's Halloween. The event was Grans's death the day before. The reason she is really weepy at that time because she is the one who took care of Via a lot and she is the one who said a secret that was a deep act of love and kindness towards Via. It was that she loved Via more than anybody else in the world. She even liked her more than August! That death must have been extremely heart-breaking because of the love shown. Those are the two main reasons why her Halloween is extremely different fro Via in a sad and weepy feeling where as August's Halloween is his favorite time of year since he could be like every other kid in the world.

2/16/2016- I think Justin's part was extremely important and it needed to be understood (except the EXTREMELY ANNOYING capitalization mistakes) to how the story goes because the story goes to a totally new perspective. It explains the life, feelings, and especially reaction from a ninth grader towards August and even Jack because of Justin's message sent to Julian, Henry, and Miles telling them to stop messing with Jack. It also delves deeper into Via's life and tells how Justin reacts towards her and her family. There is also a big contrast he shows from his family to Via's family with his family being distant and neglectful and August's family being loving, caring, and giving a feel of home to other people. Justin's part shows more on August's and especially Via's life and giving important information, feeling, and emotion to the story. This info, feeling, and emotion gives the reader an new understanding and perspective of the story, making the story even better.

2/18/2016- I think Miranda felt extremely excited and happy for the first time in an extremely long time because her close friendship with Via has come back. There was more happiness added because of the emotions added about lost friendship this year. All this sad feeling was suddenly turned around, giving one of the most happiest tones in the story. Also, Miranda felt guilty that she changed, making her extremely mopey about the present situation. All of these examples added to the tension and sadness of the beginning of the ninth grade so Miranda was glad that all of the tension broke between her and Via when Via actually **wanted** Miranda to come to the dinner. Also, though the story doesn't mention it, I think Miranda's greatest wish was to be Via's friend again, even if it takes undoing what she did during camp. This fallen tension caused a joyful tone, making Miranda happy for the first time in forever.

Notes:

Protagonist: the main character of the story who is portrayed as the good guy (August) Antagonist: the rival of the main character in the story who is portrayed as the bad guy (Julian) Dynamic: character who changed the most (Miranda) Static: character who changed the least (Julian) Direct Characterization: showing character by listing it out in the book Indirect Characterization: showing character by giving examples instead of saying int he book what kind of character a person is


 * Nothing But the Truth**

1. I personally think that it depends on how truthful your child is. If your child is very truthful, I think that you should believe and trust them. If your child is not that trustworthy or lies a lot, then I think you ought to do some investigating. If you find out that your child did something wrong, you should be firm in saying that you should do the right thing, but if it's the first time or if it's rare that he/she does the wrong thing, give some emotional support to lift fear or sadness in the child. But, if the emotional support isn't working, you got to take things differently and be very firm about his/her wrongdoing.