Ameiya

toc =My Journal=

Water Issues
I like. I wish. I wonder.

Yesterday, in reading class I had a good time learning about water pollution. I never knew that fertilizers could pollute waters. I also found out that if the water is red or tan it means it is polluted by sand or dust.

I wish people would stop polluting all the waters. People sometimes move trash off their property and leave it outside, then the trash gets picked up by the rain and pollutes the waters.

I wonder why the dirt would make the water red instead of brown. Isn't dirt brown?

**A Long Walk to Water**
If the government decided to make one religion in each state, citizens would rebel and they would ask for their religion back. The country would fight with itself and it would be another Civil War.

Today there are about two million Syrian refugees. Out of the two million, seven-hundred forty thousand are in Lebanon, five-hundred twenty thousand in Jordan, four-hundred sixty-four thousand in Turkey, one-hundred eighty-three thousand in Iraq, and one-hundred seventeen thousand in Egypt. In Jordan there are one-hundred twenty thousand refugees in Zaatari refugee camp while there are two-hundred thousand refugees in Turkey refugee camps.

We can improve the living conditions of the refugees by giving them medical and psychological support, helping them with basic necessities such as water, food, clothing, and shelter. We can make schools for kids as well.

Yes, the U.S. is and should be involved. The U.S. has the strongest government in the world and so the U.S. government should get involved by negotiating with the Syrian government and come up with a peaceful solution so that there will be no war in Syria. If this doesn't work, then maybe Syria might have to separate into two different countries. That way the citizens don't have to go to refugee camps to avoid the war. This will bring peace in the world. The U.S. will set a good example for the world.

The U.S. should help by providing financial and medical aid to the refugees. America should also provide food and water, build infrastructure, and send social workers and religious leaders to help the refugees.

Source on refugee numbers- []

Wonder
1/21/14

On the first day of swimming I felt left out and different. I was the only one who was crying because I was scared of the water. That was kind of ironic for me because the only place I felt calm was the water. I had two contradicting feelings while I was in the water, one was oh no I'm going to drown and the second one was that I was having a marvelously tranquil time.

Ordinary
1/21/14

I think August meant that deep inside of him he feels ordinary, but people think he has physical and mental problems. His own parents and sister think he is different from inside and definitely outside. As on page 3, he says, "And Mom and Dad don't see me as ordinary either. They see me as extraordinary." August feels absolutely normal except when the kids stare at him. August wants to be treated like a normal person because he doesn't feel any different. I have empathy for August and I know what it feels like to be different.

The Performance Space
1/23/14

I think people, including me, would think a person with physical disabilities would also be mentally slow. When one first sees a person with physical disabilities, almost anyone would think that they are mentally disable due to their appearance. It would be hard to fathom that a person with such deformed looks can be smart. As shown by the author too when Julian says,on page 28, "The science elective is supposably the hardest elective of all. No offense, but if you've never, ever been in a school before, why do you think you're suddenly going yo be smart enough to take the science elective?". After reading the beginning of //Wonder,// I have a different opinion. I feel that one can be smart even if one has aberrant looks. Besides, we have also heard of a very smart person who had physical disabilities of being blind and deaf (Helen Keller). I would say one should stop being prejudiced and start being more open-minded.

Lamb to the Slaughter and Choose Kind
1/27/14

Ms. Petosa, I think, genuinely did not know about the character Darth Sidious from Star Wars. This is inferred from page 44, when Ms. Petosa responds to Julian's comment by saying,"Okay, guys, you talk about //Star Wars// stuff at recess." If she knew more about Star Wars, she would have given Julian at least a warning if not a detention. If I were Ms. Petosa, I would have yelled at Julian and would have given him a detention. Chances are that she could have also possibly not realized what Julian meant.

==== Mr. Browne has high moral values and sense of humor. He smartly was able to combat the remark made by Jack Will (page 47) when he said, "I thought we were learning English." August and I both agree that the remark was "cool". ==== Mr. Browne is definitely a teacher I would like to have. I think Mr. Browne would have caught the remark about Darth Sidious. Mr. Browne is a kind teacher, but not that kind that he would let mean remarks slide. Mr. Browne also treats everyone equally and this can be proven by the fact that he never stared at August. This means he doesn't care about the way August looks. Mr. Browne treats everyone equally.

The Bleeding Scream
1/29/14

At the end of part one, page 77, Jack Will reveals that Mr. Tushman, the school principal, had told him to be friends with August and that Jack really did not want to be friends with August. Jack said," Tushman asked me to hang out with him at the beginning of the year, and he must have told all the teachers to put us next to each other in all our classes, or something." I think Jack Will was hanging out with August just to fit in. I used to have friends who would lie just to fit in with the crowd. Jack wants to be popular, so he told Julian that he wasn't friends with August. I feel sad for August though because his best friend, Jack, had just betrayed him, even though he might have not meant what he said: "I mean, the thing is he always follows me around.What am I supposed to do?". I wish the best for August as we read the rest of the story.

A Tour of the Galaxy
1/31/14

Via might feel the galaxy is changing because now August is going to school. Mom and Dad are not spending all that much time with August anymore, since he is going to school. She could also mean that Miranda and Ella have now changed their appearance and aren't really as close as they were to Via. Via’s and August’s lives are changing now.

Chapter 47

Time to Think
1/31/14

Via’s speech on being “normal” was pretty encouraging. She had a valid point when she mentioned,on page 115, "I'm just saying you shouldn't let those little jerks get to you, that's all." It applies to everyone’s life, not just August’s. If anyone, even your own friend, is making you mad you should stop being friends with him/her. I don’t think Via’s speech helped August go to school though. He kept mentioning Miranda and how she had called Via. The only reason August went to school was because Via had blackmailed him. “Well, I’m telling Mom and Dad about Jack Will if you stop going to school.” “Tushman will probably call you into school and make Jack and those other kids apologize to you in front of everyone, and everyone will treat you like a kid who should be going to a school for kids with special needs.” That is exactly what Via said to August and that made him go to school.

PART 3: Summer
Chapter 51

Warning: This Kid is Rated R
2/3/14

Summer has wavy brown hair, a tan, and leaf green eyes. Summer is nice and has a kind heart. As shown on page 51, Summer is the only person to sit at August's table.This shows that not only is she kind but brave enough to show her feelings towards August in front of her friends. In fact, she refuses to sit with her friend even when she calls her at other table. Summer is also shown to be the kind of person who doesn't like to be accused of actions or words she didn't take or say. This was shown on page 126 when August accuses Summer of not really being his friend and she clearly says," I don't like being accused of things, okay?" I think if I was in Summer's place, I would feel the same. Summer cares about everyone's feelings and I think she will be nice to August throughout the book.

Why I Didn't Sit with August the First Day of School
2/5/14

On page 175, Jack calls himself a hypocrite because he never sat with August at lunch, not even on the first day of school. He even knew Auggie was lonely, but he didn't sit with him. If I were Jack, I would have sat with August on the first day of school. Jack was surprised that Summer sat with August even though she wasn't told by Principal Tushman to be friends with him.

Olivia's Brother- The Universe
2/5/14

I think the author wrote a chapter for Via's boyfriend to show how people react to him for the first time and because Justin was Olivia's boyfriend and she took Justin seriously. On the first page of Justin's part (pg. 187), he tells us how Justin reacts to August. "the first time i met Olivia's little brother, i have to admit i'm totally taken by surprise." Even after Via explained to Justin about how August looked like, he still was surprised. He thought after the surgeries he would pretty much look normal. If I were in Justin's place I think I would have been surprised as well. I had expected to learn about his social life and a little about his family. I thought August wouldn't have been mentioned on this part. I enjoy the fact that the author was able to tie together Justin's part to the whole book.

Chapters 72-79
2/5/14

The reason author writes Justin's part in lowercase letters is because of the author's and Justin's excessive love for music. On musical keys the letters are written in a lowercase fashion. If I were the author, I don't think I would have been that creative. If I were writing to myself, I would not use capital letters, but the reason for that would be the fact that I just want to write without too much attention to grammar.

Justin is an important character because he is Via's boyfriend. Via is also very serious about Justin and doesn't hide much from him. She respects him. This makes Justin a part of August's family, which is why he is an important character. At the end of his part, page 199, Justin stood up for Jack by threatening Julian and his gang. If I were in Jack's place, I would have complained about Julian in school. Justin is a nice guy and he has feelings for everyone, even August. I think he is going to remain that way till the end of the book.

Chapters 90-95
2/10/14

Miranda's role in the story, I feel, has been a sweet and understanding person. She knew that Via's family would want to watch Via play Emily Gibbs, so she acted as if she was sick and she gave the role to Via. This shows how much she cares for Via and her family. Going back to Via's part on page 93 and 94, I thought Miranda was a jerk. Of course, I was wrong. Miranda likes August's family more than her own because August's family is very welcoming and kind, while Miranda's mom and dad had recently divorced. If I were Miranda, I probably wouldn't be as calm as her about the divorce. On page 236, Miranda had to calm her mom down about the divorce. I think Via and Miranda will be friends again because on the last page of Miranda's part (page 248) Via puts her arm around Miranda saying, "You're definitely coming." For now they are friends and I think they are going to remain friends.