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I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister: Last Half

The last half of I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister was even more heartbreaking than the first.

The novel focused a lot around the two sisters’ struggles to express what they felt their freedoms should include. Sohane was expelled from her school just because she wanted to be proud of her religion and wear a headscarf. Djelila on the other hand was murdered for not wanting to be proud of her religion, and wearing tight clothing and makeup to school. Towards the end of the book Sohane starts to tell us how she has come to the realization that rather than trying to protect her sister from her “habits”, she should have been supporting her for being who she wanted to be. After reading Sohane’s  thoughts on this, I immediately started to feel so much sympathy for her. She clearly loved her sister and just wanted what was best for her. Both of the girls just wanted to express who they are as individuals, yet they both had to face consequences.

I also thought it was interesting that Sohane was denied into a public group speaking that was about her sister’s death, all because she was wearing her headscarf. The ladies running the speaking were unaware the Sohane was Djelila’s sister when they turned her away. The woman who turned her away explained to Sohane that her headscarf meant that she was not proud of her freedoms as a woman. I thought that Sohane should have fought back at this point. She should have explained how she felt about the scarf, how she was the sister of Djelila, and how her sister loved her even when she was wearing it.

I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister: First Half

The first half of I Love I Hate I Miss My Sister, by Amélie Sarn, is already turning out to be a very emotional novel.

The story goes back and forth between events that are currently happening in the main character's, Sohane, life and the events that lead up to her sister, Djelila’s, murder. The relationship between the two sisters seems to be very strong and loving, despite their differences. Sohane is more into her Muslim religion than Djelila ever seemed to be. Sohane also talks a lot about how much more beautiful and carefree her sister was. Because Djelila was so different, her sister was always worried for her safety. As far as I have read, it can be assumed that Djelila was actually murdered for her differences by a group of guys from the projects.

I am feeling bad for Sohane’s loss. I can tell she feels extremely guilty about not being able to protect her younger sister and keep her safe. Throughout the book she keeps emphasizing how she just wanted to protect her. The sad thing is that she was honestly trying to protect her sister from being herself. She wanted to wear different clothes and act in different ways than what her family's religion allowed. She was being her own person and for that reason she was murdered. Maybe the last section of the book will go into more detail about the murderer, and hopefully her murderer will have to pay some consequences for his actions.

Finishing Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

We have finally finished reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Saenz. This book came with a lot of emotions. It's the first book that I have read in a while to actually made me cry both happy and sad tears. I can definitely say that it was my favorite book that we have read in class.

The last section of the book was so sad and happy all at the same time. I was very surprised that Ari discovered that he was gay… A lot of other readers probably weren't surprised at all. Or maybe they were? I don't know, but I definitely was. I thought for sure that Dante was going to end up with the guy that he kissed, and Ari would end up supporting his decision. Either way I had a feeling they would end up as great friends for sure.

I loved that Ari was able to discover so much about himself, especially towards the end. It took the help of his parents for him to discover that he actually does love Dante. I am so glad that his parents were able to discuss this with him, and help him not feel weird about it. His parents helped him, and he helped them as well.  He was able to help his dad break down his barriers and finally open up to him about the war and about his brother. I really loved that he was finally able to have deeper conversations with his parents. The parent involvement and overall support in this book was amazing. Both Ari and Dante had very loving and supporting parents, and that's not something you read about often. It seems like it would be rare to find two families in the same town who are able to build such great friendships with each other and have so much support for their sons. Finishing this book really put me in a good mood, as the ending was so sweet. I was glad to read a book that ended happily for the two boys.

Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets of the Universe: Middle Section

After finishing the middle section of the book, I can honestly say that I am enjoying it. I actually read a little ahead into this section from the previous section that we were assigned. I was very curious as to what happened to Ari and Dante after the whole car incident, so I peaked. Now that we have all read this middle section, it is okay to say that I am so relieved that Ari lived and through the accident. He was very lucky to have a great surgeon who repaired him almost good as new. Dante was only a little beat up, but not too badly at all. We never get to know what happened to the bird that Dante was trying to save… and that was the whole reason the accident even happened…

But at least this middle section of the book finally touched on the topic that I was waiting for this book to discuss. It finally started to get more into depth about Ari and Dante’s sexual orientations. It didn't take long for me to assume both boys were gay. In this section, however, it seems to be that Dante is the only gay one...? I could be wrong, but that is how it is looking so far. It seems like Ari is a little uncomfortable with this, but not fully. He knows that is just how Dante is. Ari on the other hand is starting to show an interest in girls. Even though I was sure he would end up to be gay too, I think he has a crush on his friend Gina. His appeal for girls started when he kissed a girl at a party. She ended up having a boyfriend, but I think the whole reason for her character was to spark some interest in girls for Ari. I guess we'll find out more about that as the book progresses though.

I am liking this book more than any other books we have read so far in this class. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that there are so many different relatable aspects to this book for people. That's not to say that I necessarily can relate, but I can see how other people would! Especially when it comes to relating to the main character, Ari. He keeps telling everyone how he thinks of himself as so boring and doesn't know why anyone (aka Dante) would want to be his friend. I am sure there are people who can relate to that. The parts of the book that I can relate to, however, are the parts when Ari talks about how he loves his parents. Although his mom hovers and his dad keeps a lot of things to himself, it is obvious that Ari really does love and care about them. Right after Ari’s accident, he insists that he hates his parents and even Dante, but then he tells us that it's just a lie and he was actually just irritated. That leads into the fact that we get to learn way more about the parents in this book than we ever got to in any of the other books. I like that they are given so much detail and description and that they actually play important roles in the book. It makes them feel more personal to readers, in my opinion. I am anxious to finish this book and see how the rest of it plays out.

American Born Chinese: Final Thoughts

I was very surprised by the ending of the book. Really it was actually quite confusing to me. The way I interpreted the ending of the book was something like: Jin turning into Danny, and then turning back into Jin..??? Or maybe that he was really both characters the whole entire time? Haha I don't really know but I get the jist of what was going on. I had to re-read the last few pages a couple times, but I think the book’s true overall message is simply that people should embrace their history and who they truly are. Jin by the end of the book learns that he doesn't need to turn into the stereotypical “white American boy” that Danny is. He starts a fight with his cousin, Chin Kee (who is actually the monkey king and I THINK also the father of Wei-Chen maybe?) and once his cousin’s real identity is revealed, Jin starts to realize that he is actually Chinese and not a white American boy. And the best part is, that he is okay with that. We know that he makes things better between himself and Wei-Chen, and also better within himself.

I really liked reading the book overall. I thought it was a fun book that took almost no time to get into and read. It was my first graphic novel and I am can say I am quite pleased with my experience with it.

American Born Chinese: First Impressions

Reading the first section of American Born Chinese was very interesting because it was my first graphic novel. The novel is told into three different stories. The first story is about a monkey king. There’s this little monkey who is king of his land and one day he gets an invite to a dinner party in the heavens. Sadly he finds out that the other gods actually don't want him around. The monkey therefore transforms himself into something higher up than a monkey and turns out to be evil. I am very  unsure of how a story about a monkey ties into the title “American Born Chinese”, but I guess once I finish the book I will understand. The next story is about a little boy named Jin who moves to a new school and has to deal with other kids being mean to him because of his race. He eventually makes a good friend, (who is also Chinese) and his life seemed to get better and revolve all around trying to get a girl. Similarly the last story is also about a boy, Danny, who is trying to get a girl. Danny, who is white, really likes a girl in his school and wants to date her and fit in at school but his very stereotypical Chinese cousin visits him and kind of ruins it for him. I am assuming all three stories will find a way to connect in the end, but I am very unsure how...