Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul is a collection of true stories from teenagers around the world. A lot of teenagers today can relate to this book because it has several stories on relationships, friendships, on family, on love and kindness, on learning, tough stuff, making a difference in the world and risk taking which was a big theme in 9th grade global literature this year.

This book is fun to read because you don't have to read from page 1 straight through the whole book. You can skip around and read whichever stories you want. I like the chicken soup series because any regular people can submit a story about a significant event in their life. I am sure that you will make a connection from your life to this book because each of the books in the series is written by who it is for. For example, chicken soup for the teenagers soul was written by teens, for teens while chicken soup for the mothers soul was written by mothers for mothers! I would recommend not only this book to teenagers and adults but any book in this big series!

ITS KIND OF A FUNNY STORY

Craig Gilner has checked himself into a mental ward. Will his depression go away or will Craig choose to end his life? In the book It’s Kind Of A Funny Story by Ned Vizzini the main character, Craig, is suffering from depression. This book is realistic fiction because the events in it could easily be true. This book takes place in New York City in a modern day time frame. The main characters in this book besides Craig are Aaron, Craig’s parents, Craig’s sister Sarah, Nia, Noelle and Armelio. I would give this book three out of five stars, because in my opinion it was very hard to read and confusing. If you happen to not understand one paragraph you might not understand that whole chapter (that happened to me often). In the book, It’s Kind Of A Funny Story, Craig struggles with his depression in three main ways; Craig’s having trouble in school, he’s not fitting in with his friends and he’s so nervous he can’t eat or sleep.

Craig studied so hard to get into he high school now he’s falling behind. ”Hello this is your science teacher. We need to talk about the lack of your labs”, Craig’s science teacher announced to him on a message he left . Craig feels like he’s the dumbest kid in school . He’s having a much tougher time in his new school. He wanted to get into a good school so he could get into a good college and have a perfect life. So far it’s not working out, which is really making him depressed.

Craig is also not fitting in with his friends. Craig’s best friend Aaron has a girlfriend. Craig feels like the third wheel. “When you came did you know you were going to hook up with Aaron” asked Craig to Nia. Craig wonders if he ever had a chance with Nia. Along with this, Craig’s friends made fun of him for being in the mental ward. Not fitting in added to Craig’s depression.
Craig gets very anxious about many thing. He also throws up after he eats. Sometimes he won’t eat because he doesn’t want to throw up. “People give me strange looks; what’s wrong Craig, why aren’t you eating?” When Craig gets anxious he worries and thinks too much. The worrying makes overcoming his depression even harder.

In the book It’s Kind Of A Funny Story, Craig struggles with his depression in three main ways; Craig’s having trouble in school, he’s not fitting in with his friends and he’s so nervous he can’t eat or sleep. I can relate to Craig because I get worried too. I know how frustrating it can be not to be able to relax or to fall asleep because you can’t stop worrying. In conclusion, when reading this book I realized that you should let your friends know when you are going through a real tough time, because even though you may not know it, they may be able to relate and help you

Perfect Chemisrtry

     Brittney (what people see) - Rich white qirl who qets whatever she want
Brittney (really)- a young qirl who needs to try to put the best imaqe on herself just for her family with the perfect grades boyfriend clothes car and life. Thats what her family want her to be. And Brittney also has a sister 20 year old sister that has a disease and acts like a little qirl, nobody really knows about her sister besides her best friend and her boyfriend.
Alex (What people see) - A stuck up, juvenile delinquent, pot head, and gang banger who cares about know one lives by his own rules and is the baddest kid in school.
Alex (really)- A latino blood (gang) who also needs to put an image up for himself to BE that tough guy in school and for his friends, but he just wants to be a good kid in the inside and he wants the same for his brothers.

      Brittney and Alex both live in to COMPLETELY different worlds but are then brought together when they are forced in being chemistry partners, Alex does A LOT of flirting with Brittney that Brittney and her boyfriend don't appreciate but Alex doesn't care and there's not much anyone can do about it. I have a feeling that sometime in this book Alex and Brittney are qoinq to end up dating and Brittney's family is qoinq to dissaprove because of Brittney's "image" and Brittney and Alex's life's are going to change completely

Charlotte's Web

      I think the hero in Charlotte's Web is Wilbur because he changes the most through out the book, notice how in the beginning of the book Wilbur was just a cowardly scared little pig who was terrified of the thought of dieing, but the towards the end of the book he becomes more courage's and stops being so scared and even tells Charlotte that he would risk his life for her.

        I think the mentor in this book is Charlotte. I think this because she had a GREAT amount of knowledge that she was born with, she had only lived a year and knew how to spin a web, speak using big words, catch food, live on her own and so on. It was never taught to her, she just knew it. Also in my opinion, she sets an example on Wilbur because if it wasn't for her Wilbur wouldn't of had changed the way he did through out the book he probably would of been the same cowardly pig he was in the beginning of the book. 

JUSTICE

JUSTICE

       I just finished the book "Perfect Chemistry" and I think the text makes me think about justice in the world because when Alex went to go see Hector he found out the Hector killed his father and would have killed him to if Paco didn't do the deal for him. And the cops came right before Hector killed Alex. That is when they shot Hector and Alex got shot by Hector as well. So Alex got justice over Hector since his father got murdered by him. I think Alex serves justice in this book although you wouldn't expect it because he's in the gang and all but he did. I also think Britteny  brings justice as well because if it wasn't for her Alex wouldn't have gotten out of the Latino Blood and he would be in it for life, and if it wasn't for Brittney Alex would have been dead because he would have done the deal and gotten shot by Hector instead. In the real world i'm not sure if their would be justice because the main reason for justice is happening is because of Brittney and Alex so i guess their will be if your some what like them or could be.   

Am I BLUE ?

Am I BLUE ?

           Vince is a 16 year old boy who doesn't really COMPLETELY know  his sexual orientation. There is another boy "Butch Carrigan" who bullies Vince constantly calling him names and saying that Vince is gay. For example, when the story first started; 

                        "You little fruit" he snarled."I'll teach you to look at me!".

             Later after being thrown in mud Vince looks up to a handsome shining man who clams to be his fairy god father. At first Vince does not believe him but him but than Melvin ( his fairy god father) uses his magic to clean him up from the mud and gives him three wishes. With two of the wishes and "gaydar" Vince soon realizes that he's no alone and even the people who he LEAST expected to be gay had some "blue" in them. ( In the gaydar if you are blue you are gay or you have a hint of gay in you). He even discovers that Butch Carrigan was blue! 
             This story really teaches you to except your differences and be who you are and not what other people expect or want you to be. I think Vince realizes that in the end when he says "I've decided to save it for when i really need it - maybe when i meet the girl of my dreams. Or prince charming. Whichever." about his last wish