Looking At Our Books Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness. "The Bravest Girl in the World". Tanzim Ahmed

          The article “The Bravest Girl in the World” was the story of a brave girl named Malala who spoke out against the Taliban’s banning for girl’s education. The Taliban came over from Afghanistan and took control, in 2007, over the Swat Valley where Malala lived. They banned most personal freedom’s and closed schools for girls. Malala and her father spoke out for girl’s education and they became targets for the Taliban. One day when Malala was going to school on the bus. She was shot in the head by a member of the Taliban but managed to survive. After she recovered she didn't stop fighting, she spoke in front of the U.N, won the International Children’s Peace Prize, and became nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. After reading her story I was amazed but asked myself, whose perspective is missing in this text? What would it be like if we put it back?

          After great inquiry, I found the missing peace. The Taliban’s point of view is missing here. The article touched on why they shot her but they never went in depth. Maybe if they would've interviewed a member of the Taliban and asked them why they did what they did, it would help the reader understand more in-depth on why they attempted to kill her.          

Looking At Our Books Through a Lens of Justice and Fairness. Crash By:Jerry Spinelli. Tanzim Ahmed

          After reading thirty-four pages of Jerry Spinelli’s CRASH, I asked myself “who has power” in this text? How does that power get shown?” I found that answer not too far from the start. John Coogan, a boy that everyone calls “Crash” has become a “friend” of Penn Webb, a Quaker from North Dakota. Penn is very nice but also very gullible. He likes to play with his toy wagon and his turtle. Penn is very good, but so good that he’ll listen to anything that Crash tells him to-do. Crash realizes this and takes advantages of this. He keeps changing his name every time Penn asks him. First, his name is “Megatroid”, and then it’s, “Humphries”. Crash abuses his power that he has over Penn and uses it against him. A few years later when Crash goes to 2^nd grade, he makes a new friend named Mike. Mike and Penn have many similarities and become best friends almost instantly. On the first day of school Mike and Crash go and meet Penn. Mike does a crazy hand with him and pretends to be his friends. They both make fun of his clothes in away where Penn won’t notice. This is an example of abuse of power because it shows how one person takes advantage of another person’s inability to have the same humor as another person.      

Looking At Our Books Through a Lens of Injustice and Fairness. American Son By: Brian Ascalon Roley. Tanzim Ahmed 811

          The question that I asked after reading American Son by: Brian Ascalon Roley was, “how does money figure in this text?” This book deals with many of the real issues that teens face today. The book features two boys named Tomas and Gabe who live with their single mother. For a living, Tomas trains and sells guard dogs to celebrities who pay a high price for them. One day when Tomas took his brother to a client’s house to sell a dog, they brought the mother of the dog that they were going to sell. Unfortunately, only the son of the dog was being put up for sale. The client wanted both dogs and offered up to a total of 25,000 dollars for them. Tomas really loves the mother dog and refuses to sell her. Finally the client agrees to buy only the boy but says that if Tomas ever changes his mind, he will buy her from him. Gabe hears this idea and makes a decision to sell the mother because he knows that they need the money.

          A few days later when Gabe is sure that Tomas is sleeping, he takes the mother and Tomas’s car and runs away. He sells the dog and plans to drive all the way from Los Angeles to San Francisco faearing the thought of his angry brother. But when his car runs into some mechanical issues, he is forced to call a tow truck and tow his car to a garage. When the tow truck guy arrives, he is suspicious that Gabe is a runaway and calls his mom from the credit card that Gabe used to pay for the tow. His mother comes and brings him back home to a furious Tomas. Fortunately, Tomas did not beat Gabe senseless. He said that Gabe can pay him back by doing small duties such as going with him to steal from homes.

          Money is basically what drives Gabe to do what he did. Maybe if they had money, Gabe wouldn’t have to run away and Tomas wouldn’t have to steal. The author in this book is showing us how good and bad money can be. Money can help us and bring us the things we need. But it can also persuade us into doing things that are wrong and inhumane. The author uses money as a symbol and builds a story or part of a story out of it.       

Tanzim Ahmed 811 Social Injustice

      I watched a news clip from abcnews.com about police violating people’s rights. In a video called “Have These Cops Gone Too Far?” a number of cases were brought up where victims claim that they have been harassed by police officers. In one segment, a group of women were charged with DUI (driving under the influence) and were arrested. They were taken to jail and searched. They were then put into cells without any privacy and were being recorded by cameras. The officers asked them to change from their normal clothes to prison overalls for mug shots. After that was completed, they told the women to change back to their normal clothes. During that whole process, the women claimed to be recorded. Their privacy rights were violated because there were supposed to be given curtains to change and use the bathroom behind. But they were given no such thing. If any newscaster asked me how I felt I’d say that I was outraged. The police officers had no right to do such thing to me and they should be ashamed. They have no feelings for other people, they’re cold hearted. Humiliating people like that is just absurd and inhumane. Fortunately, I’m not those victims but I feel bad for those who have been treated in such ways. 

Tanzim Ahmed 811. Letter to Ms. Berner

Dear Ms. Berner,
 I have received word that you are considering the removal of books from the 6th grade library. Sixth graders are inexperienced kids who need to learn about the world around them. The best way for this to happen, in their world, is by letting them read the books that teach them how to deal with harsh issues. Many parents don’t like the idea that teens are reading about such dark topics in books, but they need to let their children explore and imagine outside of their experiences. 
 The sixth grade library contains some dark books that teach readers about issues such as rape, murder, or drugs. Even though these books contain violence and aggression, they educate the reader about the main issue. For example, autobiography called TWEAK by Nic Sheff starts off describing heavy drug usage. The main character, Nic, shoots methamphetamines and heroin quite frequently. This book certainly does not idolize drugs, showing them as destructive and horrifying. Throughout the book, readers are constantly reminded of the consequences of drugs. Towards the end of the book the author teaches the reader how to deal with drugs. Slowly Nic removes himself from the plethora of drugs that consumed his life. This type of book is exactly what Maureen Johnson, author of “Yes, teen fiction can be dark – but it shows teenagers they aren't alone”, talks about in her essay. She says, “If subjects like these are in YA books, it's to show that they are real, they have happened to others, and they can be survived. For teenagers, there is sometimes no message more critical than: you are not alone. This has happened before. The feeling that you are feeling, the thing you are going through – it is a
known thing.” The author wants to help people by comforting them, by showing that addictions are not glamorous. These stories make drugs look less attractive. The way the author does this by simply writing the book itself. 
 In a news broadcast on abc13, Deborah Wrigley, a reporter, went to Conroe Texas where the book Fahrenheit 451 was being challenged. Caney Creek High School student Diana Verm was given an assignment on the book Fahrenheit 451, which she complained offended her because of “… the cussing in it and the burning of the Bible.” After she complained to the teacher, she was given an alternate assignment. Unfortunately, her father, Alton Verm, pushed the situation further. He tried to ban the book for everyone. The school said that they would have a hearing about it later but student rally coordinator Darrell Lee already started stirring up support for the book. Verm doesn’t realize how YA books teach readers. He was offended by the burning of the Bible but didn’t understand that towards the end of the book, the characters tried to save the bible. These people like Meghan Cox Gurdon read a book and just seem to miss the point. Look what she wrote about in her article “My 'Reprehensible' Take on Teen Literature”, “‘I used to squirm when I heard people talking about cutting—taking a razor to your own flesh never seemed logical to me. But in reality, it's wonderful. You can cut into yourself all the frustrations people take out on you.’ Now ask yourself: Is a book the only thing being sold here?” Here, Gurdon displays a blurb from a new book and right away she classifies it as “too dark”. Also in her article, she responds to a quote from Sherman Alexie’s article, “Why the Best Kids Books Are Written in Blood". Alexie says, "Does Mrs. Gurdon honestly believe that a sexually explicit YA novel might somehow traumatize a teen mother? Does she believe that
a YA novel about murder and rape will somehow shock a teenager whose life has been damaged by murder and rape? Does she believe a dystopian novel will frighten a kid who already lives in hell?” Then Gurdon abruptly responds by saying, “No, I don't. I also don't believe that the vast majority of American teenagers live in anything like hell.” This response weakens her claim of how “dark” YA books are. Gurdon doesn’t know who lives in hell or not, she has no proof, and is hell relative - can we relate to another’s version of hell even if our challenges are vastly different? 
 Gurdon is criticizing many authors by saying that they put too much violence in YA books. But Johnson says, “There isn't a YA writer alive who is out writing books to corrupt youth. No one writing about self-harm is teaching how to self-harm. No one writing about rape is providing instructions on how to rape or how to be raped. I know this seems a ridiculously obvious point, but this is the argument that comes up again and again.” Gurdon says, “It is true that so-called problem novels may be helpful to children in anguished circumstances. The larger question is whether books about rape, incest, eating disorders and "cutting" (self-mutilation) help to normalize such behaviors”. She is totally wrong. YA books don’t normalize these behaviors, they help the victim understand that they can get help from other people. These victims might not want to get help because they think that they are the only ones doing drugs or self-mutilation. But if they find out about how other people deal with the same issue, they might come out of their shadows and speak up to get help.
 This is why, Ms. Berner, you should not refrain from removing any books from sixth grade classroom libraries. The books represent the irritating alarms that wake us up every
morning. The books, in a way, seem to be speaking to readers saying, “Hey! Wake up, this is what’s going to happen in the real world so be prepared.” Challenged books open up a readers eyes and let them focus, see their surroundings, and let them explore the world they live in. If you remove books from the sixth grade libraries, it is as if you are closing the eyes of the students in your school.  

Writing from Prompts: Minimum Age and Minimum Wage. By Tanzim Ahmed

What are the arguments for minimum wage? Which do you find most persuasive?

     Work. Something we all think that is for grown-ups only. But since the 1800's, kids have been working in large factories under dangerous conditions. Minimum Age and Minimum Wage is an article that describes the history of children working. The author, Joseph Berger, starts his article by going through time. He starts in the early 1900's and then moves on to modern day Labor Laws. In the article, there is a section which is labeled "Minimum Wage, Pros & Cons". This section is dedicated to some of the reasons why raising the minimum wage is good and why its bad. The section also includes information on child labor outside the United States. This helped me pick a side on the minimum wage issue. Before, I couldn't decide whether I wanted higher wages but now I know what I want. The article is not against higher minimum wage, Berger does a fantastic job giving reasons why the minimum wage should be raised. That is why I want higher minimum wages.

     The author first starts reinforces his claim by saying, "Advocates of a higher minimum say it's too low to live on, especially if you're trying to support a family." The way the author described how minimum wage is too low for a family reminded me of how many people are without jobs, and how many people can't support their families. http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/unemployment-rate (See this link to see current unemployment rate). The author also uses facts from Sally Greenberg, who is the executive director of the National Consumer League, to show the amount of children working across the globe. The author wrote that, "...there are 250 million children under age 16 working around the world... In Bangladesh, 17% of the children between the ages of 5 and 14 work for at least part of the day for the minimum wage of $37 a month." This quote makes me feel horrible. How can these kids work so hard but be paid so little? That is one of the reasons why the author's argument of raising minimum wage is stronger than the opponents argument of lowering minimum wage.

     In the article Berger said," Opponents say a higher minimum causes companies, especially small businesses, to hire fewer people, making it harder for teens and others trying to get a start in the work world." This quote made me think about made me think about how much selfish people were. If the minimum is increased then companies will hire less. This shows how greedy business owners are. They don’t want to pay their hard working employees what they deserve. They want more money for themselves. This personally connects to me because when my family first came to America, my dad would get paid very little and work for long hours. This story connects with a previous quote that I mentioned earlier. "Advocates of a higher minimum say it's too low to live on, especially if you're trying to support a family." Throughout this article, I thought the author’s claim for higher minimum wage was stronger than his counter argument. The author uses quotes and statistics to support his claim. He also gave great reasons why the minimum wage should be hired. Because of how well he supported his claim, I was persuaded to believe in what the author believed. So the next time you complain about how low your salary is, remember that there are kids working in other countries for less than half of what you make.

A Reading Response on Inquiry Question #2 By Tanzim Ahmed

Inquiry Question #2: How are issues treated in your young adult fiction book?

     The book that I recently finished is called "Trafficked" by Kim Purcell. In this book, sixteen year old Hannah has a job offer from Los Angeles. A family wants to bring her over and want to make her a nanny for their family. The people promise her $400 a week and her own room inside the big house. She was blown away by the offer and decided to go. But the company that was smuggling her had to make her fake documents. On her way to the airport with Volva, one of the agents, who was supposed to give her her fake papers, she asked for her forged documents. Unexpectedly, Volva demanded a bribe before he would hand over her passport. After receiving only forty dollars, Volva assured her that there were other ways to pay. But now he didn't want her money, he wanted her body.
     This brings us to our answer. Hannah has to deal with many situations in this book. Unfortunately, she can't get out of all of them scratch-less. Twice in this book Hannah has to use her body to crawl out of tight situations. One of them, which I already mentioned, was on her way to the airport. Another one occurred after her grandma died. While Hannah became highly depressed over the death of her grandma, Sergey, her employer, took advantage of this situation to have sex with her. This goes to show how some men have no respect for a women's body. Hannah pleads him to get off of her and Sergey reluctantly does, but he wasn't finished. He touched her inappropriately and left her after he was done. But he also left $300 for her. Hannah felt like a prostitute but she desperately needed money so she hesitantly took it. 
     This story was focused on the side effects of human trafficking, but it held little messages inside them. One of which showed how women have to sell themselves for what they need. This answers my inquiry question. Certain issues are treated in this book with sex. Men take advantage of a desperate women and force them to something that they don't want to do.   

Reading Response: "Faithful Elephants" By Yukio Tsuchiya

     The short story, "Faithful Elephants, illustrates a very important lesson. The book teaches the reader that war affects everyone and everything negatively. During WW2, Japan was being heavily bombed and the government feared that the cages at the Ueno Zoo would break. They also feared that if the cages broke all the animals would run loose onto the streets and hurt ordinary civilians. In order to prevent such catastrophe, the Japanese army ordered that all big animals be poisoned at once. So one-by-one all the animals at the zoo were being put down. After the animals were killed. It was time to kill the beloved elephants John, Tonky, and Wonly. With the death of the three animals, Yukio Tsuchiyo implants an image of how a war can ruin the lives of innocent people and their loved ones,

     The first example where we see the lesson being taught is when the elephants die. The author describes how the elephants were getting skinnier and skinnier by day. She explains that they where being starved to death because they couldn't be killed any other way. The elephants are begging for food but the zookeepers, who were supposed to be their friends, could only watch with sorrow. At a last attempt to survive, Tonky and Wanly raised their bodies and did the Banzai trick in hope of receiving something to eat and drink. At that moment the one of the zookeepers couldn't take it anymore, he dashed for some food and water and then begged the elephants to eat. But at that time the damage was already done. As the elephants ended died, they died in pain and hunger instead of a quite and peaceful death. This scene shows that a war can effect everything on and off the bloody battlefields.

     Later on in the book, after the elephants die, the zookeepers are in distraught. "' The elephants are dead! They're dead!' screamed the elephant trainer as he ran into the office. He buried his head in his arms and cried, beating the desk top with his head in his arms and cried, beating the desk top with his fist.'" This quote shows that even though the trainers weren't physically effected by the war, a part of them also died with the elephants. These zookeepers trained and raised the elephants like their own children. So it was like having to kill your own kids. This just goes to show the devastating side effects that a war can bring.

     The main idea in this book is that war effects everyone and everything negatively. The author portrays this by showing the pain of the elephants and the grief of the  zookeepers. This short story reminds the reader of what happens when we fail to control our anger.

    

Alex Rider Series: Snakehead By: Anthony Horowitz

                               NOTICE

                       The URL of this blog will change to:                                               tanzimsreadingsummaries.blogspot.com

     The book Alex Rider: Snakehead is my favorite book from the Alex Rider Series. Anthony Horowitz, the author, does an excellent job filling in the gaps that many authors fail to do. He fills the gaps with action. The little details that we take for granted turn out to be huge factors later on in the book. These are some of the things that Anthony Horowitz include in his books.
     Snakehead is a very interesting book. The tides turn very quickly and you never know when they will turn on you. One example of this is when Alex meets his godfather, Ash. Alex is very eager to meet him because Ash is the one who knows who killed Alex's parents. In the book, Alex is told that he will go into a secret mission with Ash. While acting as a victim of human trafficking, Alex loses touch with Ash. Snakehead is the organization that smuggles humans into Australia from all around the world. While on the mission, Ash gets caught and held prisoner. When Alex finds out that Ash was caught, he tells MI6 (the British version of the CIA) about the situation. MI6 comes and picks him up and then they decide to launch a mission to recover Ash. But what no one knows is that Ash, who is thought to be a retired MI6 agent, is actually working with Snakehead. When Alex meets Ash, he is in bad shape. He is coughing blood and covered in bruises. That's when the Snakehead commander tells Ash to tell Alex the truth. So Ash tells Alex everything about his parents and how they died. But the most startling fact about the explanation was that fact that Ash was the one to kill his parents. When Ash wanted to join Snakehead, he had to prove his loyalty. So Ash decided to kill Alex's parents. The news that Alex received knocked the wind out of him. He felt a sudden mix of anger and sadness. The book is so well described that the reader can feel the same emotions as Alex. With that the book ends and Alex continues on with his life. 
     These are some examples of the sudden change in events in the Alex Rider Series. Of course there are so much more but this book is where I felt the most emotion so I decided to do a summary about it. Anthony Horowitz is a great author. He is one of only the handful of people who really understand how to describe scenes and characters in a book. His books entertain the reader and I hope he writes more novels to read.