I recently finished reading Hoops by Walter Dean Meyers. It is about a 17 year old African American boy named Lonnie Jackson. Lonnie lives in a Harlem ghetto in New York and he dreams of being a professional basketball player. However, he lives a hard life and does not have the family support he needs to be able to do this.
While reading this I immediately made a text to text connection to the book and movie Blindside. In this movie, Michael is also an African American teenager who lives in poverty. In fact, he is homeless at the beginning of the movie. Lonnie reminds me of Michael because they have a lot in common.
In Hoops, Lonnie's basketball coach Cal becomes like a father figure to him. He isn't the best role model but he does help Lonnie work harder to reach his dream. In Blindside, Michael is lucky enough to have a rich white family take interest in him and they even end up adopting him. Because of them, he learns to play football and goes on to play football in college and the NFL. Michael and Lonnie are alike in many ways, but Michael is able to be more successful because he has such a great family to help and support him.
Monday, August 6, 2012
My blog on Hoops
I recently finished reading Hoops by Walter Dean Meyers. This is a very interesting story about a 17 year old African American boy named Lonnie Jackson. He lives in a Harlem ghetto in New York and loves to play basketball. His dream is to be a professional player in the NBA.
Lonnie is like many poor African American boys in that his only dream is to be a pro basketball player, but he's not sure how to do it. He wants to reach his dream but because of where he lives and the people in his neighborhood, he sees a lot of bad things like crime and drinking. He has a hard time deciding which way he should go.
I can make a text to self connection with Lonnie in two different ways. First, he loves to hang out with his friends and play basketball which is something I like to do. Sometimes there will be lots of kids at my house and we will play a game of basketball in my driveway or a game of horse. This is fun and a good way to get exercise.
The other text to self connection is the opposite from Lonnie. He lacks a father figure and although Cal, his basketball coach, is sort of a father figure he is not the best role model. Cal has a lot of problems like drinking and gambling and he even does something sneaky to Lonnie near the end of the book. (I won't spoil this part!) I am lucky because I do have a father who is very involved in my life and tries to offer good advice to me. Also, I am glad that I do not have to live in a city ghetto.
Lonnie is like many poor African American boys in that his only dream is to be a pro basketball player, but he's not sure how to do it. He wants to reach his dream but because of where he lives and the people in his neighborhood, he sees a lot of bad things like crime and drinking. He has a hard time deciding which way he should go.
I can make a text to self connection with Lonnie in two different ways. First, he loves to hang out with his friends and play basketball which is something I like to do. Sometimes there will be lots of kids at my house and we will play a game of basketball in my driveway or a game of horse. This is fun and a good way to get exercise.
The other text to self connection is the opposite from Lonnie. He lacks a father figure and although Cal, his basketball coach, is sort of a father figure he is not the best role model. Cal has a lot of problems like drinking and gambling and he even does something sneaky to Lonnie near the end of the book. (I won't spoil this part!) I am lucky because I do have a father who is very involved in my life and tries to offer good advice to me. Also, I am glad that I do not have to live in a city ghetto.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Summer Blog
I have finished reading The Giver by Lois Lowry. It is a good book about a society in the future that is controlled by the government. It was a Newberry Medal book and is definitely worth reading. I enjoyed reading it.
In this book, Jonas is named to be the memory keeper and he holds all the good and bad memories of their society. Often in his society people are "released" and they supposedly go on to another perfect world called Elsewhere. They never say what being "released" really means although as the reader, you kind of think it means that the person dies.
I kept wondering as I read this book what it really meant when a person was released and then Jonas began to wonder the same thing. It was weird when people in Jonas community disappeared and were released. Most people were sad not because someone died, but because they thought no one would ever want to leave their perfect community. This is different from our world. When someone we knows die, we are sad because we know we will never see them again.
At the end of the book, Jonas is going to be released, but he is released in a different way. You will have to read the book to find out what happens.
In this book, Jonas is named to be the memory keeper and he holds all the good and bad memories of their society. Often in his society people are "released" and they supposedly go on to another perfect world called Elsewhere. They never say what being "released" really means although as the reader, you kind of think it means that the person dies.
I kept wondering as I read this book what it really meant when a person was released and then Jonas began to wonder the same thing. It was weird when people in Jonas community disappeared and were released. Most people were sad not because someone died, but because they thought no one would ever want to leave their perfect community. This is different from our world. When someone we knows die, we are sad because we know we will never see them again.
At the end of the book, Jonas is going to be released, but he is released in a different way. You will have to read the book to find out what happens.
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