Reading Inquiry Post

Everyone has done something nice for others before. They could have planned it or was motivated by the actions of other people. For example, some people could have donated money to charities because they've experienced it, family members, or close friends. Most of these events probably kicked off with a person's motivation. In the book Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley, the main character, Cullen, does a good thing to his friend Lucas, and Lucas doing the same to Cullen.

Cullen just had his cousin, Oslo, die. He's always there to make him feel better, checking in on how Cullen's doing, and on his other family members. Lucas is especially there to look out for Gabriel, Cullen's brother. Lucas feels like Cullen's family is like his own. Lucas probably does this because he doesn't want to lose anyone close to him again. He's scared about the future.

Cullen always tries not to mention a subject: Lucas' brother. Lucas' brother died a few years ago in a car crash. He doesn't bring it up with anyone else around or even mention it to Lucas. Every time Lucas hears a conversation about his brother, he starts to cry. Cullen knows that at night, Lucas curls up into a ball, and cries himself to sleep. Cullen is very generous, for he didn't tell the whole school about Lucas' brother. He knows that it will just corrupt Lucas even more by baring him the pain of always being reminded of his brother. He understands Lucas, and doesn't want to see him suffer more than he already does.

These actions are very nice and generous. This motivates other people to care for their loved ones and close friends. For example, my dad calls my grandma every night to make sure she's okay, talk to her about new TV shows to watch, etc. I also know that losing a loved one can be hard for friends. In elementary school, many loved ones passed away and made a huge impact on my friends. I always tried to comfort them at the time, and tried not to mention the topic or even say their name. I was very cautious. Many emotional things happen in life, but there are many people that have experienced it, too, and those who try to be caring to others during the situation.

Social Justice in my Independent Reading Life

Back in the 60's, many people had bad thoughts on people of different color. They were racist. Some people today still have thoughts on racism, mostly against black people. In books, racism is a great theme to read about, to see how others feel and even change/make up your thoughts. We're all humans, so we should work together and be friendly.

In the book Monster by Walter Dean Myers, the main character Steve Harmon, has suspicions that his lawyer doesn't like him: maybe racist. Whenever he feels worried, he was always looking to his lawyer, O'Brien, to calm him down. But she never made eye contact with him. This shows that some people still have bad thoughts about colored people, maybe based on the way they act. Another racist example may be that in the case, which was robbery and murder, that all the suspects were black. Walter may be implying that some people think black people do bad things often.

I find this kind of sad to think some people judge others by their color, or how they act. First, they should meet the person, then judge them. Those people may be influenced by things they've seen or heard about them. For example, in movies, most of the black people do drugs, alcohol, shoot people with guns, etc., the things that set a bad example of them and are racist. There needs to be social justice on color, for some people don't get the respect they deserve just because of the way their judged.