Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins Response

          "Is it possible for home to be a person and not a place?" This quote shows how much the main character values her lover. Anna was forced by her father to attend a University in Paris. At first she was dejected to leave her friends and family behind, but when Anna arrived in Paris everything turned the opposite. She met Eteanne St. Clair and became engaged in his looks. Soon they started boding and Anna realizes she has fallen for St Clair. Feeling confused and puzzled, Anna can't make a decision. Teens can connect to this because they can be afraid to make big decisions and 
changes.

            Sometimes people can have no courage to confess to others, because other issues are blocking them. Anna is not confident enough to confess her love to St. Clair because his personal issues are on their way. After St. Clair finds out about his mom's cancer issue, he gets drunk and has an emotional attack in Anna's house. While Anna doesn't know how to calm him down. he says " Anna...about our relationship, I wanna be more then a friend." The day after, St. Clair gets well, he asks Anna is he said anything about their relationship the other day. Anna replies, " No, you just talked about your mom." This makes me believe that Anna knows St. Clair is concerned with his mom. She does not want St. Clair to worry about her causing him to be stressed out about both topics.. " I lied to St. Clair. My heart races, I really wanted to tell him. " This shows that Anna was nervous to tell St. Clair the truth, 

           Throughout the book, Anna and St. Clair gets closer. She begins to question him on why he hasn't left Ellie (his girlfriend) yet. St. Clair answer, " I'm afraid of making big decisions, I've been with Ellie for so long." This quote shows that St. Clair isn't ready for his choice yet and he doesn't want to hurt Ellie either. Independently, Anna says, "St. Clair was right, I'm afraid of making big decisions also. If I talked to Christopher earlier, I would of had him." This realization moment is showing that Anna is also afraid of making big choices, and that affected her negatively. This also makes me realize that Anna understands why St. Clair won't leave Ellie.

           In, conclusion, Anna and St. Clair have no confidence to confess to each other. I think people can have a tough time making choices which can affect one negatively. This book is really valuable to me because it shows the idea on how people can't be confident about their choice of something. This book made me realize that you need to take time making choices on important issues or else you will loose things.

Reading Response to Dead is Just a rumor by Marlene Perez

       

                                                Dead is just a Rumor by Marlene Perez

 
  "Its not what you are that's holding you back. Its what you think your not." This quote displays that the main character's thinking of herself is stopping her from being confident.
Daisy, a 17 year old teenager with physic powers, is dealing with overwhelming problems. Her dad returned from being captured for 6 years. Daisy's dad is not used to Daisy being all grown-up, and is being strict to her. He also seems to dislike Daisy's boyfriend, Ryan. While trying to convince her dad that Daisy is not his little girl anymore, Daisy is dealing with a problem of her own. She does not have confidence in her looks and believes she is not good enough for Ryan. Teenagers reading this story will connect to Daisy's self esteem and family issues. 

          To begin with, after Daisy's father returns, he is confused and not used to life at home. He can't accept that Daisy is all grown up and already has a job and everything. After all,  Daisy was only 11 years old when her father left. After hearing that Daisy's boyfriend is a werewolf, Mr. Goirdano is not so sure about Ryan. "I want you to think about your relationship between you and Ryan. He may harm you." This quote makes me think that Daisy's father really cares about Daisy's protection. He wants Daisy to have all the safety she can get. Daisy says, " Dad won't even let me go to the game with Ryan. He is so overprotective." In other words Daisy believes her father is being to overprotective of her and treating her like a little kid. I'm realizing that parents may be annoying and force you to do things, but they are only doing this for your protection because they care about you.

          Everyone loses their self esteem once in awhile. Daisy lost her self esteem for her appearance. Something Daisy said to her friends were, " I don't even look like myself with makeup, I am just ordinary Daisy Goirdano without makeup. Ryan could of chose any girl in high school." This quote is showing that Daisy believes that makeup is necessary to look beautiful and that she is not good enough for Ryan. The surprising thing is that Daisy is surrounded by loving friends and family, who compliment her on her looks, though she still doesn't feel confident. I really can relate to Daisy, because I did also have low self esteem and worried about my looks. I used to think that everyone judges everyone on appearance. Everyone is special their own way and no one should be judged on their appearance

All in all, I believe that sometimes people can feel that their parents are really bugging them, and being annoying. The only reason is that parents want their children to be safe and have protection. So the next time my mom won't let me go out with my friends, I know she's doing it for a positive reason. My book also expresses the idea that teens can sometimes have low self esteem and may feel judged negatively. I realized that if you surround yourself with people who are positive around you, you can feel confident and have lots of self esteem. Dead is just a rumor is a great book that expresses family relationships and self esteem issues.