A great read
I'm a big reader, always have been for as long as I can remember. And I'm a bit of a speed reader too: I can easily finish a big book in 2-3 days. When I was younger, I was going through books at such a rapid pace that it got to the point where my mom wouldn't allow me to start reading the book until we got home from the mall because I would be 3/4 of the way done with it between the mall and our house about 20 miles away and then I'd be bored and have nothing to do. So yes, I love to read.
These days, I head to the public library and check books out instead of spending upwards of $20 per book when I'll have it finished in a weekend. It kinda seems like a waste to me, especially if I'm only going to read it once.
Just yesterday I finished my latest book. Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Piccoult. She's the author of the book recently in theaters, My Sister's Keeper. I read that book as well and was shedding a few years while reading it over my lunch break at work. Nineteen Minutes is just as good; she's a phenomenal author. It has sort of a Columbine-esque feel to it. It's about a small town in New Hampshire and follows the lives of a few residents, among them 2 high schoolers who have known each other since childhood. One of the kids goes on to be extremely popular and part of the "in" crowd while the other takes the opposite route - he becomes the school whipping boy and is teased - emotionally and physically for years on end. It then gets to the point where he just snaps and ends up killing several of his classmates. While this happens at the beginning of the book, you start by thinking this kid is an absolute monster incapable of having any normal feelings. But by the end of the book, you realize why the kid did it: the escape the endless torment and torture by his peers and I admit, I felt really sorry for him.
Kids in school, whether it be elementary or high school, can be mean. Picking out the "weaklings" to booster their own self esteems and turning these kids' lives into a living Hell for their formative years. I speak from experience, although not as badly. I moved to a very small town for my 8th grade year and was teased endlessly by a few select people because I was marked: glasses, quiet, no boobs to speak of whatsoever...the perfect target. There was many a day I left class in tears. My brother dealt with the same thing...in elementary school! He was small for his age and quiet, just like I was. Most of the time, the teasing happened on the playground and he was punched and beaten...all while the teachers were watching and doing nothing. It got to the point where I wanted to go to the schoolyard and beat these kids to a pulp. Yes, they were 8 and I was 15...I didn't care. These kids were just vicious and mean and nobody deserves that.
Anyway, I digressed as usual. Of course I'm not advocating going on a kamikaze mission against the bullies by any means! Having been through a smaller degree of what the character went through, you can start to understand why it can happen. This is a great great book that I highly recommend reading that once again, left me a little teary-eyed.
1 comments:
My sister and brother were bullied a bit in a Christian school so my Mom pulled them out and homeschooled them for awhile. I don't think they regret it. I agree, it's sad how kids can be. I'm not looking forward to it as I raise my own. One of my friends' daughter is picked on because she is nice to everyone, even the "nerds". Isn't that sad? You try to teach your children to be kind but at school, it doesn't pay off. You hope that your child sees that honoring God will reap greater rewards but when being teased and tormented by visible humans, it's hard to believe it's better to please God. I'm sorry you and your brother were victims of this. Ah, I wish I had more time to read... : )
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