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The Bronx Masquerade

  Paige Holley Dr. Ellis Banned Books 5 February 2024 The Bronx Masquerade   In the first half of  The Bronx Masquerade  by Nikki Grimes students in Mr. Ward’s class find that they have more similarities than differences by listening and sharing their poetry in class on Fridays. Each student faces real world struggles that impact their personality and thought process. Students shared aspects of poverty, body images, fear of failure and more through writing poetry. However, as the novel progress’s readers can see a clear shift in students outlook on their classmates and their futures. The Bronx Masquerade gives readers a valuable lesson regarding expression and gaining confidence through artistic expression.    The sharing of personal feelings, thoughts, and beliefs through poetry has allowed students to feel heard. The confidence they have gained has not only become apparent in their poetry but their actions as well. One student who has shown a lot of growth is Lupe Algarin. Lupe’s cha
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The Hate You Give

  Paige Holley Dr. Ellis Banned Books 1 May 1, 2024 The Hate You Give   In the second half of  The Hate You Give  as readers we see a lot of development in the main character Starr, her family, and the community. After the death of Khalil and emotional turmoil and the events that followed his death shook the whole community causing many characters to re-evaluate certain aspects of their life. One character that I think showed a lot of development is Maverick.    Readers see that Maverick and now his daughter Starr both struggle with feelings of being a “sell-out”. Both characters have expressed the difficulties of to staying true to their community while trying to progress in a new area. A valuable lesson regarding identity and community is to be learned within the novel, and I do not think the similarities between Starr and Maverick’s journeys are unintentional by Thomas.    In the first half of the novel Maverick has the tendency to put his community over his family. Constantly feeli
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Gender Queer

The ending of  Gender Queer  offers valuable perspective regarding personal self-discovery. One aspect that I like about  Gender Queer  is that it is a memoir, so it follows Maia throughout eir entire life. I think that this offers readers a realistic perspective regarding the speed at which understanding yourself as an individual takes.    In the first half of the novel, we as readers get to follow Kobabe along eir journey through elementary, middle, and high school. The second half of the novel follows Kobabe through college and adulthood. One takeaway that I believe is beneficial to readers with similar backgrounds is the conversation between Kobabe and em Aunt Shari. In this passage Kobabe’s aunt expresses that she believes “…this trend of FTM, trans, and genderqueer young people” (Kobabe 199) is a form of misogyny, and “a deeply internalized hatred of women.”(Kobabe 199) Although, Kobabe does not agree that e is making these decisions for those reasons this teaches readers a valua
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Melissa is for all kids

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When first reading Melissa , I have to admit that I did not like the book. Not because of the subject, or characters, but because it was simply a fourth-grader book, and felt extremely cliche. However, I will say that my opinion of Melissa has in fact changed. This book has elicited more emotional responses in me than other books have in a while. (The ending nearly had me in tears - I'm being SO honest). As a college student, I think it is easy to get caught up in the required readings of higher education especially when interacting with authors like T.S. Elliot, and Virginia Woolf. However, I think that it is refreshing to return to books we might dismiss as simple - like Melissa - can provide readers with a lot of introspection.       Melissa's journey from confusion, to self-acceptance, to courage and bravery is one that all kids can take something from. The decision to stand up for yourself and others, and step out of your comfort zone are lessons parents definitely priorit
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Melissa Part 2

 Acknowledging vs Understanding  In the second half of Melissa by Alex Gino, I was focused on the role of female relationships. As an ally, Kelly had become quite possibly my favorite character, never once doubting Melissa, and proving her loyalty to her friend through so many moments of understanding and support. Compared to the relationship Melissa has with her mother, Kelly is unwavering at every opportunity. It made me think about the differences between acknowledgement and understanding. Kelly immediately accepts Melissa, never once questioning her feelings, and takes it upon herself to educate and inform herself so that she can be a pillar of support for Melissa to lean on. Giving up her second performance as Charlotte so that her friend can fulfill her small dream as well as have a moment to step into her identity, Kelly stands out drastically to many young kids.  Comparatively, Melissa's mother goes through a much more drastic range of support for Melissa. It's understa
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Melissa and her Allies

  The most striking part of the ending of Melissa was how the characters acted as allies, giving Melissa help where they could, and admitting where they could not. Scott offers an example of sincere but uninformed acceptance, the principal shows understanding, and Melissa’s mother even asks for help in helping.   The scene at the beginning of the story where Scott and Melissa play video games struck me in particular as someone who grew up with an older brother who used the same exact excuse of “mom will think it’s brother bonding time” when he wanted to play together. Scott knew that there was something bothering Melissa, he just had no idea what . W hen he later gets an idea about her identity in Arnie’s, while sincere in his compassion, he clearly does not know how to handle this situation . Scott is constantly assuring Melissa that “I’m okay with that,” and “My friend Matt is gay,” b ecause he believes that she is his gay brother, but when she opens up about her
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Alex Gino's "Melissa" and the Gendered Bounds of Emotionality

     On its surface, Alex Gino's novel, Melissa , is a rather simple tale about a young trans person coming to terms with her identity and learning how to advocate for herself, even when she does not have the support from key figures in her life like her mother and her teacher. Within it, however, there is a deeper question about the gendered bounds of emotionality and how society associates one's gender identity (or perceived gender identity) and one's capacity for emotions like sympathy, empathy, and understanding.     Melissa's favorite novel is Charlotte's Web , and the character with whom she most resonates is Charlotte the spider. Melissa loves Charlotte so much that, when Charlotte dies at the end of the book, she bursts into tears, both in sadness over the character's death and in reverence for Charlotte's kindness and wisdom. When Melissa is then picked on by Rick and Jeff for expressing her emotions in a way that seems unbecoming for someone whom o
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