Hi everyone!

P.S. CHELS IS THE DORK!! just kiddin'

Laura, have you ever considered that you don't have to be on anyone's side as far as culture goes. You're American. You can just leave it at that if you want. I don't have the conflicts of being half African American or half Native American or anything like that, however I am proud of my Irish heritige, that is why I wear a claddaugh ring. It sybolizes Irish pride. You don't have to give up one side and completely go to the next. Know what I mean? You can basically choose for yourself who you want to be. If you just want to be American then that's cool, you could say you are Native and European American if you wanted! Be proud of your heritige. Just remember....you are Laura, and not anything else! "I YAM WHAT I YAM AND THATS ALL THAT I YAM!"

"How can you relate to Dimple's confusion about her herritage? Do you make a compromises with your parents? Do you run away from it as Dimple tried to do?"

It's hard for me, especially now. My mom is really forcing Native American schlank on me, and i'm just kind of like "hey, I'm not just Native American. I'm German and Irish and Welsh too!" I'm basicly running away, as fast as I can go. I don't know what i'll do when I'm older. I figure I should just get through high school.

I haven't been on here for awhile. I've mostly been concentrating on one of my other blogs (thehomeschoolers.blogspot.com) so i.. yeah. Hi to Suchita and Chels and Brianna. what is up my sistas? lol. I gotta go do some other stuff. later!!

<3 Laurz

I would like to bring this back to Born Confused for a little while...

Question for Chelsey and Bri...How do you overcome your competitiveness? Do you let it get out of hand has Dimple and Gwyn did or do you usually recognize it and take care of it? This was one thing I thought was interesting in the book...it seemed like if only Gwyn, Dimple and Karsh talked to each other they wouldn't have had half the misunderstandings they did? Did anyone else want to shake the characters up and say "Talk to each other!!!"

Question for Laurz and Suchita...How can you relate to Dimple's confusion about her herritage? I know for me it is confusing enough trying to figure out what I want to do with my life and decisions that I need to make without have that added variable of a different cultural influence then that of the mainstream. Do you make a compromises with your parents? Do you run away from it as Dimple tried to do?

Also if anyone else has any more questions, comments or thoughts regarding Born Confused lets try to post them in the next week, then we can start posting for Mama's Babies.

Have a great weekend!!

Here are some non-fiction ideas for you!
Gantos, Jack. Hole in My Life.--The author relates how, as a young adult, he bacame a drug user and smuggler, was arrested, did time in prison, and eventually got out and went to colleg, all the while hoping to become a writer.

Roach, Mary. Stiff: the curious lives of human cadavers.--Explores how human cadavers have been used throughout history, discussing how the use of dead bodies has benefited every aspect of human existence.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal.--Traces the history of the fast food industry and discusses how it arose in postwar America.

Hawk, Tony and Sean Mortimer. Hawk: occupation: skateboarder.--Internationally known American skateboarding champ Tony Hawk chronicles his life and his very eventful involvement with the sport.

Murphy, Jim. An American plague: the true and terrifying story of the yellow fever epidemic of 1793.--Provides an account of the yellow fever epidemic that swept through Philadelphia in 1793, discussing the chaos that erupted when people began evacuating in droves, leaving the city without government, goods, or services, and examining efforts by physicians, the Free African Society, and others to cure and care for the sick.

Pelzer, Dave. A child called "it", The lost boy, and A man called Dave--Chronicles the life of the author as he grows up as an abused child moved into foster care and then eventually his life as an adult.

Tarbox, Katie. Katie.com: my story--Katie Tarbox explains how and why she bacame involved, at the age of thirteen, with an Internet stalker, a middle-aged man who had tolder he was welthy twenty-three-year-old; and shares the story of her ordeal after she realized, almost too late, that he was a sexual predatorl.

Of these I have only read the first one, however, I have heard good things about them all from various students and staff. So try them out and write us a review to put in our binder and post here. I'll come up with some good historical fiction later...

I'm gonna try to find some good non-fiction and historical fiction(like mama's babies)books to read over the summer..k? Can anyone else recomend a good non-fiction book??? If anyone likes non-fiction you should read the darwin awards books...they are hilarious.... and true! Also "Duh: The stupid history of the human race" is a good one, it's the same concept of the darwin awards.....let me know if you find a good book!! Happy reading! Bri

YAY!! MY BLOGGER ACCOUNT IS FINALLY WORKING!!! I've started reading Mama's Babies,but haven't read that much of it. I'm planning on finishing it this weekend or at least getting a lot of it read. I'll keep you posted! Does anyone else like non-fiction?

For those of you interested in starting the next book Mama's Babies, a couple copies came in today. Stop by the LMTC to pick it up.

How exciting for you, Chelsey!! I just signed up as well :) Good Luck!!!

Hey Chelsey, you asked if we had any recommendations for books to read for you. In historical fiction, my personal favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre.... but then again, they are classics and I'm not sure if you like that kind. Realistic fiction... well I just finished reading Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code (both by Dan Brown) and they were amazingly good...I couldn't stop reading either of them. I would definitely recommend both of them to anyone. Also, John Grisham, Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy...all great authors (adventure/mystery/realistic fiction). For science fiction... The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, 1984 by George Orwell, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley....again classics but I loved them.
But for a quick and quality read, I would go with Love Story by Erich Remarque....its short but it packs a lot of punch. Those are just my opinions....I'm more of a classics kinda person so I'm not sure if these recommendations will help you.

Hello All!!
We've had a few more people join in the last couple weeks!! Welcome to Chelsey, Suchita and Brianna!

Be thinking of ideas of what we can do for summer reading fun!

Hey everybody...I'm Suchita. I kinda liked Born Confused and then I kinda didn't. I really liked the entire situation that the author created, with the whole Dimple/Karsh/Gwyn thing, and also the being confused about being Indian part (I can relate a lot to that). I know the author was trying to show Dimple learning from everything and being exposed to everything new, but I really didn't think that the author had to include every possible thing that could be "a learning experience" and create every character with some kind of issue...I felt like that part was a little overdone. Other than that, I thought it was good overall... I couldn't put it down! And I liked the characterization of Gywn because I know I have friends like her, that no matter what, I always feel like they're showing me up or something like that. And like Dimple, I'm always worried about what others would say or how others view me. But I was really glad that she found a way to express herself and be her, through her photography. I guess I'll save more comments for later...

Since Chelsey mentioned it...We are looking at doing Mama's Babies by Gary Crew for the next book discussion.

"First published in Australia by Thomas C. Lothian"--T.p. verso. This novel based on the cases of three murderous "baby farmers" of the 1890s, a nine-year-old girl suspects that her "Mama" is not truly her mother and that the infants she has taken in lately have not died of natural causes.

Let me know what you guys think...Oscar and Chelsey have already given good vibes for it so I think we will try it unless someone has any huge objections!!

By the way this will be our last actual discussion for this school year. We are considering some different things for the summer, so if any of you have some ideas let us know... Some things we thought of were creating a list of books for discussion both non-fiction and fiction and hopefully some of us would read the same ones or if one of us read a really good one we could recommend it to the rest of us. This might also appeal to others who do not currently participate. So stop with some ideas or post them here. We want them!!

Have a great weekend!

I don't think I've ever liked the same girl as my friends... I don't think I've ever liked a girl. But seriously, maybe once with the guy thing. I had a crush on Travis (Fischer) and my cousin was obsessed with him. That could kinda count, couldn't it? gotta go. later

<3 Laurz

Laurz--Hey I'm not that bad! ;)

Did you learn anything from the relationships between Karsh, Dimple and Gwyn? It amazes me that Gwyn and Dimple can be such good friends and not be able to communicate very well. Have you ever gotten a situation where you like the same boy/girl as your best friend?

I have seen Bend It Like Beckham. That movie rocks. I haven't seen in in months though, so I can't really remember if there are similarities between BILB (add an O and it's a hobbit!) and BC.

Hey, I'm Laura. What is up. I figured since I pushed for BC to be read, I should post on here. Plus, Bee was pressuring me. It was horrible. lol.

I could relate to Dimple in the fact that:
We both feel like we aren't American enough for the Americans and atleast i'm not NA enough for native americans.
we love photography.
I have some friends that can be like gwen at times.

gotta go. peace out.

Laurz

Ask me about italics tomorrow when you come in...

When I first started Born Confused I had a hard time getting into it, however, once into it and about one third of the way through I couldn't put it down. I could relate to Dimple in the fact that she doesn't really know what she should do with her life...Should she live as her parents want--a traditional Indian girl or should she push it and become a photographer. I sometimes I question my career path--Should I go back to school? Should I try something completely new and be a photographer?

What did you love about it? I loved learning about Dimple's Indian background. It was so interesting because I know nothing about Indian traditions.

After I read this book I saw the movie Bend it Like Beckham(I am not sure I spelled that right??) Anyways, the main character in the movie is struggling with her identity as a traditional Indian girl and her love of soccer. Have any of you seen the movie? Are there similarities to Born Confused?

So Oscar...what do you think of Born Confused? Do you think it was a good choice for book club? Can you relate to Dimple?

Keep posting, I look forward to hearing what you ALL think!!