<--- Arn Chorn Pond (Never Fall Down is based on his life)

       Gripping, powerful, and haunting are the three words that perfectly describes the book Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick. Arn Chorn Pond was only 11 years old when the Khmer Rouge, a communist regime in Cambodia came to power in 1975. They invaded Arn's town and took everyone to make them work day and night. The soldiers killed the weaks, raped the women, and made others work on the rice fields. The book tells the story of the next four years of Arn's life and how he lost his family, but is still managing to survive by being brave and clever. This book is a message to all the teenagers in America and tells us how lucky we are to be living in a country like the USA. Therefore, I recommend this book to everyone especially to the young adults.

       The theme of the book is that in order to survive, you have to adapt to your surroundings. You have to pretend like you are not new to whatever you're doing. As soon as the fear comes in your mind and heart, you will die because Arn's biggest fear in the world at that time was fear itself. Whenever the soldiers see fear in your eyes, they kill you. 

       If the setting took place here in America. then the story would've been completely different. Kids in America never really experienced a genocide or  had to go to camps to work for hours. Kids in Cambodia never got free education, but kids in America do. Arn was an illiterate. He had to start working at rice fields at the age of 11. Kids in America don't really value education as much. If they lived in a country like Cambodia, they would know the real meaning of life and how much people struggle just so they can breathe. 

       Two main characters that change completely in the book are Arn and A Khmer Rouge soldier named Sombo. Arn was a happy guy. They were poor, but he still managed smile throughout the day. Play with his little sister and a rich girl whom he thought he loved. He used to play games with other people for money and he used to sell ice cream. Even though he was a good guy before, he became heartless after he started working on the rice fields. He didn't care about anyone else and he only thought about how to save himself. He forgot about his family for a little while. Khmer Rouge soldiers used to tell him to shoot people and he used to do it without showing any signs of fear because he knew, as soon as the soldiers see fear in his eyes, they will kill him. From being a kid, he became a man at the age of 12. This made me realize how people can change to survive. 

       Sombo looked like a tough man, but he was only 17. At first he used to kill people ruthlessly. He didn't show mercy to anyone. Deep inside, he was also like Arn. They both want to help other, but they can't. Sombo sees how Arn steals food to give to other kids, but he doesn't say anything to Arn. He was like just like Arn too, but the situation in his country made him a heartless soldier. Gradually, he started being soft and started smiling when he saw other kids smiling even when they are in so much pain. One smile can bring smile to many other faces. If they can smile in these tough conditions, then why can't I? I think that's what Sombo said to himself.

       The structure of the book is what I like the most. The author didn't use any complicated vocabulary words. It is very simple and straight forward. She didn't jumble with words that much and it's very easy to read. Like most stories, the book starts on a good note, but then something terrible happens in the middle and as always, it has a happy ending. She used many flashbacks. For example, when on the Khmer Rouge camp, Arn would look outside and think about the time he spent with his family and how he used climb a tree to see the girl he "loves." She made the book very understandable. Her main focus was probably to attract the young adults because most teenagers don't like reading books that has a lot of vocabulary words and long sentences. 

       The author kept the sentences very simple. For example, if she wanted to say that they are going to the movies, she would say that they are going to the movies instead of making it a long and complicated sentence. 

       My three favorite sentences from the book: 
"Be like the grass. Bend low, then bend lower. The wind blow one way, you blow that way. It blow the other way, you do too. That's the way to survive." (McCormick Pg. 86) In this sentence, Arn's aunt is telling him that in order to survive, do whatever the soldiers tell you to die. You listen to them, you live. You disobey their orders, you die.  "Too dangerous to show that we are family. And so I pass by, giving her only one small nod of the head." (McCormick pg 186) In this sentence, Arn was talking about how he saw his little sister but he couldn't talk to her. If he did, they would've killed both Arn and his sister. To save yourself and your family, you have to not recognize each other because when you say your family in such conditions, emotions will grow into you and when you're emotional, you're weak. If you're weak, you can't work. If you can't work, you're worthless so you have to die.  "Never fall down." (McCormick pg 201) This is my favorite quote from the book. It taught me that as soon as you fall down, it almost becomes impossible for you to get up. In Arn's case, you fall down, you die. Everybody can relate to this sentence. Nobody wants to fall down. People want to go high and higher. The higher you go, the happier you get. The lower you go, the closer you get to death. 


       Arn changes from a good guy to a bad guy just so he can survive. The cause was the invasion by a communist regime in Cambodia called Khmer Rouge. The effect was that Arn had to be mentally grown up to survive. He has to be brave and strong. He can't be afraid or else he will die. He had to let an adult female to have sex with him just because she will give him some extra food. The invasion separated him from his family so he had to raise himself. 

       Another major event was when Arn was given a gun to kill others during the war against Vietnam. The soldiers used little kids to locate the Vietnamese soldiers. Arn killed so many people that he was starting to be a bad guy. He was a pretty popular kid on the block and he started being greedy and tried to gain even more popularity. As a result, he lost a lot of his friends because he was becoming just like the Khmer Rouge soldiers.

       Another major event was when Arn came to America. A guy from America went to Cambodia and adopted Arn and two of his other friends. The effects were negative at first because of the built up anger inside him. He would try to fight people even if they say anything as a joke. He just wants to hurt somebody. Later he changed and eventually his anger left him. 


       "One of the most amazing things about this book is the voice for Arn Chorn-Pond created by Patricia McCormick." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)

 "The accent as she writes it rings so true; the vocabulary sounds realistic for an English language learner." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)

"the blending of his biographical recollections from interviews with her and the story that she weaves from that with her research so seamlessly incorporated is heartrending." (Suzanne, goodreads.com)

       I completely agree with all those phrases. The voice of Arn was weak, yet powerful. The vocabulary she uses are very realistic and easy to comprehend. She also did an amazing job with her research. 

       Conclusion: I think this book should be read by everyone especially the kids here in America. When they read it, they will start to value their lives a little bit more. Some kids try to kill themselves because of family problems, girl problems, etc, but the kids in countries like Cambodia would do anything to survive. We need to learn that if they can survive through such hard times, then we can survive through the worst of everything. We need to value our life and look around to see what we have and what we can be. Read this book to experience something that you don't want to experience. When I was reading it, I was feeling the pain. 

Citation: Wolf, Naomi. "Ending India's Rape Culture". Times of India. 12/31/12. 4.

Summary: A 23 years old girl was raped by six men in a bus. The girl and one of her friends boarded the bus at around 9 o'clock at night. As the bus started moving, the guys went up to the girl and started teasing her. They were so cruel that they inserted an iron rod through her private part. After that, the guys just left her on the road, naked. She was in the hospital for 12 days before dying because her intestines were severely injured. 

Analysis:      This rape took place in India, but it became an international issue in just few days because everyone in this world know that it can happen to any one of them. This issue involves everyone, from kids to adults to seniors. This 6 guys should be punished severely. They should be punished in front of the whole world and should be set as an example of how bad of a crime rape is. If we don't speak against it, who will? 
     People all over India are protesting against this. The cops are saying that women at shouldn't roam around without male escorts. They also said that by wearing revealing clothes, they are deterring the would-be rapists. Maybe the cops didn't know that one of her male friend was with her when she was being raped by those guys. What's the point of having a male escort if the result is going to be the same? The author of the article sound sympathetic towards women in India. It is a male dominated country where women have "freedom of movement," but are they actually free? In a country where if you're a woman and you're outside at night, you are "asking" to be raped. That's not what the people are saying, that's what the law is saying. It seems as if it's a crime to be a girl. 
     The media is focused on this because they found a good topic for people to stick to their channel. I don't think they actually care. They just want their channel to have the highest viewers. The girl is dead, she won't come back. Her family will never see her face or hear her voice. Did she really deserve this? Does anyone deserve this? If we all speak up against it, it will stop one day. It may take some time, but it will eventually stop. We need a place where women can walk around without a male escort and without the fear of being raped. If you think about it, tomorrow, it can happen to your/my sister, daughter, niece, friends, etc. People who were raped and killed will never come back, but at least we should try to stop this from happening to anyone else. That's the least we can do. 

Dear Patricia McCormick,

I really like the fact when you wrote your novel, you kept it very simple. You're an author who writes books mostly for young adults. I know some other young adult authors who uses all sorts of formats when writing a novel which sometimes makes it hard for us teenagers to understand. I really appreciate your writing because it was really easy for me to understand without having to re-read anything to comprehend. 

Although, you used many vocabulary words, you backed them up with sentences that basically gave the definition of those words. That's another reason why I appreciate your writing. For example, I had no idea what words like garish, absolve, censure, and elate meant. Whenever I came across a word I didn't know, I paused for few seconds to even try to pronounce them the right way, but then I would continue reading the sentences and then BOOM! I know what those words mean. 

Also, I really like how you only got into details with the stuff that actually had to be explained and didn't really spend that much time on the things that had nothing to do with the novel. Even though I only read from page 1- 48 so far, I really got in the book and hopefully it will end the way I expect it to. 

Dear Editor,
    Would you enter a profession that is one of the most stressful jobs in America? I don't think you do. The teachers in Chicago are are striking against the City Of Chicago School Board of Education and the mayor. They are striking on the basis of poor working conditions, low salaries, increase in health care costs, and the risk of losing their jobs. I am siding with the teachers because what they do is realy important and they should be treated fairly. 
    Imagine teaching a class that has 36 students and the air conditioner doesn't work properly. Does not sound like a very good teaching condition, does it? That's what the teachers in Chicago are going through. They have massive class sizes which makes it almost impossible for any teachers to teach especially when it's really hot. The teachers nor the students will able to focus in class. My couin is a teacher and I see how stressful he is throughout the day. I as a student know what it feels like to be in a class with 40 other kids. It's not a good feeling at all. 
    Teachers in Chicago make about $75,000 per year on average. It sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Well let me tell you something, if you live in Chicago, $75,000 per year is not a big amount because everything cost almost double compared to Atlanta. $75,000 is like $50,000 here in Georgia which is in not enough for a family. In order to lead a good life, you have to have a money especially if your job is that stressful. What makes it worse is that the health care cost is increasing. It's not fair to them because they already make such a low amount of money. They have to take of their bills and their family. 
    If you were the pricipal of Chamblee High School, would you fire a teacher just because you don't like them personally? No, right? You shouldn't mix your personal life with your professional life. Teachers in Chicago are afraid of losing their jobs. Why? Because they don't have the best equations with some of the higher authorities at the school. If you fire someone, you fire them because of their bad teaching skills not because you have a personal problem with them. 
    In conclusion, I am siding with the teachers because I feel what they are doing is right and justified. I understand kids are missing out on school, but the teachers had no other choice. Even the teachers' kids are being affected. I'm on the teachers' side, what about you? 

           Ajay Avasthi, an eight-year old boy who dislikes school and fails every tests or exams. He finds all subjects difficult. His classmates nor his teachers have anything nice to say about him. He was popularly known as an idiot with attitude. However, Ajay's internal world is rich with wonders which he is unable to convey to others; magical lands filled with colors and animated animals. He was an artist whose talent was unrecognized. 

          Ajay's father, Sanjay Avasthi, is a very successful lawyer who expects his children to excel in every subjects. Ajay's mother, Sonam Avasthi, is frustrated by her inability to educate her son. His brother, Shahid, is a very smart student and an outstanding athlete which Ajay is frequently reminded of. 

          "Ajay!" yelled his mother.

Scared and horrified, "Yes mom," Ajay replied.
 
          "What is this?" asked his mother with Ajay's report card on her hand.

"You're failing in every subjects," she said. 

          "I'm sorry mom, but I don't understand any of the things they teach me because I'm not able to read or write anything," Ajay replied. 

          Glowering at him, Ms. Avasthi said,"That's it, you're going to a boarding school."

          It was the day when Ajay's parents are going to drop him off at the boarding school. They reached the school and enrolled him there. Ajay, depressed and lonely, couldn't stop his tears as his parents drove off. At the boarding school, he sinks into a state of fear and depression. On the first day at the boarding school, Ajay's teacher asked him to read a sentence from the old and rusty book. However, he couldn't read the sentence. His excuse was that the letters are dancing. His teacher thought he was trying to be funny so he send him out of the classroom. 

          Ajay's situation changes when a new teacher, Mr.Amir, joins the school's facility. Mr. Amir, young and ebullient, is a very friendly guy with a great a sense of humor. 

          Within a very few days, Mr.Amir observed that Ajay is unhappy and contributes little to class activities.
"Is everything okay my child?" asked Mr.Amir. Looking down and silence was the only reply that Mr.Amir got from Ajay. Mr.Amir sees some kind of fear in Ajay's eyes which he is really concerned about. One day when Mr.Amir was checking the class works of each of his students, he noticed something weird about Ajay's work. He quickly went on to review Ajay's work from other classes and came to the conclusion that Ajay might be dyslexic. He noticed many signs of dyslexia. For example, some of the words were spelled differently each time and some words were written backwards. Mr.Amir, concerned and worried, decides to visit Ajay's parents to let them know about Ajay's problems. 

          On his day off, Mr.Amir visited Ajay's parents. That was the day when he noticed that Ajay is an amazing artist. Stunned by Ajay's artwork, Mr.Amir asked his parents why did they send him to a boarding school. He tells them about Ajay being dyslexic and how Ajay is a bright child, but processes informations in a different manner than other childrenss. However, Ajay's father believes that the idea of dyslexia is simply an excuse for his son's poor academic performances. 

          "Mr.Avasthi, can you please read this?" asked Mr.Amir. 

"No, I cannot because it's written in Chinese," replied Mr.Avasthi. 

          "Stop giving me excuses and try to read this," said Mr.Amir in an angry tone.

"Are you crazy, I don't speak Chinese," said Mr.Avasthi. 

          "Just like you can't read this, Ajay also can't read because even English is like Chinese to him," explained Mr.Amir. There was a silence in the room for a few seconds.

          Looking at Ajay's picture and crying, Ajay's mother asked,"Why did it have to be my son?"
"There's no answer to that question ma'am, it could happen to anyone," said Mr.Amir. Mr.Amir tells them that it's not because of Ajay's attitude that he has a poor academic report, it's because of dyslexia. He also tells them that he can provide some extra tutoring to help Ajay. Before leaving, Mr.Amir asked Ajay's parents if he could go and have a look at Ajay's bedroom. There he finds a diary, a diary that tells the story through pictures of how Ajay was separated from his family. He sees many other well structured artworks on the walls. Mesmerized by Ajay's work, Mr.Amir tries to find a way to make Ajay start painting again. 

          The next day in class, Mr.Amir gave the diary to Ajay and brought the topic of dyslexia, and offered a list of famous people who were considered dyslexia. As Mr.Amir was speaking, Ajay was getting furious because he thought Mr.Amir was talking about him. Later Mr.Amir reveals that he was actually talking about someone else. The bell rang, and as the students were leaving, Mr.Amir asked Ajay to stay behind. He tells Ajay that he too experienced the same difficulties with dyslexia. Mr.Amir then visits the school's principal, and gets the permission to become Ajay's tutor. 

          Mr.Amir attempts to improve Ajay's reading and writing by using special techniques developed by the dyslexia specialists. Within few months, Ajay develops an interest in reading and writing.

          On the last day of school, when Ajay's parents met his teacher, they were left speechless by the transformations they see in Ajay. Overcome with emotions, Mr.Avasthi thanked Mr.Amir. Ajay moved back in with his parents and started attending the local school and often visits Mr.Amir for tutorial. Impressed by Mr.Amir's work, the principal asked him to be the assistance principal which Amir refused to do because he loved teaching kids. 

What do you do when you're bored? There are billions of answer to that question. For example, some people play video games, read books, watch television, use the internet, etc. What I do is play soccer; my favorite sport and my favorite activity to do when I'm bored. I can play soccer all day everyday. I never get tired of it. My favorite soccer club is FC Barcelona and my favorite national soccer team is Argentina. Lionel Messi is the guy who influenced me to play soccer because he is the best soccer player out there. Nobody is even close to him. He is fast, he has quick movements, and the ball sticks to his feet like magnet. In order to be a good soccer player, there are three requirements: you have to be quick, you have to have a good stamina, and you have to be strong. If you have all 3 of these requirements, you have the ability to be the best soccer player in the world. Quick presence of mind is also important to fool the opponent. If you want to be a good soccer player, you have to be determind and focused. Soccer is a really fun sport to play and also to watch and tha is why it's the most popular sport in the world. I love soccer; do you?

Indian and Pakistan were hit by a flood which killed hundreds of people and thousands of people are homeless. Most of the roads are blocked and about 390 houses has been damaged.  This is one situation where I wish I was rich so that I could help these people and make their life atleast a little bit better. Many families were drifted away from each other. Some are starving and some are looking for a place to stay. Some are injured and some are looking for help. We wouldn't exactly know how these people are feeling until we experience it our-self. I would give these people a standing ovation for not losing their hopes and trying their best to rebuild their life.  Relief work is under way to help the hundreds of people made homeless by the flooding, which followed three or four days of heavy rain


So tell me, do these people really deserve this? The kids? The families? What is their crime?