1. Group C---gparlin27

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz features different stories from three family members, a son, his older sister, and their mother. The book goes over different parts in their lives and how they all struggled with their family and culture. Lola, the older sister, struggles with the expectations put on her by her overbearing and abusive mother. She’s expected to be a traditional Dominican girl, but wants to spread out and be more American. This eventually leads to her rebelling against her mother’s wishes and drastically changing her appearance and personality, “A punk chick. That’s what I became.. The puertorican kids on the block couldn’t stop laughing when they saw my hair” (Díaz 54).

In my book Brighter than the Sun by Daniel Aleman Sol a 16 year old girl who's a Mexican immigrant grew up in a town called Tijuana in Mexico, had to cross the border every day to go to school as she was mixed and could. So she’d go there for school because they teach better there but then she had to move into the US with her best friend so she could get a job in the US because the US also paid better than in Tijuana so she lived in the US at her best friend's house working. She left Tijuana because her family needed the money because their restaurant was going downhill. Sol handles balancing the struggle between her Mexican heritage and now living in the United States by working a ton whether it’s before or after school she buries herself in work even though it stresses her out a bit it helps her keep her mind off of the fact she couldn't go home. “I meet Ari’s eyes. Now that she knows the truth about how overwhelmed I’ve been feeling, I find it much easier to smile at Nancy and say, “”Longer than I expected.”” Nancy shakes her head. “I swear to God, they’re trying to kill you with these schedules.” “Yeah,” I say. “But… the more hours, the better.”(Aleman79) Tania in the ted talk how a penny made me feel like a millionaire she handled balancing the struggle between her heritage and new culture by hoping for something new and something better than what she had already which she had happen “About a year later, I get to feel that way again when we find a bag full of stuffed animals in the trash, and suddenly I have more toys than I’ve ever had in my whole life.”(Luna)

In “The Sun Is Also a Star” by Nicola Yoon, there are multiple perspectives of different people. Natasha is a Jamaican immigrant who lives in new york city with her family. Natasha finds out that her and her family are going to be deported that same night, and the whole day she tries to find a legal way for her and her family to stay. Daniel is Korean American, and he feels a deep pressure because his parents want him to become a doctor. He secretly wants to be a poet, and he is on his way to an interview for Yale. Natasha is walking on a busy street and almost gets hit by a car, Daniel pulled her out of the way. Daniel believes it was fate, but Natasha insists its just a coincidence. They end up spending the day together, getting to know each other's backgrounds. Natasha goes to see an immigration lawyer who could help her, and Daniel tags along. As they got there somebody had told them that the lawyer got into an accident, and was in the hospital. Natasha wants to go to the hospital to see him because it might be the last chance to get her family to be able to stay. Although Natasha hasn't moved away yet, she is struggling with the thought of it. She really wants the best for her family and she knows that if they move away things will be very different. She handles it by spending time with Daniel and talking with him about her culture, and when they separate, she thinks about how he would be proud of her “I write that America is my home in my heart, and how citizenship will legalize what I already feel. I belong here. In short, I am more sincere than im ever comfortable being, Daniel would be proud of me” (Yoon 112)

Oscar is a well raise Dominican child raised in the ghetto is very nerdy and overweight who struggles to find a girlfriend after hitting puberty. He and his family are very different and he struggles with being himself and fitting in with them.

“The first time no one answered. The second time it was Oscar. The de Leon residence, how may I direct your call?

That was my brother for you. This is why everybody in the world hated his guts.”(Diaz 67)

Oscar answers the phone in a joking manor, trying to be funny but everyone he knows hates it.

Dodonnell27, your book honestly sounds very interesting. Was her rebellion just a phase she had because she was upset with her mom, and did it stay? 

In my book The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon is a book about two teenagers in New York City named Natasha Kingsley and Daniel Bae. Natasha is a practical, science loving girl whose family is being deported back to Jamaica. She doesn’t believe in fate or love–she believes in facts and logic. Natasha is spending her last day in New York trying to find a way to stop her family’s transportation. Daniel is a Korean American boy whose parents immigrated from South Korea. His parents want hom to become a doctor, but Daniel secretly wants to be a poet. On the same day Natasha is trying to save her family, Daniel has an important college interview that could decide his future. Natasha and Daniel meet by chance in New York City. Daniel instantly feels a connection and believes it’s fate. Natasha doesn’t believe in love at first sight, but Daniel challenges her to spend the day together to see if he can make her fall in love with him using science. The character Natasha Kingsley knows she is different from the people around her because of the way she thinks about life and love, which is completely different from her peers. While Daniel believes in fate and destiny, Natasha has her roots in science and facts. She views the world in a practical and rational way, while the world around her relies on emotion and hope. She reflects on how she doesn’t fit in because of her personality and her situation as an undocumented immigrant who is facing deportation. Natasha deals with this by avoiding thinking with her heart, and focuses on logic to cope with her unstable circumstances, “That’s the thing that makes me wary. Where did all those feelings go? People spend their whole lives looking for love. Poems and songs and entire novels are written about it. But how can you trust something that can end as suddenly as it begins?” (Yoon 58). This quote highlights how Nastaha separates herself from the romantic views that most people have, and doesn’t understand why people put faith into something that isn’t fact or set in stone. Instead of letting herself be tricked by something that isn’t rooted in science or fact, she tries to find practical solutions. Her reliance on logic makes her feel like she’s in control of something when she feels uncertain. Similarly, In the outside text Sweet, Difficult Sounds, Nothukula also realizes that she is different from her peers, having just moved from Zimbabwe to the United States. She is perfectly able to speak English from back home, however she feels separated from her classmates because of how she looks, her accent, and her name, “I am different from everyone here, I speak differently, I look different, my name sounds different.” (Desta). This quote shows that she is aware that she stands out. Over the course of the story, Nothukula deals with feeling different by slowly learning how to become more confident. The support from people who understand her helps her face challenges one step at a time, even if it feels hard at first.

Lfortier27, How did your character handle all this stress at sixteen? Did she have something she did to cope with it? 

Nhatala27, you said your character Oscar felt like he couldn't be himself or felt like he fit in. Did this feeling ever pass? Is he able to be himself without worrying about what his family or others think?

Jgustafson27, How did their day together end? Did her family end up getting deported, or was she able to stop it? 

Jsmith27, at the end of your reply, you said that Daniel would be proud of her. Did something happen between them that they're not talking?