Ajusting To Change

Along For The Ride By Sarah Dessen. Published in 2009 by the Penguin Group in New York. 

         In the coming of age novel Along For The Ride, the Author focuses on the life on a young teenage girl who is beginning to face the realities of her parents divorce and the mental  effect it has on her . The main character Auden  lives in a perfect academic world. At a young age her mother ( a brilliant college professor) had enforced a strict and academic only environment blinding her from typical childhood activities. She receives a letter from her new stepmother Heidi inviting her to spend her summer with them because she now has a new baby sister. She decides to go only to see her father who at the moment who is burring himself in a novel in which he is  trying to finish. She soon realizes that the little town of Colby is far from similar to her hometown and has trouble adjusting to the active beach front environment. Lacking teenage experience due to her seclusion from society she finds her self the talk of the town when she makes the mistake of socializing with the a young girls "boyfriend". Over a period of time she begins to grow closer to the town, her new stepmother, and baby sister. She begins to work at her stepmother's shop because of her mathematical knowledge and experience with money. She becomes friends with the young ladies who work at the store and were the first to judge her. She finds herself not fitting in with the constant gossip, parties and shopping. She continues to not sleep through the night because during her parents marriage she  was unable to sleep due to the constant arguing and is now finding the same problem in Colby. By spending her night over ordering coffee, reading in cafes, and taking long walks on the beach she meets a young man named Eli. Eli, a shy and adventurous young man has became a ghost to society due to that the fact the he was driving the car that killed his best friend a year earlier. They open up to each other and he learns that she lacked childhood experiences so he decides to help her accomplish her bucket list. They spend their nights together eating food, teaching Auden how to write a bike and taking her to parties to try to fill a void in her past. She begins to experience common behavior when her stepmother and father begin to fight and he moves out to a hotel. She finds something that her brother and mother could never offer her as a child. She receives comfort from the new group of friends that look after her and comfort her. By the end of the summer she accomplishes her bucket list of activities, begins to date Eli, has to live with the fact that her mother is dating one of her students, her father and Heidi are doing better and her traveling brother has finally settled down and and is taking life more seriously. The novel ends with Auden attending college with one of her friends from Colby and  learning to manage academic and social life. She end the summer learning how to deal with situations better instead of secluding and ignoring her parents. She learns the valuable lesson she can no longer engulf herself in academics only.

Quote: "I'd just stop at the Gas Gro, the closest convenience store, buy a big cup of travel Coffee, and sip it around as i drive. In just two weeks I knew every inch of Colby" (Dessen 94)

This quote is Significant to the novel because it shows the effect of her parents divorce and how it has led her to living a somewhat nocturnal life style.The Constant arguing and  and bickering has ruined her sleeping pattern and she is no longer able to sleep at night. This quote shows one of the many effects that the divorce has brought upon her. She tries to escape the arguing by secluding herself from society and only befriending textbooks. This novel teaches the lessen that there are better ways to adapt to change than others.

The Path To Success : Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane

     Kaffir Boy By Mark Mathabane was published in 1986 by Mark Mathabane Himself.

             The Auto Biography/coming of age story Kaffir Boy, Focuses on the rough and violent childhood Mark Mathabane has endured. The story takes place in Alexandria, Africa during a period of apartheid and segregation. From the first few chapters of the novel we get a glimpse of the life style and living conditions the the families living in Alexandria are faced with. The author goes into debt about the fact that his family lives in a metal shack infested with animals and insect, with no heat supply, no form of bedding and no protection from the occasional police raids that check weather a family has their papers or not. growing up Mr. Mathabne's family was never financially secured. Both his parents worked but it was insufficient in helping to provide for their large and annually growing family. The little money that his parents made was usually gambled off by his alcoholic, abusive and unsupportive father therefor leading the family to a life of dumpster diving,begging and no financial stability. 
          Realizing that education was the only way the family would be saved, Mr. Mathabane's mother enrolled him in school. He forcefully attended an over crowded school in his neighborhood. School was the place where his intelligence began to show. For every year he attended school he was always placed at the top of his class which therefor gave him many opportunities to represent the school at large events. Having lived in fear of white people his whole life, his father was extremely against his interest in tennis calling it " the white mans sport'. Through his grandmother Mr. Mathabane became acquainted with many " nice" white people. Going against his fathers wishes he became very interactive with white people. He would play tennis them, eat with them , compete in tournaments with them and even considered them his friends. Although his activities did stir controversy it didn't seem to bother him. As a teen Mr. Mathabane had the opportunity to assist one of Author Ashe's tennis tournaments. He was bewildered by the fact that white South Africans adored and praised a black man. this event began his interest in coming to America. He was in disbelief that in America whites and blacks attended the same universities and and interacted with each other on a daily basis. Because of his high educational scores and activeness in his community American universities bombarded him with applications. Landing a high paying job at a bank before his departure to his new world his family was for one in their life time stable. Through the novel we are able to see how Mark Mathabane has overcome traumatizing visualizations and critique from everyone around him. He is a true example of how hard work pays off with dedication and ambition. 

Quotation: He had become a black messiah sent from the shores to come to liberate us"
       This quote describes the reaction of the black South African community in Alexandria upon hearing a black man ( Author Ashe) had defeated a white man  in the championships at his own sport (tennis). 
Knowing that the white man ( their oppressor) had always been in power the felt the need to celebrate the fact that their kind was able to succeed for once. 
       This quote shows why I really enjoyed the book because even though most of the book was negativity moments like this in the story showed why the blacks kept fighting for their rights. moment like this in the novel gave the people of Alexandria a sense of hope and a motive for not giving up. It showed them their dreams were possible and all they had to do was try.