Coming OF Age Reading Response #1

Maybe our life is measured by what we accomplish in it. Maybe it's the changes we go through. From past to present, Rachel's character goes through many changes. From trying to deal with a new life in a new country to wanting her Pop and trying to be a "teenager". In the book, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi W. Durrow, Rachel has to move in with her grandmother who is unfit to raise a child due to "contributions" she drinks daily. The book is a journey that leads you in a whirl wind of events. Flashbacks are intricately woven to fit in the story as they help clue you in on what happened that tragic day. What eventually brought Rachel to be where she is now.

Moving to a different country after having lived elsewhere your whole life can be hard. One way her family coped with the new life was trying to forget by experiencing fun things. "Dear Mrs Warner, thank you for giving us the money to go to the amusement park. We are going next week. I can't wait. Love, Rachel. (25)" Even though her family tried to deal with their current situation as best as possible, it was still upsetting to live in a new country with most of her family dead. At night, Rachel would cry and scream. She would have nightmares almost every night thinking back on how she could've stopped her brother from dying. " 'Poor thing. It's alright. Go ahead. Let it out. It's hard to make sense of,' she says. 'But you're safe here.' (31)" She felt regret from that day. The regret doesn't stick with her the whole story though. It's human to feel regret about many things. I myself, have a regret that made me be able to connect to Rachel's chararter. She regretted the way she could've prevented her brother's death but didn't, and I regret my past and how I wasn't able to help out my best friend before her untimely death.

The only family she really knew was her Pop. In the beginning, it is unclear of why her Pop isn't with her. The only thing you know is that she longs for her father all the time. After losing your mother, younger brother and younger sister, I can understand why she would want her father so much. "I am waiting for Pop to come back - for Pop to come get me and take me home... (51)" After having moved to new country and then faced with a tragic event, all she wants to do is just go back home. Away from the country that her family lost their life in.

As Rachel began to grow older, she began to adjust to her new life in the new country. Her yearn for her father became less spoken about and more subtle. She began to go through the stages that most teenagers go through. She began to talk back to her grandmother and began to "defy her power" in the grandmother's words. She was always a very intelligent young lady. She also began to lie and have her intelligence make excuses for her. "Kissing John Bailey felt really good... When John Bailey touches me, I know this is the skin I want to be in. Sometimes when his mom works nights and he doesn't have basketball practice, I go to his house after school. When I come home late, I tell grandma I was at the library. (150)" Her grandmother doesn't believe her and Rachel knows this, but I think this is what most teenagers drive on. Trying to be their own person with power and not being stopped from doing what they want to do.

I am really enjoying reading The Girl Who Fell From The Sky. It's fun to track Rachel through her journey as she tries to find who the person she lost in that 9-story fall. Maybe the wind was blowing really hard that day and blew away her sweater, but I hope some day soon she finds her sweater so she can move on to the race known as life.

2nd Prompt

What are the main similarities and differences of childhood and adulthood?

Similarities:

• both lie and make mistakes, but that's only human
• Personality- okay so personality may not be the exact same, but who you were as a child will stay with you as an adult. It will sort of guide you through life in a way.
• Goals- Short term goals I seriously doubt will still be the same. Long term goals on the other can stay the same in a way. For example, even though I may not have reached adulthood yet, I still want to earn another charm for my bracelet although medically I may not be up to that task.

Differences:

• "Hard" decision making- You know, as a child, your hardest decision may be choosing which new toy you want for Christmas. As an adult, your hardest decisions may be deciding whether or not investing in a new car will help you out in the long run,
• Physical- Quite obvious, but appearance is different. Sometimes that same baby ace is there, but as you grow older you grow taller and maybe develop a few muscles. Who knows?
• Intelligence and Mind- When you're young, everything is pretty straight-forward. 1+1 will always equal to 2. When you're older, you're faced with more complex questions that may not be so straight forward.
• Authority- Adults have the authority while children not so much. As a child though, you do not question the authority. You go with it because "Mommy said so" and it just seems reasonable to do as Mommy says. As an adult, you actually get to be the one to speak with authority.

Coming of Age: #14

             There are many aspects of life that may cause you to come of age, or grow up, faster than maybe God intended for you. Those aspects may be disillusionment, pain, loss, war, etc. We watched a movie called Persepolis as a class in the beginning of the year and it was about a girl living in the year 1978 as a 9 year old child during the Iran- Iraq War. She was sent away to a different country because she was more outspoken and her parents were afraid for her life if she began to stir things up. Having to deal with the war and being different from her own culture made her come of age. She had to see the realness and cruelty of the world.

            

Some people come of age faster than others, and different people come of age for different reasons. I can say I came of age when my grandfather died suddenly, but that would be false because I didn’t know him much. I was too young when he used to visit, but too say that I don’t miss him and that I don’t love him would still be untrue.

       

 I think something that did help me to come of age though, was the death of one of my best friends last year in April. Her name was Daisy and she committed suicide. For a while after that, I was in a dark place although I hardly let it show. It is tough though to have to deal with the pain and loss. And I can say now that I am a different person because of what happened. That’s what it means to come of age, I think.