Second Reading Response by Demitrius Hilerio

   In the book "Bystander" by James Preller the main character Eric is a Bystander in a few bullying situations because he is friends with the bully himself. Eric doesn't know this at first then discovers this later on in the book. The bully is Griffin. Eric's feelings for Griffin change throughout the events that occur in the book. Griffin does things that makes Eric think different of him and avoid him.
 
  At the beginning of the book Eric feels that he can trust Griffin and that truly he is his true friend. Eric felt that he couldn't reveal something about himself so secret like his father to anyone but Griffin. "Sure, Griffin was a different kind of guy, there was no question about that. He had his rough edges. He wasn't like his old friends back in Ohio. But for one day, during those few hours, Griffin was what Eric needed. He was, Eric believed, a friend." (Page 60) This quote is important because it explains what Eric wanted whiches was a friend but it also explains that he thought Eric was a different type of friend, which is something he needed. This quote also explains only during that time of that day was when Griffin was actually acting like a true friend towards Eric. This shows that even though Eric didn't know much about Griffin for that time in the book he really thought he could trust Griffin.
 
  During the middle of the book Eric gets suspicious and starts to find out a little more about Griffin that changed his feelings towards Griffin. For example during one part of the book Griffin beats up a boy name David Hallenback and Eric stands on the side and watches and talks to Griffin after the situation is over. " 'Hallenback's fine,' Griffin snapped. 'Besides, he won't say much. He knows better than that.' Eric measured his words carefully. 'It just seemed . . . unnecesary.'" " 'Shut up, Eric. Or maybe next time it will be you.' " (Page 82) This part of the book shows that Griffin be very aggressive when enraged. This part of the book also shows that Eric is starting to see that Griffin has another side that Eric doesn't know about until this part of the book. At this point in the book Eric knows how Griffin can act towards people and he is a little more alert of what he says or does around Griffin.

  During the end of the book Eric is irritated with Griffin's act. Eric learns that Griffin will go very far to bother and enfuriate someone and make them furious until they feel publicly embarrassed. I know this because in one part of the book Griffin reports to the principal that Eric has a knife in his locker. Then the pricipal checks Eric's locker and sees that he doesn't have one. Eric then shows that he is angry with Griffin. "His body vibrated with anger, knees pumping, feet tapping. Why would Griffin, if it was Griffin, put Eric through that? Just to embarass him?"(Page 176) This part of the story shows that Eric now knows the truth about Griffin and how far he will go to embarass Eric. By this part of the book Eric knows Griffi is the good listener or good friend that he thought he was.

  All in all Griffin does things throughout the book that changes the way Eric feels about him. Eric goes from thinking Griffin's a good friend from being a little alerted about what he says around to completely being annoyed with Griffin. The character change in the book can relate to my life because this book shows that a person can seem like something they're really not. This book also relates to my life because it tells to find a friend that you can really connect to not a friend that can be aggressive towards you.
 

September Blog Post 33 Minutes by Todd Hasak-Lowy Reading Response

      In the book "33 Minutes" by Todd Hasak-Lowy the main character Sam Lewis is the cliche of a nerd and a confused eighth grader that has a former best friend (Morgan Sturtz) that doesn't like him anymore. Sam still tries to hang on to a friend he had really good times with. Throughout the book Sam turns into a person that is confused about their friendship with a person they care about his best to a person that has to end that friendship for the better. At the beginning of the story Sam thinks about the times him and Morgan were best friends and about what they used to do. For example "Just this last September, me and Morgan were still together all the time. Or at least a lot. He was over at my house on the weekends, his playbook filled with Xs and Os opened up on our living room floor, while I helped him memorize plays." (Pages 23-24) The author included this into the text because he wanted the readers to see that Sam cannot let go of the fact that the days when he helped Morgan with his Football plays are over even though they weren't that long ago.

      

      In the middle of the book Sam starts to remember why Morgan sometimes wasn't a good friend and starts to think about why they still were friends after those events. In the book Sam remembers when the principal made an announcement about the math rally team winning and Morgan laughed about it even though he knows Sam was on the team that won. "All five of whom stopped when, a couple seconds later, Chris yelled: MATH SUCKS! At which point everyone laughed. Except Amy and (most of) the teachers. Everyone including Morgan."(Pages 42-43) Sam remembered this as one of the times that Morgan ignored one of Sam's math tournaments for a football game. 

    

      At the end of the book Sam's school is forced to go outside because of a fire in the school. When they're outside Morgan beats Sam up because Sam says he dumb earlier in the book. "I turned to a blank page in my notebook. I wrote Morgan is so dumb right in the middle." (page 109) Even though Sam seems like he would never do such a thing he did it because he was mad at Morgan for laughing at him and making fun of him, which is also mentioned on page 109. "Maybe I finally got sick of Morgan laughing  at me then and at the pep rally and about twenty times in between." This quote explains that Sam got fed up with Morgan making fun of him and took action about it. Maybe he took action the wrong way but he still stood up to Morgan. As a result of this Morgan beat Sam up and everyone was cheering to fight and beat Sam up. At the very end Sam realizes that he cannot be Morgan's friend anymore for the better. "My mouth and jaw still hurt, but I have no problem saying the word as clearly ad I've ever heard anyone ever say it: 'Good-bye.'" (Page210) 

   

     This book is so unique because it shows the point of view of from a person that has social issues more specifically having trouble making friends. This book is also an example of character change because not only does Sam change from a person that doesn't want to lose a friend to a person that is better off losing that friend but Morgan has also changed because he used to be best friends with Sam and recently he has changed to a cliche of a jock. Which relates to real life because in real life people do change which makes the characters Sam and Morgan so believable.