Summer Reading Reader's Journal - Non-Fiction

#2                                        Reader's Journal                     6/23/11

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,
           Today I finished reading a very short non-fiction book called Why Me? by Sarah Burleton. I really enjoyed reading this memoir even though it was about a tragic topic -child abuse.
In this book, Sarah Burleton talks about her horrifying life as a child and how she was abused by her mother, physically and mentally. A passage from this memoir that really stood out to me was:

"I wrote this book after debating over it for a decade. I didn't want to insult anyone or make anyone mad by telling my story-I was worried about how my mother would feel about it and how my sister would feel. But in the end, I feel compelled to share my story with others. I known there are abused kids out there, kids who are on the outside may just seem weird or who maybe don't have the best haircut or the best clothes, who are facing the same teasing at school and torture at home that I faced."

         This passage is very inspirational to me because it is really great to hear that people like Sarah are brave enough to share their experiences despite how horrifying they were or what people will think if you do.
         I used various strategies while reading this book. Before reading, I gathered background knowledge I had on this subject. I thought about all I had learned about verbal and physical abuse. I also set a purpose for reading this book. My purpose for reading this was just for my readers journal. While I was reading, a strategy I used was making connections. Although it was difficult to make text-to-self connections, I was able to make text-to-text connections and text-to-world connections easily which helped me better understand what I was reading. Another strategy I used while reading was making visual images of the intense parts of the book where Sarah describes the physical abuse. By making these mental pictures I was really able to understand the pain Sarah suffered throughout her childhood. After I finished the book, I reviewed all the literary elements to make sure I fully understood the book. I also reread parts of the book that I enjoyed and parts that really horrified me like when Sarah finds friends and when she gets electrocuted from the electric fence.
          I wad able to identify many non-fiction elements in this story. The genre is memoir because it is a true story about a part of someone's life told by that person. The topic of this article is child abuse and the main idea is a childhood of abuse and torture. The main idea is implied because it is not clearly stated in the book. If I had to give this book another title I would probably call it "My Childhood of Abuse: A true story of a girl and her abusive childhood" because it cleary says what the book is about. One supporting detail that is factual that supports the main idea is "Abuse for me was something that happened on a daily basis." Another supporting detail I found was "I've been beaten with brooms, whips, extension cords, belts...". This is a factual detail that supports the main idea. The last detail I found was "She grabed my newly permed hair and dragged me out of the room.". This is a factual detail and supports the main idea. I think the essential message of this story is "Child abuse is very harmful and can affect a child's life". One cause and effect from the story is that Sarah's mother would call her "thunder thighs" and "bubble butt" so Sarah started starving herself. I can compare and contrast Sarah's abusive childhood with a normal child's childhood. There weren't many text features in this book however the ones I found were title, photograph, headings, and subheadings. The title which was Why Me? helped me get an understanding of what the book will be about. The photo on the front cover was a little girls eyes. It helped me predict that the book will be about a child. The headings and subheadings before every chapter helped me get an understanding of what each chapter was about. The pattern of organization was chronological order because Sarah told her story and experiences in the order in which they occurred. I believe the author's purpose is to inform because she states in the beginning of the book that she is writing this book to tell other kids with the same problem about her life and to let them know that they should do something about it. The author's perspective is biased against her mother and child abuse. The point of view is first person. I was unable to find any figurative language because the author basically explained her childhood with literal statements. I did believe that some of the things she was saying were hyberboles, however, rereading I realized that the extreme things she was talking about were things she actually lived through. There was nothing I could really use to check the validity and accuracy because I can't check if what Sarah was saying is true. I did use my memory, however, to see if I've ever heard of stories of children being abused.
          While reading I found a few new vocabulary words. I used context clues like making inferences to find their meanings. One word I found I didn't know the meaning of was "harboring". It means hiding in the mind. "Perpetual" means constantly or without ending. "Ghastly" means horrifying. "Calamity" is a bad situation. "Resonated" means repeats in someones head. While I was reading I was able to make connections. I was unable to many ANY text-to-self connections because not only was I never abused and never had to go through even half of what Sarah did, but I couldn't and still can't even fathom the idea that a mother could be that cruel to her daughter. A text-to-text connection I can make was to another book I read about abuse. This book has many connection with the world because the things Sarah talks about does happen all over the world, even if it seems impossible.
         In conclusion, I really enjoyed reading this book. I don't believe Sarah Burleton is the best of author's, but I still enjoyed reading her story and the pain she suffered through. I don't recommended this to anyone under the age of 13 because I think it is really intense for anyone younger. I rate this book a nine out of ten stars. I really enjoyed reading it!
                                                                         Sincerely,
                                                                       Bailey Levy