Am I Blue? response

         I found a reoccurring theme in "Am I Blue" by Bruce Coville. The story is about a boy, Vincent, whose life is changed when he meets Melvin, his gay fairy godfather. He shows him that he should be himself and that homophobia is wrong by turning all gay people in the country blue for a day so gay people can stop hiding. As he puts it " so straights would have to stop imagining they didn't know any gay people". A reoccurring theme in the story is the fact that you can't judge a book by it's cover and that things are not always so simple. This is shown through different characters in the book. For example, Vincent is watching the news and he sees a notoriously homophobic republican congressman. He is a very deep shade of blue. That is true to a certain extent in the real world. For example: Senator Larry Craig was caught with another man in an airport bathroom. He had been known for voting to refuse state's rights to recognize gay marriage.
          This can also be done in reverse. In the book there's a librarian named ms Thorndyke that everyone was convinced of being gay. As it turns out, on "BlueDay" she had no trace of blue on her. I found this to also be applicable in real life. There is a British comedian who in his act, dresses like a transvestite on stage. His name is Eddie Izzard, and he's not gay. Also, in the beginning of the story, Vince gets beaten up by a bully named Butch Carrigan who beats Vince because he thinks that Vince is gay. When BlueDay occurs, he's a very deep blue. This shows that usually people who preach homophobia are usually gay themselves. They just can't except themselves for who they are.
        I also like the idea that Melvin comes up with about homophobic words in the story. He says " my freinds called each other f****t and queer like how black folks call each other n****r--- to take the words that people use to hurt us and make them a positive thing". I like that idea of doing that, it gives the homophobes less power over people like Melv and kind of kicks sand in there faces. It makes the insults backfire which is a very clever idea. I also like that Bruce put in the reactions of the entire country.
           he said " reactions ranged from panic to hysterical denial to dancing in the streets" . This is a way of showing how indecisive the US is about gay rights. While like in NYC and San Francisco they might not care or be happy that something like BlueDay hastened. I think that in places like Texas or New Mexico. They would be very angry or sad that this kind of thing would happen. That's a pretty big  statement about what kind of opinions we as a  country have on gay rights.

Why Shiloh?

              I think that in The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, Ray Bradbury purposly used the battle of Shiloh. He could've as easily picked any other battle like Bull run or Gettysburg. Yet, Bradbury choose one specific battle. I think that this is because Shiloh was seen as one of the  most stressful or bloody battles in the war's history. This is used to portray an extra sense of stress of the situation Jobe and the general knowing that they have a very large battle ahead of them. That also helps show the smallness of the Drummer Boy
               Think about it, ther's this huge historically bloody battle about to go down and Jobe is only a drummer boy. He can't really do much but beat his drum and try and look like he's not scared even though he is. It also helps with the whole romantic dreams idea. All these ignorant soldiers think that they will survive this massive battle because they're to young to die in battle.

prediction for "madman underground"

         I think that what's going to happen in "Tales Of The Madman Underground" is that Karl will try and act normal but it's going to be hard. He has a dead father, an alcoholic mother and spends his mondays in therapy surrounded by other crazies. One of which attempted to drown her 7 year old brother when she was 9. I think something bad is going to happen which is going to screw up as he puts it "operation be f**king normal. He's going to do some sort of crazy thing like have a mental breakdown in class which will make him except that he should be who he is. He doesn't have to be normal and if he's mentally ill, that's not his fault. I hope that he doesn't go into the army like he thinks he should because i don't want to see him die. I would wonder what would happen to him if he wee drafted to go fight in Vietnam and how his wannabe hippie mother ' would handle him dropping napalm on forests.
          I pity him and I wonder how he's going to deal with his Vietnam-vet-gun-toting-god-bless-america patriot teacher Mr. Gratz who gets way to much credit. I think he might lash out at Gratz because as he said "us madmen don't do well with going from abusive home, to abusive school". Gratz lashes out at kids, but tears up while saying the pledge of allegiance. Also he says that anyone who hasn't read huckleberry Finn is not a real American.

Response To "The Savage City"

      I overall found The Savage City to be an interesting book about an interesting time in NYC history. The book takes place in New York City from 1963 to 1973. This was low point in New york city history. The city was facing a heroin epidemic,rising crime, a brutal and corrupt police, and an incredible clash between black and white people. The book looks at the story of 3 people. George Whitmore is a go-nowhere black man who is framed for a brutal double homicide rape by the police force whom proceed to beat a confession out of him. Bill Evans, a crooked policeman whom is being buried up to his teeth in bribes from drug dealers and brothel owners, he is also a racist. Finally, Dhoruba Bin Wadah, a major figure in the early days of the Black Panther Party.
        The book does a good job of showing a picture of a dirty,gritty, crime ridden city. Also of showing the grave injustice towards the african americans in New York and there retaliation. The only real protagonist in the story is George Whitmore. Bill Evans is crooked and Dhoruba is a terrorist so it's interesting that we follow their stories as well as George's which is not done in many books. The line between good and bad is blurred. Overall a very interesting book on a bizarre time in New York.