Blog 2: The Crossover

After reading more pages of my book "The Crossover" I ended up finishing the book. As I got more in the book, JB and Josh's dad ended up becoming sick and collapsing three times due to his heart issues. The first time, it was when he was in the house and with their mom. The second time, it was when he was on the phone, and Josh walked in finding him on the floor. The final time was when Josh and his dad were playing a quick game of one on one before their tournament. Josh lost the ball, his dad picked it up and went for the dunk, but before he jumped for the dunk he ended up collapsing. The family ended up going to the hospital. Only problem was, JB was still in love with Miss Sweat Tea and they had to be in the hospital during their championship game. Josh was feeling alone and upset while his dad was in the hospital. One reason as he stated in the book was when he said "I am starting to feel alone without dad here." This clearly proves that Josh was feeling alone as he was by himself while his dad was sick. As the book ended, their father had sadly passed. Their team did end up winning the championship and let JB and Josh keep the trophy. Even though their father had died, they knew that he would want them to continue with their life and to keep playing ball. So although it was hard for all of them, JB, Josh, and their mom continued to live their life of basketball, education and work without forgetting "Da Man."

Throughout the whole book I was able to point out two different conflicts. One conflict was dealing with their dads health issues. Before JB and Josh were born, their dad played basketball in the Euro League across the world. After being noticed by some scouts at a few games, he had been invited by the Lakers to play for their NBA team. That was his favorite NBA team, but he had to deny the offer because it was too dangerous to play. An example is when their mom had told him that she did not want him playing anymore basketball no matter what because of his health problems. That clearly shows that his health issues had stopped him from playing basketball including playing in the big leagues. One final conflict I noticed in the book was JB having a girlfriend. It was just bad all around because he would spend more time with her than his brother or family. Also, he would forget about playing basketball and watch some games in the stands with her rather than being on the court. It was also a big conflict because Josh got jealous easily. In the book, they were just finishing dinner when Josh heard the phone ring. He picked it up and talked with her since she thought he was JB and he ended up liking her. After that was the game he almost broke his brothers nose during one of their games. That clearly proves that JB having a girlfriend was a conflict making Josh jealous.

Tolerance

Tolerance means the ability or willingness to allow the existence, occurrence, or practice of something, in particular the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not agree with. To me, tolerance means showing care and respecting others for how they are. I can live a more tolerant life by caring and showing respect for others beliefs and how they are. An example would be people with disabilities. Just because they can't learn or do something as easy as we can doesn't mean we can judge them and make fun of them. Instead, we should respect them for who they are because they are still humans.

Blog 1, quarter 4: The Crossover

To start the new quarter I am reading the book "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander. The Crossover is about a kid named Josh Bell and his twin brother Jordan Bell, also called JB, and how they are pretty much the best basketball players in their conference. They both play on the same team and are known as "King of the courts" because their father was a famous basketball player as well. As I read more and more about the book some new things have occurred. JB has been acting different lately ever since he started talking to a girl they call "Ms Sweet Tea." Josh believes that he is spending more time with her and on his phone then with him and his dad while they continue to work on their game everyday. While JB is spending time with a girl, Josh also has something he does off the court as well. It turns out, Josh is also an insane rapper. He writes his own music, sometimes about basketball, and he raps them out loud to himself. His parents and JB see the talent he has and Josh wants to continue rapping and playing basketball. Right now, Josh is jealous of JB and his girlfriend. In fact, he became so jealous that in the middle of one of his games with JB, he beamed the ball right at JB's nose causing him to gush blood and having to go to the hospital. Due to his actions, his mother gave him a harsh punishment and suspended him from the team. His team, the Wildcats, are about to play for the playoffs and Josh's mother still has not decided if she will or will not allow Josh to play in the games.

As soon as I started reading this book I was quickly able to make connections. One way I connect with this book is because Josh loves the game of basketball and has a brother who also loves playing the sport. Just like Josh,  I am in love with basketball and I also have a brother who enjoys playing as well. An example from the story is when Josh says "Me and my brother JB crave the game of basketball and always will." This clearly proves that Josh and JB are brothers who won't back down when it comes to playing this sport. Another way I connect with this story is because one of the brothers wants to go to Duke and play ball there and the other wants to go to North Carolina, the rival college of Duke, to play ball for them. Unbelievably, I baldy want to go to North Carolina and even watch every basketball game of theirs while my brother loves Duke university and also watches them play. Another example from the story is when JB says, "I want to play ball at North Carolina while my brother wants to go to Duke university for his college ball." This clearly states and makes it clear that both of the brothers each want to go to two different colleges to play basketball. One final way I connect with this book is because the main character, Josh, is a rapper. As crazy as it sounds, I too rap and write my own music. The book includes most of his songs and little raps on different pages to show just exactly how Josh is a rapper. I write my lyrics and my notebooks and on my phone. It is like the author wrote a book about my personal life, and that is how I can connect perfectly with this book.

Blog 8: Operation Yes

So far in my book "Operation Yes", Bo has changed his act in school and is becoming more responsible than he ever was before during school. One way he has changed is by volunteering more in class and actually focusing on doing his homework. His parents are pleased and surprised of the new change. While reading the book, an exciting and moving scene moved in. Ms. Loupe assigned a project to send supplies to her brother who is serving in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, her brother has gone missing in action. Bo, his classmates and the rest of the community are now helping Ms Loupe with sending supplies and to make things better. During this process, Bo met new faces and became more social with the people around him because of the new faces he met during the help. Right now, Ms Loupe's brother is still missing, and they are still doing their best to help and make things better. The supplies that were sent were also well appreciated with a thank you letter from those in Afghanistan. Other than these events, that is what has happened lately in my reading of Operation Yes.

While reading more into the book, I can realize a new conflict appearing. At first, the conflict was Bo having to make a change as a student and as a new responsible kid. But now after reading more I can tell there is a new and bigger conflict. The conflict right now in the book is that Ms. Loupe's brother went missing in action in Afghanistan. Serving as part of the army, her brother reportdly went missing during action Understandably, Ms Loupe is upset and very nervous, but she believes that they will find him. As a result to his missing, the whole school and community have volunteered to help out by sending supplies and trying to make things better with some joy being sent to others serving, and Ms Loupe. They are hoping that they find her brother fast and hoping for good results after finding him. So the new conflict in my book "Operation Yes" is that Ms. Loupe's brother has gone missing in Afghanistan after going in action.

Blog 7: Operation Yes

After reading more into my book "Operation Yes" I have read about some newer things. To start, Bo's cousin Gari, who he hasn't seen in two years, is coming to live with him. She is even going to be at the same school with Bo. And you might ask how this all happened. Well Gari's mom is also part of the Air force base and she was spending some time off to be with Gari. Then she ended up receiving a call from the commander and was told that she was needed back at the base. So Gari's mom called Bo's parents, set up arrangements for Gari to stay with them, and now her and Bo are catching up by living together and going to the same school. Bo is also starting to behave and listen more in school which is really impressing his parents. They are even thinking about buying him a gift for his good behavior. He has just been acting different at home ever since Gari has arrived and his parents do not know why. But they are just hoping that his behavior and responsibilities at school keep up throughout the rest of the year.

From reading a few chapters into the book, I think I can tell what the theme it is. The theme has to do with Bo and his responsibilities at home and school, and also his behavior. I think the theme of the book right now is you can always change your character to being a responsible one. I think this is the message of the book right now because of Bo's actions. Before when he was in elementary school, he had a bad behavior at school and at home. But when sixth grade arrived and after his parents had spoken with him, he has been trying really hard and has been focusing on school and behaving. This is important for him because he is no longer getting into trouble and is starting to pass his classes. He is changing his character from a bad one to a good one in a hurry which is hard to do. That is why I think the theme of this story is that you can change your character to be more responsible because it can help you and make you learn an important lesson.