A Wish After Midnight✨

  In the book "A Wish After Midnight" by Zetta Elliott Genna is a hard working 15 teen year old whose problem is that she has too much responsibility. Genna grows up the routine of picking her almost 3 year-old brother afterschool and taking care of him and the house, plus keeping up with her school work and doing homework. This is not just a chore it's her life, her way of contributing to her family. Her family lives in a shabby apartment building and they are struggling with money. Her siblings beside her little brother are both older than her and are sucked in to the bad ways of the people of the neighborhood. Genna is the child that got lucky and chose to follow a different path. 

  Genna knows where she wants to go in life and her hard work pays off but the extra load she pulls around everyday is too draining for a teenager. She goes through with every last bit of it because she is about her family. It's all that she has so she tries her best to keep it together. She babysits for a woman and her mother said not to just to get some money. She even tried to look for a house that was for rent for her family to live in but it didn't quite work out. The owner was racist and didn't want a black family living in her house. As you can see she's always routing for her family and although it is nice, it's too much. With everything she has to do plus this extra job while she's in school and she's trying to run the family. 

  Maybe it's because she is used to it and she's trying to step up her game but what's the problem. Why she putting herself in her mothers place, like a replacement? There is definitely lack of motherly love and attention for her and her older siblings because, they have stopped caring about what their mother thinks and just done what they've wanted  and turned into cold people who don't even realize they have a family until they get home and still don't care. Why hasn't Genna? She isn't the same as them of course because she has a goal and a drive but why is she now taking it upon herself to do tasks not even asked for, things that the adult of the family should be doing. It leaves me to think how does the mother not see this? Or does she see it and not think of it as a very big deal? When it is "Genna's mothers turn" to be the mother, how will this affect Genna, what is their for her to do if her life evolves around being the one always in charge?

Literary Essay: Response to Stick Figure

In the time between middle school and high school there are special expectations, especially for girls, to be considered cool. These expectations create an image that if most girls don't follow them they are bullied or judged because of it. Although popularity should be about who you are, is it really? Not everyone is going to except you for you, but should you deal with that?

Girls are vain when it comes to their skin or body. Take it from me, I freak out every time there is a blemish on my face. If you have acne it plays a huge part on your appearance and what you do with it. Using make up like cover up or foundation to hide your real appearance is a trick most girls use. In the book stick figure, the main character Lori was made fun of because she wouldn't wear make up and that she was still a little kid.

Looking older is  a key component to what most attention seeking girls want. It gives them power. Like they have a choice to do what they want because they look old enough so they're mature enough to. In stick figure, Lori was told that she was "still a child" because her parents still treated her like one. They never listened to what she said so she never got what she wanted. Therefore she wasn't mature enough to just do want she wants, and not be afraid of the consequences.

Weight is a problem many people struggle with. Mostly girls have disorders where no matter what they just feel like they need to lose more weight. This is a way to change yourself and make yourself seem apart of the mix. Or maybe to make yourself feel wanted or be noticed. Lori became anorexic because she wanted to look slim for a guy she liked. She wanted him to compare her and the "mean girl(s)" and let him be able to choose her because she had everything the other girl had. In the end she was hurt because it wasn't herself.

Changing yourself for someone else's approval is horrible. If they don't like you for who you are they aren't the right people to be around. Although half of the problem is their fault, the other half is yours. If you cannot accept yourself as you are then no one else will. You must depend on yourself first before anyone else.