Lisa Conway > Status Update

I really liked this book. It was very interesting to see the different points of views of all the ethnicities and friend groups in the school. It showed me how grateful I am to live in such a good and safe community.

"But I guess popularity always has and always will take its toll on people. (216) This quote is still true today. I know many people that all they care about is being popular and were not friends anymore. They care more about their social status, instead of their close friends. I could care less about being popular so I stick to my group of friends and we all care for each other.

"All that matters to them is that I am not doing their work." (199) I feel bad for this student because if they're going through hard times a teacher should be able to understand. This student also could've reached out to their teacher more so the teacher didn't think they just were choosing not to do the work. It's hard when you have a teacher who doesn't care, like this student did.

"Hearing about Rosa Parks and her protest showed me that there is a hope for me and all the students in Mrs. G's classes to truly be catalysts for change." (153) These students now saw that they can do anything and they can change. Learning about Rosa Parks taught them that even the littlest of people can still make a huge change in society. This student now has hope that she can change her life around.

"We were like a fire triangle, he was the oxygen, I was the flame and together we made the fuel." (131) This is a simile and the author was comparing the boy and his friends to a fire triangle. Together they supported each other and made each other stronger. And when someone was the water and put the friend group out, they all went down together.

"I thought he was just playing around and being a little aggressive, but then he started yelling at me and calling me names." (129) If I was in this situation I would've reported it right away. It's not right to even let anyone touch you to begin with. Mrs. Gruwell's students don't know right from wrong and didn't say anything because they're scared of the people they live around. That's not the way to live.

"Ever since that day I've tried not to accept society's labels, but to fight against them." (93) This quote means to just ignore the stereotypes society makes and to prove them wrong. Also just ignore them and not pay attention because most of the time they aren't true.

"At that moment, I became like the fire, and like the lightning and like thunder." (89) This is a simile and it expresses that she is now powerful and complete. She now u see stands the how she has to connect Anne Frank's message to her own life.

"I can't believe how peer pressure can take charge of a person's life and change who they are." (69) My biggest fear is being peer pressured. It can really change who a person is and make everything worse. It can make a person do horrible things that they would never do on a daily basis.