madelinedeem

I am currently reading the book First and Then by the author Emma Mills. The book is about a girl named Devon Tennyson and how she loves her life the way it is and wouldn't change a thing. The universe, however, has a different plan for her. I predict so far that something will happen between her and her best friend Cass because there seems to already be some foreshadowing of it.

For this project my partner Ali and I read books from the author Jason Reynolds, so while Ali read Long Way Down, I read the bookWhen I Was the Greatest. We noticed frequently that there were many connections between our books and how they were written. In Ali’s book, Long Way Down, the main character Will is living in the bad part of a town, exactly like the main character, Ali, in my book When I Was the Greatest. Jason Reynolds incorporated this hardship in most of his characters lives because he experienced it himself. This way he could easily express how it felt to live in such an atmosphere.These books show how living in a bad neighborhood can’t stop you from achieving amazing things.

There are also many ways to find new books to read on Booklikes. You can visit your friends blog post and tap onto their reading box to see what they are currently reading or have read and if they liked it or not. This is a very helpful way to find new books with the help of your friends. After using this method I found a book my friend Olivia read called The Fault in Our Stars.
 

The main character Ali in the book When I Was the Greatest has many similarities to the author Jason Reynolds. One of which is that Ali and Jason were both looked down upon as children and weren't believed in. Whenever Jason was a teenager, none of his teachers believed he would turn out the way he did. Although many people didn't believe, he didn't give up, and he became an author. Ali was also looked down upon whenever it came to fighting. Nobody believed that he could fight, yet alone win, but Ali proved everyone wrong after he beat up five people who had attacked his friend Needles. Both Jason and Ali proved expectations wrong and believed in themselves when nobody else would. This may be the reason for him incorporating characters like Ali into his novels.  

This quote is important because it shows an example of how even though he was only in front of his sister, he was taught to show little emotion, to stay strong, and to never cry. This also tells a lot about him as a character and how he was raised. The people in his neighborhood may have been through a lot but they would never show this, they would put on a sort of mask and cover up their emotions from the world. 

Hello, my name is Maddie Deem, and I enjoy reading books, but more specifically reading realistic fiction. I am currently reading the book When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds because of its genre, but also because I just read one of his other books Long Way Down, and it has become one of my favorites. I loved Jason Reynolds writing style in the first book I read, and so far I love it in When I Was the Greatest as well.

So far When I Was the Greatest is about a boy named Ali growing up in a rough community or neighborhood. This neighborhood is filled with things such as guns and drugs that Ali doesn’t mess with or care for. He may not be into those types of things, but just by living in this neighborhood he is given a label. This label creates many misunderstandings and struggles through his life that he can’t escape from. His friend Noodles, however, is the complete opposite of Ali and is always looking for trouble. Noodles may be the one making mistakes, but somehow Ali is always the one fixing the problems or picking up the pieces. This makes me wonder if later on in the book Ali breaks away from Noodles because of this almost toxic friendship, or if he sticks by his side and pays the price for his friend. Along with this, I wonder if Noodles even realized what he is doing to Ali and how he feels about all of this. Maybe if he knew what he was doing he would put a stop to it, but then again maybe he wouldn’t even care. I can’t wait to continue reading When I Was the Greatest and keep you posted on this friendship, hopefully many things will change for the better as the book goes on.