Nonfiction Blog for Week 12/1/15

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul 3 by: Jack Canfield

Pages Read: 1 - 230

Genre: Nonfiction

Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul 3, is a book written by people and their experiences in life that have taught them very good life lessons. This book is truly my favorite nonfiction book because it has multiple lessons that the author focuses on and what's especially amazing about this book is that it written by people our age. This book is filled with real life stories about love, friendship, family, and ect. that is written by people that are in middle school to high school. In the book, so far I have read many stories about love (relationships), friendship, and tough stuff (troubles that people have). 

There are many interesting sections in this book. One of them was, "To my daughter, I will always love you and be with you. The waves come rolling into shore high and fast. And wash the lines away, but not the memories we shared that day, where we have trod this sandy shore. Our traces we left there will be no more. But, wherever we are, the memories will never be far. Although I may not be with you, know that my love for you will always be true. Those memories will last forever, and in them shall always be together, Hold them close to your heart, and know that from your side I will never part." (Paragraph 10, Page 229 -230)  This section was about a girl named Elizabeth Stumbo, and the section is actually something that she found as she was in her mother's hospital room. The section was part of her mother's letter that she wrote to Elizabeth before she passed away of cancer. I found this interesting because of the way she found the letter, which she found inside a sea shell that her mother picked up as they were leaving a beach that they went to each summer for vacation. Another reason why I found this so interesting is because of how her mother wrote the letter, she wrote it so beautifully, and the way she talked about how even if she were to write her name into the sand, it will soon wash away by the water, and no one will know it was there. After her mother died, she did write her name in the sand and watched it wash away.

Another interesting section was, "Her mother was driving her home from soccer tryouts, and the made it hard to see. They were crossing the tracks by your house, and a train crashed into them...Throwing myself upon my bed, sobbing into my pillow, I thought back to the carefree days of our childhood when Manda had tripped on the tracks. 'It's just a little blood. Here, you hop on my back and I'll carry you home.' Only this time, I couldn't carry her home." This was written by a girl named Alison Hamby, Manda was her best friend since they were little. I found it interesting because when they were little, Manda had fallen over a pair of train tracks and started to bleed, so that is when Alison told her that she will carry her home, which she did. I found that interesting because Alison described everything that happened on the day her best friend died, and it was interesting that this really did happen, but instead of never talking about it, Alison decided to share it to be written in this book. 

Most people in life, talk and say things about topics or stuff that they have no idea about. Some people feel as if no one knows what they have been through, whether they feel that no understands their pain or the way think, but reading this book that is filled with these real life stories by people who know one knows, talking about what half of those people are feeling, is truly fascinating. I learned so many things about so many people and even though I don't actually know them personally, I have found myself having a connection of some sort with half of them. Some of the stuff they have talked about I have happened to me.  I learned many things about tough stuff, growing up, and love, which I have all learned by reading this book. 

People all over the world have had something similar happen to them, that also happened to someone in this book. We all have some sort of connection with each other and we can learn from each other as well. We can teach other so many different life lessons and be there for one another. We no longer have to feel lonely or anything else because this book proves, by what these real life people have faced, that out there other people are probably having the same problem as you. That proves that you are not alone. This has to be one of biggest things that I have learned out of this, which is you are NOT alone.

I commented on: Evelyn's Blog, Darya's Blog, and Jude's Blog