Literature Letter: To Jerry Spinelli

Dear Jerry Spinelli,


Your remarkable book Stargirl forever changed the way I will look at the world around me. When I was in fifth grade, as a class, we read and studied this book. I enjoyed if very much, listening to the voice and enthusiasm of each character. It wasn’t until this year that I came to a realization of what an impact this one book had made on my stance of life. Stargirl’s behavior and example helped me beyond measure to find and know who I was, and all the bliss I was missing out on. As I looked back at who I was before, I was amazed to see how much an impact this one book had on me that I had never taken the time to be aware of. This is how my story goes.

I grew up in a home where self-esteem mattered, but I could never relate. In my earlier years of growing up, I felt out of place and like an outcast around other people and other friends. I had many great friends, but I never felt like I could fit in correctly. My family is a great wholesome family, I just could never look at myself and see the true me, I couldn’t abide to even looking at myself in the mirror, and by fifth grade my self-esteem was below zero. I could not find one good characteristic about myself that I could voice or even think. I was a big dark cloud of misery and I went into a serious depression stage. Because I didn’t know who I was, I started to evolve as someone new. I became mean and very cocky; I tried to hard to be in the popular clique, I stopped caring about school and my school work, along with acting as if I was too good for everyone else. My world was a big down hill roller coaster, and I could never figure out why nothing ever went my way.

By the middle of eighth grade I was a total mess; I developed habits of severe eating disorders, I started cutting myself, and I would do things that weren’t part of a good healthy diet. I was running away from me; something I could never end up conquering. And let me tell you Jerry Spinelli, I thought I was happy.

In the summer of eighth grade I came across your book Stargirl again. I decided to reread it because I remembered how much I adored it back in fifth grade. As I reread it I can remember paying particular attention to how Stargirl had acted, since her happiness was what I was searching for. I finished the book within two days and set it back in my bookshelf just as every other book. A few days later I put a lot of thought into the matter, and I then realized who I needed to become, me. Over the summer period I had changed drastically. I got out of every single bad habit that I had endured previously all on my own. I started to realize that I was of worth and that I had so many qualities that I never even tried to distinguish. I altered my thinking habits, and eventually saw the real me. I started making friends so much easier and I gained a good bunch of excellent examples. It wasn’t till this year that I recognized how I was able to make this drastic transformation. Just simply reading of a girl who liked herself enough to not care if she stood out, changed my life forever. She didn’t care what other people thought of her, all she cared about was that she was herself, and I too can now proudly say that I am myself and I know who I am. I cannot but only imagine where I would be at this time if I had not come across your book. Stargirl is still present in my mind and hopefully will always exist. Your character taught me to find my one and true spirit, and to not act as anyone else but me. Stargirl, though fictional, helped me defeat the terrible battle I was trying to conquer against myself. I ended up learning a great life’s lesson that will never depart my mind. And I now know and can tell you what true happiness is. Jerry Spinelli, thank you for helping me become who I was always destined to be.

Sincerely,

Tori Fairchild

Adolf Hitler

Today is December 19, 2009. Sixty eight years ago from today one of the biggest dictators of our society began his rein of power; Adolf Hitler. The story of Hitler is very fascinating to me. It amazes me every single time I read or study about him. He simply just became power hungry. One thing that I think most people don't discern is the fact that Adolf Hitler was NOT always a bad man. His life before his "rein of terror" was really just like any other rulers life.
He was born in Austria and grew up wanting to paint, though his painting skills were not very good. Growing up he maintained good grades and had high education plans for his future. At thirteen his father died. And at seventeen he went to Vienna to be an art student. He ended up quiting art school and as high school came along, his grades began to fall. At sixteen, Hitler dropped out of high school. After his hard work of trying to get into the fine arts school twice, Hitler quit all art. His mother died that same year. In doing so, he was given an inheritance from his mom and his aunt. So he was pretty well off by himself.
In 1913, Hitler moved to Munich, Germany because Austria wouldn't let him be a part of their army because he couldn't pass the physical. After World War I, Hitler thought that Germany was threatened, so he started to fight for Germany in World War II. In 1923, Hitler tried to take over Bavaria but he was stopped and put in jail for 5 years. While in jail, Hitler began writing a book called Mein Kampf (my struggle). In this book was every little detail to how he was going to slowly take over Europe legally. On December 30, 1924, Hitler was released from jail.
On December 19, 2009 (68 years ago) Hitler was named leader of Germany by Hidenburg. This one act of placing Adolf Hitler in a rulers seat, is what began the start of his terrifying leadership. As he saw what kind of changes he could make, he grew stronger and stronger in a way we all hope to never see again. Little by little Adolf Hitler slowly tried to take over Europe. And when he accomplished taking over the greatest portion of Europe, that wasn't enough for him. He now wanted the whole world in his own bare hands.
He thought of Germans and blond haired blue eyed people as the Aryan race (perfect race) and sought to make sure that was all the world consisted of. He made concentration camps all over Europe that were for the purpose of killing away those human who he simply didn't approve of. In the end he suceeded in killing over ten million people. Six thousand of them were Jews.
The fascination that I get from his story is the thought of Adolf Hitler actually being a good decent man. And putting him in the wrong seat made him more powerful than anyone would have ever thought.
I absolutly love the story of World War II and I love teaching it to people who don't fully appreciate it. Ever since I was little I have had an obsession with war stories. Hitler's is one that I have mastered in. I could write forever and ever about him and his series of events. The most profound thought that I get is how he wrote a whole book, published it, and sold it into society. Little did anyone know, this book contained all the secrets he used to take over so much of Europe. If only this book was a Twilight book, everyone would've known what was coming for them and a lot could've been done.
I love hearing and learning about Adolf Hitler and his rise to power. Hopefully the story sets a good example for those leaders in our world today.

"There must be no majority decisions, but only responsible persons, and the word 'council' must be restored to its original meaning. Surely every man will have advisers by his side, but the decision will be made by one man".

- Adolf Hitler

What about August being the time of Service?

A few days ago I received a a note in the mail from a family in our neighborhood. It was about their son who is diagnosed with Autism. They have been working for a while to get him treated. They apparently found a doctor in South Carolina who I guess has spoken in front of public audiences. They looked into it, and found that he is a specialized doctor who has worked on many more autistic patients and has been successful many time. So they put on a fund raiser for him. So this morning I went to that. It was actually very very successful. There were so many participating people who donated a good proportion of their money to this boys future. They had Domino's pizza and it was two dollars a slice, along with one dollar brownies, and they also had a silent fund raiser with little things that people had the option to bid on and all the proceeds went towards his hopeful future. I though a lot about this particular thing as I was on my way home. With the huge turn out of willing people who would give enormous amounts of money for a charity made me think of Christmas and how everyone gets in the spirit to serve and do charity work around Christmas. But then I had a thought. People give up their time to do service and give, usually, only around Christmas, at least that's when the most effort gets put into play. If you think about it through a homeless persons point of view, they probably all look forward to Christmas because of all that's done by communities and groups of people. I know that LDS churches usually some kind of service project for other people or people who can't afford their own Christmas. It's actually a very helpful and good idea to help those who are in need for Christmas. But it seems like it's just around Christmas when people think about others. I don't know, but that is just what I have observed. And when you think about it, in August are you focusing on what you can do for others? I don't think so. September? March? April?... Now days there are so many people who are struggling and are in need of regular things that we get to use and are privileged to have. In this hard time we should always be thinking about what we can do for others. I guarantee you that there is a family near you that is in need of a job and money. I live in an area where a lot of the people are their own business owners and have done pretty well (money wise) in the past. But, right now, aren't doing as great as they could be. Our neighborhood is filled with a lot of larger houses so when someone looses their job, they pretty much loose everything. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be hungry and not be able to afford my own food. think that it should always be our priority to think of others first. Especially when you're in the mood to complain, think of all that you have, because what you might wish you could change, might be another's pure wish.

I don't know

It's Saturday night, I feel like crap, had a harsh painful week, and I have absoutly no idea what to write about. So here we go, I will just be pulling things out of the hat right now. Lets see what I end up coming up with..

So.. Lets start off with my week. I woke up monday morning with a head ache and more nauseated than ever. But my mom, being the mom that she is, made me go to school. I was running a bit late because I couldn't function how I would normally function if I was feeling normal. I just had to move at a slower pace basically and I don't have the time to do that so I was a bit on the later side. So  my mom took me to school, and the minute I  walked into homeroom I started to feel sick again. So I filled out one of those sweet homeroom papers and went on my way to Mr. Woods class room. On my way, I stopped by my locker to grab a sucker, (something to take my mind off my ailing state of mind) and continued to my old science teacher. As I approached his class I just stood in awe as I watched the people just pile into his classroom. I went in and me and him started talking science. Because of him I am the nerb I am today, so we sat talking about Tesla, Gravity, Physics, you name it! It was a blast, then I noticed that it was two minutes before the homeroom bell rang so I hurried back to homeroom. As I was walking to my next class, I realized my weakness was slowly getting better. It was B day so I hurried to geography. In geography we learned about Germany and World War II. My absolute favorite subjects to talk about! This is pretty much how the rest of my day went. In my pits of despair, school actually ended up saving the day. (and my amazing friends who always try to make me feel good), But as soon as I walked in my home, everything came back. I wanted to run away, but the energy loss kept me from acting upon that thought. So I tried to just act as though I was feeling fine so my home would be happier. As long as everyones in a good mood, our home is pleasant. So I ended the day and went to bed. Tuesday was a normal A day. Pretty boring. Wednesday and Thursday were pretty normal days, but I was still in the sick mood for a the whole week. By the time Friday came I was quickly amazed at how fast the week went by. I wasn't the most pleasnt person through the week but I sure learned a good lesson this week. Don't take out your own inside feelings on others. It only makes things ten times worse..