WHAT NEXT???

SUMMARY

       In chapters 20-26 written by Sherri L. Smith, Ida has chosen to stay in the W.A.S.P with Lilly. She decided to live on with her dream and become an actual pilot. Things finally got more positive for Ida since her brother was finally safe and sound in his home. Once Ida finally decided to continue with her dreams, she went to California where she would train more with Lilly. A few months had passed and Ida and Lilly finished there training, now they move up to Captain training. This where they would train to become elite pilots. But now that they have finished, they decided to take a small vacation. In this vacation, Ida and Lilly went to Patsy's funeral (it was very emotional). A few days later, Lilly got proposed!!! She said yes and Lilly and her fiance got married a week later. Later on Ida got into captain training with Lilly. But something very weird was going on, Lilly had been throwing up constantly! SHE WAS PREGNANT! Now, Lilly couldn't continue with the W.A.S.P and she had to go home leaving Ida alone with only one person she knows, Walter Jenkins (her instructor from Avenger Field). They both talk to each other, but most of the times it was just flirting. Later on, she finishes her training and the war is over. At this point, she doesn't know what to do. Wether to go back home or have a stronger relationship with Walter Jenkins or even just run away and make her live her own life independently. But the only thing she can do right now is fly.

Flirting

QUOTES

1.) "Just listen to me. Listen to me!” I all but shout and mama stops in her tracks. I’ve never raised my voice to her and gotten away with it. But I’m not a little girl anymore."

• page 132, chapter 23, Sherri L. Smith
• I really like this quote because it gives more personality to Ida Mae
• This quote shows that she is really wanting to be a pilot and really is confident enough to say that to her mother.
• If you read the book, you can tell that her mother is very strict.

2.) "Let your dreams take flight"

• page 157, chapter 26, Sherri L. Smith
• This is the last sentence of the entire book
• I really like it because it basically sums up the whole theme. To try hard and make your dreams come true.
• This quote means a lot to people who are very limited but keep on trying.

CONCLUSION

       This is the end of the book!!! I'm finally done!!! I really recommend this book to people who love books with "Man vs Man" conflicts. This book is really based on emotional problems from Ida. Her best friend died, she has to lie to everyone, her brother was lost, and she has spent five months without her family! I hope the author can make another book!

IDA FALLS

SUMMARY

        In chapters 16-20 written by Sherri L. Smith, Ida Mae Jones gets emotional and its already Christmas season. Ida is now close to the ending of her life at W.A.S.P and she has no idea what to do after that. The war is almost close to its end and so is the W.A.S.P. A few days before Christmas, Ida goes out to buy presents for her family at home, but she gets noticed, and by noticed, I mean her identity gets recognized. Luckily, it was a colored person who noticed her. This scare Ida to death. She thought that people were going to find out. Her Grandpa had warned her to be careful because if she gets caught, she could get killed. Once it was Christmas, Ida was emotional because she misses her family and wishes she could be there with them. Ida had been spending time with Patsy and Lilly and that made her feel better. Once everyone was opening presents, a guard called her to the front of the entrance of Avenger Field. She was very nervous until she saw her mother there. She was so happy she cried, but she couldn't hug her or even touch her at all because it would reveal her identity. Her mother was very happy to see her to. All Ida had to do was pretend her mother was maid, this devastated her badly. But at least she could see her mother. They both talked to each other about the things going on, but the main reason why her mother was there was because Thomas has gone missing. This shocked Ida and cause her to become dry worried. Over the next few weeks very woman had to take the final test to become an actual W.A.S.P. Ida had been studying and practicing and doing the best she can to find her brother by asking the army to find him. On the final test, all the woman had to fly from Texas to California in three days. If a trainee is late, they don't qualify. For Ida, this was easy, and she finally proved that by passing! So does Lilly, but something went terribly wrong. Patsy made it, but not alive. Unfortunately, her plane crashed at landing and blew up. Ida and Lilly were very sad and depressed. Both of them went to the ceremony, but they were both very sad. At the least, they were now W.A.S.P's. At the end of it all, Patsy goes bak home, and she is to decide wether or no she should keep on going with W.A.S.P or become the shy housemaid again.

PLANE CRASH

QUOTES

1.) "Don’t you see? This is what daddy used to fly for. The chance to be everything other than the color of his skin.”

• page 177 chapter 17, Sherri L. Smith
• I really like this quote because its very emotional and very inspirational
• This quote can show a lot of character from Ida because this shows that she has a strong personality.
• This quote is also very emotional because back then a colored person would be so limited to do the things the would want to do because of the color of there skin. 

2.) "Not a Negro woman, not a white woman, not a high yellow. But a pilot, mama. A good pilot that they need. "

• page 184, chapter 18, Sherri L. Smith
• This quote puts a lot of character in Ida
• I really like how she doesn't care what her limits are, she still tries no matter what.

CONCLUSION

       These five chapters were very sad. Ida lost her best friend, her brother is missing, and she has to lie to everyone in order to stay alive. She has had a hard time, but I can tell that she will find a way to a better life. Now that she is at her home, she has to decide wether to stay in the W.A.S.P or become a maid again. I hope she still continues in W.A.S.P because her dream is to fly.

IDA TRAINS

SUMMARY-

swimming test

       In chapters 11-15 in Fly Girl written by Sherri L. Smith, Ida Mae Jones has been training very hard every day. She has had many ups and downs these chapters. In the first chapter, Ida had to swim a whole lap around the Avenger Field pool! The thing is, she didn't know how to swim at all. She was always scared of it. Since Ida has a very good friendship with Lilly and Patsy, they both help her cheat her way through the test. Lilly got in front of Ida in the line and she went before Ida. As Lilly swam, Ida got out of the line. Once she finished her lap, Lilly got back in line and went again for Ida. Since everybody was wet, nobody noticed. Ida was very relieved as she saw that nobody noticed, she also noticed that some girls got disqualified for not being able to swim. In doing this,  Ida felt very wrong. She felt very lucky because if she didn't have these friends, she would be out. As the days went by, Ida has been training very hard for the test that shows if you qualify to move up to intermediates. The instructors give them their maps and informed the girls their location: Bakers Pond. The women studied their maps and prepared for the flight. A week had already passed and everybody was ready for the test. Ida volenteered to go first and as she did, she was very nervous. Bakers Pond was very hard to find in the map, and Ida thought about the possibility of failure. She got on the plane and began the test. after 20 minutes of flying, she finally landed and passed! She was very happy as Lilly and Patsy also passed. For the women that one the flight test, they all went and celebrated at the bar with the men from the army. Lilly and Patsy were off dancing with other men while Ida stayed at the table writing a letter to her family. She kept writing until suddenly an instructor for the W.A.S.P named Jenkins, asked Ida for a dance. Ida was very nervous because she had been asked to dance with her own instructor. She had been told that dancing with an instructor is against the rules, but Jenkins didn't care. So they both danced together and everyone was amazed, even her friends. After the celebration, all the girls that were now in the intermediate class had to train. Since they were all in a new class, they were all introduced to a new tool to help with training called a flight simulator. This was a machine that was attached to the floor and had special equipment to help simulate the feeling of flying. Ia volenteered to go first. But something caused Ida to go claustrophobic and so she panicked and fainted. After she woke up, she was afraid she would be sent home, and she realized how hard this will be.

QUOTES-

1.) "I wish the army has taught us how to navigate feelings as easily as they did a starless night sky"

Starless night

• Page 103, chapter 11, Sherri L. Smith
• I really like how this quote compares to things to make a metaphor.
• The two comparing things: navigating feelings, and navigating a starless night sky.
• The way the author put these words is really smart and I like how its has a meaning behind it

2.) "Fuel line."

              "Check."

              "Wing?"

              "Check."

              "Propeller."

              "Check."

• Page 114, chapter 12, Sherri L. Smith
• This quote is very interesting because it taught me the process that pilots do before takeoff.
• Also, since Ida is the one saying this, it informs me that she is very professional and takes flying super serious.

CONCLUSION

      These 5 chapters were not that fun or entertaining for me because it was mostly just details of training and all of that stuff. Since the last chapter left off with Ida in the emergency room after she fainted, I predict that she will probably not go home. The reason why I think this is because it happened to other girls. But who knows? Maybe she will go home, or maybe shell still be in the W.A.S.P. I personally hope she stays!

    

IDA GETS ACCEPTED

Summary

Zoot suits

In chapter 6-10 in Fly Girl written by Sherri L. Smith, Ida got accepted to join the W.A.S.P! She was very happy, but at the same time scared because she knew the reaction her family would have. Since Ida always wanted to fly, she said "why not," and told her family. Once she told them, they were very shocked and had a very long discussion, but gladly, the discussion ended with a yes! Two weeks has past and Ida is ready to become a W.A.S.P.  In the bus to Avenger Field (where all the woman would train to become a W.A.S.P for 5 months), Ida met many white women. One woman named Patsy Cakewalk had become friends with her. As well as another woman called Lilly. The first day of W.A.S.P training in Avenger Field was just a tour of the whole place. All the woman were introduced to the barracks they would sleep in containing only two showers for 12 women. They were also introduced to where the would eat, study, and train. The next day would begin with the training. All the women would where these suits called Zoot suits to fly. These suits were very baggy and very ugly looking. In this day, everyone is going to have the first test on flying with an instructor with the basic rules. While in flight, Ida had to go with a very mean instructor. This instructor wanted to "test the limits" of the women and make them think the plane had a technical error to show them how you should always where a parachute. This made almost the women think they failed including Ida's friend.Later that day all the women were mad at the instructor. In conclusion, Ida knew it will be hard to be a W.A.S.P.

QUOTES

1. "Aye Aye'" Lilly says with a sharp solute. "Aye Aye is the navy." I whisper from behind. "Oh cripes." She lowers her hand quickly. 

• pg. 85 chapter 10 Fly Girl, Sherri L. Smith
• I think quote is very  funny. Also, I think that it was rally funny to make Lilly say that because it gave her a lot of personality.
• The reason why i think it was funny is because they were all trying to become pilots and Lilly tried to be very military and it came out of her mouth the wrong way.

2. "The wind snaps around my eyes, tugging at my turban and goggles, burning my face with its speed.

• Pg. 96 chapter 10, by Sherri L. Smith.
• I really like how this quote gives a lot of details. 
• The way the author describes how Ida is flying, just comes together a picture in my mind.
• The choice in word in the sentence is also really thought out.

CONCLUSION

Wow! These 5 chapters were very interesting. Reading how things are done in the military with Ida makes the book very untiring. I just think it is amazing how Ida has a lot hope to become a W.A.S.P! Even though everything is going well for Ida, I predict that something bad will happen because right now, don´t see any problems.

IDA MAE JONES WANTS TO FLY

SUMMARY

Ida Mae Jones

         In the first five chapters of Fly Girl written by Sherri L. Smith, we meet our characters: Ida Mae Jones, Jolene, Thomas, Able, Grandy, and Ida's mother. In the first chapter, we learn the Ida is an 18 year old house cleaner with the hopes of becoming a pilot. Her inspiration was her father who died of a terrible accident when Ida was younger, but her father was a licensed pilot making Ida want to follow in his footsteps. In this time period, World War Two just started and Ida's older brother, Thomas (a 22 year old that is studying medicine), got enlisted in the war. This was a tragedy for Ida's family because they were all worried for him. A few years later, the war is still occurring and Able (Ida's younger brother), had seen an article in the newspaper informing about a women's flying academy to help with the war. Ida read that newspaper and was filled with joy because she never had a chance to actually fly for a good reason because women weren't permitted to fly in that time period. This flying academy was called the W.A.S.P - Women Air force Service Pilots. Since this was a once in a lifetime chance, Ida took the big opportunity and went to sign up (secretly). Since Ida had no flying license, she took her fathers and changed the photo and the name to Ida Mae Jones. When she arrived to sign up for W.A.S.P, she saw a colored women that could not sign up for W.A.S.P. A few minutes later she saw a white women that easily made it. Since Ida was a very light skinned women, she got enlisted pretending she was from Spanish culture.


QUOTES-

1. "Just remembering my first time in a plane, in my daddy's old Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny," I get goose bumps. Nothing else on Gods green Earth does that to me.

• Pg. 3, Chapter 1, Sherry L. Smith
• This quote made me impressed by how Ida is so attached to flying "Jenny".
• I think this quote shows that Ida is very attached to flying and feels a very strong connection to her father when she is in the sky.
• I also think the reason why she feels a strong connection is because her father was a pilot as well and "Jenny" reminds her of him

2. " Her interview does not take long. Three minutes later she emerges, her head held high, but her face holds the opposite of the smile her milkmaid wore. She  does not look at me or the secretary, just shakes her head and waits for the elevator to arrive."

• Pg. 43, chapter 5, Sherry L. Smith
• This quote made me angry because back then, you were judged by the color of your skin.
• I think that just because you are different from other people, it doesn't mean you should be treated differently just because those were the rules of society.
• The way the author explained how the other woman came out of the room made me understand how hurt she was, but she was strong enough to not show it.

 CONCLUSION

       The 5 chapters I read from Fly Girl show me many things like the characters, Ida's family, the war, the academy, and a lot more. At this point i really like the book and i think, it gets to the point very quickly. Due to the information from the first 5 chapters, I predict that Ida will go to the academy and have tough times, but she will learn.

THE ESCAPE

THE ESCAPE

Gabriel and Jonas going down the sled

The bird Jonas saw while he headed towards
Elsewhere

       In chapters 18 through 23 in The Giver, Jonas and the elder plan an escape. Jonas has had enough with the rules and he wanted it all to end: the fake lives, the fake love,  and the fake feelings. Jonas wanted everyone to know the truth about memories and how there is so much more. He had recently just seen what a release of a baby twin brother really meant: death. Jonas was tired and just wanted a real normal life. He and the elder both make a plan to change the lives of other people and to bring back the memories. The plan was to go to Elsewhere and give back all the memories to the people. The day before Jonas escaped, he heard that his father was going to release Gabriel, so the day after (the day of the Ceremony) Jonas took the baby and escaped with him. During the escape, Jonas had encountered many drones looking for him while he headed towards Elsewhere, but he managed to hide in the bushes. On the way, Jonas ate the meals he saved but later on, he ran out of food and water. Before the escape, the Giver gave him many memories of courage and that helped Jonas a lot. While he got closer to his destination, Jonas saw many animals like birds and other things. As Jonas got closer to Elsewhere, it got colder and colder and Jonas has gotten weaker but he doesn't give up. Once he reaches the end, he finds a sled and gets on top. he pushes himself forward and starts just like the first memory the Giver gave to him. He gains velocity and finally hears music.

       The quote I chose from The Giver is on page 163, chapter 19. The quote says "He killed it! My father killed it! Jonas said to himself, stunned at what he was realising". This quote makes me feel very sad because in the community of Jonas, they kill babies and elders without realising what they have done. It is very disappointing to here that in the book, people choose who is to die. The second quote I chose from the Giver is on page 168, chapter 20. The quote say " It was possible, what they had planned. Barely possible. If it failed, he would likely be killed". I like how the author chose the words in this quote.  I like how the author instead of making Jonas say released, he said killed. I also like how she kind of put a tone to the quote.

       These were the last chapters of the book! Oh my gosh! The ending of this book was amazing. I loved how Lois Lowry made this book very predictable to the future. Who knows? Maybe this will happen in real life. Will the future that we hold be like the book? Or, will it be completely different? Well, I guess we'll see someday.

PREPARING FOR THE NEW LIFE

PREPARING FOR THE NEW LIFE

Baby Gabriel

        In the first six chapters of The Giver, the author explains to us how life is in Jonas' community. She explains the rules and how the people should act in order for people to live a "perfect" life. In the first six chapters, we all get informed about the life of Jonas. For example, his dwelling, his parents and their jobs, his little sister Lilly, his friends Asher and Fiona,where he usually does his volunteer hours, the dream telling, the stirrings, and baby Gabriel. These chapters explain how Jonas is preparing for The Ceremony of Twelves. He is nervous about the job that The Elders will assign to him, he explained in the feelings (a ritual that everyone has to do at the end of the day). Jonas' father and mother tell him that the elders make very carful and precise decisions and that he shouldn't be worried. During the six chapters, the author explains how Jonas' father is a Nurturer for the new born.   Jonas' father has been concerned of a baby named Gabriel in the Nurturing Center, and he had asked permition to the Committee for a temporary custody of the baby. Gabriel has been put in an area for babies who have not been doing things a normal new born should do; for example, sleeping and crying to much. If Gabriel keeps on doing the things that normal new born babies shouldn't do, he will be released to Elsewhere. This is why Jonas father is concerned for the baby, because it would be a terrible thing if this would happened.

      The quote that I chose from The Giver is from page 20, Chapter 3. The quote says, "No one mentioned such things; it was not a rule, but it was considered rude to call attention to things that were unsettling or different about individuals". This quote makes me think about how complicated Jonas' life is if he can not talk about differences. Another thing this brought to my mind is that no matter what, everyone will always be different from one another and you can't do anything about it. This quote makes me feel a little angry that the future society could be forcing people to be the same and have no differences. The other quote that I chose from The Giver is from page 48, Chapter 6. The quote says "how could someone not fit in? The community was so meticulously ordered, the choices so carefully made.". This quote makes me think about why would the Elders choose the future of the citizens. What makes them think that they could just look at what someone is good at and make them get specialised in that specific talent. This quote makes me feel very uncomfortable of the fact that in the book, no one can make choices for themselves and that they have to live a "fake" life.
 
      Now that I have read the first six chapters of The Giver, I can predict that by looking at the title of the book, Jonas is going to be assigned as the Giver. So, who knows what will happen next? Will Jonas be assigned as the Giver or will he be heading towards another future? In other words, I can't wait to see what happens next!
     
         

   

THE PAIN IN RECEIVING MEMORIES

THE PAIN IN RECEIVING MEMORIES

Family Dinner

War

       In chapter 12 through 18 in The Giver, Jonas had learned and experienced many different things. He learned to see colours and there names, he had experienced what real pain feels like, he learned about what love is, he learned about "the failure" ten years ago, and he has experienced weeks without the pills for the Stirrings. At first, Jonas was very clueless about the past, but now, he has much wisdom. The Giver had given many more memories to Jonas, and one of the many memories was war. This had been devastating to Jonas because he now had memory that shows him how real pain is like. The Giver feels very sad for Jonas and what he has encountered, so what the Giver does in order to keep Jonas from suffering is give him delightful memories. One of them was the Givers favourite, love. This memory was about a family with grandparents, parents, sons and daughters all on Christmas having a good time. This memory made Jonas and the Giver come into the discussion of "the failure" ten years ago of the older Receiver of Memory. The Giver explained how the name of "the failure" was Rosemary and how he also gave her a painful memory of loneliness. After that memory, Rosemary was very sad, but she wanted more because it was her duty. The Giver kept giving more painful memories until Rosemary was heartbroken and requested for permission to get release. This is the reason why one of the rules of becoming Receiver of Memory was to not request for release to Elsewhere. This made Jonas aware that he is very brave. At that time, Jonas had not been taking the pills for the Stirrings and had been having those dreams about Fiona again. Also, Gabriel was out in Jonas' room because in there, the baby slept soundly. The reason for this was because Jonas had been giving delightful memories to the baby which was making him sleep soundly.

The passing of Memories

       The first quote I chose from the Giver is on page 208, chapter 16. The quote say "I couldn't quite get the word for the whole feeling of it, the feeling that was so strong in the room. "love," The Giver told him." This quote makes me very surprised that something so important was erased from Jonas' community. It makes me think about how fake everyone is in the community. Fake jobs, fake parents, fake love, and much more things that could be fake. No one is real in the community except for the Giver and Jonas which must make them feel so alone and apart. The second quote I chose is on page 212, chapter 16. The quote says "Jonas nodded. "Yes, thank you, I do," he replied slowly. It was his first lie to his parents. This quote , strangely, makes me proud of Jonas for stepping up and lying. Obviously lying is bad, but Jonas was brave enough to do it even though it was against the community rules. This also make me proud because Jonas is now being different from the others in a good way.

       So what might happen next? I can predict that Jonas will get caught lying or might get caught not taking his pills. I think Jonas is going well and getting better at Receiving the memories and learning more about the past generations and back and back and back. So who knows what happens next? Until next time, we'll see.

THE RECEIVER OF MEMORY

THE RECEIVER OF MEMORY

       In the chapters 7 through 12 of The Giver, the author describes how Jonas got selected as the Receiver of Memory. At first, Jonas was very nervous to here about the selection because the Chief Elder explained that being the Receiver of Memory will be physically painful in a way that no one can describe it. This made Jonas very uncomfortable until he heard the four qualities that the Elders had been looking for in order to choose him as The Receiver of Memory, these were:intelligence,integrity, courage, and the capacity to see beyond. After the ceremony, everyone congratulated Jonas for being selected to one of the most honoured careers in the community. Even though Jonas got proudly selected to Receiver of Memory, he felt apartness, because this career was done alone with the Giver. When Jonas got home, he opened up the folder that the Chief elder gave to him and read the 8 rules of being The Receiver of Memory, which were: "Immediately go to training after school hours to the Annex room and present yourself to the attendant, immediately go to your dwelling after training hours, you may ask questions and you will receive answers, do not discuss training with anyone in the community, you are prohibited from dream telling, do not apply for any medication except for illness or injury, you are not permitted to apply for release, you may lie". The next day Jonas followed the rules and went straight to training after school. Once he got to the Annex room, he saw the elder that would give him his training. The elder gave him information about being the Receiver of Memory. He told Jonas about the pain he will encounter and the things he will learn that Jonas does not yet understand. After those discussions, the elder ordered Jonas to lay down in the bed, and to take off his tunic. Once Jonas has followed the instructions, the elder put his hands on Jonas' back, and gave him the memory of snow, a sled, and a hill. At first, Jonas did not know about all of those things, but the memory gave him the explanation automatically. Jonas was astounded at the end of the memory, but the elder told him that that was the beauty, but there was a lot of pain involved. As a matter of fact, the Giver gave him sunburn as a small painful memory. The next day, the Giver (the elder) and Jonas were talking about the capacity to see beyond and how that is happening to Jonas. Once both of them talked about "seeing beyond" and how Jonas sees strange things, the Giver gave him the memory of a rainbow and its colours.


       The quote I choose from the Giver is on page 58, chapter 7. The quote says "He hunched his shoulders and tried to make himself smaller in the seat. He wanted to disappear, to fade away, not exist". I like how the author chose the words in this quote, because the way Lois Lowry described how Jonas felt is very efficient. If I was in Jonas' state, I would react the same way she described it in the book. The other quote I chose from the Giver is on page 63, chapter 8. The author wrote "You will be faced, now, with pain of a magnitude that none of us here can comprehend because it is beyond our experience. The Receiver himself was not able to describe it, only to remind us that you will be faced with it, that you would need immense courage". This quote makes me wonder what the pain will be like. Will it be physical, emotional or mental? The way this quote makes me feel is surprised because one of the jobs in the community requires someone to have great pain.


       Now that I have read chapters 7 through 12, I can understand the book more clearly. Now I know that the world Jonas was living in, is colourless. I also now understand what the meaning of the title of the book is. I am very glad that Jonas got selected as the Receiver of Memory because it's the only career that is unique from the others.