Blog post #2

We all tend to judge each other. It's not so visible at first, but we grow opinions based on what people told us or on  what we see at first glance. In Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan Lily leaves a red notebook on her favorite bookshelf at Barnes and Nobles, Dash is the first person to pick up her book and actually read it. This started the dares as well as stories and personal things about each other that they would send back and forth through this book. They would leave the book all over New York City. Things started to escalate, and Dash and Lily got really close through the book. Though they got close through a book they don't know everything about each other, or so they think they do. When Dash and Lily meet each other Dash is quick to judge because of Lily's actions. When meeting someone we tend to have a first impression of them, but that doesn't necessarily represent who that person is.

     In the beginning if the book when Dash picks up the book he reads Lily's dares and the note the left behind Lily seems a bit more confined and awkward, and in reality she more confident and outgoing because she's very cheerful and doesn't really care about other people's opinion. In the red notebook Lily says “If you ask Mark any questions about me he will not pass you the note. So no questions”, Lily seems more awkward here, but in reality she's like a unicorn full of light. “I love Christmas...the lights, the cheer, the big family gatherings, the cookies…”. Lily seems like a complicated person because she acts like two different people. People might find this weird but that's what makes Lily more interesting. Lily is someone who has more than one face, there's more than what meets the eye. This doesn't necessarily mean Lily’s true self is either in a notebook or how she is with her friends, it just means Lily is multi-faceted, she has many sides or faces to her.

      Dash is also like Lily. He acts differently in the book rather than with other people. In the book Dash seems like an open person and someone who's out of the box or thinks outside the box. In Dash and Lily's book of dares Dash says “My name is a connector of words...the truth is, I’d love to remain if only a little longer”. Lily doesn't know Dash's name because he never mentioned it in the book, so when he asked him what his name is he said this. Instead of straight out telling Lily  name she used a riddle. With people Dash acts “normal” “Really he said,...I'm not guessing.” Lily and Dash are similar. There's more than one side to them. At first he seems like Lily, someone who is confined. Dash has a complex personality because these not just one but many sides.

     When Dash and Lily meet face to face for the first time they were both shocked, but Dash was quick to judge. Dash judged so quickly because Lily was drunk. “‘Dash?’ he asked confused. This boy Dash, apparently looked at me strangely. ‘Is that our red notebook over there?’ he asked me…. ‘Your name is Dash?’” (Lily's perspective). “‘What a wasted girl. What a wasted hope....the whole thing was silly”. When Dash saw Lily drunk it changed his view on her because it's not of what he had originally thought of Lily. Around the end of the book both Dash and Lily get into jail and stay there for a while, and when they get out they separate but Lily put the red notebook into his pocket. Dash says “sly girl, she slipped me back the notebook”. Though Dash wanted to stop the notebook letters and dares, Lily wasn't done. I think Lily didn't stop because that was just one part of her that Dash saw, it wasn't who she was at her best. Lily was able to prove that when she was in the jail cell. I don't think Dash wanted to stop with the dares, it was just how she was at that point that changed him.

     I hope people can learn that we all shouldn't be quick to judge. Dash and Lily both had many sides of themselves, but when Dash first saw Lily he did judge based on what he saw. When the two of them were in a cell they got to know each other a bit more, and Dashed realized that Lily is not the type of person to get drunk all the time. People have different faces, but judging by one doesn't help.

Blog Post #1

    Shadowhunters, demons, vampires and witches, there all found and fantasy, the supernatural, the things that people find impossible, the beings that are only found in books and movies. What happens when you see these things all around you and there not explainable. Your mother goes missing without a trace. If yes, then you can relate to Clarrisa Fray or otherwise known as Clary.It might not be direct, but it can be indirect. Teenagers can relate to her Clary because she goes through things that are very new to her because of her new experiences, whether it's a new school boyfriend friends etc. Clary goes through some new experiences and at first she doesn't believe what's going on right before her eyes. She was disillusioned at first but slowly began to understand. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare shows teenagers that they are not going to know everything and they are going to go through new things that don't make sense for now, but later they will.  
    Sometimes teenagers won't make sense what's going on around them and they won't make sense of it, teens tend to freak out when these things happen. When Clary sees shadow hunters for the first time she didn't know they were shadowhunters rather they were regular people, but when she saw Isabelle, Jace and Alec about to kill the person with the blue hair, she was shocked that nobody saw this and it didn't make sense. “‘Simon!’ Clary shouted and seized his arms. ‘What? I'm not really sleeping with your mom you know.’ ‘Do you see those guys?’ The girl shot her an evil look. ‘Sorry,sorry’. She turned her back at Simon. He squinted and said ‘don't see anything.’” Things that other people couldn't see was visible to Clary. Teenagers might see things differently than others. Again, this experience isn't something that can be directly relatable to because this has to do with the supernatural. Clary saw something that nobody could see, some teenagers might see something that they see but when they ask their friends they say they didn't see anything. This doesn't necessarily mean that what you saw wasn't there just because your friend didn't see what you saw.
       Teenagers tend to think they're right all the time. Clary started seeing the “supernatural” during the party she and Simon went to. This happened because Clary’s mother,Jocelyn had Magnus (a warlock) to erase her ability to see the “supernatural”, and he would do this every two years but he missed the last time he was suppose to  it again. Clary couldn't believe that her mother did this to her. “‘The way who wanted it?’... ‘your mother’ he said ‘My mother did this to me?’ Clary demanded, but her surprised outraged didn't sound convincing to her own ears. Looking around she saw the pity in Jace’s eyes… ‘Why?’ ‘I don't know’ Magnus spread his long white hands. ‘It's not my job to ask questions. I do what I get paid to do… ‘Was it only once’.... ‘I don't think you understand.’ Clary didn't think her mother would keep such a big thing from her. Her mother took the life she was suppose to live away from her, Her mom took away her birthright.  Magnus only did what he was suppose to do.
         Most teenagers have lots more questions when they become teens. Parents usually get to wing it when their teens were younger,but they are not as gullible as they were when they were younger. The truth eventually comes out during these years. Clary never knew who her father was. She thought it was Luke because he's been with her since she was a little girl, but Luke would constantly deny it. When she learned that she was a shadowhunter, she learned new things about herself including who her real father is. “‘My mother is alive?’ ‘she is’ said Valentine… ‘Yes’ he said cutting off Jace before he could speak. ‘Jocelyn is your mother Jonathan. (Jace’s real name is Jonathan and Valentine is his dad). Valentine loved Clary's mother and had a son and a daughter. The son, Jonathan or Jace  and the daughter Clarissa or Clary, so Clary and Jace are siblings. Valentine is Clary's father. Clarys question about who her father was was answered and in the process she learns she has a sibling. The questions teens have can be answered in weird ways maybe not a long lost sibling but the questions of who my real parents are are answered.
       Becoming a teenager  excited most pre-teens becoming teens. They get to go to the movies by themselves. Watch pg 13 movies. As well as more freedom. So teens start to think they are right, but life isn't fully complete when you become a teen it's when you die. Clary thinks she's normal but finds out she's the “fantasy” which includes vampire witches and demons ect. She is not someone who has magic but who kills the bad beings with magic. She finds out that her mom kept who she is from her and she finds out her father is Valintine. I hope many teens learn from this because they go through the same thing clary goes through. It's not direct rather more indirect. Learning new things that don't quite make sense in the beginning isn't a bad thing because we learn from these experiences and those “hallucinations” that we think we see because no one else saw it is fake but in reality what we saw was real.