My Favorite of 2012

Beginning classes early for our AP English class gave us a chance to start sooner and get additional work done. Until today, our class has read and discussed different types of literature, for example speeches, autobiographies, memoirs, and a few novels. Out of all the pieces of literature read until today, my favorite would have to be one of the first couple of essays we read, which is "Graduation" by Maya Angelou. This essay could be considered my favorite because the story is one we could relate to and picture ourselves in her place because it is the day of her graduation. Our graduation is a year and a half from now, which is not too long. In the story, she is graduating eighth grade as the end of her school life. However, our ending is high school, even though we still have colleges or universities to attend to and start taking classes that can affect our future. I can tell that, already, the students in my class are getting excited to graduate and leave what they think is our torturous high school. Even Maya Angelou states that her school is torture, but they only had to be there until eighth grade. An additional four years, and who knows what she would have described her school as. Even though this essay was read a while ago, compared to the other ones we recently read, I can clearly remember it because it makes me think of where we are going to be a year and a half from now.

Birthrates are Dropping

-U.S. birthrate falls to lowest level ever recorded

-Jon Bardin, Los Angeles Times

-November 30, 2012

-http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-us-birth-rate-falls-to-lowest-level-ever-recorded-20121130,0,1776253,print.story

Last year, the birthrate of the United States was recorded to be the lowest it has ever been since 1920. It is said that this drop has been due to immigrant women who cannot afford to have children. The birthrate during the Baby Boom after the second World War was 122.7 babies per a thousand women. Last year, it was approximately half of that at sixty three point two babies per a thousand women. The Pew Research Center is partly focused on the differences of demographic groups, and they noticed the drop in foreign women's birthrates. The birthrate for Mexicans in the United States was the most dramatic, by twenty-three percent, while all other foreign-born's birthrates dropped by fourteen percent. The Latinos have also had the most economic problems. However, the babies born from women born in the United States dropped from about sixty-two, to only about fifty-nine. The states that had the largest amount of birthrate drops, were the states that had the most economic issues. Thirty-eight years from now, the majority of children will be born from immigrants.

A Memoir of My Own

In 2010, I decided I needed a change in my life. This led to my decision of changing schools for my high school years. After attending Pilibos for about ten years of my life, I went to Clark Magnet High School for a year. At this school, I felt not much different than I did at Pilibos, except I was not surrounded by the amazing people that were at Pilibos. Yes, I met new people, but they were not the same as my Pilibos friends. I tried comparing them to one another, but that did not work out because they were completely different people. My new school was not a public school, nor was it a private. There was no specific uniform, but instead an extremely strict dress code. We also had "odd and even days". This meant that we had every odd period on odd numbered days, and even period on even numbered days, except for our every day seventh period. There was also a period of enrichment which was about an hour a day, where we could go to whichever teacher we wanted to (and got an "Enrichment Pass" from) and get help from them. It could be for a club meeting, receiving help for homework due the next day, or possibly even exercising by heading to the gym. I enjoyed my year at Clark, but I realized I missed my Pilibos family too much, and I had to return. My experience at Clark was different than my entire life at Pilibos, and I learned that not all schools have same family vibe that you receive from a little private school like Pilibos.

It Matters if You are Black or White

-"Blacks Twice as Likely to Die of Coronary Heart Disease as Whites"

-Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times

-November 6, 2012

-http://www.latimes.com/news/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-blacks-twice-death-rate-coronary-heart-disease-as-whites-20121106,0,5490002,print.story

A study done by doctors from University of Alabama shows that African-American men and women are twice more likely to suffer and die from coronary heart diseases than whites. There is actually a huge difference between the statistics for whites and blacks, even though the rates have dropped since the 1970s. The drop was more for the whites than the blacks. Between 2003 and 2007 almost twenty-five thousand were tested to see if they had coronary heart diseases, and were tested again in 2009. They found that about 659 people were diagnosed with having these heart diseases, and black men had a fifteen percent higher chance of suffering, and black females had forty eight percent chance over white females. Even though they were all the same age, the black men even had a higher chance of smoking, having diabetes, low kidney function, and high blood pressure and body mass index. Even fifteen thousand Latinos, with South American, Mexican, and Cuban backgrounds that participated in another study, showed that eighty percent of the men and seventy-one percent of women had at least one risk factor leading to a heart disease; twenty-five percent of Puerto Ricans had at least three. Even if the percentages are low for whites, they still must be careful to stay away from these diseases.

Three Virtues

The three virtues that I chose to follow from Benjamin Franklin's list of thirteen were temperance, frugality, and cleanliness. I have been trying to follow these three for the past three days, and in my opinion, I had done them successfully.
Temperance: The reason I had done this successfully was because first of all, I do not drink alcohol. Second of all, whenever I would eat, I ate until I was full and not until my stomach was overfilling with food. Even though for two days in a row I had eaten the same thing, I still ate it to a point where I was full, and not about to vomit from having too much food in my system. If I was not hungry, I would not eat. It was not that difficult to keep myself from eating too much because that has never really been a problem for me. Even after having all the saved up candy from Halloween, I did not eat them all at once, but instead a couple each day.
Frugality: I truly believe that I had not wasted anything this weekend, except for some time. I took naps on Saturday and Sunday, and that time could have been spent doing other things. For this reason, I had less time to do other things with my day. In the sense of wasting money, I feel like I had not done that because the only time I actually went shopping was Saturday night. I purchased only what I thought was needed which were clothes and a cupcake that had part of the proceeds going to the Success for Kids foundation.
Cleanliness: This, along with temperance, was not difficult to follow because it is just a part of my routine. Brushing my teeth twice a day, washing my hands before and after eating, washing my face, and taking a shower every other day are things that I am already used to doing. However, cleaning my room was not a part of my routine, but I still did it to follow this virtue. Although right after cleaning my room, I found that a day later, the mess slowly started to reappear. Other than that, I felt I was successful in this virtue.

Going on a Jog Could be Dangerous

-"Female Jogger Stabbed Repeatedly; Suspect Flees on Bicycle"
-Rick Rojas, Los Angeles Times
-October 24, 2012
-http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/police-search-for-man-who-attacked-orange-county-jogger.html
Recently, a twenty-eight year old woman was jogging at night at Orange County in the small community of Rossmoor, when she was attacked and stabbed multiple times. After the man stabbed her repeatedly, he jumped on his bicycle and escaped. Even though the woman was able to knock the knife out of his grasp and run away, he was able to catch up to her. She had stab wounds in her arms and hands, and by trying to break free, she was stabbed in the face as well. Thankfully, a person living in the area heard her screams, yelled at the man stabbing the jogger, and the attacker jumped on his bicycle and rode away. Also, the woman was treated for her stab wounds and did not have any life-threatening injuries. The attacker seemed to be angry, which could be the reason he decided to stab this woman rather than attempt to rape or rob her.

And the Sympathy Goes to...

There are reasons for me to be sympathetic for both Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. However, I probably feel more sympathetic towards Roger Chillingworth. He was away from his wife for two years, comes back excited to finally be reunited with his wife, then figures out that she has cheated on him. I would feel sorry for anyone who had to suffer through hardships like this. Even after Chillingworth passed away, he left a bit of inheritance to Pearl. Pearl was not even his child, but he still cared about her. Yes, Dimmesdale did suffer with his sickness. However, if he had not committed this sin, then he would not have to suffer. Dimmesdale also was supposed to run away with Hester, but him dying before the trip was like his karma. Chillingworth did say he was going to get his revenge, and he did. Chillingworth suffered more, but did not show it as much. In a sense, he stayed strong, not showing emotion towards the events that occurred with his wife, whom he did not even marry because he loved her (which is another reason to why I sympathize for him). Even though Dimmesdale attempted to hide his emotions, Hester noticed that the tone of his sermons were changing, and in my opinion, he was making it seem too obvious that he was the father of Pearl.

The Scarlet Letter

"The effect of the symbol-or rather, of the position in respect to society that was indicated by it-on the mind of Hester Prynne herself, was powerful and peculiar. All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by his red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline, which might have been repulsive, had she possessed friends or companions to be repelled by it" (Hawthorne 112).

This quote is said by the narrator, describing Hester Prynne's feelings towards the scarlet A on her chest. She felt that the letter showed people that she was powerful, and she was flaunting the letter rather than feeling ashamed of it and trying to cover it up. She thought it was odd that committing the crime and having this punishment for it could give her such power and strength. The light in the second sentence of the sentence shows her disguise, that had been ruined by the A. All of the "light" had changed or faded away. All that was left of her was just herself, as if a tree that had lost all its leaves. The A had degraded her, and if she had any friends, they would have been driven away from her due to the letter. Although other people thought the letter made her weaker, she thought it made herself stronger. This quotes importance is that Hester finally realized what the A really means to her.

A Hidden Note, Found

-"Hiker thrilled after note he left on peak in 1972 is found"
-Los Angeles Times
-October 8, 2012
-http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/10/hiker-note-mountain-peak.html
A man who left a note on the peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, had his note found after forty years. He left the note when he went on a hike with his boy scout group. On the paper, Tim Taylor wrote his name, the date, and for whoever found the note to write back. Forty years later, a sixty-nine year old man hiking with his son and grandson, found the note in the Milestone Mountain area. Sixty-nine year old Larry Wright tried to contact Tim Taylor, but had no luck. Five years after leaving the note, Taylor moved to attend USC for three years, then to Georgetown Law School. Since Larry Wright had no luck finding him in the La Canada area, he published the story in the local newspaper, and Taylor began to receive calls from relatives and friends who lived in that area and read the article. Tim Taylor chose to climb this peak because no one else had before, and it was his chance to have the mountain named after him. The ironic part is, that Wright and his family were traveling to the same river that Taylor had hiked to after leaving the note.

CPR Trained Coworkers

-"Office workers trained in CPR make life-or-death difference"
-Steve Lopez, Los Angeles Times
-October 6, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1007-lopez-cpr-20121007,0,3749406,print.column
About a month ago, a man remembers being in his office was reading an email when his heart had gone into sudden cardiac arrest. This man, Jerald Gale, had been treated for blockage a few years ago and was said to be healthy and in no danger of suffering any problems. However, he was lucky to have a CPR trained coworker. Another of his coworkers called 911, but Kathleen Weiler immediately knew that she should perform CPR on Gale. She was trained years ago when she was a Girl Scout, and decided she should repeat the training since she had five children along with eighteen grandchildren. The situation with her coworker, was the first time she needed to perform CPR on an actual person. Her and another coworker had to continue the process for about twenty minutes, until paramedics finally arrived. Gale was actually very lucky to survive, considering the amount of time his heart stopped pumping. He went home with a defibrillator implant in his heart, which are said to give people a larger chance to surviving a cardiac arrest. Having CPR trained employees and portable defibrillators stationed at a specific place makes it safer for people, which is why casinos seem to be one of the safest environments. There are cameras installed, defibrillators, and employees trained in CPR all over the place.

Pearl's Biological Father

The Scarlet Letter is most likely one of the most intriguing and mysterious novels we have read in class. We have found out that Roger Chillingworth is Hester Prynne's husband and a doctor, but not Pearl's father. We have also been introduced to a few other characters. The one I predict to be the father of Pearl is either the governor, or Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. I feel as if it could be the governor because he is very quiet about everything. It is like he does not want to say a word because he might say one wrong word, revealing his huge secret of being Pearl's father. The governor also purchased a pair of gloves from Hester, maybe to have some money to support Pearl. However, the reason I believe it may be the reverend, is because he is too involved in Hester's life. He was the one who was nervous about questioning Hester of who the father was, probably as a test to see if she would reveal his secret. Reverend Dimmesdale and Governor Bellingham both have reasons to believe that they are guilty of causing Hester Prynne to commit her crime.

Strongest Six-year-old

-"'Mrs. Bieber,' Avalanna Routh, dies of cancer at age 6"
-Amy Hubbard, Los Angeles Times
-September 26, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-avalanna-routh-died-mrs-justin-bieber-20120926,0,5282471,print.story
Avalanna Routh was a six-year-old girl who had a type of cancer that was said to be specifically for toddlers, and it arises in the brain (known as an atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor). Researchers have said that they have had a difficult time searching for a cure to this type of cancer, and Avalanna was lucky to have lived until the age of six. She was diagnosed at the extremely young age of only ninth months. Doctors had to do any treatment they could, no matter how extreme, to cure this terrible disease, by doing "extremely intensive chemo, directly into fluid surrounding the brain and tumor, combined with radiation therapy". Even after this and many other types of chemotherapy, she still had an exciting and optimistic personality, mostly any person would if they had met celebrities such as Justin Bieber. Avalanna's parents had done numerous amounts of fundraisers and trying to raise awareness for their daughters disease. However about two months ago, therapies had come to a halt, and last Wednesday, she had passed away.

Healthy Video Games

-"Some video games can help fight cancer, obesity"
-Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times
-September 19, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-some-video-games-can-help-fight-cancer-obesity-20120918,0,497975,print.story
Lately, there has been research about video games helping a persons health rather than harming it. For example, Dance Dance Revolution keeps people moving and can reduce risk of obesity. Even though they are not actually doing the dance moves, they are still constantly moving around and exercising. Another game, Packy and Marlon, educates children about diseases, such as diabetes, and influences them to take care of themselves to not be diagnosed with such diseases. Games for Wii Sports, e.g. boxing and bowling, are helpful to the elderly, keeping them active. These games are said to also help the elderly who have suffered from a stroke, or even Parkinson's disease. Pediatric cancer patients have even tested out a game that is designed to help them return to their state before being diagnosed with cancer, and help them regain their energy by using visuals. Researchers have said that visuals have helped athletes recover after their injuries. Video games have yet to improve in the health area, but these games are produced much quicker than actual treatments are.

Kids and Candy Cigarettes

-"Candy cigarettes and 'Toddlers and Tiaras'"
-Rosie Mestel, Los Angeles Times
-September 15, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-candy-cigarettes-toddlers-tiaras-20120914,0,1531305.story
There was outrage after Destiny, a four-year-old girl on a show called "Toddlers and Tiaras", pretended to smoke a candy cigarette for one of her performances, trying to mimic the stars in the musical, 'Grease'. Destiny's mother had talked to Nancy Grace about allowing her to perform this, and had said that her daughter knows about the harms of smoking, and the candy cigarette was simply a prop. Amanda Marcotte, along with everyone else had a few thoughts on this topic, and decided to write about it. In this column, she wrote about how pageants have affected society. This show is an example of how one should not raise their children because they are being spoiled and taught that their looks are what matter most, at such a young age. The article continues on to explain that a study in 2007 showed that these candy cigarettes might cause children to start smoking when they grow older. These candies are no longer found in a few select countries, or have been renamed as "candy sticks" rather than "cigarettes".

Sinners are Scared

In the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by Jonathan Edwards, many important aspects were discussed. Three that are significant for this speech would be the occasion, audience, and tone. The occasion was during the Great Awakening in the mid-1740's, in Connecticut. The significance of this is that one could tell that the speech will be religious because of the time that Jonathan Edwards presented it. The audience that Edwards was speaking to, were the sinners. By sinners, he meant all human beings, since everyone has sinned. What makes this differ from the other speeches, is that it is speaking to literally everyone rather than a small group of people, or the leader of a specific place. The way he was talking to the audience (his tone), was the same throughout the entire sermon. Edwards spoke in a threatening, didactic, boring, and fearful tone. The way he spoke was for the people to realize that he was attempting to scare them and make them feel like they were all terrible people. Although he spoke with such a tone, people understood what he was trying to point out.

Who Knows About Popular?

-"Popular kids more likely to smoke, research says"
-Mary MacVean, Los Angeles Times
-September 6, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-popular-smoking-20120906,0,4687714.story

Research shows that teenagers who are popular in high school are more likely to start smoking. A professor at USC's Keck School of Medicine, Thomas Valente, surveyed almost 2,000 students from Latino high schools asking if they had ever smoked, if they had smoked in the last month, how their friends felt about smoking, if people around them smoke, and who they were close with. A few of these questions were used to determine whether that student was popular or not. The percentage of ninth graders who said they had smoked was almost twenty-six percent, but tenth graders were twenty-eight percent. This research showed that the students' peers were the ones who influenced their behavior. Thomas Valente said that in a few high schools, "smoking and popularity go hand-in-hand" and shows that one has matured. However in other high schools, students that are popular do not smoke at all. As previously stated, these students were only one ethnicity, and from an urban area, therefore the results could be different in other areas. 

I scream for Ice Cream!

This may not cross one's mind every day, but what actually is the best ice cream flavor? An IDFA ice cream company had a survey this year, with the results for the most popular ice cream flavor being vanilla. However, I could not be able to decide what my favorite flavor of ice cream would be if my life depended on it. Although, if I were given a gallon of vanilla ice cream, I could eat it, and eat it, and eat it. If I were given another flavor of ice cream, I would still eat it, but it would easily make me sick. For example, chocolate ice cream, or any ice cream with a chocolate base, is a flavor that I cannot enjoy much of due to how strong the flavor is for me. There is an endless amount of toppings that you can add to vanilla ice cream, and have it taste much better than they would with another strongly flavored ice cream. If I had the choice of combining vanilla ice cream with any other topping, my first choice would be cookie dough. Since I cannot decide on one flavor of ice cream being my favorite, another one of my favorites would be cookie dough. When kids make cookies with their parents, they always find a way to snatch a bit of the cookie dough. This ice cream topping is a way for children to have their favorite one of their favorite uncooked treats without having to do it furtively, which is why it is one my childhood favorites. 

Calorie Counting

-"Calorie limits don't extend life span but might keep you healthier"
-Rosie Mestel, LA Times
-August 30, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-calorie-restriction-death-20120830,0,6696302.story

Scientists have tested on mice that eating fewer calories than normal has lead to them living fifteen to twenty percent longer than they should, leaving researchers thinking that humans have the possibility of living at least an extra day. However, when they had done these tests on monkeys, they had lived on average the same amount of time that a monkey that consumed more calories would. Even if it did not increase their life span, they had a lesser chance of being diagnosed with cancer, and appeared younger. By appearing younger, they meant in metabolic aspects, having lower blood sugar and lower cholesterol. This study "...suggests that what has proven true for rodents and various other animals may not hold true for primates — humans included..." (Rosie Mestel, LA Times). The same research was also done  in 2009 in Wisconsin, but had extremely different results. The researchers do not know how to explain this, but say it might have been because they had served different foods. 

"The Declaration of Independence"

As we read "The Declaration of Independence" in class, we discussed the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone, as we have done for all essays thus far. For this, the three factors that I would like to explain are the speaker, audience, and purpose. While discussing this essay, we learned that the speaker is not necessarily always the author. Even though the author was Thomas Jefferson, he was speaking on the colonists behalf, making the colonists the speakers. This showed that they all agreed with one another, and all thought the most important object, even though it may be abstract, was independence. The audience of this essay is King George III, but that is only for the beginning, when Thomas Jefferson states all of his flaws. The ending is when he began to speak to the American colonists, bringing in the purpose to try inspiring and persuading them to fight for what they believe in. "...we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" (Thomas Jefferson, 195). Jefferson states that those three were important to them, and they were all taken away due to King George III's corrupt ways of ruling. However, they could not allow King George III rule as if it was okay, and hope for the best. They could only fight for what they hoped to reacquire.

Think twice about tattoos

-"FDA and CDC warn that tattoo ink can be hazardous to your health"

-Karen Kaplan, LA Times

-Published August 23, 2012
-http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-tattoo-ink-infection-20120823,0,6307613.story

There is apparently no law against making tattoo ink sterile, except that it is only supposed to use ingredients that have pre-market approval. Tattoo ink can give people a disgusting infection called nontuberculous mycobacterial. This infection is said to be difficult to treat, and takes a long period of time to heal. "Department investigators ultimately tracked down 14 tattoo parlor customers with definite M. chelonae infections, four more who probably had it, and one more who was suspected of having it. These customers – 13 men and six women – ranged in age from 18 to 48" (Karen Kaplan, LA Times). Kaplan explains that this infection can be received from any tattoo parlor at any age and any gender.The article continues to explain how all but one patient required treatment, and they all healed. Even if a person goes to the number one tattoo parlor in the entire country, there is still the risk of being infected. The FDA inspected a line of premixed inks in Arizona, and found that they contain the same organism that causes the infection, and the company recalled the inks. 

Speaking of "Salvation"...

One of the essays we read in class was called "Salvation", by Langston Hughes. As a class, we discussed the speaker, occasion, audience, purpose, subject, and tone. Three of these aspects that I would like to discuss are the occasion, subject, and tone. The occasion for this essay was Hughes's connection with Jesus in the church when he was twelve years old. However, Hughes lied about this connection, leading to the subject which was loss of faith. By saying, "I was saved by sin when I was going on thirteen" (Hughes 179), he tells us that he was still only twelve years old. His tone in the beginning was expected and confused because he was expecting to have the connection, but he was confused because it was not as easy as he thought it would be. He was not receiving the connection as easily as everyone else. Hughes's tone changed to sadness when his friend left him alone and faked his connection to Jesus. "So I got up" (181). Hughes finally decides that he should fake his connection too, and because of this, the tone changes to Hughes being hopeless and guilty. This story ends with Hughes describing to us how he was crying because of his guilty feeling, for lying to his family and everyone about his connection with Jesus. He loses his faith in Jesus because He was not there when Hughes needed him most. All of the aspects aforementioned connect to each other, but the three I explained, in my opinion, are the most important to make the story easier to understand.

Islands, anyone?

-http://www.latimes.com/business/realestate/la-fi-islands-20120819,0,1030332,full.story
-"Looking to buy an island?" by Lauren Beale, LA Times
-Published August 19, 2012

Buying a private island is apparently not as expensive as we thought it would be. Lauren Beale, LA times journalist explains how Chief Executive Chris Krolow said that islands can be bought for less than $50,000 from a company called Private Islands Inc. Most of the buyers of these private islands are usually the American, Canadian, or British. However, as island prices began to drop in a few areas, people began to become more intrigued by the idea of buying an island.  Many of these island owners are celebrities because that is their private area; they can be there by themselves, and not worry about what they are doing because no one is there to bother them. Either way, there are only two groups you could possibly fall into for buying an island. "Island buyers tend to fall into two groups: people who are making lifestyle choices and entrepreneurs developing resorts" (Lauren Beale, LA Times). Beale explains that people either buy islands for their own personal privacy, or to try to open hotels or other businesses. This article continues to explain real examples of people who have purchased islands, why they did, for what price, and other aspects. It also explains how not everyone should own an island. "Beyond the cash needed, hurdles may include receiving building permits and environmental issues" (Lauren Beale, LA Times). Beale explains how buying an island is not as easy as it seems. Although it may be cheap, one needs to adapt to the environment, or have a building permit if they wish to build a house. Even though buying an island is not as expensive as we thought, it is not as easy either.

My Favorite Book

In my 16 years of life, I have read many different stories. From books written by Dr. Seuss, to J.K. Rowling, it is difficult to pick my favorite out of all the different choices. However, from the many recent books that I have read, my favorite would have to be The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. We read this book as a class assignment, and when we were assigned to read a chapter or two, I had to resist myself from reading on. I could never predict what would happen next because it was all unexpected. Whichever page I read had at least a few words to surprise me. The friendship of the main characters, Amir and Hassan, was a friendship that anyone wished to have, until it began to slide downhill. Hassan was raped trying to save a kite that was important to Amir, and Amir watched and did not try to help his friend at all. This showed that Hassan was a better friend to Amir, than Amir was to Hassan. Keeping the secret of Hassan's rape was torturous to Amir, and he was haunted by it day and night.After finding out about Hassan's death, Amir, in a way, redeemed himself. He was asked to save Hassan's son, who was at an orphanage, being tortured by the same man responsible for the rape of Hassan. If there is anyone who has not read the book and does not like to read, they are lucky because there is also a movie which is exactly like the book. Anyone who reads The Kite Runner will easily understand not only what is happening in the book, but also the true meaning of being a friend.