Week 4 – Time Traveller

This week I was time traveller, in case you can’t read the picture it says:

1. Demi goes over to Nadia’s house to help her look for her ring.
2. Demi talks to sick Felicity.
3. Demi goes to the movies with Ethan.
4. Stella sends Demi a picture she edited of her which is her way of saying she understands.
5. Harry now has two friends! He teaches them the animal game.

Diary entry – 30/05/12

This is the most gorgeous book you will ever read, i think that it was an extremely unique idea for a story. I’ve never come across a book like this before. Even though I have never experienced what it is like to be deaf, i think this book has sort of helped me to understand what  it is like not to be able to hear. All throughout this book you are with Demi on a very personal journey, you can feel when she’s frustrated, happy, angry or even scared and you feel those emotions along with her while you’re reading. My favourite character is now Harry, he is so incredibly adorable and I love the way he explains Demi’s deafness to everyone. The end of the book was really good, it put lots of things in place and sorted out lots of issues, especially with characters like Ethan and Flawless. I think that Demi is a very strong and regular character, but she is also so interesting and that is what makes this book so special. A great read! i definitely recommend it to 12-15 year old girls, because i think they will relate to it the most, but it would be a great read for everyone 🙂

For the next two weeks, my group and i will be working on a presentation to present our books to the rest of the class, I still need to post my week 4 activity – time traveller – so i will try to do that as soon as possible!!

Diary Entry – 23/05/12

This has definitely been the best part of the book so far! So many things have happened to Demi in this section. I know this might sound bad but i wish that Demi would just let go of her ‘heary’ friends, they just seem so rude and have absolutely no idea what Demi is going through, her deaf friends are much more understanding. Ethan is definitely my favourite character at the moment and i’m so happy that him and Demi are starting to like each other! Ethan seems so sweet and i love the way he accepts Demi and doesn’t treat her differently from everyone else. The only thing I didn’t like about this section of the book was how small the issue at the market was, because Demi made such a big deal about it, and i have been waiting to find out what the issue was for so long and i was so incredibly disappointed when I found out that all the fuss was about something so insignificant. Even Jules didn’t think it was a big deal! I always find myself getting so frustrated over how pushy Demi’s mum is, she pushes Demi to go to ‘normal school’ when it is obvious she finds it very hard there. I’m really excited to continue reading this book! 

Whisper – Week 3 – Discussion Director

Q1: If you were in Demi’s situation, would you chose to go to regular school or deaf school (keeping in mind what your mother’s opinions are)?

Q2: How would you feel if you were Demi at the party when the lights were turned out?

Q3: Why do you think Demi might’ve re-watched the video of her ‘making a fool of herself’ when she was presenting her speech if it made her feel so embarrassed?

Q4: Could you relate to how Demi felt after she had spoken with Jules about what happened at the market?

Q5: What are your thoughts on Ethan? And how did you feel when you were reading the part about Demi and Ethan in the park?

Diary Entry – 16/05/12

I think I’m really starting to get into the book now. I sort of feel like Demi is talking to me and telling me everything she’s been through, like I’m a really good friend that she trusts with all her feelings and thoughts. I really want to continue reading and to find out what’s going to happen between Demi and Ethan, because I feel like there’s a connection between them. I enjoyed reading this section of the book because there were many new characters being introduced. Such as Stella, who is one of those characters that you just don’t really like from the moment they enter into the main character’s life, even though she hasn’t done anything wrong, as soon as she enters the story you can feel that she is going to things worse for Demi. I love the way the author has written this book, it’s so deep and there are so many things that everyone can relate to. I’m really looking forward to continue reading!

Whisper – Week 2 – Illustrator

This week my task was illustrator. I drew a picture of what I think Stella might look like from Demi’s descriptions;

“Her hair is white blonde with dark roots. It’s spiky at the top and then snakes into a long plait. It must be a hair extension, because the plait doesn’t quite match the texture of the hair at the top. But it definitely looks like it’s been designed that way. Nothing about this girl looks accidental. She is small and thin and about my age, but she’s not wearing a uniform. Her white T-shirt is tight, with the words ‘Rage against Audism’ in black across her chest.”

“She’s wearing a low slung studded belt, and her black jeans are frayed and ripped, exposing tartan tights underneath. Her boots are tartan too, laces undone. When she turns around i can see that she has a large camera strung over her shoulder.”

Diary Entry – 09/05/12

We take a lot of things for granted, one of those things things is the ability to hear everything around us. That is something that 14 year old Demi has been forced to live without for the rest of her life. I love the way that this book starts off, it’s slow and reflective and doesn’t give things away too quickly. It makes you think that something strange is going on and gives you clues as to what it may be. Demi is a very strong character, you can feel her anger and frustration when you’re reading this book. Sometimes I can relate to Demi, even though I am not deaf, sometimes I can relate to her feeling of loneliness and being blocked off from what’s happening around her. I love how she relates being deaf to other things in the ‘normal’ world, such as being under water when everything is silent. I fond it pretty hard to stop reading, because I was eager to read on and find out what Demi did next. I’m really looking forward to reading the next few chapters of this lovely book.

Whisper – Week 1 – Text Selector

“I lay in my sweat-soaked sheets, too weak to move. My head hurt so much that I couldn’t speak, and anyway I was too tired to call out. Why was the sliver of light coming through the gap of the curtains so bright it stung my eyes? When Mum came to check on me, her face was ragged with worry”

I really like this paragraph because it makes you feel as if you are Demi, experiencing what she is at that moment. It’s quite peaceful but at the same time painful, it made me remember the times when i was sick and uncomfortable, but it’s also peaceful because she’s alone and just reflecting on her surroundings and thoughts.

“I wanted to yell at him to wipe away the tears because dads don’t cry. And anyway, I needed to see his eye properly. I thought they might have the answers to what on earth was going on. But I still couldn’t speak. Even his hands holding mine couldn’t keep me there, and I drifted away agin.”

I like this passage because this is when Demi starts to suspect that something strange is going on, but she can’t quite put her finger on it. So she’s starting to investigate. This is also a very slow moving and reflective paragraph.

“Out of the corner of my eye I saw two men in hospital blue racing past the open door, a stretcher between them. I could see their mouths moving. I could see the wheels under the stretcher turning. Shouldn’t all that be loud? And where were the beeps of the machines, the other hospital sounds? How is it possible to mute a whole hospital scene? And why?”

This part of the first few chapters really stood out to me because it is the moment that Demi starts to get confused about things and she realises that she can’t hear anything, but it seems like she’s not letting herself think that she is deaf. She just thinks that the whole hospital has been muted, but she can’t work out why. You can really feel the panic and curiosity she’s feeling whilst reading this passage and that’s what made it stand out for me. 

“Thinking back I realise the truth was there, written in the deeply etched lines on Dad’s forehead, long before I let myself believe it. As Mum and I trudged off to specialist after specialist, those lines softened and turned into something like acceptance”

I found this passage really interesting to read because it was so descriptive and for some reason made me tear up a little, it seems like a really soft scene where Demi is reflecting on her past and what she refused to believe at the start of everything. She describes how the answers were right infront of her the entire time and she chose not to believe them. 

“I stand up. I duck under the lane rope to the lap lane and swim off, wanting the cool water to wash away the humiliation. The now-familiar feeling of missing out on the details, of being on the outer, makes me think again of that day at Nadias”

I like this paragraph because of the way Demi relates being deaf to being under water, where you can’t hear anything and you are blocked out from the world around you, this passage really helped me relate and understand what Demi feels like all the time. 

 

Whisper – WEEK 1 – Intro

Over the next four weeks i will be reading the book Whisper by Chrissie Keighery. I’m looking forward to reading this book because I think it will be interesting to read from a different perspective.

This book was my first choice. The people in my group are Melina B, Sarah F, Romy B and Ruby M. We are going to be reading 7 chapters each week and this week the activity I am doing is “Text Selector”.