The Truth About Forever

This was one of my favorite reads in a while: Not to easy and not too hard. It also made me think about the relationships between parents and their children (or child). Like for example, what a parent wants for their child is sometimes the complete opposite of what the child wants for themselves. Should parents have control over every single thing that their kids do? Or do children get a say?
Macy is starting to think about these ideas after her super-uptight boyfriend Jason goes away to a learning camp - and Macy is left behind with her even more uptight mother for the summer. She and her mother get into serious disagreements, though. Macy just wants to be normal: to be able to go out with friends and go to parties, instead of just being referred to as "the girl who's dad died" or things like that. Her mother, on the other hand, wants to turn 180 degrees from that thought. Macy's mother wants her to be prim and proper, and always do what she tells Macy to do. Throughout the whole book I just want to scream, "Let Macy have freedom already!!"
When Macy finally finds some friends by joining a catering business, things begin to look up. Except for the fact that her mother disapproves her new friends, and limits the time she spends with them. I understand why she would want to do that (one of Macy’s new friends has gone to jail), but does she really have the power to "disapprove" of her daughter's friends?
Macy has other problems, though. Like with her boyfriend, Jason. When Kristy (a friend) tries to see deeper into her relationship with him, Macy starts to really see what her relationship has been like with him. How he's somehow "perfect", and sees Macy as a "project" to make her perfect, too. It makes her feel bad inside, like she isn't perfect enough. He makes her feel like she's not perfect in her own way, even though she is, and he shouldn't make it right for her to feel that way: He may be perfect at Brain Camp, but that doesn't mean Macy has to be too. In fact, one of my favorite parts in this book is when she realizes that.
Macy's summer wasn't perfect, but it was a way for her to discover ways she can be herself like Kristy, her one-of-a-kind friend, instead of a person that someone else wants her to be. In the end, being someone other than herself just makes her feel bad about herself.
I think that the moral of The Truth about Forever is that you have to be yourself, not someone else that people pressure you to be: whether that's prim and proper or being a “perfect”. It's not even like when adults tell you that and you know that they "just say it" to try and help you, like the "Golden Rule" and stuff. It's something that is really and truly something that can affect your life, and not just another old saying.

Happily Ever After

I'm pretty sure that we have all heard a story that begins with "Once upon a time." Usually it contains a story about kings and queens, knights and dragons, and a damsel in distress. The Tale of Despereaux is one of those books. Although it does not begin with "Once upon a time" and doesn't contain dragons, but a dungeon, it makes me think deeply about what Kate DiCamillo is trying to really say. It also makes me think about the message that she is trying to send to the reader and the depth of the story. Like in real life, is there really such a thing as happily ever after?

Despereaux's life reflects so much upon what a human's is like. Sometimes he is in doubt, and along the way he develops bravery, and the courage to stand up for the Princess Pea. Unlike any other mouse, he is brave enough to face the "real world"- one that is complete darkness, and only lit by Despereaux's love for Pea. But unlike the other mice who cower in fear, he wants to be that knight in shining armor, honoring and protecting the princess.
I guess Despereaux's actions really reflect on his feelings, and what he thinks is right or wrong. Most of all, he stands up for what he loves. Maybe we can learn from Despereaux: It's not a sin to stand out from the crowd in which you thought you once belonged- maybe it's time to move on. Maybe you were always different, like Despereaux, and you were always being pressured about being a certain way. This, in fact, happens all the time, non-stop in today's society. Being pressured about how you look or how you act are things that are considered "important," or at least seem to be. Are they, really?
This brings me also to think about Chiaroscuro, too. As a character, he is so much like Despereaux, but at the same time so different. He is the only rat in this book who likes the light, he thinks that it's beautiful.
Roscuro brings me to Miggery Sow. Although it does mention that she wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, her story is probably one of the sharpest in the kitchen. Her longing and wanting to be a princess, though, gets her into trouble with Roscuro who persuades her to capture the Princess Pea. In the end of course, everything is fine--she and her father are reunited after he sold her for a cloth, a chicken, and a handful of cigarettes when she was younger. And of course, things with Despereaux, Pea, and Roscuro are sorted out. Like happily ever after.
"Stories are light." This is what Gregory the jailer said to Despereaux. And I myself am pretty sure they are, too.