250 Page Update!

Hitler is really starting to influence the young people of Germany. For one boy, it meant death. He hung himself in his closet because his parents would not let him join the Hitler-Jugend. Even when Trudi and Ingrid went to the movie, it discriminated people that were "inferior" to the Germans. It made Trudi sick. She also witnessed several boys push a woman down after she had scolded them for taunting an old Jewish man. She couldn't believe that they weren't ashamed. Trudi witnessed another cruel crime in front of Frau Weiler's grocery store. Six boys had stoned a little girl and Frau Weiler grabbed her broom and pounded whatever she could get of their bodies. The next morning she was arrested for attacking six children for one whole week.

At this point, Klaus was seeing a teacher that was his own age. Trudi is stunned and jealous. She had been answering marriage ads in the newspaper to see what men looked for in women. To see how closely these men resembled the way they had advertised themselves, Trudi answered two ads and arranged a meeting. They were both older and their impatience and discomfort seemed strange to her. She felt good about herself when they fussed over their maroon handkerchiefs; the way she would recognize them. Slowly her love for Klaus was turning into hate.

200 Page Update!

After Trudi's encounter with the boys, she was traumatized. She found it hard to eat, and she couldn't sleep. Trudi rarely left the house.
Then comes Hitler. He leaves the whole town dazed with his speeches. As Trudi looks up at him, she sees that he wants their belief without doubt; something she has resisted since first grade. Everyone was elated about his promise of new jobs and a superior race.
With Eva out of the way, it was time for Trudi to get a new friend, so she got one. Ingrid Baum was a year younger than Trudi and wanted to become a missionary. They became best friends. Trudi became aware of Ingrid and her beauty when she first met Klaus Malter. He was a gorgeous man that had eyes for Ingrid. The three of them always hung out as a group. He was a dentist and had his office across the street from Truid's home/pay-library.
That spring, in 1933, many books became forbidden. Trudi and her father had to hide many of the books in the pay-library in order to avoid arrest.
This year the circus came again and four years after that. Trudi always looked for Pia, the dwarf, but she was never there.
Oh my goodness. Trudi's first kiss. It happened unexpectedly with Klaus Malter. She didn't even realize what had she had given up until later that night. That same night she became reacquainted with Eva and her boyfriend, Alexander. Their relationship would soon become important when Jews were no longer able to marry Germans (Eva is a Jew). They got engaged soon after.
To Trudi's disappointment, Klaus seemed to pay little attention to her. In fact, he avoided her whenever possible. He even asked Eva to a dance, but she turned him down.
Then the Nazis came upon Burgdorf. Many were happy with Hitler, but others were disgusted. Trudi and her father do not trust him. They had many close friends that are discriminated against.

200 pages down. 325 to go.

To Trudi's disappointment, Klaus seemed to pay little attention to her. In fact, he avoided her whenever possible. He even asked Eva to a dance, but she turned him down.

150 Page Update!

Although trudi is ignored by Eva at school, Eva still comes over almost every day to play with Trudi and Seehund. During one of these outings, Trudi and Eva discuss their future occupations. Eva wants to be a doctor while Trudi want to be a teacher. Trudi was told by her teacher that she could never be a teacher because she was too short and the children would never respect her. Eva told her that she could be anything that she wanted to be. On one of their outings, Seehund encounters a bird in his path. He takes it in his jaw and kills it. This greatly upsets the girls, so they take it to be stuffed and add it to Eva's collection of stuffed birds.
At school, Eva is shunned by the other girls. Now that Eva was an outcast, she tried to fit in again by not choosing Trudi to be on her team. She refused to let Trudi join in, so, to take revenge, Trudi tells everyone about Eva's secret mark on her chest. For this short period of time, they pretended to be her friends.
At this time, Trudi takes notice of a boy in her class, Hans-Jurgen, that is always in trouble. She can see rage in his eyes much like her own. After she notices this, she and Eva enter his family's big barn to see the new litter of kittens. Hans-Jurgen steals one of them and pretends it is a bird. He takes it up by its tail and whirls it around in circles until he lets go. The kitten hits the wall and immediately dies. Evan and trudi were horrified.
During this year, a carnival comes to Burgdorf. In this carnival is a dwarf women elaborately dressed. Trudi has never seen anyone else like her before and takes great interest in her. Trudi is called down to be the dwarf woman's assistant. Her name is Pia, and Trudi is greatly intrigued by her. They make up a fantasy world filled with waterfalls where all their people live. After the show, Trudi goes to her trailor to learn more about other dwarves. Pia says that one day Trudi will understand how to comfort herself, but for now to take comfort in knowing there are other people out there just like them.
When Trudi was thirteen, she came across a pivotal moment in her life. After one day of swimming, she encounters her old friend Georg with three of his other friends; one including the mischievous boy, Hans-Jurgen. They find that she was spying on them and take her back to Hans-Jurgen's barn. There they explore her differences. Trudi lashes out at Seehund because she is ashamed.

150 pages down. 375 to go.

100 Page Update!

This was an intersting fifty pages. Trudi turns four and her aunt Helene and cousin Robert come to visit from America. Trudi sits Robert down and they both look into the mirror. She notices the Montag chins and foreheads and the silver-blonde hair. She also notices Robert's high stature. She believes that one day she will grow to be his size and continues to want to follow in his path. Because she idolizes Robert, she wants to take up the piano so that she can be like him. All the while Robert was thoughtful and accommodating. He followed her wherever she went. Trudi had never had a real friend before. She was upset when they had to go back to America because she no longer had anyone to talk to besides her father. That was until she took notice of her neighbor Georg. Georg Weiler was the boy next door. He was forced to wear girl's clothing and his hair long because his mother had wanted a girl. For this, he was never part of a group and the children never wanted to play with him. From that day on, they always played together; the two children that had never fit in.
That year also brought thick rain which brought upon Georg's father's death. He had drowned and nobody had even heard a splash. Though Trudi had realized her mother would come back, Georg still believed his father would return back to him. Later in life Georg would become a liar, but he would never lie to Trudi.
This part of the book also brought changes for Georg. He insisted that Trudi cut his hair short. She did it with hesitation. This angered Georg's mother, but Leo Montag said that it was about time that he had cut his hair like a man. Georg's mother couldn't argue, and from that day on, Trudi and Georg's relationship would never be the same. Georg would be able to fit in, but Trudi would still be a dwarf.
This year was also Trudi's first year of school. The girls would never let her join in their games, and this infuriated Trudi. She would fight tears and would think of ways to take revenge. She called them bad names in her mind, and she felt ashamed of herself. Leo felt sorry for his daughter and bought her a new puppy. This puppy would become one of Trudi's best friends. She named him Seehund, meaning seal. This puppy also helped her to befriend a girl named Eva. Eva never wanted to be seen walking with Trudi and Seehund, so they stayed close to Trudi's home. Trudi thought that things would change at school with her new friend, but Eva continued to ignore her. Trudi felt hurt and betrayed.

100 pages down. 425 pages to go.

Getting Started (first 50 pages)

The beginning of the book takes place from 1915-1920 in Burgdorf, Germany. We are introduced to Leo and Gertrud Montag. Leo has just arrived home early from the first World War and is reunited with his wife Gertrud. Nine months later they have a baby girl named Trudi (short for Gertrud). Trudi is not a normal child. She was born a Zwerg, or dwarf. For this, her mother refuses to look, or even touch, her own daughter. As time progresses, Gertrud slowly becomes crazy and hides herself in a "nest" under the house. The only time she could be coaxed out was when Leo made her hold Trudi. From that day, Trudi was the only person that could lure her out. Because Gertrud kept running away, they had to lock her up in a room upstairs. One of the doctors suggested that they take her to an asylum. Leo refused, but later had to resort back to this idea. Several years pass while Gertrude goes from the asylum back to her home. Before she goes back to the asylum, for the last time, she tells Trudi that when she comes back things will be much better between them. She never got the chance. Gertrud dies there and Trudi won't accept that fact. To occupy her time, Trudi continues to pray for her growth and hangs from the door frame. At night, she wraps her head to keep it from growing. She longs to be a normal person with long limbs that grow tall instead of wide.

50 pages down. 475 to go.

Reading History

Who doesn't love reading, honestly? If you don't like to read, well, that's just silly. You should be punished. No, I'm just joking, but I do love to read. I spend most of my time immersed in the text of a good book. There are so many good books out there. Indian Killer and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie, were the best books I have read so far this year. Indian Killer is highly suspensful and dark while The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is hilarious and comical. I think it only took me three days to read Indian Killer and two days to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. I couldn't put them down. I highly recommend them for anyone to read.
There aren't very many books that I don't like. Once I start reading something I have to finish it, no matter how bad it is. One of the worst books that I have ever read was The Scarlet Letter. It probably wouldn't have been a bad book if I had been able to understand it. There were too many symbols and hidden meanings, and I often found myself drifting away. I am also very angry at New Moon right now.
My favorite place to read must be in my room, on the bed, curled up in a blankie. It's so cozy and it gives me warm fuzzies.

Here We Go

I am reading Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi. It was published in 1994.