1. Group G - arivet25

In my book The surprising power of a good dumpling by Wai Chim the characters are feeling different and overlooked in some ways because they are Asians and the children go to a school in Montgomery where the people are different ethnicity's. The Asian family owns a restaurant in a small town and one of the oldest children constantly feels different from most children her age due to her ethnicity and family issues. She hardly has any friends and does not do much outside of school due to her moms mental illnesses and father business causing her to have to babysit 24/7. While in school the girl feels very overlooked and different from her peers do to being a immigrant and not being able to make much out of herself." I dont like the look she gave me." ( Chima 30) The people at school and people around her new town are doing the overlooking and not giving her the time of day or chance to show who she really is as a person. The book you are reading seems very interesting and relates well to the ted talk we watched. My question for you is did Oscar ever get out of his spiral of not wanting to do anything and find better friends? 

In my book Infinite Country by Patricia Engel it talks about Talia is the main character and Mauro and Danta are her “little helpers”. All three are getting sent to a child prison camp in Bogota, Columbia. While they are there They are trying to escape. With many failed attempts Taila thinks of an amazing idea. She thinks if she ties up one of the nuns that are watching them they will be able to escape. Based on my book a quote that relates is when Sister Susana called Talia to the main office when talia fist arrived at the camp. Sister Susana stared to say "your not like other girls" Talia wanted to say she was so she would not be being singled out. (Engel 3)Taila is feeling different because she is not like every other girl in the camp. 

In my book Rez Ball by Byron Graves, Tre Brun has dreams of leading his school's team to a state championship for basketball and making it to the NBA. He had an older brother who died in a car accident who was the leader of the team. Almost everyone knows him as Jaxon's younger brother, except Khiana who came to the school recently and are spending a lot of time together. Tre works really hard for the sport he loves and just needs to make varsity for the first time. 

Tre feels overlooked by basically everyone that knew who his brother was. They don't believe that he could ever be the top scorer or the team captain, like he was. Upperclassman to his parents don't think he could ever be as good as Jaxon. This just makes Tre push harder for what he knows he can do. “...I wait for him to say something about me maybe someday breaking Jaxon’s record. Or something about me. Really, anything about me.” (Graves 45). His own dad doesn't believe in him or doesn't want to believe in him. This disbelief and overlooking in everyone is really just a driving force in his training, he wants to prove he's good enough.

In my book, The Only Road, by Alexandra Diaz, Jaime and his cousin Angela flee Guatemala to live in New Mexico with Jaime's brother after a gang, called The Alphas, kills Angela's brother Miguel. They face lots of trouble along the way like greedy immigration officers, and other gangs and cartels. Jaime and Angela both feel overlooked by lots of people on their way to the US. They need a place to stay and food to eat, and no one is willing to help them. Finally they find a place to sleep and eat in an old run-down church, led by a kind man. Pretty much everyone overlooks Jaime and Angela. They feel different because lots of people hate them for being of Mayan ancestry, as well as being immigrants.

in my book "sway with me" by Syed M. Masood is a book about an Indian boy named Arsalan, he is considered weird by his peers because of how he dresses, acts, and talks. He goes to an Indian math maker's daughter, Beenish, for help getting a girlfriend. She agrees but only if he dances with her in a dance competition. he feels different because the fact he's being raised by his great grandfather and wear his uncles old clothes, others ignore him because of the way he dresses and how focused he is in school. after years of being treated this way he now wants a girlfriend. “What are you wearing? Extra virgin. Nerd scout. You're the strange one here.” (Masood 103)  these are all things how dance partner beenish has called him and that effected him. 

In my book Rani Patel In Full Effect by Sonia Patel it talks about a young Indian girl in Hawaii. Rani is bullied and teased for who she is. She lives with her mom and dad, who are in an arranged marriage. One day Rani is out and catches her father cheating, which was something she has suspected without proof.  This event turned her life upside down, and she shaved her head in response. Rani’s father is a terrible person, who has abused her and caused suffering to the family. He emotionally abuses the mother which makes her constantly want to end her life. Growing up Rani has always fixed their marriage problems, and stopped her mother from ending her life countless times. During these times, her dad sat watching, doing nothing. Rani knows this is a situation she can't fix. The mother  has always obeyed her husband, done all the work, and overworked herself. She never stood up for herself, choosing silence. However the father comes home and says he wants the girl he’s cheating on her with to come and live with them. After Rani and her father have an argument for the first time about the situation. The mother finally stands up for herself and says she wants a divorce and tells him to get out. Coming from a culture where husbands are god and arranged marriages are the only option, this is huge. Rani is struggling with all this change but she pushes it down because she thinks it could be worse and she shouldn’t be complaining. She uses music, writing rap, and poems to cope. After every event so far with her dad and her mother, she goes in her room and listens to music and writes rap/ poems/ She also works a lot at a shop, and at a restaurant. At the store she meets an older man that is 28 years old who she has fallen for. The man's name is Mark.  They have become friends, but Rani wants more. She tells him about how she writes rap/ poems. This is something no one else knows about her. As she expresses herself with this man they grow closer. 

In my book, it isn’t the main character that is being overlooked. My book, the mother is the character who is being overlooked. The mother is being overlooked by her husband. I realized this in the beginning when he ignores his wife and goes to cheat on her. “They sauntered arm-in-arm. When they got near the only faint light fixture, I saw him chatting away and gazing down at her. She was looking up at him, all bright eyed, like a fascinated student. The way I used to look at him. They stopped for a second and he leaned in for a kiss.” (Patel 34) The main character Rani catches her father cheating. Sure they have an arranged marriage. However that doesn’t mean he should not treat her right, ignore her, and treat her of little importance. He has never shown the mom an ounce of affection. “Dad’s never talked to Mom like this… Dad’s never kissed Mom in public. Come to think of it, I’ve NEVER seen him kiss her. But he’s kissed…” (Patel 35). The Dad has been trying to hide that he was cheating, and that he doesn’t love the mom. However, now, the truth is out. The mother has done most of the work for this family, and the dad has done little to nothing. He can’t even show some basic affection like a nice conversation. This shows that the mother is being overlooked by her husband.