Hold Still

Reading Response

Dear Caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can't.

The book Hold Still, by Nina LaCour, shows many social issues in the world by using teenagers. The main issue the book revolves around is friendship and fear.

The quite above is a note that Ingrid wrote to Caitlin, her best friend, after she committed suicide by cutting her wrists, deeply. This shows that Ingrid has been living with fear of friendship. Throughout the story Caitlin discovers her best friend's journal, and after reading it, she regrets almost everything she has ever done.

She has never noticed the fear Ingrid had in their friendship. Ingrid and Caitlin have been best friends, but Ingrid took her life away because of the fear she had of telling her best friend her opinions, on everything. 

She wanted to tell her about everything, from her feelings, to what happened in first period. Ingrid was afraid that Caitlin wouldn't care, that it would affect their friendship. 

A while after Ingrid is gone, Caitlin finds a friend, who's lesbian, and has a girlfriend. Friends are found everywhere. The book is written from Caitlin's perspective, and it seems that Ingrid's death is used as a reminder of what mistakes not to make in her friendships.

Friendship plays an important role in the book. The main character's life depends on friendship. What happens at home doesn't matter, all that matters is friendship. Friendships can change your life in many ways.

The New Jim Crow

Reading Response


How does this text address the points of view (perspectives) of other groups, especially those who usually don’t get to tell their side?



The book, The New Jim Crow, by Michelle Alexander, talks about segregation. She only talks about the perspective of one person, Jarvious Cotton, a black male. She talks about the history of his family connecting to his present, and future. She talks about only that persons perspective on what is going on, and what was going on. She connects this book to history. 


"We have not ended racial caste in America; we have merely redesigned it." [2] this is part of the introduction. Alexander gives her opinion about society now. She clearly states that we have redesigned racism instead of putting an end to it. She states what we intend to do, which is end racism, and states what is being done, redesigning it, and makes society, or 'we,' look like a villain. Anyone can read this line and say that we have done something bad through the eyes of the author.


In the introduction, she introduces the character, Jarvious Cotton, and also states her opinion, which is also the characters opinion. "The more things change, the more they remain the same" [1] Th author states this in the introduction. She says that Cotton's story uses " the old adage" [1]. In the introduction, she explains how society was like in the past dealing with the issue of racism. She explains how freedmen were threatened and killed for trying to vote, and sometimes for voting. She states "denying African American citizenship was deemed essential to the formation of the original union" in history.