Wish you happy forever

                                  

Wish you happy forever, by Jenny Bowen was an interesting read. It chronicles Jenny's journey of adoption, and her founding and running of the Half the Sky Foundation ( http://halfthesky.org/en ) which has altered the running of many orphanages in China. The reader watches the how one person's passion can grow into something remarkable, and spark passion in others.

I have always wanted to adopt. I have an Uncle, and cousins who are adopted. At first it was this that intrigued me, but the book is about so much more. Yes, the author adopted two little girls from China, but the adoption part isn't her passion. Her passion is the lives of the little children (mostly girls, and kids with special needs) in Chinese orphanages. She wanted to better their lives, and found a way that stays respectful of Chinese culture. That is why she was allowed, by the Chinese government, to create a program, and bring it to a growing number of institutions in China.

I especially enjoyed how blunt and truthful she was throughout the book. She saw disturbing things while visiting perspective locations, and she didn't gloss over them. She spoke of the difficulty of having to leave kids in terrible situations, knowing that she would not be allowed to help them. Changes don't happen quickly., especially when an outsider is trying to make them.

I found it quite interesting that she was able to use early childhood education and human growth and development to finally have her ideas heard. I hate to perpetuate stereotypes, but this seems like a perfect way to appeal to an Asian country. She clearly learned to appeal to her audience's values.

Mockingjay

Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, is the third and final installment of The Hunger Games trilogy. It included many of the same themes, and issues as the previous books. That being said, this book is quite different from the others in storyline. While the other two books are centered around the Hunger Games competition, this book is firmly set in the midst of a rebellion against the government.

As with many books in the young adult category, the Hunger Games Trilogy is quite anti-government. The government, and the citizens living in the Capitol are wealthy elitists. The people living in the twelve districts are pushed down, working (farming,mining, logging...), without the hope of bettering their lives. There is mention of a large rebellion many years previous in which the districts rose up against the Capitol. After the rebellion was crushed by the Capitol, the Hunger Games were started as a way to remind the people of the Capitol's complete control.

In this book we find out about the 13th district. This area had been completely destroyed in the rebellion, and it was believed to be uninhabitable. It turns our that there is a large military complex hidden there (I picture an area like NORAD, inside a mountain, only this is unmarked). The rebellion which was just under the service in the previous books is the key storyline in this book. This book looks at how issues which originally look black and white, are rarely that way once you dig into them, as the leaders of the rebellion make questionable decisions. Katness becomes the poster-child  of the rebellion, and has to live with this even as the higher powers make decisions which she struggles with.

The book also includes the ever present love triangle, Katness' family, and Peeta's eventual PTSD. This book brings up the question of  how much can be sacrificed for the greater good?  Who gets to decided who lives and dies? When is rebellion really revenge?