#CharacterConnections

Created by Emma from Emmmabooks

Today’s discussion also happens to be my challenge for the Biannual Bibliothon.

The challenge: Discuss no more than two characters that you have connected with on a more personal level. And then pick a situation that the character was in and discuss what they should have done differently if you feel that they should have done something differently. It is possible that you don’t think a character should have done something differently.

The rules: simply leave a link to your post in the comments of this post.

I have made it no secret how much the first book I read this year has impacted me in a way that no book has ever impacted me before. The first book that I read this year which is also still my favorite book that I have read this year was A List of Cages by Robin Roe. It is the first book that I saw myself represented in and represented in well. It was also the first book that I was really able to connect with the main characters on a more personal level. I will discuss why I connected with them in detail.

The first character that we are introduced to in A List of Cages is Julian. Julian is a freshman with Dyslexia and another learning disability. I never had to deal with Dyslexia, but I have had to deal with other learning disabilities that at times made school difficult. Julian’s teachers did nothing to understand why he struggled or do anything to accommodate his learning needs. I was fortunate in high school that almost all of my teachers were accommodating to my learning needs. I did have one teacher who refused to take my learning disabilities into consideration. One teacher isn’t that bad, but I was still able to relate to Julian and understand the struggles he went through.

The second character we are introduced to is Adam and he has ADHD, I have ADD. Both are very similar as they are both Attention Deficit Disorders. It was really easy for me to relate to Adam and how he lived his life with ADHD and how he was treated. When Adam was first diagnosed with ADHD he was put on medication. “It worked, sort of. I mean I could sit in my chair without going insane, and I was quiet, so my teachers were happy. But then I got sick, like hospital sick. I was throwing up all the time. I couldn’t sleep. I was losing weight.”- Adam telling Julian how ADHD medication affected him, pg. 95. After a while, I stopped being able to sleep or sleep well for that matter. At first, my ADD and Adam’s ADHD were treated the same, with medication, and then it was treated other ways. Adam’s treatment was more homeopathic, and I found various other ways to treat my ADD without medication.

Given some of the things that happen in this book, I’m not 100% sure I would have done something differently.

It is important that EVERYONE is able to see themselves represented in books, and represented well. It is also important that when reading books, we as readers are able to connect to the characters in some way.