As my last post was super crazy and information filling… I would have thought this section would be different. I was wrong! It fooled me because it started out slow and ended with many events happening. Let’s get into it!

As Maya still has many more things to process and cope with, she takes things day by day trying to heal. Her parents are super worried about her and her health. And I would feel the same. It is awful seeing someone sit in silence knowing the only thing to help them is themselves. Maya finally goes to the hospital and gets checked out. As she did her parents broke down and started crying, knowing what she is feeling like. I feel like the only thing they can do as her parents are support her and be with her. Mental health is a huge part of healing, so I hope she takes time and stepsH away from anything causing her stress.

Symbol representing Maya decompressing for her mental health^

I hate having to type about this stupid guy… but I guess I should talk about Kevin. Ugh. All though I am very happy to type this. Kevin did end up getting charges for what he did to Maya!! I am very happy about that because I thought he was going to get away with it. Although… that means Kevin is out from the team. I was kinda anxious because like Beartown is known for hockey and these games coming up are THE big games… and keep in mind Kevin is the best player. So know it’s really on Benji to step his game up to lead the team. Right when I had hope, I kept reading to kind out Benji literally broke his foot. I was in shock. Thats 2 main players down now. Just as things got worse, Kevin got released from Jail. Bruh. One good thing I did read though were that Amat and Benji don’t really care about Kevin. Benji and Kevin were close before the incident and now he just sits back and watches. Amat has never really been for Kevin which makes me happy.

As always I will keep the blog posted, until next time…

So much has happened within this section that it almost is confusing! I am going to try and break it down part by part…

Starting the section off strong, as a burglary alarm got pulled. Jeannette, a kind-hearted teacher who gets disrespected, notices Benji sleeping on the desks. As one does, she questioned Benji about drinking. As he gave responses, she believed he wanted to be caught. She claimed that she did not want to help him ruin his life. As Benji is Kevin’s best friend, I believe he must know everything about the incident with Maya. How could he not? He was at the party and was sitting on the bottom of the stairs. He definitely knows.

Switching to Kevin, he happened to get questioned the same day Benji did. That made me happy when I found that out because Kevin needs to get punished for what he did. And I get that Benji is his best friend but to a certain level, Maya is Peters’s daughter… and Amat being on the team with Kevin and all, but I think they should have said something to their coach. As I continued to read, Kevin ended up getting pulled from his hockey bus right before they left for finals! And it gets even better… Kevin got arrested for what he did to Maya! Benji and Amat were the only 2 teammates to be seated as they took Kevin away. I had a feeling, because I think they were guilty sitting knowing they could have done something.

Maya finally told her parents about what Kevin had done. It took her lots of bravery to share. She ended up telling her best friend Ana first. Ana thought Maya was pushing her away when really Maya was just trying to cope. Ana felt like an awful friend after hearing that. I like Ana should have tried calling Maya just to see if she would pick up, it could have avoided all of the distance between them. Maya now has support from her parents, Kira and Peter, and Ana as she goes on with her life.

As the progression of Beartown’s games arises, the team is getting better at working together. However, Amat who I introduced before, is doing great as an underclassman. I think he’s putting in just as much effort as the team’s top player, Kevin. He tends to be overlooked just because of his age and popularity. As I read I find out Amat has feelings for Peter’s daughter, Maya.

How Amat feels about Maya^

Although later in the weeks, a party gets hosted for some of the hockey boys… but we know how every party ends, with girls. When I read this section, I started to wonder if Maya was going to show up, and she did end up showing up. But guess who went over to her right as she walked in. Kevin did. I really had my hopes up for her and Amat, because Amat actually seems genuine. It doesn’t stop there though, after a while Kevin and Maya go missing. And Maya’s best friend was looking for her along with Amat since his other teammates were getting high. Kevin actually ended up raping Maya because of a stupid bet he had with someone. It is so sickening that having a bet with someone would make an individual do such a nasty thing.

Amat ended up stopping Kevin from doing any more things to her. However, she ended up pushing away Amat even though he was trying to support her and make her feel better. Amat is a very sweet boy. I have some strong questions. What is Peter going to do when he finds out about Kevin? Will Kevin get kicked off the team even though he is the best player? Why would Kevin do such a horrific thing to Maya? And how does Amat feel towards Kevin and Maya now?

I’m very anxious to read about what happens to Kevin in my next section…

As more characters were introduced, there are deeper connections between the character’s relationships. I feel like there are many more insights I do not understand yet. In the second section I read, I learned more about Peter and Kira’s family and their relations with others. As a new character named Sune is introduced, I found out he is in his 70’s and coached many generations. I feel like he understands his athletes since he is very well-experienced. Personally, I would get along well with Sune because he has an ambition to push his athletes and get them to their best performance. He is looked at to be a father figure to Peter, who was once a great athlete like Kevin now.

Sune to Peter^

I got an uneasy feeling when I read that a new coach, David, will be getting voted to be the new A team coach. As I continued to read I got a little confused but if I am correct a guy named Lars will be taking on the Junior varsity spot. The presidents club voted David up and expect Peter to communicate with Sune. I do not think they should rely on Peter since Peter and David do not even like each other… That’s going to be a mess and a half right there. Anyways, I do feel bad for Sune, unless I don’t know something that the other characters do in the book.

As more games continued on within the section, I am able to see the different coaching styles from Sune and David. David tends to keep it simple while aiming for a clean win. But I also think you should include like form and technique. As for Sune, he wants the boys to play with their hearts and not become obsessed with winning. And I totally agree with Sunes method because as an athlete it becomes challenging to compete for yourself rather than competing against others.

As I read the beginning of Bear Town, it started with a heavy emotion. It started the book off with a suicide, making me think about who it could’ve been. But the author keeps it a secret for now. I was not expecting that much information out of the first page. As I read, I think it will help with the storyline as I continue on. I also learned about this character Kevin, who had serious frostbite from when he was younger. He missed a goal last second and went out and practiced all night in the freezing temps. When I read that, I could tell Kevin was going to be hard on himself the rest of the book. I just have a feeling. However, It makes me wonder why the author chose to put the suicide part in there and then talk about Kevin shortly after.

Fredrik Backman also brings in a character names Amat with his struggling mother as a cleaner. The coaches brings Amat up on the team for better chances. However, I think something unexpected will come out from this kid. It seems like he could be going through a lot. Although, the town is obsessed with hockey. I believe the team will come together and fix the broken-down, depressed town. Therefore, this is just the start to a new beginning for the town after awful things have happened.

I like how Backman chooses to write, it is in a serious tone yet still touching. He tells enough information but not to much to know everything right away. It goes well with the tone of the book along with the story of the junior team involving the dark town. My only strong question is who was the one who committed suicide so early in the book? And will he make me wait till the end of the book to actually know? I just hope it’s not one of the main boys talked about on the team, even though it would make sense why the towns so depressed… Just think about it for a while.

My book is called Bear Town, and it involves sports (hockey) and drama from the town in it. I picked it because I like reading about action while waiting for a plot twist to happen as it keeps me on my feet. However, we don’t know what will happen to the town or what will happen to the hockey players. I am looking forward to completing another book since I do not like reading in my free time. However, if I have marks for me to read by, I will accomplish them. It will also help me grow as a reader since I don’t enjoy it as much as others. I’m apprehensive about meeting my marks in my book since I am always busy, even though it will push me to try and complete my section in the book. I’m just going to try to stay on task as well as update my blog posts on time too.

This story fits into the topic of the “Cultural Encounters and Frontiers” section because the Spaniards clashed with the natives. However, the Spaniards were not happy with the options they had to trade. Therefore, that led to the Spaniards treating the natives harshly since they had higher values of things between the cultures. On page 89 it said, “The Spaniards did not content themselves with what the Indians gave them of their own free will…”(De Las Casas, 89) That shows that the Spaniards wanted more out of them, but the only option was to push violence on them. On page 89 it also states, ” And the Christians attacked them with buffets and beating, until finally they laid hands on the nobles of the villages…” ( De Las Casas, 89) That also provides us with knowledge of the greed that came along with the Spaniards. The natives thought the men came from the Heavens while the Spaniards came for valuable objects. Some information I’ve taken from this piece is that cultural encounters can either go well or end badly. This being, because one culture could want more from the other group, but they have nothing else to offer. As I stated above, it could end in violence or war. Also treating others fairly as people would benefit cultures hugely since there was a biased opinion from the Spaniards.

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