Quarter Two: Blog 10

This week, I finished Bee Season by Myla Goldberg. Throughout the book, the only thing Eliza wants is to be the person that other people want her to be. She strives for the acceptance of everyone around her when what she really needed was to accept herself. The day before the national spelling bee, Eliza couldn't wait to spell, but because she just wanted the hullabaloo of the bee and everything that came along with it to be over. Ever since she made the district bee, her brother Aaron grew further and further away from her. Her dad, who had always been distant, became closer to her and soon, her dad skipped afternoon guitar lessons with Aaron everyday so that he could work on preparing her for the bee. As much as she enjoyed the extra attention from her dad, she would have traded it if it meant that Aaron were her friend again. Eliza's mom saw Eliza spelling and tried to make Eliza become like herself as a little girl, but her attempts never proved fruitful and both were disappointed. Eliza has dealt with being the disappointment of her family ever since she didn't qualify for the accelerated class in third grade. So, after the national spelling bee, Eliza realized something about herself that she had never known before. Suddenly, she realized that she could count on herself and that she was happy with who she was and that she didn't need to be anyone else.