Deep Dive Into Jane Lee

Hi. My name is Jane. Jane Lee. (Is it just me or does this intro give serious James Bond vibes???) I’m just an ordinary kid. (Okay, fine, I’ll stop with the book imitations)

Okay. Seriously- HI! Welcome back to yet another book review of a book.

This book is something that I fell in love with since the first time I read it- which was about… 3^rd grade? 2^nd grade? I am not so sure- but since that time, I have… always reread and reread it. The narrative, the emotions-they’re all things that I love in a good book.

Let me just start off with which character I like the most- because I usually do that in books I really like.

I think it’ll have to be a tie between Mr. Tushman and Summer.

I think both are just such likeable people.

Let’s start off with Mr. Tushman.

I’ve liked Mr. Tushman from the start. He’s a nice person, after all. When Auggie comes into the school, Mr. Tushman has always, although it may not seem like it at first, been at Auggie’s side, assisting him, checking in on him. Although to some readers it may seem overkill- the fact that he’s caring and not some fake ‘nice’ teacher is nice.

I also like the last bit where Jack emails Mr. Tushman saying he’s sorry for punching Julian (which in my opinion was a well-deserved punch) Mr. Tushman is the character that understands Jack- even if he won’t speak why he did it. Mr. Tushman is kind of the character that makes Julian see what he did wrong- at least slightly.

And then there’s Summer. 

I think she was even braver than Jack. Much Braver than Jack, Charlotte, any of them, especially Charlotte because she wasn’t (at least in the beginning) forced to be friends with Auggie. She chose to. And the fact that she was willing to sacrifice her old friends (or maybe who she used to be, since I think she didn’t really have a best friend) is…so astonishing.

And sometimes I have these scary thoughts when I see these brave people, and praise them, and when I see people like Julian, and say they’re evil.       

Because although a story can be simple enough to show the black and whites of the world, there is no grey. Not as much.

Because lets be honest. Don’t you think you would have the idea to just think it’s easier to ignore an unpopular kid, than to jeopardize your own…school legacy?   

That’s the scary thing about REAL life. All of us are villains, and all of us are heroes. It’s just that history- and books, can only see it through the lenses of one eye- the eye of the person who succeeds.

Being that person who’s always so nice, and just, and good is hard. It’s hard to sacrifice yourself for someone else. And, you don’t need to.

But what Wonder taught me is that its better to try. To give it a shot. To try being that nice kid. That kid who stood up for you once, without you even doing anything to them. That kid, who silently agreed with you for your arguments.

The world needs more of those Vias and Summers and Mr. Tushman’s and Jacks in the world to overcometh the world of Julian’s.

So lets paint our faces. And lets draw our future.

Together.

Thank you.