The Book "8 Ball Chicks"

In my opinion I thought that this book was a very good book. In this chapter I will describe the setting, theme, plot and conflict etc. This book had a few different settings like

Anderson posits that this is a major reason why they join gangs; they want to earn their “manhood” or at least learn what it means to be a man. This leads to them getting a twisted idea of what it is to be a true man (Anderson 14-16). Another issue that Anderson discusses is the growing intensity of girls becoming more violent in reaction to different types of threats to respect such as rumors and gossip. While Anderson does say girls are less prone to killing others based on these issues, there is still a rise in fighting amongst those in the areas these gangs run rampant (Anderson 16-18). Finally, Anderson ends his article with a final component in which gang members try to earn a reputation for being “bad” as they call it. This comes down to the willingness to perform risky behaviors, and how little they fear death as a result of their activities (Anderson 18-19). Anderson terms this kind of culture to be an oppositional culture (Anderson 20).

This book is a very good book. It is not one of my favorite books, but it is in, or somewhat close to, the top ten list. It has an intriguing story and has some humor in it to make sure that it isn’t all mellow.

I feel that, this novel is a good read for teenagers, because by reading it they can learn to accept there differences and themselfs . In our world today, nobody likes to be different, in fact most people try to change themselves. In the novel, it talks about how Calvin became secofenic. At first when Calvin found out the news , he imedily says that his mental illness was is a death of being normal. In the end Calvin learns to accept himself, and I think that teenagers need to do the same because, in world full of normal people, we need people who stand can out and make a change.

The book "8 Ball Chicks," written by Gini Sikes is a thrilling yet shocking book about girls in gangs. The book explains in horrific detail the roles and existences of the girls in these gangs. Sikes traveled to several different cities to experience the life of girl gangsters. She traveled to Los Angeles, San Antonio, and Milwaukee. Through these travels, she became immersed in the lifestyles of each gang and had first hand accounts on what it was like to be in a gang.

By using these examples of the early organizing acumen of the four girls, Orleck cleverly shows the reader how their tactics began to (slowly) transcend the boundaries of gender and class

I would recommend this book to all high school readers and any readers who have a desire to read a

It is scary when you don’t know anybody and have to try to make new friends. Many of your young childhood friends will stay with you for a lifetime. Today, I am still friends with many of my oldest friends. They have become like family. I want to say that this novel is a great way for people to see how somebody from a diverse population lives. It is a great book from the view of somebody living a completely different life than I have lived. I think it was very well written and is easy to read. This makes it a great teaching tool for children of younger age groups or college students as well. I read this entire book at one sitting because it kept my interest the entire time. I couldn’t wait to see what

Females between the ages of 12 and 18 who have low self-esteem, they come from dysfunctional homes and many have a history of victimization, physical, psychological and/or emotional abuse. Poverty is a major motivator and gang activity is synonyms with fast cash. Lastly, there is always the chance of growing up in a gang community (Delaney, 2006, p. 208-209).

Many people recognize that gangs have been around for what seems like forever. What they don't realize is that the numbers are increasing to amazing proportions, there were 28,000 youth gangs with 780,200 members in the United States (in 2000) and 20% to 46% of those members are female (Evans). And what is even more shocking is, in Chicago alone there are 16,000 to 20,000 female gang members (Eghigian). These girls start out as ?groupies?, become members, and sometimes even leaders of all-girl gangs because of troubles in the home, a need for money, for the social scene, or just because it is all they know.

Thus, as more girls are getting involved or pressure into gangs because of their neighborhoods or delinquency behavior; there are other factors that are involved increasing the rise of gang membership like: the neighborhood they live, their delinquent behavior, family, victimization, and education however, there are girls that join but resist gang involvement.

Gangs are becoming prevalent in today’s society and within our schools. More and more young people are turning to gangs in an attempt to escape their everyday lives and the future, which they perceive as dismal and bleak. They are initially attracted to the prestige and cash flow, which is glamorized by the street gang. Many gangs are actively involved in criminal misconduct, such as drug and gun trafficking, burglaries and homicides. However, street gangs are not just a criminal justice issue, but a social problem, which is triggered by poverty, peer pressure, boredom, despair and lacking a sense of belonging.

As an adult reader who has crossed over to the reality of life, reading about these characters can be a transparent, futile exercise because as adults looking back at youth we have the experience to know where these characters are headed before they even start their journey. However, for young adults who are still in the throes of existential angst this is a powerful novel that handles teenage rites of passage and coming-of-age issues such as loyalty, friendship, belonging, and even death and loss very well.

Society tries to place many rules upon an individual as to what is acceptable and what is not . One must decide for themselves whether to give in to these pressures and conform to society’s projected image, or rather to resist and maintain their own desired self image. In the story “Boys and Girls” by Alice Munro, Munro suggests that this conflict is internal and external and a persons experiences in life will determine which of these forces will conquer. In terms of the unnamed protagonist’s experiences in the story, it becomes clear just how strong the pressure of society to conform really is, as it overcomes and replaces the girl’s self image.

In order to properly view a story from a feminist perspective, it is important that the reader fully understands what the feminist perspective entails. “There are many feminist perspectives, and each perspective uses different approaches to analyze and interpret texts. One is that gender is “socially constructed” and another is that power is distributed unequally on the basis of sex, race, and ethnicity, religion, national origin, age, ability, sexuality, and economic class status” (South University Online, 2011, para. 1). The story “Girl” is an outline of the things young girls