Ashley Brown
Dear Mildred D. Taylor,
After reading your book I began to realize how blessed I really am. The characters suffering revealed to me that I should stop sulking over the things I don't have and be grateful for what I do have.
An example of being grateful is when my little sister and brother really irritate me and in the heat of the moment I might yell at them or think, "Why do I have to have them for siblings?" Reading the part in your book when Mitchelle, Paul’s best friend, died made me think, "Hey that's my brother and sister and I shouldn't take them for granted. They may irritate me, but I still love them and I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to them. While realizing I should be more grateful for my siblings, I also thought about how I shou1d be happy for everything I have because I could be worse off. I thought of things I could be grateful for like food, clothes, a house, parents who care, and the privalge to go to school.
In your book I remembered one of the rights Paul didn't have that I have was going to school. Because of his skin color he wasn't allowed to go to school. Things, as we know, have changed now and everyone is allowed to go to school. Even though sometimes I might complain about having too much homework or being tired because of waking up early, I realized what hardships people went through to get an education and equal rights for themselves and for people who were yet to be born.
The Land also made me ponder other things besides being grateful. This book made me think about my actions and my words towards other people. It brought to my attention that how I act and what I say can tell a whole lot about me. Sometimes even joking around too much can set off a bad impression because people might take you seriously and get the wrong message. That's why now I really try to watch what I say, because if you treat people bad or talk behind their backs it's all going to come right back to you sooner or later.
Your book has made me think about a lot of things. I'm even more grateful now for what I have. Every trial the characters went through in this book made me realize I don't really have it so bad after all. In the past there are probably thousands of things we've done or said that we'd all like to change but this book made me think, "There's nothing we can do to change the past so just start thinking before you act or speak so you won't have to worry about what happened yesterday." Sometimes the things I've said or done that probably weren't right come creeping up out of nowhere reminding me of things I now regret, but there's nothing I can do about the past, so the only thing I can do is to continue life and keep moving foreward.
Sincerely,
Ashley Brown
