What advise would you give Ishmael? When and why?

I would have given Ishmael the advise in the begging of the book. The information that i would have given Ishmael would be to get out of the country with his family. The reason that i would give him the information in the begging is so that he would have more time to act and make a plan to work it out. The other reason that i would have given him this information is because He would have been able to stay one step ahead of the rebel army that kept attacking and destroying all of the villagers.

Do you think what Ishmael did was right. Why or Why not?

I Believe that some of the things that Ishmael did was right because he was protecting him self and all of his friends by killing the rebels that were trying to kill them. I also believe that Ishmael was right because he was trying not to let the rebels hurt anymore innocent villagers. The reason that i think he was wrong with what he did was because he was killing prisoners that he captured in cruel ways. The other reason i think that Ishmael was wrong was because when him and the rest of the kids ran out of food they would go and attack an innocent village just so that they could have all of there food and ammunition. I also believe that Ishmael was wrong because some of the kids that were rebels were his old friends and he was killing them without regret. Even when the kids weren't people he knew it was still wrong to kill kids that are still young. I believe that Ishmael was half wrong and half right with the things that he did during all of the fighting that went on in Sierra Leone.

Advice to Ishmael

Ishmael needed a lot of advice. If I had to tell Ishmael just one piece of advice to help him I would say it to him at the beginning of the book. When Ishmael was going to Mattru Jong and he found out about the attack, he should have ran away. He needed to keep moving and stay away. He could have avoided this whole ordeal.


I would have told Ishmael to run because if he could have stayed out of reach of the soldiers he would never have been forcefully recruited. If Ishmael avoided everything his life would have been 10 times better.

Where would Ishmael be now in his life if his family was with him in the military?

I feel like if Ishmael had some family to help him through his travels, he could have handled the ordeal better. Even if Ishmael only had his older brother Junior, Junior could have protected him and tried to keep the bad thoughts out of his head. Ishmael had to deal with everything himself, if he had someone to help him along, he would have been better off.

“Every time people come at us with the intention of killing us, I close my eyes and wait for death. Even though I am still alive, I feel like each time I accept death part of me dies. Very soon I will completely die and all that will be left is my empty body walking with you.” ( Saidu 70)

I think this is a very important quote from A Long Way Gone. This quote is so important because it leaves a huge impact on Ishmael, when he heard Saidu say it. He realized that being a boy soldier impacted him greatly, because it changed the way he looked at war when people tried to kill each other. When Saidu made the remark about slowly dying on the inside, this was one of the reasons it impacted Ishmael.


I felt like Ishmael was starting to realize that he would lose all his friends. The little boys he got to know were slowly being turned into soulless soldiers. Ishmael knew that his life was slowly degrading, all the violence was slowly killing him from the inside.

I feel terrible for Ishmael. He went through so much and he knew he wouldn’t be the same. He was such a normal child until he was forced to join the military. It ruined his life. The military forced him to take lives, and taking lives changes people. They become harsh and become lifeless soldiers that just do what they are commanded. Ishmael was better than that.

"there is no time to be troublesome these days"(Ishmael 92)

When Ishmael Beah says," There is no time to be troublesome these days ", he is talking about all the kids that don't get time to be kids. I think that the quote is saying that because of the war going on in Sierra Leone the kids are no longer able to go out and enjoy there youth by playing sports or hanging with there friends. Ishmael Beah is saying that because of all the fighting going on kids are not able to have peace and quiet. The kids are all to busy trying to escape the war and fighting by running away to different towns. When the kids decide to stop running they are either enlisted into the army or into the rebels army. When the kids said no to these to factions they were shot. What this quote says to me is that i am lucky to live in America and not a country filled with civil wars. This quote tells me that i am lucky to grow up where i do not have to witness massacres every day and i also don't have to risk being shot will running from the shooting.

The Meaning of "The Bean Trees" Title

The meaning of the title of the book "The Bean Trees" is not fully revealed and explained until the very end of the book. However the explanation of the title is dependent on events that occur in the middle of the book. There is a park near Taylor and Lou Ann's house called Roosevelt Park. It is quite a barren wasteland as parks go, almost all the grass is dead, and few trees grow there. However, there is one corner of the park where a trellis stands, and crawling all over this trellis are vines. At first these vines appear as dead as the rest of the park, but, later on, they blossom into beautiful flowers that create a shady purple oasis. Even later in the book, the trees grow beans, which surprised Taylor. At the end of the book, when Taylor and Turtle are in the Oklahoma City Library, they look through a horticultural encyclopedia. As they flip through the pages, young Turtle points out a picture of the vine that they had both seen growing on the park trellis. As they read about the plant, a few particular facts stuck out at them. They discovered that the vines (called wisteria) thrive in harsh, arid climates due to separate creatures known as rhizobia. This is how Taylor explained this fact to her newly adopted daughter Turtle: "it's just the same as with people. The way Edna has Virgie...and Sandi has Kid Central Station, and everybody has Mattie." So the connection between these wisteria bean "trees" and the overall story is that during the story Taylor sees and experiences people helping other people in difficult situations, so they can survive, just like the wisteria and the rhizobia. That is the meaning of "The Bean Trees" title.

-Cory Partridge

Advice to Perry

Perry's biggest struggle during the war was not having many people he could turn open up to. I think that when you are going through something so tragic, you should always be able to turn to someone who will give you advice or will help you out a little with kind words. He could have explained everything in his letters home, but he didn't want his family to worry. Perry wasn't alone with this problem though. During the Vietnam War, soldiers usually weren't very honest in their letters they wrote home.
As for talking to the other soldiers, Perry didn't want to seem scared or weak. He thought acting like everything was okay no matter what would make him seem brave. My advice to Perry would be to open up to his family. His mother must know that everything is not as easy as he is making seem anyway, so why not just tell hewr the truth? Just by writing it down, it could have made a huge difference, and made him feel a lot more comfortable. Perry also could have talked to his comrades. He should have had more trust that they would not judge him for showing a little bit of fear.

Do you think that Perry was a good role model to Kenny, his little brother?

Family always came first for Perry in Fallen Angels. Although he didn't have to obest relationship with his mother, he always thought about her and his younger brother. He worried about Kenny. He wanted Kenny to look up to him, and be proud of everything he was doing to help the family.
Perry sent all of the money he was paid right to his family rather than saving it, so that he would have it for himself when he returned home. The main reason for that was because Kenny didn't have enough money for clothes. Perry was worried that something like wearing the same clothes to school everyday would be enough to make him want to drop out. "Mama had said that she'd see to it that Kenny stayed in school if i sent money for clothes for him" (Myers 14).
Everything Perry did for Kenny was in his best interest, but he still regretted leaving him to begin with. He worried that, without him there, Kenny wouldn't have anyone to look up to. Since their father left, Perry was the only role model Kenny had. Kenny might not even realize all of the sacrifices Perry is making to stay in school, and grow up with better opportunities then he had had himself. Kenny might not realize that he was doing this all for him, and only focus on the fact that he was not there.
In my opinion, Perry has nothing to worry about. I think that Kenny will look up to Perry no matter what, especially after reading letters that Perry sends home. Even if Kenny needs Perry there, he must admire his bravery for going to fight in Vietnam.

"A worker [bee] is just over a centimeter long and weighs only about sixty milligrams; nevertheless, ...

she can fly with a load heavier than herself" (Kidd, p. 257).

When I think of this quote, I think of the character May Boatwright. I think of how ever since her sister April died, she has been carrying around the weight of the world. Any pain that anyone else had felt, May seemed to feel it too, almost as if she were connected to them somehow. In the beginning of the book, August describes how May and April had acted as if they were connected. If April had gotten sick, so did May, and if one was hurt the other got the pain as well. When April died, it seemed like half of May died too. May was always living with a conscience and life that was too much for her to handle. She was only one person, and yet it was like she was hundreds at the same time. She even had a wall where she would take a piece of paper, write down what was bothering her or what she was feeling, and stick it in a crack in the wall. By the end of May's lifetime that wall had been covered with tons of papers.

When I think about how this quote relates to the world in general, I remember that in a community when one person is going through tough times everyone always tries to help. Friends, neighbors, churches and schools are always willing to help someone in need. In addition, sometimes if you know someone going through something you will feel their pain too, especially if they are a close friend or family member. May had often felt things that were happening to her loved ones or people she knew in her community. Another example is when the earthquake in Haiti occurred. Almost immediately, people from all over the world were trying to help. They were organizing fundraisers and sending anything they could over to the people there. There were also many people from the United States traveling to Haiti to help the people there recover from the earthquake and get back on their feet.

What made Taylor go from resenting being a "family" with Lou Ann, to accepting that Lou Ann is like a member of her family?

When Taylor first meets Lou Ann, Taylor is looking for a place to stay because she has been living in a hotel. Lou Ann is looking for a roommate because her husband has just left her. When they meet they get along rather well, even though Lou Ann is a bubbly worry-wart with rather low self-esteem, and Taylor is a restless go-getter. So, Taylor and her "adopted" child, Turtle, move in with Lou Ann and her son, Dwayne Ray. Taylor and Lou Ann soon develop a routine in which Taylor goes out to work every day, while Lou Ann stays at home, watches the kids, and cooks. One evening, Taylor realizes that this routine has made them quite like a contemporary family, and says that "all we need is some ignorant little dog named Spot to fetch me my slippers." Taylor is unhappy with this and asks Lou Ann to stop doing so many nice things for her. However as time goes on, Lou Ann and Taylor begin to bond, and Taylor begins to rub off on Lou Ann, while at the same time Taylor slowly begins to accept the family type environment that is forming around her, not just from Lou Ann but from other people as well. In the end, Taylor is on the phone with Lou Ann, who says she told someone that she and Taylor were family. At this point Taylor accepts this. So, in my opinion, it was a combination of a few things that changed Taylors mind about being like family with Lou Ann. First, Lou Ann becoming bolder due to knowing Taylor may have caused their friendship to strengthen. Also, Taylor may have decided it was acceptable to treat friends like family seeing the kindness that Mattie showed towards the immigrants that she helped. Mostly though, i think it just took Taylor some time to welcome the idea of being so close to someone she wasn't related to.

-Cory Partridge

Why do you think August let Lily stay at her house for so long even though she knew she was lying?

I believe that August and her sisters were the kind of people that were willing to help anyone out, no matter what they're situation was. When they saw Lily and Rosaleen at their house asking for a place to temporarily stay, August must have known something was not right. Lily's story that she made up wasn't really believable and didn't make complete sence. But August still made a deal with them that they could live in the honey house for a little while as long as they helped out with the business and did some household chores.
"Why don't you just ask her point-blank what kind of trouble she's in?"
"Everything in time. The last thing I want is to scare her off with a lot of questions. She'll tell us when she's ready. Let's be patient" (Kidd 87).
This was a secretive conversation that June and August had one night. Lily just happened to overhear it. So even though August knew that Lily was lying, she continued to let her stay at her house. I think she let her stay because she truly cared about Lily and knew that she was in some sort of trouble. August did not want to see anything happen to Lily or Rosaleen. So she let them stay and hoped that sometime, when Lily was comfortable enough with her to tell her her true story, she would.

Advice to Lily

Lily's mother was always on mind, whether it was good or bad thoughts. She was always thinking about what she could remember of her mother, which was not much. She had so few memories because she only was a part of the first three years of her life. Most of all, Lily constantly thought about her mother's death. She felt terribly guilty for shooting her mother when she was three. Lily also always wondered if her mother actually loved her. She was always wondering if she actually left her like T. Ray said or if he was just lying.
I believe that Lily should have tried to think of the good memories she had with her mother and stop thinking about all the bad moments. I understand the guilt that Lily was feeling from murdering her mother, but I think that Lily should have tried to forgive herself and put that time in her life behind her. She was so young and did not know what she was doing. Lily can't go through life putting herself down for an accident that happened so early in her life.
Lily was always unsure about if her mother really loved her or not because she never knew the true story. When Lily and August had a talk about her mother, Lily discovered that her mother left her and T. Ray to go to the Boatright's house. This made Lily extremely depressed because she believed that she did not love or care about her. But later on Lily learned to believe that her mother did love her in her own special way.
Lily should not have put herself through a depression over something that she could not change. She couldn't change the fact that her mother left her or that she shot her mother. I think it's a good thing that Lily decided to fogive her mother for not loving her to the fullest because everyone makes mistakes in their lives.

Advice to Lou Ann

Lou Ann is divorced from her husband, Angel. In some way she blames herself, and she hide the break up from her mother and grandmother. Angel left her with their son, and is a jerk most of the time. He does help Lou Ann deceive her family when they come up to visit, but when her mother and grandmother leaver her with a bottled water to baptise the baby in, Angel pours it down the sink. Not only was the baptism of his child no longer his concern because he walked out, but it had sentimental value as well because it was the same water that Lou Ann was baptised in.

At one point Lou Ann gets upset because a man asks her if she saw his son on the television and Lou Ann has to say no, and explain that her husband took the television too. I would tell her that it wasn't her fault that it ended. I would also tell her that she should stop reading all those magazines for guidance on how marriage and life should be. Life isn't perfect. Angel had a previous accident that injured him and damaged their relationship. She blames herself for a lot of things and she needs to let some of it go. Not everything is perfect, and you can't control everything.

Also, she should have told her mother the truth. It might be hard and she might not approve, but getting caught in a web of lies can be hard to keep up with. Without a support system she gets harder on herself. Taylor tries to help her, but there isn't much she can say but, "I'm sorry." and some of her mothers hog quotes.

When you're homesick, whats the first thing you think about?

Throughout the chapters, not just the ones with Taylor, but also when she has Lou Ann as a roommate she often refers to her mother. You read about her missing her mother and wishing she didn't have to leave her behind, but it was something she had to do. The thought of her mother starts occurring more often, as she starts feeling even more home sick. The very first introduction to Father William was by Mattie. When Taylor hears his name she has the urge to call him old, Father William, but doesn't know why because he isn't old at all.

"'You Are Old, Father William' was a poem in a book I'd had as a child. It had crayon scribbles on some pages, so it must have been a donation from one of Mama's people whose children had grown up. Only a rich child would be allowed to scribble in a hardback book.

I decided that after work I would go down to one of Sandi's New To You toy stores and find a book for Turtle. New To You was just like Mama's people, only you had more choice about what you get" (Taylor 106).

A few days after she gets the book for Turtle, it becomes Valentines day. She has found a roommate, Lou Ann, and decides to get her mother a late Valentines card.

"I still felt kind of awful about leaving her, and changing my name just seemed like the final act of betrayal, but Mama didn't see it that way. She said I was smarter than anything to think of Taylor, that it fit me like a pair of washed jeans. She told me she'd always had second thoughts about Marietta" (Taylor 110).

Her mother is constantly on her mind, and I can completely relate. I understand that she is older than I am, but she seems so hurt that she is that far away from her mother. I get extremely home sick because my mother and I are so close.

I don't know about you, but i always quote my mother, she is brilliant and has so much great advice. Eventually Taylor starts to do the same, "I couldn't even think where to begin on this one. I thought of another one of Mama's hog sayings: 'Hogs go deaf at harvest time.' It meant that people would only hear what they wanted to hear. Mama was raised on a hog farm"(Taylor 117).

My favorite quote from my mother is, " The only person you can change in yourself." What's your favorite quote from your mom?

What is the meaning of the title, The Secret Life of Bees?

Although it would be far too complicated to explain every reason that Sue Monk Kidd named her book The Secret Life of Bees, these general observations will clear up a lot of confusion for those who have not read the book. At the start of each chapter, there is a quote from other books about bees which Kidd chose to personify throughout that chapter. At the start of Chapter One, there is a quote which states that if a queen is taken from her hive, there are almost immediate signs of queenlessness. This first chapter is about Lily growing up without a mother, and she certainly shows unmistakable signs of motherlessness. In Chapter Eight, the quote states that if you take a bee away from its sisters, it will not be long until it dies. This chapter discusses May (August and June's sister) and her unusual sense of other's pain. She lost her twin sister, April, and ever since, when she sees any sign of death or anger, she has wanted to curl up and die.
Besides personification, the title of this book actually represents Lily, the main character. She, like the little bees, lives a secret life that others cannot understand. Her soul and spirit are her hive, and most others have no idea how intricate she is. There is no one just like her. We are all unique and we all have our own story and ways of reacting to it. Each season of life has a climax, whether we see it or not. Lily Owens is no typical one-parent child. She is irreplaceable, even if she does not understand herself.

How did August, May and June know who Lily really was and why didn't they confront her?

When Lily finally decided to tell August who she really was, August told her that she had already known. August had recognized Lily the moment she appeared at her front door. Lily had reminded August of her mother, Deborah, when she was Lily's age. August had worked for Deborah's family as a maid. August and Deborah had remained close even after Lily's birth. June had also recognized Lily right away, but was not happy about her staying with them. June had always resented August having to work for Deborah's family.

I think August and June realized that Lily was scared and confused. They didn't confront Lily because they knew that she would tell them when she was ready. Lily had a lot of thoughts to sort out and couldn't find the right time to tell them. As time went on, she was afraid that if they knew the truth, they would be upset and want her to leave.

Rosaleen finally convinced Lily to tell August and June the truth and deal with the consequences, whatever they may be. To Lily's surprise, August and June told her that they had known who she really was all along. Despite Lily's lies, the sisters had come to love her as their own and wanted her to stay with them for as long as she wanted to.

What advice would you give the character? When and why?

The advice that I would give to the main character would be not to lie. I am reading The Secret Life of Bees and Lily is the main character. When she ran away from home and found a new family, she didn't tell them who she really was. I understand why she did what she did, but she still should have told them the truth from the beginning. Instead she made up a whole other life story that is totally different from her real life. She didn't even have to lie anyways because the three sisters she lives with already knew who she was. Instead she was always worrying all the time on when she was going to tell them who she really was. It is always better to tell the truth no matter what because when you don't you are just making things worse for yourself ans the people around you.

"'Faggots and Commies,' Brunner said. 'Anybody who wouldn't stand up for their countryis either a faggot or a commie.'"

This is how Brunner reacts to the fact that people are burning their draft cards and I have to say that in this case I agree. I'm not saying that people should just drop what they have and join the army but why would you turn down a request that someone made to you to make a difference and protect the people you care for.

Advice For Lily

At the end of page 86 and all through 87 Lily overhears June and August talking about her and how they both know she's lying. At the moment when June left and August was left sitting alone, I would have told Lily to go and tell August the truth right then. Instead of doing that, she just left and went back to the honey house feeling more resentment over what June said rather than thinking about fessing up. This continued throughout the whole book and I feel she should have said it sooner. Maybe even toward the beginning when she met August instead of lying to her face the whole time.

Why does Lily resent her mother so much when she's told the truth?

Lily only feels pity for herself when she's told the truth about how her mother left her and went to August's. She stayed at the house for 3 months before deciding to go back and get Lily. Lily is angry at her mother for leaving, but she entirely ignores the fact that her mother was going to come back and get her to live there and leave T. Ray. Then the incident happened that switched it all around. I think that Lily is not angry at her mother. I believe that Lily is so overwhelmed by all that had happened that she is not even sure what or who to be angry at so she just picks and chooses out of the people and events what to be angry over instead.