Entry One: Prior Knowledge and Predictions

   Everyday, we learn something new. The day I picked up the book Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, I learned quite a few new things just from reading the summary.
   The back of the book describes Rachel Kalama, a seven-year-old girl living in Honolulu, whose dreams of traveling are crushed when she is diagnosed with leprosy. My first question was, what is leprosy and why is it crushing her dreams? I'll admit that when I saw the word "leprosy", I inferred that it had to do with dwarfism, considering "leprosy" sounds similar to "leprechaun". I realized this was probably incorrect, and resulted to looking it up for a definite answer. When I did, I learned that leprosy is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae bacteria that mainly targets the skin and nerves. At a point in time, leprosy was thought to be a curse. Because of this, and the contagiousness, people with leprosy were isolated from others.
   The way that Hawaii isolated people with leprosy was by sending them to the leper colony, Kalaupapa, which is located on the island Moloka'i. As I continued to read the summary, I learned that Rachel was to be taken away from her family and sent to Kalaupapa when it was discovered that she had leprosy. She was sent to Moloka'i to die, but it seems as though she discovered a whole new life.
   Just from the back of the book, I have formed multiple predictions about Moloka'i. Judging from the events mentioned in the summary, it seems as though the mood of the book will shift a lot. In the beginning, it sounds like Rachel was very hopefully and cheerful, as most children are. Shortly after, she discovers she must leave her family and her home at the age of seven, which I'm sure is an emotional part of the book. After Rachel adapts to her new environment, she settles in and ends up "finding a new life", which sounds like a happy event. I would assume that the summary does not include every event in the book, so the mood will probably change more than just those few events.
   Along with the mood, I'm predicting Rachel will change immensely throughout the book. Considering she is the main character, she'll most likely be dynamic. Since she is only seven when the story begins, she will probably grow up a lot and learn many things. Judging from Rachel's young age, leaving her family almost definitely be extremely difficult. However, I'm predicting that in Kalaupapa, Rachel will meet many great people similar to herself, and create a bond with them that is as close as it gets to family. I'm very anxious to begin Moloka'i and learn if it folds out as I had predicted.

Reading schedule:
Section 1 by 2/27 - pg. 3 - 105
Section 2 by 3/5 - pg. 106-201
Section 3 by 3/14 - pg. 202-302
Section 4 by 3/23 - pg. 303-389