Summer Book List #3: The Best of Youngblood (PDI)

I didn’t read all the essays. I picked just six.

1. "The Myth of Generation X" by Frank Cimatu - The writing style was more academic and factual (which was helpful in justifying the author’s opinions). I enjoyed the piece because it was trying to define the generation that I am in.
2. "Going Stokwa" by scout - I didn’t know what stokwa meant but as I read, I learned that it was the Filipino slang for a stowaway or a person who has fled his/her house. The story was of a college student who wanted freedom and studied and worked away from home and stayed at a dorm. The story called out to me because at my age, I want independence too but I realized that I could be myself and I could blossom wherever I stay anyway. (QUOTABLE: “Personally, I thought I had full control of my life, but I hadn’t. I was just going along with the rest and the rest didn’t where they were headed either.”)
3. "Depression Generation" by RC Nalus - This piece explains why we’re so dramatic and emotional. (QUOTABLE: “Our generation is still trying desperately to make sense of its own struggles and scream at the top of our lungs about something. Indeed, in trying to make sense of our troubles we are already telling the world something. But for now, we still don’t know what it is.”)
4. "Name Game" by Lilledeshan A. Bose - This is a light piece on names and the beauty of the mixing of cultures.
5. "I Was Raised on Sesame Street" by Michael Anthony Dizon - This is a very sarcastic and ironic piece. AND I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT! He was able to use the metaphor of a child show to point out various social cancers. I can’t even pick just a single quote because you have to read it as a whole to understand how I feel.
6. "Torpe’s Troubles" by arem - Being a romantic, I loved this piece. Why? The essay features how a shy person shows affection and it’s just adorable (and relatable). (QUOTABLE: “In the end, his crush distances herself from him, evades him. She is afraid that our torpe will think that she likes him too. But he’ll never think this way. He knows that she won’t fall for him, for who could like someone who’s too afraid to talk, too scared to speak to the most important person in his life, too frightened to say the wrong thing to the lady whom he loves above all else. I should know — I’m a torpe too.”)