Understanding a painful past

(Editor's note: Tuckahoe Middle School seventh-grade English students recently wrote editorials designed to persuade Henrico citizens to read, listen to or watch a story or book that reflected their individual cultures, as a way to help others better understand them. This is one of those editorials; click here to read others.)

When I was younger, my mother used to tell me stories about the Armenian genocide, and how her grandfather lived through it. I was always amazed, because I would think it was like a movie. My great grandpa would dash through tunnels and houses, taking off infantry like he was James Bond. But when I actually started to listen to his stories and think about them, I realized I was very, very wrong. This kind of change in perspective reminds me of the book War Stories, by Gordan Korman.

The year was 1913, and everything was starting to go downhill. The Young Turks came into power after the Ottoman Empire fell and took control. Then they executed 250 Armenian intellectuals (astronomers, philosophers, poets, writers) for supposedly plotting with the Russian government. After that, they started placing unfair and cruel laws on the citizens. As World War l brought commotion to the middle east, the Turkish army slaughtered hundreds of thousands of Amenians, confiscated their land, burned their houses to the ground, and marched tens of thousands of Armenians and other ethnic citizens south to the deserts of current day Syria.  This was called a death march, and you can actually see the path they took to the camps. The ones who died during the march were left on the ground, and their bones stay there to this day. The people of Armenia remember these acts by mourning and praying with loved ones. This is a summary of what terrible things happened in that year.

The book War Stories seems like a very good way to explain my story because of the similarities. Trevor, the main character, loves to hear the stories of his grandpa, just like I do. He thinks it's all like a video game until he really hears some of the things his grandfather went through, which is the same thing with me and my great grandpa. This book shows you and helps you understand what really happens during a war. I think this would be a great book for other people to understand my culture because it really portrays how I feel and used to feel about this topic. If I ever had to explain my thought process about the genocide, this book would help.