Thursday, January 6, 2011
Books We Love
Hurrah! I finally got the blog page up and running. Use this post as an area to blog about books that you want to recommend to your classmates; all you have to do is add a comment. If you're posting an IRB assignment, be sure to double check the quality of your writing and title your comment appropriately.
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Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz
ReplyDelete“But Sarov had no intention of destroying a city. His target was the entire world.” In the book Skeleton Key by Anthony Horowitz a boy with no family struggles with the MI6 (the British version of the CIA) as he is used as a spy for them. Alex Rider, the main character in the story, is a fourteen year old boy. He is exactly like the average teenager except for one thing. He is a spy.
Alex Rider has already saved the world twice and wants to hang up his spy career. But while doing one last favor for the MI6, it turns into a mission working with two CIA agents named Troy and Carver. The CIA cannot get into Skeleton Key, an island right above Cuba, so they send Alex, Troy and Carver to Skeleton Key as a fake family. There Alex discoverers things that the CIA and MI6 have lied about, also he finds out Sarov’s plan to destroy the world and recreate it with Russia leading the way. Alex finds this out because he was captured by Sarov, while looking for Carver and Troy. He soon finds out that they were captured and killed by a motion detector in the ocean trying to sneak in to Sarov’s mansion. But the real twist is when Sarov starts being nice to Alex and tells him about his dead son and then asks him to become his son so he and Alex will rule the world together.
Readers who are into mystery/spy/adventure books will really enjoy this book. It connects the reader especially if the reader is the same age as Alex in the story. The reader can almost feel how Alex felt in the book. Also another good part about the book is that it is very descriptive, showing all the emotions that Alex and other characters felt. It also gives different vantage points of different people. Like when Sarov is telling Alex about his plan, the author shows Sarov’s vantage point of it being a good thing and then Alex’s vantage point as it being a very disgusting thing. This was a good book.
Slob by: Ellen Potter
ReplyDeleteMy opinion of the book Slob by Ellen Potter is that it was a heartwarming, feel good story about a boy named Owen Birnbaum who has many troubles between home and school. It is about how he has many enemies and gets bullied, and how he continues the struggle to find his parents’ killer.
His parents owned a deli and one night while Owen and his sister were taking a nap in the deli’s basement they heard gun shots. Both their parents were killed. I believe that is what motivates Owen to get out of bed in the morning, to find his parents’ killer. I think that many people are motivated by something, including myself, to get out of bed in the morning.
Owen gets bullied because he is obese. People call him hurtful words and make farting noises when he walks by. I think that readers will relate to Owen getting bullied because I am sure that so many people across America are sometimes the butt of someone’s joke. Teens and even adults can relate to that. Many people get bullied because of their differences, just like Owen does.
Owen thinks he has an arch enemy named Mason, but like in real life Mason turns out to be his best friend. Owen thinks it is Mason who is the one who is always stealing Owen’s Oreos because Mason always suspiciously leaves the room in the middle of class. He has access to Owen’s Oreos outside of the room. When the Oreos are stolen several times throughout the book, I feel there is a bit of suspense and mystery within those parts.
I find this book very heartwarming because there is a happy ending. Owen becomes more respected when he stands up to his real arch enemy, his gym teacher, Mr. Wooly. Mr. Wooly enjoys humiliating nonathletic kids or athlete wanna be’s, very much like Owen. He comes up with difficult athletic events that kids like Owen are guaranteed to fail at and be the class joke that everyone laughs at. I would definitely say this book is a confidence booster because it portrays how any teenager can overcome his /her differences to change people’s views of them. I would absolutely recommend this book to someone who wants to read a happy/feel good book with many tweaks and surprises that will intrigue you even more.
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
ReplyDeleteThe book, The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is about how 14 year old Lilly Owens struggles with racism towards the people she loves, her abusive father, and the history of her mother that she shot by accident when she was younger. Lilly runs away when she busts Rosaleen (her maid/stand- in black mother) out of the hospital so she wouldn’t have to go to jail and they run away to a bee farm with 3 black sisters where Lilly learns a lot about the mystery of her mother and about herself. This very absorbing book has a mixture of historic and realistic fiction since the time period was around the 1960’s there was really cruel racism buzzing around. There is also a tiny sprinkle of romance in the book between Lilly and the bee helper, Zachary Lincoln Taylor and one of the black sisters and a man named Neil.
I recommend this book to girls because it’s mostly about girl power. This alluring book between the mystery and the romance never made me put the book down. It was very pulling, interesting, like I said absorbing and alluring. Once I wanted to stop at a page but I ended up stopping like 20 pages after I wanted to stop. There was never one boring or dull moment in the novel. It had me hooked. I, having read the book think it is the most meaningful book I’ve ever read, how T-Ray couldn’t let Deborah, Lilly’s mother go, how the relationship between August and Lilly was growing, how the mystery of May being so sensitive, how June won’t marry Neil but she still loves him, how Zach and Lilly can’t be together because Zach is black, and the fury between June and Lilly. The quote “You can’t judge a book by its cover” is true. So what if the cover and title is a little bland? The title and cover have a meaning to it and if you read the book you’ll know how.
Dracula: Amazing, and so much more
ReplyDeleteThere are many timeless classics found in the world, some leaving a better impression on people than others. Dracula, written by Bram Stoker, is a book that I wouldn’t say was the best, but certainly worth reading. Dracula is a novel about a group of friends whose fates become intertwined with the action of the undead Count, Count Dracula.
Throughout the past few years the image of vampires have been torn to shreds, trampled on, and ridiculed by certain, unfortunate books. (Hint: Twilight.) I made it my mission to find the original book of vampires; the one that had started the whole vampire phenomenon.
Truthfully, reading Dracula was slightly disappointing for me. I was expecting an amazing 10 out of 10 book, throwing me back to the 18th century chasing and slaying vampires. I would only say that 60% of the book met that criterion. The other 40% was just empty space, which was very painful for me to read. In fact, I don’t even remember those parts of the book anymore, except that they greatly lagged the story. Instead of there being a high paced action chase scene in the end, the events happened day by day, with no action or suspense. When something finally happened, it only lasted 4 pages.
Dracula was written in the format of diary and journal entries, phonograph recordings, and telegrams all compiled into one smoothly flowing story, going up and down the plot line like a roller coaster on a track of peanut butter. In the beginning, entries change points of view infrequently, as to keep with one of the multiple plot lines. As plots merged, so did the different peoples’ entries. As suspense built, the entries changed quicker and quicker, allowing the reader to feel the action from the many different points of view. Writing in this format allowed another level of depth and realism to be added to the story, which made it very interesting to read.
The best part about reading Dracula was that it was so different from what I am used to seeing. The vampires of today consist of strikingly beautiful (and pale) young lads, who seem to be cursed as eternal girl magnets. (Cough cough, Edward Cullen) What a life. Dracula, on the other hand, was very, oh so very different. He was an about 40 year old man with graying hair and a thick moustache. You want vampire? Come get it ladies. The only similarity that these two characters share are that they are both vampires, which would be a given. But what really is a vampire now? To Bram Stoker, they are evil creatures of the night that have hearts of ice, and are cursed to never die. To the authors of today, they seem to live a normal, dandy life. The only exception is that they never die, and seem to have a hobby of seducing young lassies. It’s annoying. It’s infuriating. It’s just downright wrong. Whenever the evolution of vampires happened, I’m glad that Dracula was written before it. Having Count Dracula be an evil villain instead of a first class seducer was very satisfying for me when I read this book. Evil as well as smart, he is the perfect character, he made Dracula, Dracula.
If you want to read a hardcore vampire book, then dive right in. This story is sure to not disappoint.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
ReplyDeleteYes, I am sure that everyone on our team has heard more or less about The Hunger Games, and to write a review would only add to the other countless ones that we have all read, so instead, I am going to keep it a little casual. The best way for me to describe, however, is in the character’s own voice.
The rules of the Hunger Games are simple. In punishment for the uprising, each of the twelve districts must provide one girl and one boy, called tributes, to participate. The twenty-four tributes will be imprisoned in a vast outdoor arena that could hold anything from a burning desert to a frozen wasteland. Over a period of several weeks, the competitors must fight to the death. The last tribute standing wins. (18)
Enter Panem, a land that we today would know today as North America. War in the area started as natural disasters took much of the living space, and what little was left was fought for. Soon, a group known as the Capitol took over, dividing the remaining space into thirteen districts. The districts rebelled, but they were all defeated with one totally gone. After the defeat, the Capitol decided to punish the districts annually with the Hunger Games. Now, 74 years later, Katniss Everdeen, her sister Prim, and their mother are on the front stage with the rest of District 12, anxiously waiting for the names of the pair going to the Games. First one is…Prim.
The odds had been entirely in her favor. But it hadn’t mattered…“Prim!” I don’t need to shove through the crowd. The other kids make way as she is about mount the steps… “I volunteer!” I gasp. “I volunteer as tribute!” (21, 22)
And that is how Katniss enters the Hunger Games. Easy, all she has to do is kill twenty-three other kids (she has a lot of hunting skill) or just watch them kill each other. However, there is one more complication: Peeta Mellark, a boy who saved her life, is the second tribute from District 12. Can she take the life of the boy who helped sustain hers?
A few goodbyes here and there, then they go straight to the Capitol. There, they meet the very drunk mentor for their district. Well, he isn’t going to be much help, is he? The two tributes slide through the training and interviews, finally confronting the Games head on. Warning: this book is not for anyone who hates violence, stabbing, or excessive vomiting. The Games are nasty, and Katniss has to learn to instantly kill or be instantly killed.
Although The Hunger Games is not for everybody, I recommend it to anyone looking for a quality thriller / Sci-Fi book. I really got stuck to the book 70 pages in, and I am sure it will take you less pages to keep glued to this book. Past the survival, it is about how little kids, just around 12-14, try to show they mean something to the Capitol, who hold these games to prove the opposite. They all have a will to live, and so does Katniss, but so far, the odds have not been her favor.
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones
ReplyDeleteBy Cassandra Clare
When Clary Fray entered the Pandemonium nightclub, she hardly expected to witness a murder. She was even more shocked when she realized the murderers were a group of teenagers covered with odd markings and were invisible to everyone but her. She met the handsome Jace whose world she was about to be thrust into.
Clary is a typical 15-year-old teenager. She lives with her mother; her father died before birth and her mom’s best friend is Luke. Clay has a slightly rocky relationship with her mom because they don’t always see eye to eye and Clary feels that her mother is overprotective of her. Clary always feels that there is something missing inside her but she doesn’t know what.
The plot develops as the story unfolds and every chapter has significance and a part to play in the novel.. Even though Clary is the main character, the author doesn’t spend too much time describing her and we learn more about her as the story continues. This is interesting because the reader is learning new things all the time and no parts of the story can actually be described as “boring.” The book is very romantic and family plays a huge part in the novel. Family rarely drives most fantasy stories but the City of Bones is unique because of that. Cassandra Clare uses great imagery and it actually feels like the reader is in Clary’s boots even though the novel is written in a third person point of view.
After the incident in he Pandemonium nightclub, Clary ‘s life is thrown into chaos. Her mother is kidnapped, her house ransacked, and Clary herself is attacked by a monster. Jace saves her and Clary learns that she is a Shadowhunter, a group of warriors dedicated to ridding the Earth of demons. However, except for Jace, her best friend Simon, and a several other of her friends, Clary is on her own and she must make the decision as to what to do next. Meanwhile, the demons forces are rising while the Shadowhunter numbers are dropping rapidly and only Clary and her fellow warriors can stop Valentine, the evil and bloodthirsty man behind this mess. Full of jaw dropping secrets, action-packed scenes and suspense dripping cliffhangers, the City of Bones is a book I recommend to readers of all ages.
The Second Story of the Teen Spy
ReplyDeletePoint Blank by Anthony Horowitz
In the thrilling, adventurous and suspenseful book Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz, Alex Rides is a teen spy trying to save the world. As any good movie or book about a spy, the story starts out in a city, London to be exact. His task in this book is about mysterious deaths, at a boarding school, Point Blank. Alex goes undercover and becomes a “student” at Point Blank. The people there are different, not normal. As the clock is ticking; it is up to Alex to uncover the mystery before any more deaths.
This book captured my mind; it brought me into the mystery. Even though the storyline of this book is impossible, it seems realistic. I was always wanting to read more! Throughout the story Alex has to face many challenges such as having to disguise himself so he can attend the boarding school without being identified and getting caught. As the story progresses, the suspense does as well. At some parts of the book, I made predictions and was almost positive that they were going to be true, but the author then gave another interesting twist to the story, making it even more intriguing.
Point Blank consists of many fascinating characters with many fascinating personalities. Dr. Grief and Mrs. Stellenbosch are my favorite characters. They are the head of Point Blank. They are the villains and they are able to somehow turn delinquents into well behaved young teenagers. In this book, Anthony Horowitz creates an interesting pattern with Alex’s conflicts and the characters in the book. Horowitz “spits out” new characters and has them create a conflict with Alex. He repeats this pattern until the end of the story when there is the final and most important conflict in the story.
We’ve had people in the mountains ever since we got your signal. They’ve been closing in on the academy. They heard the machine-gun fire when the snowmobiles were chasing you and followed you down on skis. They saw what happened on the train and radioed for help. (239)
This part of the book is my favorite part, the beginning of the climax; this is what it all leads up to. The climax has the most action, the most suspense, and is the most intense. At this point in the story one of two things can happen, either Alex successfully completes his mission or he gets killed. Alex has signaled the other spies that he needed help, Dr. Grief and Mrs. Stellenbosch are ready to kill him after they found out what he did, but no one shows up. Eventually, Alex is cornered by Mrs. Stellenbosch.
Alex tensed himself, feet apart, gravity center low, just like he had been taught. But it was useless. Mrs. Stellenbosch lurched into him, moving with frightening speed. It was like being run over a bus. (253)
She attacks him multiple times, but he is not going to go down without a fight. The fight becomes very dangerous and life-threatening. Only one remains alive.
Point Blank is one of the most intense books that I have read. It contains a good suspenseful plot and intriguing characters. The reader gets soaked into the book as well as Alex’s challenges. It is almost impossible to put the book down at times, you always want to know what happens to Alex next. Uncover the second story of the teen spy by reading the amazing book Point Blank by Anthony Horowitz.
The Teeth of the Tiger
ReplyDeleteBy: Tom Clancy
Imagine this, radical Muslims entering the heart of America and massacring innocent women and children and planning to one up each horrific stunt with another better one. Despite the gloomy look of things there is an agency unknown to all but the highest government officials that is trying to stop the chaos that will confront them if the terrorist strike again. This story line seems like another James bond action book with fast cars deadly missions and explosions, but it is not. In fact it is a very complex story with four main characters (each chapter the character view point switches) and has a more civilized side to it. The themes in this book are loyalty, bravery, and moral. All these things combined are the reason the Teeth of the Tiger is a book second to none.
Hendley Associates, nick named the Campus is a counterterrorism agency that gathers information and acts on it, the campus is not bound by the rules of known intelligence agency like the FBI and CIA, instead it has the green light for everything because nothing they do is documented and will ever be released to the public so there will never be any public outrage in response of they’re actions. Working on the white side of the campus (the intelligence gathering side) is Jack Ryan Junior the former president’s son and an Intel genius. His findings have already led to the capture of Uda, a man funding the terrorist group that waged war on America, and his death. Working on the black side of campus (where they do the dirty work) are twins Dominic and Brian Caruso, one a Marine and another a FBI field agent. These two have been chosen to eliminate those who the Campus deems a threat to America’s security. They were the one who took down Uda, they made it seem like he died of a heart attack while in reality he was killed. In short the campus is a two-part system, half of it is sifting through tons of information and finding the ones that matter, and the other half is acts upon the info in any way possible.
Like Yin and Yang, there cannot be good without evil. The radicals are viewed also as important characters, the main one being Muhammad, and the organizer of the crimes. Throughout the story we find that he is falling from his faith and being consumed in the war for power and using religion as an excuse. There are also Minor characters such as Abdullah and Mustafa who were the leaders in the original attack on America.
Tom Clancy has written a masterpiece this time around with so much suspense that it will have the reader up at 2 O’clock in the morning devouring it. Although the complex story line that may be hard to follow at first it leads to an excellent ending. Finally and most importantly, this book is great because it is a breath of fresh air, in a world dominated by story’s of the future and Sci-fi books The Teeth of the Tiger connects with the modern world so much that it alters your view of the current events happening in the world in an unforgettable way.
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
ReplyDelete“And then, as if the lens of a camera had sharpened into focus, the faces cleared. They were all boys, all of them—some young, some older. Thomas didn’t know what he’d expected, but seeing those faces puzzled him. They were just teenagers. Kids. Some of his fear melted away, but not enough to calm his racing heart.” (3)
Thomas, a sixteen year-old boys begins his new life standing up in a pitch black elevator. Soon, Thomas finds out that he is sent to a location called the Glade to live with about forty other teenage boys. Before long he seems acquainted with his new life and befriends, Chuck, the boy who had arrived a month before Thomas, and Newt, the second-in-command of the Gladers. Within the living quarters, which the Gladers call the Homestead, life is great. The boys have all the food and supplies they need to survive. However, outside of the Glade in a place known as the Maze, life becomes much more difficult for the Gladers. During the day, the walls surrounding the Maze are open, but at night they close separating the Gladers from the Maze outside the walls. At night in the Maze, monsters known as Grievers roam around looking for boys that may be trapped in to sting them. Once stung by a Griever, the affected Glader must then go through an excruciating process called the Changing. During the Changing, some memories from their previous lives are returned to the boys.
After two years of attempting to escape out of the Glade by solving the Maze, the Gladers have come to no conclusion. This is because the walls to the Maze change every night, thereby changing the Maze outside each door every day. Although the boys have figured out a pattern that repeats itself every thirty days or so, each section of the Maze happens to have no escape route, resulting in a dead end, or in other words, no way out.
This book was an intriguing read the way Dashner ended each chapter with a cliffhanger. Through is writing style, readers are given important clues, but are deprived of many others.
The Maze Runner was a book that I could never put down until I finished it. Each section ended with a gripping thought that propelled me to continue reading. Involving struggle, determination and heart, The Maze Runner is on some levels, relatable. Dashner causes readers to step into the characters’ shoes by using precise details and plenty of similes. The Maze Runner is will be an enjoyable read for all fans of dystopian literature and other who just take pleasure in reading awesome books.
Outliers: The Story to Success by Malcolm Gladwell
ReplyDeleteRecently, I read Outliers: The Story to Success, and the way Malcolm Gladwell tells different stories about different people/groups of people and their successes really proved his point about how success is related with one’s background, like family and culture, and birth. The stories include the lives of Bill Gates, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, Joseph H. Flom, Gladwell’s mother, and many more.
Personally, I would recommend this book. It has really neat details and information about how a person comes to success and how, sometimes, each successor connects to one another. The way Gladwell writes is easy to follow, almost as if he is speaking to you from the book. He adds his own voice in it, and sometimes, you feel like you’re in a conversation with him. “Do you see it? Don’t feel bad if you don’t” (21). You have to read it to see. With each chapter, he starts off with a story that eventually leads to the point he’s proving. Sometimes, you feel like you’re in a storybook.
“In January of 1882, a group of eleven Rosetans – ten men and one boy – set sail for New York. They spent their first night in America sleeping on the floor of a tavern on Mulberry Street, in Manhattan’s Little Italy. Then they ventured west, eventually finding jobs in slate quarry ninety miles west of the city near the town of Bangor, Pennsylvania.” (2)
Aside from that, the people that I know that have read the book have told me that they thought it was intriguing and interesting. It truly shows a different way of thinking about our own lives. I would think that everyone can connect to this book because he shows a variety of cultures through the stories. “Go to any Western college campus and you’ll find that Asian students have a reputation for being in the library the long after everyone has left” (238). I’m sure Asian students can connect to that. At one point in the book, a girl said, “Sometimes I don’t go to sleep when I’m supposed to… I got to sleep at, like, twelve o’clock, and the next afternoon, it will hit me. And I will doze off in class.” As I student, I know that feeling and can connect to what she said very well.
Not only are connections being made throughout the book, but Gladwell puts so much information in this book in such a way that you’re learning as you read. Just look at the end of the book in the “Notes” section and you’ll find a 9-page bibliography. What he has done is absolutely amazing by pulling together information and putting it together like a research paper but in a book form designed for all sorts of audiences.
Anyone who reads this book will probably like it, and those who actually do should also read The Tipping Point and Blink, which are also written by Malcolm Gladwell. I haven’t read those two books yet, but the reviews say they are worth reading.
Chinese Cinderella: a true story about an unwanted daughter, by Adeline Yen Mah
ReplyDeleteBut then Mama died giving birth to you. If you had not been born, Mama would still be alive. She died because of you. You are bad luck. (3)
Shortly after Mama died, Adeline’s father remarries an evil, powerful, and rich woman named Niang. As a stepmother, Niang does not bother herself with mothering her husband’s five children. She, instead, puts all her love and favor upon her own two children, Franklin and Susan. Niang greatly despises Adeline since the day they met. The stepmother takes away all of Adeline's privileges such as attending a friend's birthday party, and greatly favors all of her other six siblings over her. Little Adeline was not just being abused by her stepmother, but was isolated by all of her other siblings too. They believe without a doubt that she was the cause of their mother's death. The only place where she feels loved and safe is with Aunt Baba.
However, their stepmother, Niang, and their father force her and all her siblings to move to Shanghai, leaving without Aunt Baba. On the first day of first grade, she was forgotten at school and didn't have a ride home; she learned that she needed to learn how to survive on her own. Everyday, she has to walk miles to school while her siblings get to ride on the tram. Niang beats her until her nose bleeds just because her school friends came over to her house to congratulate her. Also she gets whipped for daring to attend a classmate's birthday party against Niang's wishes. The most horrendous part is that her own father ignores her, forgetting her name and birthday. Read more to find out how she survives all these terrible events on her own.
This book was written in the perspective of Adeline. When I read the book, it always frustrates and surprises me how Adeline can keep calm while Niang, her father, and her siblings mistreat her; because if I were her, I would have begged Aunt Baba and Ye Ye to come with me so we can fled to somewhere else.
I would rate this book a 4.75 out of 5. This book is a true story that teens should read; and every word they read, they will want to keep reading to find out more about Adeline. People who enjoy nonfiction and realistic fiction would appreciate this book as well. I enjoyed this book very much. However, in the beginning of the book I got overwhelmed by all those siblings that Adeline had; and the solution to that is to reread it and organize the characters (in the book there's a page that shows and explains most of the names in the book).
The best part of Chinese Cinderella was when you see how miserable Adeline's life is, it reminds us that our lives are not at all that miserable. She turns to school for happiness; but when it is time for us to go back to school on Monday or after break, we all groan and moan, complaining how dreadful school is.
This true story about an unwanted daughter impacted many people, including me, about courage, loneliness, loyalty, love, and determination. I'm sure this book will not disappoint you.
A Trilogy That’s ‘Catching Fire’
ReplyDelete"The bird, the pin, the song, the berries, the watch, the cracker, the dress that burst into flames. I am the mockingjay. The one that survived despite the Capitol's plans.” (386-387)
In most trilogies and series, the sequels following the first book tend to not be as marvelous as the firs. Many of the books we read nowadays are parts of series, or books-to-become-series books and leave us hanging and wanting for more, only to find a bland world of words in front of us for the sequel. The Hunger Games trilogy is not one of these series. Not only does the series leave us hanging and urging for more each book, the next book is almost just as good as the previous one.
Our protagonist Katniss has gone through many struggles through the first book of the Hunger Games. In Catching Fire, nothing gets any better. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is the sequel to the first book (It’s highly recommended that one should read The Hunger Games before starting Catching Fire) in the Hunger Games trilogy. In The Hunger Games, Peeta and Katniss, who were the only ones left, were about to commit suicide together, until the Capitol saves them (for their own reasons obviously). Now crowned the winners, Katniss and Peeta take a Victory Tour around the districts. But not without worries, as the 75th annual Hunger Games creep ever closer and more blood, guts and twisted propaganda will be spilled. Every 25th year that the Hunger Games are held, the Capitol adds a little ‘spice’ into the brew. And this year… their surprise? Previous victors will be going back for more death.
Collins’ book captivated my mind by creating images that were believable, even though the book is placed in the future. She uses descriptive vocabulary to describe characters, scenery, battles and emotions to satisfy the reader to the fullest extent.
“I twist the polished brass knob and step inside. My nose registers the conflicting scents of roses and blood. A small, white-haired man who seems vaguely familiar is reading a book… Then he turns and my heart skips a beat. I’m staring into the snakelike eyes of President Snow.” (18)
As fluently as this book was written, I must admit that the beginning of the book was rather dull and did not seem to matter much. It was not until about a fourth of the way into the book did the real action begin to occur. Of course, the rest of the book and the ending make up for this.
Catching Fire I would say is not as good as the first book, but I will admit that it was still very good and is about on the same level as the first book. The second book brings back many memories from the first.
The book gives a bit of feeling from 1984 and The Golden Compass. For those who have not read either; The Golden Compass is highly recommended. In The Golden Compass, we have a brave female protagonist who gives off the very same feeling as Katniss, as both are clever and strong. We also have a young boy who slightly gives off the same feeling as Peeta. As for 1984, there’s a relation where the government attempts to hold off rebellions, is very similar to the Capitol of Catching Fire.
I think that Catching Fire (and the trilogy, the Hunger Games) is very appropriate for middle school students and is highly recommended for its action packed pages, intricately placed foreshadowing and great character development.
Surprisingly Ironic
ReplyDeleteTitle: The Hunger Games Author: Suzanne Collins Genre: Science-Fiction
Recommendation: Yes
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a great novel going forward into the future of North America. I would recommend this book because of the structure and content of this book. It is full of adventure, craziness and irony!
Once, a long time ago there was a place called North America. Most of the land has been swallowed up by water and Panem has now replaced now replaced North America. There is a whole new form of government. The capitol is the government of Panem. And there are 12 districts that do things for the evil capitol. There used to be 13 different districts and now there are 12 because the evil capitol has destroyed them due to rebellion. The Hunger games is an event in which 24 children, 1 boy and 1 girl, are chosen to murder and trick each other to death and for the Hunger Games to be over, 1 winner should stand.
16 year old Katniss Everdeen volunteers for her sister Prim at an event called the reaping (the start of the Hunger Games). Katniss who has hunting experience for 5 years with her best friend Gale wonders how she is going to get through this mess. However, she cares more about her family than herself as proved on page 103, “Oh what does it matter? It is not like I was going to win the Games anyways. Who cares what they do to me what really scares me is what they might do to my mother and Prim. How my family might suffer now because of my impulsiveness.”
Who will win the Hunger Games?
IRB Blog
ReplyDeleteFor one more day by Mitch Albom
“LET ME GUESS. You want to know why I tried to kill myself. You want to know how I survived. Why I disappeared. Where I’ve been all this time. But first, why I tried to kill myself, right?” (3). For one more day, by Mitch Albom is a great, touching, and powerful book that is full of meaning. The author brought the book to life, even though it is realistic fiction. I could play a movie in my head. Charles was a depressed, poor man who messed his life up because he did not attend his mother’s funeral. That day changed his life forever. It made him so sad that he wanted to commit suicide. He tried swallowing a bottle of pills, and he even jumped off a building to end his misery. Reluctantly, he survived unconsciously which is when his mother’s spirit visited him. This brought back Charles past, and regrets, and made him realize that he had the best mother anyone could have. That power of love for his mother brought them back together even though she is dead.
In this book, many lessons are to be told. But among all, the one that really stood out to me was that people do not realize that they have a good life until they lose it. Charles lost his mother. He did not realize how good she was until he lost her. After that, he went into depression and couldn’t stand himself, so much so he wanted to end his life. He could not move on in his life because he could not get over the fact that he chose to play a baseball game instead of attending his mother’s funeral. Though he could have been successful in the baseball career, he would not have been happy. He could not let go of his mom.
A lot of times, people do not count their blessings but count their losses instead. Is this cup half full or half empty? I believe that Charles should have relied on the power of hope to keep him going instead of having a death wish list. He should have focused on the good times that they had together rather than being negative and heading on a downward spiral. What happens, happens, and we are not given the power to change what happened in the past. However, we have control of our attitude towards the present and the future. “The past is history, the future is a mystery, but today is a gift – that’s why they call it ‘the present.” (Dreamworks’ Kungfu Panda.)
A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron
ReplyDeleteThe book A Dog’s Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron is about a dog who is reincarnated and lives three very different lives. In the first life, the dog’s name is Toby and he, his mom, his brother Fast, and eventually his sister, get taken to the pound by the dogcatchers. Before this happened, they were homeless and Toby had a difficult time because his brother and sister sometimes excluded him and, and Fast played rough with him. At the pound, Toby had the easiest time out of his family. I think that’s because Fast was always pushing him around so he got tougher.
In the second life, Toby is now Bailey and lives with a family. The son in the family is named Ethan and Bailey’s relationship with him grows throughout the chapters. Bailey is very loyal to Ethan, which is best shown through the following quotes.
“ Todd didn’t see me; he was watching the fire. And I never barked, I never growled, I just ran up the sidewalk in silent fury. I leaped for him as if I had been taking down men my whole life, and surging through me was a sense of power, as if I were leading a pack.” (147-148)
“ Any reluctance I might have felt to attack a human being was overridden by the sense whatever Todd was doing, it was causing harm to the boy and to the family I was there to protect. There was no stronger purpose than that.” (148)
In the third life, Bailey is now Ellie and is a police dog and she works with Maya. I think that in the third life she became a police dog because when she was Bailey, we saw a great amount of loyalty to human beings (except Todd) and in my opinion, police dogs have to be very loyal to their “partner” and extremely loyal to the person they are trying to help.
I liked how W. Bruce Cameron wrote the book in the perspective of the dog. To me this was cool because I’m the owner of a cute little pug and some of the references relate to him. Also I liked how the dog was a boy in two lives, and a girl in the last life. As the story continues, the readers see many other sides of the dog in the different lives yet also repeating traits. I think this makes Toby/Bailey/Ellie a round character. I found this book to be quite humorous but very sad at parts.
A Dog’s Purpose is one of the best books I have ever read about dogs because like I said, it’s written in the perspective of one! How many times do you get to go inside of a dog’s head and see what they are thinking in critical situations or how they interpret things? In this book it shows that dogs are much smarter than some humans think they are and they deserve much more credit then they are given. This is a great book for pet owners or generally anyone who is looking for a good, entertaining story.
I don't want to make this a long post so....read the Percy Jackson series its mythology of Greek gods are interesting and I got so into this area of study that I read The Lost Hero (series #2) in 1 day........
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