November and Her Mother

November and her mother seem to have a lot in common. From the way they react to situations to their personalities, one might use the expression,” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” When November shares with her mother she is pregnant she seems to go through the same emotions November does, first denial and then of course deep depression. November’s mom was already on the edge; having a child who is mentally challenged (November’s younger brother) November’s news was the push it needed. One thing her mother does that November didn’t even think about was tell her about the cost and responsible of having a child. Now as stressed as her mother is, November has a mental break down. After her break down her mother turns on the one thing that helps HER calm down, JAZZ MUSIC. November didn’t understand before her pregnancy, why her mother loved jazz so much. In this moment she realizes jazz helps ease the pain inside. November explains jazz as a magical tool that helps erase some f the pain by playing it out through instruments. When she meets up with Olivia and hears her explain how music relates to life, November feels as though she just might be able to handle being a parent

November and Her Mother

November and her mother seem to have a lot in common. From the way they react to situations to their personalities, one might use the expression,” The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” When November shares with her mother she is pregnant she seems to go through the same emotions November does, first denial and then of course deep depression. November’s mom was already on the edge; having a child who is mentally challenged (November’s younger brother) November’s news was the push it needed. One thing her mother does that November didn’t even think about was tell her about the cost and responsible of having a child. Now as stressed as her mother is, November has a mental break down. After her break down her mother turns on the one thing that helps HER calm down, JAZZ MUSIC. November didn’t understand before her pregnancy, why her mother loved jazz so much. In this moment she realizes jazz helps ease the pain inside. November explains jazz as a magical tool that helps erase some f the pain by playing it out through instruments. When she meets up with Olivia and hears her explain how music relates to life, November feels as though she just might be able to handle being a parent

Son Of Neptune

Son Of Neptune
Rick Riordan

    The story of adventurous children heading out to save the world. When i mean the world, its the world. The famous character Percy Jackson has made a new appearance as a Roman demigod and has learned the new ways of the Roman gods and names. He befriends 2 camp members who are not at their best at camp and both have a story of which is interesting. As Percy makes is way to camp he has issues, the monsters he kills just keep coming back and he has no clue and on top of that, he remembers nothing from his past, he only remembers Annabeth and hopes to see her again. When he gets to camp the camp is shocked to see that Percy just killed a monster with a wave bigger than a house, all they can say is 'wow'.


    A couple days into camp Percy and his 2 friends and the rest of camp are welcomes by the god Ares (Greek name) Mars (Roman name). His friend is claimed by Mars as his son and given a gifted weapon and then given the task of stopping the giant that is rising in Alaska and with Mother Earth waking to rule and destroy the world. Mars says that Frank (Percy's Friend) is to take Percy with him and one more person of his choice. As the three demigods head out to save the world they befriend a harpy name Ella and Percy slowly remembers his past.


    I really recommend this book for the adventure lovers. This is a good start of Rick Riordan's new series and has many good twist and and spins in this story.

November Blues

The book November Blues by Sharon Mills Draper is about a teenager named November. November was always known for her good grades until junior year when she meets Josh. Josh being such a class clown helps her loosen up and smile. Josh seems to be the perfect boyfriend for November, but as almost expected, her grades begin to slip. Now senior year Josh dies and November soon realizes she is pregnant with Josh's baby. Not knowing what to do or how to tell her mother, November falls into a somewhat deep depression. She begins to loose her beautiful figure and go through some of the symptoms of pregnancy and is force to tell her mother. Her mother is disappointed and hurt that November did not tell her sooner. Now to late for an abortion, November decides she will keep the baby. As the baby grows and her baby bumps she go’s from being popular to the one most talked about and made fun of. That is when Jericho(Josh’s cousin) and a new friend Olivia seem to swoop in and if not save the day, ease the pain that November is going through.

The book I read is called The Son of Neptune, and it's author is by Rick Riordan. It's about a boy named Percy, who's half god half human. His dad is Neptune, and he doesn't remember who his mom is. In fact, the goddess Juno made him forget everything of his old life. He ends up at a roman camp for half human half gods, or halfbloods called Camp Jupiter. After making friends with Frank Zhang, and Hazel Levesque, he finds out he must go on a quest to free the god Thanatos. Because without him, the dead can come back to life. all the know is that he is being held in Alaska. The journey there, and they have to fight wind spirits, fight and make friends with the amazons, but they finally make it there. The they find the giant Alyceonus is guarding him. They have to find him and Frank must break the bonds with his life stick. They defeat him, and then Percy gets his memory back, and they team up with camp half blood, the other camp.

Harry potter and the Goblet of Fire

Over the past few weeks I have finished reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (435 pages) and I have started reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am 70 pages into my second book. Both of these books are great and hard to put down once you start reading them. The Harry Potter series is one of my favorites because there are so many twists and turns keeping you on the edge of your seat.

In Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry learns that his godfather is Sirius Black who was never trying to kill Harry. His goal was to protect him from Peter Pettigrew, who was Ron’s mouse. While this is the ending of the story, the plot develops and takes the reader along many different paths. Harry gets a surprise Christmas Gift, a Firebolt, from an anonymous sender. Hermione thinks the Firebolt is cursed and as a friend, she wants to keep him safe. So Hermione has the Firebolt checked out and it was okay. Later, Harry learns the Firebolt was sent from Sirius Black. Harry used his invisibility cloak to sneak to Hogsmeade for the day. He met up with Hermione and Ron as they ventured around to different stores like Honeydukes for candy and Three Broomsticks for their favorite Butter Beer drink. These two snippets are a small part of everything going on at Hogwarts in Harry’s third year of school.

As I started reading the 4^th book in the series, Harry is once again back at the Dursleys’ house for summer break. This book is called Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. As with the others, the 4^th book refers to Harry’s 4^th year in Hogwarts School of Wizardry. Dudley, Harry’s muggle cousin, is now on a diet, because he is overweight. He is very grumpy. Because Dudley is on a diet, everyone in the family, including Harry, has to be on a diet. Harry, as always, gets treated like he doesn’t exist. He finally has a little hope to be happy this summer when an invitation comes from his good friend Ron to go to the Quidditch World cup with him and his family. Harry is thrilled. This is only the beginning!

I have finished Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and I just started the book Jane by April Lindner. This story is a modern take on Jane Eyre and I'm really enjoying it so far! It's all about a college aged girl that is forced to drop out because her parents were recently killed in a car accident. To make things even worse, her brother took off with the money from the house their parents left him she now has nobody to go to. Later on in the story, which i haven't yet gotten to, Jane falls in love with the rock star, Nico that owns the mansion she is working in. So far in the story she has just gone to a job interview to be a nanny. Jane has a rough look because of her lack of money but has extremely high grades. I can't wait to see what is in store for her as the novel continues.

Girls Acting Catty

I have started and finished a book called Girls Acting Catty. This book is about a girl named Annabellle that moved to a new school this year and is in 6th grade. She has three new good friends and one best friend, Rachel. All of her friends strongly dislike the popular Taylor Stransfield and her followers. They are referred to as the "Terrible T's". Annabelle seemingly has no problems with Taylor, but is almost forced to hate her by her friends. As the book progresses, Annabelle finds out that Taylor really is a bad person because she made fun of Annabelle and tried to break up her friend Emma's relationship with a guy name Joe. Then, on thanksgiving Annabelle unknowingly ends up at Taylor's house because her almost step dad is close friends with Taylor's dad. They realize they have many things in common and they become good friends. This is a dilema for Annabelle because her best friend Rachel thinks that Annabelle is trying to be cool by hanging out with Taylor. And that's not Annabelle's only dilema. She secretly doesn't want her mom to marry her soon to be step dad, but its going to happen. She also has a crush on her newly met soon to be step brother who is 9 years older than her. She doesn't know how to tell her friends and Taylor thinks he is cute too. Overall, the plot was intriguing, but the writing was somewhat amatuer-ish.

The Son of Neptune

I have just finished a new book called The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. The book is fantastic because I can never put it down. From the moment I started the book I did not want to ever stop reading until I finished it. At all times while reading the book it had my full attention because of the intense and adventuresome situation that were never ending. I read the book over the span of two days. All 513 pages. I love this book so much because it never has a dull moment and it provides a ton of interesting facts about the Greeks and now the Romans too. If I were to rate this from a 1-10 scale I would rate it 100,000,000! If you ever come across this book or any other in the Percy Jackson series I would recommend that you get it right then and there. I also love the book because it refers to past books and it switches narration between characters. One down side to the book is that to some readers the switching of narration may be confusing, but it was not for me. The characters it this book were definitely dynamic because as the story progressed it showed them learning lessons and morals. Oh, I almost forgot this book also talks about saving the world, so if you are interested in that, then I would suggest you get the book. Have fun reading!

The Help

I really enjoyed reading this amazing book. This book had me smiling, crying and confused. I personally liked how it ended because it had my emotions pouring down my face. I loved how I had emotions throughout the book because that shows that the author really connected with the reader. Once I got to page 20 I couldn't put the book down. The way the author changed perspectives through out the book and how she made the characters in this book so relatable to real people and real life situations that still happen today. The characters in this book all had a unique spark that made them easier to connect with. The author was a great writer and kept me wanting to read more and more. I'm not that big of a reader myself, but when I find a good book, I can't put it down and this is one of those books. I think that the reading level was just right and I would recommend this book for almost everyone even if they don’t like reading as much as others, or even people that love reading. I truly loved this book and I could read it over again and still not get bored with it.

THE GIVER!.?

For my third independent reading book, I am reading the well known book The Giver by Lois Lowly. This is a story that is set in a time from twenty years ago to today, but there aren't any specific dates. It is a story about a boy named Jonas who lives in a "community", which is like a village, but there is a catch. The whole town is basically controlled and all of the decisions are made by the elderly. Some of these decisions are what child is assigned to each family, meaning one doesn't choose who they get for their child. Also, once one advances to their twelfth year of life, their lifelong job is decided for them whether they want the job or not, based on what their interests were in the past. Jonas has finally reached the end of his year twelve, which means he gets his lifelong job, and leaves childhood, which is a huge thing in the community. He is worried out of his shoes, because he feels that he might react to his job and accidentally gets "released" from the community, which means they basically kick one out of the community and leave them, which they do to troubled babies, and troublemaking children. Jonas isn't sure what he'll get, but he knows that he must work hard for the job no matter what. Little does he know, he is going to get the most important and hardest job in the community, because the elders know he's very special in a different way, but what he gives is what he'll receive later in life.

The Autobiography of Malcolm X Brandon Boyd

I recently read the Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley. The book showed a very different view of the civil rights movement than most books, films etc. portray. Some activists chose more peaceful means of protesting against segregation like Martin Luther King Jr, while other civil rights activists, like Malcolm X, chose a more harsh approach. Martin Luther King Jr. wanted to help whites understand, in a non-violent, way why treating individuals badly because of the color of their skin is wrong . Malcolm X, on the other hand, preached to fellow African-Americans about the years of atrocities that white people committed against them. Throughout the book Malcolm continuously referred to white people as "Devils" or, "Blue eyed devils." Today that might sound like a quite an inflammatory statement but I can understand why he said it because throughout his whole life he was treated terribly by whites because he was black. The book has some ups and downs, but once it gets started the transformation of Malcolm X is fascinating. The way they show him going from adapting and really assimilating to white culture to getting recruited to the nation of Islam and hating white people then accepting whites again really demonstrates how others influenced his opinions.

Revolution

Although I have just recently finished Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, what happens half way and through the end of the book is quite interesting. Andi has just been brought to the top of a hill by the Sacre-Coeur to watch the sunset with Virgil, the guy she likes. After coming home and seeing Virgil hug another girl after their romantic night together Andi is now continuously having suicidal thoughts and cannot stand the thought of living anymore. She heads to the Eiffel tower. As she makes her way to the ticket counter she is caught in the act by Virgil. I really like the way that the author builds suspense since as a reader we already know that Andi has some mental challenges. Donnelly doesn't extend the suspense too long that we get bored but long enough that by the time we find out what happens we are still extremely excited. This is at least what I thought as I read it.

Thirteen Reasons Why

I just finished reading my book 13 reasons why, and I thought it was a really great book because it showed me what a girl just a little bit older than me had to go through in high school, and what that led her to do, which was commit suicide. It was a very detailed book, and I liked how the author had the idea of the cassette tapes on which she sent to thirteen people, (who were also on the tapes) who she believed caused her death. I was really surprised at some of the things that she had to encounter at school, like being made fun of and being taken advantage of. And it really goes to show you that no matter how much you want to, you can't trust everyone completely, because sooner or later, they'll tell your secrets. I was also surprised at how well she managed to hide the fact that she was going to commit suicide, and this book has really opened my eyes to the many signs of suicidal thoughts. Even though she tried to get help from a guidance counselor at her school, he neglected to see that she was going to do something that serious. Overall, it was a very good book, one I couldn't put down, and I enjoyed it a lot.

I recently finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have moved onto her next book in the trilogy (Catching Fire). I am a little ways into this book and it has been just as good. This book is has a slower pace than The Hunger Games does. Where I am in the book right now Katniss has returned home and is drawing in much more attention of others than she did when she was home in The Hunger Games. I am currently planning on finishing this book and moving onto the next book in the series (Mockingjay). These books are all science fiction; I think I will move onto realistic fiction or non-fiction for the next quarter if I finish this series to get some more variety. The main character (Katniss) is under a lot of stress in this story as she is pressured a lot. The capitol is trying to get her to lie about something that went on in the games. If it were me this would be very hard choice because she has to either lie to her close friends about something important or see her best friend Gale get killed. This may sound confusing but I’m trying not to give away anything.

Nikabrik- and a similarity with Christian Faith and the Narnian world

A bad character in Prince Caspian is Nikabrik. He is a dwarf that has lost all (or never had) faith in Aslan. He ends up trying to call up the spirit of an evil witch who used to control Narnia in order to defeat Miraz, but instead got killed by the people who he didn’t believe in. This was Peter and Edmund from “The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe”, who come back as The Kings of Old. Nikabrik never had liked Prince Caspian (AKA King Caspian), and had performed open treason when he had invited a hag and werewolf to summon the White Witch. In the beginning of this book he had already admitted that he didn’t believe in Aslan, who in the real world would be called Jesus, and he had tried to call on the Spirit of the White Witch who could be considered like the Devil. Nikabrik I guess is like a devil worshiper in that light. Who calls on the wrong source for power and ends up dying because of it. Other than that similarity, Nikabrik was very selfish in why he wanted to go to the White Witch. He had said that she had been kind to dwarves, but had also said that she wasn’t very nice to anyone else. This shows that he knew that no one other than dwarves would be treated fairly if she came into power, and I think this makes him an evil character.

Prince Caspian

He is the son of Caspian the 9^th and is the nephew of king Miraz, the tyrant and villain of the story. After Miraz finally has an heir then he orders the assassination of his nephew, but Caspian’s teacher gives him fair warning and helps him flee. Caspian is Narnia’s rightful king, but Miraz has pushed him away from the throne. Caspian, after fleeing, ends up running into some “old Narnians”, which he has only heard about when read to by his teacher in secret. Old Narnians include dwarves, talking animals, and other mystical creatures. They have almost all gone been killed off by of Caspian’s people, the Telmarines, and have been waiting for a time to strike down their human oppressors. Narnian prophecy says that Narnia needs a human (son of Adam) as king, but the “old Narnians” have almost all lost faith in the old prophecies because of all the turmoil they have had to endure in hiding. The Narnians Caspian had stumbled upon where a mixed group of faithful Narnians and Narnians who had lost faith; the ones that hadn’t lost faith made up the majority and they proclaimed Caspian as king. This of course may sound kind of crazy because it was Caspian’s people who had made then near extinction, but Caspian was one of a few Telmarines who actually liked “old Narnians”. The point I’m at Caspian has called the Kings and queens of old (the kids from “The Lion the Witch and The Wardrobe”) and they have just arrived where Caspian’s army is based (Aslan’s Howe AKA. The Stone Table).

The Son of Neptune

Over the last week I have read The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. This is part of the Percy Jackson Series. The main plot is that Percy Jackson is back, but he has no memory of his past. All that he can remember is that he had a girlfriend named Annabeth. The reason why Percy has no memory is because of Juno (god). Juno has erased his memory, and Jason's memory in attempts to bring the two camps together. Percy Jackson wanders his way to the Roman Camp of Camp half-blood. There he meets two friends, Hazel and Frank. Hazel is the daughter of Pluto (Hades) and has even traveled to the underworld and came back. Because of this she has recurring flashbacks of her past and her mother. She was the main reason why the giants are coming back and how the earth god is coming back to life. Frank also has some special powers. He is a son of Ares, but he also has the power to be what ever he wants to be. He can turn into any animal he wants and can fight with that animal. So the three of them have been set on a quest to recover the lost eagle and save the Roman Camp. Overall I thought that this book was amazing and I would recommend this book to everyone.

Emil

The most recent book that I read was Emil, by Erich Kastner. It is a fairly short book, but a fun read. The main characters name is Emil. Emil lives in a small town in the country named Newtown, it is a very old-fashioned town and he will notice that it is very different from Berlin. When he was a child, his father passed away and his mother who had no job, took up the profession of a hairdresser. Ever since his father died, his family has been making just enough money to survive. His grandmother lives in Berlin and he visits her for a week. He has to carry 140 marks on the train to take for his trip and his cousins who also live in Berlin. In his family, 140 marks is a lot of money and he is very nervous about getting it stolen. This book is one of the most predictable books I have read, but instead of making it boring because you think you know what is going to happen. Instead, it has the opposite effect of making you continue reading to find out the details, because it is a detective book and they use a lot of evidence. Little clues from the beginning of the book can become very handy later if you are going to understand the book. Overall, it was a very short, and fun book to read.

Tell No One

The 3rd book I read was Tell No One by Harlen Coben. This book was a suspense, mystery, and thriller. It was really intense. It’s about this man named David Beck. His wife was kidnapped and then brutally murdered 8 years ago, and he’s still getting over it. It’s just another average day for him until he gets an email with a message saying something that only his wife understands. He wants, of course, to confide in his best friend and sister in law, but the email says "tell no one". So of course he keeps it a secret. This message is followed by several more. They all contain messages that only this wife would know! He is tormented by this fact. Could his beloved wife really be alive? He deciedes to dig deeper into that night 8 years ago. He discovers things he wishes he didn’t. These emails and discovers are followed by murders of people he knew and who knew his wife. Who can he trust anymore? And just how far will he go to see is supposed dead wife? Read Tell No One and find out! I thought that this was a really good book with a very surprising twist at the end. I recommend this book to people who aren't scared easily because there are some disturbing violence. There’s also some humor wedged into it. Overall it’s a good book!

Hoops of Steel

Jackson O'Connell is the main character in this book. Basketball is Jackson O’Connell’s life. Much more than a game, it allows him to cross barriers of class and race, and make new friends from the rival high school. Driven by his passion for hoops, he can almost forget his alcoholic father and a night of violence that tore his family apart. Jackson’s senior year included zits, girl shyness, and rumors that isolate him from most of the school. He doesn't have many friends and his closest is his Granny. Granny isn't actually his grandmother but a neighbor who is really close and enjoys basketball as well. Team politics keep him off the starting lineup of the basketball team, his hopes for a scholarship plummet like an airball. His self-confidence in tatters, Jackson makes errors on and off the court that almost cost him a friend and the girl of his dreams. Jackson must learns how to rebound from anger and starts shooting from the heart.

Bitter End by Jennifer Brown

The latest book I finished is Bitter End by Jennifer Brown (368 pages). The book is about a girl who meets an "amazing" guy Cole, and how she manages to distance herself from her friends and family. As their relationship moves on, alarming things start to happen. Cole becomes controlling, and starts physically abusing her.

Whenever I read about woman being abused or hear about woman being abused, it isn't told from the woman's view. And because of that, I view the woman as weak, dependent, and plain stupid. This book definitely changed that perspective. It showed the inner struggle of a girl who was trying to understand if she should stay with someone she thought she loved, even if he abused her. After he would hurt her, he would be so sweet, leave flowers on her car, promise not to do it again, etc. She fell for that every time, and it hurt her in the end. He was jealous of everything that was remotely a friend to her; he wanted to be in total control. Her friends tried so hard to warn her, to fight for her even. It was truly a struggle.

It was so realistic with the girl's battling emotions, that I couldn't put the book down. It was a book that changed my opinion about women being abused in relationships. I would recommend this book to mature readers that enjoy a challenging subject.

Sarah's Key

I'm currently reading the book Sarah's Key. It's about a jewish girl living with her family during the start of WW2. Her family is taken away and held in a arena with thousands of other french jewish families. The girl thinking that she is going to come back later that day hides her brother in their secret hiding cupboard so that he won't be found. She thinks that her father will come up and get him out, but that never happens. Alternating with present day, a journalist is doing a story on this event, but the French are not too proud of it and she finds it hard to find information. Meanwhile, her husband is fixing up his grandmother's apartment and through that and writing the story, the woman links herself to the young girl Sarah. I'm currently halfway through the book and I can't wait to figure out what's going to happen next and how they two characters are connected.

Thirteen Reasons Why

In the book, the main character, Clay Jensen has just figured out that he is on tape nine, which Hannah talked about what happened between them at the party. Also on tape nine, you learn that Hannah and the cheerleader cause an accident between an old man and a sophomore at their school because the cheerleader ran into a stop sign, knocking it down. The old man hit the sophomore with his car, and the sophomore died. And now Clay is on the last tape, tape thirteen.

The Help

I finally finished The Help. It has to be one of my favorite and best written books yet. The way I ended up connecting with each character and their story was unimaginable. When things fell apart for Abileen at the end, I cried right along with her. Each of their characters are so complex and interesting that I couldn't put the book down after page 400. It was beautifully written and the more you read on, the more and more intriguing it is. I would recommend it to literally everyone!

The Lying Game

I have read a couple books during the time between my last blog post and this one. I have read the first two novels in the lying game series by Sara Shepard. This author also wrote the Pretty Little Liars series. This book is about two identical twin sisters named Sutton and Emma. Emma is a foster child while Sutton is a rich, spoiled brat. The two sisters were split at birth and didn't even know about each other. On the very first page we found out that Sutton is murdered. Sutton then narrates the book as she hovers above Emma and watches her. Emma comes to Phoenix hoping to meet her sister, but ends up having to take over her life to hide the fact that Sutton is dead. Emma now has to blindly navigate through Sutton's confusing life without losing friends or letting on that she isn't who everybody thinks she is. Ever since Emma's mom died she has not had a family and she is really torn between telling Sutton's adoptive parents who she really is or keeping it a secret forever. Whoever killed Sutton knows about Emma because they are trying to hurt her to This novel is thrilling and a really good captivating read. I'm really excited to read the new book when it comes out.

Cat O' Nine Tails

Cat O' Nine Tails

Cat heads of to one of her many adventures were she is to find and rescue her beloved friend Syd Butcher, the gang leader of the "Butcher Boys". No one knows where Syd is all they know is that he left a couples months before on a boxing tour with his manager and have not returned. Frank, Pedro and Cat are worried but when Frank's cousin comes into town they think they might find Syd with the resources Frank's family and cousin have. They head down to where they think he was last seen, the docks in a couple towns over. When they get there the unexpected happens and someone and somehow they are captured and put on a ship. Cat is forced into acting and dressing like a boy. Frank is not allowed to tell anyone he is the dukes son or they will get killed and Pedro must play music for the ship everyday. The good news are, Syd is on the ship too and as the story goes along cat meets new people from the Americas. She learns Syd's secret and some has betrayed them and Cat knows who. Does everyone get home alive?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

I have read two books since my last post, The Death Cure, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon. I'm going to review the latter. This book is about an autistic 15 year old who is growing up in London and discovers that one of the dogs in his neighborhood has been murdered. He plays detective to try to figure out how the dog was killed. However, his search for answers yields much more than just who killed the dog. He figures out secrets that his dad has been keeping from him and learns a lot about his past. This book really shows his growth as a person because he becomes much more independent throughout all of the journeys that he takes in the story.
This book was particularly interesting to me because of the point of view in which the story was told. It was intriguing to see the world through the eyes of an autistic person who thinks with an extremely high level of logic. In his world, everything has a place and a specific function, and when something doesn't fit, it makes him uncomfortable. His way of looking at things probably helped him solve some of the mysteries in this book because it let him cut through all of the distractions and get straight to the answer.

Mountain Men

I took a pause in my book Johnny Tremain to start a new historical book I received recently it is called Firearms, Traps, and Tools of the Mountain Men. It is written by Carl P. Russell. The book is about Mountain Men, these are men who had been living alone in the mountains trapping animals with valuable furs to sell back east. Men had been doing this from pre-revolution era all the way to the end of the wild west era. These men were skilled hunters, trappers, and survivalists. The book talks about how Mountain Men survived through hunting small game and trapping animals, generally beaver. These men lived lonely lives, but also incredibly enjoyable. The book talks about what the men wore. They all were skilled in the art of crafting beaver hats, which is now a lost art. Thus far it is very interesting and I am almost done.

Perfect

I am reading Perfect by Ellen Hopkins. Perfect is a poetry-based story about how 4 teens on their quests to perfection. Cara wants to be the 'perfect' child, but who struggles with a disturbed brother, overbearing boyfriend and obsessive-yet-always-fighting parents. Stanford is expected; anything in the way will be blasted and bashed out of the her path by her parents, encluding a forbidden love. Kendra will do anything to make it big time in the modeling world, and to her, every calorie is count. To Kendra, flaws will haunt you your entire life, and only surgery and being skinny will save you from a ugly life. Sean needs to hit the perfect homerun, no matter what it takes, and Andre is tied down by his parents and their look on life. These young adults are struggling to achive impossable goals, and their lives are being destroyed in the process. They strive to become what they are not, despite the price they pay. Will they awake from their desire to conqure 'perfection' or will they be pulled down into perfection's depths? Four different teens with four different lives are all unexplainably connected in their paths to 'perfection'.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban-Nick Washuta

I’m about two hundred pages into my first book; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. This book takes place in Harry Potter’s third year at Hogwarts. Harry has left his aunt and uncle’s house, stayed in London, and rode the Hogwarts Express. He is well into his third year at Hogwarts and has enjoyed most of his classes.

After Aunt Marge’s big mistake Harry fled to Diagon Ally. Diagon Ally was one of the safest places in London for wizards. He had stayed at the Leaky Cauldron and later met up with Ron and Hermione. With Sirius Black still at large, Harry had been under strict supervision by Cornelius Fudge. After spending a few free weeks with no Dursleys, Harry was off to the Hogwart’s train platform; nine and three quarters. Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat at the back of the train along with one teacher. The teacher was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, who would soon become their favorite teacher. On the train ride to Hogwarts, Harry and the others all had their first encounter with a Dementor. The train had come to an abrupt halt and a few Dementors came aboard. A cold chill resonated throughout the train; Harry especially was feeling the effects. The Hogwarts Express finished its journey and marked the start of a new school.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione have their first class together; Divination. This class takes a look into the future by performing experiments. Each student made a special herbal tea and used it to see if they had any death omens in their future. Harry had one appear in his cup and wasn’t surprised, he had many near death experiences. Harry, Ron, and Hermione weren’t fond of that class, but it is not their most dreaded. Potions; taught by Snape, was Harry’s least favorite teacher since his first year. Also, new this year was a Magical Creatures class and the kids were thrilled to hear it was being taught by Hagrid. Hagrid wanted to start the class off with a bang, so he did. He tells the class they will be dealing with hippogriffs (bird like creature) and how to approach one safely. The hippogriffs are easily offended so it’s best to be very humble in their presence. Harry volunteered first and applied the steps he learned and was actually able to fly one. Finally, Harry attended the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which is now taught by a different teacher, professor Lupin. He is a new teacher and is well liked by everyone except Snape and the Slytherins house. Harry thinks this will be his favorite year but he is in for a lot of surprises.

The Hep

I am continuing the help and I think it is still very racist. I think my favorite character is Minny because she is not afraid to say her opinion. She has to be caught up in ms. Celia's stuff. She has to lie to her husband who doesn't even know she was there working and she had to deal with her miscarriage. She was working one day and Ms. Celia's husband fame to the house instead of work. She is cleaning up and he asks what she is doing. She wouldn't be as sacred but he has an ax in his hand to cut down the ugly tree. She introduces herself to him and he knows that she has been coming because she cooks dinner, which is amazing. Another crazy part in the book is when Ms. Celia gets a package. It is so hot outside it could be a sona so she sends Minny outside to retrieve it. When Minny picks it is it is real heavy and when she mo edit jingles like bottle, when she gives the package to Ms. Celia runs upstairs with it. Minny is thinking their is something up but she doesn't quite know at this point in the story. When I was reading this I was so nervous for what this was I couldn't wait to read more. So then Minny goes to Ms. Celia's room and she isn't in the bathroom or in her room. She knows she's not suppose to go in the attic but she does. When she is looking she sees Ms. Celia drinking liquid in a brown bottle. She thinks it's beer but shortly after she learned that it is stuff for her miscarriage. Later on in the week she eventually has her miscarriage and she is on her bathroom floor. Minny offers to call her husband but she told her that she can't tell him because it has happened before. I am really happy with where I am in the book and I M really excited to read more.

The Help

I am reading the book The Help, and I love it. It is one of the most touching and possibly one of my favorite books I have ever read. I am over half way through the book, and although it doesn't start slow, the action has been mounting and mounting to the point where everything is crossed up with everything else. Three woman, Skeeter, Abileen, and Minny, are coming together to write a book about help in Mississippi. Skeeter is the daughter of rich plantation owners, but Abileen and Minny are best friends and help. Abileen is practically raising a child that isn't hers, and Minny is dealing with a crazy woman. There are so many characters that get intertwined into a huge, complicated web that can't be explained unless you read it. I would recommend it to anyone that is interested in historical fiction and a very real look on the 1960's.

The book I'm reading is called Lone Surviver. It is by Marcus Luttrel. He grew up in texas, and had a intense father who made sure they could swim well. He also took a corse from a neighbor that prepared him to be a navy seal. Then, when he was old enough, he set off to boot camp. There it was freezing cold and he was not used to the cold because he lived in texas. After he passed that he went through the first fazes of seal training. They had to do a very hard physical test, and then they went into the water and had to swim with ropes around his wrists and feet. Also they had to learn new ways to swim, and then do four mile long runs in the beach. if the instructor thought they weren't doing them well enough, they would have to do push ups or roll in the sand and jump into the freezing ocean. After that they had to learn to control and paddle inflatable boats. They had to paddle them against the surf, flip them over, and they come back in to shore. Then they did a half a mile run with them. They also had to do high ropes and rope bridges.

I am currently reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I am really enjoying reading this book. For those readers who can’t stand slow starting books this is for you. The book was already into the main plot before the 50-page mark. In the story the two main characters are currently Katniss and Peeta, they have both been chosen to participate in the “Hunger Games”, this is where 24 kids are put in a giant area and are to fight to the death. The winner gets to go back home and live an easy life while the losers are obviously dead. Katniss has displayed some great braveness so far. When they were choosing the tributes (the kids chosen to be in the games) Prim who is Katniss’ sister was chosen. Katniss steps up and volunteers to take her spot. There is already a major conflict in the book. Peeta has given Katniss two loaves of bread to feed her deprived family. Katniss feels very grateful but cannot really thank him. The two are going into the games where they are to kill everyone including their same district tribute, Katniss has decided that this will be to hard for her so she is going to let someone else kill him first. I am thinking that it will come down to the two of them but I can’t really tell yet.

The Help

I have been reading The Help, and can I tell you, it has just been getting better! I have learned about a book that the girls wrote together, which was a great "bonding experience for the girls. I thought it was really funny when Ms. Hilly found out that part of the story was about her. Ms. Hilly didn't tell anyone that the girls worked on the book together because otherwise the girls would tell everyone that Ms. Hilly was in the book. There has been a lot that has happened, but not all of what has happened been really important to the book yet. This book has really made me think about things that I usually wouldn't think about like what it was truly like for the help and also how people saw things and what things meant to them, that we don't usually think of being important. So far I think that it has been an amazing book and I'm really excited to see the movie after I finish this book. I did slow down a little bit because of our other reading book, but I have got back on track and I'm going to try to read even more!

Travel Team

I finished Football Champ. It was a really great book and I recommend it to any spotrs fans. That's not what this post is on. This post is on my next book, Travel Team by Mike Lupica. It centers on the story of a boy named Danny Walker. He is shorter than everyone else in his age group. In baskeball that puts you at a huge dissadvantage. Danny was on a local travel team. That team cut him because he was too short. His father then starts his own team for other kids who have been cut. Danny's character shows great persistence. From when he was little the book says that he knew how to "Lean into the bigger kid gaurding him, just because there was always a bigger kid gaurding him, and then step back so he could get his dopey shot off." His persistence has payed itself back with great skill. The book says, "He was the best passer his age, even better than Ty Ross, who was better at everything in sports than just about anybody." In conclusion, Danny Walker's hard work has payed off and his great skills are proof. Danny is a character with a work ethic that everyone should aspire to have.

Catching Fire

Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark are visited by President Snow on the day of their “victory tour,” and he says that he is angry at them for tricking the Capitol by threatening to commit suicide at the end of the Hunger Games. President Snow tells Katniss that with what they have done, they have started much discussion about it in the Capitol. She is told that, if she cannot persuade everybody in Panem that the only reason she and Peeta were going to commit suicide, is because they are madly in love and cannot stand living without each other, the Capitol will kill Katniss’s best friend, Gale.

During the victory tour, the first place Katniss and Peeta visit is District 11, where Katniss’s friend and ally throughout the Hunger Games lived, before she died. Katniss makes a speech thanking the district for their kind tributes. After, the tributes continue visiting all of the twelve districts and the Capitol. During an interview, Peeta and Katniss show their love for eachother hoping it would settle the argument between them and President Snow. Katniss learns later that their attempt has failed. When Peeta and Katniss return home, it is made known that for the 75th Hunger Games, 24 of the victors of past Hunger Games will be put back into the arena in a fight to death, yet again. Katniss knows that she and Peeta will both be put back into the arena, and has decided to completely give her life in protecting Peeta.

Unbroken

Since my last post, I have finished the book 1984, and am in the middle of Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This book was recommended to my social studies class by Ms. Green, and I had nothing else to pick from, so I decided to give it a try. Its turning out to be a remarkable book. Its a biography about Louie Zamperini, who is a world class miler who served in the Air Force in World War 2. He grew up in a relatively poor neighborhood, and wasn't really good at anything, except for thievery and getting in lots of trouble. He was overshadowed by his brother, who was a straight-A student and known for his respectfulness. Louie grew up to realize that he was a fabulous runner, breaking almost every record in the mile he came across. He even participated in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. When he found out that the 1940 Olympics were cancelled, he enlisted in the Air Force, and eventually his bomber crashed into the ocean. This left him stranded thousands of miles from any land with two other men with an astonishingly low amount of provisions. I'm actually way past this part in the book but saying any more about the plot would give too much away.
This story has really impacted me just in the extreme unlikelihood of all of the events (good and bad) that happen to Louie, and just that such extraordinary things could actually happen to someone. This story makes almost anyone's life appear dull and lackluster. It was also interesting how some of Louie's traits as a child that were frowned upon probably ended up helping to save his life after he joined the military.

CHERUB: CLASS A

CHERUB: CLASS A is the second book in the series. "Class A" is the British term for "The Dealer", since this was written in a British perpective. James Adams, the former trouble making child is now a highly trained martial artist, smart child in every subject, and a good friend to all of his friend recruits at CHERUB. He had a hard first mission, but he managed to make it through. The missions in this book are all run by children, under eighteen because most criminals wouldn't suspect a child as a spy. James is now on one of his most difficult missions, dealing with a highly protected cocaine dealer. His job is to make friends with the dealer's sons, and be able to get info about what the kid's dad does. But soon after becoming friends with the son, he is forced to deliver cocaine, whether he likes it or not. His new "friend" also works in the cocaine force and has told James that if he rats on them, they will torture his family. So he only has one choice, go against the law, and make good friends with the dealers. But, as most people know, these CHERUB children do not exist.

Thirteen Reasons Why

I just started reading a book called Thirteen Reasons Why, written by Jay Asher. So far, the main character, Clay Jensen, has recieved a package and inside it is a bunch of old tapes labeled 1-13. As he starts listening to them, he discovers that the person on the tapes is Hannah Baker, a girl at his school who had committed suicide one week earlier. On the tapes, she explains why they have been sent to him, and he discovers that he isn't the only one on the tapes. The reason that the tapes had been sent to him was because he was one of the thirteen people who she believes caused her to commit suicide. Also included in the package was a map of the town, with red stars on them, and as he listens to the tapes, she refers to the places on the map and goes there to try and get a feel of what Hannah went through. Where I am right now in the book is just after the cheer leaders Oh My Dollar Valentine survey, which they use to get money to go to cheer camp. And when Hannah went to go see who was on her list with people that the cheerleaders would "suit her", she gets a call from one of the guys on the tape, Marcus. He tells her that she is the number one person that he is compatible with on her list, and they agree to meet up for a date at Rosie's diner the next night.

Lone Survivor Complete

I have recently completed Lone Survivor, the book I wrote about in my first post. After the author described the brutal training which all Navy SEALs must undergo. He got into his own experience in Operation Redwing. The author, Marcus Luttrell was sent in with three of his fellow SEALs. These other three were Michael Murphy, Matt "Axe" Axelson, and Danny Dietz. The purpose of their mission was to take down a high ranking Taliban official. The dilema was that their position on the mountain provided little cover, which made the mission riskier than usual. Thankfully SEALs are the highest trained operatives in the world, so they can handle it. The men sat and waited for 16 hours not able to move in inch for fear of being spotted by a watchful sentry. They were spread out over about a 75 yard area, 2 with sniper rifles and two with assault rifles. Then a group of Afghan goatherds accidentally scared the crap out of Marcus who was as unaware of their presence as he was of theirs. He popped up from his concealed spot and pointed his rifle at the goatherds. The rest of the squad came to see what was up. They voted against killing the unarm men, this turned out to be a decision Marcus would regret. Two hours later a force of 200 Taliban come up to hunt the 4 SEALs. They are trapped, and the whole way out is with their weapons. Despite their numbers disadvantage the men hold out for two hours. They were forced to leap of steep cliffs several times in a row, each breaking several bones, but SEALs are the toughest men in the world and will fight to the end. Michael Murphy was shot a total of five times, but through it all he ran out into the middle of the fray to make a cell phone call, as it was the only area where he could get service. He phoned a nearby base and said "My guys are getting killed out here." He was shot and dropped the phone but he picked it up again and said "Thank you sir." He was shot in the head again, yet he continued to fight until another gunshot killed him. Matt Axelson was shot a total of seven times and lost his vison as well as breaking both legs, but he just propped himself up and continued to blast away until he was blown up by an enemy RPG. Danny Dietz was shot five times also losing his eyesight in his left eye, his right thumb was also shot clean off, he died bravely like Murphy and Axe. Marcus miraculously was only shot twice, and injured his leg terribly. When the firefight was done Marcus needed to stay alive as he was the only remaining SEAL. He hid and continued killing many Taliban, the squad of SEALs had managed to kill 180 of the original 200 Taliban. This goes to show how good these guys are. Marcus survived and was found by friendly Pashtun villagers who granted him "lokhay" meaning their village would fight to the death to protect him. After 6 days he was picked up by a U.S. chopper. He returned to the U.S. the next week. It was later discovered that Matt Axelson had not died from the RPG, this was proved as he had 3 clips of pistol ammo when Marcus last saw him, and when the body was found he had none and his rifle was bent and bloodied as he ad beat 3 more Taliban to death with it. Matt Axelson continued to fight until being shot three more times making a total of ten shots to take down one man. This was one of the greatest books I have ever read.

I am still in the middle of reading Annapurna, a book about mountain climbing in Nepal. The group of climbers are still scouting the mountains a looking for the pass that can take them to Annapurna, their mountain of choice for climbing. So far, they have come to the conclusion that the south and north faces are unclimbable. They have been making daylong trips into the nearby mountains to get better looks at Annapurna. An obstacle that they have to work around is the daily thunderstorms. Down below in the valleys, it rains, but when they are up on the mountains, It turns to snow, making everything very cold, windy, and in general dangerous. Throughout the book, there have repeatedly been examples of how the local Nepalese people treat the climbers with much respect, and will help them whenever necessary. An example of this is that a few local men went out hunting and shot a thar, which is basically a cow, and instead of keeping it for themselves, hey gave it the climbers. This is a very good example because the Nepalese people are in need of food and meat, because Nepal in general is a very poor country. So far, I would reccomend this book to anybody, because there is no waiting involved, this book gets straight to the point.

Ashes Ashes

The book Ashes, Ashes, by Jo Treggiari, is a very good book. I have just started to read this book over the weekend and I already like it. This book is a post apocalyptic book where this girl named Lucy is one of the few to survive an apocalypse which wipes out 99% of human population. She now needs to find a way to live off of her surroundings and feed off of wild animals. All she has with her is a sleeping bag, jacket, some utensils such as a knife and fork, and a survival guide which she picked up off the floor of a book shop. All of her family is gone and she does not know of anyone who has survived the plague or the famine. Even though that I am not very far into the reading, I expect that this will be a very good book and that I am very excited to read it.

Deniz

Halo

Halo is a story about what happens when a trio of angels are sent to earth, to help a small town by the name of Venus Cove. By appering there, the three angels, Gabriel, Ivy, and Bethany, hope to bring good to the village. All goes well for the progtaganist, Beth, until she falls for Xavier Woods, the popular, handsome 'it' boy of the school. When dark forces begin to invade the town, the angel's mission is threatened as is their lives. Beth must make the ultimate dissision; the love for her family and for Heaven, or her love for Xavier.

Beware, Princess Elizabeth

Since the last blog post i have finished the book Nickle and Dimed (221 pages).

I just started a book called Beware, Princess Elizabeth. I am on page 15. This book takes place during the 1500's. The main character in this book is Elizabeth, she is 13 years old. Her father, Henry VIII, has just died and she is heartbroken. She has a nine year old brother named Edward who was named after his uncle. He is the next ere for king. She also has a sister named Mary who is 31. Mary is the child of her fathers first wife, Elizabeth of the second and Edward of his third. Mary is 31 and still a virgin with no husband or kids. Her fathers current wife (sixth) was named Catherine. Catherine is 34 years old. There father would always tease Mary because she was already so old and was still a virgin with no husband. One time she was so upset about his teasing she went down to the river bank and started crying. Elizabeth was 9 at the time and came up to her and tried to make her feel better but Mary yelled at her and basically implied that she doesn't need her. Since then they haven't talked or contacted each other in any way. Now that there father has dies they are brought back together. They were standing at the fathers funeral holding hands wondering what thoughts were going through each others heads.
I really like this book so far and i would recommend it to people in middle school or older.

The Maze Runner

I started a new book this weekend called The Maze Runner by James Dashner. I'm a little bit more than half way through and it’s an amazing book. It’s about this boy named Thomas who wakes up in the Glade with no memory. He soon finds out about life in the Glade. Him, and all the other boys living there are surrounded by huge walls. There are different entrances into a giant maze. These entrances close every night and open again in the morning. Most of the boys in the Glade have spent their whole new lives trying to figure a way out. One job in the Glade is being a Runner. A runner runs throughout the maze looking for ways out and exits. But soon after Thomas’ arrival things start changing. A girl arrives at the Glade in a coma with a piece of paper saying “She’s the last one. Ever.” And after that their mysterious suppliers stop sending food, kids, and supplies. Thomas feels as though he has a connection with this unknown female, but he cannot quite place it. Life as they once new it in the Glade is changing. The doors stop closing, and sun goes away, and this girl, Teresa, finally wakes up from her coma. Every night from then on the dreaded monsters called Grievers come and take one kid. Can Thomas put a stop to this? He might just be the only one, and he’ll do whatever it takes. So far this has been a great book, a little creepy, but good. I recommend it to people who like books like the Hunger Games

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Since the last time I posted on this blog, I have finished We'll Always Have summer by Jenny Han (304 pages), Divergent by Veronica Roth (487 pages), and started The Naming by Alison Groggon (on page 231).

Divergent by Veronica Roth is similar to the Hunger Games in terms of genre and the idea of having a dystopian society divided up into regions (but in Divergent, they're called factions). Beatrice, who later renames herself Tris, takes a test that’s supposed to figure out which faction would suit her best, and she finds out that she is divergent. A divergent is someone who is different and has inconclusive results. She chooses to enter the faction Dauntless which trains people to fight and is known for being brave and reckless. Something then goes wrong and there is a dispute between the factions. Along the way she gets in a relationship with her instructor Four.

Despite the simpler writing style than the Hunger Games, I quite liked this book. I could relate to the character more than Katniss from the Hunger Games because she had many disadvantages. She was from a faction that was viewed negatively, and her build was very small which was a challenge to fight with in the beginning. She failed in the beginning, but she was hard working, quick, witty, and rational. Her emotions are portrayed clearly, and it was easy to root for Tris because she was an underdog. Her relationship with Four was also realistic because it had a good pace for the development of their relationship, instead of the book being focused on a fast paced relationship like many teen books written these days.

Overall, I recommend this book to high school and middle school students.

Between Shades of Grey

I just started the book, Between Shades of Grey. This book is about Lina, who lives in Stalin Russia. She is taken from her home and shipped to Siberia. Her Father is sentenced to death. She has to conquer and live through her fears and the fact that she and her family might not make it out. Currently in the book, she has been taken from her home and is in a train car, where she has been for the past few days. She has located her father in a different rail car and is trying to help her family survive having to stay there for as long as they have to. So far it's a great book and I'm excited to continue reading it.