Hello!
You have read (at least) one novel this quarter. Please share your reaction to that book, so that others may benefit from your experience. Please include a short summary of the book, as well as discussing its strengths and weaknesses. DO NOT GIVE THE PLOT AWAY...merely inform the readers of the initial situation. Be sure to indicate your recommendation, along with any rationale.
To add your response, please comment on this post. (Consider first composing it in Word and then copying and pasting it into the blog.)
Thank you!
Ashley Bradley
ReplyDeleteMr. Stuebner
PSEO 161, 11th period
October 28, 2011
Every school has one popular girl that everybody aspires to be friends with. In The Tenth Circle, by Jodi Picoult, it’s freshman Trixie Stone. She’s pretty, popular, and she gets perfect grades; she’s even friends with Zypher, one of the most popular girls in school. So when Zypher invites Trixie to a party, how could she refuse? It was a great opportunity to have a good time, and most importantly, make her ex-boyfriend, Jared, jealous. After everyone goes home, Zepher, her boyfriend, Trixie, and Jared are the only ones left. Drunk, they all make regrettable decisions.
When Trixie regrets her decisions that night with Jared, she points to rape. But was it really rape? Jared claims it was consensual, but Trixie claims otherwise. She spins a web of lies involving drugs and events protecting herself, or so she thinks. Will all these lies prove her as an unreliable witness, or will Jared spend the rest of his life behind bars? When her mother is gone the night of the rape, Trixie feels lost in a sea of grief. When she can no longer depend on her mom, Trixie is left to find out who she really is behind the glamorous life that may not be so perfect.
Meanwhile, her mother gets entangled in an affair. Daniel Stone, Trixie’s father, remembers his anger from growing up as the only white boy in an otherwise entirely Eskimo village. He turned to alcohol, drugs, and violence as a teenager. Now that his daughter has been harmed, can he keep his violence under control? Or will he revert back to the old ways his daughter has never seen?
This is a great book. I would highly recommend it to any high school student. It is easy to relate to, since I am a high school student. The vocabulary is easy to understand and almost any reading level can enjoy this novel. Personally, I like books with a lot of different layers and stories to unravel. This book has a lot of layers to it. Just when readers start to think one way, Picoult takes the story down a whole new path, adding another layer. If you are looking for a quick read, this isn’t necessarily the best book to read. While it is longer in pages, if it is not interesting to you, then it will take a lot longer to finish. However, if you are an avid reader, you will finish it in no time.
Abby Beer
ReplyDeleteMr. Stuebner
PSEO 161, 11th period
9 November 2011
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
Nobody Owens has a strange life. His parents, teachers, and friends are all ghosts, and he has a guardian who belongs neither to the living nor the dead. When Nobody, also known as Bod, was just a baby, a man named Jack murdered his mother, father, and sister. Jack intended to kill Nobody as well, but Nobody was able to escape from his crib and crawl out of the house to the graveyard. Once in the graveyard, the ghost of Nobody’s newly dead mother asks Mrs. Owens, the ghost who first noticed the infant, to protect her son. Although the other ghostly residents of the graveyard are hesitant to allow a living child to be raised in the graveyard, Mrs. Owens, with the help of the Lady On the Grey, is able to convince everyone that the boy should be permitted to stay. It is determined that Mr. and Mrs. Owens will be the parents of Nobody, and Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, will be Bod’s guardian. As Bod gets older he begins to notice a girl about his age frequently visiting the graveyard. He soon learns that the girl’s name is Scarlett. Scarlett and Bod become fast friends and have many adventures together, including a run in with the Indigo Man and the Sleer. Unfortunately, Scarlett moves away, and Bod loses his one living friend. Even though Scarlett is no longer around, Bod continues to have adventures. He battles ghouls, befriends a witch, dances in the Macabray (a dance of the living and dead), and learns how to read, write, Dreamwalk, and Fade. What Nobody does not know is that, Jack, who is part of the convocation of Jacks, is still looking for him. One day while wondering through the graveyard, Bod notices a girl about his age and realizes it is Scarlett. Scarlett immediately remembers Bod and a few days later tells him that she knows a man who might know who killed his family. Nobody reluctantly agrees to meet the man. Upon meeting the man, Nobody recognizes that the man is actually Jack and tries to escape. Will Jack be able to finish the job that he could not so long ago?
This book has many strengths. From the first page, I knew that this book was going to be an adventure. I really like how the audience is able to watch Nobody grow and learn throughout each chapter. Each chapter Bod is a little bit older and is getting himself into a different situation. This keeps the book interesting; there was never a dull moment. The book is very different from anything that I have ever read. The idea of a little boy being raised by ghosts is a very intriguing concept to me. The ending of this book is also amazing. I found no weakness with The Graveyard Book. It is a very well written book that will keep you guessing.
I think that the intended audience for this book is someone who enjoys adventure and mystery. If you like ghosts and mysterious murderers and graveyards, you will love this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a great book that is unlike anything he or she has ever read.
Evan Paine
ReplyDeleteMr. Stuebner
PSEO 161, 11th Period
28 October, 2011
Sharon M. Draper’s Fire From The Rock seemed interesting when I glanced at the book’s back. The summary suggested that the contents of book would deal with the historic events of the integration of a high school in Little Rock. Unfortunately the summary was very deceiving. Readers will quickly discover that Fire From The Rock focuses very little on actual events; instead Draper decided to write the majority of the novel about the daily lives of Sylvia, an African-American teen who is considering being one of the first black students to integrate, and her family. Topics like integration and civil rights are issues that younger people may not comprehend. This would suggest that the book’s intended audience would be an older group, but Draper made Fire From The Rock a watered-down version of history for younger people.
Now I do not want to say that this whole book was bad because the parts that focused on the integration of the school and other historic events were written excellently. But in my opinion there should have been more about the integration. Draper also did an excellent job in creating characters with complex personalities. Interactions between the family members, about civil rights, displayed how different ideologies could create tension in even the tightest families. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were working for a common goal, but they used different tactics to achieve the goal. The father and Gary, the eldest son, were nearly torn apart because each followed a different activist. There definitely are good elements of the book, but to me it seems that Draper failed to put the emphasis on the history.
Fire From The Rock has strengths, but overshadowing the strengths are many weaknesses. A large portion of the book seems to lack importance. Draper includes many scenes that seem to exist just to take up space. Multiple characters come in for extremely short periods of time. An example of this is when Sylvia, the main character, goes to a library and racist kids attack her. A potential hero emerges when a white teenage boy sees the harassment and stands up for Sylvia. Readers may think that this brave gentleman may become friends with Sylvia if she decides to attend the white high school. However at the end of the page the boy heads home never to be heard from again. So many characters come and go, closing the door on numerous possibilities. With all the characters in the book, Draper had many characters that surfaced throughout the storyline but had no significance.
I want to end on a positive note. Draper wrote the book leading readers to expect one outcome. Shockingly, the end has a sharp twist that stunned me. This was the greatest strength of Fire From The Rock.
Danny Robinson
ReplyDeleteMr. Stuebner
PSEO 161
October 27, 2011
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is a direct, but fictional, account of a soldiers’ experience during World War I. Originally translated from German, this book provides exceptional insight into the horrors and terrors of war. This book reaches out to those who find enjoyment in a war story, be it a modern or classic story.
This novel begins with Paul Baumer, the narrator, and his fellow comrades resting after being just relieved of duty after two weeks of continuous fighting on the front lines. He and his friends are all nineteen years of age and have not had a lot of time to do anything other than be in the military. This extended length of time during which all of these young men are in the German military causes all of them to think about the true meaning and downfalls of war. Paul especially contemplates whether he will ever find a true love or not and becomes extremely and deeply saddened when his close friends begin to die in combat. The narrator comes face to face with the perils of war when he must defend himself against an enemy Frenchman, ultimately killing him. After learning the man is a husband a father, Paul becomes distraught and depressed.
I thought that this book presented the facts of war in a very well stated manner. The strengths of this story lied in its ability to accurately, and in much detail, describe the real events of war. During the novel I felt as if I was following Paul through each scene, from trench to trench. Remarque does a unique job of displaying the thoughts of the narrator and his companions. The main weakness I found with the book is that its diction was, at times, different. This, I assumed, was due to the German to English translation. The other was that at times, the author would put in an anecdote from the narrator’s past or change to the past tense in the middle of a paragraph, which I found to be confusing sometimes.
This was a nationally best selling book and a very successful book worldwide, as it was accepted by a broad spectrum of people, all of whom could understand what it may actually be like in war. Erich Maria Remarque’s chronicle of Paul Baumer enticed readers to the style of war books such as his, which were not common before World War I. I recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in war or in the history of war because it bluntly presents a realistic and historically precise account of the enemy’s side of the famous Western Front.
Jacob Boudreaux
ReplyDeletePSEO ENGLISH 161
Mr. Stuebner
11/11/11
Per.11
Flip is very captivating novel intended for young adults, and draws you in from the very beginning. Have you ever woken up in someone else’s body? Without any signs of anything out of the norm, the main character, Alex wakes one just like any other morning but is astonished when he looks in the mirror to see a completely different person looking back at him. In a foreign house with a family who seems can’t stand him, Alex also finds out he has lost six months of his life just over one night. The only thing that seemed familiar to him was that he was in the same country he went to sleep in, London. It’s morning and his troubles and confusion have just begun.
Alex finds out that he has woken up in the body of a boy his same age named, Phillip, or Flip as his friends seem to call him. Flip is the popular kid in school, has a girlfriend, lots of friends and is good at sports. All of these things Alex was never like or had. Alex before waking up in a different body was a nerdy boy who did well in school, had asthma and wasn’t all that familiar with the ladies. As Alex goes through Flip’s daily routine he slowly start questioning if he will ever be back into his own body or even see his family again. I began to ask myself the same question as I read it and I was extremely tempted to take a sneak peak at the end to what Alex’s outcome was.
Can you imagine waking up in a different house full of strangers and then going to hide in the bathroom and not seeing your reflection looking back at you in the mirror? I know if I were Alex I would have had a panic attack and only think the worst. Considering the position Alex was in, he reacted extremely well. He doesn’t just sit and hide somewhere sucking his thumb, he instantly starts trying to fix and find ways he can fix his dilemma. Even though Flip is popular, good at sports and has a girlfriend, Alex would do anything to get back to his simple life. Throughout the book Alex has a difficult time accepting the life of Flip when all Alex want to be is true self, Alex.
Author, Martyn Bedford did a good job of putting together the cast of characters that he chose that really help the reader get to know the kind of person Flip was before Alex was in his body. Since Alex and Phillip are so different it explains why his family, teachers and friends are confused by Flip’s new strange behavior.
I thought that this novel was a good read for those looking for a thriller that forces you to picture yourself in Alex’s position. The only weakness I saw in the novel was that if you are looking for a challenging read then this is not the novel for you. On the other hand the strength of the novel was definitely that the novel pulls you in and forces you to feel attached to the character. I recommend this read because the novel will easily appeal to teenagers, both boys and girls as they can only hope Alex returns to his true self.
Maddie Furrer
ReplyDeletePSEO 161, 11th period
Mr. Stuebner
October 28, 2011
In The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch the author tells his life story while also illustrating what he believes is important in life. The novel starts by Pausch stating that he has cancer and that he has not been given very many months to live. He then goes on to talk about how he must give his last lecture to the students at Carnegie Mellon, the university where he had been a professor for the past several years. Although he wants to spend his time left with his three kids, he feels that he must give this lecture. He hopes that in doing so he may also help his own kids. Pausch plans to record the lecture so that someday his own children may see what he wanted them to know and what he stood for.
Pausch based his lecture around the idea of following his childhood dreams. By explaining how he experienced zero gravity, was an author for an article in the World Book encyclopedia, won the largest stuffed animals at several amusement parks, and became a Disney Imagineer, Pausch demonstrate how he followed his childhood dreams. While explaining his accomplishments, the author revealed life lessons that he had learned. A couple in particular stood out to me. One was the idea that “there was really only one way to teach how to develop it [self-esteem]: You give them[kids] something they can’t do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process.” This idea captured my attention because I agreed with what he said. If a child is given a problem and then an adult helps to solve most of it for him, the child does not feel confident that he is able to fix the problem on his own, and instead becomes less confident in his own abilities.
Another strength in Pausch’s writing was his unusual perspectives on life. Many people believe that the world wastes money on sending people into outer space while instead that money could be used to fight poverty and hunger, but Pausch believes differently. He thinks that when we send people into outer space, we are “inspiring all of us to achieve the maximum of human potential, which is how our greatest problems will eventually be solved.” This uncommon perspective on space travel enhances the book because it forces the reader to look at ideas in new ways.
I would recommend this book to any other reader because it is very interesting to read and brings up ideas that the reader may either agree or disagree upon. The author does a great job of telling the story and makes the book very appealing to read. Pausch did a wonderful job of relating his life to his ideals in life.
Gina Rockas
ReplyDeleteMr. Stuebner
PSEO 161 11th period
28 October 2011
Incident at Hawk’s Hill by Allan W. Eckert is the novel I chose to read. It is a 1972 Newbery Honor Book. Eckert is a very descriptive writer and shows off this talent in Incident at Hawk’s Hill. I would highly recommend for students to read this book.
The setting for Incident at Hawk’s Hill was an old farm outside a small town in the west around the 1870’s. The main character of this novel is an innocent six year old named Ben MacDonald. Ben and his family live outside of town on a large 15 acre farm. To the north of the farm is a small river and rolling hills. Ben wasn’t an ordinary six year old boy. He has the talent to almost communicate with animals and seems to have a special bond with them. Ben would usually spend most of his time following various animals around the farm. On a cloudy August day Ben traveled farther than usual to the prairies to the north of the farm. All the land looked the same and soon Ben became lost. Ben spent the night alone and in the morning is found by a large female badger. Badgers in the town are notoriously mean and vicious. Ben wasn’t afraid and became friends with the female badger. After a whole day of Ben being gone the MacDonald family and neighbors start a search party to find him. The search is unsuccessful for more than two weeks and they give up thinking that the six year old is dead. Ben is not dead but living in a hole with the badger and sharing meals with her. The badger and Ben hunt and play together all day. Living with the badger and not eating proper meals made Ben start to lose weight and become very sick. His life becomes in danger when he gets a virus from eating only raw meats. Will Ben be found and rescued? You’ll have to read the book to find out.
Incident at Hawk’s Hill has very few weaknesses. The only weakness I found was that it was kind of unlikely for Ben to survive so long eating raw chickens and other raw foods. This book has lots of strengths. The beautiful descriptions make you see and feel exactly what the author wants you to see and feel. You can easily relate to the MacDonald family when they are distressed over losing their youngest son. The book is very straightforward and easy for anyone to understand. The reader can feel the love not only within the MacDonald family but the love between the badger and Ben. I think the intended audience the author wanted to write for would be children of all ages and adults that would enjoy the simplicity of the story. For someone who likes stories with happy endings and a feel good book then Incident at Hawk’s Hill is the book for them.
Mallory Gillespie
ReplyDeleteMr.Stuebner
October 27th 2011
Book blog paper
Real Live Boyfriends by E. Lockhart is the last installment of the Ruby Oliver series. The last novel is about Ruby’s senior year and her finally being with her “real live” boyfriend Noel. When the novel starts, her boyfriend starts acting strange and never returns her phone calls, or emails. Noel has changed and Ruby has no idea why. Not only that, her parents are fighting, her friend Huntch is leaving for Paris and Gideon, her ex best friend’s older brother and long time crush, starts acting like boyfriend material. Ruby has lost most of her friends, her true love, her grandmother, her reputation and her mind. This last novel tells how Ruby finally survives all of the mayhem with her witty remarks and humor that brings Ruby full circle with herself and her surroundings.
Real Live Boyfriends was lacking for being the final book in my opinion. It was very predictable and cliché. Girl finally gets with boy, boy acts strange, girl gets suspicious, girl breaks up with boy, girl finds another boy, girl still in love with ex boy and you just know the rest from that point on. I could have watched a movie from this decade instead of reading this. The previous books were more dramatic and more fast paced which is one of the reasons I loved the series so much. Ruby in this novel also seemed more annoying and emotional than in her previous novels. I did enjoy near the end when Ruby finally got everything together. If anything she really has become more mature and more self-assured. It was a fulfilling moment reading what her psychologist says about Ruby. The ending did have a realistic view on love, relationships and the future which I liked because it wasn’t the “fairytale” ending about love, it’s truthful. I was truly impressed with E. Lockhart closure for this series. If anything though, I personally wish I could have seen a better conclusion with her ex boyfriend and ex best friend Jackson and Kim like with her other ex friend Nora, who in the end forgave Ruby for getting with Noel. A decent scene that shows maturity from both sides of their past would have been a nice ending. It would have made to me, a more satisfying ending showing maturity and growing up and growing apart. Overall the book was decent, my least favorite out of the four and I would not read this story again. I would recommend it to girls who have read the three previous books, and who enjoy romance comedy novels.