Summer Reading
Over the summer, you were asked to read at least two novels of your choice.
1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the book's content? How does it resonate with you?
Please do not give me a summary; I care more about what you took away from the book.
*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and enjoyed and answer the above.
1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the book's content? How does it resonate with you?
Please do not give me a summary; I care more about what you took away from the book.
*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and enjoyed and answer the above.
I decided to read Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli and The Clock Within its Walls by John Bellairs. I personally did not enjoy Stargirl, but I found I was quite fond of The Clock Within its Walls. I liked the sense of mystery and discovery that resonated with The Clock Within its Walls. I found the characters appealing, and the overall storyline of the book was interesting and made the reader want to continue the book. I learned that this book really relied on the sense of “don’t change yourself to make others happy” and “don’t stick around people who’s daily mission is to bring you down”. Both of which are philosophies that I do believe are important to realize in daily life. In Stargirl, the moral of the story is actually quite the same. Which is, in my opinion, “don’t change yourself for others appeal”. I believe that the story did not show this in the best of ways, considering the girl did indeed change herself for the boy she had a crush on, and that the boy had liked her better when she changed her personality and everything that made her herself. The book The Clock Within its Walls matters to me because of the sense of wonder and mystery within its pages. It makes me think of my younger years, when I still believed in witches and warlocks and spells. I think that the book has a sense of fantasy that sounds/looks believable in the real world and I appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThis summer, I read Maximum Security and The Killing, both by Robert Muchamore. I read both of these books because I love crime/mystery books. These two books were about a young undercover agent named James who is a part of CHERUB, a kid-spy organization based in England. What I really enjoy about these books is that there are always different twists and turns, like in The Killing when a drug dealer investigation turns into a murder investigation. I also love how they author develops new characters into every book, like James’s new girls and characters he develops relationships with during his investigations. What I have learned from these books range widely. One example I can use is from Maximum Security, when James is on the run for his mission. He meets weapons dealers that he enjoys being around, and I thought about how bad people can look good on the outside, but not on the inside. What matters about the book’s content most to me is locking the bad guys up. Being a detective has always been in the back of my head and that’s always been fun to hear and read about.
ReplyDeleteThis summer I read the books Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. In Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, I really liked the way the book was told by Hillenbrand. The way she told it it felt like I was right in the moments with Louie where he was holding onto his life with just a couple of fingertips. This book Louie shows resilience in to never give up no matter what situation life brings you. This resonates with me in that I should never give up too no matter what situation I am put into. Overall this was the best book I have ever read because, every time I picked it up I was always on the edge of me seat wondering what was going to happen next. The second book I read was Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne. What I really liked about this book was the teamwork and problem solving skills that these kids had to keep them out of this natural disaster. I learned from this book that teamwork was key because many people died alone during this natural disaster but these kids were able to survive because they all contributed to their efforts. I can relate to this because there are a lot of things in life where one person can not do it alone, showing that teamwork is key in life.
ReplyDeleteThis summer I read the books the 5th wave by Rick Yancey and the Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I really enjoyed the book the 5th wave because it had a wonderful sense of never knowing were the story would go. I really liked how it switched characters during the story so even if you thought a person was one way, once you saw what was going on inside their head it completely changed the way you looked at the story. Even though the book was fictional, it had a good message that you should never take anything for granted. This resonates with me because I am a very busy person but I shouldn't just take for granted my family and friends and I should make an effort to spend time with them. The Hunger Games trilogy was so thrilling and it kept me on the edge of my seat and always wanting to know more. The three books are all so different but my favorite was probably the second one which was Catching Fire. I liked this one the best because I loved how Katniss and Peeta were always looking out for each other and even though at first they were pretending to be in love, the ended up falling in love in the end. These books resonated with me because through all the trial they went through in the games, Katniss and Peeta survived because they worked together as a team which just shows how in life we can get through tough things by working together with people.
ReplyDeleteOver this summer I decided to read the books Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen. I liked the Thirteen Reasons Why because the story was told in a very unique way. It was told in two different perspectives. One of them was in Clay Jensen and the other one was Hannah Baker. It really helped to explain the story an it described events well. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I liked the story line a lot. The book The Running Dream turned out to be an amazing book and it is probably one of my favorites that I have ever read. In the story, a girl named Jessica is extremely passionate about running but she ends up losing her leg in a bus accident and in the book she is trying to find a way to run again with only on leg and it is very interesting and a very inspiring thing to read. Overall it was a very good book.
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ReplyDeleteOver the summer I had read both Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and The Voyage Of The Frog by Gary Pulsen. In Things Fall Apart it was mainly about European colonization in Africa, for me the views of how the villagers of Umuofia, and how they truly felt and responded to the colonization is what really impacted me which is what I took from the book. The Umuofians in the book were rather aggressive people, almost nothing could hold them down, but when European colonization had started spreading, you really saw the weakness in the characters. Them not being able to fight back, for them not being able to protect themselves showed me they're like us today; sometimes struggles get the best of us, it really showed me how such an in-depth concept could have such a 21'st century problem. As for The Voyage Of The Frog, it gave me a really well put heartfelt survival story. In the book as I read it, the more I progressed the more emotion that I saw. After the death of his uncle, and had left on his journey, you could really tell the heartbreak of his uncle's death. And as the storm hit, maturity strived at its best in the book, you could really tell that he is putting the worst behind him and focusing on living. Which I interpreted with what a lot of people go through today when tragedy happens we mourn, but we always have to get back up on our feet and work for happiness and life. Which really resonates with me as I believe we all can get trough struggles if we belive and try hard enough.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I read the book The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I still have not finished the the Hunger game series, so I don't yet know what I think, but I will keep you posted. On the other hand I greatly enjoyed the novel The Help. The novel is about the black help in white homes and their stories. Set in Jackson, Mississippi racial injustice is very prominent. One of the young white women (Skitter) makes the decision to write a novel on the helps point of view. This will challenge and changes many peoples thoughts about the help in Jackson. I enjoyed this book for many reasons. Its abruptly and deliberately showed racial injustice and never sugar coated it. It never showed just on persons point of view, all were acknowledged. I learned a lot about the worlds way of dealing with fear, it was shown all over the book. It shows people don't walk up to the knew and different, they hide and hurt what they fear. They only look at the picture from one angle so as not to see the whole picture. I think it matters that this problem is show to the readers and brought to their attention. I think we all need to learn to be open and choose to see the whole picture not just out of the corner of are eyes but full on because you never know what its going to be. It makes you look at people in a new way. From all sides of the story.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this summer I chose to read two novels by Mitch Albom, one being Tuesdays with Morrie and the other being The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Tuesdays with Morrie explained the friendship between a a young man and his wise mentor, for every Tuesday they would meet together to discuss different ways to look at life. Because of this, one can take away a variety of different life lessons and ideas after reading. I loved how each Tuesday described a new topic of conversation from two different perspectives, as Morrie had more experience than Mitch. One piece of wisdom that I took away from the book is "The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in." (Albom 52). This quote showed that offering compassion to others will be greatly appreciated in most cases and is a great example in the fact that "what goes around comes around." Not only did this quote stick out to me, but each chapter conveyed a different piece of wisdom that I plan on using in my everyday life. The Five People You Meet in Heaven had a similar effect on me, for each person Eddie encountered in Heaven shared a different outlook on life. Some themes portrayed through the novel include the lesson that everything happens for a reason, sacrifices are apart of life, the importance of releasing anger and granting forgiveness, the power of eternal love, and the purpose for each person's life. Each lesson related to my personal life in a different way and motivates me to live life to the fullest. I have a significant amount of respect for the author and have greatly enjoyed every one of his pieces, as the lessons showed in his books inspire me to be a better person after every read.
ReplyDeleteThis summer I decided to read Turtles All the Way Down and The Fault in Our Stars both by John Green. Both books about strong characters that I felt somewhat of a connection towards. Turtles All the Way Down was about a girl named Holmsely who had trouble dealing with OCD during her daily life. This book reminded me of myself, Holmsely had a lot of the same characteristics as me and did normal teenage girl things just as myself. She struggled with OCD to the point where she got in a car crash and almost killed herself and her best friend, that point in her life changed her. I have had a point in my life that has changed my look on life as well. After reading this book, I took away that people don't really care all that much about what you wear, who you hang out with, how much money you have, and to always be kind and caring because you never know what people may be dealing with. The Fault in Our Stars also hit close to home, the book surrounds around a girl named Hazel and a boy named Gus, both struggling with cancer. They met each other in a support group and quickly clicked with a sharing passion for books and both dying of cancer, they were "meant" for each other. This book was a very strong book, really greatly worded, but also made you feel so close to the characters. When one of the main characters ends up passing away, the book became very powerful, the feelings that the characters were feeling made a connection to me when I lost one of my close family friends to cancer. The book showed me a powerful message, John Green poured into the book that people should live their lives to the absolute fullest and concur their dreams because they don't know when it could be their time. Both of these books inspired me and showed me things that I knew before but deeply explained them to me in a way that made me a better person after reading.
ReplyDeleteThe 2 books I read over the summer:
ReplyDelete1.The Mysterious case of the dog in the night by Mark Haddon
2.Animal farm by George Orwell
1) What I liked about The Mysterious case of the dog in the night is the look into the mind of a person with asperger's disease. The book is about a young man named christopher who a hyper intelligent man who was never directly stated to have asperger's disease but is implied through the symptoms he shows throughout the book.
2) What I liked about Animal farm by George Orwell was the metaphors and allegories to the russian revolution. The book is about how a group of farm animals overthrow the oppressive humans ruling over them (a metaphor for the russian monarch's and royalties) and is replaced by an equally terranical force (A metaphor for the soviets).
Over the summer I read The Leveler written by Julia Durango. I liked the book because of the way it showed the change in personalities. I think that Ms. Durango was trying to convey that change should be accepted and everyone is unique in their own way. The story told a great story about the journey the protagonist went through from being a business person to a person who loved others. The story also used allegory to represent many problems that the world faces like war, rebellions, famine, poverty, etc. The author tries to tell the audience the problems that cannot be fixed but can be resolved by sharing knowledge about it.
ReplyDeleteThis Summer I read 1984 by George Orwell and All Quiet On the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. Both these books taught me many valuable lessons about life and its relevance. One common theme they both shared was that in a population one does not matter and is merely disposable. 1984 taught me that everything is not always what it seams, and it also taught me that in the future with a vast sum of people unable to find jobs because of technology; it would make sense for a country to try to take a totalitarian approach to governing its populous. I feel as if 1984 is a very relevant piece of literature that relates to our current reality in many ways, and I hope we never live in such a terrible place. All Quiet On the Western Front gave me a whole new view on life. It taught me that sometimes you're better off dead then alive. This book made the true horrors of WW I come to life, and the main character’s story is overwhelmingly sad. This book shows how traumatic situations can beat down and ruin your mental state. This book also played an important role in history by educating many people about what happened in WW I. The ending of All Quiet On the Western Front was an awakening, and I hope this book stays relevant in the future. After reading All Quiet On the Western Front and 1984 this Summer I have learned many lessons that I hope to carry through life.
ReplyDeleteOver the Summer I read, I know what you did last summer by Lois Duncan and If I stay by Gayle Forman.
ReplyDeleteWhat I liked about I know what you did last summer was that it kept leaving you on cliff hangers and you wanted to continue reading. There were also very many unexpected things to come up in the book that you would not expect that were very entertaining. What I learned from the book was that you need to own up to your mistakes earlier than later because bad things can happen if you do it later. I know what you did last summer made me know that if you lie you will get karma for what you've done so it's better to face the consequences.
In if I stay, I enjoyed the character builds throughout the novel and the heartbreaking story of the main character. I learned that you shouldn't take your life for granite because you never know when you or loved ones might get hurt. The content mattered to me because it made me be more happy about how lucky I am and to not end things on a bad note. I have learned to be more thankful for the things I have and not dwell on the things I don't.
Over the summer I decided to read Paper Towns by John Green I also read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chobosky I personally loved both of them. I really liked the story line in both of them, I also really enjoyed the characters personalities in both books. I really liked paper towns for the thrill and adventure in the story. In Paper Towns I have learned the lesson that people change all the time and to not preseve a person as who they used to be. I really enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower for its real life feeling, How charlie is in high school and he does not know anyone and he starts to meet new friends and start trying new things. I think that book is really relevant to high school right now a ton of people don’t know anyone just like Charlie. The lesson I learned from The Perks of Being a Wallflower is that life moves on with or without you. This lesson is super important for everyone to learn and I think everyone should read these books they have very good lessons.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I read Catching fire by:Suzanne Collins, I also read The Grim Grotto by:Lemony Snicket. I really enjoyed Catching fire because it was action packed book and left you on the edge of your seat with ever paragraph. Another reason why I liked Catching Fire is because It had adventure with them making tough decision to keep them and their teammates. Overall I really enjoyed everything about Catching Fire. The second book that I chose for reading this summer was the Grim Grotto written by Lemony Snicket, I really enjoyed this book because it had the unfortunate events of the baudelaires and a kind of good ending with them escaping the wrath of Count Olaf. Over the events of this book I really enjoyed the excitement that left you to ponder what you just read. All in all I really enjoyed reading this book.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I decided to read Unwanteds: Island of Dragons by Lisa Mcmann I also read Unwanted Quests: Dragon Captives by Lisa Mcmann.
ReplyDeleteOne of the common themes in Island of Dragons is that the best way to solve a problem is to work together with people around you. In the book there Island that they call home gets attacked from mercenaries sent by another Island looking for revenge. What I took away most from this book is that sometimes bad things happen to you. This journey called life is not easy, it comes with a lot of hard work and effort and things go bad, a lot. But you can't let that bring you down, you need to surround yourself with people that make you feel special and that push you towards greatness. One common theme from Dragon Captives is that pushing towards your goal in life isn't always easy, but with hard work it can be. In Dragon Captives These twins, Fifer and Thisbe, steal things from their brother to help out the Dragons being used as slaves on the other Islands. What I took away the most from this book is that if you want something you have to go and get it, you can't wait for it to come to you. You need to struggle, persevere, fail and then do it again to succeed.
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ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I decided to read books called The Adjustment By: Suzanne Young and Through to You By: Lauren Barnholdt. In the Adjustment, Tatums boyfriend Wes had his memory taken away from him in a process trying to stop teen suicides. I decided to read this book because the plot is unique and interesting to me and not like others. It was told with such description, I felt like I was there in the moments. The other book I read, Through to You, was about Penn and Harper, from completely different backgrounds and social classes somehow click and fall in love. This book was definitely one of my favorites because of the way it was told and how it's something that can definitely happen in present time. Both books were amazing and were so hard to put down.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I read Hero by Mike Lupica and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
ReplyDeleteI liked this book because it was one of those books were it kind of leaves you on a cliffhanger for me I like mystery books, and this book met my standards, It had an interesting plot, Zach Harrimans dad died,and he has this creepy old man "stalking" him everywhere he goes so it is like two mysteries in one. I also like how he tries standing up to the people he keeps encountering no matter how bad he gets hurt he wont stop pursuing to find out what really happened to his dad. I feel that if you work at something hard enough and you have enough motivation anything is possible and to always keep your hopes up.
In Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver, is about a girl who gets in an accident and relives it for seven days.
In many ways I thought this book was very interesting, because being the popular girl in school she was a bit bossy and could be a bit mean some but when she gets in an accident everything becomes different she worries less about herself and starts opening up to new people so she changed her ways and started being a lot happier and even tries to save a friend. To me this book means that there is always room to open up to other people don't judge people this resonates to me because I had to work with opening up to people as well.
During the summer I read Gone Missing by Linda Castillo and Every Secret Thing by Emma Cole. Gone Missing is about Amish teenagers who were being kidnaped. It was interesting learning about how teengers were raised/expected to behave. I liked the cliffhanger ending, I can't wait to read the next book in the series. The second book, Every Secret Thing is about a mystery that takes place during the second World War. I enjoyed reading about the little known jobs that people did to help win the war. The mystery and twists and turns of the story kept me guessing until the end.
ReplyDeleteI read two books in the "Heroes of Olympus" series by Rick Riordan. I read the first two books, "The Lost Hero" and "The Son of Neptune", both of these books I enjoyed quite a bit, they worked as the sequel to the "Percy Jackson" series, those being one of my favorite reads it was nice having more to read about the Percy jackson universe. Something I really liked about the "Heroes of Olympus" books was that it didn't just focus of Percy this time but gave more characters to think and learn about. Not that I didn't enjoy reading about Percy again, these two books added to his character nicly and allowed more to be built off of in the next three books. Something that I learned of these two books I thought I learned was "don't rely on just your friends, have confidence in yourself as well". I felt this works especially in Leo's ark in the first book. My biggest thing I wanted from these two books was more from the "Percy Jackson" universe and it served well.
ReplyDeleteThis summer I read two books, Metro 2033 and Daybreak 2250. Both of these books are set in an apocalyptic setting. I personally enjoyed both of these books very much. Both of these books were very dark and realistic. I enjoyed both of these books so much because they were narrarated in the first person and it was really cool to read the story from their point of view. Both of these books show off self-independance and relying and trusting yourself.
ReplyDeleteThis summer I read the books (1)The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan and (2)1984 by George Orwell. There were many things I liked in the first book I read, The main thing I really liked was how adventurous and how well described their quest was. It was also interesting how mature they acted throughout the quest and how brave, courageous, and curious they were. While reading this book I quickly learned that the gods (brothers and sisters) have many family issues. I got this impression because their dad ate like half of them and Poseidon and Zeus were fighting over an object. What matters to me most about the content of both books is to always be strong because In The Lightning Thief Percy, Annabeth, Grover had to defeat medusa and many other enemies to retrieve the lightning bolt. In 1984 Winston must stay strong because he defied a ban on individuality. Overall both books were really good.
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ReplyDeleteOver the summer, on my spare time i decided to read "The Mark" by Kiki Swinson. I read this book because, it seem so interesting, I desire books that has a lot of drama and action. Personally like no other books I read, this specific book had my full attention, to where i read all day till the sun went down. As I got farther into the book, which was the rising action were she found out that her ex husband was released from prison and didn't know she had a family, knowing that she took everything from him. When he was released he decided to go find her and when he did, he took her baby and husband to keep them hostage, till she finish what she started to get back the all money she took from him. So she agreed to to clear out her bank if that's the only way for her to get her family back. When he found out she didn't complete the task her ex husband was upset so he kill her husband, so she got carried away and started thinking if she were her ex husband where would she go. So she found out he were at his home town and came up with a plan to get her baby back, moral of the story she got on a plane and went back to their hometown. I like how she was strong no matter what andt she was willing to face it all for her son, it took a tough fight but eventually she got away after being torchered till she thought she was dead. this book taught me to never give up, I learned that its takes a little fight to get what you want back and what want kill you want hurt you.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I read "Otherworld." This book was the best book i've read, cant wait for the second one It's about a boy who was madly in love with a girl. The girl went to a party in a old abandon house and the floor collapsed and she and others fell in. she was badly injured. she was put into a hospital but they kept her drugged and she was in a super realistic virtual reality game called "Otherworld" but if you get hurt in the game you feel it in real life, the hospital kept her prisoner. The boy saved her.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I read the book, "The Kill Order," by James Dashner. The book was very interesting, and showed that reading can be decently fun. The book introduced the end of the world theme, and it gave me ideas, in case I was in the situation where it really was the end of the world. The book showed me, that family and friends are also very important, and dangerous situations require many people to think along with you. The book made e think, who I would take with me into those kind of situations, and the book really made me think about our Earth, and how we live today. Technology is upgrading constantly, and becoming more dangerous if used wrongly. So after reading this book, I became more interested into reading, and I enjoyed the end of the world theme it had.
ReplyDeleteOver the summer I decided to read "Lord of The RIngs" by JRR Tolkien. THe book was very enjoyable with all the plot changes and adventure and mystery aspect to it. I enjoy books like this because Mystery and adventure are my favorite to read in my past time. The book although didn't have any aspects to help you learn anything because it was set in a fairy tale land was interesting and could have helped you learn something that you never knew. The book mattered to me because it had many interesting plot elements and helped me learn about this great land. I have decided to start reading it again to get a few more elements out of the story and hopefully I can understand all of the elements in the book by JRR tolkien.
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