Patrick McGagh
2/20/2018 06:12:08 am
The novel that I have recently read was Refugee written by Alan Gratz. This novel by Alan Gratz was a great read and was full of action and suspense throughout the novel. In this novel, there are three kids named Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud, that all face similar conflicts with where they live, that causes all of them to flee their homes. Each of their perspectives switch each chapter to tell their different stories and what is currently going on with each character at the time. To start off with, in the beginning of the novel, each character is faced with a different conflict where each of the characters and their families have to flee their homes immediately. Josef has to flee Germany due to the Nazis sending jews to concentration camps. Isabel is forced to flee Havana due to the constant fighting in her country. Lastly, Mahmoud is forced to leave his home due to a bomb hitting his neighborhood and his house. All of these kids get away from their home countries by going on boats. Throughout Josef’s journey, he is faced with many other conflicts including many different people dying, and the Nazis raiding his room on the boat. After the Nazis have destroyed his room on the boat, there was “nothing left to smash or scatter” (Gratz 151). During all of the character’s journeys, they each face many problems including their families, that affect each character. Still, each of the characters persevere through their journey and end up arriving at their destination. However, this did not come easy to each of the characters, which develops the theme perseverance can get someone through a time where they might be struggling. One time where this theme was developed was when Isabel had finally arrived in Miami, after many days of struggling. Instead of experiencing many difficult things in Cuba, Isabel was now in a classroom “in Miami,” which she calls home (306). I would give this book 5 stars because the author lets the reader know everything that is going on, and always uses vivid descriptions of each setting. Also, nothing in his book is rushed, so that is another reason why I would give it a 5. All in all, I would recommend this book to anyone likes novels that are historical fiction and books that are filled with action.
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Johnny Soucheck
2/20/2018 06:24:34 am
I have just recently read the book, This is Our Story, by Ashley Elston. The book is a mystery novel. In the book, the River Point Boys (John Michael, Shep Moore, Henry Carlisle, Logan Mccullar, and Grant Perkins) are big friends. They’ve been friends for years. But, many incidents like drugs, alcohol, and fighting begins, and when they go hunting, Grant Perkins is shot by one of them and is killed. The boss of Kate Marino, Mr. Stone receives the case of the River Point Boys, the biggest case in the town of Belle Terre. With the powerful families, the DA want this to be swept under the rug. But, Kate won’t let it happen until the one that murdered Grant Perkins is put into jail for life. But as she uncovers the case, it’s revealed that everything about the River Point Boys is not what it seems, including Grant and Stone’s prime suspect. She has to do anything to prove the morning accident wasn’t an accident and uncover the true killer. The theme of the story is to never give up. The setting is the town of Belle Terre in October and November.
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Alexa Kiernan
2/20/2018 10:07:28 am
Book Talk Blog Post
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Charlene Melinsky
2/20/2018 05:49:05 pm
The novel Little Bee written by Chris Cleave was a truly unique and heart warming story. Its deep conflict made it such an enjoyable story to read. This novel is about a posh, young women named Sarah, and another women named Little Bee. These women are very different, however. Little Bee is a fifteen year old girl who lives in Nigeria, but fled her country as a refugee. Sarah is an editor that lives in England, and mother of a boy who always wears a batman costume. One day, Sarah is on the beach on a vacation with her husband, and Little Bee arrives in search for a place to hide. People coming after Little Bee threaten to kill her, unless someone would cut off their finger. Sarah’s husband, Andrew is going to do it, but he can’t bring himself to cut off his own finger. Sarah couldn’t watch them die, so bravely she, “[chopped] off her middle finger with one simple chop” (Cleave 115). Little Bee is so thankful, but Sarah is traumatized, with now just a stub of a finger. Back in England, Sarah tries to carry on with her life, attempting to get rid of the horrid memory of that day on the beach, until one day two years later, Little Bee arrives at her doorstep. Sarah is confused, and scared. The dark, “memories from the beach [swirl] in [Sarah’s] mind, inchoate, senseless, awful” (119). Through changing points of views, Sarah and Little Bee get to know each other more despite their dark past. The theme of this story is friendship lasts forever, even through hard times. Little Bee and Sarah must overcome their memories and start a new friendship together. This book was truly amazing. It was powerful, shocking, and stunning. The author Chris Cleave creates a powerful plot in which the characters are so memorable and powerful. It is full of wit, humor, compassion, ambition, and hope, even through the darkest of times. This is a true ten out of ten story, and I recommend it to anyone, no matter what you like to read. It is a story that will blow you away.
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Nick Sullivan
2/22/2018 07:07:25 pm
I have recently read the novel Shooter by Walter Dean Myers, and it was a fantastic story. The main conflict and its suspense always left me begging for more after I read. It was all about a shooting that occured at a school, and a majority of the book was close friends of the shooter in interviews, giving their perspective on the incident and describing their relationship with him. The names of the friends were Cameron Porter and Carla Evans, both of them being quite alike, in the sense that they were troubled teens who didn't have much but themselves. From the beginning of the novel it was obvious that the shooter, Len, was very controlling towards Cameron and Carla, and they would always submit to the pressure he put on them to support him. The three of them were students at the school, and got picked on on a daily basis by the "jocks" and "popular" ones, which enraged them and caused them to make many mistakes. So, even before the tragedy there were countless other irresponsible and harsh things that Len would do, most of the time with Cameron. In fact, one night the two snuck into a church and "[Len] wrote-in really big letters-'GOD DOESN'T LIVE HERE'" (Myers 27). Also, "[Cameron] wrote, 'JESUS WOULDN'T EVEN RENT THIS PLACE'" (Myers 27). Although it may seem hard to believe, this is one of the least grim things they did together, and from here on they only got worse. Eventually, after getting in trouble with the police, taking drugs, etcetera, Len made his plan. Carla and Cameron hesitantly informed their interviewers of it, as it was something that brought them a lot of emotion. On the day everything happened, Len met Cameron in the library in the mornin, where he proceeded to cut himself with to write a message in blood, "STOP THE VIOLENE." After he had done this on the wall just outside the library, he moved up to the third floor during class exchange, and after blowing up nearby windows with bombs he had planted earlier that morning, he began to rapidly shoot his rifle down the hallway, hitting students left and right. However, it wasn't long until it was over, and a SWAT team had Carla, Cameron, and Len all in cuffs. There were many injured, and even one deceased after being hit in the chest. At the end of the novel there were also newspaper articles, police reports, and even a short journal found in Leonard's home, all of which giving some extra details about the event.
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Tyler Buchenberger
2/23/2018 02:17:57 pm
When, an intense and suspenseful novel written by Victoria Laurie is an amazing read. This book has a main character named Maddie who is a regular 15 year-old girl. The only thing is that she isn’t so normal after all. She can see peoples death dates written above their foreheads. Her mom is an alcoholic and wastes all her money on vodka, so Maddie has started a business. Maddie has a reading with one of the kids parents Mrs.Tilbot and her son was supposed to die very soon. Maddie and her best friend Stubs tried to warn her multiple times by calling her, but she threatened to call the police. Maddie had nothing else to do, and throughout this story she feels alone at many points because her father died. The closest person she has to a father is her Uncle Donny. He helped her so much throughout the story and without him things may have not turned out so well. The next thing that happened in the story was that Timothy Tilbot was captured, tortured, and murdered. He was taken by someone around the period of time after school and no one knew who the murderer was. Maddie feels like this is all her fault, but it wasn’t because she tried to help. When someone is murdered and there is someone who can read “death dates” you can guess who the FBI are going to be pointing there finger at. The FBI call Maddie in and question her many times and try to get her to prove that she was the killer. Things get worse when Maddie sees Peyton Wyly’s death date. Stubs really cares about this girl and he actually went to try to tell her. Many people at this point are suspicious with Maddie and Stubs because they were so involved with these people, but they were just trying to help. Peyton ends up being killed and from there it is all chaos. Stubs gets arrested for Peytons murder, although they didn’t have all of the evidence. Uncle Donny and Maddie have to work together to find the killer before he or she takes another life. Leading towards the end the FBI find information that helps prove that Maddie is innocent and from there Uncle Donny, Maddie, and the FBI are on the move to find the killer. After Maddie had the FBI test her to make sure she was innocent she went home. Her Uncle showed up and he did not look happy. After Donny walked in Maddie exclaimed that “‘[she said] nothing Donny, [she swore]. [She] just had Faraday test [her].’ Donny scratched his head. ‘Yeah, well that must have been one hell of a case Maddie. The assistant DA is dropping the case on Stubs” (Laurie 248). This evidence was a big turning point in the story because there was hope in Maddie’s life for the first time in a while. Not everything in her life had fallen back into place the way it was before, but there was still some hope. After this Maddie and the FBI have to keep fighting and working to find out who this killer really is. The ending is so unexpected and suspenseful and you just want to read more. This book has a crazy plot and obviously no one can read death dates, but the idea of the killer is scary to think about. The ending leaves you so surprised.
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Shani Lynch
3/1/2018 01:51:34 pm
I read the fantastic novel You May Already be a Winner by Ann Dee Ellis. This is about a 12 year old girl named Olivia who believes luck is real. This is the reason why she enters at least 14 contest each day hoping that she’ll finally win one. Olivia hopes to have enough money to take her, and her little sister, Berkley, and move out of boring old Sunny Pines trailer park where they live. She frequently misses school to take care of Berkley because they don’t have enough money for a daycare. Everyday her mother is tired from work making extra money, can’t can cook dinner, and isn’t actually mom as Olivia would say. It doesn’t help that her Dad isn’t responding to her letters since he left on “business” and never came back. Along the way she meets a boy named Bart, who Olivia thinks is the love of her life and makes Olivia forget all her problems. At least she thought that until he didn’t come back for weeks. When Bart does come back, Olivia hangs out with him and finds out that he supposedly works for the FBI, Olivia uses this to her advantage now. She pretends to be a spy and take in intell about her neighbors so she can get Bart to help her find her dad. Meanwhile, the neighbors are preparing to launch the first ever community circus, an idea Olivia casually mentioned to give Berkeley something fun to do, but she never actually expected would come through. A turning point in the novel is when Olivia is ordered to go to school after months and has to face all of the school drama again, including seeing her former best friend, Carlene, with her new friend Bonnie. Still not able to afford a daycare, Olivia takes Berkeley to school with her. Olivia has to think what is best for her family in this situation, “Take care of [her] sister. So [she] did. [She] forgot about Bart. [She] forgot about Carlene and dumb-bum Bonnie. [She] even forgot about Mom and Dad and [she] took care of [her] sister”(Ellis 185). This is the point in the book where Olivia has to really find the love for her family, and use it to help her through her struggles. Olivia is dealing with all of these problems, and has to do everything herself. But she realizes that she doesn’t need the perfect life like shes been wishing for. I thought the theme of this book is that love can conquer all because Olivia finds out that she can solve her struggles with the love of her friends, her family, and her neighbors. I would rate this book a 10 out of 10 because it was so descriptive and suspenseful, I never knew what was going to happen next. I loved how the author included fantasys, or imaginations, of Olivia. She would have Olivia thinking of a fantasy throughout the book, and that really made it such a great read. I would suggest this book to anyone who likes description, and I hope you love this book just as much as I did.
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Johnny Soucheck
3/8/2018 03:59:37 pm
I have just recently read the book, Dream Bender by Ronald Kidd. The book is about that many years in the future, after the warming, that was a flood, the people found a city and lived there, in their modern day, there is no music, art, or machines. Meanwhile this is happening, there is a meadow that is far away from the city, there are people that are called dreambenders. The dreambenders bend peoples' dreams, to bend out any thought of art, music, and machines. This is to keep another warming from happening. But, a dreambender named Jeremy, who is known to bend bid dreams, finds a dream that has a person that is singing named Callie Crawford. Jeremy doesn't bender her dream and Callie sings for the whole day until she takes a nap and she doesn't know why she was singing as another dreambender bent her dream. Jeremy gets into trouble and was banned from the dreaming field that was where the dreambenders bend the dreams. After getting banned, he head towards the city, a place where dreambenders aren't allowed. He has to go through the between that is a forest and meets these people that couldn't dream. When he reaches the city a fixer named Leif tries to take him back to the meadow. But Callie helps him. They head into the between and meet the people Jeremy met already. When the fixers look around for them. They "picked out some trees and [climbed] up, quickly and easily. [They] found a place [in] [the] [tree] to stand" (Kidd 170, 171). Now they have to get to the Music Palace and not get caught by the fixers. I recommend this book to anyone that likes magical realism fiction or adventure. This book is good for the future and the realism of not keeping your dreams normally, but instead your dreams being bent. I give this book a 10 out of 10. This book I really like, everything in this book is good, there isn't a dull moment and the plot keeps advancing. This is a book that is so good and so remember able that I will never forget this book and what happens in the book and all the twists and turns that happen. I will never forget this book, ever.
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Shani Lynch
3/8/2018 04:57:29 pm
This is for my second novel, Dog Sense.
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Alexa Kiernan
3/8/2018 08:42:24 pm
I have just finished the eventful novel, Tears of a Tiger, by Sharon M. Draper. Originally, I selected this novel for two reasons; the overwhelming recommendations, often consistent pestering, and the fact that I had previously read other books by Sharon M. Draper. When I started reading this novel, I was not a fan. I didn't enjoy the slang terms that were used or the street talk. I felt like the author was trying too hard to sound like a kid on the streets. On the contrary note, by the end of the book, I loved it! It wasn't quite what I was expecting but I would rate 8/10 stars! Mainly because of the early discrepancy about the language that was being used.
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Julia Molinari
3/9/2018 04:55:18 am
The book I have recently read was “Room”, by Emma Donoghue. In this book, 5 year old Jack, and his mother, are kept locked in a Room by Old Nick, their kidnapper. All Jack knows is the Room, because he was born there and has never left. He thinks that the Room is the only real world, and that the only people are him, his mother, and old Nick. Whenever old Nick goes over to visit the Room, his mom keeps Jack in the wardrobe, away from old Nick. One day, Jack was playing with his remote control car, and woke Old Nick up and scared him. Then, he hurt Jacks mother, Ma. This is when Ma knew it was the final straw, and decided to make a plan on how her and Jack could escape. Jack would have to play dead, so when Old Nick drives him to bury him, Jack would jump out of the truck and get help. If they succeed, they would get to have a brand new start on life, and the whole world.
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Patrick McGagh
3/13/2018 06:17:13 am
I have recently read a hilarious novel, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, written by Sherman Alexie. This comedy, realistic fiction novel made me laugh every single sentence I read out of this book. This novel is about a teen, named Junior, that was born with several problems in his brain, which included too much cerebrospinal fluid in his brain, which keeps it from running smoothly and fast. In the beginning of this novel, Junior is already facing many conflicts, including having to move schools, and his dog died, but even with that happening, Junior is able to make the reader laugh with his comics and his jokes. Even when Junior is getting bullied, he just puts that aside and does what he loves to do most, which is to make comics of very funny things. At his new school, he encounters another conflict which is that he is the only Indian in the school besides the school mascot, which makes him feel left out. As this novel continues, Junior starts to make lists of many different things, including one called “The Unofficial and Unwritten Spokane Indian Rules of Fisticuffs” (Alexie 61). The first statement on this list was “If somebody insults you, then you have to fight him,” which instantly made me laugh (61). Junior always remembers this list, and it helps him get through a very tough time in his life. This lists goes on to say more things about insulting, which always results in fighting someone. As time passes by, Christmas finally arrives, but for Junior, since is family is poor, no one got a gift for someone else, which brought a feeling of embarrassment. A little bit after Christmas, it is time for school basketball, and Junior tries out for varsity. Surprisingly, he made the team and is a starter, and one game, he plays his old school, which Junior furiously wants to crush, so he makes comics of the other team at the time. It turns out that they had won the game, and Junior is very happy and thankful. This is the point in the book where Junior has a realization. He realizes that he has stuck with comics and jokes all through his first year of high school, and nothing seriously bad had happened. So, this brings the theme of this novel, which is people have to stick with something that they love, in order to get through tough times in their lives.
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Jackson Hyman
3/16/2018 07:03:35 am
I had recently read Tears of A Tiger by Sharon M. Draper. Tears of A Tiger is about four African American kids who go to Hazelwood High. One night after a basketball game they happen to be drinking and driving. The driver, Andy Jackson spins off course and slams the car into wall on the highway. Andy, Tyrone, and B.J get out of the car injured,but not terribly. When they look at the car they look at their hopeless friend, Rob and see him screaming because his legs had gone through the windshield. They had tried frantically to get Rob out, but when they had heard a gas tank squealing they knew they were out of time. Tyrone and B.J were pulling Andy away from Rob because if Andy had stayed he would’ve died too. As they watched their helpless friend Rob die from the burning flames, they would be scared from this moment for the rest of their lives. B.J and Tyrone had taken this very well for how close they were to Rob, but since Andy was the closest to Rob he had taken it very badly and was depressed for the entire book. There are many characters that tried to help Andy, but it was no use. I had loved this book so much, every time I picked it up I had never wanted to put it down.
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Aydan Lindie
3/16/2018 11:00:57 am
Recently, I have read the book Prisoner B-3087 It is about this boy named Yanek who lives a happy life with just his family in the Jewish Ghetto. Soon, in the book there the year becomes the year of WW2. Then soon soldiers of the Germans are plowing into their little town. They are coming in here by jeeps buses and tanks. Bringing all of these weapons into their world. These citizens are huddling more and more family's into their little house. These Nazi soldiers are completely brutal to these people. On example is, the soldiers took all of the old and sick out of the hospital and whoever of those people did not stand up they would shoot and kill them. These soldiers would be so ridiculously cruel that they would call of the Jews out side of there buildings, and if they did not come out then the soldiers would burn the buildings. Since all of these Jews are dying really quickly from the all of the soldiers that are killing them Yanek and his family are living on top of their roof in t/he little pigeon coop that was abandoned by the pigeons. A few weeks later, Yanek comes back from doing his work around the ghetto and goes to get the bread from the bakery for his family, He realizes that the bars holding down the door to get up to the roof were wide open. When he gets up into the pigeon coop none is there. A few weeks later Yanek is caught in the middle of the night in the pigeon coop and is taken away by soldiers to a concentration camp.
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Aydan Lindie
3/16/2018 11:23:40 am
Recently I have read the book The boys who stopped Hitler. It is about these 8 kids who are all friends at their local school. In 1940, their town is invaded by a bunch of Nazi Soldiers and they are bringing in lots of weapons kind of to scare the people in the town. However, this is the year of the holocaust and these Nazi soldiers hate the Jewish villagers However these kids are not Jewish but they live in a Jewish town. What inspired these boys to try and stop Adolf Hitler is when these kids were witnessing what all of these things the soldiers are doing to the Jews. They would burn them, they would hurt them in any way they could. Most of the book was about these kids trying to stop the plans to attack the U.S in the World War 2. You have to read this book if they succeed or not. I would rate this book a 9/10 because I thought the author did a really good job of keeping me on my feet of what is going to happen next. However, I felt that the ending was really rushed and the book was over so fast. I thought the theme of this book was to always stick together because this could always help you in some rough times with your friends and if you are struggling in the world you can always count on one of your friends.
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Shani Lynch
3/16/2018 02:43:51 pm
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead , is about a sixth-grader named Miranda. Miranda lives with her single mother who has a very nice boyfriend, Richard and lives in a run-down apartment. Miranda’s mother, was recently accepted to participate on a game show, “$20,000 pyramid.” Miranda's best friend Sal, who she’s known since they were little, has suddenly started ignoring Miranda after he had been punched in the stomach by another boy, Marcus, for reasons he doesn’t know. There’s also a homeless man who lives on the corner of Miranda's street. She calls him the "laughing man" because he is known to laugh for no reason and he also kicks randomly. Then, Miranda suddenly starts to get mysterious notes.The first note she got, Miranda was shocked, “M, ...I have been practicing, and my preparations go well. I am coming to save your friend’s life, and my own. I ask a favor. You must write me a letter. [Miranda] was freaked. Mom was freaked” (Stead 60).These notes immediately frightened Miranda, not only because she does not know who they’re from, but the predictions in them turn out to be true. It also doesn’t help that one of the notes say that she must not tell anyone, and she has to keep it private. This was only the first note, but the others have proof that the writer who wrote these notes, know what happens in the future. For example, they knew what studio number her mom would be competing in before Miranda’s family was even notified. Miranda develops new friendships with her classmates Annemarie (who has also "broken up" with her best friend, Julia) and Colin. Miranda and her new friends, decide to ask for a job at Jimmy’s Sandwich Shop. Jimmy agrees and lets them work, not for money, but for sandwiches and soda. Jimmy has a rusty piggy bank in the back of the shop filled with two dollar bills. One day the money is stolen and Jimmy thinks it was Miranda, Colin, and Annemarie. The kids explain they didn’t do it and then Jimmy suspects Julia as the thief. Later, she meets Marcus, the boy who punched Sal. He sees the book, A Wrinkle in Time that Miranda always carries, and gives an interesting perspective on the book. As they discuss the possibility of time travel, Miranda realizes Marcus isn't mean, but he is very smart. Each note brings Miranda closer to believing that only she can prevent a tragic death. Until the final note makes her think that it’s too late.
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Tyler Buchenberger
3/18/2018 10:14:07 am
Paperboy, was an amazing and intense read written by Vince Vawter. In this novel there is a boy named Victor who’s just like any other kid. There is just one thing about him, and that is that he has a stuttering problem. Whenever he tries to talk, he gets caught up on certain words or letters and needs to get air. His best friend Rat (his real name is Art, but it’s hard for him to say so he calls him rat), is at his grandparents farm for a little while during the summer. While he is there, Victor has to take over his paper route. Everything starts off fine, and because he plays baseball he could just throw the papers right onto the porch. While he is practicing saying some words, he is misunderstood for another word and gets yelled at. This is just one small conflict that happens throughout this route. There are also some positive things like a man named Mr. Spiro. He is very knowledgeable and is one of the very few people who takes the time to help Victor with his stutter. Another person like this is Mam, who helps around Victors house and those two are very close. One day Victor needed to get his knife sharpened so he asked the junk man, Ara T. Ara T being the big bullie that he is, doesn’t give it back and that cause many conflicts to happen throughout that story. Mam has always disliked Ara T and Victor soon realizes why in the story. Although Victor and Mam have to do many things try to retrieve the knife that isn’t the only conflict. While Victor's parents aren’t home he goes into their closet and into a box. There he finds a piece of paper and that has a big effect on the way he looks at someone in his life. With all of this going on there are some positive things going on in his life. Mam and him get to go to the zoo although they have to sit at the back of the bus because of Mam. Victor is collecting four pieces of a dollar bill to make some sort of a puzzle. Along with all of this he gets to play baseball and enjoy a nice summer in Memphis. Stuttering makes it difficult for him to collect money at the end of the weeks, but he always keep trying. He also learns that he has a talent of writing and Mr. Spiro kept encouraging him to stick with it, but use words verbally as well. Overall there are good and bad things in his life, but Victor will have to face his fears of some people and of his stutter. It is easy to see that he is stressed about his stutter when it says that “He uses a trick called Gentle Air. So when he feels like he is going to have trouble saying a word he tries to sneak up on it by making a hissing noise. S-s-s-s. When he’s eleven years old, it’s better to be called a snake than a retard” (Vawter 2). This exemplifies how he feels about his stutter. He knows that other people think that he is stupid or something, but he knows that he is just like any other kid. He has to use his words to get through all of the challenges in his way.
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Johnny Soucheck
3/21/2018 02:02:30 pm
I have just recently read the book, "Refugee" by Alan Gratz. In this novel, it is about a young Jewish boy named Josef that is living in Germany with his parents, and younger sister, Ruth in 1939. The Nazi's come and take his father away and six months later, a telegram they get tells that their father has to leave the country in two weeks or he will be taken back to a concentration camp. Josef and his family get on a boat named the St. Louis that will take them to the only country that will accept the mass amounts of Jewish refugees, Cuba, as all other countries have already gotten tons of them and America is only letting in a certain amount of them. As they're on the St. Louis, Josef's father is insane now, a shell of himself and is thinking that they're gonna take them and put them into a concentration camp. After many days, they reach Cuba, but they're not let into the port Havana. After many days, the people on the boat are mad and don't want to be sent back to Germany. Meanwhile this is happening, 55 years later, a young girl named Isabel is living in Cuba. At the point in time, there is a lack of food in the country and a riot happens. Isabel's father participates, and the police are gonna find him soon. Isabel and her family has to get out of the country before her father is put into jail. As they get onto a small boat with the with the Castillo's. After two days on the sea, they reach what they think Florida, but it's the Bahama's so they set sail back into the sea to head to America. Finally, meanwhile, 21 years after the escape with Isabel, and 76 years after Josef and his family's escape, there is boy that is nearly a teenager named Mahmoud. He lives in Syria during the fighting in the country with his mother, father, his younger brother, Waleed, and his baby sister, Hana. They have lived a weird life after the fighting began, with the running water stopping. Then, a missile hits the street their apartment is on and the front of the building and then shortly the rest of the building collapsed. They make the decision to head to Germany. They start getting there by car until their car is done for, then they walk the rest of the way. They get to Turkey and they are at a refugee camp at the border. A smuggler gets them on a boat that is destroyed by rocks and they almost drown and Mahmoud gives away Hana for her to survive. They get saved by the Greeks, and get put on an island until they get onto the main land and then illegally through the border into Macedonia, and then Serbia. They try getting to Hungary by taxi until "the taxi driver [leaned] over the backseat with a pistol[,] aimed straight at [Mahmoud] [and] [his] [family]" (Gratz 235). This puts the realism into Mahmoud that he could be killed. They pay the taxi driver and walk the rest of the way to see a fence being put up. They get caught and are sent to a prison in the country. Between the three families trying to escape, will they survive?
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Tyler Buchenberger
3/22/2018 03:20:19 pm
I have recently read Noah Barleywater Runs Away, by John Boyne. This book was a very good read and focused on two main characters and one of the main characters life. In this novel, an 8 year old boy Noah Barleywater ran away. He left in the early morning and his parents didn’t know. He went through two towns before coming across a tree. For some reason he is very interested in the tree, but he doesn’t know why. Shortly a talking dachshund and a donkey(this book is very fictional), tell him that he was standing there for an hour. He couldn’t believe this and soon learns that it isn’t the tree that is so intriguing, it is the toy shop that stands behind him. From there he enters the shop to see that there is an old man. The shelves lined with wooden puppets, and some cars and other toys, but all made of wood. All of these toys were made by the old man or his father. The old man and the boy talk for a little bit before coming friends. Then they went upstairs to eat when Noah found a chest full of puppets. Each puppet was made by the old man and had its own story and an effect on the old man's life. He created them because some of them helped him out in life, and others did not. Mr. Wickle was the track coach and one day saw that the old man beat the fastest kid in the school in a race by a longshot. This was when he was a kid of course and Mr. Wickle helped him discover his talent. The old man kept sharing these stories with Noah and they enjoyed talking to each other. Noah asked more questions after each story and both of them got to know each other more. Noah barley forgot that he was gone. Although it felt like it was very long, everything happens in a quick period of time. Mid-way through Noah shares stories about his mom and how she took him out of school to a carnival, and to an indoor beach. The mother would keep saying things that made it obvious that something was going to happen and that became a conflict later on. Mr. Quaker was a man who effected the old man's life when he was a little older. He was sent to the olympics and that sounded like a great thing, but he would have to leave his father. The olympics didn’t take long, but he traveled all over the world afterwards. He didn’t realize how long it took until he arrived back home to a terrible sight. A doctor was in his father's room and he had just passed away an hour ago. From there the old man regretted traveling and not staying with his father and from there he took over the toy shop and has been building puppets since. The boy learns this and was shocked. The old man just doesn’t understand why if Noah had such a great mother, then why would he be running away? It turns out that she is sick. Really sick and she knows that she isn’t going to be live much longer. That was why she was always trying to spend more time with him. The old man tries to tell him that he should go back and see her, but it is yet to be determined whether he keeps running away from death, or if he sees his mom before it's to late. He made a promise to his father that he came home, but he was too late when “Dr. Wings said, ‘If only you’d arrived an hour earlier.’ In the bed Poppa lay looking for all the world as he was fast asleep. ‘It’s me Poppa,’ the old man whispered stepping forward. ‘I came home’” (Boyne 185). Here the author establishes that this character felt very upset by this death, and that may change Noah’s decisions later in the story.
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Jackson Hyman
3/26/2018 02:12:12 pm
I had recently read a book called The Worst Class Trip Ever by Dave Barry. This book is about Wyatt, Suzana, and Matt who all are working together to find out why these two weird guys were looking at aerial pictures of the White House. The book starts out with Wyatt and Matt on the plane to Washington D.C where their class trip is. During the flight they notice these two really weird men looking at pictures if the White House. They decide to investigate in it and take a closer look. They take a little device that is on the side pocket of a bag that one of the guys is keeping an eye on a lot and seems to care a lot about it. When they leave the airport they get settled into the hotel near the White House and have nighttime activities right after they had gotten settled in. When they get to dinner they see the same two guys and the guys give them some weird looks and this is where they begin their hunt to hunt down Wyatt and Matt. That night the two guys follow them back to the hotel and find their room. Before this had happened, Wyatt and Matt give the device to Suzana, who is a couple of rooms over. When the two guys had came into Wyatt and Matt's room they come thinking what they wanted was with Wyatt or Matt, but they really had it in Suzana's room. When they couldn't find the device they had taken Matt just so they knew that were getting the device. This then brings up a bunch of conflicts of sneaking out behind teachers backs and having to not only get Matt back, but also stop the guys from doing bad things to the White House. They now have to face many challenges together in order to get their friend back, and save the White House from whatever the weird guys are planning to do to it. I think that the theme of this book is self-trust. Lastly, I think that the theme is self-trust because Wyatt had to trust himself throughout the whole book with the theories they had came up with and sticking with something that insane, but he trusted himself the whole book and that is what made everything resolve.
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Nick Sullivan
3/26/2018 08:00:27 pm
I have read the novel "Monster" by Walter Dean Myers, and it was fantastic. It was literally a struggle to put the book down, and I was constantly curious what would happen next. It was all about a 16 year old African American named Steve Harmon who was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was under the influence of another man named James King during a drugstore rob. However, this turned out to be much more than a robbery, as the owner named Mr. Nesbitt was shot and killed when he was attempting to defend himself. So, these two and a few other suspects were in jail for the meantime and going onto daily trails to solve the case. There were many witnesses and others who knew the people involved that were called to the stand to be asked questions, but none of them gave any information that was too significant. Harmon was often skittish and nervous in the court room because although he "knew" he had not done anything wrong, he was not confident that h would be determined innocent, which is why "He [was] writing the word Monster over and over again" (Myers 24). This action from Steve proves that he did not feel good about the case, and that he could not get the negative thoughts and feelings out of his head. In order to find out what Steve and King's verdicts are, you'll have to read the story.
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Patrick McGagh
3/27/2018 06:09:51 am
I have read the historical fiction novel, Some Kind of Courage, written by Dan Gemeinhart. This novel is about a man named Joseph that just doesn’t have a lot of hope left in his life, and is just a frustrated guy. Joseph’s entire family including his little sister, his mom, and his pa have died. His mom and his little sister both died from a sickness, and his pa died in a wagon accident. Joseph starts off the novel with being a very depressed, hopeless character with nothing left in his life worth to live for. The only thing left in the world that Joseph has hope left for is his pony, Sarah. However, it is not long before his only hope, Sarah was gone. Sarah has been sold by a man that Joseph knew, and he was intimidated. Joseph did not know what to do with himself, and he thought that Sarah would be gone forever. After Sarah had been sold and she was long gone, Joseph knew that he couldn’t lose hope, so he set out on a journey to find her. After Joseph had eaten his big breakfast and gained lots of energy, he set off into the woods to start his search. While in the woods, Joseph psses many children and Indians, but there is one boy that he has faith in. It is a Chinese boy named Ah-Kee who is starving, so Joseph spends some of the money he got for selling Sarah, to get some food for his friends. Ah-Kee and Joseph develop a big friendship where they gain lots of trust in each other and they both help each other to overcome many challenges they face in the wilderness. Some challenges they face include fast and powerful rivers they have to cross, or just dangerous animals, but either way, they work together and accomplish their goal after all. After Joseph had found Sarah, she galloped and gave him and Ah-Kee a ride, as Joseph’s “heart started talking to Sarah. Though [Joseph's] mouth was closed, [he] started telling her about [his] long road to find her” (Gemeinhart 207). This develops the theme of the novel which is friendship and courage are important things that guide people through their struggles in life, because they both help each other throughout the journey and it all pays off in the end.
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Nick Sullivan
3/27/2018 06:10:36 am
I recently read the novel titled I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, and it was extremely entertaining. She is a young girl from Pakistan, and throughout her life she has experienced many troubles. For awhile Pakistan was a nice, peaceful place, until unfortunately a group of terrorists called the Taliban invaded her hometown. The Taliban were cruel, sexist people who believed that females didn’t deserve the right of education, and many other for that matter. Unfortunately for them, though, Malala was very positive and always pushed others and herself to work hard and do well in school so they could accomplish anything they ever wished of. News about this girl reached the Taliban, and they were not happy whatsoever. Malala continuously grew more confident, and she was beginning to make even bigger impacts on others. The Taliban now began to give Malala death threats. But she was too determined and focused to let them get in her way, and she always persevered through the tough times. She spoke at many events and earned awards, and she is still in her journey of making the world a better place.
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Kara Cocozza
3/27/2018 11:52:13 am
I read the novel, Soul Moon Soup, by Lindsay Lee Johnson. This book is a novel told in verse, and it takes you through Phoebes life. By strongly using flashback, you can almost directly feel as Phoebe has felt and what she went through. With her dad making very little money, and spending on just himself, Phoebe and her mom where on their own. The mother had very low income being a cleaning lady, but eventually had to quit and they where lost.On their travels from curb too curb, and from shelter shelter you learned about her life and what someone could actually go through for the worse. "I'm not sure where we started out. I know we used to stay with different folks here and there. Now we live in the city, just Mama and me. We live in the hard poor middle of the city with a suitcase on the stoop-sitting, gutter-spitting streets. The suitcase, Mama says, makes it look like we're going somewhere"(Johnson 14). This book is told from first person point of view and gives great detail so you can really feel and relate to Phoebe and her life. I would rate this book an 8/10 because there are some parts of the novel that get a little slow, but overall it is a great book. The theme of this book is that change is ok, but you cant change everything, and not everything can be different.
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Tristan Molinari
3/28/2018 06:51:33 am
To begin with, the book Quarantine the Loners by Lex Thomas, how been one of my favorite reads of all time. If you liked the first book of the Quarantine Series, then you will certainly love this one. This books genre is mysterious and action pack, so if you like both of those things, you should definitely consider this book. But even if you don’t like these things, I think you should try it anyway because this book is like no other and you might wind up liking it. To continue, this book is mainly about two brothers named Will and David. David is a senior and Will is a freshman. Unfortunately, David had gone missing. So now it’s just will, Lucy and some loners that had stayed with the gang after David was gone. Lucy is Will’s best friend, so when they find out that people are getting let out of the school they are trapped in, the run as fast a the wind. They see people with rifles standing by the white room motioning people forward. But a second later, a big yellow school bus crashes into the school and traps everybody in, including these new people with rifles they just encountered. Eventually, the leader of this new gang named Gates informed them all about how they got it and what the world had turned into. Everybody was in shock and there smiles turned into frowns. Later on, the new gang called the Saints have moved in with the Mckinley school and are now settled in. Unfortunately, Will and Lucy had gotten in a fight and have drifted away into new gangs and so have the other loners to. Will, makes best friends with his new companion Gates and set off huge parties that everybody goes to in the school. Lucy had made best friends with a new gang to and both of them no longer talk to each other. Next, will finds out the real truth on Gates and Gates started acting like a maniac and tries to murder Will. Will begs for Lucy's help and she finally accepts. Finally, Will and Lucy are side by side once again, trying to hide from Gates. I would recommend this book to who even likes mysterious and action packed novels, and even if you don;t like these things, you should read it anyway because you might wind up liking it. I would also rate it a 10 out of 10 because it have been one of my all time favorite books.
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Nicholas Sullivan
3/28/2018 03:54:13 pm
I recently read the novel titled I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, and it was extremely interesting. It is an autobiography about herself, a girl from Pakistan, and how throughout her life she has experienced many challenges. For awhile Pakistan was a nice, peaceful place, until unfortunately a group of terrorists called the Taliban invaded her hometown. The Taliban were cruel, sexist people who believed that females did not deserve the right of education, and many other for that matter. Unfortunately for them, though, Malala was very positive and always pushed others, especially girls, and herself to work hard and do well in school so they could accomplish anything they ever wished of. News about her reached the Taliban, and they were not happy whatsoever. Overtime as Malala grew older, she also grew more confident, and she was beginning to make more significant impacts. She gave speeches all around the continent about women’s rights and why they are just as special as any other human. She even received awards along the way for her courage and leadership. This made the Taliban even more furious, and because she went against everything they believed in, “Malala Yousafzai, [they] said, should be killed” (Yousafzai 118). Although she even faced threats like this, she was too determined and focused to let them get in her way, and she always persevered through the tough times.
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