Semester 1 Reflection

        In this post, I am going to talk about all the books that I read over all these months. I am proud of the amount of reading that I have done, and that amount surpasses my goal that I set for myself. I have read about 25-35 books. I have not posted blogs on all of them, especially the series that I have read. The series that I have read, ordered by favorites, were The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini, Demonata by Darran Shan, and Circue de Freak by Darran Shan. The series by Darran Shan were longer in amount in books, but each book was shorter. The Inheritance Cycle had four books, but each book was really long. I have also read other books here and there, but they were more of like a small in-between book between series. These series were quite different, but if you look closely enough, you will find that these books all have some things in common. One example would be that they all have magic involved. These series also have non-human species involved as main characters. Inheritance had dragons, Demonata had demons, and Circue de Freak had vampires. These similarities show what types of books I like to read.
           My blog posts have clearly evolved over the semester. In the beginning of the year, my posts were more like they summaries of the book instead of my opinion on those books, which was a better thing to do. Another thing that I have improved on was using specific textual details. One thing that I think I did well was that I always had some type of picture, video or link in my post to give my readers. This allows them to get a different opinion or more information on the topic.
          A goal that I have for the second semester would be to read some books outside of my comfort zone. I would like to read some non-fiction or historical fiction because they would expand my knowledge and I think it would teach me to read and understand what I am reading even when what I am reading isn't the most fun thing. Another goal would be for me to do some of the posts early, and do them voluntarily, and maybe do one every time I finish a book instead of posting according to the due dates. Lastly, I think that changing the way my post is should also be a goal for me. I do the same type of post every time, summary of the book and how I felt about it. I feel I should post sometimes while I am in the middle of the book so I can express my emotions ant things like that. Overall, I think my posts are OK, but could use some improvement.

          I'm making this post because I am supposed to have 10 blog posts right now, but I checked tonight because I have a blogging assessment tomorrow, and I wanted to check. Over the last couple of weeks, I had finished the entire Eragon series, and I really enjoyed it. I would rate it a 10/10. There are multiple groundbreaking discoveries that we make that repeatedly had me so far on the edge of my seat that I'd fall off. Paolini also placed these discoveries in such a way that it is impossible to stop reading.  
          My favorite character in the book would probably be Murtgah, the son of Morzan. I like him because he has always had a rough time growing up, but always stuck to his beliefs. Even as the story continues, as we get a um... different(trying not to spoil) perspective of him, he is always trying to find loopholes around what he has been forced to do.
          This series was really good overall, and we followed all the character's journeys on their quest to vanquish their evil king. I would recommend this series to anyone that wants adventure, mystery, and does not mind minor violence.
          If you want a nice summary, click here.

Eragon

          Over the last couple of weeks, I have started the Inheritance series. This series is about a boy named Eragon who found a dragon egg, one of the last one in existence. He needs to change who he is to defeat their evil King Galbatorix. He is also a Dragon Rider, like Eragon, but vastly more powerful. The first book follows his journey from his days on the farm to him traveling their world to find the Ra'Zac, who killed his Uncle Garrow. In his journey, Eragon and Saphira meet many people, and many species. In the Varden, a group of people that oppose Galbatorix, he is forced to make many tough choices. In the end of the book, Eragon and Saphira must help the Varden help defeat an army of Urgals, a violent, war loving species, sent by the king.
         My favorite character would be Brom, the mysterious old man in Palancar   Valley. As the book goes on, we learn more and more about Brom, and eventually we learn that he is a lot more that he lets on. One of my favorite things that Eragon says about Brom would be,"You know what? I think you just enjoy speaking in riddles. I’ve half a mind to leave you so I don’t have to be bothered with them. If you’re going to say something, then say it instead of dancing around with vague phrases!"I would rate this book a 9.5/10 because I really enjoyed it. If I had to find one problem with the book, it would be that the book has multiple perspectives. What I mean by that is in one chapter, it may follow Eragon's journey, and in another chapter, it may follow Roran, his cousin. I understand that it would be hard to follow all the main characters in the book without this method, and it is the best way, but I still don't like it. I am going to be reading the rest of this series and I hope they are all as good as this series. The type of people that would enjoy this book would be the people who enjoy some violence, but not too much, and also need to like mystery. There is also some humor involved, for those who like that. 

          This book was one of the best I have ever read, and it has been turned into a movie, and I really want to watch it now. I just hope it the movie isn't a bad version, which would ruin it for me. 

A Long Way Gone: Central Idea

          Over the past week, Carter, Shane, and I have been reading a motivational true story that takes you into the world of Sierra Leone and how child soldiers were being used in the war. This book is called A Long Way Gone. This memoir took place in a war torn country where the only goal is survival, but that may not be enough for the main character, Ismael Beah, after being introduced in the war, and being taken bu the government to serve as a thirteen year old, had been given drugs and told to kill anybody not wearing their colors. He eventually learned how to heal and forgive himself, and went on to tell the world about how to end children being used in war.
          Throughout this book, there are many central ideas that have had an impact on Ishmael and eventually the world. This central idea was leaning how to forgive oneself is an important step for healing. What I mean by this is that in the memoir, Ishmael only started healing after he forgave himself of all of the horrible acts he was forced to do.

          This image shows a picture of children working in the army. During his lifetime, Ishmael had to do many horrible things. That is why it was so hard to forgive himself. At the age of 13ish, he had to do things most people wouldn't do in their lifetime. The reason he eventually was able to forgive himself was because of the people supporting him in UNICEF, like Esther.  His forgiveness of himself began when Esther says "None of this is your fault." (Beah 165) This is the day when the forgiveness of himself began. He eventually was able to forgive himself, and then later was able to help other child soldiers.
          Forgiving yourself can be one of the most important things to do if you want to heal.This link shows many strategies on how to forgive yourself. One of the best ones that I think Ishmael did was talk to the people who want to help. On the website, the most similar one is probably keeping a journal.
          After healing, Ishmael became a great person and was able to be successful in life.

The Maze Runner

After reading Mrs. Bross' blog, I decided to read The Maze Runner myself. Mrs. Bross was mainly taklinkg about this book and what she liked and what she disliked in this book. For this post, I am going to focus on what Mrs. Bross didn't like because I found it interesting. What she said she disliked was how there were no happy scenes in this book. I think she is completely right. After reading the book I realized that I thought kind of the same thing. 

This book is about a boy named Thomas that is sent to a place that is trapped, and there is no way out. Thomas has no idea who he is and what his past was like. He has to find a way to get himself and his friends out of there, before everyone dies. 

Back to the lack of happy scenes, I think it is true, and it happens in a lot of cases. I liked this book better and thought it was less noticeable because of the little amounts of humor that James Dashner involves in this book. For example, my favorite character, Chuck. He is a light hearted kid who will always look on the bright side of things. For example, when Thomas first gets to the place and asks Chuck how old he looks, Chuck says, “I’d say you’re sixteen. And in case you were wondering, five foot nine … brown hair. Oh, and ugly as fried liver on a stick.”

Overall, I would reccomend this book to people who like plot twists, suspense, and some action. 

         

Catching Fire

Over the last week, I have read the second book of the Hunger Game series, called Catching Fire. I really enjoyed this book, and in my opinion, was better than the first one. What happens in this book is that there is something called the Quarter Quell. The Quarter Quell occurs every 25 years and it is just like the Hunger Games, but with a twist. Haymitch, Katniss and Petta's mentor, won the last Quarter Quell. The twist then was that there would be twice as many tributes. This year, the twist was that the tributes would be chosen from only the existing pool of victors. For District 12, there was only one woman victor: Katniss. That means she is going back into the arena.
          The gang: Katniss, Peeta and  Haymitch start to train for the games this year. Since they have all the food and things they want, they can become like careers.
          When the games start, we know that this isn't Katniss' kind of place because the first thing that she says is, "This is no place for a girl on fire." I wont tell you what was in the arena but most of you will be able to guess what it is like in there.
          Over the games, the story is pretty much the same, but the ending is even more unexpected than the first book. I won't tell you what it is but there is no way  anyone can guess it.
          The type of people that would like this book are people that like mystery, violence, and drama. I like all of these things so I would rate it a 9.5. The only reason it isn't a 10 is because of the massive cliffhanger at the end. Hopefully, some of you will like this book also. 

          Right now, I am reading a book called Middle School, The Worst Years of My Life. Currently I am on chapter 18. I didn't start it yet, I just finished 17. Even though I am not that far in the book, I have some opinions about it.
          The best thing about this book in my opinion is that it is very relatable to. rafe is just a normal kid that is having a tough time in school. A lot of people have ways to relate to that. Another thing that is easy to relate to is that he has a sister. The retable thing though, is that his sister is a big mouth
who cant keep secrets and always tattles on Rafe.This quote shows exactly how Rafe feels about his little sister. "Thats Georgia, my super-nosy, super-obnoxious, super-brat sister...." Another thing I love about this book is the way that we are getting to know Rafe. I'm not even half way through the book and I know that: Rafe has a sister he is annoyed by, a stepfather he hates, and nicknamed him "Bear", has a best friend named Leo, and that he is very creative.
            So far, this has been one of my favorite book of all time, and by next week, I'll definitely be done with the book.

The Rest Of The Hunger Games.

          Surprisingly enough, I finished the rest of the book in less than a week. What happen in the book was that Prim got picked, but Katniss volunteered to go instead of her. The boy tribute from district 12 was Peeta Mellark. Katniss knows this boy a little, but not really. Their only interaction came when Katniss' dad died and he gave her some bread, which saved her and her family from dying of starvation.

          So, they both go into the arena together to face either certain death, or victory. I won't tell you who the victor is, but let me just tell you, it is defiantly not what you are expecting. Throughout the story, Katniss is clearly shown as a round character. A round character is when the author shows us different parts of the character. We learn a lot about Katniss in this story, about her life at home, how she has been providing for her family ever since her dad went out of the picture, causing her mom to go brain-dead. We also know that she is against the capital, and thinks it is unfair. "District 12. Where you can starve to death in safety." She says.

          Overall, I think this is a very good book and would give it a 9.5 out of 10. The only reason it's not a 10 is because I don't like the rule change that I won't say what it is, but makes the story a lot more predictable and it is easy to tell who will win. Still, not who most of you are expecting. 

          The kind of people that would like this book are the kind of people that don't mind a little gore, want some comedy, are looking for something that will have them on the edge of their seats whenever they are reading. 

         

         This week, I am going to start to read a book called The Hunger Games. I have seen the movie before, but I have not read the book yet. My friends tell me that this is a good book, and it is better than the movie. I really enjoyed the movie, and can't wait to read the book. Even before reading the book, I think the book will definitely be better than the movie. I think so because Suzanne Collins wrote this book in first person view. This is always better because we can get what the character is feeling. In movies, we can't see what's going on inside Katniss's head.
          So far, I have read the first chapter, and it looks like it will be a pretty good book.  There are many details in this book. It starts with Katniss telling us about her family. She has a mom and a sister. To provide for them, Katniss has to go hunting with her friend, Gale. The day is reaping day. What happens on reaping day is that 2 people, a boy and a girl are chosen to go into a stadium and fight to the death. This happens in every district. All twelve of them. So, 24 people are in a large stadium and need to fight to the death. Every year, from the age of 12, your name gets put in the reaping bowl once, until you are 18. There is also something called tesserae, where you put your name in extra times, and you receive food. Katniss has her name in 20 times, Gale has his 42 times.
          When the time to be reaped comes, everyone gathers up in the square, to figure out who this year's unlucky people are. Since Katniss's name is in 20 times, the odds are not in her favor. When the name gets called, it is not her name, but it is the one person she is certain she loves. Her sister, Primrose Everdeen.
         

      Over the past week, I read a book called Ungifted, by Gordon Kormon. It is about a boy, Donovan Curtis, who is a real troublemaker, but when he breaks a statue that belongs to a school, he gets in trouble with the superintendent, who writes Donovan's name down. What he didn't know was that he wrote it down on the list of people that were going to the gifted school. When Donovan first goes to the school, he feels like an outsider, and he is. He  is an outsider because he is the only one there that doesn't have an IQ of 170+. Over his time there, he made many friends though, and was the head driver for their class robot, Tin Man.

      What I like about this book is the way that Kormon relates to everyday middle school kids. Every person in this book has their own personal problems, just like people do in real life. Also, Kormon adds a lot of humor in this book by making the super smart kids in the school, completely and absolutely unsocial. Overall, this is a great book and is perfect for anyone that can read. 

My Summer Reading: Spoiler Alert

      This summer, I read the book: Speechless by Hannah Harrington. Let me just start with saying, this is a great book. It is about a girl, named Chelsea Knot, who is one of the popular kids in school. She is at her best friend, Kristen Courteau's New Years party, and she is having a good time, and of course, having a couple drinks. Actually, she was having a lot of drinks. And just like any other story, she eventually has too much, and needs to puke. She walks into her guest bedroom, and sees to people on the bed. Two boys. And they were kissing. She runs out of the room and hurries to Kristen, and tells her what's going on. Of course, being drunk, she yells it too loud and half the school hears. Two jocks, being drunk, go and beat up one of the boys; and it was really bad. He had to be hospitalized for over a month. This makes Chelsea feel so bad about what she did, she told the cops. Now she is one of the most hated kids in the school, and has taken a vow of silence because she says people are better off with her not talking. 

      Obviously, this story is filled with a lot of drama. High school drama. Also, there is a lot of the story of where Chelsea is developing into a better person, instead of being the obnoxious Chelsea.  

      This change starts when she meets Asha, someone that made an impression on Chelsea. Such an impression that Chelsea thought, "Normally I wouldn't bother with some geeky freshman loser dressed in the most unfortunate fuzzy purple sweater I've ever seen in mu life. I don't associate with freaks."

      Asha is a nice girl though, and eventually invites her over to the place she works to help her with her homework. The change starts when Andy, the boyfriend of the guy that she got beat up, Andy was there. Being there was emotionally hard for Chelsea because of the guilt she was feeling.   

      Throughout the story, Chelsea has many emotional trouble, because of the things that people that used to be her friends did things like egg her car and vandalized it. Her reaction is not very good, "I let them continue with their bantering and walk up to the car, and that’s when I see it. Someone’s thrown eggs all over the front window, the yolk running down onto the hood in a sticky yellow mess. I walk around only to find the word B**** spelled out in shaving cream all over the back. It’s like I’ve been sucker-punched. My bag drops to the ground at my feet." 

      Even though her old friends are bullying her, her new friends are always there for her. Asha is in the car with her, and Sam is outside talking to Asha when she discovers the eggs and shaving cream. Sam and Asha didn't have to do anything but they do everything they can do to help. 

      Throughout the story Asha and Sam become Chelsea's best friends, and support her through everything. We can learn from Chelsea's story that we should always make friends with the right people.

     The review on Speechless by Shellyrae Cusbert talks about some of the same things, like Chelsea growing from a immature girl to a mature, caring girl. Cusbert also mentions that the consequences that Chelsea faces are realistic, by getting shunned from the popular group. 

Speechless Review