A Child Called "It"

Annie Period 6 9/15/09     The title of the book I read is, A Child Called "It".  The author of this book is Dave Pelzer. Dave Pelzer is also the main character in the book. I actually selected this book because I took advice from a friend. I came up to my friend and asked her about a list of books that included children that were troubled while growing up. The first few words that came out of her mouth were the title of this book. I knew that I had to read at least the first chapter of the book to figure if I was interested in what it had to say. After reading the first chapter, I knew that it was the right book for me. This book was really inspiring and made me realize how lucky I am to have the life I have.  The main characters in this book are Dave Pelzer and his mother. This is a brutal story of a young boy who got abused every moment of his young childhood. Dave Pelzer was only a child when his alcoholic mother abused him. She made him do shocking things like forcing him to burn himself on the stove or things like barely feeding him. When she did feed him, she gave him frozen foods. Dave Pelzer spent every waking moment obeying his mother's ridiculous and mind-blowing demands. On top of all that she timed Dave on his chores. One day in particular, the family finished their dinner and Dave's mother called him up from the dirty and filthy basement he lived in so he can clean up after them. Dave's mom told him that he had 20 minutes to clean the entire bathroom. She told him that if he was one second late, she would kill him. After saying that, she got the knife and stabbed Dave with it. He was bleeding and all his mother did was put a towel over it. Dave's mother also stopped calling Dave his son; instead he was known as "the boy". Dave also had to do things like eat his own waste. One time, she made him clean the bathroom tub but she also placed a bucket filled with a mixture of Clorox and ammonia right next to him and locked the door. He used to torture and at times felt like he was about to cough up his intestines. This is why this is called one of the worst child abuse cases in U.S. history. Dave Pelzer, a child in need in desperate times, always prayed to the lord and tried to make the best out of the worst situations. He mentioned a quote in the book which reads: "I am the king". I think that this is a very empowering statement. He was not treated like a king at all but his positive attitude towards things made him the winner in his mind and in all of our minds as well. I think that having the courage to share his story itself is phenomenal but  to have the courage to survive this life was mind-throbbing. I can't feel the exact same pain that he has felt and I don't think that anyone else can either, but I feel so bad that no one was there when he needed someone to talk to or get advice from. I loved this book.  This is a New York Times Bestseller and I think that it deserves many awards of recognition. For my symbol I chose two hands reaching for each other. I think that this symbol represents courage and it also represents one child's courage to survive.   I gave this book  4 out of 4 stars because I think it is absolutely brilliant. It shows that people can express their emotions in so many different ways. Even though Dave went through all that, he now share's his story with the world and inspires people everywhere.     I would really recommend this book to a lot of people. I would specifically recommend this book to children ages 11 and up. The reason for this is because the book gives full detail of torture and abuse. I think that it would be inappropriate for young children to hear about them. I would recommend this book because children can see how lucky they are to live their everyday lives and feel thankful for what they have. I also think that this book shows that if people share their stories they can always relate to each other one way or the other. I truly think that people should know that the text or information in this book is really brutal and it's hard to get out of your head. I loved this book and I think you will like it too. This is not only a story of abuse, it is a story of one child's courage to survive.

Number the Stars

Amanda

                                                                                    English Period 4

                                                                                    September 16, 2009 

For this book review blog, I chose to review the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. I selected this book because this is a book that interests me. Another reason why I chose this book was that once I read the back I wanted to keep on reading the book, so that is what caught my attention. I read this book because I have gotten many recommendations from friends and family and because it is a New Berry Award book, so it must be interesting.

In this book, there are two main characters. They are two girls around the age of ten who are best friends. Their names are Ellen and Annemarie. Their families have known each other for a long period of time. In the book the Holocaust was going on so it was dangerous everywhere. Annemarie was Christian, so her and her family were safe, but Ellen was Jewish, so her and her family were not safe. Ellen's parents left her to go to a safer location, so Ellen had to stay with Annemarie. (So she was safe.) Then Nazis found out she was there, so Ellen, Annemarie and her family left to a safer location. They all sneak away, but guess who finds out that they sneak away… Many more things happen in the book but to find out what happens you must read the book.

There are many quotes in this book but this specific quote very much stands out to me, "When the war ends." Mrs. Johansen said. This whole book is about war so when someone says when the war ends has a huge impact on the read like me. During a war when someone says that it means that they have, hope that the war will end soon but in reality the war might not end for a while or rarely it will end soon. That quote is very inspiring to me and probably to many other people who read this book. This quote is also important to the story because the book ends with a little bit of happy in it so that quote probably inspired the ending.

The rating system for this book will be from one star to five stars. Getting five stars means that it was an amazing book and that you should read it. If the book gets a one star that means that it wasn't the best book and it was not interesting. This book is going to be rated with stars from the title of the book, Number the Stars. I would say that this book receives five stars. The book was interesting, it had suspension, and once I started to read the book I could not put it down.                           &nbs p;                               

Number the Stars is a book to read when ever you get a chance. It is a book that you will never put down and you will love the book so much that you would want to read it a second time. I am recommending this book because it is suspenseful, it teaches you how life went with wars like this one, and the book has mystery in it. Therefore, if you are the type of person who likes to read about wars, like the Holocaust, and like reading mystery novels then this book is the book for you. WARNING: If you do not like reading about wars and sadness then you should not read this book!

 

Evermore

Mikael

English, Period 6

September 14, 2009

Evermore

 

            The book I read was Evermore by Alyson Noel. I selected this book when looking for a book to read while waiting for the next House of Night book to come out. It was recommended to me by one of the employees of Barnes and Noble. The cover was unusual and the synopsis on the back of the book really pulled me in, so I decided to buy it.

           

            The main character is named Ever. Her family died in a car accident and somehow she lived. The repercussion of this travesty was that she could see auras, read minds, and with the simple touch she can read the persons entire history. When she goes to school one day she meets a boy. His name is Damen. The reason she realized him is because of his perfect beauty and the fact that he had no aura. Whenever she touches him, her body tingles and he is the only one she can focus on, everything else just stops and goes away. This book refers to common themes in a teenagers' life, as in crushes and first love. Whether you realize it or not, this book entices you and changes your entire idea about how you felt or will feel when that day comes where you meet someone special.

 

            The quote I chose from Evermore is, "'I don't want to talk about it,' I say, blinking at the water globes that are now red and forming into a tulip.
     'What do you want to talk about?' he whispers, gazing at me with those eyes, two infinite pools luring me in.

      'I don't want to talk,' I whisper, holding my breath as his lips met mine." This quote says a lot about the book. The reason I chose this quote was because of their love in the story. Ever and Damen are truly in love. The second reason is because of the tulip they mentioned. Damen periodically gives Ever red tulips. They appear out of thin air, on paper, and now an image of glowing light bulbs floating in water. Later in the book Ever finds out that red tulips symbolize ever-dieing love or affection. It is interesting how Damen shows his love for her in so many ways. It is truly sweet.

 

            I would rate this book in red tulips to show how much I love this book and also to symbolize the love in the book. I would give this book 4 out of 5 red tulips. It was an amazing book. It was well written and painted an interesting picture. The meaning was clear and the ending, enticing. I loved this book.

           

 

 

            I would recommend this book to all teenagers. It shows how we see love at this age, specifically our first crushes. It goes through emotional rollercoaster during the duration of the book that any teen would find interesting. It also shows others that when something bad happens, you can always push through. I would not recommend this to children younger than 11. This book has references to underage drinking. It truly is an amazing book. 

Twilight

                                                                                                               Anna

                                                                                                               Mrs. Huff, Period 2

                                                                                                               September 13, 2009

 

I really enjoyed reading the book Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I didn't even know about this book until the movie came out. My friends dragged me to see the movie and I really liked it. So my friends and I decided to read all of the books in the Twilight Saga and this was the first one.

Twilight is about a 17 year old girl named Bella Swan who goes to live with her dad Charlie in a small town called Forks. On her first day in her new high school, she is seated next to a boy named Edward Cullen he doesn't say one word to her and tries to sit as far away as he can. Over the next few days he begins talking and they become friends, but one day Bella is almost hit by a car and it Edward appeared out of nowhere and saved her. Bella begins questioning Edward to find out how he got to her so fast but he kept refusing. She convinced her friend Jacob Black to tell her some tribal myths, and she realizes that Edward and his family are vampires, but they only drink animal blood. When she confronts Edward he confesses. Eventually, Bella and Edward fall in love and he introduces her to his family. One day at a family baseball game a different group of vampires come and one of them, James a tracker, smells Bella and tries to attack. Edward held him off, but not for long and the race to save Bella is on.

My favorite quote from the book was when Edward said"and so the lion fell in love with the lamb." I think the quote really relates to the book because it shows that two things that are supposed to be enemies have fallen in love. Lions eat lambs, just like how vampires survive off human blood. Instead of them fearing each other they fell in love.

The rating system I created for this book is 5 broken hearts 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. I chose the symbol broken hearts because Edward and Bella know that they should not be in love and yet they are. I am giving this book 4 broken hearts because I think Bella found out that Edward was a vampire way too fast. I wish Stephanie Meyer had made it more mysterious.

I think girls will really enjoy this book. It shows that guys can be masculine yet sweet and romantic. It allows girls to read about the guy they fantasize about, and lets them dream about one day being swept off their feet. I wouldn't recommend this book to any guys because its very sweet and romantic and guys may not find it interesting.

 

Burned

Sarah Period 4 English September 15, 2009 Burned by Ellen Hopkins The title of the book I am doing my report on is called Burned by Ellen Hopkins. I selected this book because it had a really good plot. I also think that I can somewhat relate to this book too. I also started reading the beginning of this book when I was in the hospital in late May but I didn't get a chance to read it often. This book is about a 17-year- old teenage girl, Pattyn Von Stratten. Pattyn lives in a Mormon household, her father is an alcoholic who beats his wife and believes that women are just servants. On the other side, her mother believes that a woman's duty is to have as many children as she can, particularly a boy so he can carry on their family's name. Pattyn is tired of her lifestyle and the way her parents act towards her, so she rebels against the rules she has at home and at church. Eventually, she gets into a fight and her family has gotten too tired of her attitude so they send her to live with her Aunt who lives completely in the middle of nowhere for the summer so she can stay out of trouble. A quote I felt that was important in this book was, ""Forever has no meaning when you're living in the moment. I wasn't ready for that moment to end."' The reason why I chose this quote is because Pattyn goes through many things in the story that she wants to stay like they are forever. But sadly, some events in the book don't pan out the way she wanted them to. To rate this book review, click one of the flames. The first flame is the lowest rating and the last is the highest. In conclusion, this book is recommended for those who want to read a story that's written with a different style of writing. It's also recommended for those who enjoy reading about tragedy and romance. One thing you should consider before reading is that this book is a bit mature and the situations are very realistic,sometimes they can even occur in someone's life.

What Is The What

Zoe
per.1, English

Over the summer, I read a book, which monumentally changed the way I thought about life. What Is The What by Dave Eggers. The story of me selecting this book isn't that exciting. I did what I always did, walked into Barns and Nobel and asked them what they recommend. When they showed me the book, I wasn't that excited about it, but as soon as I read the preface it was IMPOSIBLE to put down.

This book starts out in the present and slowly fades into the past. Valentino is at home, a 20-30 year old man, when there is a knock at the door. Having no reason not to answer it, he does. There is a woman asking to use the phone, he watches her until she goes into his room, and locks the door. When he turns to close the door he is being assaulted at gunpoint, robbed, and beaten until all he can see goes black.
    Slowly as the story proceeds he begins to tell the tragic stories of crossing Sudan, and the murder of his family, his best friend, and the one he loved. When he was but a boy he lived in Mariel Bai, a small village in southern Sudan.  Everything was all right until the Murahaleen arrived and attacked. They killed everyone, burned down the village, raped the women, and poisoned the wells; leaving them with nothing. Their only chance to survive was to escape.
    As the story slowly unravels he tells the story of how he had to walk day and night to get to their "promise land", Ethiopia. Thousands of boys, walked, with little to eat or drink. Some boys were weak and were left behind, some died of terrible disease, some bombed, and lost in the dead of night.
The stories of the travels of the Lost Boys are epic, and unlike anything you've ever read. Not only does it tell in detail the feelings and imagery of the walking, but of the thousands of boys left abandoned, hungry, thirsty, and dead. They were all wishing for Ethiopia, their promise land that they would never set their eyes upon.

"He drops the book. It is the first time in my life that I have seen something coming toward me and have been unable to properly react. I try to turn my head but still the book lands squarely on my face. The pain is compounded by my existing headache and the ricochet my chin makes against the floor. The phone book slides off, toward my forehead and rests there, against my temple. Thinking he has accomplished his goal, he returns to the kitchen and the volume goes up again. This boy thinks I am not of his species, that I am some other kind of creature, one that can be crushed under the weight of a phone book.
The pain is not great, but the symbolism disagreeable."
    I believe that this quote has the most importance in the entire book, not only does it show the discrimination against the character, but it symbolizes how people can be so cruel to someone that's not of their skin color, or race, or size, just for the way they look. I believe the author put it perfectly when he says; "…The pain is not great, but the symbolism disagreeable."

Rating (out of 5):
    
I choose the sun to represent how Valentino had to walk through the blistering hot sun to get to Ethiopia.

I would DEFINATLY recommend this book to anyone. Why? Well here are 3 reasons:
1.    It has such an intense and beautiful insight into life.
2.    It especially concentrates on the issue of discrimination in a way no one has herd before.
3.    It tells about an unheard of war and the seize of Mariel Bai, all through a Childs eye.
Cautions:
Cussing, some sexual references, Descriptive gory scenes.