September
20
Blog #90 – What did you read this summer?
I’m huge on reading. I’m always working my way through a novel or non-fiction book of some kind. This summer I read 22 books, a little on the low side for me, but this was partially because the first month was taken up with five books I had to read for two of my Masters’ classes (one on great American texts and another one on the history of American women).
Here are a few books I read this summer:
- Days of Rage by Bryan Burroughs – this is a fascinating look at the revolutionary underground movement that staged hundreds if not thousands of bombings and dozens of bank robberies to support their revolutionary movement from 1970- 1984. This non-fiction book collects the stories of the Weathermen, Black Liberation Army (even more radical than the Black Panthers), the Symbionese Liberation Army, FALN (Puerto Rico’s independence movement), and other groups that planted bombs in the Capitol, the Pentagon, and in buildings all across the nation. What kinda shocked me in the present context we are living in with terrorism, and the seemingly passive attitudes towards these deluded radicals. Bombings and bomb threats were so common place that it didn’t seem to phase most Americans that this was going on (I compare it to the random mass shootings that occur so frequently in American society in the past few years). These bombers thought that they could begin a revolution in the United States and overthrow the current government for a socialist / Communist one and that the majority of Americans would follow their lead. These radicals weren’t hippies by any stretch of the imagination; they were, for the most part, white, middle-class college students who were fired up by the Civil Rights and anti-war movements and had hoped to make a change.
- Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – this is being made into a movie coming out this fall, and it’s an intense thriller and whodunnit. I bought the book after I saw the trailer for the movie, and to me, this book reminds me of Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. The main character, Rachel, in this book is an alcoholic divorcee who is struggling with how her life has fallen apart after her divorce and because of her drinking. During her daily commute on a train, the train slows down on this one part and next to it she sees this lovely couple who are sitting on their back porch enjoying breakfast or an after-work cocktail. Rachel imagines a fantasy life for them, and it all shatters when the woman in the house goes missing and her husband is the main suspect. Rachel thinks that she might have info that helps the investigation and goes to the police. The book is told from shifting viewpoints and is very riveting. Did not see the ending coming. https://youtu.be/KkoEE1i0CX8
- Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance – JD had grown up as an upwardly mobile hillbilly family in Ohio, out from Kentucky, but the past is hard to shake. Demons like parental conflict, addiction, bad decisions, and abuse follow him and his sister. His mother goes from boyfriend to boyfriend and addiction and rehab all over again. I identified too well with JD, having had an alcoholic father. I also realize how lucky I was that my mother never tried to replace my father by remarrying, though that must have been extremely difficult for her. JD still deals with his mom on heroin whereas my father had been sober for twenty plus years but emotionally unavailable. Good book.
What I would like you to do is share something of what you read this summer (or extend it into last year or the upcoming school year if you were too busy doing APUSH work this summer). Tell me in your own words what you read, the author, a summary of the book, and whether or not you’d recommend it and why.
Over the summer I read 11/22/63 by Stephen King. This book Is about Jake Epping who is an English teacher. Jake travels into the past to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy, at the request of his friend Al, who has terminal cancer. Al owns a restaurant where the pantry in the back can act as a time machine. Al and Jake want to stop the assassination because it eventually led to the Vietnam war. I really enjoyed the writing of the characters as they were really realistic. Jake had to adjust to the past and learn about the differences just like the reader. Most of the plot occurred in the past as the main character was there for most of the time. Jake was living in the past for about five years throughout the story (this was only 2 minutes in real-time). My favorite part of the story was the ending because it was very surprising and I did not expect it. I really enjoyed reading this book, there was action that kept me interested throughout the story and it made me curious to read more. The author had even thrown in some references to another book he had written, which I enjoyed finding. If you do not enjoy reading longer novels or if you are not interested in history I do not recommend this book. However, I do recommend this book if you enjoy action and if you do not mind a book that is on the longer side.
The book I read this summer was “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand. The book is about Louie Zamperini’s life from when he was a trouble-making kid to when he was a prisoner of war in Japan. When Louie was a kid, he was notorious for his petty crimes like stealing and vandalism, and always getting away because he was such a good runner and because of this he was forced to join the school track team by his older brother Pete. He soon became a sensation and made his way to the 1936 Olympic team. His dreams of competing in the 1940 Olympics was cut short after being drafted and being assigned to the air force. He learned to fly a B-24 and went on many dangerous missions including the attack of a Japanese base. One day while on a search mission, the plane had technical difficulties and crashed into the ocean, and only himself, Mac and Phil survived. The three men floated on rafts and Louie took a leadership role and designated one square of chocolate per man per day, that plan went well, until Mac ate the entire supply on the first night after panicking. The men survived many obstacles including shark attacks, hunger, de hydration and even an attack from a Japanese plane, but were eventually captured after floating onto a Japanese occupied island. They were taken to a Prisoner of war camp where they were treated horribly. The book goes in depth into the horrendous treatment of Louie by a man nicknamed “the bird”, which is too brutal and horrific to describe. I definitively recommend this book to all because of the themes of, courage, perseverance, loyalty, strength and toughness. I also think this book is a perfect example of turning your life around and going from zero to hero.
Over the summer, I read The Giver by Lois Lowry. The book takes place in a futuristic society, where everything is normal. The citizens cannot see color, have memories or even listen to music. They do not know what enjoyment or pain is. The main character is named Jonas, an average 11 year old in his society; or so he thinks. Jonas has a special gift and it is apparent to his friends and family that he is different. When children in the society turn 12, they are assigned to a job in which they do for the entirety of their lives. Jonas is assigned the job of the Receiver, or the person who holds all of the memories that the citizens cannot have. His mentor, the Giver, is an old man who has been the receiver for many years but has to pass down his job. The job requires intense discipline, as Jonas is not allowed to speak of the things that he sees and feels to anybody but the Giver. He trains Jonas and opens up a world that he never could have imagined. Jonas also become acquainted with Gabriel, a three year old child that his dad brings to their home because he is having development issues. In the stretch of enlightenment, Jonas received good and bad memories and he transmitted of the good ones to Gabe. Jonas cherished them all but had trouble coping with the sadness and painfulness that came with memories. One day, Jonas and the Giver decided enough was enough, and the people deserved to feel what they felt. They devised a plan for Jonas to escape and his memories to be spread out to all of the people. The book ends on a happy note as Jonas finds a new civilization for Gabriel and himself to go. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it. Along with it being an entertaining novel, It makes the reader realize that they should be thankful for the feelings that they have, even if they are bad sometimes.
This summer, one of the books I read is called The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstein. The story begins in New York, 1873 with a little girl named Celia who is dropped off at her birth father’s theater after her mother dies. He happens to be a magician, and Celia inherited some of the magic. He enters her in a competition with another seemingly ancient magician’s student, which begins the confusing but ultimately genius idea of the game. The 2 students, Celia and Marco, don’t know that they are competing against each other in building the Circus of Dreams, but they do fall in love while creating truly the most wonderful work of art in the world, Le Cirque de Reves. The story is captivating, but what really enticed me was the vivid descriptions of the circus and the many tents one may find. It truly seems to be the circus of dreams, as many of the attractions should be impossible. The shocking conclusion of the game only adds to the wonder of the story. I would definitely recommend this book because since I read it this summer, I have bookmarked several parts where the descriptions are especially lucid. They help me to fall asleep thinking about such otherworldly illusions as described in the book. So not to solely recommend the book on its vivid language, I also found the plot to be extremely well thought out and captivating. You will not want to put this novel down. It really does have a facet for everyone, whether you be a romance-enthusiast, suspense-junkie, mystery-lover and tens of other things, this book will leave you satisfied, if not hungry for a sequel.
Over the summer, I read a book for my Honors English class. This book was “The Great Gatsby,” Written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It is based in Long Island, New York in a made-up town named West Egg. The time period was the 1920’s in the summer. The narrator of the story is Nick Carraway. He is more quiet and reserved. He had just moved in a small house near the rich millionare protagonist, Jay Gatsby. Gatsby who had once courted Daisy, now is using Nick to get to her because they are second cousins once removed. Gatsby goes after her even though she is married to Nick’s old Yale buddy. His buddy from Yale is Tom Buchanan, the antagonist of the story. He keeps Gatsby from getting what he really wants, which is his wife. As everything seems like it’s going Gatsby’s planned way, it starts to get bad. Tom finds out about Daisy and Jay. Nick also knows about Tom’s mistress. When Daisy finds out about Tom’s mistress, she finds what she is doing is ok. Nick finds himself in the middle of this love triangle. I becomes to come to an end when Gatsby, Nick, Daisy, and her friend Jordan(who Nick has a crush on) meet together. A fight occurs, and Daisy and Jay leave. On the way back to his house, Tom, Nick, and Jordan come upon Tom’s dead mistress from an accident. He informs his mistress’s husband that it was Gatsby driving the car, when it was really Daisy. After that, The husband kills Gatsby from false accusation by Tom. This brings a closing to the book after Tom and Daisy suddenly disappear after Gatsby’s death,
Over the summer and into the school year, the best book I read was “The Absolutely True diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. This novel gave a realistic story of what the life was like of a Native American boy living on a reservation, but with a twist. The narrative revolves around Arnold Spirit, or Junior as his peers call him. Arnold was born with several medical disabilities, but mainly he had too much “brain grease.” What this really meant was that he had extra cerebral spinal fluid inside his skull, which caused all sorts of physical disabilities. Arnold grew up on a poor and alcohol-filled Indian reservation with his mom, dad, and sister as he constantly dealt with bullying and mistreatment due to his medical issues. The only person he felt he could really trust on the reservation was his best friend Rowdy. Arnold would eventually learn that the reservation was not meant to build him up for success, and that he must escape with the hope of attaining a better future. He transfers to a nearly All White school, where he learns to fit in in this unfamiliar environment with the hopes of becoming successful. Arnold finds the struggle of both lifestyles, as he tries to juggle both the best he can. I would certainly recommend this book because of how realistic the story made Arnolds life feel, with many relatable emotions and moments that can really hit home with the reader. The story was also engaging the whole way through because of its witty humor, and compelling plot that would keep most people hooked on what Arnold encounters in both his worlds.
Over the summer, I read a book called All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. This book is about two children from completely different worlds during World War II. There is a girl named Marie-Laure who has been blind since she has been six, and lives in Paris. Her father is the lockkeeper of the Museum of Natural History at Paris, and at this museum, there is a gemstone that is supposedly cursed. It is supposed to keep whoever has it alive, but all the people that person is emotionally connected to will die. Three replicas are made before the invasion of the Nazis by the museum, and four officials of the museum, including Marie-Laure’s father, will take one of the gemstones, not knowing whether it is the replica or not. After the invasion of Paris by the Germans and Nazis in 1940, Marie-Laure and her father take a gemstone with them when they escape from Paris. They go to Marie’s uncle in the city of Saint-Malo on the west coast of France. There is a boy named Werner who lives in a mining town with his sister. Their father has been killed when he has been mining, so Werner and his sister live with other orphans. Werner becomes incredibly smart, interested in radios, and how they work and such. Because of this, many people come to him for help for radios, even outside of the orphanage. Nazis even come to him for help. Because of this, he decides he wants a real education, and takes a test to enter a prestigious school. After entering this school, his education advances a lot, and he learns a lot, but he is also indoctrinated to think like a Nazi. He is taught to hate Jews, and to fight for the war, even though he doesn’t know exactly what he is fighting for. After learning enough, he goes to the battlefield to fix radios and pinpoint the location of enemies. He first does this in Russia, but then must go to Saint-Malo to find a French spy that has been feeding information to the British through a radio. This is how Marie-Laure and Werner paths will meet. I highly recommend this book because it really shows two different perspectives of World War II. You feel as you can really connect to both characters, and you are sad for both of them as a reader for the situations they are both in. If you love history books, this a great one to read, and it focuses on the day to day lives of people during World War II not specific battles or specific consequences and dates of events, which is great to see, too. You really feel like you know what it was like to be in the war by the end of the book, and the devastating effects it had for some people and families. This books also always keeps you wondering how the book will end, for what will happen next, and keeps the suspense going, especially whether Marie-Laure and/or Werner will die during the atrocities of World War II. This suspense is kept up for the whole book.
Over the summer, I also read a book called The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman. Tom Sherbourne, a veteran of World War I, and Isabel, a joyous person, get married in Australia. Tom now has to work on an island called Janus Rock as a lighthouse keeper, so Isabel goes with him. After moving there, they decide to have a child, but instead, Isabel encounters two miscarriages and one stillbirth. As they are both devastated, especially Isabel, they are grieving a lot. One day, Tom and Isabel see a ship off the coast, and it comes to the island. Hearing the wailing of a baby, they hurry to the boat, and find a dead father, but an alive child. Isabel, affected by grief and loss so much, immediately claims the baby as it was hers, assuming the mother had died at sea. Tom does not agree with this, and since he is the keeper of the lighthouse, he has to record everything that happens. However, after Isabel says they will give the baby back to the authorities for it to be given back to its mother if she is still alive after one day, Tom agrees not to record anything. However, even after one day, Isabel will not let go of the baby, even naming her Lucy. Tom decides not to do anything, as he doesn’t want his wife to be devastated again, and her to become broken. As the couple with their child sometimes returns to the mainland, Tom and Isabel find out that the mother of Lucy, whose name is Hannah, is still alive. Tom’s guilty conscience prevents from enjoying anything in life anymore, and we will have to see what will happen. Will Hannah get custody or her child or will Tom and Isabel keep it? I would recommend this book because it portrays the different perspectives of everyone in the book extremely well. You feel sad for every character, as everyone faces a dilemma, and makes a choice. Despite not agreeing with their choices, you can understand why they did it, often times because of all the grief and loss they had to face. This makes me realize how lucky I am to not be riveted by as much grief and loss as these people. Which could very well happen to someone. I am happy that my family as a whole hasn’t had to face as many dilemmas and terrible events as this family did. I feel as though from reading this book, I have grown as a person by realizing even more than before that I am lucky to have such a good life. This book is also amazing because it keep s you on your toes and keeps the suspense going for the fate of Lucy, who you cannot stop feeling sorry for, as she has walked into such an unfortunate situation as an innocent person, and loves Tom and Isabel despite them not being her real parents.
I loved All the Light We Cannot See. Made me thankful for my sight. Heartbreaking story of WW2.
What an astoundingly creative book!
One of my favorites from college.
Classic book on Texas football. Influenced the way I wrote my own novel on high school football.
This is one American lit classic I haven’t read yet.
This summer I read the book Maximum Ride by James Patterson. It is about a flock of human/bird mutants that live together. Each have special powers but some have disabilities such as mind reading, but blindness. One day as the flock went out to pick cherries a team of mutant wolf people flew a helicopter over and kidnapped the smallest, cutest member, and stealing the flock’s insanity with her. The rest of the story is about them saving her, while uncovering secrets of their past along the way. As they venture to get her back the team splits up, concealing each of them to only a partner or themselves. They use their courage, wit, and abilities to save the member, and eventually rejoice. In the end they use friends they’ve made, and storm the fortress that the member is in and use aerial and ground attacks to get her back. As they were there they realize that the kidnappers may not have been as bad as they thought. Will they rescue the member? Will they learn who they truly are? Are the bad guys actually bad? Find out in Maximum Ride by James Patterson. I would definitely recommend this book for it’s excellent plot, twists, and morals. It overall teaches you the importance of family, and perseverance. It also takes you on a ride of adventure like no other you’ve ever experienced. It overall is a wonderful book that I would recommend for anyone with a love a juicy story.
I really loved this book. Lots of insights into autism
I read the first three Shadowhunter books, City of Bones, Ashes, and Glass. Couldn’t get into the others.
This summer I read the novel by Rick Riordan, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. This is the story of a troubled New York 6th Grader who finds out that his father is one of the Olympian gods and after his 12th birthday monsters will start to attack him. The Minotaur kills his mother and Percy defeats him outside the gates of his new summer camp. He is taken to Camp Half Blood where he is trained by the legendary trainer of Achilles and all the greatest heroes Chiron. Percy is given a prophecy by the Oracle of Delphi that leads him on a journey cross country to retrieve a lost item that he did not steal. He meets Medusa, the Lotus Eaters, and the Hydra. He is betrayed by a friend and when he finally meets his godly father he looks like a fisher wearing sandals and a Hawaiian shirt. Throughout the novel the main character, Percy, struggles with his identity. Whether it is not knowing who his father is or not understanding his true potential, Percy can’t believe he is anything better than a kid with dyslexia and ADHD. This novel is great for anybody any age. Riordan does a great job of explaining the mythology so any reader can understand. Also Percy is a very relatable character because we all do not know what we are capable of and the only way to discover it is to try and be optimistic. Finally, it is a series and the books only get better and better with more action and more gods and this is the great first installation in this amazing series.
Read this last summer, loved it, and really enjoyed the movie too.
The book I read last summer was “The Outsiders” By: S.E. Hinton. This story takes place in the 1980’s in the state of Oklahoma. The main Character is Ponyboy Curtis a 14 year old boy who lives with his two older brothers Soda Pop and Dally. The story is told from Ponyboy’s point of view. In the town that Ponyboy lives in there are two classes. The rich and the poor. The rich people are the Socs. You can tell they are a soc by their hair color and the way that they dress. They usually have short hair usually blonde. Then there is the greasers who are on the poor side of town. They usually wear leather jackets with slicked back long hair. They usually have dark hair. In this story it’s all about sticking together, that’s what The Outsiders is based on. The story really starts to get interesting when Ponyboy and Johnny are out late one night with the Socs girls. After the movie they didn’t have a ride so they started walking back home with the girls when the socs roll up and take their girls back, after some words were exchanged. The walk home was very far for Ponyboy and the Socs came back and a fight broke out. It was just a fist fight until they started drowning Ponyboy, then Johnny pulled out a switch and killed a soc. The rest of the story is these greasers sticking together till the end and putting others before themselves, the ending to this book is the best I’ve ever read and I really recommended that you read it. This story is great for all ages. It shows young teenagers what true friendship is and shows teenagers what sacrifices friends make for friends.
Over the summer, I read many books. None of which I remember enough to fully explain in depth, though. So I will write about a book I finished last weekend—We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson. We Are the Ants is a story about a teenage boy named Henry Denton. Henry is an unusual boy; many call him “Space Boy”. The reason why is because some nights, aliens abduct him and take him to their spaceship, where they torture him. The aliens give Henry an ultimatum: he has 144 days to push a red button, and if he doesn’t, the world will end. It’s quite vague, as they don’t really tell him how the world will end. Henry doesn’t really understand why he was chosen for this. He believes that “we are the ants”, meaning we don’t really matter to the universe. We follow his story by dates (i.e. December 10th, 2015), all leading up to the day at which the world will end, which is January 29th, 2016. Henry isn’t sure he wants to push the button, though. He struggles to figure out what is motivation enough not to push it. He weighs pros and cons within this 144 day period through the people in his life; the bully who is his perpetual one-night stand, in the best friend who betrayed him, in a mysterious boy that walked into the wrong classroom, and finally, his late boyfriend that had committed suicide. There is some joy around him, but so much pain. Does he make the pain go away for him, and the world go with it? Or, does he find that people are worth saving? We Are the Ants is a unique story that I would recommend to all interested in YA Fiction. After reading this book, I’ve learned that we most certainly are the ants. We don’t matter in a large universe that is part of a number of infinite universes. Yet, we have the ability to matter to certain people. We can change the course of an individual life. That’s what makes us worth saving.
The book I read this summer was Never Go Back by Lee Child. This book is the latest installment in the Jack Reacher series, and it was a good one. The premise of this book is Jack Reacher is reenlisted into the military because of an affidavit claiming him to be the culprint as well as a paternity suit… naming him the father of a 14 year old girl in Los Angles. So, being the level headed and Jack Reacher is… he breaks out of federal prison and goes to LA to clear his name and to find out the situation with his apparent daughter. This is all with the help of Major Sullivan, the new command of his former post who has also been framed for taking a bribe. Reacher and Sullivan have their suspicions about the two of them being arrested at the same time right after a phone call shared between the two of them. The circumstances being suspect, Reacher and Sullivan have to keep their eyes peeled. In this stunning book, we are shown a different side to the normal Jack Reacher novels where now he isn’t just helping someone else: he needs to save himself. A movie in this book is coming out in October, but I definitely recommend that you read the book before hand. The Jack Reacher books had started to blend together, but Lee Child does a great job of freshining things up with this one. I would strongly recommend this book to a friend because of the up and down plot that keeps your guessing. One of the best parts of these Jack Reacher books is that you have the ability to guess the final outcome of the book early, although I almost never do. That’s what makes these books so entertaining, ad I hope that you can add it to your list of books to read!
This summer I read a book about the African Heritage that still thrives on the South Carolina and Georgia Coast. The book is called “The Gullah People and Their African Heritage” by William S. Politzer. In the book they mention the genetic, cultural, and religious backgrounds of the long standing community. The name of the culture is the Gullah/ Geechee community, who are descendants from the West African Coast. They were brought To America from the slave trade. Some of their culture is apart of America in modern day, such as the music genre, Jazz. Their style of music comes from telling stories about their origin. The book also describes current places on the coast, that are able to be visited. Such as St. Helen, which is home to their first African slave college. The school is based around Industrialism. My last and final big part of the book is the genetics. There are many researches that have been done to compare the genetic advances and combinations in their society.There are many different charts that compare genetic and cultural variations to other thriving African communities. I would recommend this book to any who want to learn more about the prominent African culture that has grew through the hard times of slavery.
The book I read this summer is called The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. The books starts out with the main character being Arnold Spirit or Junior. Junior is apart of the Spokane tribe on a reservation in Washington. Junior spends his day hanging out with his friend Rowdy, going to Indian Pow-wows, playing basketball. On the first day of high school Junior receives a textbook from his math teacher and realizes that it was made before his mom was even born. He then throws his book across the class and hits his teacher, Mr. P< which in result got him suspended. The next day while Junior was at home Mr. P visited him. He told Junior that he was one of the smartest indians he had ever seen and that if he wanted to be successful in life he would need to leave the reservation. The next day Junior told his parents that he would want to go to Reardan, a wealthy and mostly white school. This was probably Juniors most controversial time of his life. He got bullied by words of racism and discrimination but that would soon change when everybody respected Junior after he punched Roger, the star football player. Everything from then on in the sotry goes in favor of Junior. The book ends with Junior making the varsity basketball team.
I recommend this book to all teens between ages 12-18 because this book is very relatable. It tell jokes that only teenagers will understand and comprehend as funny.
This past summer I read “The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie a story of a Native American who sees no future for himself if he stays at his reservation and goes to school, so he decides to go to an all white school of the reservation where he sees a chance for him to succeed and possibly go to collage. The book is very good and I do recommend it, I enjoyed the book very much because I can relate to it a little bit, being someone who switched schools in the middle of my freshman is something I shared in common with the main character Junior, he was put in an environment with people he didn’t know and had to go through that, but he had more against him like people being racist. He also is a very big basketball fan both of the sport and the NBA which is something else I can share with him. Junior ends up doing very well in school socially and academically, but struggles with his tribe who see him as a traitor. He also has to deal with many deaths in the story like his grandmother, very close family friend like an uncle and his sister who left un-expectantly to get married because she saw her brother taking a risk and so she wanted to take one to. By the end of the story Junior has started to find a balance in his life and it seems to be filled with hope with his home life being good and his school life.
This summer I read this autobiographic book titled “I Am Malala” by Nobel Peace Prize Award Receiver Malala Yousafzai. In the autobiography Malala tells us history about who she is, and how her days are usually like when she goes to her school. Her school which is a school for girls is kept in secret. Her school isn’t even allowed in her country of Pakistan. The country she lives in (Pakistan) is partially run by the Taliban, the Taliban does not believe in the freedom of Women and the norms of Women’s rights. The Taliban are so strict about Women and their role in the country (or where the Taliban is in control) that Women are not allowed to go out in public without a man watching/accompanying her. Malala’s father, Ziauddin and Malala herself face a major issue when the Taliban all of a sudden are in control of there valley, Swat Valley. Since the takeover of Swat Valley by the Taliban, the Taliban and many others threaten Malala and her families beliefs on education and Women’s rights. With increasing challenges the village/valley faced, Malala and her Father as well faced challenges on advocating for the education for young women and girls. Time goes on and Malala continues to go to her school. Over time she realizes that her grades aren’t what truly matters, but what does is what she learns. Eventually Malala becomes more involved with the media and then secretly blogs for the BBC about living under the Taliban control. She then becomes a star of a documentary featuring young women and girls attending school even when there is a ban from the Taliban for female education.
The attention on Malala’s family grows, negatively. Her father stays away from his home to guide attention away from his family but little did Malala’s family know is that she is the real target. One day on her way to her school, her bus is stopped and she is shot among with 3 other girls on the bus. Malala is injured severely and hops from hospital to hospital and ends up in England only to recover slowly. Her family comes with her as well. The situation in Swat Valley worsens, but Malala no longer in her village continues to speak for Women’s Right’s and education for young women. I recommend this book very highly to those readers who are interested in Women’s rights and education. The book is laid out perfectly with suspense and adventure Yousafzai takes us in a very emotional ride to her success in a Women’s Rights Activist.
The book I read this summer was The Fault in Our Stars. This book was very moving and important to me because I know a lot of people who have or had cancer. The author gives off a message that no matter how many challenges we face in life, anybody can get through them if they’re surrounded by happiness and loved ones. This book is about two young teenagers with cancer who fall in love. The boy, Augustus Waters, teaches the girl, Hazel Grace Lancaster, to live her life to the fullest no matter how close to death she gets. Hazel doesn’t see much of a point in life or leaving a mark on the world. But even if she remains passive, life still happens to her. And that’s where all the interesting stuff starts to happen. One word to describe this book would be love. Love got Augustus and Hazel through everything and they always had each other. The author, by John Green, did a great job of showing the messages. This book really made me think about my own life and reflect on the decisions I make everyday. If I’m stressed with school or friends or anything for that matter, I just think about this book and take a deep breath and think to myself how lucky I am to be healthy. I make important decisions and live my life to the fullest because I know that one day I won’t be able to. This book really impacted my life.
This summer I read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. This book is a science fiction novel taking place in a dystopian American society in which everyone spends all of their time in a massive video game simulation called the OASIS. The creator of the OASIS dies, and since he has no living friends or family, he instead puts an “Easter Egg” into his game and if someone can find it, they will get his massive fortune. The book is an amazing thriller, as it follows the protagonist as he tries to find the Easter egg along with a few of his friends. Romance, explosions, and evil corporation bent on ruling the world are all included in the book. I would definitely recommend.
-Beau Lerner