Free Choice Letter May 21, 2009

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Dear Book Club,
The book I am reading is titled Lovely Bones and it is written by Alice Sebold. The novel Lovely Bones is about the murder of a 14 year-old girl named Susie Salmon living in Norristown, Pennsylvania. One day, Susie is walking home from school when a neighbor, named Mr. Harvey, lures Susie into his dugout saying that he’s going to show her something that he had built for her. When Susie gets in the dugout, Mr. Harvey rapes her and then he pulls out a knife and stabs her to death. After she dies, Susie goes to her version of heaven. Susie’s body is never found, but the police find her hat and her elbow in the cornfield near Susie’s house. Mr. Harvey takes Susie’s body back to his house and puts it into a safe and throws it into a sinkhole. Susie’s father then suspects Mr. Harvey killed Susie because he has been acting weird. Mr. Salmon hires detective Fenerman to solve Susie’s murder. Mr. Fenerman and Susie’s mom, Abigail, begin having an affair. Susie’s sister, Lindsey, then breaks into Mr. Harvey’s house and steals a picture of the dugout where Susie was killed from Mr. Harvey’s house but Harvey comes home and catches Lindsey but Lindsey is able to escape. Everyone thinks that Harvey killed Susie. Abigail leaves the family and moves to California. Susie’s dad has a heart attack and almost dies. Abigail and Susie’s dad eventually get back together and when Harvey tries to prey on another teenage girl Susie is able to use her powers in heaven to kill Mr. Harvey.
Mr. Harvey looks like an average white male with dark hair and glasses that his eyes peered out over. Mr. Harvey is about average height and he is a little bit overweight.
I would Mr. Harvey with the adjectives disturbed and selfish. Mr. Harvey is disturbed because of all the things that happened to him when he was a child. His mother used to teach him how to steal things from graves and his mother also used to tell him that dead people weren’t important to think about and that stealing things from dead people was alright. His mother also used to sleep with him and he was made fun of a lot because of this. He seems to have sexual thoughts about his mother but she doesn’t seem to stop these thoughts but makes them worse through the secrecy and her sleeping with him when he is older. He was even there when his mother ran some guy over because the guy was making fun of them for being cuddled up in a car.
Mr. Harvey is selfish because of all the things he does to people and doesn’t care about hurting them or their families. We know that Mr. Harvey killed lots of other young girls because Susie sees them all in heaven and Mr. Harvey has disturbing dreams about all these people that he killed. Mr. Harvey has to be selfish to act like this and not care about hurting other people. He is only thinking of what he wants and needs and not thinking of how his actions effect other people.
These characteristics are important to the story because without this there would be no murder and no story. I don’t like this character because he is sick but part of me feels sorry for all the stuff that his mother did to him. His mother made him sick and twisted and it’s not completely his fault he is this way but I still think that you shouldn’t rape people and kill people just because you had a bad childhood.

—Analiza Zungri (8th grade)


The Hand You’re Dealt by Paul Volponi
Dear Book Club,
The book I have currently finished is titled, The Hand You’re Dealt, by Paul Volponi.
It has 168 pages. When Huck Porter’s father suddenly dies, things don’t seem like they’ll ever make sense again. Huck's “best friend” thinks he should deal with it, and abandons him, and the girl he likes won’t give him the time of day. To make things worse, Mr. Abbott, a hungry card shark and Huck’s math teacher, now wears the poker winner’s watch that Abbott stole from his deathbed. Now Huck vows to get even no matter what it takes. The main character is Huck Porter, a seventeen year old boy, dealing with the loss of his dad. When Huck enters the poker tournament to win back the watch, he wears headphones, dark sunglasses, and a baseball cap, so none of the other players will recognize him or “read” him. One of the main personality traits of Huck’s, and one of the themes in the book, is vengeance. Because Abbott stole his father’s winning watch while he was dying, Huck spends all of his time watching Abbott, developing his poker skills, and dreaming of ways to get even with him. An example of this would be when Huck begins to watch Abbott in class, “Reading” him for signs of bluffing, and beginning to have daydreams of Abbott being respectful to him and his mother. On the other hand, Huck is very sensitive. His mother doesn’t have much money, working double shifts to make ends meet. Because the poker tournament is for 18-teen year olds and up, Huck lies to his mother, and this makes him very uncomfortable and guilty, like when his mother told him she knew he was at the rec-center, but for a different reason than playing poker, and after lying to her, Huck examines himself wondering if he’s doing the right thing. These personality traits are important to the story because without them, there would be no story. This is a coming-of-age book with poker, and was good until the end, which sucked. Huck’s a good character, and the only thing I dislike is that he gets into the game too much, and cant focus on the world outside. This book was okay, and even though I didn’t really understand all the poker terms, it was interesting for a quick read.

—Amariah Walton (8th grade)

Plot Letters (Character's Perspective) May 14, 2009

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Dear Book Club,
The book I am reading is titled Lovely Bones and it is written by Alice Sebold. The novel Lovely Bones is about the murder of a fourteen year-old girl named Susie Salmon.
Susie is walking home from school one day when Mr. Harvey lures Susie into his dugout and then rapes and stabs her to death. After she dies, Susie goes to live in her version of heaven that looks like her hometown and high school. Only Susie’s hat and her elbow are found. Police suspect that Susie’s friend Ray Singh is the murderer but then figure out that he couldn’t have killed Susie. Mr. Harvey then takes Susie’s body and stuffs it into a safe and throws it into a sinkhole. Mr. Harvey keeps Susie’s charm bracelet and throws it into a field where a lake is being built. Susie’s father then sees Mr. Harvey building a tent and asks if he knows anything about Susie. Mr. Harvey’s answers make Mr. Salmon think that Mr. Harvey killed Susie.
Mr. Salmon then hires detective Fenerman to solve Susie’s murder and tells Fenerman that he think Mr. Harvey killed Susie. Fenerman then begins to question Harvey and Harvey tells Fenerman that he is building a tent to honor his dead wife Leah even though he told Mr. Salmon that his dead wife was named Sophia. Mr. Salmon is now positive that Mr. Harvey killed Susie.
Now everyone in the family begins to suspect that Mr. Harvey killed Susie. Susie’s mom doesn’t seem to really care though because she is having an affair with the private detective Fenerman. The daughter then sees the detective and the mother having an affair but she doesn’t say anything to anyone. Lindsey, Susie’s sister, then decides to try to find out whether Mr. Harvey killed Susie so she breaks into his house to try to find some evidence to give to the police. When she breaks into the house, she sees Susie’s ghost running around the house talking about all of the people that Mr. Harvey killed. Lindsey follows Susie up the stairs and finds a drawing of the dugout where Susie was killed. At that moment, Mr. Harvey walks into the house and hears a creaking up stairs. So Mr. Harvey runs up the stairs to try find out who’s up there and Lindsey jumps out the window and runs home with the drawing.
Mr. Harvey calls the police to tell them that Lindsey has broken into his house but the police have talked to Lindsey and know that she has a drawing of the dugout. Mr. Harvey says that he drew the sketch after she died so that he could help solve the murder. The police apologize to Mr. Harvey and he refuses to press charges against Lindsey.
Later, we find out that Mr. Harvey’s mom taught him that women and children are evil. He also used to play a game with his mom where he would steal things from dead people.
I think the climax of the book will happen when Mr. Harvey is found to be the murderer when Susie’s charm bracelet falls out of his pocket or something like that. I think the resolution will happen when Mr. Harvey is put in jail and Susie’s soul is allowed to go to real heaven and get away from this earth. I also think that Susie’s parents will divorce but they will be happier and the dad will be really happy because he worked so hard to figure out who killed Susie.

—Analiza Zungri (8th grade)


The Doll’s House by Katherine Mansfield
Dear Book Club;
I have currently just finished reading a short story, The Doll’s House, by Katherine Mansfield. It is about three sisters, Kezia, Isabelle, and Lottie Burnell who live with their wealthy family in a small town in New Zealand. After a family friend gives the Burnell children a present of a doll house, the girls go to school and start to brag about it. It wasn’t just any doll house, it was a magnificent doll house that was about four feet tall and five feet wide, and it had every thing in it from carpet in the drawing room to a stove and tiny plates and even a little oil lamp that looked almost as if you could light it. Their mother said that as long as the dollhouse was in the courtyard they could bring two of their friends from school everyday to come see it.
Now, this school that the Burnell children went to, was not at all the place their parents would have chosen had there been a choice, but there was none, for it was the only school for miles, and as a result, all the children from all the different family’s in the neighborhood went to the school-- from the judge’s son to the milkman’s daughters-- and there was sort of a status problem, but it had to end somewhere.
Hi! My name is Kezia Burnell. I am the protagonist and one of the main characters in this story. The antagonist is my society, the main setting is the town I live in, in New Zealand, the rising action begins when my sisters and I, go to school the day after we got our dollhouse, and during our recess gather everyone to brag about it, everyone that is except for the Kelveys. Lil and Else Kelvey were not allowed to play or even talk to us, just because they were very poor and rumor was that their father was in jail. The rising action continues when eventually all the girls at our school had seen our wonderful dollhouse except for the Kelveys.
The climax is when I see the Kelveys walking down the street and I have to decide if I should ignore them or ask them to come and look at our dollhouse. The resolution is when I take the risk of getting in serious trouble, and let the Kelveys into our courtyard to have a peek, and even though I get caught, I still feel like I did the right thing, for once I talked to them I realized that the Kelveys where very nice girls and should not be excluded from society. I predict that I will become very successful and wealthy.
Kezia Burnell

—Muhammad Mehai (9th grade)


Flowers For Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Dear Book Club,
I just started reading a three-hundred page book titled Flowers For Algernon, a novel by Daniel Keyes. I am currently on page one-hundred and thirty. Charlie Gordon was a mentally challenged thirty-two year old with an I.Q. of 62. He can barely read, write, or even talk properly. Until one day when he is chosen by a me and my team of scientists to undergo an experimental surgery designed to boost his intelligence. However, the surgery has only worked on a small white mouse named Algernon. After the surgery Charlie advances faster then we could have imagined. He advances so far that his intelligence surpasses our own. The experiment seems to be an amazing success until, Algernon suddenly deteriorates.

My name is Dr. Jay Strauss, I am the one who did the experiment on Charlie. Charlie is the Protagonist. He lives in a small apartment, and works at a bakery where he is treated very badly but is not smart enough to know. When I first saw him, I knew that he would be the one that we should use. He was not like rest, he wanted to smart. Once we knew we were going to use Charlie for the experiment, we started asking him to write a progress report every day. We also put him through some very simple tests. In one of the tests he had to race Algernon through a maze. And after a short time we were ready for the operation. At first Charlie was disappointed with the results because there was not immediately smarter. However, after short time his I.Q. level started climbing faster then we predicted. He started remembering his family and memories and even starts doing college level classes and books. He shocks the workers at the bakery by inventing a process designed to improve productivity. However, not long afterward, Charlie is fired from his job because the other workers are disturbed by the sudden change in him. Charlie soon becomes overwhelmed and confused by his knowledge and memories. And starts wondering if he should have done the surgery in the first place. This is the Rising to Action.

This is as far as I have read. I have not reached the Climax or Resolution yet, but I can feel the tension building. I predict that Charlie’s hardships will go on, but I am not sure what is going to happen after Algernon deteriorates. This is one of the best books I have ever read. It is very hard to predict but thats what makes it so thrilling. This a great book and a recommend it to all.

—Zane Christenson (9th grade)

Character Letter (Character's Perspective) April 30, 2009

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
The book I am reading is titled Lovely Bones and it is written by Alice Sebold. The novel Lovely Bones is about the murder of Susie Salmon, who is a fourteen year-old girl living in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Susie is walking home from school one day when a neighbor, named Mr. Harvey, lures Susie into his dugout saying that he’s going to show her something that he had built for her. When Susie gets in the dugout, Mr. Harvey asks Susie if she has boyfriend, Susie says that she does not. Then Mr. Harvey knocks her to the ground and begins to rape her after stuffing her hat into her mouth. After he rapes her, Mr. Harvey asks Susie if she loves him and then he pulls out a knife and stabs her to death. After she dies, Susie goes to live in her version of heaven, which looks like her old hometown and high school. In heaven, Susie meets her roommate and her counselor, who helps Susie adjust to her life in heaven. Susie’s body is never found, but the police find Susie’s hat and her elbow in the cornfield near Susie’s house. Police also find Susie’s books and her notes, which includes a love letter from Ray Singh. Police suspect Ray is the murderer but then figure out that he couldn’t have killed Susie. Mr. Harvey then takes Susie’s dismembered body back to his house (except for the elbow that he lost) and stuffs it into a safe and throws the safe into a sinkhole. We find out that Susie is not the only person that Mr. Harvey has killed. Mr. Harvey keeps Susie’s charm bracelet but later decides to throw it into a field where a lake is going be built. He does keep a charm that Susie had of a Pennsylvania Keystone. Susie’s father then sees Mr. Harvey building a tent and goes to help and to ask if he knows anything about Susie and Mr. Harvey’s weird responses makes Mr. Salmon think that Mr. Harvey killed Susie. Mr. Salmon then hires detective Fenerman to solve Susie’s murder and tells Fenerman that he believes Mr. Harvey killed Susie. Fenerman then begins to question Harvey and Harvey tells Fenerman that he is building a tent to honor his dead wife Leah. When Fenerman tells this to Mr. Salmon, Mr. Salmon remembers Mr. Harvey telling him that his dead wife was named Sophia. Mr. Salmon is now positive that Mr. Harvey killed Susie.
Susie’s physically appearance was like most missing girls from the seventies, she was a “white [girl] with mousy brown hair” (pg. 1). She was the oldest of the Salmon children and was beginning to look less and less like a child. Just before she was murdered by Mr. Harvey she commented on her looks by saying “[she]’d had older men look at [her] that way since [she]’d lost [her] baby fat, but they usually didn’t lose their marbles over [her] when [she] was wearing her royal-blue parka and yellow elephant bell-bottoms” (p. 8). Susie is also a cute girl, which we learn when Mr. Harvey says “you are very pretty” (p. 11) to Susie before he rapes and kills her.
Susie’s personality was one that was not very street smart but she was very compassionate. When Susie is being lured into Mr. Harvey’s dugout before she is killed, Mr. Harvey makes a comment that illustrates how Susie is not very street smart when he says “you should be more observant Susie” (p. 8). This quote shows us that Susie is not very street smart because she is not observant to the things around her. Susie’s compassion could be seen when Susie says she is not supposed to like Ray Singh because everyone though he looked like a freak but she like him anyway because he was “nice and smart and helped [her] cheat on [her] algebra exam” (p. 13).
These personality traits are important to the story for many reasons. Most importantly, if Susie was street smart then she would have never been killed by Mr. Harvey because she would have not gone with Mr. Harvey into the dugout by herself. If Susie was never killed by Mr. Harvey then there would be no story. It is also important to the story that Susie is compassionate and caring, I think, because it helps the reader feel really sorry for her and want her murderer to go to jail. If Susie was a horrible person then we wouldn’t really care whether she got murdered or not.
I like this character because she is powerful and trying to solve her own murder, which I think is really inspiring. I also like this character because she loves her family and I love my family and I can totally relate to this character for this reason. I dislike this character because she was not smart enough to figure out that Mr. Harvey was a total weirdo who was trying to kill or molest her. It drives me crazy to think that she was so stupid to not realize that she was getting herself into a dangerous situation.

Analiza Zungri (8th grade)


Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
Dear Book Club,
The book I have currently finished is titled, Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson. It has 278 pages. Wintergirls is about eighteen year old Lia, who loses her friend to anorexia and is battling the same disorder.
Hello, my name is Lia and I weigh 99 pounds. Me and my friend Cassie made a pact when we were younger to be the skinniest girls alive. So far I’m winning. People call me anorexic, but I never call myself that. I know by heart the calories of everyday food and I try to stay empty as long as I can without my parents finding out. Living with my father, stepmother and stepsister, doing this is easy. I don’t purge like Cassie did, but I exercise and eat very little. I don’t really have a description of my features, except for my height, which is short. I can be very self critical at times, as I edit my thoughts with crossed out lines and sentences. As in this paragraph on page 27; “ The air at the gas station is heavy with diesel and the smell of rancid deep-fryer fat from McDonalds next door. Five days ago I weighed 101.30 pounds. I had to eat at Thanksgiving (vultures all around the table), but since then it’s been mostly water and rice cakes. I am so hungry that I could gnaw off my right hand. I stick three pieces of gum in my mouth, throw out Emma’s potato chips, and fill the tank. I am disgusting.” My parents are unsupportive. They don’t understand that I’m strong, not dying. They say they want to help me, but they can’t do that if their looking in the other direction. Cassie haunts me at night, calling me her wintergirl, saying we're going to be together for New Years. I weigh 95 pounds. I want 85.
Another one of my characteristics is that I am sometimes guilty about “ being strong” and hurting people who try to help me, like I did with Emma. Page 226 “ The bathroom door swings open. Emma sees the blood painting my skin and the red rivers carved on my body. Emma sees the wet knife, silver and bone. The screams of my little sister shatter mirrors.” I obsess over my weight constantly. Ever since I was taken to New Seasons, my weight has been monitored by Jennifer. I hide coins in my bathrobe pockets during weight- ins, I lie out of habit, and my thoughts get more and more destructive as time goes by. In the end, I have to make a choice. To become thinner until I dissolve to nothing? Or to accept people’s help, even though I might not want it.
This book was very hard for me to read. Liaʼs not a character that makes you want to save her, at least not for me, but she’s a very real person, and the sentences are like poetry. This book is NOT for people who love happy ever-afters. Although Lia starts to make a recovery, you don’t exactly know if it’s for keeps. This book was one of the best, and I recommend it to all.

Amariah Walton (8th grade)


The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Dear Book Club,
I just finished reading a ninety-page book titled The Metamorphosis, a novel by Franz Kafka. The book is about a young, traveling salesman named Gregor Samsa. He hates his job but continues it because he provides the only source of income for his family. However, one day when Gregor awakes, he finds himself transformed into an insect.
Before Gregor was transformed he was a fit salesman; he had to be for how much traveling he did. However, after he became a bug, he became a hungrier, dirty, cockroach. His body is brown with a hard shell on his back and a soft belly with six little legs. As soon as Gregor is transformed, he is very apprehensive. Without his income his family will all have to get jobs and might not be able to support each other. He is also worried what his family might do when they see his current status. Later he becomes more confident. In the beginning Gregor is almost unable to move because he cannot figure out how to move his body together. But after a little time he is able to move his body and even learns to crawl on walls and fit in smaller spaces and becomes more confident with his body and skills; however, when he tries to help his family he usually just makes things worse.
I like Gregor very much. I find him very honorable and nice. I feel bad for him later in the book as his father and his relationship declines. This book is very unusual because the climax comes very early in the book. It is a great book that has a very deep meaning. You can see a lot of Franz Kafka in this book. It is a must read, my only complaint is that it was so short. I recommend it to all.

Zane Christenson (9th grade)


The Alchemist by Paulo Coelo
Dear Book Club
The book I’m reading is called The Alchemist by Paulo Coelo. It is about a shepherd boy named Santiago (but the author just calls him the boy). The boy gives up being a shepherd to go on a search for treasure. On the way he meets people that give him clues about where his treasure is. He then goes to Egypt and meets the alchemist, but that’s as far as I've gotten.
He is a young man in his twenty’s he is physically fit and handsome. His personality is adventurous, intelligent, and good hearted. He gave up becoming a priest to be a shepherd boy so he could travel and see the world. This shows his love for adventure. He likes to read and he has a curious mind. This shows his intelligence. He helps people by warning then of a vision he had that they were going to be attacked. This shows his good heartedness. All of these characteristics motivate him to search for treasure and find his personal legend. I like that he is adventures.

Griffin Lounsbury (9th grade)

Book Review for Shelfari, April 23, 2009

The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford
Dear Book Club,
I just finished reading a two hundred and twenty page book entitled, The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell, a novel by John Crawford. It is a true story about a man named John Crawford who joined the National Guard to help pay for college. All he had to do was work one weekend per month and his college tuition would be free. However, newly married and two months short of finishing college, he was called to active duty and sent to the dirty rundown streets of Iraq. And one year of duty turned into the worst three years of his life.
John Crawford has many themes in the book: loyalty, survival and bravery. Loyalty is one of the main underlying themes which can be seen on every page, because no matter what rank you were every solider had to watch out for each other. Survival is demonstrated in every chapter. Every day John and his squad had to battle to survive from enemy ambushes, heat stroke, sickness and depression. During the book, after John loses one of his best friends in combat, he just about kills himself from depression. The negative mental affects of living in a state of war were just one more thing soldiers had to overcome to survive.
One of my favorite sections from the book is when John and his squad are watching a deserted chemical plant. Three men stood guard while the other three slept. However, the building was so big that three guys couldn’t effectively guard the whole area at once. John and two of his squad members had just got off guard duty and were trying to catch some “shut-eye”. There was a lot of wind that night, not to mention noise from helicopters and machine gun fire. They were all about to go to sleep when a big gust of wind came and one of the windows in the room shattered. Something small and round hit the ground and started rolling towards the soldiers. It was too dark to tell what it was but it was pretty clear to the men. The soldier sitting next to John yelled “GRANADE!!!!” and all three men dove for cover, hands overhead. After twenty seconds, and no explosion John got up to look at what ever it was. He poked it with his foot and then picked it up just to find a coke can that blew in the window when it broke.
John Crawford is an excellent writer. I have no complaints. You can almost feel the one hundred and twenty degree weather and smell the stagnant water in the street. Every chapter seemed to be more intense than the last. You got to know every one of his fellow soldiers as well as his enemies. You were able to see the good side and the bad side of things. His writing style made it very easy to read and made me not want to put down the book.
The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell is a great book. It is a very easy read as it is quite short, but it is one of the most intense books I have ever read. I was very disappointed when I finished it because it ended so soon. The writer nailed the plot, rising action, resolution and the climax. I did not find one problem with this book. This is one of my favorite books.

Zane Christenson (9th grade)


CRANK by Ellen Hopkins
Dear Book Club,
I read the book CRANK, by Ellen Hopkins. This book is about Kristina Georgia and how the drug crank (methamphetamine) changed her and her life. It all started when Kristina was sent to her father’s house in New Mexico. At her father’s house she meets Adam aka Buddy. Buddy introduces Kristina to the drug that would soon take over her life. Kristina called herself “Bree” to the new people she met. Bree was her alter-ego. Someone who was outgoing and carefree while Kristina was held back and shy. Bree fell in love with Buddy while she was in New Mexico, but eventually she had to go home back to Reno. They wrote letters but their love did not last. Bree found herself dating two guys, Brendan and Chase, in order to get her hands on crank. Chase and Kristina soon fell in love, but their love fell apart when Kristina was pregnant with Brendan’s baby and Chase left to college. During her pregnancy Bree has to face the facts that she can’t let crank control her anymore for her child’s sake.
I don’t have a favorite section of this book, but there are many dramatic parts including when Bree starts selling crank for the Mexican mafia. It’s crazy to think that an affluent fifteen year old girl can be selling drugs for a huge gang. Also, the first time Bree tries “The Monster” she does it with her slimy long absent dad. I can’t believe someone suffering from a major drug addiction could watch their daughter follow in their footsteps and do nothing about it.
I think that the main theme of Crank is that you shouldn’t take a drug that you know is bad for your body because you will become addicted to it and it will control your life and your morals. This book proves that point by showing how Kristina’s life starting spiraling downward the moment she let the monster, crank into her life. Kristina became addicted and the only thing that mattered to her was the rush crank gave her and how the drug affected her everyday decisions. Bree would do just about anything to get her hands on the drug.
I think that this book was very well written. It is written in journal entry –like poems (some poems, for instance, are written in two columns that can be read separately or together).The author uses extremely descriptive language with a lot of detail. This book shows how the main character Kristina, a strait A student that never gets in any trouble, develops into Bree, the exact opposite a fearless drug addict. There was not really much of a resolution to this story, so I am going to read the sequel to find out what happens to Kristina and her new baby.
I recommend this book to all teenagers. It’s a very depressing story but it is also realistic and very well written.

Tiffany Dunion (9th)

Setting Letters April 16, 2009

The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford
Dear Book Club,
I am currently reading a two-hundred and twenty page book entitled The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell, a novel by John Crawford. I am on page one-hundred and ten. It is a true story about a man named John Crawford who joined the National Guard to help pay for college. All he had to do was work one weekend per month and his college tuition would be free. However, newly married and two months short of finishing college, he was called to active duty and sent to Iraq. And one year of duty turned into the worst three years of his life.
One of the worst memories for John Crawford was the h1 Humvee because it was more dangerous to drive in then to go on foot. Because of poor armor, it could catch on fire very easily, so all the doors were kicked out so that soldiers could jump out if needed. One man would drive, one man would ride shotgun, one man in the back seat and one man standing using the 12 pounder gun on top which was the most dangerous position in the car because the bottom half of your body is in the car and the top half of your body is sticking out of the top of the car using the gun on top.
However, none of the combat in the car seemed that bad to John until one day when a call came in on the radio from Second Squad. The man on the radio was yelling over gunshots and screams. In the radio call he said that they were at the bank just after position Bravo, and that one of his men was wounded. John and his squad jumped into the torn up Humvee and drove off towards Second Squad. John and his men knew that it could be an hour before a rescue team or a helicopter could come. John was on the 12 pounder gun. They sped up to a hundred and ten weaving in and out of traffic. When they got to Second Squad, they found a lot of blood in the street and many enemy soldiers in the area. However, the damage was done: there were three friendly soldiers dead and many wounded. One of the men wounded had been shot in the neck and there were three other soldiers applying pressure to his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.
This setting is important to the plot because if John and his men didn't get there, all the soldiers would have been killed, instead of just some of them. It also teaches John what to do in a bad situation without orders from his commander. It was very brave on John’s part because he could have been discharged for not following orders and putting his men in danger. So far, this is one of my favorite books because it really gives you an idea of its really like for the soldiers in Iraq.

Zane Christenson (9th grade)


A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Dear Book Club;
The book that I have currently just finished reading is titled A Separate Peace by John Knowles. It is a 204 page novel about two seventeen year old boys attending a boarding school in New England, called Devon, around the year 1943 during World War II.
The main setting in this book is Devon, an all boys’ boarding school in New England. Devon is a rather large school, spread out over a large area. The buildings at Devon are not that beautiful from the outside and are mostly made of brick, but once you pass through the colonial doorways, you enter a whole new world where some rooms are made to look French or some from the Italian Renaissance and everywhere, except in the dormitories, the floors and stairs were of shiny slick marble. The mood around Devon was somewhat dull even though everyone was always busy.
This setting affects the characters because it is where they spend all of their time and it is a place that they either come to love or hate. It affects the mood because this is their school, and I think, if it was for example, just a place for sports, the mood would be a lot more lively. This setting affects the plot because the whole story takes place here.
I like this setting because I think it wouldn’t be that bad of a place to have to board because it has almost everything you need, the place that has a slightly similar setting would probably be Hogwarts from Harry Potter.

Muhammad Mehai (9th grade)


The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer
Dear Book Club,
The book I have just finished is titled, The Missing Girl by Norma Fox Mazer. It has 284 pages. The Missing Girl is about five sisters, Beauty, Mim, Faithful, Fancy, and Autumn Herbert, living in Mallory, New York, and the man who watches them. The five Herbert girls, aged, 17, 16, 14, 12, and 11, although sisters, are extremely different.
Beauty the oldest ( who’s actually quite plain), counts the days until she's 18, free to leave New York, while Mim, the second eldest, is soft spoken but harboring a great secret. Fancy is learning disabled, and though everyone loves her, she drives them crazy with her chatter. Autumn, the youngest, feels ignored by her busy family. Because money is limited, 14 year old Faithful ( she changed her name to Stevie), who is emotional and angry most of the time, is chosen to move in with an aunt.
On the day that Stevie leaves, Autumn takes a walk and sees a man raking leaves. He invites her into his house and Autumn follows him. The man locks the door and ties her wrists with a rope, leading her upstairs. Inside the room, there's a canvas army cot and a bucket. A small uncurtained window over looks mountains and trees. There's faded wallpaper with white sailing ships on it, the room smells stale, as if no one has been in there for a hundred years. There’s a cat scratching something outside the door.
This scene affects the characters greatly, since Autumn is held prisoner here. There’s nothing I really dislike about this place, except for the fact that I never want to be held in a room like that! I really enjoyed reading this book, its a great YA psychological thriller. I recommend this book to all.

Amariah Walton (8th grade)


Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
I have read 100 pages of Mysterious Island and attached is my drawing in place of the setting letter.

Preston Towers (8th grade)



The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
Dear Book Club
The book I’m reading is called “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho. The book is about a shepherd boy that goes on a search for a treasure. Along the way he meets people that give him clues about his treasure and he learns from them. He is also on an adventure to find his personal legend, which is something that every person wants to accomplish.
In the story the boy comes to a huge white tent to warn them of a vision he had that they were going to be attacked. When he went in side he saw beautiful carpets and golden lamps each with a lighted candle. There were silver treys of food and eight chieftains sitting on richly embroidered silk cushions. There was the sweet smell of smoke in the air. When the boy saw all of this he was intrigued by the beauty and wealth of the tent. Everything seamed ordinary until he went into the tent. When he was inside the tent it went from things being ordinary to things feeling exotic and exciting. I like this place because it is a beautiful and luxurious place. This place remains me of a castle because its a rich tent with lots of nice things and lots of rich people.

Griffin Lounsbury (9th grade)

Character Letter (Character's Perspective) April 9, 2009

Maggie’s Door by Patricia Reilly Giff

Dear Book Club;
Hi. My name is Nory Ryan. I am the main character in a 154 page novel titled Maggie’s Door, written by Patricia Reilly Giff. It tells the story of how a terrible blight came through Ireland and destroyed all the potato crops that served as our only source of food. We faced starvation, so my granddad, my sister Celia, my father, my brother Patch, my friend Sean Mallon, and I set out to try and find a boat that will take us across the ocean, away from our beloved homeland, where almost everyone is dying from starvation, where people are living on the streets because they had no money to pay the rent so the English destroyed their homes. We went through many hardships, but the one thing that keeps us going is the dream that one day we will reach America and knock on my sister Maggie’s door on Smith Street in Brooklyn.
I am the protagonist in this story and the antagonist is probably hunger. The hunger we face is our enemy. The main setting in this book is old rickety boat that takes us to America called “The Samson.” The rising action begins when everyone has gone ahead to find a boat, and I begin the long road to Ballilee on my own to meet up with my family. The rising action continues when Patch and I meet my grandad at the port and find out that my dad and my sister Celia had gone ahead on a different ship, so my Grandad pulled together what money he had earned while waiting for us at the port and bought us tickets for the ship called Samson. The climax of the story is when right after a big storm rocked our boat grandad became very ill and I tried to heal him with different plants herbs that my old healing teacher gave me but nothing worked and a couple of days later he passed away, and after that I almost gave up hope that we would ever get to Brooklyn. Somehow I pulled myself together and eventually we reached Maggie’s Door on Smith Street, in Brooklyn. And that is my story, Nory Ryan's Story.
I am very satisfied with the ending of this book because it was very convincing and happy. I predict that Nory will marry Sean and they will live in the U.S for generations to come. I enjoyed this book very much and recommend it to all.

Muhammad Mehai (9th grade)

Favorite Section Letters March 26, 2009

The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Dear Book Club,
I just finished reading a ninety page book titled The Pearl, a novel by John Steinbeck. The book takes place in Spain many years ago. Kino is a poor fisherman that lives in a small hut with his wife Juana, and his newborn son Coyotito. Kino lives a changeless life. He Dives and gathers pearls and then sells them to the pearl salesman. Most of the time Kino will be taking advantage of by the white salesman because kino and his tribe are Indians. In till one day when Kinoʼs infant son got stung by a scorpion, he would die if he didn't get medical help right away. However, when Kino and juana took him to the doctor, they got turned away because they didn't have enough money. That day when Kino was diving he found a master oyster, which inside he found a pearl the size of a seagulls egg. After that, life would never be the same for Kino and his tribe.
My favorite section was when Kino goes diving for pearls like heʼs done a thousand times before, but this time is unlike any other time he has ever gone. This time is significantly different because Kino and his wife believe that their sonʼs survival may very well depend on what they find.

Excerpt from The Pearl
Kino had two ropes, one tied to a heavy stone and one tied to a basket. He stripped off his shirt and trousers and laid his hat in the bottom of the canoe. The water was oily smooth. He took his rock in one had and his basket in the other, and he slipped feet first over the side and the rock carried him to the bottom. The bubbles rose behind him until the water cleared and he could see. Above, the surface of the water was an undulating mirror of brightness, and he could see the bottom of the canoe sticking through it. Kino moved cautiously so that the water could not be obscured with mud or sand. He hooked his foot in the loop on the rock and his hands worked quickly, tearing the oysters loose, some singly, others in clusters. He laid them in his basket. In some places the oysters clung to one another so they came freely in lumps. Now Kinoʼs people had sung of everything that happened or had existed...there was a secret little inner song, hardly perceptible but always there, sweet and secret and clinging, almost hiding in the counter melody and this was the Song Of The Pearl That Might Be, for every shell thrown in the basket might contain a pearl. Chance was against it, but luck and the gods might be for it....
Kino in his pride and youth and strength, could remain down over two minutes without strain, so that he worked deliberately, selecting the largest shells. Because they were disturbed, the oyster shells were tightly closed. A little to his right a hammock of rubbly rock stuck up, covered with young oysters not ready to take. Kino moved next to the hammock and then beside it, under a little overhang, he saw a very large oyster laying by itself, not covered with itʼs clinging brothers. The shell was partly open, for the overhang protected this ancient oyster, and in the lip-like muscle Kino saw a ghostly gleam, and then the shell closed down. His heart beat out a heavy rhythm and the melody of the maybe pearl shrilled in his ears. Slowly he forced the oyster loose and held it tightly against his breast. He kicked his foot free from the rock loop, and his body rose to the surface and his black hair gleamed in the sunlight. He reached over the side
of the canoe and laid the oysters in the bottom....Kino opened his short strong knife. He looked speculatively at the basket. Perhaps it would be better to open the oyster last. He took a small oyster from the basket, cut the muscle, searched the folds of the flesh, and threw it into the water....Now Kino was reluctant to open it. What he had seen, he knew, might be a reflection, a piece of flat shell accidently drifted in or a complete illusion....Kino deftly slipped his knife into the edge of the shell. Through the knife he could feel the muscle tightening hard. He worked the blade lever-wise and the closing muscle parted and the shell fell apart. The lip-like flesh withered up and then subsided. Kino lifted the flesh and there is lay, the great pearl, perfect as the moon. It captured the light and refined it and gave it back in the silver incandescence. It was as large as a seagullʼs egg. It was the greatest pearl in the world.

This section is significant to the plot because it contains the pivotal transition from Kinoʼs old life to his new life. Before he finds the pearl, he is poor and lacks material objects yet he lives a rich life spiritually. After he finds the pearl, he and the town become greedy and the true dark side of the book comes out. Throughout the book, there is a theme of dishonesty that leads to Kino always being scammed out of what is rightfully his. Surprisingly, despite his “rags to riches” evolution, this aspect remains unchanged through the story, making it almost appear to be a tragic flaw. This was a Great book and I recommend it to all.

Zane Christenson (9th grade)

Character Letter (Character's Perspective) March 19, 2009

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Dear Book Club,
Hi, my name is Clarisse McClellan, and I am a character from the book “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury. This is a science fiction novel where a futuristic world does not allow individual thinking, reading, or developing real relationships with other people or nature. My purpose in this book is to cause Mr. Montag to question life as he knows it, specifically his job as a fireman, where he is paid to burn down houses if books are discovered inside of them. I was one of the reasons why Mr. Montag read stolen books and eventually ran away from the government and gained knowledge useful for the society to come, one where censorship no longer ruled.
I am a 17 year old girl with a round face and blonde hair. I am very inquisitive and want to know why you’re making that expression, what your opinion about communism is and what you dreamt about last night. I am also kind of observant. I just noticed that more than 67 % of the boys are wearing jeans. Why is that? Wait, no, that is my other characteristic- I notice everything around me!
As you can see, I am always questioning and looking deeper into things. When I met Montag, he actually got annoyed with me because I wouldn’t let him speak, let alone process one out of the 20 questions I gave him at a time. Many times he’s laughed at my questions but I could tell that he was thinking about them as he walked home and I would have asked him about it the next day if I hadn’t gone on to three more subjects by then.
One of the things I enjoy everyday is my walk through the park. I study everything; I watch the ants’ daily habits, pick dandelions and smell the rain. I love to simply observe anything I can find. Montag was so amazed when I read his face and could tell that he really wasn’t happy with his life even though he denied it at first. I guess it’s another thing that makes me different from most people.
It is my questioning that triggers Montag’s ability to think, which is the heart of the plot. If I hadn’t secretly counseled him he probably would go on with his assumed lifestyle and might even try to kill himself, like many in our society. My observation does not affect the plot but without it I might not be enlightened enough to trigger Montag’s thoughts and his own questioning which is the basis of the whole story where he threatens the status quo.
I think that everyone should be as inquisitive as me, although no one would have time for the answers, but it is still a good quality to have. Observance is a fantastic feature and is greatly balanced with questioning. My inquisitive nature is critical to the plot and along with my observation, are very defining in my personality. Perhaps I have even gotten your curiosity up and you will read this book, which has become a classic. I hope so.

Cheers,
Clarisse (Cody)

Book Review for Shelfari, March 12, 2009

Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz
Dear Book Club,
I have finished reading Ark Angel, a 326 paged fictional adventure novel, by Anthony Horowitz, which I found to be a very interesting and fulfilling book to read. It is really just a well-written fictional novel that’s simply entertaining and thrilling to read, with a young main character to relate to.
A Quick summary of the book: Alex Rider is in a hospital, recovering from a bullet wound. He ends up being replaced in a hostage situation, in which terrorists meant to kidnap a billionaire’s son and hold a ransom in order to make him stop his operation in funding the world’s first space hotel. The story eventually comes down to a full blown action read in which Alex, a teen operative for a branch of the government, has to stop the terrorist and keep himself undercover with Paul, the billionaires son and the rest of the family in order to report to his company.
This book was a different read for me, because I usually enjoy reading complete fantasy novels, with magic and unicorns, and other books that make me think and question. But this book is shallow, not meaning it a bad thing, but I found it to be a quick little story that is very entertaining.
My favorite part of the story was when Alex Rider, after being discovered is being attacked by Nikolai’s henchmen and escapes on a kite and flies 2 miles to the closest island where he has backup and later ends up saving the space hotel from an Implanted bomb.
As for themes there wasn’t any cliché sort of themes that I noticed, such as, “love will overcome all!” although it’s possibly a the author wanted to include the actual environmental deterioration that’s happening in the world into his book, so what I found to be the most concrete message the author wanted to communicate, which is a theme, is that we need to do more to keep the environment cleaner and take care of it more than we are.
All-in-all, this book is a very well liked novel that keeps the reader hooked, It is quite descriptive most of the time and really makes the reader feel excited for what’s to come and questioning for what has happened. I read the entire thing within a few hours. I would definitely recommend this book because it’s a, “can’t put it down” book, and its an easy read. The story is full of plot twists which adds to its excitement even more. Overall, Nine out of Ten.

Amritesh Brady (8th grade)


Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Dear Book Club,
“Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury, is a book in which Guy Montag, a man in the future, journeys from the life of a fireman whose job is to burns illegal scriptures (a.k.a. any book) to a life of questioning why these books are so dangerous. In his futuristic world, he steals one of the books he was supposed to burn and becomes an outlaw as he reads more.
Censorship is an abundant theme throughout the story, especially as Montag is being watched at all times and can’t do anything out of the ordinary. From the very start, Bradbury brings in the idea that the future may not actually be perfect; creating a strong theme most importantly to the time it was published in the early 1950’s.
It is in the beginning of the book that I found my favorite section, where the author describes what the illegal books really are. He mentions classics and I realized that any knowledge of the past was outlawed. I recognized a few of the books he mentioned stealing like “Don Quixote”, “Alice in Wonderland” and Shakespeare and it put the novel into context for me. I enjoyed reading this section because it was where I realized what the imagined world was like and I was able to guess what the plot was about.
Bradbury’s writing style is not exactly to my liking because he only states events like a military reporter rather than describing the setting and characters. He develops the characters to a degree through the things that they do but that is not one the author’s strong points. He shows that he has a great imagination and he develops the plot very well. These qualities almost balance each other out but his plot makes him a good writer.
In summary, “Fahrenheit 451” is a great classic with a fantastic plot but not his best writing style. There are a couple of interesting themes and a few good turning points in the novel and this combined with the excellent plot make “Fahrenheit 451” a book I would recommend to all.

Cheers,
Cody Leeds (8th grade)

Setting Letters Wednesday, March 5, 2009

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Dear Book Club,
This week I have read 120 pages of John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row. The book is set in a realistically fictional version of how Cannery Row in Monterey, California looked in the late 1930’s. Cannery Row is the story of how Mack and the boys want to throw a party for Doc because Doc would always help anybody who needed a helping hand. The main characters of the story are Doc, Mack and a motley collection of misfits known as “the boys”. Doc is a, charismatic and knowledgeable marine biologist who owns Western Biological, his home and business, where you can purchase any living creature for study and get it sooner or later. Mack and the boys are a different story however; they are a group of somewhat trustworthy and friendly scoundrels, who are always scamming to get something for free.
One of my favorite settings in Cannery Row is Lee Chong’s Grocery. Lee Chong’s Grocery is a cross between a 7-Eleven and a Ninety-Nine Cent store. It smells of an odd combination of fish, unlit tobacco and mothballs. Within a relatively small space, you can buy clothing, food (fresh and canned), fishing equipment and a lot, lot more. I imagine that when you walk through the door of Lee Chong’s Grocery you will see the owner Lee Chong standing behind his counter (from where he never leaves) with his abacus to the right of him, his cash register to the left and his rubber mat in the middle. Behind him rests a giant shelving unit, stocked full of various alcoholic beverages. The wall across from the door is lined with multiple produce bins filled with assorted fruits and vegetables perfectly stacked. Well-worn wooden shelving stuffed with bountiful merchandise occupies the middle of the store. Small skiffs, shovels, nets, fishing gear, car parts and other outdoor supplies are stacked against the wall opposite of the produce. The back of the store is home to many perishable items including, fish, beef, eggs, milk, bacon and bait which are kept in two ice boxes. At any given time you may find a few of Lee Chong’s relatives roaming throughout the store, restocking selves and helping you if you have any questions.
Lee Chong’s grocery store affects the characters because it is where everybody goes to buy their food, supplies and booze. The exception is the booze that Mack and the boys get from Eddie, who works as a replacement bartender at Ida’s Bar. He pours the customer’s unfinished drinks into a gallon jug that he keeps under the table. This setting is important to the plot because, it is owned by Lee Chong. Lee Chong is an important secondary character to the story for many reasons including owning the truck that Mack and the boys use to collect the frogs to pay for Doc’s party. Lee Chong makes a deal with the boys to allow them to borrow the truck if they can fix it. They manage to get the truck running but the transmission was on its last legs except for reverse, which was in excellent condition. Because of the condition of the transmission whenever they came to one of Monterey’s many hills, they would have to put it in reverse and go up backwards. I absolutely love Lee Chong’s Grocery because it is a place of necessity with a lot of sass, unlike the sterile stores of Santa Barbara. Lee Chong’s grocery reminds of the Keg N Bottle Market in Isla Vista because of its eclectic collection of merchandise. John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row is an off-the-beaten-path gem and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Preston Towers

Book Review for Shelfari, February 26, 2009

The Pearl by John Steinbeck
Dear Book Club,
The Pearl is a 102-paged novella of a Mexican folk tale by John Steinbeck, and is a classic among books nowadays due to its timeless themes and morals and the vivid writing of Steinbeck. The Pearl is about Kino, a poor diver, finding “The Pearl of the World,” a pearl the size of the space an index and thumb pressed together create. The pearl Kino found was flawless, big and obviously worth a lot, sparking greed in the hearts of who ever set eyes on it. The pearl itself had no special aspects to it, other than its size, but the effects it had on people were very special, driving them to break into Kino’s hut and harm him and his family, break his prized canoe, and eventually burn his house down, out of greed, envy and anger.

The Pearl was a simple story, although it had powerful morals, themes and aspects about it. For example, Kino and his wife, Juana, hear subtle songs with the mood and feelings of their surroundings. “The Song of the Family came now from behind Kino. And the rhythm of the family song was the grinding stone where Juana worked the corn for the morning cakes.” Kino and supposedly all his people can hear music to all that they do, maybe if it’s something familiar and enjoyable, such as waiting for your wife to finish making breakfast, you will hear a sweet melody, described as the song of the family. “Perhaps he alone did this and perhaps all of his people did it. His people had once been great makers of songs so that everything they saw or though did or heard became a song.” From this, and other parts of this story I concluded that those who are native to the land they live in, and who’s lives are simpler, are more connected in what they do, feel, hear and see. As Kino’s senses are so keen to wake in the middle of the night to catch a thief only by the sound of scratching, I am positive the European doctor could do no such thing.

In The Pearl, Steinbeck uses perfect analogies, metaphors and other figurative writing to keep the reader interested, making the novella that much better. For example, instead of simply saying, lots of people are coming out of their houses to see, Steinbeck used, “The houses belched people; the doorways spewed children.” He also used other brilliant metaphors, “all of the neighbors hoped that sudden wealth would not make a rich man of him, would not graft onto him the evil limbs of greed and hatred and coldness.” For me, when I look back on this novella, one of the things I will remember most is the figurative language used in it.

Overall, this book is very satisfying to read, and its story is touching in the way that its very simple, yet has very deep meanings behind it, one of which is to not be overcome by greed, such as the way Kino did, and Juana didn’t. Greed ruined their previously content lives, and possibly the lives of others. This novella is worthy of the title of “classic,” because its morals and writing is timeless.

Amritesh Brady (8th grade)

Character Letter (Character's Perspective) February 19, 2009

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Dear Book Club,
Hi, my name is Rosaleen and I am a character in The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, a story about how a black woman ended up running away with a 14 year old white girl named Lily Owens. I am that woman. The novel takes place in the 60’s, a time when racism storms through the South. Lily’s cruel and hateful father has just told her that she was responsible for her mother’s death eight years prior. The mystery of this nightmare and her longing for a mother is how we find ourselves fugitives on a beekeeper’s farm in Tiburon, South Carolina. Lily is so good at making up stories that it is easy for her to convince our African American hostesses that we are “just on our way to see relatives”.

Lily is thin and tall for her age with curly hair that stands up in 11 different directions. She has pale skin with beads of sweat resting on her forehead; she works like a devil in the Southern heat. Lily has guts. She is not afraid to take a risk and if she were to gamble, she would gamble everything she owned. Maybe that’s because of her hopeful side. She is always looking at the sunny side of the street. Even when the odds of her succeeding are one in a million, she still believes that she will be the lucky one.

You may think that running away was risky but that was nothing compared to what Lily did for me last month. I was put in jail for spitting on a white man’s shoes. He deserved it, and you would have done the same. Anyhow, she basically broke me out of jail, saying that I would die if I did not run away too. You can’t believe what she did. I was in the hospital because they had beaten me so badly and there was a police officer on watch. Lily walked over to the white’s hospital and used the phone there, pretending to be the wife of the sheriff and said that they needed to send the police officer to the station right away. As soon as he left, we high tailed it out of there and started to walk out of town. I am alive today because of Lily’s risky behavior.

Now as far as Lily being hopeful, you have to understand that the only thing that took us to Tiburon in the first place was a honey label with a Black Mary on it which was in her mother’s box of treasures. It did have the name Tiburon on the back, but that was all it said. Lily was hoping to find information about her mother from that small clue. It wasn’t much but amazingly her mother had been there and Lily got to know her from the three sisters we stayed with. One day Lily even tried to believe that her father might have become a better person and had changed enough to want to love her. Lily snuck into a store and used their phone. No matter how hopeful she was that phone call turned out to be a disaster, with T. Ray screaming at her and making threats. Her hope has gotten us in trouble but it still got us to the farm where we felt closer to Lily’s mother. Life was real good there in fact.

Risk and hope define my friend Lily. Without that I wouldn’t have anything to tell. She saved my life and found a place for us where we might have a chance at happiness. Although she scares me to death at times with her taking chances, there is nothing not to like about Lily. Her hopefulness even scares me because I am afraid she will be disappointed many times in her life. All in all these are great and useful qualities for Lily and for the two main themes in this book. Like I said, without both of these there would be nothing to tell and I might not even be here to tell it.

Rosaleen

Cheers,
Cody Leeds (8th grade)

Setting Letters (Character's Perpsetive) January 22, 2009

Just Listen by Sara Dessen
Dear Book Club,
I have currently finished reading “Just Listen” by Sarah Dessen. It is 371 pages long and is about a 17 year old girl named Annabel. On the outside her life seems pretty good. She has a loving family, lives in a beautiful home, and is a successful teen model. But her junior year of high school is looking to be the worst year of her life. Her mother has been depressed since the death of her grandmother. Her sisters are not getting along and one of them has a dangerous eating disorder. Annabel wants to quit modeling, but is worried about telling her mother. And she has lost all her friends because of something that happened at the beginning of the summer party that she is unable to tell anyone about, even her family. The only person who talks to her is the one person she would have never imagined being friends with, Owen. He seems to be a loner with anger management issues and a strange taste in music. But there’s one thing he knows all about- how to be honest. Annabel and Owen become good friends and he may be the only person who could help her be honest about what really happened during the party that changed everything.
My name is Annabel and one setting from “Just Listen” is when I’m having dinner with my family. My older sister Kirsten had just come home for a visit from New York and we were all celebrating. I could feel the change in the air. My sister, Whitney had been recovering from her eating disorder and I could tell she was getting better. She was even cooking now. I could smell the saltiness of the stir fry she had made for dinner. My sisters were actually talking and getting along and this made feel very grateful and happy. I grabbed a bowl of the stir fry and it tasted even better than it smelled. Whitney was getting better and better at cooking. I loved our family dinner because we all got along but about a year ago everything had changed. My mom had become depressed and my sisters hardly ever spoke. But now I could tell that things were returning to normal.
In conclusion, I loved this book. It was a positive book and I would definitely recommend it for girls.

Jourdan Tappeiner (10th grade)


Austenland by Shannon Hale
Dear Book Club,
I have currently just finished reading “Austenland” by Shannon Hale it was about 200 pages long. “Austenland” is about a lady named Jane who is obsessed with Pride and Prejudice. When her wealthy aunt dies she leaves her a free trip to Austenland a resort where you relive the book. Jane is very excited about the trip. Once she gets there she soon finds out it is much harder to live in that time period then she had thought. She reads the rules of the resort and decides not to follow them. She ends up falling in love with the gardener instead of the gentle men they had picked out for her. Or so she thought. Through out the book she makes many mistakes that almost get her thrown out of the camp. She finds true love even though it takes her a while recognize it.
The setting I am going to describe to you is when the three couples decide to go on a walk with there assigned partners. I was walking with Mr. Nobley enjoying the beautiful gardens listening to the birds singing and hearing that wonderful sound my shoes and dress made when I walked on the yellow crunchy gravel. When all of a sudden Martin the gardener who I happened to really like was standing waving at me. I felt Mr. Nobleys arm tighten up and I knew there was trouble. Mr. Nobley had already told me not to talk to Martin. And of course I did not listen. My heart started to pound and I thought it was going to pop out of my chest, the other to couples were now a ways ahead of us. Martin was now running towards us and I could see Mr. Nobley's lips turn into one straight line I have learned that when this happens he is very angry. I tried to give Martin a mean look so he would go away but it did not work. It made him run faster. I could almost taste the worry I was feeling. I decided to just ignore him play dumb. I tried my best to lead Mr. Nobley on the trail and as we walked a way I could feel his arm loosen up but I could also feel Martin’s eyes on me I felt like they were going to burn a hole in my head. Well I hope he doesn’t think I don’t like him I guess I will find out after dinner…This setting affects Jane because she really likes Martin but has to ignore him because she could get kicked out of the resort. It affects the feeling and the mood because she does not know if Mr. Nobley will figure out how she knows Martin. I like the place where this takes place because it sounds very pretty and reminds me of one of the gardens at the Getty villa museum.
In conclusion, I have enjoyed this book very much, and am very happy with the ending. Through out the book Jane has many fun adventures and finds true love with the last person you would suspect. I would recommend this book to girls who have read Pride and Prejudice or if you have seen the movie.

Kori Gibson (10th grade)


Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke
Dear Book Club,
Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke is a 680 page book where I, Mo, and my family are transported through a book to a fantasized world ruled by evil and lavish kings. Suddenly I become one of the imagined heroes in the book and I do things I would never think of doing and I have to deal with heroic and dangerous situations.
Halfway through the novel I show my illegal face; you see I am considered a criminal by the government in this other world of the book because I perform illegal acts of kindness. At this point, turning myself into the authorities would free the children from slavery in the village, which resembled that from the Middle Ages. I rode my horse through the woods into the center of the rectangular plaza in front of the Castle of Night. I made sure to close my mouth, for the air tasted like smoke, and dust covered my tongue. The crowd gasped when they saw me and I heard them calling out for their children. Happiness was abundant, with hugs, smiles and laughter and screams of joy, but there was a deep and silent fear for me, their Robin Hood. When I showed myself in this setting, I created the beginning of the climax of the story, proving it to be crucial. I would have been captured by the worst villain and been executed immediately in any other location, whereas in the main plaza I was kept long enough to find my freedom. For the reader there is no happiness when I turn myself in at the plaza and this scene creates an immense amount of fear for my life, I am certain.
I would feel uncomfortable being a townsperson in the plaza but it wouldn’t be that bad. When I did show myself I felt extremely scared and was wondering why I got myself into this situation. A similar setting would be a strange event at a medieval village’s plaza where the village’s limited wealth was being badly traded.
The dangerous plaza scene was the start of the real plot and ended the long subplots written by Funke. This important setting is not very common but it probably has happened before. I enjoyed being exilerated by this section when I read about myself and appreciate it every time.

Sincerely,
Mo

Cheers,
Cody Leeds (8th grade)

Plot Letters (Character's Perspective) January 15 2009

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
Dear Book Club,
I have currently finished reading “Pretty Little Liars” by Sara Shepard. It is the first book in the series of five and is 286 pages long. It is about five best friends, Allison, Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily. One night at a sleepover Allison goes missing. She disappears and no one hears from her again. Over the next three years things definitely change. The remaining four best friends don’t even speak to each other anymore. Arias family moved away to Iceland and has just returned back to Rosewood. Hannah has one best friend, Mona, and together they try everything they can to stay popular. Emily is a bit of a tomboy and is on the swimming team, but she isn’t sure who she really is. And Spencer is an overachiever, who is sick of living in her older sister’s shadow. Soon all of the four girls begin to get mysterious text messages from someone named A, and somehow this A person knows all of their deepest, darkest secrets.

My name is Spencer and I am one of the protagonists in “Pretty Little Liars”. I have long blonde hair and dark blue eyes. The antagonist is A. I am not sure who this person is, but they seem to know everything about my life. If I don’t do what A asks she could destroy everything I have worked so hard to achieve. I live in Rosewood, Pennsylvania. It is a perfect little town, or so it seems. The rising action was after Allison went missing and Aria, Hanna, Emily, and I began to get mysterious text messages a couple years later. The climax is when the new neighbors who live in Allison’s old house, find her body buried in the backyard. The police realized that she was murdered so they decided to reopen her case. The resolution is when Aria, Emily, Hannah, and I attend Allison’s funeral together. At her funeral we all started to talk to each other again and for a little while it seemed like old times when we all used to be friends.
In conclusion, I am somewhat satisfied with the ending of the book. I would have liked to find out who murdered Allison or who A was. I enjoyed this book and would mostly recommend it for girls who like mystery books.

Jourdan Tappeiner


The Odyssey by Homer translated by Fagles
Dear Book Club,
I am Odysseus. I have endured many hardships on my long journey home. I will tell you my story so that after I am dead my story will live on. I was held captive on the nymph Calypso’s island for seven years. They say her beauty is unmatched by any other woman, but my heart longed for my precious wife Penelope. If not for the messenger god, Hermes I would have been forced to live there for eternity. I built a sturdy raft and was given food and drink by Calypso. I sailed for seventeen days with no trouble, but on the eighteenth day, Poseidon, god of earthquakes, destroyed my raft and almost destroyed me. If it was not for Ino, an immortal being who was once mortal, I would have perished. She gave me a magic scarf of immortality to protect me from all dangers. Once I reached the dryness of a land I did not know, I threw the scarf back into the depths of the ocean, following Ino’s instructions. My exhaustion overwhelmed me but I was somehow able to make my way into the woods where I found a fine litter of dead leaves, enough to cover two, even three men. I surrendered myself to the soothing blanket of sleep. I was awakened by the laughter of the maids of princess Nausicaa. She gave me food and drink along with fine clothing and oil to rub myself with after I bathed in the cool river. She told me to come with her to town not caring what the Phaeacians might think of us coming in together. At the great palace of the Phaeacians, I through myself at the mercy of King Alcinous and Queen Arete, they did not ask of my name, but fed me and gave me a place of rest. When the great blind bard Demodocus sang of the Trojan War, I could not control my emotions. When I burst into tears the great king asked why, I told him it was I who Demodocus was singing about, I am Odysseus. They begged me to tell my story of great adventure. I told them of the raid on Ismaros, the Lotus-Eaters, the human eating Cyclops, Aeolus, the master of the winds, the cannibal Laestrygones, Circe, the witch-godess, going into House of Death, sailing past the many-headed monster Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis, my crew eating the sacred cattle of the sun god Helios and landing at Calypso’s island where she kept me for seven years and how I had only now escaped. Having listened with rapt attention to my story, the Phaeacians, who were skilled mariners, agreed to sail me back home to Ithaca. They delivered me at night to a secret harbor on Ithaca. The godess Athena, who had been helping me throughout my journey home, disguised me as a withered old beggar so that I might gather information on the condition of my land. I made my way to my loyal swineherd Eumaeus where we told stories of our hardships all night long. The next day my son arrived at Eumaeus’ home. When Eumaeus left, Athena lifted my disguise, so I could meet my son face-to-face and tell him of my plan for killing the suitors that have been devouring my food and harassing my wife for over 10 years. Accompanied by Eumaeus, I returned to my own home, still disguised as a beggar and planned how to kill the suitors. Later that same day I met with my loving wife Penelope, who did not know me for I was still disguised. She told how she planned to deal with suitors and how faithful she had been to Odysseus for the last 20 years. She said was going to hold an archery competition. Whoever could string my bow and shoot an arrow through twelve axe rings in the great hall could have her hand in marriage. The next day every suitor tried his best but all failed to string the bow. Still appearing as a beggar, I strung the bow and shot the arrow threw each and every ring. Telemachus went off to fetch helmets, spears, swords and shields for himself, the swineherd, the cowherd and myself. The four of us, with the help of the goddess Athena, killed every suitor that had plagued our halls like locust. The dozen or so housemaids, that had been as guilty as the suitors, were hung. I killed the goatherd Melanthius, who had mocked and abused me when I was disguised as a beggar. After the gruesome battle I sent word to Penelope that Odysseus has arrived home. When she saw me, her heart melted and she flung herself into my arms. I finally had the reunion with Penelope I had longed for, for twenty years. The next day I went out to my fathers’ great house where he tended his plants. I told him that I was his loving son Odysseus, but he did not believe me. I showed him the scar of the wound I took from the boar’s white tusk on Mount Parnassus. He threw his arms around me and I was reunited with my father. We headed home to a great meal, but all was not well; the people of Ithaca were enraged with me (specifically the fathers of the suitors), for killing all of the suitors. Just as we were about to engage in battle, Athena intervened and stopped both sides in their tracks. A time of peace was put over the land. I now live out my days in Ithaca until I rest in peace for the last time. I am Odysseus and this is my story.

Preston Towers


Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Dear Book Club,
“Approximately 100 years ago, I, Phileas Fogg made and won a bet that I could go around the globe in 80 days with my valet and protagonist Passpartout. My wife Aouda accompanied us on the trip through jungles, on boats and even in hot air balloons. There were several antagonists during the journey including: a group of Hindu Brahmans; a bobby; and most of all, time which kept on going at our great displeasure.
The rising action began when our train’s track was only half built which caused us to miss our boat and find our own means of travel. It continued when Passpartout decided to look at a temple and before entering forgot to take off his shoes. The natives got very upset and drove him out. It turned out that it was illegal to disobey the Indian customs and we were both put in jail until I bailed us out with a good sum of money.
The climax of our adventure was when we had been traveling for 81 days and I arrived at the gentlemen’s club, ashamed that I had lost the wager. At that point I was informed that we had gained a day when we crossed the international date line and I won the money and married Aouda.

Sincerely,
Phileas Fogg”

I am very satisfied with the resolution of Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne. It made me give up hope about the wager and then surprised me when I read about the dateline and that he actually won the bet and the money.
It is doubtful that Philleas Fogg will return to his usual routinely boring ways and more likely that he will want to travel for the rest of his life. It is certain that Aouda will change his life a lot and the travels will have made an impact as well. In any case he will change. I enjoyed this classic novel and recommend it to all who are interested in travel and foreign countries.

Cheers,
Cody


East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Dear Book Club
I have currently finished reading “East of Eden”. It was written by John Steinbeck and was 691 pages long. “East of Eden” Starts of by introducing much different family’s including The Hamilton family the Trask family, and the Ames family. You learn about them get to know them and see there struggles and achievements. Towards the middle of the book they all connect and meet each other. Each of there life’s connect and interfere with all of there life’s. In this book you learn a lot of history with different wars and it helps you better understand what the people in that time period had to go through.
In “East of Eden” The main characters change through out the book. In the beginning the main characters are Samuel Hamilton who is the father of the huge Hamilton family and is defiantly a protagonist. I am always trying to give the best advice to my family, friends, and neighbors. Another main character is Cyrus Trask the father of the Trask family I am an antagonist and at first seem like a pretty good guy until I force one of my sons Adam to go into the army and then tell him I only love him. I don’t really like the other son that much. Adam Trask Cyrus’s son is a protagonist. I get into a marriage where my wife try’s to shoot me and run away. I have not made some great decisions. My wife Cathy Trask is an antagonist and has never really made good choices in her life she is very good at lieing and coming up with evil and dangerous plans to get her self higher in the world. Charles Trask Adam’s brother is a antagonist and a protagonist he kind of switches through out the story for I sometimes have anger management and hurt people but then I make very wise decisions in money because I have a hard time spending it. Lee a servant who works for Adam is a protagonist. And without me in the story I don’t think Adam would have ever survived, I feel like his mother and father put together. Caleb and Aaron sons of Adam are twins and are both protagonists. We change the family cycle and try to do good in the world. In East of Eden the rising action is when Cyrus Trask dies and leaves Adam and Charles with a lot of money that they think was stolen. Then when they find Cathy at there door step beaten and dieing they take her in and help her get well. Once she gets well Adam decides to get married and move to California with her. Charles gets mad and Adam and Charles never speak to each other ever again. Then Cathy gets pregnant with twins and once they are born she runs away and when Adam try’s to go after her she shoots him in the shoulder. The climax is when the boys find out how bad there mother was and that she really wasn’t dead she had her own business just out side of Salinas in King City. The resolution is when Caleb talks to her and shows her Aaron. She is so caught off guard she kills her self and Aaron joins the army because he is upset. Caleb helps his father so he can recover from all the shock and they start over and Caleb decides to change the Trask family name.
In conclusion, I am very satisfied with this book and am glad that Caleb has made peace with his father and is going to change the meaning of the family name Trask. I encourage every one to read this and hope that you enjoy it as much as I have.

Kori Gibson

Character Letter (Character's Perspective) January 8, 2009

East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Dear Book Club,
I am currently reading “East of Eden” it is written by John Steinbeck and is 691 pages long. I am currently on page 377. “East of Eden” starts off introducing you to the Hamilton family who does not have that much money and yet they are very satisfied with there nine kids and small dusty ranch located in the Salinas valley just outside of King City. After you learn some about the Hamilton family you meet the Trask family. You learn that Mrs. Trask has just had a baby named Adam and her husband Cyrus Trask has just come home from the war with one leg. After he came home for some reason she felt that she needed to make a sacrifice to her god and she was found dead in a pond two weeks later. Mr. Cyrus Trask finds a new wife and has another son Charles. Adam and Charles grow up and when Mr. Trask decides to send Adam to war Charles gets jealous and beets his brother up even though he loves his brother very dearly he has a very bad temper. Next you meet Cathy a very odd little girl she is considered very beautiful and has her own way of always getting what she wants. Her parents are very over protective of her and are too blind to see that there daughter is a monster deep inside. She starts to get into to trouble and just as she gets her parents trust back they mysteriously die in a fire while she is gone. And she decides to get in a very risky business that gets her into a lot of trouble. Towards the end of the book the main characters connect in many different and interesting ways.

The main character I am going to describe in “East of Eden” is Samuel Hamilton the father of the large Hamilton family. My name is Samuel Hamilton. I am an Irish man I have a beard that is turning white and it is starting to grizzle up. I am a fairly big man and my cheeks are mostly pink and rosy from being out in the sun so much. My hands are always stained with black from the forge. And people tell me my eyes are light blue. I have many wrinkles around my mouth and eyes from laughing so much and I have never won an argument with my wife Liza. My nine children have told me I am very wise for I once told a man “It’s hard to split a man down the middle and always to reach for the same half.” I feel that sometimes if I really try I am able to look deep inside a person and see the real person that they are. I remember eating dinner one night at my friend’s house and looking into his wife’s eyes “her eyes had no message, no communication of any kind.” For that’s when I knew my friend was in trouble.
In conclusion, Samuel Hamilton is a very important part of the story for if he wasn’t wise he would not be of much help to his friend and if he couldn’t see deep inside of a person he would not have been able to prepare him self for the damage that is going to come. I like Samuel because he really takes the time to know and learn about someone. One thing I dislike about Samuel is that he seems to never have the courage to stand up to his wife. I have enjoyed this book very much so far and am excited to see what will happen next.

Kori Gibson (10th grade)


The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Dear Book Club,
I have currently finished reading “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” by Mitch Albom. It is 196 pages long and is about an 83 year old man who is living a lonely life working as the maintenance man at the ruby pier. He has worked at the pier for most of his life. On the day of his 83rd birthday a tragic accident happens. One of the carts on the free fall ride had come loose. Just as another worker was about to release the cart, Eddie noticed a little girl standing at the bottom of the ride. Once the cart was released it was going to kill the little girl. Eddie dove for her, pushing her out of the way. Just as he did, the cart fell on him and ended up killing him. What happens next he would have never expected. He is back at the ruby pier, only it looks just like it did when it first built. There he meets a man, who teaches him a lesson about his life. The man tells Eddie that he will meet four more people after him. He meets each person, and learns how closely intertwined his life was with theirs both knowingly and unknowingly and in turn learns something more about himself. Through their stories, he finds the meaning of his own existence.
My name is Eddie and I am one of the main characters in “The Five People You Meet in Heaven”. I am 83 years old and I have short white hair, thick forearms, and a faded army tattoo on my right shoulder. My left knee was wounded in the war, so now I use a can to get around. I keep a cigarette behind my left ear and wear an old linen cap, along with my brown uniform. I feel like one of my main characteristics is being brave. When I was at war I was captured by the enemy along with a few of my other fellow soldier friends. We were there for about five months. At the end of the fifth month, I decided we had to escape if we wanted to survive. So I pretended to entertain the enemy by juggling a few rocks. Once we knew they were distracted, we chucked the rocks at their heads, killing them. We then were able to escape. I believe I am also tough. When I was a little boy my dad used to come drunk and beat us with a belt. I took the pain for most of my younger years until I came back from the war. One night my dad was yelling and tried to hit me. I stopped him before he was able to hit me and instead I hit him. That was the last time he ever tried anything like that again.
In conclusion, I admire Eddie’s character traits. Without them the books plot would have turned out differently. If he wasn’t brave, he probably would have ended up dying as a captured soldier instead of a free man. I also admire that he risked his long, fulfilled life to save the life of a young girl who has not yet experienced the world like Eddie has. Overall I enjoyed this book and encourage others to read it.

Jourdan Tappeiner (10th grade)


Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne
Dear Book Club,
“Hello, my name if Phileas Fogg. You probably already know that I am a gentleman from the Victorian period and I live in London. I am quite famous for a wager which I placed with other gentlemen from the Reform Club in town where I stated that I could make a journey completely around the world in 80 days. It is lucky for me that I am independently wealthy and can take time to do such adventures and could put up the 20,000 pounds. For the most part I am a predictable and highly routine person though during the trip I did abandon my routines to accomplish my dream. I was a man of distinction in my dress, keeping my beard trimmed to perfection and as well as my clothing.Before leaving I had let go of my former valet because he brought my shaving cream at 84 degrees rather than the desirable 86 degrees and hired a frenchmen named Passepartout who ended up being my assistant on the world trip. Passpartout helped me through the struggles of traveling through Asia, America, and Europe.
It is said that I can be risky at times and I guess that is fairly accurate seeing as though a bet of that quantity of money is always dangerous. Additionally, it was risky behavior when I think back to a time in Calcutta when Passpartout and I saw a woman being prepared for suttee which is the Hindu practice of human sacrifice where a widow gets burned alive with her dead husband so they may go to the afterworld together. I had to make a complicated and devious plan to rescue her from her death. We traded the dead man’s body for Passpartout’s and he pretended like the husband rose up, grabbed her and ran away. At that point she left India with us, thus becoming part of our group.
One of my strengths which helped accomplish the wager is my self confidence. Just making the wager I guess would show a self confidence but it was this trait that made me win. Many times we missed our original train or boat connection and Passpartout would get very worried that we would fail. He would pace and get irritable, whereas I stayed calm and mentioned that it was part of my plan. I always knew the world does not always follow a scheduled itinerary. This strength helped me save Aouda, for without it we would not have tried to fool the Brahmans.”

As the reader of this book by Jules Verne, I have only gotten through the first section but both the qualities, self confidence and risk taking are integral to the plot of the story. Without these, it would be impossible for the story to proceed. Since I am not very far into the book I don’t know fully how I feel about this character but so far I do not like the way that Phileas Fogg needs everything to be so precise because it is unnecessary and can limit joy. I also do not like his riskyness although it was useful to him. His self confidence may or may not be something I admire depending on his quantity.

Cheers,
Cody Leeds (8th grade)

Favorite Section Letters December 11, 2008

Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Book Club
I have currently finished reading Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer. It is the third book in the series and is 629 pages long. It is about an 18 year old girl named Bella Swan who is in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen. As Bella’s high school graduation is approaching she hears about a string of mysterious killings in Seattle. Edwards family, The Cullen’s soon realize that these murders were not committed by humans but by newborn vampires. Bella has to worry about Victoria the hateful vampire who is desperate to avenge her boyfriend’s death, and she soon starts to wonder if Victoria is involved with the murders in Seattle. She once again finds herself in the middle of danger. On top of everything else that she is dealing with, she has to decide if she truly wants to become a vampire and leave her human life behind forever. She also knows that her decision could destroy the peace between the vampires and werewolves.
My favorite scene is on pg.460 when Bella finally agrees to marry Edward. Even though she is worried about what her mother and father will think about her getting married at such a young age, she agrees to it because she knows that it will make Edward happy. Another reason why is because if she agrees to marry Edward than he will turn her into a vampire himself. This scene is important because without it Bella and Edward would never get what they both want. I like this scene because even though Edward knows that he will be with Bella forever once she is an immortal, he still wants to do everything right the human way by getting married to her first. It also proves how much they love each other.

Jourdan Tappenier



Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
Dear Book Club
I have currently just read “Uglies” written by Scott Westerfeld It was 425 pages long and is a teen fiction novel. This book is about a 15 year old girl named Tally Youngblood. She is just about to turn 16 and can’t wait to join her best friend Paris in pretty vile. You see Tally lives in the future and in the future once you turn 16 you get a surgery which makes you” pretty” once you get to this point in your life all you have to worry about is having fun. Just when she thought her dreams were going to come true she finds that her new friend Shay has run away and now the people that run the city are threatening to postpone or cancel her surgery for good. If she does not help them find her. Now she has to make a choice between her friend and being pretty. Is becoming “pretty” really that important?
My favorite section in this book is when Tally finds out what being a “pretty” really means. On page 263. Her whole world crashes everything she has been brought up to believe has been a lie! And then to top it off after she has only believed that she was an ugly and every one she has ever known has seen her as an ugly someone tells her she is pretty. She has no idea how to react she thinks that they are joking. But then she realizes it is the out side that makes you pretty it your personality your emotions your experiences and choices that makes you pretty or ugly not the way you look on the outside.
Overall I loved this book very much and it is now one of my favorite books. I liked this section a lot because she finally figures out the lie she has been living under her whole life and she is finally able to look at people different. I didn’t dislike anything about this section. I would recommend this book to all who love science fiction and things out of the ordinary.

Kori Gibson


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Dear Book Club,
I am reading a book called "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. This book is about three litlle kids named Jean, who is the main character, Jem and Dill. The book is mostly about rascism and a black man named Boo Radley. Jem, Jean and Dill are always trying to make Boo come out from his house, but it never works. Jean and Jem start to think that Boo Radley is not real so they ask Atticus, their dad, if he is real and Atticus says he is real.
My favorite part in the book is when they find a dog that is old and dying and it is walking down their street so Atticus tries to shoot it with their neighbor's gun. He misses and the dog continues down the street and out of sight.
I don't really have a least favorite part in this book, I enjoyed reading it and recommend it.

Brandon White