The Perks of Being a Wallflower

            The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, is a coming of age novel, written in the form of many letters by the teenager ‘Charlie’ (his alias), in the early 1990’s. Charlie is the ‘wallflower’ in the book. For those that don’t know, a wallflower is a shy and unpopular person who doesn't socialize with others very well.

            The story begins as Charlie is entering his freshman year in high school without any friends. His only friend Michael had committed suicide several months before. Charlie began writing letters to an anonymous stranger, which is what the book is. He doesn't feel like his parents or relatives understand him, and the only relative he had trusted was his aunt Helen, who was killed in a car crash on his seventh birthday.

The rest is just a summary with spoilers. It’s optional to read this.

            Charlie becomes friends with two other students at his school, Sam and her stepbrother Patrick. Charlie develops a crush on Sam, but he feels he has no chance with her. His two friends begin taking him to parties with some of their friends, on many adventures through Pittsburgh, and even some drug use. There was one party where Charlie had taken LSD and was found unconscious in the snow by the police.

            Even though he still likes Sam, he begins dating Mary Elizabeth, another girl in the friend group. They go on a few dates and to a school dance. At one party, everyone is playing Truth or Dare, and Charlie is dared to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. He kisses Sam, which results in Mary Elizabeth breaking up with him. Sam also begins dating Craig, who Charlie doesn't like, because he thinks that Craig doesn't really care about Sam. Sam later breaks up with Craig after she learns that he has been cheating on her with multiple other women.

            Charlie begins writing about Patrick and Brad’s relationship, the later is the school quarterback who is secretly gay. One day, Brad’s father finds the two kissing in Brad’s basement. He then beats Brad in front of Patrick. About a week later, Brad goes back to school and begins a fight with Patrick, which climaxes with both groups of friends beating each other up in the cafeteria. Charlie comes into the fight to help Patrick, seriously injuring some of Brad’s friends, ending the fight.

            After learning a frightening family secret about his aunt Helen, Charlie has a mental breakdown and is rushed to the hospital. However, his final letters give a feeling of hope, and that he will be able to move on from the past and focus on the future.

The summary is over.

            I loved this book so much; it really brought me to tears in the end. I should warn you though, there is some adult content in the book, so I don’t recommend reading it if you don’t find that suitable. It is a very challenged book, which is specifically why I decided to read it. It also reminded me greatly of The Catcher in the Rye, which I haven’t read all the way through, but I still know pretty much the gist of it. I also could greatly relate to Charlie, because in the seventh grade and about first half of eighth grade, I was a huge introvert. But I have learned not to dwell on things from the past, because it distracts me from the now (I've been watching a lot of Disney lately). It’s incredible how much this book has affected me, this is seriously one of those life changing books. One thing that greatly surprised me was that MTV had published the book, a channel whose current viewer demographics find Beavis and Butthead to be far too inquisitive and intellectual for them, which is why they canceled the reboot in less than a year. Anyway, without one second of hesitation I give this book an A+, and I highly recommend considering reading it. You won’t regret it in the slightest.

Goose Girl

    The book I read was The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. This book is Fiction and takes place in medieval times. It teaches about to fight for the right to be yourself. The main character, Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Islee (Ani) is a princess and lives in a kingdom named Kildenree.

     As a child, Ani is taught about the 3 languages that some people speak. They are the gift of people-speaking, the gift of animal-speaking, and the gift of nature-speaking. These gifts, as it would be today, are thought of as unnatural and as a curse and not a gift. Ani is taught the gift of animal speaking as a child by her aunt. When her mother, the queen, discovers her gift, Ani is forbidden to ever go outside as to not talk to the animals. She lives a life of seclusion and of a longing to become the person her mother wants her to be. Ani waits until her day to become queen. However, a month after her father's death and her sixteenth birthday, she discovers she is to be betrothed to the first born prince of another kingdom half a year's journey away. Ani is shocked and realizes all her hard work to become queen was useless.

     Ani sets out on her journey to the kingdom where her betrothed awaits called Bayern. Along the way, Ani's lady in waiting, Selia, overthrows Ani and seeks to become queen of Bayern instead. Half of Ani's guard side's with Selia and Ani is forced to flee and find her own way to Bayern before Selia is betrothed instead of her. She finds her way to the city and spends her time trying to find a way to the king and convince him that she is the princess and not Selia. She finds work as a goose girl. The goose girl is the girl who tends the geese with the goose boy. Because of this opportunity, she is able to go on a wonderful journey and gain a new perspective.

     I loved this book. It was really great  and very entertaining. The book has many themes that express the author's opinion. First, is to always fight for what you believe. Ani's perspective changes during the book, so what she fights for is different as well. However, she never gave up and always fought. Also, the book tells you to discover who you truly are. Don't let others decide what you're fate will be. Work for what you think is best for you. Ani is told she is destined to be a lowly goose girl but she never gives up and becomes a queen. I agree with what the author believes. I agree with everything she says and I believe she has a great outlook on life.

     In a nutshell, this book was incredible. I give it a definite A. It brings up many great themes. I suggest that everyone read it.
   

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye is told by, and is about, a teenager in his junior year of high school at Pencey Prep. Throughout the story he is just telling you of his adventures around New York City. Now, one might begin to ponder at the fact that he is a junior in high school, and is wondering around New York City. Well, it is because although the main character, Holden Caulfield, is in a family of intellectual thinkers (his brother is a writer who lives in Hollywood), Holden is a rather lazy scholar, resulting in the fact that he was expelled. Holden does not want his parents to find out that he was expelled, so he waits until the Christmas break on the Wednesday of the next week to go home and visit family. At that time, when he arrived home he planned to either inform his parents of the tragic news, or run away and work somewhere else, visiting when able. He has a few days to spend in New York before Christmas break and he tells us of his crazy adventures, including the fun places he goes and the interesting people he meets and talks to.

This book perfectly outlines the basic thoughts and actions that the average teenager feels and experiences when alone, or when the chance comes up to make a decision. The writing is in a style that a teenager would most likely be speaking in, as a young adult in the 50’s- including using the same phrases over and over again, using slang and swearing to get his point across no matter what the case is and no matter who he is talking to. On multiple occasions, to get his point across, Holden mentions the fact that he is stupid. However, I do not think he is dumb. It is just that he does not care. Other than the fact that he doesn’t care, He seems to be quite smart and caring. For instance, he has this daydream of a bunch of children playing in a rye field, and it happens to be on the edge of a cliff, and he is to be the sole guardian of the children if they fall of the cliff, to catch them if they fall. To be the “Catcher in the Rye.” He thinks himself to be the sole protector of children, or to protect their innocence. When in an elementary school visiting, he sees graffiti which reads “f*** you”, and he is infuriated with it, wiping it off with his sleeve, knowing that if a child saw it they would be uncomfortable. He appreciates when a child like his sister, who is expected to be at a lower level of language, understands what he is saying. Throughout the book, Holden mentions how many people he thinks are good for nothing d*** phonies. This might be a result of the fact that very smart people constantly surround him, and his own brother is a genius writer in Hollywood. Being used to being around these kind of people, he seems to build up a high expectation about the entire society, looking down on them unless they are as good as his smart friends, or his smart brother. Leading him to opinions that are quite dreary and dull, showing that he is sort of a depressed person. In fact, when he gets home, he has a mental break down and gets sick, resulting in a stay in a mental help hospital to regain his well-being.

I give it an A! This book is a quite interesting read to say the least. If you get past the constant use of the same phrases, and constant swearing, it is a read that you wont forget. It has many things that really put your teenage thoughts into consideration. It also shows what a life for your first time without parents in a social environment can be very different indeed. I highly encourage someone to read this; it is an experience that will leave you pondering life for days. If you leave this suggestion behind you, and decide not to take the short time to read this book and gain new knowledge, then Holden Caulfield thinks that you are a big phony.

Unwind

    What do you do with an unwanted pregnancy? Depending on your moral views, you would abort it. But what if that wasn't possible? What if abortion was illegal? What if the alternative was so shocking, so ghastly, so completely illogical and insane, yet it was totally ordinary and accepted in American society? Granted, most people wouldn't view it as that, because it was just so common. It's called unwinding. Unwinding is where between the ages of thirteen and eighteen, an unwanted child can retroactively be aborted by the parents. It is done so by practically dismembering the child, which all of their body parts are then given to those who need them (excluding the 'useless' body parts such as the appendix). However, since all of the parts are still alive, just with somebody else, the child is not technically 'dead', but in a 'divided state'. This shocking book tells what happens when the unthinkable is the norm, and when three teenagers scheduled to be unwound rebel.
    Connor is a sixteen year old who inadvertently discovered his unwind document in his parents' files. His parents view him as an out of control delinquent. Risa is a ward of the state, a very talented pianist, and is being unwound due to budget cuts. Lev is a tithe to his religion, being raised from birth to believe that his unwinding is a service to God. These three will accidentally cross paths (Lev under the impression that he is being kidnapped by the first two, and is probably the only one in the world that wants to be unwound) and the journey they take will forever change society as a whole.

    I absolutely loved this book, I have never been so intrigued by an idea which is absolutely mental, but everyday practice. During the first about five pages, I hated the characters of this book (I'm like that with every book). After that however, I started to gradually like him, and the others. What's interesting about the point of view in this particular novel, is every chapter, you follow another character around, it's still  told in third person, but you gain insight onto what the other characters think and feel. I actually felt terrible for Roland during his unwinding (It goes quite into detail on the process), who was one of the central antagonists of the book. It's actually pretty chilling to think about how this would actually be possible within the next couple of decades, if people were to get so uptight over a very dumb issue. For the record, I think abortion is okay up until around six weeks after conception. I do not however, condone it. Other than that, I think it's wrong to get one unless the mother's life or the baby's life were in danger. But I also believe that if you want one, get one. It's your life, not mine. I shouldn't have control over your choices. I give this book an A+ by far, it totally deserves it.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Delirium by Lauren Oliver is a dystopian novel full of mystery, danger, and a lot of romance. However, the romance in this novel may not be what you had in mind. In Delirium, a new disease called amor deliria nervosa, or in other words, love has spread throughout America, and is dangerous to everyone who hasn't gotten the cure.

As soon as the age of 18, all citizens are cured of the deliria and are assigned a life to live and a partner to be with. A life without love, they say, is a life without pain. What could go wrong?

Lena Holloway is a timid, unrebelious teen living in the city of Portland. She's just like any other teenage girl, counting down the days until her procedure will cure her of the deliria running through her veins. Lena's mother had gone through the procedure 3 times, and had never been cured. Lena knew she was different, even from a young age, but it was a shock to Lena and her whole family when her mother commited suicide. Ever since, Lena has been living with her aunt and cousins and has gone by the name, Lena Tiddle. She has always been worried that her family history of amor deliria nervosa would show up in her. But with just 95 days left until her procedure, she discovers her fear may be a reality. She falls in love.

Lena becomes obsessed with a Alex, a young boy who is not only off limits, but is an invalid. An orphan, who has been living in the wilds, away from society. Lena is scared, and thrilled. She is confused. Has everything she has been told wrong? She and Alex keep their love a secret from all but Lena's best friend, Hana. They establish a secret meeting place, experience new thrills, and even visit Alex's secret home. But when they are caught together, Lena is tied to her own bed, with little hope for her future with Alex.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver is an amazing book, that raises many questions. It makes you think what a life without love might be like. Would it be worth in a catatonic like state, just to avoid the pain and heartbreak of love? Should we be scared of love, or celebrate it? Dilerium is a dramatic, romantic, and symbolic novel that won't let you down. I give it an A+, and reccomend it to everyone!

To Kill a Mockingbird By: Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird wouldn't be the book of my choice for entertainment. I didn't quite understand the meaning of the book until more than half way through. I often found myself re-reading or thinking about what a paragraph was meaning. It definitely was a challenging book for me to read. I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, but a little more once I understood the meaning!

Jean Louise Finch (Scout) lives with her father Atticus, Jem, and their cook, Calpurnia, in a time divided by race. Scout doesn't really take interest in this world issue but she does take interest in Dill, Jem, Atticus, Boo Radley, and school. She also wonders a lot about her town, Maycomb and the people who live there. When Dill comes to visit every summer, Jem, Scout, and Dill try to make the mysterious Boo Radly come out. After trying a few times and litterally getting scared out of their pants, they finally stop and move on to their other interests. You read about Scout's life and all the people in it. In school Scout can't get over kids calling her father a "nigger- lover". Atticus is a lawyer and is defending an African American accused of taking advantage of a women. Will Boo radly come out? Reading the book will tell you this and the interesting case of the innocence or guilt of Tom Robinson.

At first I didn't know what this book was telling me. All it is is about a girl living in the 1960s. No conflict or plot. It wasn't until a certain chapter that I noticed that this book is about acceptance. It's showing that we all need to be accepting and understanding of everyone and anyone. Living in a time divided by race is difficult. Do we want to repeat it? In the book it explains that killing a mockingbird is a sin. All the birds do is sing for us. I thought about this and I think it means to not kill or decide so instantly that anything is so bad just by the way they or it looks or acts. You need to get to know what they're like. What do you think it means?

I really liked the characters in this book, especially Scout and Atticus. Atticus was very smart and humble. He was understanding and thought about things before he actually judged or said anything. Scout was very brave and stood up for what she believed in. In a way I think we are all like Scout. Learning and trying to figure out who we are and what this world means.

I understand why To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic, but I don't get why it took so long for the book to show its point. I'll give it a 4 out of 5 for that reason.

The Giver

The Giver, written by Lois Lowry, is about the importance of agency. This book takes place in Jonas' community, somewhere in the far future. Here, everything was PERFECT. The people rarely made decisions on their own. Living on a strict set of guidelines and rules, the people here had no awareness of sunshine, rain, snow, music, animals, agency, nor memories. Jonas and the other children had no say in the outcome of their future, for it was chosen by the towns committee.

As jobs were assigned to the twelve year old children, Jonas was singled out to be The Receiver, and get special training from The Giver. The Giver holds all memories from past centuries, including ours. It was now Jonas' turn to learn of all pleasant and unpleasant memories our world holds.

As his training started, he began to learn about the world of our days. He received memories of snow, sunburns, colors, and love. When the innocent life of a baby, named Gabriel, lies in Jonas' hands, he is faced with a difficult decision. Would he leave the only community he's known in hopes their is freedom Elsewhere? Or would he stay in a perfect community where his fate has been decided. What's more important?

I loved the giver! It was easy to get into the book, and I enjoyed reading it. Lois Lowry is an AMAZING author and everything about his writing I loved! Something I thought could have been changed was the speed of the book. I feel like the first 120 pages is just giving you background knowledge, and the last 60 is where it actually begins. The story-line is sad, and it makes you realize how lucky we are to have complete agency.

In this book, death and punishments are regular. There is only one scene that goes into detail about the death of a newborn baby. The child isn't a main part of the book, but you still feel for the infant to be killed. If you're not comfortable reading about deaths, take caution while reading this book!

I feel like the theme of the book is that hardships will come with agency, but it is well worth it. In their land, they have absolutely no freedom, and they don't benefit from it. This book makes me realize how lucky we are to have the agency, not only in this time, but in the country we live in. It shows how important making your own decisions are when Jonas is willing to give up his life with small faith that it might work out in the end. :) A

Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

Travis Morrison is a champion diver and swimmer, as well as one of the most popular kids in his school. His future is bright with a college scholarship from diving. Darla, his girlfriend, is one of the hottest girls in school and his best friend Cooper is always there for him, but no one could do much when cancer hits you. In this Fiction book, we follow Travis as he deals with this.

When fooling around in the summer at a lake, Travis decides to dive from a tall cliff that is at least 100 feet tall. As he hobbles up the cliff, he feels a deep pain in his right thigh. At the time he doesn't know that he has a tumor there. When Travis jumps, he breaks the bone in his leg which later has to be amputated. No one is sure how to react, in particular Travis, who seems to withdraw,especially from his parents who seem to
truly not understand what has happened.

At first, there are just minor difficulties and his recovery is bright. As the cancer
spreads though, Travis sees how bad the cancer life is, where you have to stay
hooked to a machine, and doesn't want it for himself. Travis decides that he does
not want to be hooked up to life support, and would much rather die than be
"hooked with false hope." Travis tells Cooper this, and that if it did happen, he
would want Cooper himself to kill him if no one else does.

This book was the most depressing book I have ever read, and I cried for 6 hours
straight after reading this. For at least two weeks I was talking about it with all my
friends. I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes drama; this book, I
promise you, will make you cry. It makes me so grateful for the health I have. In
the media today, it has been stressed about so much that people hate it; suicide.
You might just think it's another one of those books that is adding to it. Honestly, it
has a lot about suicide, sure, but I have to say, would you want to be hooked to a
machine, with no hope? Feeling pain, and agony everyday just because you didn't
have the choice? Well, I don't think it's fair.

The only criticism I have for this book is probably the alternating person

views. See, they don't exactly introduce you, so the first few

"chapters"/ names (there are no chapters, just the alternating names of

who you are following at the moment) are very confusing. This book's

lexile is also probably low because of the book size. Honestly though, this

is a tough book for only 165 pages.

Over all though, this was one of my favorite books, because it teaches you a ton of
life lessons about living life while you can.

Grade: A-

Rating: PG-13 (because of real life experiences,

and a scene with Darla and Travis which isn't too bad.)