Of Dreams and Death

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, is a book about the life of two men trying to survive during the Great Depression. These two characters names are Lennie and George. George is the smartest of the group; and Lennie, though very big and strong, has a mental handicap, that makes him less bright than other people. His lower IQ makes him do bad things impulsively.

 The book begins with George and Lennie laying in the brush, and George telling Lennie that if he ever gets into trouble, he should hide in this place. In the original town Lennie and George lived in, Lennie accidentally touches a girls dress, and when she screams he gets scared and grabs on. The girl then told authorities she was raped and as a result George and Lennie have to leave town or be lynched. When they get to their new town and job, the boss is expecting them. Because they arrive late, the work day was over and they were allowed to meet the other farmhands. They meet Candy, a man who lost his hand on the farm; Slim, the main worker; and Curley and his wife, who are the farm owner’s son and daughter-in-law. Work was hard on the farm, but George and Lennie kept their hopes alive. They dream of someday buying a little piece of land they could farm together. One night when Lennie was playing with some puppies in the barn, Curley’s wife comes in and starts taunting him. Lenny gets scared and accidentally snaps her neck killing her. He goes to hide in the brush, where George tells him to go to should he get into trouble. Even though Lennie does not mean to kill her, he has to pay a price. If Lennie wasn’t killed on sight, he would have to go to jail and/or be executed. Although George talked about how his life would be better without Lennie, he still loves him like a brother and does not want to see him suffer. So George finds Lennie hiding in their special location and kills him painlessly. Thus Lennie does not have to go through jail and execution.

Two themes stood out in the book. One of which being the power of dreams. Dreams are what make all the characters in the book strive to get a better life. I think peoples’ dreams give them hope. Even if they don’t achieve all their dreams, they can still hope to find happiness. Another theme in the book is loneliness. Every character in the book, other than George and Lenny, were lonely. Even though George complained about Lennie, he cared about him. The other characters seemed to wish they had a relationship like George and Lennie’s. An example is Curley and his wife; they didn’t love each other, but they both longed for love. I thought this theme was relevant because in middle school, many people are lonely just like in the book. They feel like they don’t have anyone who cares about them, or friends to watch their back.

I thought this book was one of the best books I have ever read. The twist at the end completely baffled me. But I would like to warn people, this book is extremely sad, so think carefully about how the book will affect you. I still recommend this classic to anyone, no matter what genre they like. A+!

Either/Or by Soren Kierkegaard

Either/Or is a highly influential book which contrasts the two different types of people, "Type A" which is the aesthetic personality, (desire, passion, etc) and "Type B" which is the more ethical personality (law and order) This book answers the question for me "How should I live my life? what should my primary opinions be on things? Understanding or knowledgeable?" Person A, who particularly sticks out to me, is one who always dwells in the past, wishing for his present to get better, and is therefore most often bored and is constantly searching for something to satisfy his hunger for entertainment. (I hate to toot my own horn here but my book review is sounding pretty good!) The second half of existence is a rather ethical person, someone who believes that a structural form of life is better than an uncertain, unhappy one. (I think my last book report was for April, and this one is for May. Just a little FYI Mrs. Jensen.) I think that maybe every person goes through different phases throughout his/her life, however maybe, as it is boldly proclaimed in this book, It is more of an Either/Or situation, in which half the people are aesthetic and the other half are more ethical. Though it sound somewhat ridiculous, I think that being an aesthetic person is a great way to live, so long as you are always affixed on the present and the future, rather than the past. If aesthetic people would be more optimistic, rather than sad and hopeful, they may to prove to be happier than ethical people claim to be. But what do I know, I'm only 14.

City of Lost Souls by: Cassandra Clare is the fifth book in the Mortal Instruments series. *SPOILERS* It takes place three weeks after the previous book. Jace has mysteriously disappeared along with Clary’s brother Sebastian. The Clave is furious and believes that Jace is now in cahoots with Sebastian and are planning to take them down. After being confronted by the Seelie queen, Clary now knows that she must do everything in her power to find out her brother’s plan and stop him before the world of the Shadowhunters is destroyed.

            I personally have loved this entire series, but I felt like this book was a waste. Although it had some great plot twists and cliffhangers, it was like the entire book was just Clary dealing with her feelings of the “new” Jace. In my opinion there were too many heated make-out and sex scenes. It just got in the way of the story. Cassandra could have done so much better.

            This book really didn’t have much to say. Normally this series is meant to teach you more about the angels and demons of old and infeasible love but instead it was entirely about being a teenager.

            The only topic that this book really brings up is that love my not be real. The person that you love may not be the person you think you know. If you are truly in love, you’ll know when that person is no longer themselves and if you try hard enough it will always turn out right in the end.

            All in all, this wasn’t that great of a book but it did leave off with a massive cliffhanger and I can’t wait for the sixth book to come out. Between the forbidden love, Angelic powers, and amazing characters you just can’t stop reading. I will be waiting impatiently for the next book, City of Heavenly Fire.

Shin's Escape

Shin’s Escape

By Will McFarland

Blaine Hardin’s Escape from Camp 14 follows Shin, a young Korean boy who escapes from a brutal North Korean prison camp. Shin was the first North Korean to be born in Camp 14 to successfully escape. Shins parents were among the few prisoners allowed to marry and have a child, but the pressure to survive caused them to neglect him. Since the day he was born Shin was forced to live like an animal. In the camp it is survival of the fittest all they are taught to do is to obey, work and focus on living through each day. In the camps the guards have control over everything any prisoner receives: the amount of food, number of beatings, etc. and the prisoners are treated like slaves, forced to eat minimal amounts of food and preform back breaking work without pay.  At the age of ten Shins mother and Brother plot to escape, Shin finds out and tells a guard but the guard takes the credit, and Shin must watch his mother and brother be murdered before his eyes.

Later Shin gets a job fixing sewing machines. It looks like he will spend his remaining days in the sewing machine shop until a new well-educated prisoner is sent to work with him. Shin is ordered to spy on the new prisoner but they started talking and became great friends, this man is what inspired Shin and made his escape possible. They planned to escape on the night of the New Year. They were supposed to be cutting trees and planned to jump through the fence and escape. There were two problems with this plan: one was that the camp ran so many volts of electricity through its fences, that it would kill a man instantly; and two, there were guards patrolling the fence with automatic weapons in spaced intervals. But they put their plan into action anyway. As they were running up to the fence Shin slipped so his friend jumped through first and was electrocuted. Shin ran up soon after and used the body to clear the fence. Without that man, he would have surely died.

 After his escape, he traveled through China to South Korea, and then to the United States of America, where he lives today. For the first few years Shin had a hard time fitting in. He had to find a job and started working with local human rights groups and today he gives speeches on human rights and his time in the camp to raise awareness about these horrible things.

This was one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone, no matter what genre of book they like. This book has encouraged countless people to join the fight to stop these horrible things from taking place in North Korea, and it is an amazing read. A+

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.

The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx

Though this book is only about 40 pages long, I found it to be as difficult to read as it is historically significant. (So please don't dock me for its length!) The book its self was written by Karl Marx mainly, but was co-written by Fredrick Engels. Throughout the book, Marx describes his thought of what would be a near-perfect government, or lack thereof. He talks about past and current forms of governments, and how they've failed or triumphed, but usually how they've failed. He writes a lot about the  bourgeoisie, which is a big, complicated word used to describe the upper-class of a capitalist society, and how communism would create an almost perfect world - where everyone is equal and there are no higher powers. As I read the book, I couldn't help but feel like his ideas of a perfect world were impossible, because in order for there to be true communism, there would have to be no physical disabilities amongst people, no crime, no social classes, and no racism, unfortunately, all these things will almost always exist in our society; so the idea of communism is really just a dream. Though I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under the age of 18, (because it's really boring and uses words that I had to Google a lot) I think that this is a pretty important book to read, because the more people read it, the more likely our society will eventually become communist, which would actually be a great thing, because as Marx describes in this book, communism would benefit everyone by making everyone equal, and therefore would be no wars, no homeless people, and overall no problems. I personally thought the book was awesome, it taught me a lot about communism, and after reading it, I understood the book Animal Farm a lot more, and it has given me some serious advantages when I get in arguments about whether or not communism is a good thing. So, before you blame everything on communism like a lot of Americans would, read this book to give yourself a decent education of what communism originated from.

Ruby Holler

     Have you ever wanted to be free? Just out in the open, with roaming fields all around you, and a small cottage to suit your needs? Well, in this young-adult, and adventure book, Ruby Holler, Sharon Creech will keep you trapped in that little world from cover, to cover. Creech takes you through the life of Dallas, and Florida Carter. But, many people call them, "The Trouble Twins." You see, these syblings are orphans, and have been for quite some time. They have been tossed and thrown to many families, but sadly, they just can't handle these twins. So, Dallas and Florida just give up hope on being brought into a loving, kind family, and so does everyone else.
     As more and more orphans come and go from the orphanage, "The Trouble Twins" are still there. Until one day when an old couple named Tiller, and Sairy Morey come to adopt them. The relationship between the four characters does not start out so well. But, as the days turn into weeks, and weeks into months, things finally begin to settle down. From mean orphanage hosts, to the vast outdoors, Ruby Holler will stick with you forever. When Dallas and Florida thought that they would never get adopted, they finally find themselves in a home that is more than they could possibly imagine.
     This book is so fun, and interesting from start to finish, I could hardly put it down! At the beginning, this book was a little bit slow, but as I kept reading, I just kept wanting more of it. What Sharon Creech really wnats to tell you through this book is that, even in the darkest of storms, you can always find light.
     Ruby Holler was such a fun book to read! It will keep you captivated inside its pages until you finish the very last page. Sharon Creech has really written such an amazing book that surely gets an A+.
   

Behind the beautiful forever's, An amazing story

 Behind the beautiful forever's is about a poor community in India living in between all of the economic growth. One will start off with a young trash collector named Abdul as his family and him start to become successful in the unforgiving slums of Annawadi. As you get deeper into the book it will take you through many different families and their hardships. One being the life of Sunil, an aspiring trash collector like Abdul. Because he does not have enough money for sufficient food his growth has been stunted which makes him depressed so he tries as hard as he can to get taller. After this you meet a woman with one leg named Fatima who has hated Abdul and his family, ever sense they started getting a little bit successful. So Fatima kills herself and blames her death on Abdul and his family. As they fight the corrupted court system in India more and more people are drawn into the fight. Which hurts many and in the end horrible things happen but they pull through.

I thought this book was extremely informative and enlightening. It made me feel the pain that these poor Indians suffered and made me feel like we can all make a difference. The book really changed the way I think about the world around me. It also made me grateful for what I have. It made me feel everything these Indians were feeling from happiness to discontent this book is one of the greatest books of the century so I would recommend this book to anyone who likes non-fiction books and I give this book an A+

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is by far one of the best books that I have ever read in my entire life. I was slightly skeptical about reading it at first, as I've heard some say that it is a slower paced book, however I have absolutely no regrets after reading it. I highly recommend to anyone and everyone that enjoys classics.

The story begins in the summer of 1922, the start of the roaring twenties, where bootlegging and partying are habitual. Nick Carraway is just moving to the West Egg neighborhood of Long Island, New York from Minnesota. He quickly becomes aware of his neighbor, the rather mysterious Jay Gatsby, and about his grandiloquent parties which he holds every Saturday night at his gigantic Gothic mansion. Unlike most others in West Egg, Nick was educated at Yale and has a few social connections in the much more fashionable East egg. During a visit there, an old college friend and his wife, Tom Buchanan and Daisy Buchanan, introduce him to Jordan Baker, whom he begins dating. He also learns from Jordan that Tom is having an affair behind Daisy's back.

A few months into the summer, Nick receives an invitation to one of Gatsby's parties. Meeting Gatsby will forever change Nick's life in an extraordinary way, and will end another's.

I have honestly never been so engaged in a book. My love for this book is stronger than my hatred of Apple products. I did not know at all what to expect when I first started reading it, I had positively no idea what this book was about. Normally, when I don't know much about a book, I don't read it, because I feel like I might become disappointed. This was about the most fulfilling book I have ever encountered. I am glad that this book also is considered a classic. I definitely give this book an A+

The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster, Kristine Brennan

Are you curious? About disaster? About a human error that ended in the death of hundreds and counting? That is exactly what this book is about, The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster of 1986. It is really a reality check. It is so interesting to hear about how the stupidity of a few people who break the rules can cause a mass plague of sorts. A plague of radiation. I couldn't put it down. Period. It was fascinating. I myself was turned on to this book by the upcoming movie Chernobyl Diaries. The movie doesn't come out until the 25th so I thought to myself, "Hmm I wish I knew more about what happened at Chernobyl." So I made it my mission to find a book that would satisfy my ever growing thirst for that nuclear knowledge. Off to the library I went and I stumbled upon Kristine Brennan's little slice of nonfictional genius.  And yes, it did quench my undying need to know. This book deservingly gets a B+.

It's starts with April 26, 1986. We are thrown into the small town of Pripyat in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant as Reactor 4 blows its top. We are riding with the first response team as they arrive and die. Kristine also goes on to explain how fission, the splitting of atoms, works. We go on to learn what the health effects of the Chernobyl disaster were and how generations are still being affected today.

This book made me really think about how dangerous nuclear power is. With that big of a risk is it really worth it? I mean look what happened at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and what almost happened at Three Mile Island! And that was in Pennsylvania. The closest nuclear power plant to Utah is in Arizona, Palo Verde 1. If something like Chernobyl were to happen there we would die. So I ask you is Nuclear Power really worth it?

Palo Verde is the closest Nuclear Power Plant to us.
It's only about 700 miles away. Not far at all.

Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen

This is the tale of two opposites. Elizabeth Bennet(or Lizzy) and Mr.Darcey(*sigh*). The...woman to put it simply, and the wealthy man. These two people meet when Darcey and his friend Mr.Bingley purchase Netherfield Park, a large estate near the Bennet's house. Mr.Bingley is also a wealthy man and he is so kind and has such appealing manners that every one comes to like him very much. Especially Lizzy's sister Jane.

Bingley hosts a dance at Netherfield and that is where Lizzy and Darcey meet. But people don't always have good first impressions of each other. Darcey appears to be proud, rude and self involved. After that night Elizabeth wants nothing to do with him, but fate has other plans for these two people. And they will both learn that love is much harder then hatred.


This is my favorite book of all time. The story is inviting, the characters have so much depth it's like you can feel them and the writing! Only a fool would not love Jane Austen's writing. I've read this book three times this year alone. I've seen all the movie versions(the best is the BBC version aka the one in the picture), I'm a bit obsessive about it true but that's only because of how powerful her words are. They give me comfort like an old "blanky" or a favorite toy. Real love is dying day by day. You only see it in books and sometimes in the places your familiar with. Their love is real. No vampire/werewolf feuds. No poems about just the color of her eyes. That stuff is fake. Real love has conflict, problems in the early stages but you know, you know, they'll break through it because they love each other.This book is my security blanket. My secret world of British accents everywhere and fully clothed men jumping into ponds:). It changed me.


Okay, so you may think that this book is only for the romantics and classic literature lovers of the world. Wrong! This book is also for people who have crazy and hilarious mothers, embarrassing siblings, the shy guys, the bold and hot headed feminists of the world(keep it up) and so many others. This book can relate to everyone. Lizzy also has sisters that think they can sing but they can't, ones who are silly beyond belief and a mother who special is to talk about people...loudly...while they're still in the room. There is in fact a shy guy in this book. Talking isn't easy for him especially to the girl he loves.
This book relates to us so much it's not even possible to list all the ways how it does.
In conclusion, this book is a worth while read. Who knows maybe you'll love it like I do. If you hate it...we have a problem. I recommend this book to all of you.