Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Summer Reading


Over the summer, you were asked to read at least two novels of your choice. 
1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the book's content.
*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and answer the above.

61 comments:

  1. I read The Invaders by John Flanagan and this is the second book in the Brotherband Chronicle series. I also read the required book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I enjoyed both of the novels but I would have to say that The Invaders was much more appealing to me. I loved in Lord of the Flies the difference in the way Jack and Ralph led the kids stranded on the island. It showed what way, in my opinion is right and which way might not be.

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  2. I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and Catherine Called Birdy by Karen Cushman.
    I loved the sci-fi world created by Orson Scott Card in Ender's Game and his appeal to strategic thinkers. I learned quite a lot about zero-gravity thinking and strategy while reading this book. I think the theme that mattered most to me in this book was something along the lines of: let kids be kids- because sometimes saddling them with adult matters early on in life can lead to depression and perhaps even insanity.
    I loved the humor in Catherine Called Birdy. I learned a lot about life for women in that era and about the different Saints revered by Catherine's family. I loved watching Catherine find herself, even if that ultimately led to her getting married. I loved her spirit, and, along the lines of this semester's question, has this book been written around the time of women's suffrage, I think it would be very inspiring.

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  3. Over the Summer, I read the book Uglies by Scott Westerfeld and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I enjoyed the book Uglies because it showcased, in a more dramatic way, how society today can instill this "idea" of how everyone is supposed to look, act and feel. I was impressed with the main character and her bravery for being able to break free of the nutshell that people tried to put her in. On the other end of the scale, was Lord of the Flies, where the young boys had complete freedom to show who they really were. I personally identified with Ralph in his ideas of how the camp should be run and that rescue was their number one priority. I was surprised by the ending, by relieved for Ralph and the other boys. Overall, both of the books had very important messages that I enjoyed.

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  4. Over the summer, I read The Queen: A Life in Brief by Robert Lacey and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
    I adored reading a biography about a person who was never truly meant to ever be on the throne, yet has exceeded the time served of any monarch in British history! The book really dug into the details of Her Majesty’s life through many sources and let the reader travel into the reaction of her people through articles from local newspapers. I learned so many facts about Queen Elizabeth II. First of all, as a child she couldn’t pronounce her own name and therefore declared herself as “Lilibet.” While Green Park was still growing, young Elizabeth lived across the street of the park while her Grandfather lived in Buckingham Palace. Every morning, the two would wave to one another through the developing trees. Also, the Queen covered up for Diana by making her appear innocent. Diana was rumored to have thrown herself down the stairs while pregnant with William and the Queen made sure that her actions did not appear in the press. The book’s content is important to me because I visited England this year and upon visiting places like Green Park, I was able to marvel at the scenery but also the history behind the views.
    I liked the fact that William Golding did not answer the obvious questions and let the reader’s imaginations put the puzzle together on their own. I enjoyed how the book was very symbolic. The boys’ ‘war’ related to society and sometimes how friends can morph into foes. The conch symbolized true power. Without it, the island went to shambles. From the book, I learned that in order to survive, you must keep a regular schedule and every person must contribute. Whether each person was a hunter, shelter-builder, or even guard of the fire, every person on the island had a job. Ralph was very strict about keeping the smoke alive and high in the air. When the ship passed, it resembled how without their pattern of a signal their hope for rescue slimmed. The book’s content shows me that society can turn into a war if one lets it become so and makes me determined not to let it get that far.

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  5. Over the summer I read the book Fenway Fever by John H. Ritter. I chose this book because it has to do with baseball. I am a huge sports fan even though baseball isn't my favorite. I also read Lord of the Flies, the required book for this class. I liked Fenway Fever a lot more because I thought it had a better plot and it was more interesting. I thought Lord of the Flies was rather odd and confusing. Although, I probably learned more from Lord of the Flies as I thought the novel was very symbolic and it had a great life lesson. I thought the life lesson was to not give up or something that has to do with kids surviving on their own. I learned that you need to be organized to survive, and you need to be calm.

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  6. The two novels of my choice that I read over the summer were The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown and Spiral by Roderick Gordon. I liked both books but I found Spiral less entertaining because of its very strange plot and that it ended poorly in conclusion to a series. The Da Vinci code was entertaining because of the action, mystery, and betrayal that kept the reader engaged. Though most of the historical information was fictional, it was very interesting and had a good story-line.

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  8. I read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
    I loved The Secret Life of Bees because the story line was intriguing and meaningful. The author made everything that you were reading sound true and heartfelt without being too sappy. I learned that people around you can hurt you but also make you whole and well again, you just need to decide who your going to choose to be around. The main character got away from her bad life and exchanged it for a better and more happy one and that is very inspiring for everybody who needs to feel hope and loved again. The Lord of the Flies was lively and made me think about life without grown-ups. I learned that when mankind is taken back to its roots, the good and bad and the imagination grow wild and seem to grow and blend together. All of the boys on the island went along with whatever Ralph or Jack said and did not think about how good an idea actually was or how crazy it seemed. It showed me that leaders can misjudge and followers would never question the system.

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  9. Over the summer we were required to read two books. I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and GOLIATH by Scott Westerfield. Lord of the Flies is a story of a group of young boys that are stranded on an island and eventully go crazy. It was not one of my favorite books. I liked the idea of the book but a couple things seemed just a little to dim. For example none of the boys were injured after the plane crash. It was little unrealistic things like that that bothered me. On the other hand I loved GOLIATH. It is an alternete history book about WWI. The two waring factions are rival technologies. One uses fabricated animals for everything, and the other walking machines. I loved how Scott Westerfield created his own version of what happened in history. All in all, I disliked Lord of the Flies and loved reading GOLIATH.

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  10. This summer I read a book called Lord of the Flies by William Golding. This is a very different book in many ways than others books. The first thing I liked about this book is that it took me through a joourney of the human mind. I learned from this book that in the middle of everyones body the is a savage buried deep in there. I learned how much someone can change when they are stuck on an island with random other people. Some rise up to the occasion and are leaders and some are the rovolters that refuse to listen to the leader. I learned frrom this book what not to do when trapped onan island.
    My second book I read this summer is called The Guinea pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs. This book taught me the lesson to live life to the fullest. This is a great book about a guy who is a writer and he goes through these wild test so he can expierience them and than write about it. This guy will truly do anything that sound interesting to him. This was a great book and I recommened this to everyone.

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  11. In accordance to a summer reading assignment, I read four books. Two of which were "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding and "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown. "Lord of the Flies" tells a haunting tale of a group of English schoolboys stranded on an island with no adult supervision. At first the boys are thrilled to be freed from structure, but as time goes on power struggles develop and chaos erupts. William Golding sends a frighteningly powerful message through this seemingly simple story. I really enjoyed the symbolism in this book. I made connections and his message really got me thinking. "Lord of the Flies" is kind of like a big metaphor for society. And what it shows about society, is utterly disturbing.
    The "Da Vinci Code" is a fictional mystery that takes the reader on a twisting journey, cleverly interconnecting and embedding clues through the plot. When foreigner Robert Langdon finds himself the suspected murderer of a famous curator, the night goes from weird to weirder. Just as the taunting secret lingers before his finger tips, the author makes a turn and surprises the reader. And as Langdon cracks the difficult trail of codes the curator left behind, he discovers more about the importance of trust and secrecy. I loved the turning points that speckled this story. I stayed on the edge of my seat throughout entire book. Not everything is as it seems, and the "Da Vinci Code" taught me to look deeper. I found the religious content intriguing and after reading the book I briefly researched religion.
    Both books left lasting impressions and arose some serious questions for me. Any deep thinker would adore both books!

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  12. Over the summer I read two books Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins and The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. I really enjoyed both of these books. Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games series. It takes place in a futuristic society that has been destroyed. The remaining people are divided into thirteen districts and are ruled harshly by an elite government. This book taught me to be grateful even when times are tough because there is always someone out there that has it worse than you do. I liked this book because it was filled with twists and turns and you couldn’t put it down. The second book I read was The Five People You Meet in Heaven and it is about a man named Eddie who lives a very dull life and dies in an accident at the pier where he works and has spent all of his life. After his death Eddie meets five people in heaven some who he knows and some that he has never met, each person has a very important lesson to teach him. These lessons are to help Eddie understand his life and his death. This book made me realize many things. First that everyone's lives are intertwined and that you can change people's lives without even knowing them, also it is better to forgive as opposed to hold the anger and bitterness inside you. And most importantly to learn to appreciate what you have before you have to learn to appreciate what you had. This was a very good book and I would defiantly recommend it to anyone.

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  13. During the summer, I read William Golding's Lord of the Flies. What I liked about this book was all of the great detail and literary devices. The author is so good at describing things in such an unusual manner that it really makes the story just come alive. Another aspect of this book that I enjoyed was the fact that all of the characters were kids. It was really interesting to see how they could use their instincts and figure out how to survive despite them being so young. Something I learned from this book was how the human mind really works. By the end of the novel, it wasn't even about kids or their personalities, just humans wanting to survive and wanting to be in control and fighting one another for power. It's the way humans were built to act, and it was really interesting to experience it through such an interesting story line. What matters to me about this book's content is all the symbolism and morals/themes that people can apply to their own life. It took real problems (such as an unstable government, bullying, etc) and showed the reader just how dangerous these problems can be.
    The other novel that I read was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (the second book in The Hunger Games trilogy). I loved everything about this book. The storyline is absolutely perfect and so intriguing and interesting that I just couldn't stop reading it. I loved all the characters and I especially loved how much bravery they all had. I really enjoyed how futuristic this book is, but also how it takes problems that are happening in our world today and kind of shows just how downhill things could go if these problems aren't solved. The fact that it is written in first person is also a big plus for me because I love being able to get inside the character's mind. It makes me feel like I'm with them or that I'm somehow a part of them. The entire Hunger Games trilogy taught me that it is so important to be brave and think about the well-being of others regardless of how it effects you. During Catching Fire, Katniss is determined to keep Peeta alive, even though it means that her own life would have to be taken away. She shows such courage and bravery that it truly is inspiring and admirable. Katniss would do anything to save the people she loves, even if it involves her getting hurt. What matters most to me about this books content is how much love and courage is in it. Even though there are some very sad parts, this series makes me so happy every time I read it. Every single aspect of this book is flat out incredible.

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  14. This summer I read Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, and Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. In Atlas Shrugged there are two categories for the people in the book, producers and looters. The producers in this book are like the character Dagny Taggart. Essentially a producer is someone who creates something and makes a profit off of it. The looters in this book are like Dagny's brother. A looter is someone who doesn't produce anything and takes everything from the producers and leaves them nothing. John Galt, a producer, figures out that the looters will take everything and make the world fail in every way. John Galt creates a plan where he will take all the producers of the world away, meaning that the looters will have nothing to take from. One by one all of the producers disappear, which makes the world fall apart. A big way that the looters try to steal from the producers is that they say, "A man will be paid for his need, not his work." This leads to the problem where all the workers who work hard do not get paid, while those who do not work and fake needs will be paid. Soon there were no workers, all the factories and the power plants start to shut down. John Galt's plan is that once the looters way of life has failed and they disappear then he and the other producers shall rebuild the world correctly. You may wonder why the book is called Atlas Shrugged. The answer is quite simple and I love this concept. There is a tale that Atlas holds up the world, and saying that he shrugged means that he gave up on the world and didn't care anymore because the world failed. I liked this book a lot because it introduced to me many new ideas and concepts that i had never thought of before. 

    The other book that I read was Lord of the Flies. Something I liked about the book was the way that you could see how the boys changed from a civilized group to complete savages. There were some boys that were worse than others, like Jack. The people who wanted to remain civilized and wanted to get rescued were either killed (Simon and Piggy) or hunted (Ralph). I find it ironic how the whole time Ralph wanted to keep a little fire going to get help, but it takes the whole forest to be up in flames before they get saved. It is really lucky that adult help showed up before he was killed. In a way, I can see how this relates to our world. Whoever has the most power can control everything. At first, power came from the conch, but as time quickly progressed, it became about hunting pigs. I realized quickly that without order and the proper morals, we could all become savages.
    In both of these books I really liked the two scenarios that were created. It really made me think in a different way, and I enjoyed it.

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  15. Over the summer, I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and its sequel The Restaurant at the end of the Universe by Douglas Adams. I enjoyed this novel for many reasons, mainly for the fact that the author was able to maintain a humorous, enjoyable atmosphere while at the same time challenging the norms and ideas that society simply accepts to be true. The writing style which Adams employed sparked interest in me, thus teaching me many things about physics and mathematics. The content of this series issued an entirely new perspective of the universe and its many secrets. For example, the story begins with an alien race of scientists who created a supercomputer called Deep Thought. This alien race built Deep Thought with the intention of exposing the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. Indeed Deep Thought delivered, however in a most unexpected way. After millions of years of running files, programs, and records, Deep Thought produced the answer “42.” Deep Thought went on to explain that the answer was obviously insignificant without the equation that produced it. Content with its answer, it shut down and the equation was lost. Time skips to the present, and Adams begins narrating the times of Arthur Dent. Throughout the novel, Arthur carries an electronic book called “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy,” a gift from a long-time friend named Ford Prefect who is revealed to be an alien bearing the likeness of a human. He was gifted the Guide and new knowledge of Fords identity immediately following the destruction of the Earth, which Ford saved him from by boarding the alien construction ship. Arthur uses the guide throughout the novel to better orient himself in the expanses of the universe he never knew existed. The story progresses, and upon meeting descendants of the creators of Deep Thought, Arthur and Ford are informed that Earth was a means of computing the equation of Deep Thoughts answer. Earth was designed to be a vast collection of self-aware conduits of information, whose knowledge would collectively grow and reveal the equation together. As it turns out, unfortunately, Earth was demolished to make a superhighway for space travellers, only days before completion of its purpose! This knowledge causes Arthur to almost willingly delve into spiraling insanity.

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  16. The two books I read this summer were combined into one book. This book was called Once and it was by Cameron Dokey. Once is three remakes of childhood fairy tales such as Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Mulan. I liked these books because it brought me back to when I was a little girl and still thought that I too would one day be a princess. I also enjoyed reading these books because they were mostly different from the versions that all of us grew up knowing. For instance Cinderella wasn't a princess in this story instead the orphan boy she grew up with ended up being the twin brother to prince, that Cinderella ends up falling in love with of course. As for Rapunzel in this story her parents give her up to the witch because they believe she is ugly, due to the fact that she is born without any hair. And this witch is the one has a daughter that was locked up in a tower with amazing long beautiful hair. Mulan is the only one out of the three that stay the same for the most part, the only part that differs are the characters names. The last reason I enjoyed reading these books is that they were completely different from what I usually read, I mostly enjoy adventure or mystery books, but since I have read these books I have found that I am more open to reading different types of books.

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  17. Among many other novels I read this summer, I read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. The latter was one of the best books I have ever read. It was incredibly relatable because it's about an adolescent girl and her story. Yet, there was still some intrigue still because she grows up in Brooklyn, in a home which struggles both financially and emotionally which, varies greatly from my own life. I learned of the hardships of such a setting not only in placement, but also in the pre-roaring twenties time period. Death of a drunken father, extreme poverty, and sexual assault are just a few of the harsh experiences this young woman encounters. So, the struggles, and life lessons Francie, the main character, learns as she progresses from a young girl to a young woman were very beneficial in my own growth as a woman. In terms of what is important about this book, that's exactly it. It is one of the greatest novels of growth of all time and I believe every blossoming woman, should read it.
    The first of the two, was a fantastic, tear-jerking, well-written novel. I adored the relationship that builds in the story out of pure necessity for human contact as it sprouts between a young Jewish boy in a concentration camp and the Nazi Commanders son from across the fence. And, that's what important about this book, is that when they think there is no one else, they have a friend; when circumstances say you can't be together, love and friendship will always find its way in. Though it has an unfortunate and depressing ending, it means a lot to read about such deep compassion from such young children in what was probably the least compassionate environment of all time.

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  18. Over the course of the summer break, the two books I chose to read were Along for the ride By Sarah Dessen, and The Lucky one by Nicholas Sparks.
    I enjoyed both books thoroughly not only because it was my favorite Genre and Authors but also because they weren’t as predictable as some of the books I have read in that Genre or by those Authors. I was always left wondering and guessing what could be happening next! While reading both of these books I learned that you never know who you can fall in love with, and to always be willing to let people in your life because you would never know the type of relationship you could make with a person. What mattered to me most in the book Along for the ride, was that the main character had moved to a new place and at first wasn’t very willing to meet people but after she started working for her step mom, she began too, and enjoyed her stay there! It showed me that everyone can make the best out of nothing if they get a little push. In my other book, The Lucky One, what mattered to me was that this one guy was willing to change his life all because he found a picture of a girl that he believed saved him, and to me, most people would never be brave enough to make that one step towards a different future.

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  19. This summer, I read two novels that allowed me to spectate two masterfully crafted storylines from unique and intruiging perspectives. The first novel, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, tells the story of a young girl in World War II era Germany, and the narrator is Death himself. In addition to describing life in Nazi Germany, the book explores the knowledge and learning potential provided by books, as well as provides a metaphysical reflection on the nature of the human soul. It proposes that the way people are remembered is not only in their great accomplishments, but also for their kindness in the memories of their friends and family. This dynamic book transports the reader across multiple levels of literary exploration and reflection.

    The second book, Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, follows the journeys of slaves in the American South as they seek freedom. George Harris makes a daring escape and leads his wife and child on an adventure north in hopes of finding liberty in Canada. After evading slave hunters and completing the long, arduous journey, he and his family at last find safety and freedom. Meanwhile, the honest and humble Uncle Tom travels the southern region as he passes from owner to owner. For some of this time, he lives with good, generous owners; however, he also finds himself under the control of tyrannical and brutal ones. No matter what his present circumstances are, he remains faithful to his Christian beliefs and becomes a martyr as he bears cruelty to better the lives of his fellow slaves. It is under the ownership of a cruel slave owner that he dies, and he finds freedom in the release of his earthly bonds.

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  20. This summer, I read the books "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien and "Adventurers Wanted, Volume 1: Slagboth's Gold" by M.L. Forman. "The Return of the King" is the third and final book in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and one of my new favorite books. I chose this book because I wanted to challenge myself a bit more with a harder book, and also because I"m a die-hard fan of fantasy books centered around adventures and wars! I love to read about the cataclysmic battles that happen in adventure books like "The Lord of the Rings". The Battle for Minas Tirith is to me by far the best one in the book. When the battle starts, the orcs are invading the Men held fortress/city of Minas Tirith. Never before had the Front Gate been breached, but the orcs superior numbers with the help of the terrifying Black Riders and their Nazgul demolish the Front Gate quickly. It looked like Minas Tirith was surely going to fall, but right then, The Riders of Rohan, another group of mounted men highly skilled and brave charged the flank of the orc forces, disrupting the orc push, and making the enemy attackers be the attacked. When the Riders establish a foothold on the plains outside the city, the defenders charge out of their heavily damaged fortress and proceed to route the enemy. This was a great battle, but also I think it displays how when evil seems to be prevailing and about to destroy you, help or new strength will help you to push back that evil, and as I believe from some hard personal experiences, evil can never really win. It may look like evil will prevail, but in the end, they will never really win. I also love when in the end, after Frodo destroys the ring, he comes home to find out that it has been overrun by brigands. With the vast store of experience gained from his journey to destroy the ring, he can help defend his home and what really matters to him. That is just a cool, and not often used, way to end an already great book.
    The second book I read, "Adventurers Wanted, Volume 1: Slagboth's Gold" by M.L. Forman, is a hilarious book where as I think of it, the author took the classic video game storyline where you go collect treasure, fight goblins and trolls, have magic weapons and bags that can hold way more than they should, and then fight and beat the boss at the end of the game, take it's treasure, then return to the adventurers town or village, and buy awesome items with your gold. Well, that's the second book I read in a nutshell. I read it because a friend recommended it to me, so, since I LOVE great books, I decided to read it. The plot is like I described, but the main character is a young teenager walks into a bookshop that is actually a place where you can sign up for adventures. He gets pulled into a dangerous seven man adventure, with multiple dwarves, an elf, and men. He is by far the youngest. They have ridiculous magic bags that can hold an entire mansion if you by enough rooms, and they set off to go kill a dragon that destroyed a town and lives in a mountain, much like "The Hobbit" by j.R.R Tolkien. They run into a troll and some highway robbers. The end is great, though I won't spoil it, and I then proceeded to read the next two it was so good. I love this book so much, though it is interesting to look back and see how much the storyline of "The Hobbit", influenced some aspects of "Adventurers Wanted". They both set out to kill a dragon, they both meet trolls (the one in Adventurers Wanted has three legs, maybe to represent the three trolls that Thorin's company in "The Hobbit" meet?) I just think it's funny that Tolkien's writing has had a very large influence on today's fantasy books. No matter what though, M.L. Forman wrote a fun and fresh book that made me laugh constantly.

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  21. This summer I read two books. I enjoyed "The Rising Tide" by Jeff Shaara, while I struggled through "Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. "Lord of the Flies" tells the story of a group of stranded boys. After their plane crashes on a remote island, the group experiences an amount of freedom they have never had before. However, order soon begins to dissolve and the worst in humanity is brought out. "The Rising Tide" is a historical fiction novel about World War Two. It follows the leading generals of the Allies as well as the Axis powers toward the beginning of the war. The majority of the book focuses on the campaigns in North Africa. It also delves into the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy. While the book follows well known historical figures, it also tells the story of two regular soldiers. One of the soldiers, Jesse Adams, is a sergeant in one of the paratroop regiments. The other, Jack Logan, is a private in an armored division. Both of their stories were thrilling, and made the book hard to put down. Another reason I enjoyed "The Rising Tide" to such a great extent is the vast amount of knowledge I gleaned about World War Two. The book was extremely informative, yet still remained interesting.

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  22. I read many novels over the summer, including "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher, and the required reading, "the Lord of the Flies" by William Golding. As a brief summary, "Thirteen Reasons Why" is about a boy who receives a box of audio tapes from an unstated address. As he presses play, he hears a voice, a voice he hadn't heard for two weeks. A voice he hadn't heard since she killed herself. Their are 13 audiotapes, one for each person who played a part in her self-induced murder. I enjoyed how the story line switched between two narrators:the boy and the tapes themselves, not just the main character's reactions, but the actual events. This book had a very distinct theme: how everything we say, and everything we do has an influence over someone, whether or not we realize it. I realized i should think about the words I say and the actions I commit because it all has an impact. Significant or not, it doesn't matter. The effect you have on someone's life may be a lot bigger than you may realize.
    "The Lord of the Flies", an adventurous story of a group of boy refugees in a plane crash due to the World War occurring at the time. I liked the drastic change of all the characters throughout the novel. The book was a direct interpretation of the war at hand, but instead displaying the fraying society and the lasting effects and aftermath of differences in everyone's ideal social structure.It raises a few thought-provoking questions: are we created to destroy? Are men a man's worst enemy?

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  23. This summer, for the English 9 Honors reading assignment, I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Both of these books were incredibly interesting to read, but not necessarily enjoyable. One element I enjoyed about Lord of the Flies was the fact that it was written almost from the perspective of an adolescent child, which made it relatable because I could really imagine what it would be like for a person such as myself to be trapped on an island, and I can better understand the actions of the boys rather than a fully mature adult. Also, I liked how the author used symbolism to mirror what is happening in the book figuratively. For example, the author used symbols like the conch shell and Piggy’s glasses to represent civilization’s role in the boy’s life at the time, and the destruction of both of those items symbolizes the diminishing effect society has on the boys. The message I collected from this book is that with the introduction of fearfulness for one’s life and the absence of society’s structural guidelines, the inner primitive “beast” in every man can emerge and skew a man’s behavior so severely, that he is completely unrecognizable from the original civilized man that he was. What made the biggest impression on me about Lord of the Flies was the fact that children, which in literature have almost always been a symbol of innocence, can develop completely into savage animals. The killing of Simon by the savages symbolized this gruesome transformation. Generally children are thought of like Simon, who genuinely believes in the morality and doing the right thing, but without civilization guiding them, innocent children morph into savage, maniacal animals like Jack.

    Brave New World was also a very intriguing book. I liked how the author completely rewrote how society functions today; he changed social relationships, religion, and even changed the natural processes of nature. This revolutionary society gave me a whole new perspective on everyday life now. I learned that even if everyone’s wants are fulfilled and people are conditioned, complete “stability” is not possible. On the other hand, if there is no structure, a society comprised of men like John would quickly deteriorate. The most vital thing I absorbed from this book is the concept that either extreme of social make-up , from complete structuring to an entirely laissez-faire society with cause that society to collapse quickly; what is needed is a balance of median between those to in order to have a continuous successful society.

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  24. Over the summer I read two books, The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot, and Beguiled by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand. The Princess Diaries is the first book in a huge series about an average ninth grader, who's name is Mia. Mia finds out that she is princess of a small country called Genovia, and Grandmere (her despised grandma) must help her prepare for the job. Princess Diaries is the beginning of her long journey towards her dream, and in the mean time, she must try to fight of the paparazzi, and survive high school. I liked this book because Mia is my age, and everything that she talks about, I could relate to. Meg Cabot wrote about an instance that when I was little, I always dreamed about, yet I got to see it come true in a ninth grade setting. This book showed me that when your life is suddenly turned upside down, you can try hard and make everything work out.
    Beguiled is about Rylee who is a dog walker in the area of older Charleston. All of a sudden, homes start to be robbed, all which are owned by clients of Rylee's. Logan is a writer for a local paper, and his assignment is to follow the robberies. As Rylee and Logan's lives begin to intercept, they must try to solve the crime mystery together, when all of a sudden they are falling for each other. I loved how this book was honestly unpredictable, and how I couldn't put it down. This book showed me that even when you think life is going one way, that it can always turn around with no warning. Also, it showed me that when you have someone at our side, life can be so much easier because you can get through it together.

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  25. Over the summer of 2012, I read many books, my favorites were Battle Royale which was written by Koushun Takami, and The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan.

    Battle Royale is a Japanese realistic-fiction novel that has been translated into English due to being so renown in Japan. The book was published in 1999, it may be a little old but is still a great read for older teenagers. The title is brought from a law that takes place in Japan. Every year, a class in one of Japan's schools, is chosen to be sent to a remote area to fight each other until one person standing, a battle royale. The idea of the book is similar to Hunger Games, but the presence of evil in the story is greater. Students are sent out to fight each other on an island with some food, water, and one random weapon that can range from a fork to a fully automatic gun. I like this book because of the unique characters, because so many of the 43 students characteristics are developed so well, and from the start, there is already conflict. I also liked this book because it has a lot of action, and how some of the characters have so much malice and spite, while others have the will to protect others without fighting. Also, this book is not in 1st person, but in 3rd person, so the author changes the point of view from person, sometimes from the main character or the antagonist. The characters are also very clever and witty. And for the author to think of these things is quite remarkable, he was able to come up with such an elaborate plot, while also maintaining the characters' persona.

    The second book, Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, is the second novel of the Heroes of Olympia series, that is a sequel series to the Percy Jackson series. I like this book because it brings back the main character from past books, Percy Jackson. Percy Jackson is the son of Poseidon, and he is switched with the son of Son of Neptune. Neptune and Poseidon are the same entity, but are of Roman and Greek mythology. And up until this book, Greek demigods had no awareness that Roman demigods existed, and vise versa. So the son of Neptune and Poseidon are switched from their respective camps, and are set out to embark on quests, slowly regain their memories and, attempt, the bring the two nations of demigods, together.

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  26. Two surprises this summer were the books that I read in my free time. In May, I walked into the bookstore to purchase Lord Of The Flies by William Golding. I thought it would be a deep story about philosophies like some of the books we read in school. I also decided to read The Help by Kathryn Stockett because I enjoyed the movie and it was on the recommended reading list. I was surprised about how both books brought about the idea of how a society can change. Also, they included good characterization.
    Lord of The Flies was written in third person. It told about a group of British boys whose plane crashed onto an island and become stranded there. The boys tried to make a form of government but it ended up collapsing because the boys could not leave their differences behind. By the end of the book the boys had turned savage and their "society" collapsed. I liked how the author put so much personality into the characters and made them similar to people I see in everyday life. For example, Piggy reminded me of larger or nerdy people who are judged by their appearance and ignored, even when they may have amazing ideas. Jack represents people who love power. At some points I did not enjoy how the book moved so slowly, but it was a good read in the end.
    The Help was about what it would be like to live in the south (Jackson, Mississippi) in the 60's. It was told from many perspectives: a white woman and two black maids. The maids told their struggles and moments of happiness to the white woman who wrote it down in a book called The Help anonymously. The white woman wanted to start a change in Jackson, Mississippi and help Civil Rights. As people read the book they had very different reactions, but everyone was changed in some way. I loved how the author talked so much about what it is like to fit in, because for me sometimes it is hard to fit in. Many of the characters in the book were judged, and they still made every day count by trying to make a change. The characters were so well sketched into my mind I felt like I was there with them. Also, I felt empathy towards the maids. I didn't like how some of the characters reacted to the black maids, but it helped me understand what the time period was like. I love history and the Civil Rights movement, so I loved how well the book pressed the message of change.The Help was my favorite book of the summer.
    While reading Lord of The Flies by William Golding and The Help by Kathryn Stockett, I learned how a society can change by others ideas and motives. I learned how a writer can use good characterization to make the book more interesting and pull the reader into the story. I would encourage someone my age to read these books if they enjoy books that have life lessons and can start a change!

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  27. I read a handful of books over the summer. Obviously, one was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The other books I read, the ones I chose, were all ones that were fictional. None of them really related to Lord of the Flies.
    Lord of the Flies by William Golding was interesting. It was much better than I thought it would be. I like Ralph as a character. He was the chief of the group and he thought about what they needed. He was much more humble than I had expected. He realized that he had to work, and he knew the value of it. He knew that Piggy had better plans and ideas than he did. He was one of the only characters that revealed information about his past life, what he called his 'other life'. I liked that. Another part of the book that I enjoyed was how quickly it moved along. The book wasn't very long, which I appreciated because I have little patience when it comes to reading. There was a lot of foreshadowing in the book, too, so nothing really came as a surprise. Believe it or not, I like that too. Not everyone likes surprises. The last thing I liked about this book is the end, where the naval officer came to save Ralph and the others. He was so genuinely surprised and sympathetic, and I thought it was cool. Also at the end, Ralph mentions that he is sad for the loss of his friend Piggy. That seemed really sweet because Piggy was an outsider and he didn't really have any friends, but Ralph cried for him.
    I thought about the applications to our society that this book had. I recognized how their island society slowly fell apart until everyone was crazy and bloodthirsty. Only Ralph seemed to stay sane. The book really emphasized the importance of adults, or order. Adults were looked up to and highly respected by Piggy and Ralph, and I thought that was cool.
    Anyway, my second book was more of a fun reading book. I read Monster High by Lisi Harrison. This book changes narrators for each chapter. The story is that a girl named Melody Carver moves to a small town. In this little town is her new high school Merston High, which unbeknownst to her, has some monsters in it. Many of the students are normal people, but others have monster qualities, tying in the stories of monsters we should already know, such as vampires, werewolves, etc. It is kind of similar to Twilight, but it is pretty different, too. The monsters have normal teenage personalities, and they have to hide thier monsteristic qualities from the world. It is the first book of a series.
    There were lots of things I liked about the book. It had humor in it, and it didn't go too slowly. I enjoyed the personalities of the characters. I liked how the author compared the problems that monsters faced with problems that 'normies' faced. 'Normies' was a term used in the book to describe people who weren't monsters. I liked seeing the story from more than one point of view. It also had romance in it, and that always interests me. :)
    I felt like I didn't learn a whole lot from the book because it was really meant to entertain. It did give me an idea about what high school would be like in my summer right before high school, and that was nice. A hidden message in the story was to accept everyone for who they are. People shouldn't be excluded just because they are different.
    As far as what matters to me from the books content, I'm not sure what to say. I read the book so that I could be entertained, and also so I could waste some time. I like the whole series, not just the first book. The book does talk a little about accepting people, and supporting families, which are both important to me. There wasn't really a big focus on morals in the story, though.
    Either way, those were the books I read over the summer. I enjoyed reading them both.


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  28. The two books that I read over the summmer where Stunning by Sara Shepard and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. Stunning is the latest book in the very popular Pretty Little Liats series. This book was very thrilling and took many unexpected turns as the story went on. Shepard is a writer who can make you want to not put the book down by using cliff hangers and unexpected events. Because I am a fan of the Pretty Little Liars series, this book was very entertaining to read. Lord of the Flies by William Golding on the other hand, I can't say I loved it. Golding is a very talented writer, but I personally felt that he over described, making the book boring. Although it wasn't my favorite book, I can still say that the characters' relationships with one another and how they grow throughout the book was very realistic and similar to our society. Overall, the two books that I read over the summer were both interesting in different ways.

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  29. My two novels I had read over the summer were The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. They were both modern books, and I enjoyed them.
    What I liked most about the first novel I read, The Notebook, was probably the storyline. I was enthralled throughout the book and found it to be incredibly well-written. The amount of detail Sparks is able to include in his stories to make them real is unimaginable. I learned from Spark’s novel that if you really do want something in life you need to go after it. In addition, I learned that sacrifice is sometimes necessary to reach what you want. I think what mattered to me most about the book’s content was how Spark’s put the idea, concept, or even emotion of love into motion through his words. I feel that I gained new perspective on how romance novels can be written. What I liked most about my second novel, The Help, were the strong characters. I felt that the lead maids Stockett wrote about in her book were admirable, true people. I believe that one of the characters named Skeeter Phelan was another strong willed, kind hearted character. I witnessed a lot of character development occur in the book, and I was very pleased with it. I was expecting it to bore me because it was over 500 pages long, but I found that the novel contained quantity as well as quality. The book had me sucked in page after page to see what would happen next. There were some unexpected even sad turning points in The Help. Stockett’s novel helped me realize the severity of the situation for a black woman years ago in the South. I feel that the novel relates to To Kill a Mockingbird as well. Furthermore, I learned to not judge people solely on how they look but through their interactions and how they are inside. What matters to me most about the content of The Help is how it is fiction that both entertains and informs at the same time.

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  30. This summer, one of the books that I read was My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. The book is mainly about what happens when Anna Fitzgerald, who was conceived solely for the purpose of saving her sister's life, sues her parents for rights to her own body. Her sister Kate has Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia. When her parents found out that her brother Jesse was not a matching donor, they decided to have another child - one who was genetically engineered to be a perfect match for Kate, in order to delay Kate's inevitable death. From the moment Anna was born, she donated cord blood for her sister. Since then, she has donated lymphotcytes - three times, bone marrow, granulocytes, and peripheral blood stem cells. Now, she is thirteen, and she has to donate a kidney. Anna has always had to sacrifice things for the sake of her sister. For example, she has no friends, because she's always has to go to the hospital, and that leaves little time for friends. The entire story was very interesting, and it was told from the perspectives of all the characters. Anna's father, Brian Fitzgerald, Anna's mother, Sara Fitzgerald, Anna's older brother Jesse, her lawyer, Campbell Alexander, and her guardian ad litem, Julia Romano. All sides of the story were told. All in all, this story made me think a lot about reasons behind actions, and about families - and what holds them together. There was also an unexpected ending. Also, there were times when I could really connect to the characters and feel like I knew what they were feeling and why they did the things they did.
    Now, catch a plane ticket to WW2 Germany. Another book I read this summer was The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Liesel Meminger's brother has just died in a train crash - on the way to the home of their foster parents. This event will effect Liesel for the rest of her life. After her brother's funeral, she picks up a small little black book. It was left there by accident by one of the grave diggers. This book helps her bond with her new foster father, and after she learns to read The Grave Digger's Handbook, she starts to yearn for books and starts to steal them wherever she can - even at book-burnings and the mayor's house. But that's not all. It's a dangerous time to be living in Nazi Germany. Especially when your family decides to hide a Jew in your basement. Through her experiences, however, Liesel learns a lot about the world and what it means to be living in Nazi Germany during World War Two - even when everyone you love is taken away...
    I really enjoyed all these books. They were very interesting. All the different perspectives in both books were nice, because I got to read the whole story - not just the story from one perspective.

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  31. Over the summer we were asked to read two novels. The first was a required book, Lord of the Flies by William Golding. It was very interesting to read. What I liked about this book was that, contrary to what some children might believe, life on an island with no rules and no parents was far from idyllic. I liked how William Golding took the characters and forced them to rely on their primal instincts. As cynical as it may sound, I learned that it is human nature to want. Whether it is Jack wanting power or Piggy wanting mature behavior. I also learned that when in a survival situation, many people forget common sense. Like becoming so obsessed by a hunt that the opportunity for rescue is lost. In Lord of the Flies I can see an outline of how history has played out many times; the one with the most power wins. What matters to me is that they were eventually rescued. I was very pleased to see that Ralph had survived the attacks from Jack.
    The second novel that I read over the summer was The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I loved this book. I adore the characters in this book. They all have such a depth to them, I can relate to all of them in some way. I learned about human emotions. I discovered how people could change, how people can love in so many different ways, and how humans are able to show extreme compassion. What matters to me in this book is the level of friendship the characters have. No one has conformed to what society deems as normal, yet the group of friends in this book loves each other wholeheartedly.

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  32. Over the summer I read the novels The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. The Help is a story about black maids who live in the 1960's located in Jackson, Mississippi. One of the reasons I liked this book is because it was fascinating to read about what life was like for black people in that period of time. The lesson that I learned form this book is that as great as America is, we have had some major mistakes. It shows that even a great country in writing, is not perfect. The idea that matters most from this book is to learn that people back then made mistakes. Maybe they did not know it was wrong, but we know now that it was wrong. If you take away one thing from this book, it should be that all people are equal. Never judge anyone by their appearance, but only by what is on the inside. The other book I read was Shiver. This book is about a girl, Grace, who finds out that the reason she was not almost killed by wolves is because they were really werewolves, and one of them, Sam, had a little crush on her. I learned many little things from this book, but there was only one thing that stood out the most. Again, don't judge before you really get to know the whole situation. People are the way they are because of a reason, which you don't always know. Wait to judge someone until you understand the whole story and can see the whole picture. If you were to take one thing away from this book it would be, never give up. When all the odds were against Sam and Grace, they never gave up and kept fighting till the very end. This stood out to me the most because sometimes it is so easy to give up and stop. You have to keep fighting through the pain and against the odds to get what you believe in. The two books that I enjoyed over the summer were great reads that I would highly suggest to anyone and everyone who wants to read them.

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  33. 1. All Quiet On The Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, features the war experiences of a young World War 1 German soldier named Muller. This young boy struggles with his own personal difficulties and the war itself. In a matter of months, he changes from a small town boy into a well-oiled machine soldier. Despite his attempts to survive the challenges of war, he ultimately perishes while still wondering why a rich man's fight is truly a poor man's life. The author completely isolated the glory of war from the horrors of war in the eyes of a young soldier in World War 1. He bluntly toiled with society and human nature while still making the novel enriched with intense scenes and relatable characters. Through the book I both enjoyed and learned a variety of topics, and it even began to change my own morals. All Quiet On The Western Front is a book to enjoy because it questions what is the reality of human nature. In both Lord Of The Flies and All Quiet On The Western Front, the authors view humans as vile beasts that have no distinction from a wild wolf or a carnivorous lion. They see us as if we are as soon to shake hands with each other as to stab each other in the back. In ways, the authors have a very strong point, but one can’t fail to take into account Mother Teresa or Gandhi. I find it very difficult to picture Gandhi running with a 6-caliber rifle jumping over a trench. Both of these figures possess a certain power of humanity that neither author takes into account. In All Quiet On The Western Front, I do however enjoy how the author crafts this young iron youth soldier as a passionate human being until he enters under the heat of battle. As soon as the bullets wiz across the battle field this boy is transformed into a walking beast with destruction only in mind. I love how the author is able to turn him into a Mr. Jackal and Dr. Hide type of figure. “ It is nothing but an awful spasm of fear, a simple animal fear poking out my head and crawling further,” said Muller. When viewing the quote, I can’t place how Gandhi and this soldier are even the same species. Muller hampers the ability to tell the difference between a common dog and a human being. If at the end of the day, we will do what ever we can to avoid death, are we not just like animals. Others would argue that we are different because god made us special. If so, why would we enter wars and kill millions of each other. I see that the only difference between us and other animals is our intelligence. This book has partially changed my views and forced me to possible face the fact that we are not a divine life form but instead a miracle of nature.
    2. Lord of The Flies written by William Golding also focuses on the cold truth about the human race. His book begins with a dozen or so boys stranded on an island very similar to the Garden of Eden. No parents are present, the weather is generous, and finding water or food is a side note. In short, this island is the perfect illustration for Paradise. However, nothing is ever perfect and the author sideswipes the children’s illusion of paradise. On this island the problem is themselves. Throughout the pages the author daunted the reader with multiple themes. I myself struggled with the constant toil between Jack and Ralph. I realize that America’s success is based off of our freedom of speech and our democratic system. On this small island this idea simply was rejected. Jack and others had no respect, and no one possessed any authority. I am not sure if democracy is possible to be executed by children of such ages, but I can still find similarities between our own congress and the ruthless battle between Jack and Ralph. In Congress, it appears that nothing is currently being produced and we as a people are heading on a downhill course for our society. Our politicians are too busy fighting for wealth and power like Jack that they forget who they truly serve.

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  34. The first of two novels I read over the summer was The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The Help was my favorite I read this summer. This book is about the black help in the 1960's living in Jackson, Mississippi. One brave girl, nicknamed Skeeter decides to write a book in the point of view of the black help, and their stories about serving the white housewives of Mississippi. Aibileen is one of the main characters, and she cares for a little girl name Mae Mobley. She helps Skeeter write her book. These women in the book, were so brave to show their side of the story. The story goes through the whole process of getting the book published, and the fears all the characters share. My favorite part of the book is when Aibileen tells the little girl she cares for, "You is kind, you is smart, you is important. I really enjoyed this book because it was based off the authors childhood. It seemed to be real while reading it, as I was reading from a history textbook. The books content matters to me because I laughed, I cried, I jumped out of my seat from excitement, and I was nervous what would happen half the time. This book had everything in it, and it was a great mix of all the great features of books.
    The other book was The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was a little similer to The Help. This book is set post apocalyptic of The United States. There are 12 districts spread out across the country. The main character is Katniss Everdeen, who hunts and puts food on her table ever since dad was killed in a mine explosion. Every year there is an event that the Capital hosts called the Hunger Games. A boy and a girl from each district(a tribute) is sent to an arena where they fight to the death. At the reaping, where they choose who goes to the Hunger Games, Katniss's sister is called and she takes her place for her. The boy who gets picked is Peeta Mellark. They get sent to the Capital to fend for themselves. I really enjoyed this book because it shows what could happen to our country when it falls. It taught me to live every day to the fullest. The content of this book matters to me because like before, it had everything mashed together to make an amazing, mind-blowing book, that could or could not contain out future.

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  35. I read quite a few books over the summer, but the two that stood out the most were Thirteen Reasons Why buy Jay Asher and Devoted by Alice Borchardt.
    Thirteen Reasons Why was so sad, and I really like the concept of it because it was so unlike all of the other book I read over the summer. But sometimes I felt that the reasons Hannah gave for her suicide sometimes felt like a bit of a stretch, but I always understood what made her feel the way she did and why she blamed those people. I think this book should be read by more people because it demonstrates perfectly how even the littlest thing we do can hurt someone. And I know that people are always telling us that, but this book put it in a way that was just so unignorible, it made me want to think about every hurtful thing I might have ever said to someone.
    Devoted was good in the beginning but got really slow around page 500, as things do tend to do around page 500. The book's theme was really about the lengths people will go to be with the people they love, not just mentally but physically too, like when Owen as kidnapped the only thing that made him want to escape was the thought of Elin trying to face to invasion on her own, and when Elin was sick the only thing that kept her strong was the horror at the thought of Owen surviving the kidnapping only to come home and find her dead. What really mattered to me was just how much they loved each other and how they supported each other when their right to rule was being challenged. I could really learn a lot from them.

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  36. This summer, I indulged in Where the Red Fern Grows, by Wilson Rawls. I most enjoyed the storyline of the book. Generally, the book describes Billy, a poor country boy who has a desperate desire to own hunting dogs! Through hard work and perseverance, he finally falls in love with his two dogs, Old Dan and Little Ann. As a result of this exquisite book, I learned about hard work and perseverance. Billy needed both attributes to obtain his pups. However, what was most amazing about this book is the lesson I learned about Billy’s struggle when his dogs died. He was discouraged and upset with God. But he eventually grew to understand that purpose exists with every event that we cannot control. I found myself easily able to relate. The second book I read was Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I found this book very interesting. I liked the application it had to the real world. It includes numerous motifs of symbolism, which enticed me. I learned through these symbols about how crazy our world seems to be! I was shocked by how much evil is around us. The item that matters to me most includes the moral. this book was stuffed full of meaning and application. I enjoyed analyzing the situations in the book and deciding for myself what the best solution would be. The moral I learned involves keeping sight of purpose in life.

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  37. So I read two books besides Lord of the FLies this summer.

    1. The Perfect Storm by Sebastien Junger- This book is based on the true story of the fishing vessel The Andrea Gail and her crew. I really enjoyed reading about the fishing culture and the town there, Gloucester. The way a fisherman usually lives (paycheck to paycheck), surpiresd me. These men will make a couple thousand dollars on a single 3 week trip and blow most, if not all, of it in the week or so they're at port before they leave again. The motto for these guys is "work hard, play harder". This book also dealed with the superstition surrounding most fisherman. For example... some men are "marked". This means that they are, to put it simply, slated to die. You can tell by getting a bad feeling as you walk on the dock, have a dream, or have too many close calls. I would definitely recommend this book as it gives a good perspective on fishing culture and ideas.

    2. I also read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. This book is ridiculously complicated in symbolism and conspiracies. The main idea of the book is that Jesus Christ, contrary to popular belief, married Mary Magdalene and had a child. The entire book is based two belief systems- The Priory of Sion and the Catholic idealistic group Opus Dei. The Priory of Sion is a group that follows the supposed bloodline of Jesus. Opus Dei is group that believes in the church above all. They use special tools, whips, and uncomfortable clothing to constantly reminding themselves of Christ's suffering. A symbol expert get caught up in the middle of the ages old conflict between the two groups and struggles to decipher the truth as he flees from the groups and authorities. I enjoyed this book, although some of the symbolism pieces were a bit too far fetched for me. Part of it might be my personal beliefs, but it was thought-provoking book. What is extremely interesting is that the groups, symbols, and practices are all real. The amount of controversy this bool generated actually caused people to convince the Vatican to ban this book. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone looking to read a thought-provoking controversial book. (Disclaimer-I didn't do a great job summarizing and explaining this complicated book, so read it!!!!)

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  38. This summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. I did not necessarily like the Lord of the Flies, but it was well written and made a good survival story. I did like that it had a deeper meaning that the average survival story in that the boys represent a society. The society runs smoothly at first but then people start realizing the problems they face on the island and the island government doesn't have a lot of power just as a starting countries government has little power. Then people start slacking off of their jobs and that costs them a shot at rescue or in real life a shot at making it big in a certain field. Relationships get tense like things do in the real world when times get tough. We also see that the older boys are the upper class, the middle age boys and Piggy the middle class, and the little ones the lower class. Eventually a group secedes and goes off on their own, like what happened before the Civil War. Problems have been coming up before this happened and they are getting resolved at this point like the beast. Eventually the miniature war gets more intense and two boys are killed. Sort of like a riot in a civilized country. And when things look darkest for the good guys, Ralph, rescuers come and save the day. So that would be like a third party saying it wasn't a good idea to keep fighting and the other two countries making peace. The story is complicated and could have many meeting but I saw it as a younger, miniature society.
    The second book was Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. Jon Krakauer was a magazine article writer for Outside Magazine in 1966 and he climbed Everest and later wrote about it. His story is of the tragedies from many tour groups climbing Everest. Many groups were attempting to summit in a window of a couple of days. Jon's group led by famous mountaineer Rob Hall. Most of Rob Hall's team reached the summit but at different times, Jon Krakauer was one of the first so he was left waiting for his group to descend. Many climbers in his group made bad calls by staying on the summit too long or not turning back early enough. A blizzard came in from nowhere and trapped many climbers from multiple groups high on the mountain. Luckily Jon had headed down earlier than his group and was not trapped. The next days where spent huddled in tents recovering from reaching the summit and for other it was spent going out on rescue mission for those still stranded in the storm which limited visibility severely. In the end many lives were lost some very experienced and some not as experienced, but they all made the decision to not pay attention to the time turn back for them to turn around if they hadn't reached the summit yet. This was a very tragic year on Everest with all of the death but it taught climbers and all other people a lesson, when you set deadlines don't ignore them they can be very important obviously in some cases the penalty for ignoring the deadlines are harsher than others, but being true to deadlines you set makes you a more successful person. It is a true story so it is very sad but it is interesting and different reading it from a climbers memories. This book may not have too many relevant applications to me, but I still found it a very interesting book.

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  39. Over the summer I read The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about a boy, Charlie, who is starting high school. You learn about Charlie and his life through letters that he writes to an anonymous person. Charlie is relatable, he is a freshman who doesn’t know what to expect of high school. He is one of those people who stands in the corner and watches everyone else, and has a hard time figuring out what it really means to participate. Charlie meets two people, Sam and Patrick, who impact his life greatly. I learned what it means to really participate. Participating is getting yourself involved in something. Once you participate, you notice things you never did before. When you participate you feel infinite. I enjoyed the writing style Chbosky chose for this book. The second book I read this summer was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy. There was an intense plot-twist in Catching Fire. In the Hunger Games, Katniss survived the Games and will never have to go back, right? Wrong. For the Quarter-Quell, Katniss has to go back into the arena. I loved the emotion throughout the book. It kept me interested and made me feel like I was Katniss. Catching Fire sends a message that you can change things. You can impact the world; all you have to do is try. People are helping you, even if you don’t know they are.

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  41. This summer I read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I really enjoyed The Help, but honestly, can’t say the same for Lord of the Flies. I thought that the concept of The Help was a really important topic and that the book was well written. I felt that the concept of Lord of the Flies could have been a really interesting topic for a book, but I feel that this was somewhat of an outdated book. Although some parts were interesting I lost interest after a while. After reading The Help I have learned more about segregation and the effects it has on families, relationships, and communities. After reading Lord of the Flies I learned how violent children can be and how the evils in the world can be hidden in a child and it can be influenced onto other children. I also was angry after the killed both of my favorite character. Both books taught me things but I probably wouldn’t read Lord of the Flies again.

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  42. Over the summer, the two books I read The Lord of The Flies by William Golding and Through My Eyes by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker. I really enjoyed Through MY Eyes because it is about one of Heroes and it shows his perspective on all of life's struggles including being born with dyslexia. Through reading Through MY Eyes, I learned that no matter what life throws at you, put your head down and work your way through it. The Lord Of The Flies I felt was a very interesting novel to read. It is about a group boys who's plane crashed and they are stranded on a deserted island without any adults. It was interesting to read how the different ages of boys interacted with each other and what they would choose to do to survive. I enjoyed this book because the author developed characters very well and you could see them, maturing as the book went on. The book has many twists and turns that keeps the reader on their toes and keeps them wanting more. Overall, both books were very intriguing and I learned from both that whenever life throws a challenge at you, step up to the plate and fight back.

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  43. Over the summer I read Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and Out of Sight Out of Time by Ally Carter. I enjoyed Twilight because of the sense of character. Stephanie Meyer did a great job of portraying all of the main characters. Everyone had a strong personality, which made the conflict very interesting. I also enjoyed the sense of romance in Twilight. Out of Sight Out of Time became very suspenseful and I had a hard time putting the book down! Both of these books used lots of flashbacks and I learned many new vocabulary words.

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  44. Over the summer, I read and annotated both William Golding's
    "Lord of the Flies" and Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I liked Lord
    of the Flies more than Fahrenheit 451, although both I found very
    thought provoking and interesting. I din't quite understand exactly
    how the lord of the flies connected to the overall theme of Lord of
    the Flies, although I did understand what message Golding was trying
    to get across in the book, and thought that it was a very interesting
    parallel to society. Fairenheit 451 on the other hand was easy to
    understand, and I got what the message was, But I wasn't particularly
    impressed with the explanation of it, and did not think that it was a
    very accurate portrayal of society and human behaviors. They explained
    at one point in the book all about how "When no one is more
    knowledgable than another conflict won't arise" but that just didn't
    seem like a very logical idea to me, and I thought it was very
    unrealistic, which bugged me. Also, I didn't feel at all attached to
    the characters in the book due to Bradbury's very vague depictions of
    their personalities, because of this, I didn't exactly care what
    happened to Montag, or Clarisse, or Mildred or any other of the
    characters in the story. This then made the book boring, and Reading
    it became a burden. Also, I found the idea of a writer glorifying
    reading a little tacky. I felt this book had no connection to past,
    present, or future society, and therefore did not enjoy it all that
    much. Though I had some pretty negative opinions on the book the first
    time around, I am looking forward to reading it a second time and
    possibly picking up on some new, more positive, reactions towards it.

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  45. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  46. Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Lord of the Flies fallows a group of young ,British, boys during World War II that are stranded on a deserted island and try to create a civil form of community that ultimately fails. My next book had a very interesting and thought provoking concept; after you die you meet five people that you may not have even known but were connected to you in some way. They each were placed in your life to teach you a lesson, which you learn after your death.

    My favorite of the two was The Five People You Meet in Heaven because it was so inspirational but entertaining at the same time. I loved how everything connected together. My favorite thing about this book was hearing all of the stories behind the lesson because the stories told how the person was connected to Eddie, the main character, and more often than not they did not know each other at all. I also loved how after he talked to the person and learned their lesson their scars or imperfections would fade away and they would leave Eddie as they wanted to be seen. Although Lord of the Flies is a classic and highly regarded book, I must say I did not care for it. I won’t deny that it had good life lessons but to me, it was overly descriptive and irrational. However, I did like Piggy and what he stood for. Over all, I do not regret reading either book because they each taught me something very different but equally valuable. I also highly suggest that anyone who wasn’t already read The Five People You Meet in Heaven should most definitely read it.

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  47. Over the summer, I read two books. One being "Enclave" by Ann Aguire, and the other was William Golding's "Lord of the Flies". Enclave is a book about a society in the future that lives underground, in the abandoned subway tunnels of New York City. They believe that above ground is a place where nothing grows, and that it is impossible for anyone or anything to live there. This book follows the story of a girl named Deuce, who is a Hunter, one of the three essential and only jobs in the Enclave. When assigned her partner, she is paired with a boy named Fade. An outcast, he was found in the tunnels as a small child. As Deuce and Fade are patrolling the tunnels for food, they find a small, blind boy hiding in a metal shelter, who says he has a message for the Enclave. When the hunting pair bring him back to their society, he tells them that Nassau, a neighboring Enclave, has been overrun by Freaks. Freaks are human-like creatures that live in the tunnels and feed on whatever they can. This book is full of suspense, and I really enjoyed and recommend it.

    William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" is a novel about boys who plane crash on an island. With no adults around, they are forced to learn how to survive on their own. Over time, leadership, fire, and rescue conflicts arise between the two main characters, Jack and Ralph. And in a reflection of society, fights, deaths, and fears all come together to create complete anarchy amongst the boys. I really enjoyed this book because it showed me that even though technology and progress have changed since 1954, when the book was written, society's dark and grotesque side has remained just the same

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  48. Over the summer, I read Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. I really enjoyed Animal Farm, a story about animals taking over their farm and creating their own system of government. It was very unsettling to read on as everything fell apart, and eventually, power corrupted some of the animals, as they lied and cheated for their own personal gain. I liked that uneasy feeling I got, though, just because no other novels have made me feel that way before. Since I read this for pleasure, I didn’t do any research about the book or the author, but something I noticed more in depth was that the characters strongly represented different behaviors that greatly effected the end of the novel, and I’ve thought about how the absence of a single character could change things. I also contemplated a few symbols and their purposes throughout the book.

    I have attempted to read The Golden Compass many times before, but kept getting bored shortly in. This time, though, I forced myself to get through and I’m glad I did. It does start slowly but once things were set in motion it was very adventurous and I often found myself unable to put it down. The story seems to be in a normal setting at first but I soon learned about the very different realm of fantasy that this novel occurs in. It was actually quite difficult to keep up with the complicated fictional sciences that were the basis of this book, the reason for everything that happened, so I did end up going back to some pages to remind myself of the meaning of many made up terms and concepts as they were repeated throughout the novel. Alongside of these words, I did end up learning a lot of real vocabulary that was new to me. At the end of the novel, I didn’t feel compelled to read the rest of the trilogy, this being the first of the series. Perhaps I just don’t want to get into another long, complicated situation, or I don’t want to read about something awful happening to all the characters who I’ve come to care so much about, but I don’t think I’ll ever finish the series. However, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t content with The Golden Compass alone, which I was very entertained with.

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  49. This summer, along with Lord of the Flies, I read Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind by V. C. Andrews. Flowers in the Attic is a disturbing story about four siblings who get locked up in a small attic for more than three years by their mother and grandmother. I liked that this novel didn't leave out very many details. The siblings did things in the attic that were interesting to read, and although some were awkward, I'm glad I got the whole experience. I learned that no matter how complex or difficult the situation may seem, there is always a way out. I also learned that know matter how many times you lie, the truth will always get to you. What matters to me about this book is that the mother did not care about the kids. She poisoned her kids and almost let them die. I learned from that how not to be a mother! In Petals on the Wind, the teenagers learn how to deal with their loss of three years and move on. Although some thoughts are extremely hostile and about revenge, they decide to leave the past in the past...until they see their mother again. I liked in this book how the author had contrast between good and bad. Chris, the oldest brother, put the past in the past and never looked back. Cathy, the oldest sister, couldn’t get rid of that thought to find her mother and grandmother to get revenge. I learned from this novel that trust is a fragile thing, and when it gets broken, you can never gain it back. What matters to me is that Cathy never let her thought of revenge leave her mind. Since I am a very forgiving person, it is hard to wrap my head around how someone could not forget that feeling of hatred. I would not necessarily recommend these books to read, unless you feel like you want to read something disturbing and different.

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  50. Over the summer I was able to read many books but the two that stood out to me were Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, and Megan Meades Guide to the McGowan Boys, by Kate Brian. The reason that I enjoyed these two books over the many others is because I could relate to them. In this novel, by Kate Brian, Megan Meade has to adjust to a whole new life style when her army parents are sent to Korea and Megan is left with some family friends. You see her grow stronger and more confident with herself along the plot, although she was new and lost with the situation. I enjoyed this read because I really like how much she effected people without them or herself knowing it. Also it showed that when you put your mind to something you can over come it. Just as Megan overcame moving from none to seven siblings. Even when she was put down she got back up just to try harder. The lesson I will remember from this story is that even when others try to put you down you have to come back stronger than before to overcome your challenges that you are faceing.

    In Lord of the Flies, a group of young and innocent school boys are dropped out of the sky and washed up on a mysterious island. This book showed alot of courage and leadership, along with fear and savagery. With fear and barbarity taking over the island you see these boys let out their inner beast in order to survive. While the voice of reason (Piggy) is ignored, ongoing battles between Jack and Ralph leed to mutiny and a division of the boys. It shows that if people dont accept others help and act civilezed things will fall apart.

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  51. Of the many books I read this summer, the two that I was obsessed with were We’ll Always Have Summer by Jenny Han, and Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen.
    We’ll Always Have Summer is the last book in this series’ trilogy. In this book the main character, Belly, had to finally decide between the only two boys who have ever been in her life. This summer romance-read contained a triangle of heartbreak and love that was irresistible to not want to be a part of. Jenny Han made clear that the only way to truly be satisfied with the path your life is going on is by listening to your heart. Han proved to me, that my heart is one of the most important voices speaking. When I don’t know what to do and there is nowhere to turn my heart will lead the way. What mattered to me about this book’s content, was that it proved that you can’t have a limited amount of love in your heart because you could be the one to change someone else’s life through your own.
    The main character of Lock and Key, Ruby, has a completely different life then my own. She doesn’t have parents who love one another, or even live together. She doesn’t have a mom who takes care of her, or a sister who has grown up right by her side. The reason I liked this book so much was because of what I learned from it. Throughout the story, Sarah Dessen was trying to define family. In the end, I learned there is no fixed definition and the reason is because family is never set. Ruby’s family turned out to be her long lost sister, uncle, and friends she met along her journey of life. Everyone’s family is different, whether they’re related or just bonded through experience. My own family actually is not just my siblings and parents, but the friends who always have my back. A family can be anyone you love. This life lesson was the part of this book’s content that really mattered to me. Once I’d finally grasped what Dessen was trying to get across, I realized how much this book connected with We’ll Always Have Summer. The important fact is that every day I interact with new people and without enough love in my heart, these new people might never get a chance to be a part of my own family.

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  52. Over the summer I read "The Feathered Serpent" by Junius Podrug and "American Sniper" by Chris Kyle. The Feathered Serpent is a thrilling story about a young astrobiologist who discovers that an ancient Mexican god has escaped and is wreaking havoc on the world. It is believed that it will destroy the world on December 21, 2012 supporting the rumors of the 2012 end of the world theory. It also has many flashbacks going back to ancient Mexico where you follow this young boy as he also discovers the many secrets involving an ancient powerful city created by the dangerous god. American Sniper is a non-fiction story about a man who was once a Navy Seal. He has the most confirmed kills out of any American sniper in history. The book goes into great detail about the countless missions he goes on. It also explains the hardships of being in the U.S. military, but at the same time tells about the very positive impact it has had on him since joining. Both the Feathered Serpent and American Sniper are excellent books and I would highly recommend them both for anyone to read.

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  53. I read The invisible Man by H.G. Wells and Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I loved the science in the The Invisable Man where Jack made a formula to make anything including himself invisible. Also how the oldness of the book shows. Also the dialouge shows how he uses British dialouge that is strange to us a Americans. I loved in Lord of the Flies how the boys would truly act if there were no adults for miles. I also loved how Golding implicated a government run by boys and the mutany implicated by Jack. In The Invisable Man I learned that if I had a great power such as invisability I wouldn't abuse that powere as Jack did. Also that I would not test something like that on myself first and not keep something like that a secret. In Lord of the Flies I learned that if I was ever in that situation I would try my hardest not to let my primal instincs come out like Jack's did at the end. Also to always listen to everyone's opinion and not just push it aside like a piece of garbage. The part where everyone split into to tribes in Lord of the Flies matters to me. This matters to me because I think that, that moment was when the primal instincts of Jack and his followers came out. Ralps's group however still had their sences. This also matters because this crutial point is when man can go backwards in evolution and go back to the dark and misunderstanding. In The Invisable Man the message was to never think lower of man because of what you can do like Jack becoming invisable. That just isn't right what he was going to do try to take over the world and kill anyone in his way. All in all I loved both of the books very much.

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  54. Over the summer I read two novels that both taught me lessons about myself as a person, and the world around me. The first of the two was The 5 People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. What I really liked about this book is that it really told the story of a man's life and the significant events he endured while he was alive and his experience in heaven. What really mattered to me in the books content was that the five people that the man met in heaven were individuals who really changed his life, during his life. Each person taught him a lesson about life. For example, the man's father and him had been conflicting for most of his life. When he meets his father in heaven they make peace and his father teaches him about forgiveness. The second novel I read over the summer was Tuesdays with Morrie also by Mitch Albom. What I liked about this book's content is the fact that Morrie, a dying old man, chooses to use his last remaining months to pass on everything he has ever learned about life to a young man. Morrie was the young man's professor in college. Now that the young man is on his own he is doing very well. He has a fancy house, a fancy car, and a wife. But throughout the book you see that the young man changes into a much better person. These are the two books I read over the summer and what I thought about them.

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  55. Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I didn’t particularly love either book that I read, but they each have a quality that made them well worth reading. While reading Pride and Prejudice, I was very impressed by the characters. They were all well rounded, and relatable even today, one hundred and ninety-nine years after it was first published. The heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is likeable, independent, and firm in her beliefs, refusing to bow down to her mother and society’s pressures to marry for wealth and status rather than love. The supporting characters are all vastly different, and each serves a purpose and adds another aspect to the story, be it Mr. Darcy for the mystery and romance, the humor from the falsely pompous Mr. Bingley, or the likability of Jane. I also appreciated the believable growth in each of the characters and their relationships with each other. To me, the characters in Lord of the Flies were unappealing , and I didn’t enjoy reading it all that much, but the symbolism in it and the questions about our society that it raised made it one of the most powerful and memorable books that I have read. Throughout the book I was shocked by the behavior of the boys, and thought they had gone crazy. Had the book been just about the increasing insanity of young boys stranded on an island, it would have been interesting and horrifying, but not so incredibly poignant. The book is taken to the next level, and made a classic and an incredibly thought provoking study of human nature and society by the backdrop of a world war. Throughout the book, they boys do appalling things that showcase their bloodlust and insanity, such as murdering each other and setting the entire island on fire, thus destroying their food source and shelter, for the sole purpose of killing another human being. Some of the characters recognize how wrong the behavior is, calling others “batty” and “crackers” and referring to them as savages and animals, rather than people. They yearn to think like adults so that they will know what the “right” thing to do is and create a functioning community. It’s a reasonable assumption that adults would do a better job surviving and creating order. However, peppered throughout the book are hints at what is going on in the adult world around them. Atom bombs, fighter planes, and naval officers all make appearances in the book. The adults are killing each other and destroying large areas, on a bigger scale, and somehow that is acceptable, while what the boys do on the island is not. It was this revelation that turned a book that I didn’t enjoy reading or think was good into one that is rooted in my mind and has opened my eyes to the extremely fine line between sane and acceptable and insane and abhorred.

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  56. Over the summer, I read the books Once upon a Marigold by Jean Ferris and The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. I liked Once Upon a Marigold specifically because of its humor. It is about a boy named Christian who has lived in the forest his whole life, and goes to the kingdom in search of work. He soon falls in love with the princess and discovers an evil plot to get rid of her. I liked this book because it was funny and entertaining to read. I also liked how each character had their own distinct personality (for example: Christian was very outgoing and courageous, and wasn't afraid of anything), which helped the story line progress smoothly throughout the book. In this book I learned that sometimes it's good to try new things, because sometimes good can come from it. What mattered to me about this book is that the whole truth was revealed about everything in the end. Nothing was left out. All of the the secret identities were discovered and the truth behind the lies were discovered.

    The Goose Girl I especially liked for a variety of reasons. It is a spin-off of a Grimm fairytale, about a princess named Ani who is sent to a foreign kingdom to be wed, but is ambushed by her lady-in-waiting on the way, who pretends to be Ani when they get to the kingdom. The real Princess Ani finds work as the goose girl at the castle and tries to find a way to overthrow her lady-in-waiting. I liked this book mainly because it was very interesting and kept me reading. I was always wondering what would happen next and how the story would end. In this book I learned that when in doubt, never give up hope. The main character lost many things throughout the book, but she never gave up hope. What mattered to me most about this book is that it had a happy ending. Even though the main character struggled, all of it payed off in the end.

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  57. This summer we were asked to read two books. My choices were "Lord Of the Flies" by WIlliam Golding and "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot. Both books were very different, but both phenomenally written. "Lord of the Flies" is about a group of boys from Brittian that are stranded on a desolate island. I liked this book because the characters were interesting enough too keep my mind engaged in the book. This book taught me more about how quickly power is decided and how easily it can become abused. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is about Henrietta Lacks, and her immortal cell line known as HeLa. It follows Henrietta's daughter Deborah and the author (Rebecca Skloot) as they dig up the many mysteries behind Henrietta and the whole Lackses family. There are many things I loved about this book. As a student who loves Science, all the chapters that were centered around the more Science subjects in this book were fun too read as well as being educational helping me learn more. This book also taught me a lot about the ethical issues with African Americans and medicine in the 1950s. Overall I recommend both of these books to anyone looking for a good read

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  58. As an English summer reading assignment I read two books, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and the emotional story of love and survival in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. As you start to read The Fault in Our Stars, you hear the story of a teenage cancer fighter, Hazel. As she continues her fight with multiple hospital visits, oxygen tanks, and support group meetings, she comes into acquaintance with another cancer survivor, Augustus. Together, the two try to find out the meaning of life with cancer through a book about a young cancer patient. Not only does their relationship grow, but their friendship. Hazel and Gus not only learn to support each other, but realize that love can happen. Through tragedy, disappointment, and triumph, what I learned and what made an impact on me was that no matter what your situation is, there is always hope, and happiness will come. Just having your heart beating is a reason to live. I loved the intensity of the story that kept the book flowing.
    Lord of the Flies is a story about elementary English schoolboys having to live and cooperate on their own, after becoming stranded on an island with no parental supervision. Not only do you see the reflection of modern day society, but see the importance of order, system, and civilization. I learned how one symbol of power, or one common leader could literally be the difference between life and death. I now further understand the importance of both friendship and relationships, and how much the affect us. It was a book that I would not personally read again, but it got me thinking and I learned more then I ever thought I would from reading Lord of the Flies.

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  59. This summer I read two really good books. I read Lord of the Flies and The Hobbit. The book I enjoyed the most is the hobbit. It follows the adventures of a hobbit named Bilbo Baggins. J.R. Tolkien illustrates each scene to perfection and it kept me engaged throughout the entire book. I also liked how he put just the right amount of action to keep it interesting. Throughout the story I learned that you don't have to be the biggest, strongest, or smartest. All you need is to have the biggest heart. The Hobbit showed me this by having Bilbo defeat the antagonist in the book even though he stands at about 2 feet tall. What matters to me about the books content is that it makes comparisons between life today and life in an imaginary world. J.R. Tolkien himself admitted to relating a lot of the traits of hobbits to modern day English people. This is an important piece of the book and it is important to me because I love to see the connections between different things. The second book I read was Lord of the Flies. The book is about a group of boys who crash land on a desert island during the fallout of an atomic war. What I liked about this book is that there was a very in depth story line. What I mean b y this is that there are a lot of places in the text where you can infer what the author is saying. I think this makes the novel a lot more fun to read and you get a lot more out of it. What mattered to me about this books content is that it kept relating to the bible. Even though the author was heavily criticized for this, I liked it.

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  60. Over the summer I read Lord of the Flies by William Golding, and I also read The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares. In Lord of the Flies, I liked reading about the methods the boys decided to use to survive on the island. I think that at some point and time everyone thinks it could be fun to be stranded for a couple days, but once they got past their initial excitement they would be forced to face reality. The book transforms the young boys’ issues so that you almost forget that they are only boys and not men. As you’re reading, it is much easier to picture the problems that they had being only adult issues rather than issues of very young boys. At the end, the rescuer allows you to see the boys’ time on the island with a different perspective that makes everything seem less important. The boys are transformed back into younger boys again, but they will never be the same. I learned how easy it can be to lose your innocence and also how hard it is for humans, including me, to completely think through a situation before making a decision. The other book that I read this summer was The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The title makes it sound a little odd, but it is actually a very good book. One of the most important reasons I liked this book was because it was relatable. I would always think of myself in the same situation as one of the four main characters, and think about how I would act or what I would do. Each character had very different qualities and it taught me to look for confidence, bravery, having an open mind, and thoughtfulness, each of their best qualities, in myself.

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  61. Over the summer I read, A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks and Speak my Laurie Halse Anderson. I loved reading A Walk to Remember because it was such a cute, unexpected love story. From reading this, I learned that unexpected things can happen, and not all are bad. Something may seem negative in the beginning but its always has a possibility that it ends on a positive note. Jamie and Landon's relationship taught me these things. When Jamie dies in the end, my heart reached out to Landon and ached for him. Nicholas Sparks did such a great job writing this book and I could feel every emotion Landon was feeling. Speak was unlike any book I have ever read. This book broke my heart at times because Melinda's friends were being terrible to her and wouldn't even give her the time of day to explain to them what had happened. No one understood what she was going through and I think Laurie Halse Anderson portrayed her character pretty well. When Melinda was hurting, I was hurting. This book is very powerful and I think part of the message to readers, was to speak out when you are being hurt. Don't keep it inside and shut everyone out. This is a relatable book, not only in the sense of abuse, but also being bullied in general. I hope that other girls who read this book were inspired to speak out and tell someone about whats going on in their lives.

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