The Reading Nook

Forever, by Judy Blume, is a 220 page book about an eighteen year old girl who is faced with many difficulties. This book is put in perspective of Katherine as goes through senior year facing her first true love. In the beginning she appears to be nervous about what other people think of her and throughout the book it is easily noticed that she has more self confidence. Although it seems that she will stay scared she is actually noticed as a very mature woman. Besides her first love she has to deal with a death, sexual urges, and the idea of teenage pregnancy. Towards the end of the book she is given the problem of being away from her boyfriend for the summer and has to face seeing a ‘hot’ guy all day long. She must keep her mind on her love while this appealing man his hitting on her. Katherine after her last year of high school is very mature and now can do anything she sets her mind to. This book definitely qualifies as Ya book.

I liked this book a lot more than I had expected it would be. Since I was interested in a sexual book in a girls perspective it was just what i was looking for. I loved the entire book except i thought that ending had ruined the whole book. The way it just ended with that last scene with out elaborating. I really want to continue reading the book. But i was very hooked and couldn’t put it down. But otherwise it was a great book and I recommend it to everyone.

Kyle Rosen

Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy, by Ally Carter, is the sequel to I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. The 236-page book consists of many of the elements that define a YA book. It is written in first-person, told by the 15-year-old main character, Cameron Morgan, (Cammie). The story takes place mainly in the Gallagher Academy, an all-girls spy school. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy deals with the emotions and confusion all teenagers have. Throughout the book Cammie becomes more mature, and learns how to manage her life better. As a spy, Cammie knows her life will never be normal. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy makes the reader wonder what normal is. When Cammie’s life forces her to deal with people and things she’s never dealt with before, she doesn’t know what to believe. The book compels the reader to think about honesty and certainty. The plot makes you contemplate reality. How does one know what’s real and what’s fake? How can one figure out who is genuine and who is not? What if how one perceived an issue…determined their fate?

I enjoyed Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy because the plot consisted of many different elements. Each chapter held another event in which every decision Cammie made could be the difference of life or death for her. I liked the book because it was descriptive. I stayed interested in the book because I kept wanting to know what was going to happen to Cammie. Although the plot was not realistic, the emotions felt by the different characters were very realistic. The reactions and uncertainty of the individuals was genuine, making it easier to connect with the characters. Cross My Heart and Hope to Spy was a page-turner that contained many of the elements of a YA book.

TTYL is categorized as a young adult book, because it involves teenage girls in an instant message chatroom. The whole book is written as instant messages between the three main characters, which are Angela, Zoe, and Maddie. Their screen names are SnowAngel, Zoegirl, and mad maddie. This book is a few months, in 3 teenager’s lives. It is an entertaining story of the three main characters, a teacher, church services, and love between them. It is a YA book, because young adults are interested in this topic, and enjoy reading it.

For my YA assignment, I read TTYL, by Lauren Myracle because my friend recommended it. I am so glad that I read this book, because it has interesting situations in it, and is enjoyable. It is an easy-read, because you get stuck reading it, you really cannot stop. TTYL has all of the themes that we talked about in class, it has curse words, shows maturity of the characters, and their personalities’ change. The whole book is a big instant message reply and response and it is a very unique book.

For my reading assignment I chose “Fat Kid Rules The World” by K.L. Going. This book is about a self pitying three-hundred-pound seventeen year old named Troy, who is ready to give up on life, when a half- homeless half- blond ferret High school dropout named Curt comes and saves his life. Curt then asks Troy to join his band as a drummer, and Troy made the mistake of saying yes. Troy, being an outcast because of his weight, and Curt, being an outcast because of his exotic lifestyle, are now friends (in Curt’s view). The book was told from Troy’s point of view, however the story was more about Curt. Curt in on drugs, and was abandoned by his father, and his mother married a man who beats her, so Curt doesn’t go back there anymore either. Troy’s mother died, before she died, Troy was very fit, but ever since she died, Troy became very, very obese. Throughout the book, these two young adults conquer the streets of the Lower East Side as “Rage/ Tectonic” (name of band) , and walk the streets as “fat kid and Blonde Ferret”.
To be honest, I chose this book because the name stood out to me. Unlike some of the other YA books, I thought “Fat Kid rules the world” was a comical story. Troy always interpreted hanging out with Curt as the apocalypse, but in general Curt made Troy’s life a lot better, and unknown to Troy, he returned the favor. The language is casual teenage talk, with a few f-words here and there, but mainly clean. Over the course of the book, Troy starts to become friends with Curt and the other members of the band, and he also moves from a self pitying fat kid to one of the best drummers of the lower east side. Overall, a great book, and one of my favorites.

For my YA reading book assignment, I read Make Lemonade, the first book in a three-part series  by Virginia Euwer Wolff. The premise of this book is that a fourteen year old girl, Verna LaVaughn, is babysitting for Jolly, a seventeen year old college dropout who is a single mother with two children.  Jolly has hit  rock bottom: she’s unemployed, her kids are wild, her dirty apartment is roach infested, and  the rent checks keep coming. LaVaughn also has her own problems to worry about, as she is aiming for college.  This book was YA for a number of reasons. The protagonist is a young teen who tells the story from her  point of view, and has to take matters into her own hands for the confused teen mother. It also deals with YA themes like teen pregnancy, poverty, rape, and a hard home life. A recurring theme is maturity: LaVaughn’s experience with Jolly helps her mature, and she has come of age at the end of the book. Another major theme is social class and what poverty does to people: both La Vaughn and Jolly are in bad situations partly because they are poor.

I enjoyed this book a lot, mostly because it wasn’t one of those books that you finish satisfied with an “Aaaahhh…” It was thought provoking, one of those books that make you seriously examine yourself and the world. I really liked the topics it touched on and their connection to the world: I don’t really think about teen pregnancy or poverty very much, so in a way this book was like a reminder of the bad things in this world. But it was also optimistic, since LaVaughn finds a way to overcome many of her problems. I enjoyed the character development: the way LaVaughn developed into a more understanding, stronger human being and the way Jolly became more put-together and loving. I would have to say my favorite thing about the book besides its introspectiveness and the character development would be how real it is. The book felt very real, and Jolly’s situation is a situation that many unfortunate people have to deal with today. Overall, I would give the book a nine out of ten, because I really enjoyed the characters, the realism, and the introspectiveness.

Gordon Korman’s Son of the Mob is a 262-page novel set in Long Island and told by Vincent Luca, a stubborn and humorous seventeen year old, whose relatives, especially his father, are members of the Mafia. Vince must deal with the violent and illegal actions of his family, while struggling with regular teenage issues, consisting mostly of school work and girls. Son of the Mob shares many of the themes and plots of a usual Young Adult book. It exhibits a teenager involved in a secret life, while trying to live a normal adolescence like any other youth. The story incorporates elements of family conflict, social concern, maturity, and sexuality. Vincent must learn to balance his devotion to his family and his social life beyond his home. This is extremely difficult because he does not want to alienate either his father or his girlfriend. Since the story is told from Vincent’s view point, he uses various slang and curse words as he deals with problematic events. Vincent’s narration contains sarcastic humor, while vividly describing the everyday life of a teenage boy.

In my opinion, Son of the Mob is a very enjoyable Young Adult book. Every night I read, I was hysterically laughing due to Vincent’s sense of humor. Even after I finished with the novel, I was still chuckling at Vincent’s amusing comments. Because of the content of this book, I have learned that sometimes, there is not an alternative but to accept the choices of those around you, especially family. In Son of the Mob, although the deeds of Vincent’s mob boss father interfere with Vincent’s social life, he cannot try to change the career of his dad. I would surely recommend this novel to any teenager experiencing a difficult social life, or coping with “girl trouble.” Korman has done a wonderful job!

The Year of the Secret Assignments, by Jaclyn Moriarty, is a book based on three girls who are best friends: Lydia, Emily, and Cassie. When they are given pen-pal assignments to a school in their town, the 3 friends go through an emotional and physical roller-coaster, involving: breaking into a school, lock picking, death notes, and quite a lot of kissing. This book is told entirely through letters, and later, e-mail. I believe, that this should be qualified as a young adult book. It has quite a lot of themes that are normally used in YA books; For instance, when Cassie is writing to her pen-pal, a boy named Mathew, he uses quite a few curse words. Another thing in this book that makes the grade for it as a YA book, is when one of the character’s father dies, the family almost falls into debt, and they have many financial troubles. The one thing different with this book from all other YA books, is that there is no main character, the story is told in sixths. But I believe that this book still makes the grade as a YA book, because there are allot of problems that a typical teenager would have.

My thoughts about the book, well I have plenty. First off, I really liked the humor in this book, there are really plenty of funny parts in this book. But what I thought was best about the book was how much I under-estimated it. What I mean by that, is I thought it would be just your average boring romance book, where girls fall head over heels in love with boys. That is not true at all, at one point, there was so much suspense that I thought I was going to die from it. (I almost did). I also thought that the characters were very varied and interesting, and you can even feel sorrow for one character the way Jaclyn Moriarty described her. But one thing I didn’t like was the swearing; It may just be me, but I have something against swearing; I just hate it. Just one thing to note about this book, was that when I was in the check-out line, several people said that I was reading a “Chick flick”. I think that that is severely untrue, because it was very in depth, and I loved it. Overall, I would give this book a nine out of ten, because I thought that the book was in-depth, and very well written. The only reason I didn’t give it a ten, was because of the swearing. I would recommend this book to everybody 12 and up, whether it be a “Chick flick” or not.

Touching Spirit Bear, is a YA book, about a boy named Cole who has been breaking laws for a long time. Both his parents dislike him and are Alcoholics. Towards the end of the book his mom becomes nicer. When he robs a store and starts bragging about it at school, a boy named Peter tells the police and Cole beats him up. He gets arrested and is given a choice between Native American circle justice and Jail. Circle Justice is when you are put on an island for a year and have to survive by your self. He chooses Circle Justice. I think this book qualifies for a YA book. I think this because first off it is 286 pages, and they have to be around 250 pages, he also tries to resolve things by himself and doesn’t want help for others. He also becomes more mature and responsible, for example at the end of the book Cole tries to help Peter over come the fact he became mentally ill after being beat up. I also felt some what uncomfortable at the end of the book. The themes of the book would also make it a YA book. First off it has some violence, not only does he beat up Peter but he also gets mauled by giant bear, the Spirit bear. The spirit bear is gigantic white black bear. Also he has a rite of passage because one of the people who takes him to the island is a Native American who has ways of making you more mature and to me what his ways are kind of like Rites of Passage. I really thought this book fit the YA category, because of the reasons above.

I liked the book because it gave me a lot to think about and was just a good book. It made me think about ways of calming yourself and what happens if your parents reject you and are alcoholics. I think one reason he was so mean and horrible to people was because he was rejected by his parents and had no one to tells him what to do. I would rate it 8.5 out of 10. I thought that if someone was like Cole it would show them that there is another way of life, which I think is one of the points of YA books.

Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Original Language: English
Originally Published in:
Setting: London, Englnd and Paris, France
Characters: Lucie Manette- Loved by three men but marries Darnay. Meets up with her imprisoned father, whom she thought was dead after 18 years. Charles Darnay- Former Noble man, charged for being a spy, marries Lucie Manette. Sydney Carton- Great Lawyer but has many vices. Falls in love with Manette whom makes him a better person. In the end, he makes the ultimate sacrifice for Darnay. Defarges- Revolutionaries, own a wine shop. Dr. Manette- Imprisoned for 18 years. Father of Lucie Manette.

Plot Summary:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness…” Set in Paris during 1775, chaos was evidently present; executions were popular, as was much violence. It was the best of times, for the French revolution to oust the aristocracy was about to happen, but it was the worst of times for the violent result of the revolt. The scene is set with a man named Jarvis Lorry riding in a mail coach. He receives a letter, which tells him to meet a young lady at Dover, he then says, “recalled to life.” Lorry proceeds on his journey, and meets with Lucie Manette a beautiful maiden, whom he tells that her father is not dead; he has been imprisoned for years, and now lives in Paris as a shoemaker. They both travel to Paris where her father is housed in a wine shop owned by the Defarges. Five years pass, and a man by the name of Charles Darnay is put on trial, and being charged for being a spy whom betrayed the English and gave the French and Americans information on the beginning of the American Revolution. However, he is saved by his lawyers appearance; they both look extremely alike; Darnay is acquitted of all charges, as it is argued that Darnay looks like many people and, and the witnesses could be getting him confused with another man. Three men from the trial, Darnay, Carton (Darnay’s lawyer) and Stryver (a lawyer) fall in love with one of the witnesses, Lucie Manette. Lucie chooses Darnay to marry, without the knowledge that he is a French noble men; Darnay could not tell Lucie that, as all of the aristocracy were getting beheaded because of the revolution. While Lucie and Darnay are married, Darnay’s uncle Monseigneur is murdered. He receives a letter from Gabelle to go to Paris. On his journey, he is arrested for being an emigrant. Meanwhile, in the Defarges wine shop; there is a spy present to see if they are revolutionaries. He can’t decide if they are, but at the side, Madame Defarge is knitting a list of whom the revolts are going to kill. Meanwhile, Dr. Manette, Lucie Manette, and a man named Pross travel to Paris because of Darnays imprisonment. Dr, Manette has much power, and gets Darnay released. To his demise, he gets thrown back in jail by the charge made by the Defarges. We learn that Dr. Manette was in jail for a witness of a rape, which happened because of Darnay’s family. Darnay is sentenced to death, but Carton, who is in love with Lucie, and inspired to do good deeds because of her, makes a plan. Carton goes into Darnay’s cell, drugs him and changes their clothes. Barsad carries Darnay out of his cell. Him and his family all flee. Meanwhile, Madame Defarge is looking for Lucie, but in her house is another person, Pross. Pross and Defarge have an argument and Pross accidentally shoots Defarge. Darnay and his family are all safe. In the end, Carton dies by means of the guillotine, in honor of Darnay.

Questions:

1) What are the names of the two men in love with Lucie Manette?

1. Charles Darnay 2. Sydney Carton

2) Why was it considered the best of times, and the worst of times?

In France, the reign of terror was happening. Although people thought it was the best of times because the aristocry was overthrown, but it was the worst of times, as there was mayhem; innocent men fell to the guillotine.

3) During the revolution, how did the revolutionaries kill the members of the aristocracy?

They used the guillotine, a machine that beheads people.

4) In the end of the novel, what is the ultimate sacrifice?

Sydney Carton sacrifices his life in honor of Darnay.

5) How many books is The Tale of Two Cities broken into?

3

Title: Dracula
Author: Bram Stoker
Original Language: English
Originally published: 1897
Setting: England
Characters: Jonathan Harker- an energetic smart businessman at the start of the book, but becomes a stern self doubting person. Mina Murray (Mina Harker) - Johnathan Harker’s fiancée and later to be wife. A good and kind and woman. Count Dracula- the main antagonist of the story. A vampire who stalks the night. Dr. Abraham Van Helsing- a genius scientist and the brain of the anti-Dracula group. Dr. John Seward- one of Lucy’s suitors. He runs an asylum which eventually becomes the headquarters of the anti-Dracula group. Arthur Holmwood- Lucy’s husband. After killing Lucy, he joins the band to defeat Dracula. Quincey Morris- an American who joins the battle against Count Dracula. Also one of Lucy’s suitors.
Summary: Dracula is a classical horror novel written by Bram Stoker in 1897. The book consists mostly of diary entries and letters written by various people. The story starts with Jonathan Harker going on a business trip to Count Dracula’s castle in Transylvania to help the Count with buying new real estate. When he arrives at the enormous isolated castle, he is gently welcomed in by a tall and old man, Count Dracula. However, after some time, he notices some strange things about his client. The count never seems to sleep, is nowhere to be seen in the day, and does not eat anything. Soon Harker finds that he is held captive in the castle and searches for an escape route. While looking for a way of escape, he is confronted by three young female vampires, the Wives of Count Dracula. Now desperate for escape, he makes a final effort while the Count was away. Meanwhile in England, we meet Mina Murray, Jonathan Harker’s fiancée, and her friend Lucy Westerna, who was just proposed to by three men. They take a vacation to a seaside town where a Russian ship is shipwrecked. The ship carried 50 boxes filled with earth from Transylvania which are delivered to their destinations. Shortly after, Lucy starts to show signs of a mysterious illness; she gradually becomes paler and thinner every day. Worried about her, they take her to Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. He realizes that her illness is caused by a vampire. He tries various charms to keep Lucy alive, but a wolf attack finally kills her. After Lucy’s death, Dr. Van Helsing reveals that Lucy has turned into a vampire herself. Arthur Holmwood, Lucy’s husband, John Seward, and Quincey Morris travel to destroy Lucy. Holmwood stabs her through the heart with a stake while she is asleep, and the four swear to kill Dracula. Back in England, Mina and Jonathan, now happily married, join the anti-Dracula force. Mina collects her husband’s diaries and gives them to Dr. Van Helsing who pieces together the clues. They come to the conclusion that the 50 boxes scattered across the land containing earth are the objects fueling Dracula’s power. They plan to purify each box with holy water and track him to the one in Transylvania. However, one of Seward’s patients lets Dracula in to the asylum, letting him prey on Mina. Mina starts her evolution into a vampire, and if they do not destroy Dracula in time, she will, like Lucy, will turn into a bloodthirsty vampire. The others hurriedly purify the many boxes, eventually driving Dracula into a corner and forcing him to flee to Transylvania. Traveling over land and sea, they finally catch him about to reach his castle. Quincey receives a fatal wound which eventually kills him, but they manage to destroy Count Dracula. The team returns to England. The story ends with Jonathan and Mina happily living life, and naming their child Quincey.
Questions:
Q. What is Jonathan Harker’s Job?
A. A solicitor
Q. What is the name of the shipwrecked Russian vessel?
A. The Demeter
Q. What does Lucy become?
A. A vampire, also called an un-dead
Q. In this book, what do wolves do?
A. Do Dracula’s bidding.
Q. How many boxes of earth did Dracula have in all?
A. 50

Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Original Language: English
Setting: London England now called Airstrip one, in the country of Oceania. The year 1984 and the years following it.
Originally Published on: June 8, 1949
Characters: Winston Smith, the protagonist. A man living in London works for the party and is an outer party member. Julia a woman that Winston meets from his work and has a forbidden love affair with. Big Brother, the party leader, no one knows if he actually exists. O’Brien, a spy working for the Party but tricks Winston into thinking that he is a member of a group of people working against the party: the Brotherhood.

Summary: Winston Smith is a 39-year outer party member living in London, in the one of the 3 countries in the world: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia. It is a totalitarian society where the government controls the past and present. Winston works in the ministry of truth where they edit history so that it fits with the party’s lies. Winston finds himself opposing the party subconsciously. He doesn’t like his job and the concept of the party. He bought a journal, which is illegal and writes things that oppose the party. He could be convicted of thought crime, which is thinking conspiratorial thoughts. He meets a woman who he first is afraid is going to turn him for his thought crime. Her name is Julia and she also works at the ministry of truth. Winston falls in love with her but love between party members is forbidden. They live in a room above Mr. Charrington’s junk store. O’Brien is man that Winston suspects to be opposing the party. O’Brien invites Winston and Julia over reveals to Winston that he is a member of the brotherhood. They are inducted into the brotherhood, but later, soldiers come into their room and arrest them. It turns out that O’Brien and Mr. Charrington were both loyal to the party and setting them up. Winston is taken to the ministry of love where they brian wash people who oppose the party. He tries to resist, so they take him to Room 101; the room where they meet their worst fear. Winston is afraid of rats, so they put rats in with him. He begs for forgiveness and tells them to do it to julia and not him. This is what O’Brien wanted. He is released.

Questions:

1. What are the 3 countries in the world at the time?
Answer: Oceania, Eurasia, and Eastasia.

2. Where does the story take place?
Answer: London, Which is in the country of Oceania.

3. How old is Winston?
39 years old.

4. What are proles?
Proles are the lowest society members. Not watched as much by the party, so they have more freedom.

5. What is a Telescreeen?
A two-way television that can never be shut off, so that the thought police is always watching everyone.

Title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austen
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1813
Setting: Longbourn. England. During Napoleonic wars (1797-1815)
Characters: Elizabeth Bennet: The second Bennet daughter and the most intelligent. Fitzwilliam Darcy: A wealthy gentlemen, master of Pemberley, Nephew of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Jane Bennet: First daughter, the most beautiful. Charles Bingley: Darcy’s wealthy best friend.

Plot Summary:

In Longbourn, England, five Bennet sisters live together with their parents. The Bennets are a very poor family, and all of the girls are single. Mrs. Bennet is a noisy and foolish woman, who wants all of her daughters to be married to rich and handsome men, unlike her husband who doesn’t care very much. The Bennets attend a Ball, where the oldest daughter Jane befriends the kind and wealthy Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth is sitting with a rich but rude and prejudiced man named Mr. Darcy. The two of them are not alike at all. Elizabeth has much pride in herself, even though she is poor, but Mr. Darcy doesn’t care how she feels about herself, he just cares if she is wealthy or not. As the story progresses Darcy and Elizabeth feel more attracted to each other. Of course distractions get in their way, a man named Mr. Collins, who is the Bennets cousin, comes to visit. He is a pompous clergyman, who plans to inherit Mr. Bennet’s money and property. Soon after his arrival he proposes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth immediately refuses his offer. Collins then successfully proposed to Elizabeth’s best friend Charlotte. Soon after Charlotte accepts, Mr. Darcy proposes to Elizabeth. Elizabeth refused proposal due to her own pride. More time passed and after a series of ups and downs, Mr. Darcy tells Elizabeth how he feels about her and proposes for the second time. This time Elizabeth accepts, and both her and Jane are married.
Questions and Answers:

Q: Where does the story take place?
A: Longbourn, England

Q: What are the names of the five daughters?
A: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Catherine and Lydia Bennet.

Q: Who are the two married couples?
A: Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Jane and Mr. Bingley

Q: Who does Mr. Collins propose to first?
A: Elizabeth

Q: Who demonstrates pride in the novel, and who demonstrates prejudice in the novel?
A: Pride=Elizabeth, Prejudice=Mr. Darcy

Title: The Importance of Being Earnest
Author: Oscar Wilde
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1895
Setting: London, England in the 1890s
Characters: The main two characters are Jack (Ernest) Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. Jack and Algernon, who goes by the name of Algy both use the same pseudonym of Ernest because their romances require upon it. Both their loves have always dreamt of marrying an Ernest, so in desperate measures they pretend their names are Ernest to please their loves. Jack is a serious gentleman, while Algy is the opposite being carefree, irresponsible, sardonic and witty. Jack’s love interest is Gwendolyn, the proper and “perfect child” of an over-bearing and protective mother, Lady Bracknell, who is also pretentious. Cecily, Jack’s ward and Algy’s love interest is a semi-foolish, young, and day-dreamy girl who is educated by the highly knowledgeable, Miss Prism. Miss Prism is deeply infatuated with Dr. Chasuable, the local priest.

Plot Summary: Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both fool their romance lovers to believing their real name is Ernest because with any other name their lovers will not marry them. They use the same pseudonym in the hopes of mistaking their identities to increase their chances of romance with the ones they love, but their deception does not get them very far before they are figured out. Jack goes by Jack in the country and Ernest in town. He loves Gwendolyn, the daughter of Lady Bracknell, who does not approve of them marrying. This is so because when she interviews Ernest (Jack) as a possible bachelor he tells her that he was found in a handbag in the cloak-room at Victoria Station by an old charitable man, Mr. Thomas Cardew, which is clearly unacceptable. Going against her mother’s wishes, Gwendolyn does not want to end her affection toward Jack, so she furtively sneaks to the country to be with him. In the mean time, Algeron becomes nosy about Jack’s personal life in the country, in particularly interested in Cecily, Jack’s ward. Jack forbids any type of relationship between them, but is surprised to find Algy pretending to be his younger brother, Ernest, so that he can come to see Cecily. Jack made up his “younger brother, Ernest” in the first place so that he could come to town whenever he liked. In the country, both Algy and Jack make appointments to be christened to the name of Ernest for their lover’s sake, however an unexpected visit from Lady Bracknell creates more mayhem. Lady Bracknell approves of the marriage between Cecily and Algernon, but Jack will not give his consent, being Cecily’s legal guardian, unless Lady Bracknell will allow him to marry Gwendolyn. This conflict is interrupted when Dr. Chasuable is about to see Miss Prism who is supposedly waiting for him in the vestry. Lady Bracknell hears that there is a Miss Prism and goes after her, thinking she knows her. The story unfolds that Miss Prism had put a baby of Lady Bracknell’s sister in a handbag and left it in a cloakroom at Victoria Station. Jack, in complete excitement believing he has found his mother is only disappointed when this is not actually the case. Lady Bracknell explains that Jack is the son of his sister and therefore the older brother of Algy. However, Jack still has to figure out his name. Lady Bracknell tells him he was named after his father’s Christian name, which she cannot remember. So, Jack looks up his father’s name in the Army Lists and finds that his real name is Ernest, proving he had not lied to Gwendolyn after all. Dr. Chasuble and Miss Prism embrace, Algy and Cecily embrace, and Ernest and Gwendolyn embrace. In the end, Ernest figures out the importance of being earnest.

Questions and Answers:

Q: What is the name of Algy’s “ill friend”?
A: Mr. Bunbury

Q: Who are 3 couples in the story?
A: Dr. Chasuble & Miss Prism, Cecily & Algernon, and Ernest & Gwendolyn

Q: What was Ernest born in?
A: Ernest was born in a handbag.

Q: What does Cecily call Ernest?
A: Uncle Jack

Q: What did Algy have Merriman, his butler, make especially on his Aunt Augusta’s account when she was visiting his flat?
A: Cucumber sandwiches

Title: The Wind in the Willows
Autor: Kenneth Grahame
Original Language: English
Originally Published: 1908
Setting: Most of the book takes place in a forest called the Wild Woods or in and by the river.
Characters: The main characters are Mole, Rat, Toad, and Badger. Mole is a calm and well adapting animal who is not used to all of the business that goes on above ground. Rat is a caring rodent who loves the river and gladly takes Mole under his wing. Toad is the richest in the group, and although he usually means well Toad will become obsessed with one specific thing only to drop it, unfinished, the next week for something else. Badger, although grumpy, is wise and has the most common sense and knowledge of the bunch.

Plot Summary:
The book begins with a character name Mole cleaning his underground home for the spring. Mole is a good-natured and curious creature that wanders out for some fresh air only to fall upon and into the river, which he has never seen before. By the river Mole meets Rat, who lives in the water, and they become friends. Rat is also kind enough to teach Mole to swim and steer his boat. Rat and Mole run into Toad who has recently given up his obsession for boating and changed it to horse-drawn caravans. Toad gets into an accident when a car hits his caravan and cars become his next obsession. Mole desperately wants to meet and befriend Badger, one of Rat’s friends, who lives deep in the heart of the Wild Woods, known as dangerous place. One day Mole explores the Wild Woods but becomes hopelessly lost during the cold winter. Rat goes looking for him and once they have found each other they stumble upon Badger’s house. Badger, although usually impatient and unfriendly, gives them both dry clothes and food to eat for the night. Later on in the book Badger visits Mole and Rat with concerns of Toad and his dangerous habit of getting into crashes with his new car. Mole and Rat decide to put Toad under house arrest, but soon Toad escapes and steals a car. After getting into a car crash Toad is sentenced to 20 years in jail. After Toad is put into jail Rat visits Otter and discovers Otter’s son is missing. Mole and Rat goes on a journey to find Otter’s son. On their journey the animal god Pan, who is the one to give them the place to find Otter’s son, visits Mole and Rat. While Mole and Rat are on their journey Toad gains the sympathy of the jailer’s daughter who helps him escape from jail by dressing him as a washer-woman. Many chapters describe Toad’s expedition fleeing from jail still in disguise until he arrives at Rat’s house. After Rat informs Toad that his home, Toad Hall, has been taken over by weasels, ferrets, and stoats from the Wild Wood him, Toad, Mole, and even Badger drive away all of the animals from Toad Hall. Toad then realizes how great his friends are and undoes all his wrongdoings by making amends and the four friends live happily ever after.

Questions and Answers:

Q:Does Rat teach Mole how to swim?
A:Yes, right after he meets him and then he teaches him to steer a boat

Q:How long is Toad sentenced to be in jail?
A:20 years

Q:Who helps Rat and Mole find Otter’s missing son?
A:Pan, an animal god, helps them find Otter’s son

Q:Who helps Toad get out of jail?
A:The jailer’s daughter

Q:In the end, are Toad’s home invaiders driven out?
A:Yes, Toad, Rat, Mole, and Badger drive them away

Title: Brave New World
Author: Aldous Huxley
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1932
Setting: London, England in 2540 and the southwestern United States
Characters: Bernard Marx is an Alpha plus and a social outcast. He is shorter than the average male Alpha, and the society does not appreciate differences. This makes him the object of much taunting and also makes him dislike himself. He is not as promiscuous as everyone else, which again makes him an outsider. His only friend is Helmholtz Watson, an outsider because of his incredible intellect. Bernard is fixated on Lenina Crowne, a Beta-plus worker at the Hatchery. She tries to conform to the ideals of the world they live in and does not particularly care about Bernard Marx, and only goes out with him to be proper. John the Savage is a naturally-born man who Bernard imports to England from a Savage Reservation in America. He loves Lenina and Lenina finds herself liking him a little too much herself.

Plot Summary: The book is set in a world where “perfect” stability has been achieved: babies are not born, old age has been conquered, and death is no longer terrible because family no longer exists. People have no parents, as they are fertilized in a lab and grown in bottles. Lenina Crowne works in one of these labs. Bernard Marx works up his courage to ask her on a week-long vacation to America. They go to a Savage Reservation, where people grow old, believe in God, and give birth naturally. Lenina finds this disgusting, but Bernard is fascinated. Before he left, his boss related that he went with a girl to the same Reservation but lost her. Bernard finds her these years later, old, fat, and a mother. At the end of the week, he arranges to bring her and her son back, where she is considered disgusting in civilization. She resorts to taking soma, a hallucinogenic drug that gives her on “holiday” for days at a time. Her son, John, becomes a popular sight. The Savage, as they call him, creates a sensation, and Bernard finds himself at the center of society because he is John’s guide in the “brave new world.” This goes to his head. Helmholtz Watson, Bernard’s only friend, and John end up meeting and strike up a better understanding than Bernard ever did with either of them. John introduces Helmholtz to Shakespeare, whose works are banned. Then John’s mother dies. His display of emotion in the hospital is shocking to witnesses. In turn, he is appalled by their indifference and tries to wake them up to a better world. He does this by taking their soma and throwing it from a window. Helmholtz and Bernard are called in to help the situation, but instead Helmholtz begins to throw more soma out the window and Bernard simply backs away. As punishment, the Savage, Helmholtz, and Bernard are brought before Mustapha Mond, the Controller for Western Europe, who tells them that they will be sent to an island to live in isolation. Bernard throws himself at the Controller’s feet and blames the other two. The Controller says later that if Bernard had any sense “he’d understand that his punishment is really a reward” (271). On the island they will meet the most interesting people in the world; they will live with free and independent thinkers. But the Controller decides to not send the Savage to the island and to continue exposing him to civilization. The Savage has other ideas. As Bernard and Helmholtz are being transported miles away, the Savage heads south to a deserted lighthouse where he inflicts punishment on himself by whip and sleepless nights, repenting of his sins. He is plagued by people. Then Lenina arrives. He lashes her with his whip. The next day, devastated by what he has done, the Savage hangs himself in the lighthouse.

Where does Brave New World get its title from?
Brave New World gets its title from the lines in The Tempest that Miranda speaks upon seeing people other than Prospero, Ferdinand, and Caliban for the first time.

Who do “civilized” people honor?
“Civilized” people honor Henry Ford. Sometimes they honor Freud instead, as they think that Ford and Freud were the same person.

How do babies come into the world?
Babies are not born. They are grown in bottles in a factory setting and when they are mature enough they are “decanted.”

How are people classed?
People are classed as Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons. Within each caste are pluses and minuses as well.

How are children taught how to think and behave in the society?
In their sleep, voice recordings under their pillows play sayings over and over. This is a method called sleep-learning.

What is a Bokanovsky Group?
It is a set of up to ninety-six identical twins produced from stunting the growth of only one egg and sperm.

Alison Kaplon
English B, Dawson
Library Assignment
Feldman

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Brontë
Original Language: English
Original Publication Date: October 16th, 1847
Setting- England, around the 19th century
Characters:
The main character’s name is Jane Eyre, sometimes known as Elliot. Jane is an orphan with no known relations; after she spent around 8 years at school, she became the governess for a man named Mr. Rochester. Mr. Rochester is a wealthy man who takes an interest to Jane; he becomes very important as the book goes on. Grace Poole is an odd servant who, which no one knows much of. Mr. St. John Rivers is of a small importance and helps Jane through hard times.

Plot Summary:
When Jane was a child she was mistreated and abused by her 3 cousins. Her aunt never understood her unfortunate position and eventually sent her to school. The school provided a harsh life for Jane and she spent around 8 years there: 2 spent as a teacher. She then went on to become the governess for a wealthy man, Mr. Rochester. Her pupil was a young French girl names Adèle. Jane encounters Mr. Rochester on his way to the manor. Mr. Rochester speaks to Jane every night during his daily visit with Adèle. Soon, Jane becomes attracted to Mr. Rochester, after a short absence from the manor Mr. Rochester brings home many guests for a fortnight. Jane soon becomes aware that Mr. Rochester seems to be in preparation of marrying one of the women he has over. After many strange events most of the occupants leave. Soon after they have left Mr. Rochester proposes to Jane, Jane happily accepts now knowing that he never had any true feelings for the other woman. While about to get married a man claims that Mr. Rochester has been previously engaged and has a living wife. Mr. Rochester does not deny the existence of his wife and shows all of the men his lunatic wife. Shortly after Jane flees from the manor unable to be near Mr. Rochester knowing he is married. For a short period of time she is a beggar without any possessions or money, she finds shelter at a friendly house, Moor House, she spends many months there. The head of the house, St. John Rivers, finds her a suitable job as the mistress of a school; soon she found out her distant uncle left her a large fortune. She decides to share it with her newly found cousins: Diana, Mary, and John. Within the next few months John proposes to her wishing for her to go to India with him to teach children; because he has no real love for her she denies him. So she goes to find Mr. Rochester, she soon finds out that Thornfield manor has burn down and Mr. Rochester has become blind and lost a hand; unfortunately, his wife has also died. She finds him in a rural area and the get married. She and Mr. Rochester live for many years, and eventually he regains sight in one of his eyes.

Trivia Questions
Q) Who was Jane’s good friend in the Lodwood School, and what happened to her?
A) Helen Burns, she died of an illness at the school.

Q) What is the name of Jane’s pupil, and how does Mr. Rochester feel about her?
A) Adèle, Mr. Rochester finds her annoying.

Q) Why did Mrs. Reed house Jane even though, she didn’t want to?
A) Because she swore to her husband on his death-bed

Q) Who first told Jane Mr. Rochester his full name and what is it?
A) Adèle, Mr. Edward Fairfax Rochester

Q) What did Jane wear on her first meeting with Mr. Rochester?
A) A black silk dress, with a pearl ornament.

Q) What was the name of the Manor where Jane lived as the governess?
A) Thornfield manor

Q) During the party what did Mr. Rochester pretend to be?
A) A gypsy

Q) What was the name of the woman whom Mr. Rochester nearly married, and what was her opinion of Jane?
A) Miss. Ingram, she disliked Jane.

Title: Animal Farm
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1946
Setting: Manor Farm
Characters: Mr. Jones, owner of the farm. He is an unkind man who often gets drunk.
Snowball: A powerful and kind pig
Napoleon: Another Pig
Molly: A horse
Boxer: A horse

Summary:
There are many animals on a farm somewhere called manor farm. All the animals are under fed and treated poorly by an often drunk man named Mr. Jones. He is in charge of the farm and the animals make no choices. The animal’s true opinions are manifest in their ability to talk and express themselves.
One marvelous day on manor farm, snowball, a very strong pig decides that all the animals should start a rebellion against Mr. Jones and his inequality. They decide that all animals should be equal so he makes a list of rules about the duty of all animals on the farm. It is very important that every animal not break the rules or they will be punished. This is a metaphor for communism that some leaders supported at the time. Everyone on the farm became happier than they ever had. A Large Pig named napoleon decided that he should be leader so he convinced everyone to rebel against snowball. Once he seemed to be in charge, the farm became very unhappy and they were working much more. Snowball is accused of killing another animal on the farm. The animals consider killing him for this offense because no animal was supposed to kill another animal on the farm. Snowball escapes from the farm for the rest of the book.
Napoleon breaks many rules as he has become leader but he insists that the rules have not been changed. The animals are not very smart so they listen to him. This is the end of the book, which leaves us to think about the morals bestowed within it.

Questions

1) What is the Moral of this book?
The main moral of this book is that although communism is told to be successful in a society, it is impossible to have complete equality.

2) Why did the animals rebel against Mr. Jones?
It is because they were tired with his shananigans and him mistreating them

3) What did neopoleon do to gain power?
He used his persuasion to get the animals on his side

4) Why did George Orwell give the animals the ability to talk?
It is because their true feelings can only be expressed through their words which are given to express their opinions

5) What was snowballs idea?
It was that all animals should be equal

Title- The Call of the Wild

Author- Jack London

Original Language- English

Original Publishing Year- 1995

Main characters-
Buck is a strong dog who lives a comfortable life until he is sold to be a work dog. Buck struggles at first, but learns quickly. He is cunning and smart. He soon learns the men have power over dogs.
Spitz is Bucks rival. He is the leader of the pack of dogs until Buck arrives. When Buck challenges Spitz’s leadership, their fighting begins. Buck knew from the start, that there would be a battle to the death, and there was. Buck kills Spitz and assumes his position.
Hal and Charles are men who bought Buck. They treat then curly and do not know anything about sled dogs. Their team of dogs eventually dies down to 5 dogs, but buck is set free.
John Thornton is the man who saves Buck. After being abused and whipped, John cuts Buck loose from the sled and saves him. Buck feels obliged to John because he saved his life. He is a kind and generous man.

Major Plot Points- Buck is taken away from his comfortable home and sold to work. At first he struggles with the harsh living conditions, but as time progresses, he becomes the leader of the sled team. He is sold from one man to another, never really getting to know them. Buck becomes worth a lot of money because of his strength, determination, and work ethic. He undergoes a lot of beating and whipping until he figures out the man is more powerful and he should not fight them. He then obeys his sled driver, but also creates problems for them. He becomes enemies with the leader of his sled team, Spitz, and ends up killing him. He then takes his place, as the leader of the team. Their team becomes a fast, well working team, until they are sold to other people. Hal and Charles are inexperienced sled drivers and force the dogs to work beyond their limits. Many dogs die from starvation and being overworked. Finally, the band of dogs dies down to 5 dogs. They are all tired, overworked, and malnutrition. They meet up with a man named John Thornton. He sees that they are not fit to keep on going, but Hal and Charles crack the whip. When Buck refuses to move, they hit him harder. John steps in and frees Buck. Buck feels tied to John because he saved him, so he stays with him. They move to the wild, but Buck feels propelled away from John. He wanders into the woods for days at a time but one day when he comes back, he sees John dead. Indians had come to their camp and kill him. Enraged, Buck lunged at their throats, ripping them open, and the Indians fled. Buck then goes with the wolfs that he had met before. He funs off into the woods with them. Every year, he comes back and mourns the death of John Thornton.

Questions
What was the name of Buck enemy?
Who saves Buck?
Why is Buck sold?
Who was Bucks last owner?
What were the names of the abusive sled drivers?

Answers
Spitz
John Thornton
To work as a sled dog: carrying mail, delivering things.
John Thornton
Hal and Charles

Title: The once and future king (The sword in the stone)
Author: T. H. White
Original Language: English
Originally published in: 1938
Setting: England, 12th century
Characters: Kay-Son of Sir Ector, eventually becomes a knight, is brought up with Arthur; Arthur (Wart)-Adopted son of Sir Ector, Adopted brother of Kay, main character, eventually becomes King Arthur; Merlyn-Great magician who lives through time backwards, tutors Kay and Wart; Sir Ector-Father to Kay and Wart, ruler of a great manor.

Plot Summary:
At the age of about eight Arthur, or better known as Wart, would be tutored at day and would learn to joust and hunt at night. He lived a normal life for a boy of his status. His brother was Kay, the really son of the king of the manor while he was the adopted son and therefore would never become the ruler of the manor unlike Kay. Because of this and because of the fact that Kay was older Wart was treated with less respect than Kay. After a while the tutor went crazy and was sent away. To the two boys nothing could be better their days were filled with running around and playing all day, but soon their father decided it would be time for the boys to have a new tutor but the trouble was he couldn’t find one. One day Wart got lost in the forest and after walking for a while more he found a little hut with an old wizard out side. After introducing himself to the wizard he found out that the wizard, named Merlyn, lived backwards through time and was to be his new tutor. After returning to his estate with Merlyn, Wart and Kay had one more month of freedom before starting their tutoring. Merlyn grew fond of Wart and Wart grew fond of Merlyn. Merlyn sent Wart on many adventures and Wart went on many adventures of his own including: Getting turned into a fish, bird, badger; and other animals; sent him on a journey with Robin Hood to kill a griffin, and many more wonderful adventures. Eventually they grew up and after eight years of being tutored with Merlyn, Merlyn had to go, Wart had to become a squire and Kay a knight. Right after Kay finished his initiation as a knight and had Wart as his squire and just as Merlyn left, the king died. Out side a church in London an anvil was set on a rock with a sword going through the anvil into the rock and on the rock and sword it said that who ever could pull this sword from the stone would be the rightful king for the previous king had no heir. Also at this same time in England there was a tournament for knights and Kay, Sir Ector, and Wart all went to it. When they got to London they stayed in an inn and the next morning they went to the tournament. When they got there Kay realized he had left his sword at the inn and ordered his squire, Wart, to go find a sword. Wart did not know about the deal with the sword in the stone and as he was riding back to the inn he saw it and pulled it out with ease and brought it back to Kay. Kay realized what it was and told everyone that Wart was the new king. He got many gifts and party and as he was sitting in his room Merlyn appeared and told him that he had dressed as a beggar and put King Arthur as a baby on the door step of the manor so Sir Ector would adopted him and that all along Merlyn new he was actually the son of the King.

What was the first animal Wart was turned into? A fish
Who battle King Pellinore and then became his best friend? Sir Grummore
Who told Sir Ector and Kay about the sword in the stone? King Pellinore
What type of animals was Merlyn’s talking pet? An owl
Who goes hunting for Sir Ector when the King’s hunter comes? Robin Wood

Title: Fahrenheight 451
Author: Ray Bradbury
Original language: English
Originally published in: 1953
Setting: Futuristic city in America

Characters: The main characters name is Montag and he is a futuristic fireman in a city in America. His whole life he has been manipulated by the government and the fire department to think that burning books is a perfectly normal thing to do. His wife’s name is Mildred and eventually Mildred calls the fire department on Montag. Although this character dies quite early in the book she has a big inpact on Montag’s decision to stop burning books and instead read them and figure out the meaning of them. Her name is Clarisse.

Plot: At the begginging of the novel you find out that the book Fahrenheight 451 takes place in the future. In this futuristic American society the job of firemen is to burn books instead of put fire’s out. Montag is a fireman in the future and seems a bit oblivious to the reason why firemen are burning books. At the beginning of the novel Montag meets a girl named Clarisse who has just moved to the house next door. She seems very odd to Montag but she is one of the main reasons why Montag starts questioning the fire department. While burning a house that has been “contaminated” with books Montag see’s that a women in the house will not leave and she evtually kills herself. This really sparks Montag to investigate the reason why the old lady was so pasionate about her books. You find out later in the novel that Montag had stolen a book from the burning house. This book happens to be the bible. You also find out that Montag has a whole stash of books in his apartment and his wife eventually ends up calling the fire department because of his book stash. After the Montag and his fire crew arrives at his house, Montag is told to burn his own house. Instead he burns his fire captain. He ends up escaping from his fire crew and going to an old professors house. This old professor tells Montag to follow a stream that leads to another city. As montag is wading down the river he comes across four homeless people. They are former professors. Just as Montag is eating with them enemy bombers bomb the city. Montag and the professors are knocked on their back but they survive. They start walking towards the city were they plan to teach books to the citizens.

Q: Who is Clarisse and why is she important?
A: She is a strange girl who moved in next to montag and she influenced him to start reading books.

Q: What is the fire captain’s name?
A: Captain Beatty

Q: Why is the books name Fahrenheight 451?
A: Because that is the tempature that books are burned

Q: What was the professor’s name?
A: Faber

Q: What did Montag do to the bible?
A: He ripped it up.

Title: The Picture Of Dorian Gray
Author: Oscar Wilde
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1890
Setting: London, England.
Characters: The main character’s name is Dorian Gray, a cultured, wealthy, and impossibly beautiful young man. Basil, a recognized artist, who paints the picture of Dorian Gray. Lord Henry, a famous wit who enjoys scandalizing his friends by celebrating youth, beauty, and the selfish pursuit of pleasure. Syble Vane, a young actress who works in the London slums, she and Dorian fall in love but he later leaves her when she quits her acting career, she then kills herself. James Vane, Syble’s brother who wants revenge on Dorian for being the reason for Syble’s death.

Artist Basil Hallward meets Dorian Gray who soon becomes Basil’s inspiration and the base of his artistic imagination. When the novel opens, the artist is completing his first portrait of Dorian Gray. Basil admits to his friend Lord Henry Wotton, that the painting reveals too much of himself in it and refuses to exhibit it. Lord Henry becomes disappointed, claiming that the portrait is Basil’s masterpiece. Dorian arrives at the studio, and Basil reluctantly introduces him to Lord Henry, who he fears will have a damaging influence on young Dorian. Basil’s fears were realized when Lord Henry praises Dorian’s youth and beauty and warns how quickly his good qualities will diminish. Lord Henry had spread his cynicism onto Dorian. Worried that his most impressive characteristics are fading day by day, Dorian curses his portrait, which he believes will one day remind him of the beauty he would have lost. Dorian begs, if only the painting could suffer from his aging. In an attempt to soothe Dorian, Basil gives him the portrait. Dorian later receives a book from Lord Henry, this book describes the wicked actions of a nineteenth-century Frenchman; it becomes Dorian’s inspiration and he becomes more sinful. Dorian lives a life devoted to exploring new sensations and ignoring the results of his consequences. After eighteen years, Dorian’s picture has become hideous with all the corrupt actions he has performed, word has already spread around London and these actions. But, Dorian’s beauty and youth manage to still allow him to be accepted by his friends. On a dark night, Basil comes to see if all the rumors are true. Basil begs to see the painting and is frightened by the sight of it. He then asks Dorian if he repents. Dorian, furious with basil, starts a fight, which soon ends with the death of Basil. After a few more years, Dorian wants to mend his life and look s at the painting, which make shim regret all of his decisions. Dorian picks up the knife he used to stab Basil Hallward and attempts to destroy the painting. There is a crash, and his servants enter to find the portrait, unharmed and showing Dorian as a beautiful young man. On the floor, there lay a lifeless body. An old man, horribly wrinkled and disfigured, with a knife stabbed into his chest.

Q: As the years pass, what happens to Dorian’s body?
A: Nothing, he remains young and beautiful.

Q: Why does Basil not wish to exhibit his portrait of Dorian?
A: He believes the paiting show to much of himself inside.

Q: How does Lord Henry first meet Dorian?
A: Basil introduces them at his studio.

Q: What is Sibyl Vane’s occupation?
A: She is an actress who working at the London slums.

Q: What happens when Dorian attempts to drive a knife into his portrait?
A: The painting goes back to it’s origional state, and Dorian dies.

Title: Les Trois Mousquetaires (The Three Musketeers)
Author: Alexandre Dumas
Original Publication Date: May-June 1844
Original Language: French
Setting: Renaissance France and England [Paris, Gascony, Meung, La Rochelle (a city to the east of France), London]
Characters: The main character’s name is D’Artagnan, or of Artagnan, and is never given a first name throughout the story. He is a prudent young noble from the French province of Gascony, who aspires to be in the elite corps of guards to the king of France himself, the Musketeers. There are the three inseparables of the King’s Musketeers, Athos, a wise veteran of the Musketeers, Porthos, a large, strong man who isn’t exactly the brains of the three, and Aramis, a clever man who wants to be a priest, but is instead a Musketeer. There is also the noble Monsieur de Tréville, captain of the King’s Musketeers, the grand King Louis XIII, the wicked Cardinal Richelieu of France, the Queen, Anne of Austria, the Duke of Buckingham, the beautiful Mme Bonacieux, and the wicked Milady de Winter.

Plot Summary: Not yet twenty, the young nobleman D’Artagnan sets off on a journey to Paris in hopes of joining the famed Musketeers, the heroic legion that the King so highly favors and the wicked Cardinal Richelieu despises. Along the way he runs into trouble in the town of Meung, and loses an important letter he has for the captain of the Musketeers, M. de Tréville. When he arrives to the house of M. de Tréville, he briefly meets the three inseparable musketeers. After his audience with the captain, he rushes to go home and annoys all three inseparables, scheduling a duel, which was illegal at the time, with all three at separate times. He and the three musketeers are caught dueling by four of the Cardinal’s guards, the rivals of the Musketeers. The Cardinalists challenge the musketeers to a fight and the musketeers plus D’Artagnan overcome the Cardinalists, bonding the four to become closest of friends. After many other adventures and small fights with Cardinal Guards, D’Artagnan is admitted into the Guards under the command of Monsieur Des Essarts, a legion one below the Musketeers. He also falls in love with his landlord’s wife, Mme Bonacieux, the right-hand women of the Queen, Anne of Austria. After thwarting a plot against the queen and nearly losing his friends, he is sent along with the three inseparables, to a siege on a rebel city called La Rochelle. There he uncovers plots against him and the Duke of Buckingham, whom he has befriended, by the wicked Milady de Winter. He and his friends once more thwart the evil plots of Milady de Winter and the Cardinal, although at the cost of his lover, Mme Bonacieux, and the Duke of Buckingham. When D’Artagnan returns to Paris he is admitted into the guards, and is promoted to lieutenant by his former enemy, the Cardinal.

Questions:
Q:Who are the three inseparable Musketeers?
A:Athos, Porthos, and Aramis

Q:Who is the main character?
A:D’artagnan

Q:Who are the rivals of the Musketeers?
A: The Cardinal’s Guards

Q: Who is the Captain of the Musketeers?
A: Monsieur de Tréville

Q: What is the famous quote that the four main character’s exclaim?
A: All for one and one for all!

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Original Language: English
Original Publishing Year: 1847
Main Characters:
Jane Eyre: the protagonist, a kind headstrong woman
Mr. Rochester: Jane’s lover early on in the book they are almost wed until she discovers he has another wife, later on in the story they are actually married.
Adele: The French girl Jane is governess to
Mrs. Reed: Her cruel aunt
John Rivers: Her cousin who proposes to her
Setting (Time/Place/Historical Events, etc.): English countryside 1800’s

Jane Eyre a captivating love story published in 1847 was an immediate classic, and it is not hard to tell why. The story, which takes place In England, begins with Jane a young orphan who lives with her harsh Aunt, Mrs. Reed. Soon Jane begins at Lowood a charity school run by a cruel man, Mr. Brocklehurst. Some years later Jane decides to become a governess and applies for a job at Thornfiled where she soon becomes governess to a vivacious French girl named Adele. There she meets her master Mr. Rochester a kind man who continually invites her. Rochester talks with him. Soon strange things start to happen at thorn field, Mr. Rochester’s bed catches fire, Jane hears footsteps and a man is stabbed. Slowly Jane begins to fall in love with Mr. Rochester but she must struggle with the act that he is of a much higher class then her and he seem to be in love with a beautiful woman. When Mr. Rochester proposes and she agrees to marry him but, on their wedding day Jane discovers that Mr. Rochester has another wife who is insane and locked away in the attic, this accounts for the strange thing this accounts for the strange thing that were happening at Thornfield. Jane escapes and becomes poor and ill thank fully she is taken in by Diana, Mary and John Rivers. They nurse her back to health and find her a job teaching poor children at a village school. There she discovers she is actually cousin to the Rivers and that she has inherited 20,000 dollars from her uncle, which she divides evenly between herself and her cousins. Presently John Rivers proposes and asks Jane to go to India with him. Jane agrees to go as his sister or cousin but not as his wife but he insists she goes as his wife. Jane flees to Thorn field where she discovers Thorn field and Mr. Rochester’s wife burned in a fire. Since Jane left Mr. Rochester has become depressed and now he barely leaves the house. When she returns to Mr. Rochester she helps him become well again and regain partial sight. They are married and live happily ever after.

What are the names of the three famous Bronte sisters? Anne, Charlotte and Emily
Why are Mr. Rochester and Jane unable to be married in the book? Mr. Rochester already had a wife
How is Jane related to the people who take her after she flees Mr. Rochester in later on in the book? Cousins
What is the name of the girl Jane is governess to? Adele
Who is Miss. Ingram? The woman Jane believes Mr. Rochester loves

Shakria Grant
Date: 4/15/08
Classic book summary

Title: 1984
Author: George Orwell
Original language: English
Original publishing year: 1949
Setting: Oceania 1984 or 1985 no one’s really sure
Main characters: Winston Smith is the main character we follow his quest as he fights against Big Brother. Julia is Winston’s co-worker and adulteress. O’Brien, also Winston’s co-worker, but Winston is not sure if he’s a friend or foe. Big Brother is the leader of Oceana.

Winston Smith is a man living in Oceana. Throughout the story Winston discovers his true feeling for his leader, Big Brother, and writes down his thoughts. Sadly in the world of Big Brother nothing could ever be kept a secret when so many things are watching and listing to you, like telescreens and the thoughtpolice. Winston knows that what he did was thoughtcrime and knew that there was nothing to do about it. Winston also has an adventure with Julia as they commit adultery together. Winston also trusts O’Brien who tricks him. At the end of the story you’re still not sure if O’Brien is helping Winston or hurting him. 1984 depicts a scary future where everything has changed. 1984 is book that would want you to know what happens after every page, chapter, and part.

Question & Answers

1) What Ministry is the scariest?
A: The Ministry of Love
2) What’s Winston’s greatest fear
A: Rats
3) What are the three slogans of the party?
A: War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength
4) What is the drink that Winston drink all throughout the book?
A: Victory Gin
5) What’s the last sentence of the story?
A: He loved Big Brother.

Main Characters: Oliver Twist, Fagin, Bill Sikes, Mr. Brownlow, Mr. Bumble, Rose Maylie

Setting (Time/Place/Historical Events, etc.): London, England. 19th Century

Author: Charles Dickens

Original Language: English

Original Publishing Year: 1838

Oliver Twist is born to his mother who immediately dies after giving birth. He is brought to a home where he is raised until Mr. Bumble, the beadle, takes him away. He goes through a series of failed apprenticeships and finally runs away. He is picked up by John Dawkins who brings him to the house of Fagin, the evil thief. Oliver stays there, not realizing that everyone is a thief until Fagin sends him out one day to go along with John Dawkins and Charley Bates. These two boys steal from an old man in front of a bookshop and when Oliver sees this, he runs away in fright. Although Oliver did not steal the things he is chased by many shouting, “Stop thief!” until he gets caught. He is brought to court where he is almost found guilty until the owner of the bookstore sets the story straight. Oliver is taken in by Mr. Brownlow but caught again and brought back to Fagin and the evil Bill Sikes. Sikes takes Oliver on a robbing expedition where they are caught. Sikes runs away but Oliver cannot and is taken in by nearby people. The daughter Rose and her mother are very sweet and take him in. Meanwhile a man named Monks searches for Oliver. Oliver reunites with Mr. Brownlow and it is discovered that Monks is Oliver’s half brother who is trying to keep the family fortune from Oliver. Sikes commits a murder and hangs himself, while Fagin gets sentenced to jail. Oliver goes to live with Mr. Brownlow.
Questions:

Q. Name one of Fagin’s apprentices A. Charley Bates, John Dawkins (Dodger) or Noah Claythorne

Q. When being chased, what causes Bill Sikes to be discovered? A. His dog

Q. What is the name of the house Fagin runs? A. Three Cripples

Q. How are Mr. Monks and Oliver related? A. They are half brothers

Q. What is the nickname of John Dawkins? A. The Artful Dodger

This is an example of the assignment of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, based on a former entry from a student:

Title: A Christmas Carol
Author: Charles Dickens
Original Language: English
Originally Published in: 1843
Setting: London, England. Victorian England: Christmas Present, Christmas Past, and Christmas Future.
Characters: The main character’s name is Ebenezer Scrooge, just known as Scrooge. Scrooge is a grumpy man who lives by himself and with no Christmas spirit. Tiny Tim, a little boy who is a cripple and would probably die without proper care or monetary support, is also an important character. Jacob Marley is Scrooge’s business partner who died years ago. Bob Cratcit is Scrooge’s clerk. There are also the three Christmas Ghosts.

Plot Summary: On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a wealthy banker who despises the holiday cheers and anyone who is poor, receives a visit from the ghost of Jacob Marley, who was Scrooge’s partner before he died seven years ago. Marley was very greedy during his lifetime but he does not want Scrooge to turn out like he did so he comes to tell him that Scrooge will be visited by three spirits: The Ghost of Christmas Past, The Ghost of Christmas Present, and The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The three Ghosts show Scrooge his past, present, and future Christmases, and try to make him less greedy and more giving. One of the places/times he visits is his impoverished clerk Bob Cratchit’s house. There he sees Cratchit’s youngest son, Tiny Tim, a crippled boy with a generous loving heart. Even though the family has little, they have a lot of love and care for each other. Tiny Tim’s famous line is “God bless us, every one.” This scene of a poor family that maintains so much love and care for the world really touches Scrooge’s cold heart. Seeing his own funeral where no one will mourn his death also greatly affects him. In the end the Ghosts succeed in changing Scrooge and turning him into a loving, giving man with Christmas spirit.
Questions and Answers:

Q: What is Scrooge’s most famous quote when people wish him Merry Christmas at the beginning of the story?
A: Bah! Humbug.

Q: Who is Jacob Marley?
A: Ebenezer Scrooge’s dead business partner

Q: When was the story of A Christmas Carol taking place?
A: 19th Century England - 19th Century London - Victorian London

Q: What is the famous quote from Tiny Tim?
A: God Bless Us, Everyone.

Q: Who was Scrooge’s ex-fiancée?
A: Belle

The Silver Kiss is a wonderfully intriguing book by Annette Curtis Klause filled with mixed emotions and odd characters. As soon as I started this book I knew that I would like it. The tone is mysterious and personal at the same time, and that makes it all the more interesting. The main characters are Zoe and Simon. Zoe is a 14 year old girl trying to live with the fact that her mother is dying and her father appears to be drifting away just as her mother is. Her very best friend Lorraine is moving away and her fragile life seems to be falling apart. Then, this mystifying boy named Simon steps into the picture and makes everything more complicated, even though he is the only one who really understands her. The twist on this story is that Simon is a vampire. So of course this completely changes Zoe’s impression of him. Simon is mad at himself when Zoe finds out his secret. It’s blow his chance at being her friend. Simon always felt like he was in the shadows, in between life and death, but when he met Zoe finally he felt real. Now she was gone. This books deals with Zoe and Simon’s relationship while try to figure out their true place in life.

Looking for Alaska, an award winning novel by John Green is an outstanding and compelling YA book. This book revolves around the life of Miles Halter or “Pudge”, a teenage boy who has an obsession with famous last words, and thinks his life is a just a big boring nonevent. But Miles wishes to seek the “Great Perhaps”, –last words said by the famous poet François Rabelais– and this moves him to go to the Culver Creek Boarding School, which is a place that is anything but dull. This book is interesting, for the story’s style is like a diary, but it is not written with dates, but it is written as if the whole story is a countdown to something larger. Looking for Alaska is definitely a YA book; it fits most, if not all of the elements that scholars have considered to make a book a YA. One large element is that the main character Miles goes through many psychological and physical challenges, many of which that can probably be related to the real life of a teenager. These components state that this novel can be classified as a Young Adult book.

I absolutely loved this book. Though there were many hidden details at the start of the book, when I had gotten to the core, it became a novel that could not be let go of. Put aside some of the slightly disturbing scenes, it was a fabulous story. The sort of cut-off ending created a moment for me to think more deeply about this book, and how I would react if I was in a similar situation. I definitely recommend it to people, but it might not be for everyone. I give it five stars!

When 15-year-old Ruby’s Mother dies, she is forced to move to L.A. to live with her famous father. She has to leave behind her boyfriend, Ray, and her best friend, Lizzie. When Ruby met her father she could not understand why he had left her mother, he seemed like a perfectly good parent. Later on she discovers her father became homosexual a short while after she was born; and in fact he had come to visit her when she was young but both of Ruby’s parents decided it would be better for Whip, Ruby’s dad, not to come back anymore. This book is written in a poetic manner, each page has a title and they have versus. I enjoyed being able to know and understand everything that was happening at each exact moment. This was an excellently written book, it was very enjoyable. I thought they didn’t explain many things in the book. For example they would introduce a new person make a cliffhanger then never explain what happens next. This can easily fit into the YA category for many reasons. Ruby is a teenager and the story is written in her point of view. The whole story revolves around this independent and intelligent girl. This book is a little longer then a normal YA book, it has 268 pages, but every page has a small amount of writing. Through the book Ruby becomes more aware of her place and everyone around her, she matures and grows to like her new home, despite all the things that were taken away from her. Sonya Sones wrote this book reflecting her memories of L.A. that is why it is so incredibly well written novel.

Catcher and the Rye, written by J.D. Sallinger, is the story of Holden Caulfield. A teenager who is trying to discover who he is in New York City. This book can be read by adults and teens but it could still definetly be classified as YA. This famous book captures a teenagers emotions in a way that had never been done before. This book can be classified as that because

o Holden is a teenager
o He is telling the story the way he sees it (first person)
o The problems he goes through many teenagers can identify with
o Holden is smart and mature
o The novel it is 288 pages
o The Catcher in the Rye can be funny, sad and evoke a lot of emotion
o Alienation from one’s society or group – being an outcast
o In the book Holden deals with sex
o He is discovering who he is, who he wants to be.
o He escapes to New York

These ar just a few of the reasons why this book is YA. I love this book for it’s deep writting and strong capture of a teenagers mind. After reading Catcher and the Rye you can clearly see why it is a classic book for all time.

After The First Death is an excellent book. Although it has many immensely disurbing plots, it is still beautifully written and suspenseful. Each character has a unique personality and has a very different outlook on the situation at hand. Robert Cormier uses death, treachery and most importantly interpretation in this novel. Interpretation seemed the most striking theme of all. It all came down to interpretation, who interpreted what in which way. This might seem petty, but all the events came to pass on the terms of subjectivity. Treachery, one of the other important themes, was significant because it was interpreted differently by different characters in the book. The two main characters are Miro and Ben. Miro is a terrorist or “Freedom Fighter” as he calls himself in the book. He is fighting for a country he has never seen. Ben is the son of a general who is caught up in this terrorist act. When Ben is asked to deliver a package to the terrorists, he also gets caught in the line of events that follow. They are almost the exact opposite, but through their differences there is almost a similarity. They both strive for the same thing, but have different means of achieving it. They come from different backrounds, different places, but through all this they are both teenagers with similar interests. There other characters who are almost complimentary of Miro and Ben. They are characters who effect the decisions, thoughts, and ideas that Miro and Ben have. There is Ben’s father the general who Ben is constantly tries to impress with his patriotism, and there is also the bus driver, Kate, who questions the ideas Miro has become familiar with. One could say this is a YA book, but it just does not strike me as one. It has plots that contain themes far beyond the expectations of most other YA books I have read. I highly reccomend it for anyone who is interested in a disturbing, yet wonderful book.

-Nick Barber

For my YA assignment I read The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. It is a book about a boy in a highschool with strong traditions, and what happens to that boy when he defies the traditions. The main characters are Jerry Renault and Archie. Jerry Renault is a young boy starting the highschool, whose mother has just died. Jerry refuses to take part in a traditional chocolate sale and suffers the social consequences. Archie is the leader of a secret organization at the school called the vigils that essentially run the school. He is responsible for most of the hardship that fall upon Jerry. The book talks about how hard it is for people especially teenagers to be different. The poster Jerry keeps in his locker characterizes this. “Do I dare disturb the Universe?” Although the book had an interesting plot, I found the writing a little bit monotonous, and it took me a while to really get into the story. I would recommend reading it, but it is not one of my favorite books in the world.

The Chocolate war is a YA novel because:
1. Almost all the characters, and all of the main characters are teenagers.
2. The book deals with teenage issues, especially social ones.
3. The dialogue has slang and swears and is supposed to sound like teenagers.
4. The book is told from the first person and the person telling it is a teenager.
5. The main character matures over the book.

Anatol Klass

The Year of Secret Assignments is an amazingly captivating book by Jaclyn Moriarty. At first the book was confusing because there were so many characters to keep track of, but once it was figured out who was who everything was much easier to understand. I loved this book because once I thought I had gotten to the climax, there was a twist and then another. This book was exciting and kept me reading it. The main characters are Emily, Lydia, and Cassie, three best friends who are in the 10th grade and live in Australia. Their all girl school, Ashbury, decides to have a pen pal program with their rival all boy school, Brookfield. Each of the girls are paired up with a boy: Emily with Charlie, Lydia with Seb, and Cassie with Matthew. The story is told through the letters they write to each other and how they lead to super secret assignments, Cassie going crazy, hidden identities, and a little law breaking.

The Year of Secret Assignments is a YA novel because:
• the main characters are teenagers
• dialouge reflects teen speech, including curse or slang words
• events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers
• the events are told from a first person point of view of a teenager
• the main characters have become more mature by the end of the novel
Some themes in the book are:
• Alienation from one’s society
• Meeting a challenge (psychologically)
• Dealing with death
• Dealing with political injustice

I personally did not like this book. Even though it wasn’t badly written or boring, it just wasn’t my type of book. My favriote books are classics like The Wizard of Oz, and girly books like The Princess Diaries. Books where the main charecter goes off to a happy land of Oz, or where a girl becomes a princess. In Gingerbread a 15 year old girl has to get an abortion! It was just such an edgy book. In my opinion this book was also somewhat sad. This girl dressed in all black, got pregnant, had an abortion, couldn’t tell her mother about it, and had a horrible relationship with her family. She was dumped by her boyfriend Shrimp, she bearly knew her father till she was 15, and she thought that her doll, Gingerbread, was alive. She was such a sad case that it creeped me out. It made you think about how the different types of unfortunate can range from this, to being an orphen, and both can make you sad. I did think it was well written, intresting, and really made you think. But I would not read it again.

The earth, my butt, and other big round things by Carolyn Mackler is a great story about being who you are. The main character, Virginia Shreves, has to go through many troubles to find her right place in her perfect family. Virgina had always felt like an outsider in school and in her home until two words were said that changed her forever.

Why it’s YA book

• The main character is a teenager
• It’s told in the voice of Virginia
• She has to deal with being over weight (a problem most teenagers go through)
• Virginia becomes more mature at the end
• It’s less than 250 pages (244)
• She starts as an out cast
• She learns it’s awsome just to be her self
• She uses slang and curse words constantly
• The book makes you smile and laugh but at parts makes you gasp and cry

By Shakira Jasmine Grant  English Section B

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time was a very interesting and exciting book. The book is about a boy who is writing a book and he tells his very interesting life. He is a very interesting character not only because he knows every prime number up to 7,057 but he also has autism. The boy, Christopher, is a very wierd kid, he hates the color yellow and loves the color red. If he sees 3 yellow cars in a row its a bad day, 3 red cars a good day. Even through christopher is a bit wierd he tells a very interesting story and overall I thought it was a great book
I thought this book was most definatly a YA novel. It fits everything that YA novels are suppose to have. The main character is a teenager and he tells the story from the first person. The events that happen in the book might not really happen in real life but they would for a teenager with autism. Overall I thought that not only it was a great book but also a great YA novel.

The book Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes is a very intriuging book. It is told looking back and looking forward. Eric Calhoune tells the story from first person, one main reason it is a young adult book. Eric Calhoune looks back on the days when he was extremely fat and of his friendship with a girl named Sarah Byrnes whose face is badly burned. The two stuck together and survived socially in the late years of middle school and the early high school ones. The story starts out very convulutedly with constant flashbacks to the past. At the time of the story Eric has many friends, is not fat and is an excellent swimmer. Sarah Byrnes however has stopped talking. Stopped cold. The book gives you liitle snippets of the past and you have to piece the story together. The writing style is extremely good, it uses this flashback effect and also provide a large amount of background color, fully developing all of the characters. There is a class that Eric attends called Contemprary American Thought class. It tackles issues like abortion, shame, and religon. The author uses it as a device to make some very interesting points. The story evolves into trying to figure out what actually happened to Sarah Byrnes, dealing with present issues, and trying to solve the main conflict, Sarah Byrnes relaionship with her father. The book is quintessential young adult dealing with school issues like horrible bullying and friendship. The book is 215 pages and written in a fast paced style. Eric is in his Senior at high school, so he is a teenager. The time that is described in this book defines Eric as a human being, so yes he does mature. The book definitely imitates language using curse words and slang. It is definitely a young adult book and a good one too. By Patrick Donovan, English B.

Alison Kaplon Dawson Eng. B

Looking for Alaska is an intriguing novel about a boy, Pudge, who goes to boarding school, and tries to be liked while doing well in school. His roommate, The Colonel, and his friend, Alaska, are both intelligent like him, however; together they and two others enjoy a rebellious life at the boarding school; smoking, sneaking around, drinking, and pranking. Pudge is very attracted to Alaska as most are, but she doesn’t like him back. So he just does things to keep their friendship. Everything is fine until a startling event blows Pudge and the Colonel away. After this they go through a painful journey trying to find Alaska and themselves.

Why it is a YA book

• Pudge and his friends are all teenagers
• It is told by Pudge
• Pudge starts drinking and smoking because his friends do it.
• A lot of cursing
• Graphically describes porn and oral sex
• Pudge and the Colonel become more mature throughout the book and find themselves
• The book can make you cringe, frown, and maybe smile, but mostly cringe and frown.

The Year of the Secret Assignments is a book by Jacilyn Moriatay is a great book that both boys and girls can relate to. It is a book written in a series of letters, which makes it fun to read. There are lots of funny letters, personally I love Lydia. She is kind of weird but really knows how to express her self. In an attempt to bridge the gap between the rich Brookfielders and less-fortunate Ashbury kids, a penpal club is arranged with the intentions. The children are witty and smart but the letters are a little to well written and almost unbelievable at times.

Tangerine by Edward Bloor is a really good novel about a kid named Paul Fisher. Paul has really thick glasses, because, supposedly, he once stared too long at a solar eclipse. Paul struggles with people making fun of him because of his thick glasses, his brother, Erik, being mean to him and bullying him with his friends, and his tendency to have flashbacks to scary moments in his life. However, he has a great talent in playing soccer, despite his visual impairment. Then, Paul and his family move to a development in Florida. He tries to join the soccer team at his new school, but the coach kicks him off the team, even though he could see fine, for his eyesight. He tells Paul that there would be insurance problems if he was on the team. This makes Paul quite angry. Then his school is destroyed by a sinkhole, and he has to switch to a catholic school called Tangerine middle school. Here, he has a little trouble fitting in, but he is able to play soccer and have a good time. He makes some good friends on the soccer team, and they respect him, despite his thick glasses. Then, his brother, Erik, hits Paul’s friend Tino. Luis, Tino’s brother, tries to confront Erik later, and he gets hit on the head by Erik’s ‘minion’, Arthur Bauer. This eventually kills Luis, and his brothers (Tino included) go after Erik and Arthur. I really like this book, and I encourage everyone to read it.
~Owen~

Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous, is about a girl name Alice, and how being a teenager is one of the hardest times in life. This book is one of the most teenlike YA novels I have ever read. I liked it a lot, and thought that at times the plot was too sad. The reason why I liked it was because of the adventure. Throughout the book Alice travels and comes into some treacherous incidents. Overall I give it a 3 out of 5.
Main Characters:
Alice’s Parents - Alice’s parents are nice people who have all faith in Alice.
Alice - Alice is a nice girl who is troubled throughout the book.
Joel - Joel is a kind boy who develops a small relationship with her.
Chris - Chris, Alice’s good friend who is the only one who really sees Alice for who she is.
The language is not supposed to be great since the book is a fraud. The cover of the book says…based a real diary…when it was always a hoax. The author said it was a real diary of a girl named Alice, when there was no such person. The author intended the writing to be mediocre to fit the style of a teenager’s writing.

Elements:
o The main character is a teenager named Alice.
o In the book Alice is the narrarator (since the book is ni diary form)
o During the book there is a big problem with drugs and money. Alice becomes an addict and has trouble letting go.
o In the book there is a huge amount of cursing. During some of the more graphic chapters, the book deals with sex and anger.
o Alice is smart at the beginning and the end of the book. During the middle she is so dazed with drugs that her academic studies fall down. (Most of the book deals with the summer so there isn’t a lot of school)
o The novel is short, and is 185 pages.
o Alice, when being addicted to drugs, takes matters into her own hands by moving out of the house with her friend.
o At the end of the novel Alice has realized that what she had done was terribly wrong. When she lays off the drugs, some of the meaner girls start planting drugs in her own belongings.
o Alice becomes self-aware and responsible for her own life.
o The story makes me feel sad at the end. (SPOILER) After her grandparents die she is found dead. This made me realize that if you are having problems, you should go to an adult.

Themes
o Alice is alienated from almost everyone at the end of the book. All of her friends betray her and try to pretty much kill her.
o Alice is faced with the challege of drugs. She overcomes these in the end of the book.
o Alice is an outcast in the end and is very highly excluded.
o There are a lot of sex references in the book. Alice is forced to have sex with someone or her drugs will be cut off.
o There are three deaths in this book. 1. Her grandmother 2. Her grandfather 3. Alice
o There is a lot of peer pressure in this book. In one scene Alice subconsciously knows that her drink is spiked but drinks it because of the pressure.

Charlie Panek (C.P.) English A.

The Book I read is called The Curious Incident of The Dog in The Nighttime by Mark Haddon. It is about a 15-year-old autistic boy named Christopher living in England. He finds his neighbors dog murdered in their own backyard. It is a Young Adult novel for many reasons. One is that Christopher takes it into his own hands and tries to solve the mystery himself. Another is that it deals with the death of his mother and also contains a lot of curse words. I defiantly think that it qualifies as a YA book, but I think that the author just added the curse words to make it qualify more. Also the story is from the view of Christopher, who is a teenager. I liked the book, but I think that it gets a little annoying after a while because Christopher is autistic and he doesn’t speak normally so it might give you a headache. He doesn’t fully understand verbs, for instance he says. “We did chatting.” Also, he goes off on tangents about random things like constellations and math problems. Other that that, I liked the book a lot. The plot is really good and it has many interesting twists. From what I know about autistic people, I think that the author did a very good job of portraying Christopher.

The book i read is called Speak.  Speak is about a girl named Melinda in her first year of highschool.  She has a bad experience at a summer party that involves her calling the police and crashing the party.  Because she crashed the party all her old friends aren’t talking to her.  The rest of the book is about Melinda’s struggles and problems with being an outcast and having a very big secret that she can’t tell anyone.

This book is a Y.A novel because of these reasons:

o The main character is a teenager.  Yes
o The events are told from a first-person point of view of a teenager.  Yes
o Events and problems in the plot are related to teenagers.  Yes
o Dialogue reflects teenage speech, including slang or curse words.  Yes
o The teenage main character is usually perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, mature, or independent.  Yes
o The novel is short, rarely more than 250 pages.  Yes
o The main teenage characters tend to take matters in their own hands and try to resolve conflicts themselves.  Yes
o The main characters have become more mature by the end of the novel.  Yes
o The main character becomes self-aware and responsible for his/her own life.  Yes
o The story tends to make the reader uncomfortable, rather than happy, and thus challenges the reader’s minds and sensitivities.  Yes

It also deals with being a social outcast and sex.

I thought this book was a good Y.A book, however I didn’t like it because I’m personally not a big Y.A fan.  This book was well writen, but a little too depressing.

Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin is about a teenage girl, Liz, age 15, who dies. The story is about her after life. I think that this is a YA book because it talks about Liz’s difficulties being dead while she is a teenager. In the book she has a lot of teenage problems, like most YA books. There is not a lot of profanity in the book, but there is some. In Elsewhere your age goes backward, so she will never get to do all the things she wanted to do. This makes Liz not have an open mind. Liz acts like a regular teenager, except for the fact that she is dead. She thinks that being dead is horrible even though it might not be. She only cares about her problems and is very oblivious. When she hurts somebody’s feelings she doesn’t even realize it. The theme of this book was Liz dealing with her death. Her family and friends had to deal with it too but she was probably the most devastated. Throughout the beginning of the book Liz wanted to go back to earth and be with her family and friends. She hated elsewhere and hated all the people there. By the end of the book Liz matures and realizes that everything is not always about her. I think that this book taught Liz a lot about responsibility. I liked this book a lot. I read it really quickly because I thought it was really interesting. I liked it because it was really different. It wasn’t like most of the YA books I have read. Liz was in Elsewhere, a place where dead people are, with her grandmother who is now 33 since time goes backward. I thought that it had a strange plot, and yet I still liked it very much.

When I first picked up the book Son of the Mob it seemed to me like an a really interesting story because it was about a kid named Vince who’s dad is a mafia leader and his girlfriend’s dad is an FBI agent trying to track his father down. It was about his struggle against who he was while trying to trying to maintain a good relationship with an FBI agent’s daughter. As the story goes on Vince finds out many things about his father, himself, and his place in the world.

This Book does fall under every aspect of the criteria of being a young adult book.

-Vince was a teenager (he was 17)

-The story is told from his view of the world (first person)

-He is dealing with the issues of being the son of a gang boss and a relationship with an FBI agent’s child

-The book is relatively short, being around 200 pages

-In the end, he matures and understands where his place in the world is

Even though the plot was a really interesting idea, the author could’ve made the characters develop more because most of the characters were very bland and predictable. Also, they didn’t change much throughout the story. Even though it wasn’t the best book ever, it was entertaining in the end.

The Earth, my Butt, and Other Big Round Things is a book that I really enjoyed. It is about a girl named Virginia Shreves and she is considered ’fat.’ This book is about her struggles with her weight, family, and friends. Her and Her older brother, Bryon has many struggles with their relationship after he does something so bad he gets kicked out of his school. Virginia’s best friend, Lydia, has just left for Walla Walla; so she has to survive school with no friends, which is very hard for her. This book contains the basic drama that you go through when you are a teenager; the popular skinny girls, where to sit at lunch, and being overweight and looking different. It seems to Virginia that her whole family besides her is slim, brilliant, and impossible to live up to. Virginia also deals with love, and even though the guy seems like he likes her; he might just be like that when they are in private. Virginia has a lot of issues that she has to deal with and some of them can change her life.

The things about this book that makes it YA are… The main character is a teenager. The events are told from a first-person point of view of a teenager. The events that happen to Virginia are events that happen to teenagers. To writing is in the way a teenager would talk. The book was short only 246 pages. Virginia tries to resolve conflicts by her self even if it is a very big problem that she will never be able to solve. Virginia becomes a lot more mature and aware at the end of the novel and makes it clear that even though she didn’t resolve all of the problems she did the best she could. Virginia is an outcast which, is a fact in most YA novels.

The book Spellbound is about a 16-year old girl trying to get a real start in life. After having a baby, droping out from school, and not having a job, Raven, the main character, must now turn her life around. After her sister tells her about a program that will help her get into college and will pay scholarship money for 4 years. Wow, what a break! In the end she wins the bee, overcomes some adversity, and learns you can never give up on life.

The reasons this book stands out as a YA novel is because it has about 180 or so pages, is about an adolesent, and has some sort of crude language and overcoming of something.

I liked Spellbound because it is a real story. When you read it you will understand it, and get into the story, and ask yourself how could she get out of the ghetto? How can she go to college without a high school degree? Just believe in her and you will succed.

Hope Was Here is about a girl named Hope and her life. We meet Hope when she gets her first waitressing job at the age of 14. It then brings us three jobs later as she and her Aunt Addie are boarding up the Blue Box Diner in Brooklyn which was the greatest diner and Brooklyn but is now boarded up and closed. After writing “Hope was Here” on a place in the diner, a tradition Hope has done in every place she has left, Hope hops into the car on her way to Mulhoney, Wisconsin to work at a diner with a man named G.T. Stoop who has recently been diagnosed with Lukemia. On the way there Hope thinks about con artist Gleason Beal who tricked them into all their money and ran away. Hope also thinks about her mother, an amazing waitress who left Hope with Addie when Hope was prematurely born and named her Tulip (which Tulip legally changed to Hope at twelve years old), and her father who even her mother does not know. Hope has moved many times so she is used to it now, but this move will be different then any before. Hope works as a waitress at G.T.’s diner, Welcome Stairways where she meets many different characters. The big surprise is that almost immediately after Hope and Addie get there G.T. decides, against all odds, to run for mayor against the nasty, tricky and selfish Eli Milstone, who will do anything to stop them.

Hope was Here is catagorized as a Young Adult book because:

- Hope is a teenager

- The events are told from a first-person point of view of a teenager

- Hope deals with the issues of love and sickness

- The book is only 186 pages
- Hope learns a lot of lessons by the end of the book

-Hope matures by the end of the book

I really enjoyed the book Hope was Here. It manages to tell a hard story to hear while still being a fun, light book. Hope has a lot to deal with but while dealing with it, it is nice to read about her interesting personality. All the descriptions of food made me really hungry!

“Why mess around with Catholicism when you can have your own customized religion? All you need is a disciple or two. And a god.”

Godless is mainly a book about the teenage Jason Bock and his questioning of religion. The book manages to deal with religion in general without criticizing one particular belief. While also addressing the bigger religions, Hautman, the author, includes the little “religions” that make everyone unique. Jason’s mother, for instance, is convinced he has some “exotic and possibly terminal disease.” Her mind magnifies everything, a swollen thumb suddenly becoming an early symptom of cerebral palsy. “She has this enormous book describing every illness known to man, from nail fungus to cancer of the eyeball. She reads it the way some people read the Bible.” (12) Although Hautman never actually describes anyone reading the Bible, it is clear how avidly Mrs. Bock devours each ghastly medical fact.

Shin, Jason’s nerdy and withdrawn (perhaps slightly disturbed) best friend “thinks science is sacred. He invokes science as if it were the name of God.” (7-8) He keeps a tank of gastropods in his room, which he cares for, and in his own words, is their god. He provides their food, water, changes their temperature, and controls their light. Later, when Shin becomes obsessed with Jason’s new religion of worshipping the Ten-Legged One (the town’s water tower) he lets his precious snails die. This is only one example of how great Jason’s influence over Shin is–and he doesn’t even realize it.

I liked this book because I could easily relate to it. Although I have not had any experience nearly so drastic as what happens one night on top of the water tower, I still question all religions and in third grade I also created my own. I think that is the main reason why I enjoyed this book so much. The writing style was typical but carried the voice of a slightly bored teenager very well. It was very much as if I were simply a part of Jason and could know what he felt without being directly affected. The setting never really entered in to the story except to give me a sense of the “valley” being isolated and a community of its own: a sense of there being nothing outside of it. This was an interesting take. The teenagers and grown-ups lived in their own little world that was overseen by the water tower. Whether Hautman created the effect purposely or not it was very striking and made me like the book more.

The characters had a range of opinions, appearances, and qualities that rounded the book and made it more realistic. There were several people I know who are just like certain characters from the book. This also made the book more alive for me because I could vividly picture the characters, even those whom I do not know the likes of. As for the plot, I cannot decide whether it is plausible or overdone. It is simply possible. On a scale from one to ten I would probably give the book an eight, mostly because of the many interesting ideas but not because of the writing. In general I do not think that YA books are good for their writing.
The book is certainly a YA book by any measures. First of all, the main character and all secondary characters are also teenagers. Secondly, the story is told from the first-person perspective of Jason Bock. His problems and questions as a teenager are all expressed, mainly focusing on his doubts about his parents’ religion, but also focusing on his feelings towards Magda Price. There is not too much cursing, but the characters have distinct ways of expressing themselves, like Magda’s constant “omigod” and the generally ever-present “like.” Jason Bock is sometimes mature, but usually blends seamlessly with his friends; he basically fulfills the qualities that define a teenage main character because of his extraordinary independence. He alone started the religion and did not need anyone’s, let alone his parents’, coaching. The novel is 198 pages long, or rather short, again qualifying it as a YA book.

In a way the Chutengodians try to take matters into their own hands by creating their own religion and rebelling against the stale religion of their parents. By the end of the novel they are more mature and probably will not try such a venture again. Jason has let Chutengodianism drop, and although he has not yet found his own religion he knows he will. He has realized how much he can influence his friends and what the consequences might be. In this respect he is more self-aware and responsible than before. The book made you think and did not let you relax or lean back; it might even be offensive to a very devout Catholic. All this alone would be enough to qualify it as a YA book, but a quick overview of its themes would also convince the reader. Most obvious of all, there is the psychological challenge Jason must face against his parents and the town in general when he refuses to be a Catholic. Alienation ties in to that, especially at the end of the book. His concerns about religion are what eventually cause family issues, another YA theme. Jason’s self-perception alters throughout the book, from seeing himself as a hulking body six feet tall to a Chutengodian with a religion but no faith.

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen, is a book that deals with a fifteen year-old girl Colie, who tries during the summer to overcome her past years of being ridiculed. It is definitely considered a YA book because the main character is a teenager, it is a first person narrative, there is usage of profanity, the book is short, there are conflicts, and because by the end of the book Colie is able to find and like herself. Also within Colie’s problems she tries and wants to deal with them herself. The main theme of the book is Colie trying to forget and put aside her memories of being treated as a “fat girl”, a typical outcast in her school. Also another theme is that fitting in is not as easy as it seems. This is so because when Colie finally loses weight, in hopes of becoming a new person and being accepted, the mean girls at her school only tease her more saying she’s a slut. It’s only then when Colie goes to stay with her aunt that things start to change for her. Throughout the book Sarah Dessen uses Colie as an example of many girls that do not fit in because they are different. She demonstrates that even when girls who are not necessarily cool and take the initiative to try and fit in they are immediately made fun of for thinking they could be different and are ignored. It’s the typical scene of middle school where everyone has their own cliques to stay with and the people who aren’t in one group do not have a place to fit in and are alone. In the book the text tries to tell the readers that if you are ever in a situation where you are not accepted you should just let yourself go. The most important thing is to try and be confident and believe in yourself, because no one else will. The text explains that everyone is a caterpillar waiting to become a butterfly because everyone has the potential to be something greater, but that you have to make it there yourself. Overall I really enjoyed this book because it was modern and easy to relate to and comprehend. It had a clear plot, good characters, and even though it was a little slow it was fun to read.