Olivia

Third Trimester Book Review: __The Diary of a Young Gir____l__ by Anne Frank

 “ //I hope I shall be able to confide in you completely, as I have never been bale to do in anyone before, and I hope that you will be a great support and comfort to me.”// For the third trimester, I read __The Diary of a Young Girl__  written by Anne Frank during the Holocaust. It is a non-fictional novel, about a Jewish young girl and her family who are in hiding during World War II.  I thought the book told a good story. The was definitely believable because the Holocaust was a true time in history and it sadly did happen. It is memorable because it was a true story and no one will ever forget this time in history. Anne Frank’s diary will keep being read by thousands of people all over the world. Once and a while my mind did wander, but only when their wasn’t a lot of action going on.  The story takes place in the “Secret Annex” located in Holland during 1942. It was different to read a book that does not take place in the Untied States or that far back in history. Nor does it make the book more exciting because the main theme is not that cheerful, a teenager and her family in hiding from the Nazi’s during World War II. Although, it was interesting to learn about things you can and cannot do while in hiding. The “Secret Annex” did play an important role because you could understand what it was like being in hiding. It helped when Anne described the annex during her diary because if she would talk about a something or a room you could understand it. The conflict for the Franks and the Van Daan’s were two Jewish families that had to try to go into hiding or else they would have been off to the concentration camps right away and would have died sooner. Anne Frank was happy with the things she had, she wasn’t complaining. I believe people should be happy with what they have and think about other people in other countries who do not have as much to access. In addition, I would give <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">__The Diary of a Young Girl__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> by Anne Frank a four out of five stars. I gave the book four stars because I enjoyed reading her diary and the things she went through, but some parts did not interest me that much. I believe anyone really who is interested in reading about a child in hiding during World War II, would enjoy this novel. Anne Frank had no idea her father, if he survived the Holocaust, would find her diary and start publishing it as a book, she just wanted someone to talk to. To me, that’s what makes the story special. Lastly, I would like to leave with the last line from the novel, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">//“If I’m watched to an extent, I start by getting snappy, then unhappy, and finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and what I could be, if... there weren’t any other people living in the world.”//

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> here is a link where you can purchase the novel: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Diary-of-a-Young-Girl/Anne-Frank/e/9780553296983?r=1&cm_mmc=Google%20Product%20Search-_-Q000000630-_-The%20Diary%20of%20a%20Young%20Girl-_-9780553296983

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Sec ond Trimester Book Review: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__ The Outsiders __ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> by S.E. Hinton

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> “When I stepped out into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home...” The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is derived from a true story when a teenage girl’s close friend was jumped coming home from a movie. She was upset and terrified. This made her start writing her story. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The book told a great story. The plot was very believable, there are many gang fights around the world and the book was memorable, because I always remember books that I enjoyed. The novel was also developed because I thought the characters developed in many ways. The characters grew confidence and bravery. They also changed their physical appearance. For example, Ponyboy and Johnny had to cut and bleach their hair, to disguise themselves from the police. My mind didn’t wander that much because I was very focused on the book, especially during the more exciting parts. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Overall, the conflict of the story is the feud between two gangs, the Greasers and the Socials, or the Socs. They are always wanted to fight each other. However, throughout the book there are many small problems. One problem started when the Socs found out that Ponyboy and Johnny had been hanging out with their girlfriends. The Socs did not like to hear that, one of the Socs tried to drown Ponyboy in a fountain. Johnny was furious, so he stabbed the Soc and Ponyboy was free. Then, they both realized the gang member was dead and they ran for their lives, hoping that they wouldn’t be caught. S.E. Hinton made it very real, like I was there seeing it happen. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> During the novel, there were many surprises, some not surprising at all and others were a huge shock. There were many chapters that ended with cliffhangers, such as when Johnny died and also when Dally was shot and ended up dying. I was always thinking, what would the book be like if Johnny and Dally never got hurt and died? Many questions came up while I was reading The Outsiders. I thought the dialogue between the characters was very believable; the characters talked like people do in real life. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Therefore, I would give The Outsiders a four stars out of five stars. I really enjoyed this book. Actually, I enjoyed it very much; I thought there was a lot of action and something breath-taking was always going on. I loved how the author added in the little shockers during the book, which made you really think. I believe most young-adult readers would enjoy this book. I thought it was neat that S.E. Hinton started writing The Outsiders when she was in high school.

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">here is a link to buy the book online: <span style="cursor: pointer; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">First Trimester Book Review: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__My Sister’s Keeper__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">by Jodi Picoult

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> For the first trimester I read My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. It is a phenomenal novel about a 13-year-old girl named Anna Fitzgerald. Anna’s older sister, Kate is suffering from Leukemia. She was born to help and save her sister. Whenever Kate is sick and she would desperately need blood, tissue, or organs, it would be up to Anna to donate them to Kate. The book ended with Brian Fitzgerald saying to his wife, Sara, “Sweetheart, she’s not here. It’s the machine keeping her body alive. What makes Anna Anna is already gone.” So sad. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> This book told an amazing story. The plot is definitely memorable, it has such a strong message and I will remember this story for the rest of my life. It was not hard at all to concentrate on the story because I was always wondering what was going to happen next. My mind did wander when I was reading, but it was only about the novel and what was going on at that point in the book. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The story takes place several places such as, different characters’ houses, the hospital, the fire station, the law office, court, and other small settings. The novel took place in the past at times, but mostly the book was told in present day. The setting does not help make the story more exciting. I don’t think the setting plays an important role for the characters or to my understanding of the novel. It was still a remarkable story. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">I thought it must have been so hard as a mother for Sara Fitzgerald, one child suffering from Leukemia and the other suing you. Sara and Anna really connected to Anna when they all wanted to go to the mall. But, Kate didn’t want to but Kate didn’t want to go because she did not want everyone staring at her and everyone thinking she was ugly and a freak. Sara then goes into the bathroom and takes an electric razor and shaves all of her hair off her head and then Anna does the same. That was so sweet of Sara to do, so her daughter didn’t feel different from everyone else. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> There were many surprises in the story. Many different things made me cry such as, finding out that Anna was suing her parents for the rights of her own body, when Kate’s boyfriend Taylor, who made her so happy, dies, and at the end when Anna dies in a car crash. Most of these surprises in the novel were very sad and traumatic and to me, very moving. Some of the sections in the book ended with cliffhangers, like near the end of the story, when Judge DeSalvo asked if anyone else had anything else to say and the section ended with Anna saying, “I have something to say.” That made me so surprised and left me wondering, I had know idea what she was going to say- she doesn’t want to file through with the law suit? <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> Overall, I would give My Sister’s Keeper, a five out of five stars. I thought this was an outstanding book with a live changing plot. It always kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it. It was so sad at the end when Brian got a call at the fire station about a car crash and when he got to the scene, he sees in the car, Campbell Alexander in the driver seat. Then notices his own daughter in the passenger seat with some head injures. I was so sad when I found out that Anna, Anna Fitzgerald the main character, died of fatal head injury when her head forcefully hit the windshield. This was truly the best book I have ever read in the 12 years of my life.

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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">here is a link to buy the book online: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Summer Reading Book Review: Class Book: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__The Wave__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> by Todd Strasser

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The Wave by Todd Strasser is a historical fiction novel that is a based on an incident that took place in a high school history class in 1969, in Palo Alto, California. Ben Ross, the senior history teacher wants his students to understand the life in Nazi Germany, by following Hitler and the Nazis. Ben Ross starts the classroom experiment and later started a motto, “Strength through Discipline, Strength through Action”, and Ben later adds “Strength through Community.” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The Wave takes place in Gordon High School around 1969. Todd Strasser, the author did not actually mention where the book takes place, otherwise then in a school. I believe that the book probably takes place somewhere in California because that is where the real Wave took place. I believe that the setting of a high school or a school does not make the book more exciting because there are many books that have a school as its setting. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The problem of the story starts when The Wave gets out of control. Students are skipping their other classes to come to Mr. Ross’s history class to listen about The Wave and everything revolves around The Wave. Ben must put a stop to The Wave. The book taught me that a movement that starts out little can change the way everyone acts in a whole public high school. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> There were characters that developed throughout the story. For one character that developed throughout the story was David Collins when The Wave started he just went along with the crowd in believing that The Wave was a good thing. But, it was later brought to his attention by his girlfriend, Laurie Saunders who told him the negative side of The Wave. Robert Billings had also developed from The Wave. All before The Wave was created Robert used to be the class loser, the guy who was always picked on. When The Wave was created Robert loved it and went right along with it because everyone was treated equally in The Wave. With that being a rule of The Wave, no one could treat him differently. Robert wasn’t a mess anymore. He turned into a kind and respectful good student. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I believe that most people would enjoy this book. I think that this book is appropriate for children in middle school. I enjoyed this book a lot. I liked the book because it kept me thinking. When is The Wave going to end? How far could it go? I would give The Wave, by Todd Strasser, four out of five stars because some parts of the book were not as interesting as others. Although, I still did enjoy this book very much. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">Summer Reading Book Review: Choice Book: <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">__The Miserable Mill__ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;">by Lemony Snicket

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket is an adventurous fictional story. It is the fourth book in its series: The Series of Unfortunate Events. It is about three orphans named Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire as they go searching for a new home to live in and not having to worry about Count Olaf and his accomplices kidnapping them or stealing the Baudelaire fortune. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The story takes place at the Lucky Smells Lumbermill in a little strange town named, Paltryville. The setting actually makes the story more sad and dreadful because a Lumbermill is not a place for children let alone an infant like Sunny. It can be very dangerous. Lemony Snicket does not mention where The Lucky Smells Lumbermill is located except that it is in found in the small and odd town of Paltryville. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> The conflict of the story starts when Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are taken to The Lucky Smells Lumbermill. They know it is a dangerous place and so do one of their caretakers but their “boss”- Sir, doesn’t think the same. He thinks they belong there. The children will try anything to escape from this terrible place. I believe that The Miserable Mill taught me that anyone who believes in themselves and others can achieve anything they put their mind to. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny believed that they could leave the Lumbermill and the worked together to fight the bad caretakers at the Lumbermill, including Count Olaf who was in disguise as Shirley, Dr. Orwell who was really one of Count Olaf’s accomplices. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif;"> I believe that people who enjoy adventures throughout a series of books would enjoy this book. I think that this book is appropriate for children starting fourth grade and ending sixth grade. I really enjoyed this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat. I was always thinking and worrying about Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. I also enjoyed reading Sunny’s baby talk and how Lemony Snicket would “translate” whatis probably meant. For example, when Sunny would say something like “Casca”, it probably meant “That’s not very reassuring”. I enjoyed this book so much, even though some parts were very dreadful. I absolutely loved it!

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