Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children

This book is about a boy named Jacob who's very odd grandpa had passed away in a very gruesome death that Jacob saw. His grandpa's last words were, "Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old mans grave. September, third 1940." This led Jacob to many nightmares and consoling. for his birthday there was a present that his grandpa had left. I was a letter from Miss Peregrine, the bird. He needed to find out went his grandpas stories were about so him and his dad went to a distant island in the wales where the letter had said the home for peculiar children was. He found the home but couldn't figure out what the loop and the old mans grave was. After long time of searching he though he had heard voices coming from the house so he followed them to the bog. In the bog was were people a long time ago would make sacrifices by taking their lives, almost like a grave. When he came out from the bog everything was different and the date was 9/3/1940. Jacob meets Miss peregrine and she explains everything about his grandpa and the home. I would recommend this book if you like mysteries and adventure. It is kind of confusing so it may take some reading back. Overall it has been a great book so far and the story is amazing!

Wonder Struck

I have just finished reading the book Wonder Struck by Brain Selznic. This is a fantastic book using both pictures and words to describe the story. At the start of this book, I was very confused because in the pictures there was a story and in the pages with writing on them, there was a whole other story. The main Character of this story is Ben, who is deaf in one ear, doesn't know who his father is and his mother had just passed away at the start of the book. Later in the book, Ben gets struck by lightning and become deaf completely. After he is in the hospital and leaves to find his father in New York.  The pictures, however, tell a whole different story. This part of the story is about a girl who is also deaf, and her mom is a famous actor, who never see's her daughter. In the end, the two characters meet, in both pictures and words and the little girl turns out to be Ben's grandmother. Overall, I think that this book is a great read although it's difficulty is rather easy, this book is a great quick read and i strongly recommend it to others.

Crey Bankes

English IR quarter 2

I have chosen the book Outliers by Malcom Gladwell as one of my second quarter independent reading materials. The book was highly recommended by my Mom. The reason she wanted me to read it is she felt that the book helps to identify reasons that she believes explain my athletic ability. The book is based on what the author defines as outliers or stories to explain extrordinary success or talent.

The details in the book are fascinating. The statistics and data used to explain hockey players talent, where birthdates of talented players are predominately in the first four months of the year are irrefutable. As I look back on my opportunities due to my size and athletic ability in hockey, it makes sense. At an early age I was given better coaching, higher level competition and pushed harder. Although at age 8, I may have been slightly better than my friends, now with years of better opportunities, I stand out in my ability in hockey. This stands true with the talented players I get to compete with. As my Mom and I reviewed birthdates, the best players on my elite AAA hockey team are all born January through April 1998. I look forward to future chapters to see the statistics and trends that lead people towards successful outcomes.

Under a War-Torn Sky

Henry Forester is a nineteen year old pilot in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He is the co-pilot of a bomber plane named Out of the Blue. He comes from a farming family and his father was really tough on him, always criticizing him and making him feel bad. He lives on an air force base with other pilots. They fly on lots of missions together. One day they are assigned a really important, secret mission. The Americans are also part of the mission. They end up in a huge air battle with the German Luftwaffe. Their plane is hit and they are forced to bail out when the engines die. Henry and some of his crew parachute out. His parachute is shot at and he lands hard. When I left off, Henry had just landed somewhere in Europe. He thinks he may have landed in the Swiss Alps because of the deep snow. So far, this book is interesting and provides a lot descriptions of the different types of fighter planes and bombers flown by the different armies. I am interested in reading the rest of this book since it has been very good so far.

The Boyfriend List

Currently I am reading a book called The Boyfriend List by E. Lockhart. This book is really funny and a light read. I don't really love the book but then again I don't really hate it. The book is about a girl named Ruby who likes boys, a lot. She has anxiety attacks so her mother recommends that she see's a shrink. Doctor Z is her shrink and the first thing she tells her to do is to write down the names of every boy she has ever dated, wanted to date or liked in her entire life. She comes up with a list of 15 guys, throughout the story we find out how each boy made the list. Yet somehow Lockhart is able to tie in her visits to the shrink and how she is progressively getting better and better. So far I have about Adam to Jackson which means I have read twelve stories about her relationships. Each relationship with each guy is completely different some are sad and some are flat out hilarious. Overall, I wouldn't really recommend this book to many people only if your looking for a quick read about a girl with many different man problems. I probably will finish this book tonight or tomorrow night.

Enemy At the Gates

I recently read Enemy at the Gates (I woudl have underlined, but I can't figure out how to do that), by William Craig. This book is a non-fiction compilation of various tales from the Battle of Stalingrad, in WWII. When I say compilation, I don't mean a bunch of different short stories, but different sections from the viewpoints of different individuals - from both German and Soviet Generals, down to footslogging infantry, to a female Russian sniper. I don't want to have a history lesson here, so I'll be brief with the historical background. The Germans and Soviets are fighting for control of a manufacturing city in Stalingrad, a brutal, close-quarters battleground that goes down in history as one of the bloodiest battles ever, as well as a turning point in WWII. I know that a major point in blogs is to talk about character development, but since there are more than half a dozen "main" characters, it is hard to mention all of them. In general, there are three stages to the character development, different for each side, as they go through the battle.

German
1.Excited, ready to win.
2.Getting more and more worried, wearied, and starving
3.Absolutely tired-to-the-bone, fatalist - in short, "screwed".

Russian
1. Worried, upset, scared (about the invasion - lots of gory stuff w/ civilians)
2. Determined, heroic, sort of "last-stand" attitude - (This is SPARTAA...I mean Soviet RUSSIA!)
3. Excited, victorious, happy

If you notice, they're kind of the opposite. I liked how Craig mentioned both sides of the story, and also showed the gruesomeness and darkness of that battle. However, sometimes, it was a little over the top, such as mentioning how the civilians are killed or even worse, the lice!!!

Quote: "and a seething mass of grey parasites swarmed into his arm, disappearing into his cast"

Ugh!!

Who's going to enjoy this book? History buffs, WWII fans/nerds, people interested in learning more about WWII, those who "crave action" (in the immortal words of C. Kelkar). However, if you're squeamish about gore and icky stuff, or don't fit into any of the above categories, you probably won't enjoy it.

1984 by George Orwell

I am in the middle of the book 1984 by George Orwell. It is a book written in the early 1900's, and because of that I've found it really hard to read. Orwell's writing style is very old-fashioned, and I sometimes think that he goes into too much detail. The protagonists, Julia and Winston, are both a part of the Party that takes England over. Winston slowly changes to discover that he actually is against the Party. They both slowly change to be more risky and they slowly become less cautious, until Julia tells Winston that she loves him. Together they find a group against the Party. I think Orwell was trying to portray what he thought England would be like in the 1980's. Orwell's writing style has also made it hard to keep going, because I have to read paragraphs 3 or 4 times until I understand the connection to the story. Overall though, the story is good, but there is a lot of between-the-line reading that I have to do to really understand the deeper meaning of some things he says.