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This is a powerful book with strong characters and a controversial plot. It brings to light how the issues of race are experienced through the eyes of realistic and sympathetic characters. If you read it ,you will become quickly involved, but a caution that there is violence and sophisticated language that might affect some readers.

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This summer, I chose to read the book One Of Us Is Lying. It was a really good book that took place in a suburb of San Diego. The book starts when five students with completely different personalities get put in after school detention; Simon, the high school biggest drama seeker and creator of a social media drama app, Cooper the biggest jock on campus, Addy, a pretty pageant queen, Bronyn, the valedictorian, and finally Nate, a busted drug dealer on probation.

When they all arrive, they look around wondering what they all did to be there. It turns out that they all had a fake cell phone placed in their backpacks that would put them all in detention that day. They are given their assignment by the teacher, Mr. Avery. Simon requests to get his water bottle that seems to be missing but Mr. Avery refuses and tells him to grab a cup and get a drink from the sink. He does as he is told and returns to his seat when the students all hear a loud bang and quickly go to the window to see what is going on. Two cars had crashed in the parking lot so Mr. Avery said he would go check on everybody to see if they were okay. Simon starts gagging and clawing at his throat so everyone turns around to help him. He asks for his epipen but no one can find it. Bronwyn goes to grab a teacher and Cooper goes to the nurse to get more epipens, only to find out that there were none in her office. 911 gets called and they arrive at the scene shortly thereafter. Everyone goes home only to find out that Simon passed on the way to the hospital.

Investigations start to find out why Simon had an allergic reaction to the water. Nate, Bronwyn, Addy, and Cooper are all questioned about the events multiple times over the course of the few days. They all claimed they had nothing to do with it and that Simon simply started choking on his own. It is later revealed that the four students all had posts that Simon was waiting to post to his app about them. Now the police figure that they all have a motive if they were the ones that murdered Simon. Weeks and even months pass when all the people involved were given no clues to who it could be. Nate, the druggie who was already on probation seemed to be the most obvious one so the police arrested him after having barely any evidence against him. After about a week, he is released from jail because the detectives finally cracked the case. Who is the murderer? You will have to find out when you read: One Of Us Is Lying!

One highlight from the book was when the team finally cracked the case in the coffee shop that they were in because they could not only get the weight off of their shoulders but also free Nate from jail.

I think that it was probably one of the best books that I have read and it was very intriguing to read for me. There were a lot of ups and downs in it. It felt like every chapter there was a change in the plot and had me thinking that a different person was the killer. Overall I enjoyed this book and I am glad that I read it!

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The book I read is Animal Farm by George Orwell. This book shows different types of government from an unusual perspective. The genre of Animal Farm is a satire. If you enjoy a book that will take a realistic topic and express that topic in a fictional way this book is for you. Personally, I feel that this might not be a favorite book for an eighth grader, but I still feel that it is something good to read for education. I think this book is a decent level for an eighth grader. Animal Farm is easy to comprehend and there are some new vocabulary words without it being too challenging.

A moment that stood out to me was when the animals were so persistent to keep rebuilding their windmill. They started building the windmill towards the middle of the book then it got knocked down. It took them a bit of time, but eventually they rebuilt it even better only for it to be knocked down again. Then, they decided to rebuild it one more final time. Will it work? Will it fulfill their needs? Either way it shows how much the animals trusted their leader, Napoleon. It also shows that the animals were quite persistent and determined to have the windmill they hoped for. In conclusion, Animal Farm wasn’t my favorite book, but I still thought it was a good read. It helped me get a better grasp of the way a democracy and dictatorship work. I also got a better understanding of how a government can change with the different perspective used in Animal Farm.

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My choice of book was Stones in Water by Napoli, Donna Jo. This book was captivating and devastating at the same time. While reading this novel you are able to identify all the main parts in it. The author did an outstanding job writing it and was able to capture the reader's attention. From the perspective of the reader I recommend this book for the whole eight grade class. It never had a boring part in the book and was really heart wrenching to hear all the terrible things that happened to Samuele and Roberto throughout the novel. The novel has a good lesson on showing how capable and strong one person can be when they are left alone. When Roberto and Samele get taken away they just think that they are going to be brought to a good place but the horrifying fact is that they were taken away to be basically left to die with no family or resources. The struggles that these innocent boys had to go through to try to survive was disgusting. It was hard to accept the fact that this used to be the world, that's why I would encourage eighth graders to read the book to see how much the world has changed in a better place.

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Firefighters are known to be brave heroes who are responsible for saving lives and putting out fires, but inside Ray Bradbury’s fictional world, Fahrenheit 451, firefighters are feared by everyone because they are tasked with the job of burning houses down if the homeowners are in possession of books. In Fahrenheit 451, Guy Montag, the main firefighter, took burning the books very seriously until he met Clarisse, his sixteen year old neighbor. Guy goes through the motions of his boring and repetitive life seemingly on auto-pilot, going to work and dealing with his tv obsessed wife, but not actually aware of what's happening around him . Clarisse plays a significant role in the novel because she is the catalyst that shakes Montag out of this cycle, forcing him to examine his surroundings and inspiring him to take drastic and violent actions.

Montag has a revelation about what it means to think like a writer once he understands what it means to be a writer. He realizes that writers are very creative and imaginative, like Clarisse and then they organize and shape their thoughts on paper. As he tells Mildred, it dawns on him that "each of those books was written by a man.They had to be invented by a man. It must have taken a long time for a man to write them down.” For the majority of his adult life, he regarded books as merely physical objects, not the inner thoughts of mankind. Clarisse taught him that the books he was burning are the result of human effort. They represent a writer's entire life, including his or her worldview. Montag realized that by burning them, he is metaphorically burning writers like Clarisse. This revelation revealed how immoral his work was, prompting him to take a courageous stance against the burning of the books.

I agree and was happy to see that Montag finally realized burning books was immoral and wrong. Books are vital to our society because without books, we cannot gain knowledge. Just like how Guy Montag thinks about Authors and books at the end, I too agree that every piece of literature contains parts of the author's soul and by burning the books, you are burning a part of their soul. In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury is showing the world how we must preserve books so that future generations can learn accurate accounts of history both from the past and present, but also see the world through the lens of different perspectives.

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Why I think the book Chernowitz by Arrick Frank is meant for the 8th grade.Why I think that is because of the scary thing that happen and all of this could happen to someone now in the times we live in so I think this is a very mature book and you need to spend time on it and read it carefully and understand what is happening to the boy and how he feels about it and how others feel. Cherno is just a normal jewish boy who plays sports and music and has friends.Then comes along a bully and starts to bully cherno mentally and physically by hitting him and bullying him because he is a jewish person. Sooner or later all of his friends start turning and bullying him so he just left alone in a dark place with all of his friends and a bully bullying him for being jewish. In the book it states “Big mean emmet nobody liked him but everyone followed his leanmd and emmet well he just did not like jews especially the ones he called chernowitz”.The thing that makes this book mature is how Emmett is making fun of chernos religion I can proves this because in the book Emmett throws a burning cross on his field and that's when cherno realized he was getting targeted because of his religion.The author made the pain the Cherno felt very real by the word that he used and all the stuff that Emmitt did to him It makes it feel like this is a real story and makes it feel that the characters are real people. This is why I think that Chernowitz by Arrick Frank should really be read slowly to understand what the book is about and to see that is a mature thing and maybe some people could be going through this now.

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Why I think the book Chernowitz by Arrick Frank is meant for the 8th grade.Why I think that is because of the scary thing that happen and all of this could happen to someone now in the times we live in so I think this is a very mature book and you need to spend time on it and read it carefully and understand what is happening to the boy and how he feels about it and how others feel. Cherno is just a normal jewish boy who plays sports and music and has friends.Then comes along a bully and starts to bully cherno mentally and physically by hitting him and bullying him because he is a jewish person. Sooner or later all of his friends start turning and bullying him so he just left alone in a dark place with all of his friends and a bully bullying him for being jewish. In the book it states “Big mean emmet nobody liked him but everyone followed his leanmd and emmet well he just did not like jews especially the ones he called chernowitz”.The thing that makes this book mature is how Emmett is making fun of chernos religion I can proves this because in the book Emmett throws a burning cross on his field and that's when cherno realized he was getting targeted because of his religion.The author made the pain the Cherno felt very real by the word that he used and all the stuff that Emmitt did to him It makes it feel like this is a real story and makes it feel that the characters are real people. This is why I think that Chernowitz by Arrick Frank should really be read slowly to understand what the book is about and to see that is a mature thing and maybe some people could be going through this now.

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The Girl's Diary is a diary kept by 13-year-old Anne Frank for two years during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands in World War II. Today, her diary remains relevant to the historical context of the Holocaust. As an eighth-grade reader, I think The Diary of a Young Girl is a great book for children of this age to learn about history. I'm not a Jew, but the Holocaust is a household word, and the Holocaust was horrible to imagine.  When I read this book, I was shocked by the contents of Anne Frank's diary, especially the rules that the German soldiers made for Jews. Jews have a time limit when they can even go shopping, they can't even go to the theater, the cinema, they can’t even go out at night, there are even more irrational rules and they have no freedom at all. The German soldiers even list a daily schedule for the Jews, and if they don’t follow the schedule or rules, they will probably die for not following the instructions. At that time, men, women and children are separated. Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared. Women return from shopping to find their houses sealed, their families gone. One of my favorite quotes in this book is “ How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” This is also one of the most famous quotes from Anne Frank.

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In the book Bound by Napoli, Donna Jo, Xing Xing goes through a life-changing experience leading her to a lonely life. Losing both of her parents, forced to live with her stepmother and half-sister, Wei Ping. Xing Xing is required to find a husband and live happily ever after, thinking it won’t be hard. Her stepmother spent all of the money for finding Wei Ping a husband; she soon realizes her happily ever after won’t exist.

The highlight of the story is how Xing Xing is stopped from living her dream because she needs to take care of her step-sister. Xing Xing is doing whatever her stepmother says hoping she won’t sell her as a slave. In need of food Xing Xing comes back with all the dead raccoons except for who she now cares for. Until she found out that the raccoon was blind and was biting off her two toes. Her mother blames the whole situation on Xing Xing and tells her to go find a doctor whom her sister wants a date with. Again her mother forgot about Xing Xing and only focused on her real daughter. The story ends in a complete surprise leaving Xing Xing a better priority.

Bound by Napoli, Donna Jo, is amazing, making the reader want to read more. If you enjoy picturesque tales, and a hint of romance, then I can't recommend a different book. This story reminds me of the Cinderella story because she has the stepmother and the evil step-sister making her do all of the dirty work while the step-sister looks all clean and pretty. This book is not only a love story it has a historical aspect to it. You get a glimpse into Chinese history, of binding feet, prayer, tradition, and superstitions. If I had to make one complaint about this book, I would say the ending of the book seemed to be a bit rushed. It felt as if the author spent a lot of time writing it and just wanted it to be done. As an overall rating, I would give this book a 4.5/5.

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This is a book that sends a powerful and clear message through mostly 1 dimensional characters.  It shows the issues with economic structures like communism and how you can never truly have an equal or fair society.  Throughout the book you see how the leaders become more and more corrupt.  When you are done reading it, it becomes clear how money and luxuries easily corrupt even the most noblest of people.   If you read the one with colored pictures there are really well drawn and stylized pictures that show the energy/vibe of the book very well being rough and gritty. Some things to be wary about is violence, graphic imagery (if you read the one with colored pictures), alcohol and vulgar language/imagery which may or may not affect you.

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This book has a very interesting plot when the people in this book need to choose between the hard choice of family and justice. In Montana, 1948, young adolescent David Hayden, had experienced something no kid should ever experience. His close uncle had done horrible things to people and committed serious crimes. His father was also horrified, and it affected all of his family, which isn't very surprising. David's father then had to choose whether to lock him up and deal with his father, or just turn the other cheek. I recommend this book because of all the suspense it has and how this situation has torn the Hayden family apart, but eventually lead to the choice of justice.

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Aza was constantly trapped in her thoughts, constantly trapped in herself- but she also didn’t know if she was herself if she couldn't even control what went through her mind. She was in her thoughts, all the way down.

One event between Aza, the main character struggling with anxiety and OCD, and her best friend Daisy, really broke my heart. Aza discovered that one of Daisy’s fanfiction characters was based on her- and this character was worrisome, clumsy, and just overall written to be disliked. Daisy did this to release the frustration she felt with her best friend.

Aza was hurt by this, as you would be when someone insults you because of what you can’t control. She wished she could just let go of these unwanted thoughts, just simply accept that her mind and body worked a certain way. But she couldn’t. That’s the thing about mental illness. You can’t just stop it.

Let’s say you suffered an injury, for example. It’s considered basic manners to let you rest, and take a break from school or work while you heal. And telling a hospital patient who’s fighting to breathe that they're weak and should just get up out of bed sounds ridiculous and rude, right? But what about when an injury isn’t visible? What about when nobody realizes that you’re hurting? What about when someone struggles with an illness all of the time? Where do those manners go? Where does that understanding go? Don’t they deserve the same respect and validation? Aza feared that the people around her all thought she was weak and selfish for always being in her thoughts. Does she deserve that?

Out of all of the many amazing ways John Green expresses Aza’s challenges, one is my favorite:

“... even though I’d never been in love, I knew what it was like to be in a feeling, to be not just surrounded by it but also permeated by it, the way my grandmother talked about God being everywhere. When my thoughts spiraled, I was in the spiral, and of it. And I wanted to tell him that the idea of being in a feeling gave language to something I couldn't describe before, created a form for it, but I couldn't figure out how to say any of that out loud.”

I think this quote truly speaks for itself.

John Green did a phenomenal job in writing Turtles All The Way Down. Mental illness literature is so important when done correctly. It shines a light on the things people struggling with mental illness have to deal with. It's important for all ages- especially teenagers in this day and age- to understand that they're not alone and that they can learn to heal and adapt to their environment.

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Books : The absolutely true diary of a part time

Time :August19-26

reading time:8 days

After watching the author: Eric lu

The absolutely true diary of a part time Indian to tell meThis work tells the story of a 14-year-old Indian boy named Arnold who fights against the world for his life. Arnold was born with hydrocephalus, and his appearance was unremarkable. Living on an Indian reservation, he was plagued by poverty, violence, and alcoholism by his family and people from an early age. In order to escape from this miserable place and to gain hope for a future life, he resolutely decided to transfer to a white school farther from home.The end for the book, I know some also proved that he succeeded in building a new image full of wisdom, courage and enterprising spirit from the stereotyped image of an Indian in the minds of white people. The new identity constructed by Arnold is neither Indian nor white, but a new hybrid identity. I like his courage, and his hard work. I want to learn from his strengths, although I won't be like him, but I will take it as my example.

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I enjoyed the book One Of Us Is Lying. I felt that there was always action happening and the story never got boring. I would recommend this book for 7th or 8th grade. I loved how the story line was always going up and down and everytime I thought something was going to happen the opposite happened next. The author also does a great job of making sure that the reader understands the story from each characters perspective. I thought it was really cool how she told the story from each characters perspective and how the book would move through each person's view. It helped me understand how different characters saw each person in the book but also how they felt on the inside. It also added a little cliff hanger to keep reading the book. Most of the time the author would end the persons view of things with a small little cliff hanger about something that could happen next in their life and then jump to another character. This helped keep me actively thinking about each character while I was reading. I also liked how the author kept multiple story lines going at once. On top of the murder mystery they were trying to solve, I was very pleased with the amount of drama and how real she kept it when talking about their life in high school.

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This book is a mystery about four students, Cooper Clay, Bronwyn Rojas, Nate Macaulay, and Abby Prentiss, at Bayview High School. They are accused of murdering a fellow student, Simon Kelleher, while in detention. At first they are suspicious of one another and attempt to find out who the real killer might be. But, because they are all suspects, they face many obstacles. Throughout the book, the reader finds out that everyone has secrets. The characters are completely different from each other, and the reader would never expect them to be involved with one another. A highlight in the book is that each of the four students tells the story from their own point of view, and there is no third person narrator. Because of this technique, the reader gets an inside view of each character's personality and history. This makes the reader feel closer to the characters by experiencing their thoughts and feelings and helps the reader identify with them.

Even though the book is about high school students, it is a great book for eighth graders who like realistic mysteries. The book also gives the reader an example of the value of friendship and working together to achieve a goal. Throughout the book, there are surprising events that are totally unexpected. You are constantly learning different details that affect the way you think the case will be solved. The story is so suspenseful that you cannot put the book down because you want to find out what will happen next. However, there is some mention of more mature topics that might be uncomfortable for some readers, although there are no detailed scenes involving these topics. Overall, One of Us is Lying is a gripping story that will make you want more from the author.

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Hush Evie/Toswiah is a girl in the witness protection program with her family. They are in this program because the dad is an officer who was on duty when he saw fellow officers kill an innocent boy. He testified in court against them and there were threats against their lives. Two reasons this is hard for her are because she can’t communicate with old loved ones, or explain the truth about her old life to the new people she knows. Evie wasn't allowed to bring many of her favorite things with her. In the process she lost her best friend, a nice house, and some nice clothes. On top of this, Evie’s dad was having bad thoughts about what he did to his family. One day he had enough and tried hurting himself. Evie was very upset with what was happening. She wanted to find a way to free her mind and she figured out that running was her passion. The lesson of the book was even when times are tough there will always be a way to make it better, but it takes time. I can relate to Evie because I also have my own way of coping with tough situations. I feel this is a great book for eighth graders because it is on an important topic that also has a great lesson. 

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Hush Evie/Toswiah is a girl in the witness protection program with her family. They are in this program because the dad is an officer who was on duty when he saw fellow officers kill an innocent boy. He testified in court against them and there were threats against their lives. Two reasons this is hard for her are because she can’t communicate with old loved ones, or explain the truth about her old life to the new people she knows. Evie wasn't allowed to bring many of her favorite things with her. In the process she lost her best friend, a nice house, and some nice clothes. On top of this, Evie’s dad was having bad thoughts about what he did to his family. One day he had enough and tried hurting himself. Evie was very upset with what was happening. She wanted to find a way to free her mind and she figured out that running was her passion. The lesson of the book was even when times are tough there will always be a way to make it better, but it takes time. I can relate to Evie because I also have my own way of coping with tough situations. I feel this is a great book for eighth graders because it is on an important topic that also has a great lesson. 

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This book is empowering for readers my age since it brings up the important subject of everyone’s right to live in freedom.  The diary provides the reader with a sensitive and heartbreaking glimpse into the life of a young Jewish girl, just 13 yrs old, growing up in the center of Nazi-occupied Holland. When and if you read it, you are immediately thrust into her world.You will feel as if you are standing right next to her as she watches Jewish people being harmed, or worse, from her attic window. The fact that Anne Frank was just 13 years old, the same age as me, made it all the more empowering to me. I find it incredible that a 13-year-old went throught all of this, and I was inspired by how persistent she was in keeping a record of everything that was happening to her and around her.

There are incredibly significant differences between her life and the lives of 13 year old girls living in our area today. When she was 13, her concerns revolved around where her next meal was coming from, and how to survive in a war-torn country and the Nazis who were hunting Jews so they could imprison them in concentration camps.  Today, we are fortunate that our lives are not filled with such horrors.  Today, the majority of 13 year old girls are concerned with their hair, nails, the next big social media star, etc. In contrast, it seems pretty mindless.

One of the most important truths I’ve learned from this book is that we don’t actually need things like a TV or a smartphone in order to live our daily lives. Anne Franke spent two years in hiding from the Nazis before she passed away three weeks before the war ended. All she had was a peice of paper and a pencil. That was all she needed; she did’nt need to talk/post about her emotions on social media to solicit feedback from others. She didn’t intend for this diary to be released. She used her diary as a way of recording her emotions and thoughts..

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Echo is a book that teaches you your dreams can come true no matter the circumstances. It's truly an inspiring story of three people who had rough childhoods but their passion for music kept them up. The way that all three books are set up perfectly to make the ending is amazing because the author figured a way to make all the lives meet each other on the same stage doing what they love most

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One particular highlight that stood out in Animal Farm by George Orwell was the creation of The Seven Commandments written on the barn wall and read: Whatever goes upon two legs is an enemy, Whatever goes upon four legs, or has wings, is a friend, No animal shall wear clothes, No animal shall sleep in a bed, No animal shall drink alcohol, No animal shall kill any other animal, All animals are equal. At the end the pigs become unrecognizable as they transform into men who walk on hind legs, develop double and triple chins, dress in clothes, carry whips and interact with humans. The seven commandments quickly changed to a single one, “All Animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others”.

Though these unchangeable democratic laws initially worked they soon lost their meaning as they were amended to suit Comrade Napoleon’s interests and his pig allies. When a leader learns he can dupe the lower ranks of animals on the farm who cannot read and take advantage of their simple unquestionable minds, equality no longer exists under the rule of a dictatorship. This type of behavior is constantly driven in our society to prey on the weak and take advantage of others especially, if one has the ability to get away with it. Freedom, hope and the possibility for the animals to have self-autonomy and equality without being under the rule of man becomes unrealistic as the piggist leaders rule on fear and intimidation which mimics the world we live in.

It is ironic how the plot becomes very relatable as the pigs adapt the characteristics of human behavior. This shows how societies are built on power, greed, manipulation and control. It only took one clever pig such as Napoleon to advance into a ruling tyrant as he sought his chance to undermine the weak and illiterate. He became unstoppable like so many historical leaders in our past and present as he lost his core principles, ethics and morality. In the newly created Animal Farm the thirst to rule becomes addicting. In this dictator’s mind, “the end justifies the means” as long as Napoleon held the ruling hand and was superior in command. Chaos and disorder unravel quickly and the grass does not always seem greener in the fight for autonomy between animal vs man.

One heroic character, Snowball, becomes most admirable in my mind as he tried to stand up to Napoleon. In my opinion, it was not a surprise that he was easily cast aside as a traitor. Moreover, when a superior is in charge and it takes only one to challenge the actions, how quickly they become destroyed. The underlying message in the classic is represented today as the fight for power and the never ending control over land, groups of people and the desire to reap monetary gain becomes a perpetual cycle. Desire for control and greed will always exist and to live in a harmonious peaceful world seems very unrealistic if the elites are to continue in power. The overall lesson is that we must remain hopeful and come together as a nation to try to create worlds of equality for all mankind and stand up to the Napoleon's in charge.

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Animal Farm

Alex Cohen

In 1945 George Orwell wrote Animal Farm, a book that is still important today. In this book Animals become unhappy with their situation and want to change the rules on the farm and make their farm a place of equality and freedom. George Orwell really wrote about what was happening in the Soviet Union up to 1945. At the beginning of the Russian Revolution the Soviets were pure in their beliefs. Similar to the animals in the book, they wanted freedom from oppression and equality for everyone. We see the same beginning in Animal Farm, showing the true believers and followers in the beginning, and then showing the people/animals who used this to gain power. The final moment in the book stands out the most, because in the final moment the most powerful pigs and humans are celebrating all together while everybody else is in the same situation they were in at the beginning of the book.

I chose the final moment as the most important highlight because in it we see Napoleon the pig sitting at the head of the table. He is now a power hungry dictator who is celebrating with humans while walking on two legs. Napoleon reminds me of Joseph Stalin, the murderous dictator that ruled the Soviet Union from 1922-1953. Just like Stalin, Napoleon initially supported the change, but then manipulated and killed all his competition to gain power. Throughout the book there is a message to all animals saying “four legs is better than two legs”. At the end we start to see the pigs walking on two legs, and making a power grab with Napoleon in charge. In the final moment there is no difference between pigs and people. They are just both oppressors and they abused everybody else just like the Soviet Government was.

In my opinion George Orwell was very clever because he chose to represent his views on communism by writing a story of animals and not human characters. This book can be used to educate young children about what works in society and what does not. In this book Orwell showed how flawed the communist society really is. He also shows that in revolutions things don't always end the way you think they will. I would recommend this book to other eighth graders.

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Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury, is an influential dystopian novel. It introduces the idea that books make us "too aware of the world", so firemen are hired to burn all books, along with the houses they are found in. A highlight from the novel, is when Guy Montag, the protagonist who is a fireman, runs into Clarisse, a teenage girl who is considered odd by the majority of the town. Montag is under the impression that books are bad and should be burned. When Clarisse asks him if he ever reads the books he burns, he says of course not because thats "against the law." (8) When Clarisse asks him if he's happy, he realizes he’s not. He’s not happy burning books, burning houses, even burning people. He finally understands that yes, he was alive, but he wasn’t really living. From then on, Montag changes his perspective on the world. In my opinion, Fahrenheit 451 is an exceptional book, which eighth graders will enjoy. There is death and slight profane language; However, if you enjoy reading dystopias, I definitely recommend this book.

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A Tree Grows in Brooklyn Is a book about a family in Brooklyn, New York, in 1912. Francie Nolan, was the main character, she was an 11 year old girl at the beginning of the book but as the story progresses it tells Francie’s life story from age 11 to 17 years old. We learn more about Francie’s family which includes her younger brother Cornelius (Neely) Nolan. Then her Mom and Dad, Katie and Johnny Nolan respectively. They are a family who’s struggling to make money because the father Johnny who is the only person who can really make money in the family is a drunk and gets fired often, so the family doesn't have a steady flow of money. The family has to live in a one small apartment and sometimes can barely afford coal to heat up their furnace in the winter, or eat any food besides oatmeal. Their financial situation worsens as the story goes on. Something terrible  that happened in the book was when Francie’s dad died which was horrible because he was the only person in the family who had a job and no one could make money except the Mom and Francie and since they were both women, as a woman you couldn’t make much money back then. So they could do that but for them to both work Francie would need to drop out of school, Francie wanted to help her family but the mom thought it wasn’t a good idea. There were three months of school left so the mom didn't want Francie to drop out of school. They somehow had to manage the three months with what they had and live cheaply. So I think the father dying was a huge development in the story that had consequences for the family. I feel like it is a good book for eighth graders because it informs about how life was in the early 1900’s from alcoholism to women not usually working outside the house, to how school then was valued as it is today.

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the summer I turned pretty-Leayana Dorville 

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the summer I turned pretty-Leayana Dorville 

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The book "the summer I Turned Pretty” by Jenny Han was fascinating in that you could tell the changes in growing up that the characters in this book went through. I feel that the author did a great job of making her readers including me go through a rollercoaster of emotions in this story. One moment you are happy and excited, and the next moment you feel annoyed, angry, or sympathetic. The author did a great job of making the reader want to read more or know more by the end of the book. I would recommend this book to eighth graders because the story is romanticized. However, it also shows how relationships can grow over time between people. This is also a good book for the eighth grade. It goes over how you could have the perfect summer, with some flaws because not everything is perfect. The story has many events but one of the main ones was how Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad get into a love triangle. Most young adults now are interested in things like romantic stories their age. It is interesting to read about because maybe it could connect to their current life. This story also has lots of drama, another thing that this age may have an interest in. Those are some of the reasons why I think that the book “The summer i turned pretty” is a good book for eighth graders and why I think you should read it.

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Ender's Game

For my book I chose the novel Ender's Game. What I thought about the book was different from what I normally see in a book. This novel was very relatable since it was about a boy my age who had an ambition and followed it with a lot of passion. Ender went to battle school to fight against an alien race known as the buggers. His purpose was to lead their armies into victorious battles. He stood out at battle school but struggled with finding good friends whom he could trust and rely on. A highlight from this book was when everyone of his classmates in the war room called him small and picked on him but he showed his talent and determination and ended up defeating all of his competitors by a landslide. My opinion on this book for 8th graders is that I really enjoyed it and liked the elaborate storytelling. I liked how the author used elements of a person that are very relatable to the target audience. He used emotions and real world references to show problems and conflict. Overall I really enjoyed the summer reading of Ender’s Game and would recommend it to everyone above the age of 13 so that they can really comprehend and connect.

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English 8 summer independent reactions and responses 2023

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English 8 summer independent reactions and responses 2023

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I read the book Montana 1948 by Larry Watson. This is a hooking novel that takes place in a small town in Mercer County, Montana. This book takes place from the perspective of a grown man recalling the summer when he was twelve years old. You can really relate to David in this story as everyone has probably been caught in a difficult situation, also he is just a regular boy that goes fishing with his friends and just wants to have fun.

David's dad is the sheriff in town, this means that they are a highly respected and well known family. David also shares that it is just after the second world war and that means that all the men in the town that went to war just want to be with their families, this means that apart from the “drunks” there are not many people causing trouble in the county. The book is written with three main long chapters and an epilogue; this makes the chapters very long and it is not one of those books with short chapters with a hook at the end of them. Mostly all the characters are the Hayden family with a couple exceptions. This book is really hard to put down as the characters must overcome the fact that family is family and take their jobs seriously, when they find their housekeeper; Marie Little Soldier dead.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to relate to the main character and to someone who can take a couple of sexual words here and there. Also I would recommend this to anyone who likes realistic fiction, for example if you like fantasy and science fiction this is not the book for you.