I think this is memorable because it immediately creates both dread and suspense and I can easily imagine the scene based on the vivid phrases (wan glow).

I haven't even heard of it.

Mmm, well, except this one time at Montessori." from Bless the Blood:

a cancer memoir by Walela Hehanda

I think this is memorable because it creates the space for a story to be told, it's the perfect opening for a flashback, and it made me want to keep reading to know more.

By Aoife

This one struck me because the first sentence was a little mysterious. I wanted to know what he meant. The second sentence then created an image of us as history books from the moment we're born, which is an interesting idea. We need to read our own books!

a wan glow announces the break of day. My heels hurt, my head weighs a ton, and something like a giant invisible diving bell holds my whole body prisoner. My room emerges slowly from the gloom.

I think it is memorable because of the descriptions. and how it shows everything slowly emerging.

This quote describes what it feels like to have a sick day or under pressure and I truly relate this because the way the author wrote it really described the feeling of sickness.

"Each of us is born with a history already in place." Bad Boy, by Walter Dean Myers

This spoke to me because it reminds you that everyone has a history and something that is passed along in their family

I think that this is memorable because the way they adressed him as "our beloved leader" really caught my eye and it is an interesting start to the book.

I think opening with a funny or relatable sentence draws readers in. I also like to hear stories about people's "awkward phases". I took this passage from the prologue because the first chapter page was just a ton of pronunciation which is boring.

I like this one because of how bleak it feels and how no matter how hard it was he still made it through to write the book.

I think this is memorable because i can relate to it by being a middle school kid and wanting to win and be competitive in sports.

Americanized: Rebel Without a Green Card. by Sara Saedi

I think it is memorable because it can be funny and relatable for a lot of people. It's a great start to make people laugh. I can imagine the author having fun writing the intro. It's a funny, but good way to introduce this book.

of a swarm fills my ears as the floor shakes violently" from Obsessed by Allison Britz.

I like this because it's a calm early morning then out of nowhere she gets interrupted and it all goes down hill from there i thinks its a very interesting opening to the book.

By Leah

Don't Look Back

Achut Deng and Keely Hotton

These first two sentences stuck out to me

because it feels like someone is telling me something serious and it leaves this cliff hanger effect that makes you want to read the memoir.

Bless The Blood, by Walela Nehanda.

Despite it's shortness I think this quote sums up the reality and the brutality of cancer so accurately It is hard to read. This is the start of one of the first paragraphs of the book and really set the tone for the memoir.

I like this because the author is talking to you, not just at you.it makes him seem more real.

I Thought My Father Was God by Paul Auster.

I think this is memorable beccause the chicken was walking free, but still decided to return home. Like in life, sometimes you're free, but at the end of the day, we all have to go home.

This quote stuck out to me because it is an attention-drawing way to start a book. It made me want to read the entire book. I hope the entire book is as thrilling as the first sentences.

I think that this sentence is very interesting because as it refers to "Chairman Moa" as "smiling down on us from above" which makes me think that he is not a leader of the people but a ruler of power.

We had no map to guide our way, only stars.

We had no weapons to protect us, only sticks, and we had no guarantee we would survive only hope." from Don't Look Back by Achut Deng and Keely Hutton - p 143

"now you have to choose between two roads. The man from the Revolutionary committee looked straight into my eyes. you can break with your family and follow Chairman Mao, or you can follow your father and become an enemy of the people." from Red Scarf Girl by Ji Li Jiang - p 1

Woodson

I think this is memorable because it really brings the reader in with the way she feels confused and you need to read the book to understand and figure it out .

"You have a white blood cell count of 660,000. That is 600 percent more than normal. You likely have leukemia."

I think that this is an action-packed first paragraph without actually having action.

I now want to read the entire book.

I like this to opening bit because it shows the excitement of when you wake up on our birthday and when you get a really good present that you didn't know you wanted it but you loved it so much. I also read the begining of this book and realized that Anne Frank had the same birthday as me, June 12!

This is meaningful because reading it made me proud of the character, like they were a friend that accomplished something amazing.

Booker T. Washington Hurdles In The Dark

I chose this memoir because it is a motivational meaningful, and intriguing quote, that inspires me in many ways and opens the book in an amazing way.

Did anyone else read the content warning on this thing cause ummm.....

I sit shivering in the tiny, freezing cell of an Israeli interrogation center, my wrists and ankles sore from the tightly clasped shackles digging into them.

This sentence makes you picture the cell and feel what the main character feels.

It seems like a very sad book.

I did this one because it was kinda dramatic

"DON"T LOOK BACK"

"They said I'd be safe here. They lied. As I hid in the back corner of my bedroom closet, my breath seized at the sound of approaching voices outside our apartment building."

I chose this memoir because it really grabs you and makes you want to find out more about the story.

"Is your dad dead?"

I wonder why this is the first sentence...

This passage shows that some people take some sport too seriously and that some people take sports for what they are, for fun.

I am born on a Tuesday at University Hospital / Columbus, Ohio / USA- / a country caught / between Black and White.

A very good way to start a book.

The memoir From Here starts with startling first sentence Witch I think is trying to captivate you into the story.

As I hid in the corner of my bedroom closet, my breath seized at the sound of approaching voices outside our apartment building. They scrambled over one another, pushing and shoving, wrestling for control of the conversation and straining to be heard over the raucous dialogu.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I think this was a very captivating start to the story, and it makes me want to read more about it.

They said I'd be safe here. They lied.

I thought this was a really interesting first sentence and really makes you want to read the words that come after.

This spoke to me because he shared that his father had lived in a village after his family. And that his father, and his grandfather was the village doctor.

"I was Leila age the first time I watched a sheep get slaughtered."

This sentence of the book makes me feel sad for her. How she saw death in her young age. I wonder how much it inpacked her.