This is my second book by Nancy Farmer. I have also read House of the Scorpion, a very smart book that was on Battle of the Books not long ago. This book seems to be very similiar in a few ways. It has a main character who is very aware of her surroundings and how she is different from others where she lives. Nhamo, the narrator, seems very resourceful and prone for self-preservation in a hostile environment.
I chose this book because I was looking for a book about Africa we might read together in class, and this one was suggested to me. I found out online that it is one of four written by this author. I can not wait to do more research and see how she knows so much about this topic.
So far I like it. It is a little hard to follow with the character names and because the culture is so different, but I already like the main character and am rooting for her to find a better way of life. Her mother died when she was three. She now lives with an aunt who is creates kind of a Cinderella-type situation. "Where have you been?" Her aunt remarks crossly as she returns from being sent out for firewood while her cousin plays with clay. Another aunt remarks, "She probably fell asleep under a tree." (11) She gets little respect and few breaks. I wonder how she is going to make her situation improve?
(And isn't the title the best?!)
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Keeping the Moon, Sarah Dessen 19
I just started this realistic fiction and am very intrigued by the first chapter. I have stumbled on yet another very honest narrator. She is open about her history and the grip is still has on her. Most people would assume that becoming healthier and making better choices in regards to your lifestyle would be a positive thing. Most people would wish to be better off, living in a house with a pool and personal cook instead of sleeping in the family car, not Nicole (call her Colie). All these changes that are usually seen as improvements have caused a distance between her and her mother who use to be very close and happy spending lots of time together. Now she has been shipped off to live with her aunt for the summer while her mother promotes her new line of fitness products. Colie tells us in the first lines of the book, "My name is Nicole Sparks. Welcome to the first day of the worst summer of my life" (1). What will happen to her next? Why does she feel this way?
Alcatraz Verses the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson F
I have finished this book, a book about "a fearsome THREAT from the powerful secret network that rules the world"...
This book is full of irony. The main character has a special power that is genetically his due to being a member of a population who has throughout history spent their time fighting a group of evil librarianswho use try to "control the information in [our] country" (119). Their strategy is to bribe, threaten, and brainwash. When that doesn't work, they carefully mislead. This is possible because "People go along with what they are told. Even intelligent people believe what they read and hear..." (119).
This was a cute story, but sometimes hard to read/follow. It is the beginning of yet another triology so don't expect a clean ending. I do like the honesty and candidness of the narrator. He is very self-aware and is open to change/improvement, something we all can strive more to do. :)
This book is full of irony. The main character has a special power that is genetically his due to being a member of a population who has throughout history spent their time fighting a group of evil librarianswho use try to "control the information in [our] country" (119). Their strategy is to bribe, threaten, and brainwash. When that doesn't work, they carefully mislead. This is possible because "People go along with what they are told. Even intelligent people believe what they read and hear..." (119).
This was a cute story, but sometimes hard to read/follow. It is the beginning of yet another triology so don't expect a clean ending. I do like the honesty and candidness of the narrator. He is very self-aware and is open to change/improvement, something we all can strive more to do. :)
Monday, September 19, 2011
Alcatraz Verses the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson 291
I chose this book, because in another life, I was a librarian. I was intrigued by the title. Also, because this book is a new book on the Battle of the Books list for 2011-2012.
It is a different book. The writer is very smart and allows the narrator to take the reader on many twists and turns. The main character, Alcatraz, is believed to be an orphan who has spent the majority of his life in foster care bouncing from home to home as he reeks havoc on each family who tries to care for him. On his thirteenth birthday, he receives a package in the mail from his parents. This package will change everything as Alcatraz knows it.
Alcatraz is convinced by his newly found grandfather to help combat the evil librarians who are trying to keep the world "in ignorance, living only with the most primitive technologies" (111) by controlling all information. In this book, dinosaurs still exist and the main characters battle giant paper wads that can walk and explode...I told you it was different!
It is a different book. The writer is very smart and allows the narrator to take the reader on many twists and turns. The main character, Alcatraz, is believed to be an orphan who has spent the majority of his life in foster care bouncing from home to home as he reeks havoc on each family who tries to care for him. On his thirteenth birthday, he receives a package in the mail from his parents. This package will change everything as Alcatraz knows it.
Alcatraz is convinced by his newly found grandfather to help combat the evil librarians who are trying to keep the world "in ignorance, living only with the most primitive technologies" (111) by controlling all information. In this book, dinosaurs still exist and the main characters battle giant paper wads that can walk and explode...I told you it was different!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Greetings!!
Welcome to eblogger! This blog is meant to be a place for you to share what you are reading AS YOU READ! You should use the title of your book and page number as your title then go on to use your blog to discuss any questions, interesting points related to the book, stand-out quotes, great new words. There are many ideas/issues that can be addressed with this form of communication. I hope you enjoy it. Also, please check my posts from time to time and let me know someone is out there reading this. I hope to do better with mine than I have been. Together hopefully we will both be better! Good luck!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
LEAVING VAN GOGH by Carol Wallace
This book is a historical fiction of the last days of Vincent Van Gogh as told by his friend, Dr. Gachet, a specialise in mental illness and a lover of art. Van Gogh shot himself in the chest and died two days later at 37.
http://vangoghletters.org/vg/
http://vangoghletters.org/vg/
THE LEGEND OF BASS REEVES: BEING THE TRUE AND FICTIONAL ACCOUNT OF THE MOST VALIANT MARSHAL IN THE WEST by Gary Paulsen
After just reading the title of this book, don't you just LOVE Gary Paulsen! "True and Fictional" you have got to love that!
This book has some of my favorite things: a cowboy, a hero, a true example of the American Dream, a person making tough decisions trying to do right when no one is really sure what right is, and Gary Paulsen! I want to research more about Bass Reeves, but Paulsen makes it clear what he thinks of the man. vii-xii This book is told in three stages. Most all our lives, if we live long enough, are in stages. One day I would like to talk to Gary Paulsen and ask him about what he says on xiii, " his boyhood is the longest because to em it was the most important part of his life, the fire that forged him, "Does he feel that way about all of us?"
This book has some of my favorite things: a cowboy, a hero, a true example of the American Dream, a person making tough decisions trying to do right when no one is really sure what right is, and Gary Paulsen! I want to research more about Bass Reeves, but Paulsen makes it clear what he thinks of the man. vii-xii This book is told in three stages. Most all our lives, if we live long enough, are in stages. One day I would like to talk to Gary Paulsen and ask him about what he says on xiii, " his boyhood is the longest because to em it was the most important part of his life, the fire that forged him, "Does he feel that way about all of us?"
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