Nights In Rodanthe

Mya Britton Swaggin out

I chose the book Nights In Rodanthe, by Nicholas Sparks because he’s my favorite author. I recommend this book for girls because it’s a romantic book.

In the book Adrienne, the mom, tells her daughter Amanda about how she met the love of her life.

This is what happened; Adrienne goes to watch a bed and breakfast for her friend. The only thing is, there’s only one person staying at this time because of a hurricane, and theInnis right on the beach. When she gets there the guest, Paul, is already there in his room. She figures he’s getting comfortable, so she goes on the porch and thinks about what she’s doing.

Paul sees her crying, and while walking toward her, Adrienne sees him out of the corner of her eye. When she first looks at him, she feels something, but ignores it. After she wipes her tears, she introduces herself and asks if there’s anything he needs. They talk for a while and drink wine.

This is when they start spilling their secrets and thoughts. Paul tells Adrienne he’s there because of business. After a bottle of wine, they start getting close. She figures it’s the wine that makes him fall for her, and the only reason she thinks this is because she’s getting old. The next day they get ready for the storm; they start putting up the shutters and bring things inside. While they’re doing this they take a break and go for a walk on the beach. When they get back to the house they have a cup of coffee and Paul tells stories about his time in college. He tells Adrienne stories he’s never told before. Later that night they got real close. When they wake up, Adrienne thinks she has made a mistake because he has to leave soon, but she doesn’t let that stop her from falling in love. Paul soon leaves the bed and breakfast and visits his son inEcuador. They write letters back and forth for a whole year, but one day when he doesn’t write back.

If you like how the story is so far, then during summer vacation you should take the time and read this book.

Dante’s Inferno

The book I read was Dante’s Inferno by Dante Alighieri. After everyone telling me it is a great book i decided to read it myself. So thanks to Ian Headly for letting me read it.

Dante has been exiled from his city where he once ruled a mighty reign. Upon so, his love Beatrice has been captured by Lucifer. So Dante decides to enter Hell, upon doing so he meets a poet named Virgil. Virgil agrees to be Dante’s guide through hell. Thus they proceed through hell and little does Dante know, this Hell is of his own.

I would reccomend this book to those who know what a good book is and those who like old literature (this book was written in 1302).

Money for a Life?

Tre’ Cooper Swaggin’

The book I read was, “No Way Out” By: Peggy Kern

The book is about a young kid named Harold growing up in a hard part of town were they live pay check to pay check and its hard for anyone to get a job. Harold lives with his grandma and he takes care of her when he’s out of school and she’s home from working. Harold is chubby witch makes people want to pick on him he’s 14 turning 15 in a couple months. Harold was at school one day when he gets called out of class by his teacher. They tell him that his grandma has fallen and was badly hurt and that she’s in the E.R.

Later on after Harold and his grandma get out of the E.R and back to the house she’s told she cant work for a couple months. She’s devastated because she is the only one in the house that can buy the food and take care of Harold when he’s home. They get mail in and its from the E.R and Harold’s grandma knows she can’t pay the bill if she cant work and keep up with the money but she can barley walk. Harold sees his grandma crying and wants to know why. He opens the letters on the table when his grandma falls asleep and reads them.

Harold does not know what to do she owes 2,454.17 dolor’s and no one in the house has a job. Harold’s grandma tells him to go buy stuff from the store and gives him a specific list of things she needs. When Harold gets to the store he sees bandages for his grandma and he gets them when he gets to the cash register he does not have enough for the bandages and tells the casher that he needs them no matter what and she does not let him get them no matter what he says but he won’t give up. A guy walks up and gives him the money to pay for the bandages little does he know is that the guy is a gang leader and when he leaves the store the guy stops him and says I helped you out now later when I need you I think you can give me the favor back.

A month later Harold sees the guy and he asks for his favor by asking Harold to get join his gang. He tells Harold that he helped him out when he needed it now its his turn. Harold joins and likes what happens he’s getting money he’s almost done paying off the E.R bills but then Harold is put in a place where he has to kill someone. Harold wants out and they wont let him. He try’s and try’s but they wont let him he knows to much and there is only one way out DEATH.

Fat Kid Rules The World

Jalen Hooper Swaggin Like A G 🙂

The book I read was Fat Kid Rules the World. K.L. Going wrote this book. This is a great book. The theme is easy to understand. The theme is if you want something than you go get it. This really taught me a valuable lesson. This book explains a life about a Fat Boy. This boy’s name is Troy Billings, and he is 17 and is 296 pounds.

When Troy is in a state of denial he is thinking of committing suicide when the most amazing thing happens is his world. The god, a legend appears in his presence, the god is Curt. Curt is only 18 and is homeless; ever since he dropped out of school his parents kicked him out of house. Back to the story, just before Troy is going to jump in front of the train Curt says “Don’t do that we can work something out”.

When Troy and Curt converse they settle to go for lunch the next day. Now remember Curt is homeless and doesn’t eat a lot, so when he goes to lunch he pigs out. Curt orders 4 grilled cheese, raviolis, 2 slices of apple pie, and 2 sodas. After they finish eating lunch, the words “You want to join my band” comes out of Curt’s mouth. Will they be a successful band? Read the book and you will find out.

I would recommend this book to people who like lots of twists and turns.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: Dorian Gray’s Deal with the Devil

Oscar Wilde’s Book, The Picture of Dorian Gray is a book widely contested for its different criticisms. Some call the book a heinous journey into hedonism, or simply put, pleasure for the sake of pleasure, while others carve it as a cautionary tale. Through the ages, it has been twisted through different perspectives, which makes the history of the novel quite intriguing. Oscar Wilde himself is quite the character, and while he does not put himself into the novel, many of his beliefs are expressed through it, such as his wild ideas on decadence, society, and indications of homosexuality. For a book of it’s time, it was controversial.

Reading it today, I find the book to be entertaining, there are brilliant allusions towards the beauty of Dorian Gray, and it is elegantly written. Dorian Gray, a young man with unrivaled beauty, is worshipped by the painter Basil Hallward. Hallward reluctantly introduces Dorian to Lord Henry, fearful that Lord Henry shall demoralize the boy. In this first meeting, Hallward paints a portrait of Dorian. Upon seeing the painting, Dorian is shocked by his own mortality and makes a plea for his portrait and his own body to be reversed, so that while the portrait ages, he will stay eternally young and beautiful. From then on, the story unfolds as Dorian lives two lives: the unchanging eternal youth of society, and the hidden picture of himself that reveals his sins.

A simple concept, I believe it still holds some questions relevant to today. What should be the price of pleasure? What ethics are there in prolonging life? These questions and others kept the novel entertaining, allowing readers the opportunity to investigate these questions for themselves.

One of my favorite parts in The Picture of Dorian Gray is the character of Sybil Vane and her relationship with Dorian Gray. The impact of their meetings is vital to the plot of the story, and as cliché as it seems, I enjoyed ruminating its thematic element. While some people might be pressed to find deep value in it, I think that when applied to various schools of criticism (especially biographical), and the era of its publication, it is enriched with value. I would recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in late nineteenth century literature; themes of beauty, pleasure, sin, and Faustian bargains (deals with the devil); or anyone who is looking for a good book to add to their AP pack.

We: A Critique of Socialism vs. Individualism

We is a novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin, a Russian author that could already see the new Proletariat falling apart during the years of the Russian revolution. His response was We, a novel that takes place roughly 900 years from now. We is about a utopian society called the One State which focuses on values such as unfreedom and mathematical equations for happiness. Glass houses allow for the transparency and merging of all the numbers, the citizens of the One State. Nature has been banished behind the Green Wall, and their world is controlled by a series of mathematical formulas, their life is prescribed by the Table of Hours, and the Benefactor guides them all. The main character in this work is D-503, the first builder of the spaceship the Integral. Human civilization is building the first of its spaceships, and under the One State, they mean to alleviate other planets and worlds of pain by bringing them the reason of the One State.

However, things are not that simple. We is not a story of a utopian world, it is a tale of a dystopia that shall crumble, and from which emerges the synthesis, Zamyatin’s most cherished ideas from the thesis of the One State and the antithesis of the freedom loving people outside of the Green Wall. Spoken from the only individual in the entire piece, I-330 is the real focus of the story that voices Zamyatin’s opinions, D-503 is the anti-hero of the story, and serves as a vehicle for Zamyatin to criticize the One State and the new Russian government that he makes allusions towards.

The story is definitely odd, as D-503 becomes an unreliable narrator. However, as a precursor to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984, it isn’t a book you want to miss. One thing I liked in particular were the characters. Despite the stripping of their names, Zamyatin does a wonderful job of describing and fleshing out his characters, such as describing D-503’s friend R-13 as a sputtering valve, spraying his words all over. From paper-thin doctors and woman round as a plump O, to men with s-curved bodies and woman with triangle shaped visages, there is much aesthetic impact to work with. One does not need to know the Russian Revolution and dive into the deep allusions towards it in order to enjoy the book. No, with many sci-fi elements mixed with dystopia, We is still a rich novel.

Voyaging with Haviland Tuf

A classic Science Fiction book, Tuf Voyaging epitomizes the genre, touching on psychological themes and moral questions. Recommended to readers of sci-fi and those who are intrigued by genetic engineering, Tuf Voyaging follows the story of Haviland Tuf and his ship across space to different world in need of ecological engineering.

Tuf Voyaging takes the reader to several worlds, and mentions even more. No date is given that can be correlated to our own time, except for the occasional reference to Old Earth that the various characters make. The main character, Tuf, is accompanied by his cats, his only companions on the giant EEC space ship, an ancient spaceship from Old Earth that specialized in ecological engineering as a biological weapon. Originally a trader in the beginning of the story, Martin creates an entertaining tale of how Tuf acquires the spaceship. With a vast cell library that is able to clone thousands upon thousands of creatures and diseases, Tuf finds himself with a very powerful device.

Like all good science fiction, Tuf Voyaging tackles moral and ethical questions involving government, religion, and the use of genetic engineering. Additionally, Tuf’s personality changes throughout the novel, which leaves the reader feeling a growing divide between themselves and the corrupted Tuf. Martin also has a sense of humor that uses litotes and allusions to entertain. Besides all of this, there are kittens and dinosaurs. If that doesn’t settle the question, then there’s no further argument.

Price of Eternal Beauty

“Pretties” by Scott Westerfield is the sequel to the book “Uglies”. In this book Tally is now a pretty. This means she has had the surgery that makes her perfectly beautiful even though she doesn’t want it. Her mind is also changed by the surgery but she doesn’t know. Now she has the clothes, the parties, and all the friends she can ever hope for. One day when she is about to be voted into the biggest and best clique in the city, she has a strange visitor, an ugly visitor.
Uglies aren’t allowed in New Pretty Town. This person isn’t allowed in this perfect town. The river that separates the pretties and the uglies into their own towns isn’t supposed to be crossed. He isn’t allowed into the town. He is from the wild. Tally has forgotten about her time in the smoke where she once knew the visitor, and was there with him when it was destroyed. Because of this visit, she is brought back into the terrible cruel pretty world of special circumstances who are the police of her city. Now she is once again forced to a different side of the law than her best friend as she chooses between her new life of glamour or a life of freedom where she can make her own decisions with her ugly mind.
I recommend this book like my review of the first book to people who like technology action and suspense. The author is great at making things interesting and keeping action in the book the whole way through.“Pretties” by Scott Westerfield is the sequel to the book “Uglies”. In this book Tally is now a pretty. This means she has had the surgery that makes her perfectly beautiful even though she doesn’t want it. Her mind is also changed by the surgery but she doesn’t know. Now she has the clothes, the parties, and all the friends she can ever hope for. One day when she is about to be voted into the biggest and best clique in the city, she has a strange visitor, an ugly visitor.
Uglies aren’t allowed in New Pretty Town. This person isn’t allowed in this perfect town. The river that separates the pretties and the uglies into their own towns isn’t supposed to be crossed. He isn’t allowed into the town. He is from the wild. Tally has forgotten about her time in the smoke where she once knew the visitor, and was there with him when it was destroyed. Because of this visit, she is brought back into the terrible cruel pretty world of special circumstances who are the police of her city. Now she is once again forced to a different side of the law than her best friend as she chooses between her new life of glamour or a life of freedom where she can make her own decisions with her ugly mind.
I recommend this book like my review of the first book to people who like technology action and suspense. The author is great at making things interesting and keeping action in the book the whole way through.

Behind the Bars of the Monster

On Friday, May 25th, I finished the book Glass, by Ellen Hopkins. It is the sequel to a very similar book, Crank. Both are books of poetry, nothing but poetry actually. Just from looking at it, you wouldn’t believe that it’s a fast red, but it is. The poetry factor definitely makes things go quicker because there’s less to read. I would read up to a hundred pages within an hour.

Glass is the continued story of a once normal teenager, Kristina, and her downward spiral with “the monster”. Kristina is addicted to meth in a very bad way. This is what she refers to as “the monster”. Throughout the story, many things happen that made me sick to my stomach, want to cry, get scared for Kristina, and even become envious at times while reading. In a nut shell, this is a “love story”, but Kristina’s love story is different. Yes, she falls in love (more than once) not only with guys, but with the monster. She develops a twisted love-hate relationship with the monster and Bree, a split personality she develops throughout her addiction.

Kristina goes from bad to worse when she keeps the monster around, and the relationships with everyone around her dwindle away. She loses everything. It almost seems like you’re reading the diary of someone off of the show ‘Intervention’ except without the intervention. It tells you the entire story from beginning to end with much more detail. As for the end of the story, I predicted what was going to happen (along with a few other possibilities) halfway through Glass. Although I could guess what was going to happen, I never waned to believe it would. That was my motivation to keep reading.

If you can relate to the stories of addiction, or if they interest you, this book, along with Crank, are right up your alley. The series does contain mature content and shouldn’t be read by an immature audience. I have many friends who recommended these books to me. Honestly, they all told be the series is great, but I was still skeptical. Overall, I’m glad I took their advice to read it because these poems tell a great story.

Tale ON

The Handmaid’s tale, by Margaret Atwood, is a very complicated and confusing book to understand. This book is kind of like 1984 with the whole “Big Brother is watching you” theme.

The book is about a girl named Offred and how she is controlled by the government and has no rights. She stays in a house with a married couple and has to do everything they say basically. She tries her best to be her own person and sneaks out of the house at night and does things that she is not supposed to do. Especially the ending, it jus leaves you wondering and thinking what really happened.

At first, the book starts off very slow and is really not that exciting, but when you really get deep into the book, it is very interesting and funny. You would even think at times, that you are in the book. The characters in the book are very funny and questionable because they see things happening throughout the book but never really say anything about it, like they are scared of the government. I think in some way, somehow, someone or something is watching them at all times.

This book is very interesting and very funny and will have you curious at the same time. I loved this book and I think you will too!