Title of Book: Catcher in The Rye  Author: J. D. Salinger  # of Pages Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value: Addresses the struggle of life


       In Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye', a young man in his late teens named Holden Caulfield, tells the story of his Christmas break. It begins with him getting expelled, and tells of his queer adventure's throughout New York while he waits for the right time to go home. Throughout this journey, he has many encounters that have a huge impact on his as a person. With his emotions already stirred a little from his expulsion, these events only worsen the state of his mind, and his melancholy. A bad combination with his sleep deprivation and hunger.


      This makes the book worthy of the readers time, because it helps embody the emotions, and depression a teen can feel, through Holden's struggle home. By showing the gradual decline in Holden's mental state throughout the book, it shows how feeling out of place in society isn't just a modern issue. By having the setting placed in the late 40's, it also helps the reader better understand why Holden is angry about some things because a lot of those things still happen today.

Title of Book: The Notebook Author: Nicholas Sparks # of Pages is 224 Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value: The Notebook is a romance tragedy taken place in the story of a couple who reflect back on their early ages of their lives. It shows how these characters grow and strengthen throughout the relationship and how their love goes through trial and test to join them in time. What makes this book have moral value and gives importance is its theme of love is undying and to no matter the events in your life to follow your heart. It shows this through the relationship in the story and how its taken place in the setting from an older couple remembering their relationship and how they got to became who they are. This story is most important to the audience because of its ability for the reader to be able to relate to the characters and their situation. In modern life there is much pressure to walk a certain road an to do whats in your best interest even if its not the path you feel true to yourself or want to follow. This relates the read to the theme by saying to live life doing what you want and love and to follow your heart to the things it wants. This theme also places importance on how this story unfolds, starting from an early couple conflicted with the interest of others they struggle to be together when others pull them apart, and wonder how the story concludes in the end. Later on it goes to explain the secondary conflict of another relationship and the revelations between each characters relationships. This plot all ties back to an importance in the authors viewpoints and how he portrays these conflicts to be relate-able to real world situations. This book is worth the time to a reader because it gives a compelling and engaging story and it demonstrates the theme of love and following your chosen path. The setting gives great importance to being relate-able to the audience and speaking to the reader. The author does a great way of connecting it to real world situations while still keeping the factional importance of the characters love and relationships. Overall, I would recommend this book and do enjoy reading it.

The Great Gatsby

Title of Book: The Great Gatsby Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald # of Pages 180 Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value: Creating the past

In the Great Gatsby throughout the novel Jay Gatsby is chasing something on the other side of the lake. Gatsby goes through a journey to get back his love Daisy. Through the help of his new neighbor Nick Carraway. Gatsby and Nick set up Daisy so her they can be together. This creates a mysterious story about the love affair and the past and present. There are major turns in the plot and metaphors. the story goes through the city and east and west egg in New York to show greed and death in a weird but great book.

The Fault In Our Stars why it matters

The Fault in our Stars: John Green: Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value:How It teaches people about individual effects on our loved ones and how we should live life

The Fault in our stars by John Green centers around two love struck teenagers Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters both who are either currently or have struggled with cancer and both at some point expect to die throughout the book. The book centers around a idea of entropy and the meaning of life, what we should do even tho life really doesn't matter. It gives a very good perspective on the world around us and how we can affect those we are close to, this is emphasized by how in the book Hazel Grace refers to herself as a “side effect” as well as how she doesn't want to “be a grenade” to her loved ones she doesn't want to ruin the lives of those she loves around her and this can potentially give readers a perspective on life and how we affect our loved ones. More often then not many people never realize how much we as individuals affect those we love In both good and bad ways love and experiences are what make life meaningful its important to find them not rush into life but to experience it. This book dosent hold any stops when it comes to being straightforward about life and death people live and people die no one not even cancer patents are “heroes” people just want to live and be able to experience the life that was given to them. I would recommend this book to almost anyone it gives great insight on alot of ideas and brings up a lot of things to talk about

1984 - George Orwell (Chandler Tanner)

Title of Book: 1984
Author: George Orwell
# of Pages: 298
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:







"Who controls the past controls the future: Who controls the present controls the past."

The book 1984 invents a dystopia and world in which George Orwell warns us all to be weary of devices such as political correctness, and to stand guard against attempts to "reinterpret" or otherwise change history. He shows that totalitarianism comes in all shapes and forms, primarily the progressive omission of personal freedom.

In our society, even removing the use of the word "terrorism," or increasing regulation, justified by the "protection of the environment" perpetuates the real-world relevancy of the warnings contained in the book 1984.

George Orwell propels his warning forward with the his brilliant conception of a dystopia far more advanced and powerful than even the USSR or Nazi Germany ever got- where not only are your actions monitored and controlled, but your thoughts too. Throughout the story, you follow an "Outer Party" member by the name of Winston through his internal struggle against the Party. You're enveloped into a world controlled by "Big Brother," and you witness Winston's almost instinctual resistance to the removal of freedom that has been imposed on his society for a very long time. On the contrary, it is Winston's believe that not even an all-powerful government can completely control you, and he exclaimed that “They could lay bare in the utmost detail everything that you had done or said or thought; but the inner heart, whose workings were mysterious even to yourself, remained impregnable.” This leaves us, as the readers, with a goal for Winston. Will he be able to stay human, and become free, despite all odds? Orwell will even define what it means to be human, a definition we all have taken for granted.

Orwell's novel will excite you, fill you with enthusiasm and hope, and crush your dreams and could leave you furious and frustrated. I personally have never read a novel with such emotional value to it. Orwell will most definitely leave you internally chanting "down with Big Brother! Down with Big Brother!"

Orwell, though a genius and complex series of plots, will leave you with a universal understanding of the human need for freedom. Through such a universal idea, you as the reader will effortlessly be able to interpret the warning within his book. This novel is simply a must read for all Americans.

Title of Book: All Quiet on the Western Front
Author: Erich Maria Remarque
# of Pages 295
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value:

Cameron Denney

L.Long

Jeffco Virtual Academy

6-22-16

A book worth reading is hard, especially with how busy everyone is now. All Quiet on the

Western Front is definitely worth the time. It captures a very unique perspective; it’s from world

war one but it’s not from the side you would expect. It’s actually from the perspective of a 19

year old German soldier, Paul Baümer and his experiences in the war. It shows the not so

clean side of war, all the dirt, the grime, and the blood. In a truly elegant statement the author portrays the intent of the book “it will simply try to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.”(Remarque Preface) The reason it's worth a read, is because it shows a piece of history that is seen very little, especially as we get farther away from the world wars. As time goes by the people who have experienced this in person will no longer be around to tell us about the events that happened. Remarque conveys the horridness of war to those who have never been nor ever will be there. One excellent example from the book is “So I crawl away to the farthest corner and stay there, my eyes glued on him, my hand grasping the knife--ready, if he stirs, to spring at him again.”(Remarque 216) When these events are recorded in an artful way, it is important to learn from our past. This is very cliche but we are doomed to repeat the past if we don't learn from it. As expressed by the main character Paul ““Comrade”, I say to the dead man, but I say it calmly, ”today you, tomorrow me. But if I come out of it, comrade, I will fight against this, that has struck us both down; from you taken life--and from me--? Life also. I promise you, comrade. It shall never happen again.”(Remarque 226)

Gatsby

Reviewer: Logan Papi
Title of Book: The Great Gatsby
Author: F Scott Fitzgerald
# of Pages 193
Star Rating:  ★★★★★

 Why This Book has Value:   The Great Gatsby by itself is an American classic, but some believe that it might have outlived its stay in the educational system. I disagree entirely, it holds lessons not taught in today's system and delivers them subtly, often without the reader noticing at all. Let me show you what I mean.
                     This book revolves around Nick Carraway, a business man who moved in next door to the mysterious and very extravagant spender Jay Gatsby. Gatsby threw the largest parties in all of New York, ones that everyone who was anyone would go, no matter what. All of these parties were to seduce and attract the attention of Daisy, who was Nick's cousin twice removed and married to Tom Buchanon. So already there's some love affair tomfoolery* going on, and we have our plot. This goes on back and forth for a while with indirect fighting between Gatsby and Buchanan over Daisy and Nick just gets to witness it. The ending is completely unexpected and leaves the reader with a sense likened to that of just witnessing Murphy's law in action.
                      It deals heavily with the avariciousness of the twenties and what sort of problems arise from one man's greed. It also serves as a very accurate historical depiction and really brings to life what the twenties were, between the swinging parties and the bone crushing mornings after. “I hope she’ll be a fool - that’s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.” - Daisy (Pg 21 Fitzgerald) shows the attitude of how people should ignore what the world wants and enjoy themselves before the high ends. That was the embodiment of the time and nobody could want it less.
It truly is a timeless story that needs -- no, Deserves a place in the educational system to teach the youth about what the past was like, and to teach them what happened shortly after... cheers!

Important Books Blog

Kiana Jamshidinezhad

The Matrix

The Matrix is a book I think every person should read, ( or at least my age). This book shows how society is stuck in a false reality, and to be free you have to break out of the system; The system is called the Matrix.

The concept of the book is this; in an unknown year in the distant future, robots are using humans as an energy source, with us humans having no idea. Humans are no longer born, they are grown. However we aren't aware what's going on, we all think we're just living life, when really were living in tanks, and definitely not living life. There is a group of a few people that have broken out of this system, and know what is really going on, the leader is named Morpheus, he is trying to break all of humanity out of this system so we can reclaim our lives. However it is a very huge challenge for him and his crew due to the Secret Agents, they cannot beat them, thus resulting in humans being slaves forever. Morpheus thinks he has found “ the one”, his name is Neo and he is still stuck in the Matrix. Morpheus finds Neo, and gives him the chance to see the real(terrible) world, or keep himself in the Matrix. He chooses to see what's going on, and from there on out, he is trained for beating the Agents.

The Matrix opens with shots of a computer screen showing that a call is being traced, the voices discuss whether or not they have found “ the one”. Secret Agents go into the room, these secret agents are supposed to protect the system, which is what the “ voices” are trying to escape from. This setting is unknown throughout the book, they say it could be thousands or billions of years into the future. The subject matter is to break out of the system. This book really connects to the real world; In the book it's talking about breaking out of a physical system, but to connect that to real world, people need to break out of this metaphorical system. This day and age everybody is the same, they're all wanting to be the same, it seems like everyone these days wants to be super cool and gangster. Why? I don't know either.

The vocabulary in this book is very very deep, it's very serious, and quite advanced. I think the most developed character is Neo, He starts off trapped in the system and unaware, but once he is he is very scared and wants to be put back in. But, throughout the book you see him gain confidence and strength, thus wanting to beat the Secret Agents; He becomes very strong. I feel like The Matrix has many themes, but the one i think is the most special is the relationship between the brain, body, and the mind. The Matrix explores these connections, and especially how the connection changes when the world turns out to be an illusion. The people inside the matrix can feel physical sensations, which are being created  by the mind; This book shows how the body cannot survive without the mind. The existence and absence of these 3 elements separates Neo, and Morpheus from not only the Agents, but also the Architect, the Oracle, and the other matrix bound entities.

I feel like the audience is towards teenagers, and if it wasn't intended to be it should be. This book is all about demonstrating being different and separating from the system, which i think kids my age should start doing. All in all, This book needs to be advertised more, because it's truly incredible.

Ready player one-Gage Blakeslee

Ready Player One By Earnest Cline 374 pg's And I rate it 5/5 stars





           Ready Player One, is a sci-fi thriller story with an amazing character development, story arch and heart wrenching plot twists. it follows a teenager named wade watts. Who is an orphan living in the year 2077 with his aunt who has no value of his well being. When his world gets flipped upside down because of the opportunity to win millions of dollars and run the most important company in the world to possibly even save it. The only way for humanity to cope with how awful the earth is is by spending most of their time in the virtual world of the oasis. The creator of the oasis was a millionaire before he died of old age, and before he bit the dust he put in his will that the next owner of the oasis would be the person who could fine an Easter egg in the multi universe sized virtual realm he created using clues and references to find it.
          This book is one of my absolute favorites because of how addicting it is to read, I've read it about five times now because every time I read it I get more and more of the references and little clues and foreshadowing every time I read it. Not to mention the characters are lovable, relate-able and hate-able. The characters are created so well and how they are written it makes me feel like I know them and have for years. But I think my most favorite aspect is the references, I didn't live in the eighties but watch, read and listen to allot of the culture and in the novel the references can range from very subtle to right in your face and ts wonderfully fun.
         So I feel this book is very valuable to the busy reader, its easy to start and stop, but its also so much fun to read and get into. I feel this is an excellent book to read and amazing story to get lost in.

                                                                                     Title of Book:Legend    Author:Marie Lu          

# of         Pages:367 Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆        

 Why This Book has Value:
 
           In the book, Legend,  Marie Lu has created a spectacular setting, Back in 2020 I would think, a flood covered the bottom half of the east  coast leaving only a few states left, after splitting these states into two different countries, The Republic, which ranges from California to Colorado, and The Colonies which ranges from Nebraska to Michigan. The Republic has these things called trials where they test ten-year-old boys and girls to see where the fit into society, if you pass 1300/1500 or higher you live, if you fail then you die. June Iparis is one of the two main character perspectives your read from, She is a fifteen-year-old prodigy, who scored a perfect 1500, and Day the last main  characters perspective you read from, he is fifteen-years-old, and one of the most wanted criminals you could think of, he's set military bases a blaze, robbed banks, but he did it for a good cause, to save his brother from a government controlled plague as for his trial scores he failed, or so he thinks he got a perfect 1500 but is still in denial about it. Day and June meet in an unlikely situation, June wandered into a "Skiz" fight and got stabbed, Day saved her life and drug her to safety, and patched her wounds, later that evening they kiss, June then realizes the man she has been looking for is the one she kissed, She follows Day to his house were she uses his family as bait, and asks that no harm comes to Days' family, but Commander Jameson, June's commanding officer orders Thomas to kill days mother. After being captured Day gets trance ported to prison and gets interrogated by a whole bunch of other military people, June decides to go against her government and free Day from his death sentence along the way they free his older brother John, John takes Days place, and gets killed instead of Day. Day and June make there escape to Vegas where they will uncover mysteries hidden within the Republic.

Title of Book: The Things They Carried  Author:Tim O'Brien  # of Pages 233 Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value:

In the novel The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien Tim discusses his experience through the Vietnam war. Tim is a character in its self in the book he goes through how his life was before the war, during, and after. This book has value due to the fact that many aspects of war are shown. Tim is whats known as an unreliable narrator.He would tell a war story and would say "none of this even happened" (O'Brien 64). There were many characters included that where soldiers as well such as Kiowa who had a big toll on all of the other soldiers. Not only does this novel portray great stories but also includes history and how life was back in the late 60's. When a soldier was drafter is was based off of their birthday; some decided to go if they were drafter, dodge and others. In this novel Tim goes deep into his head on what he was going to do when he found out he was going to be drafted. In the beginning of the text Tim goes through what the men carried physically and emotionally. " They carried their reputations" (O'Brien 77). In this quote it shows an emotional feeling that the soldiers carried with them. All though the book goes into great detail of certain situations it is a great read. It shows how war effects a person and those around you.

The Fault in Our Stars- Hannah Bright

Title of Book:  The Fault In Our Stars 

Author: John Green

 # of Pages: 313 

Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆ 

Why This Book has Value:

The Fault in Our Stars centers around the young love of 16 year old Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus "Gus" Waters. Hazel Grace has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer for three years now. She continues to call herself a "side effect of the relentless mutation that made the diversity of life on earth possible" ( Chapter 4, pg.49). At her regular support group for cancer kids, she made the acquaintance of Augustus Waters, 17 year old osteosarcoma patient. As the books go on, Hazel starts to feel herself fall in love with Gus, and she eventually tells him how she has never been able to contact the seemingly recluse of an author, Peter Van Houten, who wrote Hazel's favorite book, An Imperial Affliction. Waters contacts Houtem's assistant, explaining the dilemma and how Hazel wants to know the answers of the ending of the book. He then uses his wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation™ to finance the travel plans. However, the trip is put on hold because a slight ICU scare of Hazel's Her doctors and her parents then decide she can go on the trip as long as her mother goes along with her. Gus, Hazel, and Hazel's mother then fly to Amsterdam, where Van Houten currently resides.  They meet with the drunk and rude author and then proceed to the Anne Frank Memorial House where they share their first kiss. At the end of their trip, Augustus reveals his cancer has come back to Hazel. "He flashed his crooked smile, then said, 'I lit up like a Christmas tree, Hazel Grace.  The lining of my chest, my left hip, my liver, everywhere.' "( Chapter 13, pg.214). Through out the book, Hazel and Gus experience love and pain, combined into one. "'That's the thing about pain,' Augustus said, and then glanced back at me. 'It demands to be felt.' " Cancer is one of the main themes of the book, along with the necessity of suffering, the inevitable (death/oblivion) and Love.  These themes contribute to the overall factor: no matter what you are facing/ going through, always live in the moment. The Fault in Our Stars is a great book for teenagers, I believe, and overall, a great read. 

Paige Weiman Breakfast at Tiffany's

Title of Book:Breakfast at Tiffany's Author: Truman Capote # of Pages 197 Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value:

Breakfast at Tiffanys is a novel about a ditsy, attention seeker: Holly Golightly. Holly is your stereotypical popular girl. She moved to New York in search of a new life, Holly has never been good at staying in one place and once she gets settled she leaves, she meets someone who makes her feel at home and the story if about how she handles that relationship. My favorite thing about this book is the double entendre it contains as well as the deeper meaning behind a seemingly simple story and its characters.

Sometimes a name can mean more than something to catch someones’ attention;especially a name as unique as Holly Golightly. In one of the first scenes, something easily overlooked, yet immensely important is introduced. Holly’s mailbox is marked in a strange and different way: it states on the label, “Miss Holly Golightly, Traveling”(Capote 53). This supports the idea that Holly is hesitant to move, or rather do anything that involves settling down. She believes that by adding this title to her mailbox, it allows her to come and go as she pleases. Another example of this lifestyle is the constant state of Holly’s apartment. Un-packed boxes and miscellaneous clutter, as well as a slightly kinky cat, display the unkempt state of Holly’s apartment and the distracted process of her mind. Cat is symbolic of Holly’s weariness of becoming attached. Holly refuses to name the cat for it does not belong to her, “we don't belong to each other: he's an independent, and so am I.”  (Capote 90)  They are merely acquaintances that pass by each other, and do not know each other. Thus they assume eachothers circumstances and identities. They have both been stripped of something important to them-understanding. She wants love, wealth, and stability, but she knows that she values her autonomy too much to let it be taken away. Holly lives her life half in fantasy to avoid responsibilities that might threaten her freedom. The novel’s central theme is the tension between the need for security and the desire for freedom. She is unwilling to accept life as it is and merely assumes that if she searches hard enough that good things will come to her.develop more

Holly struggles with the “tension between the need for security and the desire for freedom” (source 1), introduce quote with title and author  as well as some sort of multi-personality disorder that plagues her. She has a hard time living in the real world, and her mind has a hard time leaving her fantasy world. All Holly desires in life is love, wealth and stability. This is the main reason Holly becomes a prostitute “All I hope, I hope he’s rich. He must be rich”(Capote 8). Holly is certain of the type of man she wants. Whether or not she can achieve it is clear, and Holly doesn't like what she sees. Holly desires the comfort of someone who loves her, but she doesn't care about the emotions of it. Like many women, Holly is driven by many monetary values, such as money and the comfort it provides. This causes her to go for guys who don’t respect her or are totally unrespectable. The front that Holly puts up is just a facade to mask her insecurities, and she surrounds herself with shallow people. Her reasoning is never clarified; however, it is revealed that she wishes to put her name on as many lips as possible.

The past can have a haunting influence of how people react to their surroundings, and many of Holly’s life choices are a direct result of her past. Her brother has a small part in the novel, yet his impact is overwhelming. Holly compares love to her feeling for her brother. He is associated with emotions such as security, belonging, and family. Holly has a growing sense of losing Fred and when the news of his death arrives; all of her sense of comfort and trust dies with him. why From this point forward, Holly has an immensely decreased sense of trust and overall desire to live. Introduce quote “Holly lives, a world symbolized by her love for the jewelry store Tiffany & Co., a place that, as she explains, makes her feel as though nothing bad could ever happen.”Cite quote The entire novel mirrors a depressive tone, and this is  the first major theme throughout the novel. Another impacting event is her brief marriage to Doc, “whom she loves but cannot stay with because she cannot compromise her independence and individuality. Although she desires security, she hates cages of any kind; she is a "wild thing" who refuses to be confined to any role not of her own making.” cite quotationThis is because of Holly’s uncertainty and spawns her interest in experimenting in new personalities, trying to find herself.always refuses to give up her identity to be something she is not.introduce quotation “She is, as O. J. Berman says, a "phony," but a real phony.”(Gale source 3)Holly refers to herself as a “Traveler”; a wild thing and everyone knows not to fall in love with a wild thing.

One of the only things keeping Holly sane is her good friend, “Fred”, the narrator. He represents her idea of a perfect man in all perspectives besides romantic. The narrator, being a deeply-rooted theme is the similarity between Holly and the Narrator, and Truman Capote. introduce quote “His character of Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffanys has been a manifestation of his own journey from a small southern town to the bright lights of New York City”(Gale source 1) Like the Narrator, Capote was openly homosexual. The narrator, who was called “Maude” by Holly, is also open about his sexuality. Maude is a synonym for a gay person and is used by Holly to highlight Capote’s subtle homosexual undertones. And again, the Narrator offers his complementary opinion on an attractive man. All of these examples support the idea of both of those characters representing both sides of Capote’s identity. A secondary supporting detail is the similarity of Capote and the Narrators birthday and the character traits shared by Capote and Holly share. “nameless writer dubbed “Fred” who becomes fascinated with his mysteriously eccentric, social climbing neighbor Holly Golightly, reportedly an amalgam of many society women Capote knew” (Broadway source 4) The striking similarities can mean only one thing, that Breakfast at Tiffany’s is an allegory to Capote’s psychological identity. This secret autobiography is perhaps the greatest and most complex secret that this book has to offer; an allegory perhaps. Capote as well as several characters in the novel struggle with alcoholism: “Capote succumbed to alcoholism, drug addiction, and poor health, and he died in 1984, shortly before his sixtieth birthday.”(Gale source 3). It is very apparent in the novel as it seems to be referred to on almost every-other page. The uncanny similarities between his characters and Capote’s real life events is so clear that they must be connected and this is the real reason for this obscure novel.

The Hunger Games (Sierra Desmond)

Title of Book: The Hunger Games
Author: Susan Collins
 # of Pages: 374
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Why this book has value:

         Katniss Everdeen is living in a world called Panem. This world is controlled by the capitol, the capitol's president is President Snow. Snow is in control of everything that goes on in Panem. Other than the citizen who live in the capitol, there are citizens who live among the 12 Districts. The districts all have a certain purpose. There are fishing Districts, mining, lumber, you name it. All of these Districts are there to support the capitol. Katniss lives in District 12. 
        Every year President Snow calls a Hunger Games. Where a male and female member from each District are chosen at random, and shipped to the capitol. From there, they are given three weeks to train. After the three weeks, there are put in an arena, and are forced to fight to the death until there is only one person left alive. Every Hunger Games is broadcast across panem from the capitals amusement.
         Katniss's sister was chosen to enter the games, but Katniss Volunteered in her place. Now Katniss is on her way to the capitol, where she will face 23 other competitors, whom she will eventually have to murder, or be murdered. Will she survive?

The Things They Carried (Jacen Ballou)

                               

 

Title of Book: The Things They Carried

Author: Tim O’Brien

#of Pages: 233

Star Rating *****

The New York Times: Book of the Century

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist

Why this book has value:

The Things They Carried is a shocking journey to another time, another place. It’s 1968 during the Vietnam War, the journey is very emotional. It’s about a time in our history, where the United States is in an upheaval over the war.  It is about a group of grunts, who are just kids, and the things they carried with them: the courage, the gear, the 14 pounds of ammo, the weapons, the 20 pounds of supplies, the radios and some surprising personal items. These young men wanted to know, this is a Quote, page 38: “Who started it, and when, and why? “” What really happened to the USS Maddox on that dark night in the Gulf of Tonkin?” The book takes you along their journey you learn what it might be like to experience war in the jungle, to experience the horror of tunnels, to be up on the AP. It will also tell you how it ultimately affected the soldiers: both, mentally and physically. It’s one thing to live it out fighting the war, with hoping to have salvaged some rectitude having had to make some hard choices, and then you think about going home at the end of the war. Then you figure out that the war isn’t over for you. Those who died never die in your mind, and those who lived died. Tim O’Brien was one of those grunts, one of those who lived through the Vietnam War and wrote about it. Writing about it is what saved him. Writing a book is what I believe every soldier from every war should do, we are still in a war in another place, we: meaning the soldiers, are still dealing with the same emotions, to the extent of suffering long after their tour of duty with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and as I said above “Those who died never die in your mind, and those who lived died” Perhaps if you read this book you might get a new perspective of what our soldier today deal with and maybe you can help them deal with their emotions on their experiences. We have lost so many of our brave young men to suicide from PTSD, they need your help.

 

Of mice and men by Jessica underwood

Title of Book:Of mice and men
 Author:john Steinbeck
 # of Pages 105
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

 Why This Book has Value: of mice and men is one of the best books i have read , it about two men that stick together their whole life but ends in tragedy when George shoots Lennie all because he finally realized that Lennie will never stay out of trouble after Lennie accidentally kills curly s wife the setting takes place back in the old days when they had cow boys and saloons and horses instead of cars. Also back in these days they didn't know there was a such thing of autistic people . that's what i think Lennie was , he was special he didn't quite understand things , George just thought he was kind of stupid witch is interesting because now a days people know automatically when their child is special because of all the new technology but yet we still cant fix it. What i really enjoyed about this book other then the story is the slang the old sayings they used or just the way they talked with a southern accent almost like instead of saying just it says jes and instead of you it says ya. i think what really makes the book is Lennie and George always sticking together . no matter what no matter how much trouble Lennie gets in George never leaves him because he knows Lennie cant survive with out him . George and Lennie have a dream that they will get a little piece of land and Lennie will tend the rabbits because he loves soft things candy is also apart of this plan because he is the one who is chipping in most of the money but only has one hand so he knows the ranch wont keep him around for much longer so he goes with Georges plan to help buy a piece of land so candy can finally relax. but it all falls threw when curly s wife tries to come on to Lennie by letting him touch her hair but his fingers get caught in it she screams he cover he mouth to stop her from screaming and accidentally kills her so him and George have to run again resulting in George killing Lennie.

The Things They Carried (Nolan Peet)

Title of Book: The Things They Carried
Author: Tim O'Brian
# of Pages: 237
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value: The Things They carried is a book depicting a platoon of soldiers and their experience in the Vietnam War. The book describes the graphic and violent life of ground infantry men. O'Brian focuses his story toward the weight that each soldier carries. He provides the exact weight of each item the platoon must "hump" each day. One of the most important aspects of the novel is how brutally real it was. Throughout the novel, you believe every word that O'Brian says. But, as all good books, there is a twist; the book is all a lie. This kind of sudden realization had profound effects on me. It made me realize how differently we read fiction vs non-fiction. I believe that O'Brian know of this difference, and attempted to show it to you. His book, if read completely as fiction, would not have had the same effect on me. I could have read through it hearing all of the terrible things and take it as a grain of salt. The Things They Carried is important to read solely because of the realization it gives you. All fiction books have a real life moral, and I believe knowing that the story never happened takes away from the moral. Reading this book provides priceless opportunities of gaining insight, and the book only weighs about fifteen ounces.

The Fault in our Stars (Nicholas Rodriguez)

Title of Book: The Fault in our Stars
Author: John Green
# of Pages: 318
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
Why This Book has Value: This book has value because of all the drama and romance it gives.

Fault in our stars is full of such drama and romance throughout the the book. Anyone who loves drama and romance would really enjoy this book a lot. After I read this book I felt like I was actually one of the characters because while reading you jut get so attached. The only little spoiler I'll give you is, if you're really into this book your going to be crying when your finished.

Title of Book: To Kill a Mockingbird Author: Harper Lee
# of Pages: 288
Star Rating: ☆​☆☆☆
Why this book has value:
    This book has value to me because it's a heartwarming story of two siblings growing up in the confusing time of slavery. I am someone who thinks books can change the world and I believe that To Kill a Mockingbird is an incredible story that teaches about Family, Forgiveness, Compassion, and standing up for whats right. While watching these characters in the book you can clearly see they adapt new ideas and mature to their new surroundings.
That's why I think this book is something that everyone should read.

       

    
                    

Title of Book: Of Mice And Men

Author: John Steinbeck

# of Pages 109

Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

Why This Book has Value:

I think that this book has value because it describes the time period in which they were in very accurately. Also, I feel like the book has a very powerful theme, which is to follow your dreams. For example,  George and Lennie just wanted to buy a house on the farm with big fields, animals, and crops. Candy wanted to follow along and help with the farming. Lennie was most dedicated as to what he wanted, and that was to tend the rabbits. Curley's wife talks about how she made the biggest mistake of her life marrying Curley, because what she really wanted to do was to be an actress, which are the reasons leading me to believe that the theme of the book is to "follow your dreams." As well as that, it contains a gripping plot that wants you to keep reading more. I always would want to figure out what trouble Lennie would get into next, or what obstacles they would face, and to top it off I found the ending to be very unexpected, therefore, the reason this book has value.

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The great Gatsby: F Scott Fitzgerald 180 Pages Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆ Why This Book has Value: I gave this book three stars because it would had gone into more details at certain points durring the book.

The book was overwhelmingly suspense full. The constant battle for what they want things going the wrong way and things working out. It is full of 1920’s terms like; “try again old sport.” and many more. Has almost every type of genre so that every person like some part of the book.

City of bones-- Makaila Chadwick

Title of Book:City of Bones Author:Cassandra Clare  # of Pages: 485  Why This Book has Value:

     A book that i have recently read (and thoroughly enjoyed) is The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones  by Cassandra Clare. She is the author of the Mortal Instruments series, Infernal Devices trilogy, and coauthor of the Bane Chronicles with Sarah Rees Brennan and Maureen Johnson. Clare also wrote The Shadowhunter's Codex with her husband Joshua Lewis. Clare and Lewis live together in western Massachusetts.

     This fictional book brings together the history of angels and demons, and the ancient myths of vampires werewolves, and shadow hunters to modern day New York. The main character of this book is Clary Fray, who lives in downtown Brooklyn with her mother, Jocelyn, in an apartment. Everything was normal until Clary started drawing a strange symbol over and over again, everywhere. When the demons that Jocelyn has been trying to escape from finds her, Clary is at a coffee shop with her best friend Simon. She meets a Shadowhunter named Jayce who follows her to her house after she receives a phone call from her mother.

'"Don't come home! Do you understand me, Clary? Don't you dare come home. Go to Simon's house and stay there until i can-" A noise in the background interrupted her: the sound of something falling, shattering, something heave striking the floor-

"Mom!" Clary shouted into the the phone. "Mom are you all right?"

A loud buzzing noise came from the phone. Clary's mother's voice cut through the static: "Just promise me you wont come home. Go to Simon's and call Luke- tell him that he's found me-"' (pg. 45)

     After this, Clary steals Jayce's sensor and runs home as fast as she possibly can. Upon entry she is attacked by a demon. Jayce and sees that Clary killed the demon, but not before it could bite her. He took her to the Shadowhunter's Institute so she could be healed as the demons carry deadly venom. Clary goes from an ordinary teenager to a ruthless Shadowhunter, willing to do anything to save her mom. 

      This book was important to me because I love books about fictional characters, and settings in an alternate reality where these characters can exist. Clare tells the story in such a way that makes you feel like you are in the story, and you can easily visualize everything that is happening with descriptions like: "They had the same jet black hair, the same slender eyebrows winging up at the corners, the same pale, high-colored skin." (pg. 68) and "His eyes when he looked at Clary were bright with dislike." (pg. 69)

     To me, the theme of this book is religion. There are references to Christianity very frequently in this book. In a world full of angels and demons, settings in some churches, and allusions to the Bible. Shadowhunters do not follow any one single religion, so all religions support them when they go to battle. Near every church's altar, under the Nephilim rune, Shadowhunters will find weapons. This can be transferred to real life in the way that religion is factored in everyone's life, whether you are Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Atheist, Agnostic, or anything else, you have your own beliefs, and you interact with people of different beliefs every single day. This shows people of all different beliefs working together without bias for the common good, which is extremely relevant to societal issues. It is important because there is so much conflict with religion currently, that could all go away if we would just look past the fact that not everyone believes in the same thing, and that's okay.  

     

A Midsummer Night's Dream ---- Rebecca Couture

Title of Book: A Midsummer Night's Dream
Author: William Shakespeare
# of Pages: 192
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
 Why This Book has Value:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream can be taken in a variety of ways. Some find it amusing and some may even find it a little offensive. Either way, this play affects the reader which is what makes it so valuable. This play is different from other works of Shakespeare, which is most of it’s charm. It is not tragic and doesn’t pose any life-altering questions, the story is very easy going and keeps the reader intrigued with it’s utter lack of order. The play focuses on three different stories which all weave together; coinciding. There are the Athenian lovers (Hermia, Lysander, Demetrius, and Helena), the glorious faeries (Oberon, Titania, and Puck), and the clueless Athenian civilians (Bottom, Theseus, Egeus, and performers).

The play starts out with a heartbroken Hermia arguing with her heartless father, Egeus. Egeus is insistent of Hermia marrying Demetrius, but Hermia loves Lysander and refuses to obey her father’s commands. This is when Egeus involves Theseus, a man of great power in Athens, he demands Hermia marry Demetrius or she be punished by death, Theseus gives her a day to make her decision. Hermia and Lysander are understandably hurt and decide to flee and marry at Lysander’s aunt’s where Athenian law can no longer reach them. In turn an angry Demetrius follows them to the woods after hearing of their plans from Helena. Helena of course, follows Demetrius as well, because she loves him so very much. They have no idea what awaits them in the woods.

This is when the great faeries come into the story. King Oberon is plotting against Queen Titania for her indian boy. He sends Robin Goodfellow a.k.a. Puck, for the flower touched by cupid’s arrow in order to trick Titania. Oberon also witnesses Demetrius’s cruelty towards Helena in the woods and tells Puck to use the flower’s extract on his eyes as well. Now, this amazing flower’s extract makes the person, whose eyelids it is on, fall in love with the first creature he/she sees when they first wake up. This becomes very troublesome as mistakes are made. With no spoilers, long story short, everything works itself out in the end... after a few do-overs.

One of the reasons I find this book to be valuable is definitely the character development. Throughout the play there really wasn't always a hero or villain. There was Puck, the infamous trickster, Egeus and Demetrius, both started out as a villain against Hermia and Lysander, and also Oberon, who revealed himself as both a hero and villain. Oberon seemed villainous for his actions towards Titania, but heroic in realizing Puck's mistake and fixing the lovers' quarrel. You also see him transition to compassionate after seeing Titania tricked into loving a man she would never love--normally. Demetrius also transitions quite profoundly during the play. He goes from loving Hermia and hating Helena, only supporting his own marriage to Hermia; a villainous character. To loving Helena in every way and forgetting completely of Hermia and Lysander. He says, “The object and pleasure of mine eye,/ is only Helena.” (IV. i.157-158) when in the beginning he refers to Helena as some pest he can’t get rid of. Demetrius’s change of heart turns him into a more loved character because his refusal to wed Hermia brings Egeus to a loss.

I also found this piece of writing valuable because of the way it exposed Shakespeare himself. The play was more of a comedy than tragedy, which is what I'd previously known Shakespeare for. In the play, Shakespeare focused on metaphorically making fun of love-- or rather the idea and actions people take for it. This play really helped me understand Shakespeare's type of writing and his feelings that fuel his other writing. Not to mention the play brought quite a bit of comic relief to my life. Especially when Bottom was given the head of a donkey.

I felt what made this piece of writing valuable was also its theme. In the play I think Shakespeare tries to indirectly explain that love is stupid. There are so many unknowns and faults that come from the idea of love and he really establishes just how silly it is. This I can see even in my own life which is occurring hundreds of years later. He demonstrates this in a conversation between Helena and Demetrius, “And even for that do I love you the more./ I am your spaniel. and, Demetrius/ The more you beat me, I will fawn on you.” (II.i. 187-190) I mean how ridiculous does she seem that she compares herself to a dog. She just said that she is Demetrius’s dog! I could never imagine someone saying this to their beloved in the twenty-first century, but just because it’s not said aloud doesn’t mean it’s not true.

Lastly, another thing I noticed about the book which also kept me drawn in was the very unique language it's written in. You are really able to see the similarities and differences between Modern English (what we speak) and Early Modern English (Shakespeare). You realize just how close our language is linked throughout time. These are only a few reasons why I believe this play is valuable.

The Shadow of the Wind Review - Justin Yu

Title of Book: The Shadow of the Wind

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

# of Pages: 565

Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Why This Book has Value:

Daniel, the protagonist of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novel The Shadow of the Wind, is an energetic and driven teenage boy. The authors choice of words and Daniel’s cirumstances in his own life show his character, by the end of the book, to be honorable, intelligent, and very driven to his purpose.The story begins with him at age 10 and ends when he is 18, meaning that over the course of these 8 years Daniel had an incredible amount of character development. Beyond the simple process of going from pre-teen to adulthood, which is a journey in the most ordinary of circumstances, Daniel is put through trials and situations beyond what most children go through and was changed for it.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s writing style changes as Daniel grows older, which shows Daniel’s personality and level of maturity through his language, thoughts and his actions in the world around him. When Daniel’s father first showed him The Cemetery of Forgotten

books(Zafón, 3), Daniel was interested in books, but the passion did not come from his heart, it came from his father’s. Over the next few years after Daniel reads The Shadow of the Wind, Daniel develops his own passion and love for books and reading books. When Daniel learns that Julian Carax’s(The author of The Shadow of the Wind) books are systematically disappearing, Daniel sets out on a quest to find and protect these books. Although Daniel’s quest to protect these books and to find the identity of the man responsible for the disappearing books leads him into many troubles and is wrought with hardship, Daniel persists and overcomes these obstacles. His determination and unwavering devotion to the protection of these books is a strong representation of his character and how both driven and honourable Daniel is as a character. His passion and great understanding of books, as well as how artfully and skillfully Daniel searched and discovered the mystery of The Shadow of the Wind, show how intelligent and clever Daniel is.

Daniel’s character is very strong, clear and consistent throughout the whole of the book, and his development and the lessons he learns is shown through both dialogue and writing style. His growth from 10 year old to 18 year old is represented and is changed through the view of the world around him. Daniel is a clear protagonist, and Carlos Ruiz Zafón did a beautiful job of portraying him as such.