The Diary of Anne Frank

Title: The Diary of Anne Frank

Author: Anne Frank

Genre: Auto biography/Historical Non-fiction

This week I decided to starte re-reading one of my most favorite books, which is Anne Frank's diary. I really love this book because, even though Anne's story is set during a very difficult and tragic time, some of the experiences she goes through a very relatable to the girls of her age today. Anyways, this book revolves around young Anne's opinion and experiences, as she and her family hide in a "secret annexe" from the Nazis, in 1942, with another family and a German dentist. Anne recieves her diary on her thirteenth birthday, and decides to address it as "Kitty". At the very beginning of the book, Anne's life is pretty much similar to any other teenager of that time, who lived in Amsterdam. However, one day, her family recieves a disturbing call, saying that her mother, father, sister Margot, and herself will have to be deported to a concentration camp. That is when they decide to leave their home and go into hiding. I believe that this is a very brave decision, which shows that the Franks were a very determined family, who didn't want to let the war and conflicts dictate their life. The other family that stays with the Franks are the Van Daans, who have a son named Peter, which Anne later developed a crush on. She is not very fond of Mrs. Van Daan, though, as she constantly criticizes her. I, as many other teenagers, can relate to this, because at this age, we are constantly being understood and critcized for our points of view, attitudes, etc. Another person that joins the annexe later on is Mr. Dussel, who is extremely stubborn. On numerous occasions in the novel, Anne compalins about the horrible food they eat and the bad conditions they live in, but is also thankful that they have a shelter and are somewhat safe. Depite the fact that I know how the novel ends, I still find myself hoping that Anne and her family will survive the war, and walk out of the annexe free. However, that is not really the case. At the end of the book, it is described that Margot, Anne, her mother and father, were found hiding and were sent to different concentration camps across Germany and Holland. The only to survive was Otto Frank, Anne's father. He later made his daughter's wish come true, by publishing her diary.

Artemis Fowl

Title: Artemis Fowl

Author: Eoin Colfer

Genre: Young adult, fantasy

Pages:280

Artemis Fowl II is the twelve-year old son of an Irish Crime lord, Artemis Fowl I. After significant research, Artemis believes that he has confirmed the existence of fairies. He tracks down an alcoholic sprite posing as a healer in Vietnam, and travels there with his Bodyguard Butler to obtain from her The Book of the People    the fairy holy book that is written in Gnommish (fairy language).

Meanwhile, Captain Holly Short of the Lower Elements Police is tracking a rogue troll that has managed to reach the surface of the Earth from the fairy city, deep underground, Assisted by a technically minded centaur called Foaly and LEPrecon commander Julius Root, she incapacitates the troll. However, this uses the last of her magic, and Commander Root demands that she complete the magic restoring ritual.

The War of the Flowers

Title: The War of the Flowers
Author: Tad Williams
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 832

     Now you may be thinking to yourself, "The War of the Flowers, what's that about, a gay couple that are having a divorce?" Well, no it isn't. It is in fact far more complex and far deeper than a simple divorce. The story starts off with Theo, a thirty year old who is in a young rock band because he believes that he has wasted his life doing nothing, and desperately wants to be young again. His girlfriend Catherine had a miscarriage, and contracted a disease in doing so. As she is dying in hospital she tells Theo that it is over and that "even in heaven I don't want to see your face" (Williams, 34). Later that week, he gets a phone call from the hospital telling him that his mother has died from pancreatic cancer. Theo sinks deeper and deeper in to depression. His ray of sunshine comes in a strange form, when his uncle, Eammon dies, leaving Theo a book in his inheritance. Theo, depressed and bored as ever decides to read it. It's a fantasy, he notices, about a mystical world, filled with the strangest of creatures: fairies, dragons, nymphs and all sorts. However, the book is written as though it was a biography or documentary. He disregards it as nonsense and continues on with his severe depression. However, he one day finds himself happy and uplifted. In this state, a fairy named Applecore comes to him, claiming that she has freed him from a disease spirit called Irrha, which would have killed him. Theo thinks that he is drugged, and tries to not believe what is happening. It is too late, and he finds himself in Faerie, the mystical world his uncle described. The land here is ruled by eight families of fairies, all bent on destroying the other. War is raging in Faerie, and as the sole heir to the throne of the Violet family, Theo must destroy his Irrha, save Faerie and get back to his own world, which is at least less depressing than this.
     The War of the Flowers' name is deceiving the book is... Beyond dark. It really touches you with language, and reflects what too much power can bestow upon people. It is a sad image of our society, where the rich and powerful prosper, and the poor get poorer. The War of the Flowers described in the book very much so resembles conflicts that are common among countries with transitional democracies. There is a ruling class which is destroying itself and a revolution happening among the people. The book is screaming the moral "Now is the time for change!" That's obvious though. If you delve deeper in to the book, specifically Theo's character, you will find that it is about finding happiness. All Theo wants is for his depression to end, and to be able to live the rest of his life without strife. It calls out to us in a very human way, telling us to all find that special place or time when we can just be happy, without worrying about anything. All in all, the book so far is amazing, and I would give it 5 stars. It is truly one of the most touching stories I have ever read and it has honestly made me cry it is so beautiful. I would recommend this to anyone who just wants to read a fantastical, yet serenely peaceful and all together human book.

The City of Gold and Lead

The City of Gold and Lead
John Christopher

Science-Fiction

This is the second book in the Tripod Trilogy. The first book which I just finished is called "The White Mountains". I loved it and I know that I am going to love this book because it is going to be just as awesome as the one that came before it and the one that comes after will also be an awesome book to read, so I am really excited to read :). 

Will, Henry, and Beanpole are all safely at the White Mountains and have been training there for a while. There is these activities called the games where people compete in series's of competitions such as: boxing, sprinting, long-jumping, etc. Now these games are for people who are capped. At age 14 all children get a metal cap put onto their head where they are controlled by the Tripods. Huge, metal, creatures who have taken over the world. Whoever wins the games gets to serve the Tripods. For those who are capped this is a great privilege. For Will, Henry, Beanpole, and everyone else who lives in the White Mountains it is a way to destroy the Tripods. The White Mountains is a place where you don't need to get capped, a society of free people, and they are planning to destroy the tripods so that the world would be as it used to be with no alien invaders. One way the they thought that they could defeat the tripods was to go to the games and win them. Once they won the games they would be taken by the tripods and hopefully be able to find their weakness and to destroy most of them. 

At this point of the book the three boys Will, Henry and Beanpole have been training for the games. Some other boys have also been training. Only 3 boys were going to be chosen to go to the games. Will, Henry, and Beanpole all thought and really hoped that it would be the three of them seeing they had been so close together when coming to the Mountains. When the people were chosen it was Will....... Beanpole........and .......Fritz. Not Henry. Will and Beanpole would be going just not Henry. Instead another boy who was training. This really confused me and angered me when I read it. I kept thinking how they could not have picked Henry because they should all be together like most stories go. I keep thinking of what could happen. Maybe that something happens and that Fritz cannot go or something. There had to be something so that Henry could go. But no. Nothing has happened so far and it has really annoyed me. I am hopping that Henry is secretly following them so that he is going in a way or something. In my mind he needs to go somehow so it is really killing me that he is not going. I am going to keep reading and hopping that Henry will show up at the games somehow. I just cannot wait to solve the mix-up in my mind or if not to become sadder at the fact that Henry was completely left behind. :(

 

Title: Uglies
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Pages: 425
Genre: Science Fiction
Comment:

This week I've finish reading the book "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld. Westerfeld was born on May 5th, 1963. He is an American author of Science Fiction novels. Westerfeld is one of my favorite authors- and I'm excited to read the rest of his novels. The reason I like his writing so much is because it explains every situation in specific detail and in an interesting voice that makes the reader (me) intrigued. I personally don't like science fiction novels, but Scott Westerfeld has taught me differently. The book "Uglies" is one of my favorite novels along with some other books that I've mentioned before. It is an awesome book full of action, romance, and cool slang words which you'll want to use in public to confuse your friends & family. "Uglies" is set in the future in America, which means there's a whole bunch of spectacular future creations such as hover boards and floating ice- something you wouldn't normally see on an everyday occasion. However, despite of all the neat gadget, the world there isn't perfect. In fact, far from perfect. Society has gone superficial, and everyone is obsessed with outer beauty. People between the age of 12 through 16 (The "Uglies")are forced to live together in a primitive community- as you can already guess, people would do anything to break the rules in that new futuristic community. They do a whole lot of bad things in order to become the "Pretties" and be 'in'. I am not going to spoil an amazing opportunity to read this great book, you'll just have to read it yourselves! Those of you who want to read the book, go for it! I recommend this book to my class.
Overall, I'm looking forward to reading more science fiction novels and gain more interesting in them.