English 10

This blog is on the final third of the book:

The House of the Scorpion

by: Nancy Farmer. In the beginning of this section Matt has just been captured by the Keepers and put into a labor camp. The Keepers are people who force orphans to work in basically sweatshops doing extremely basic work. They get the orphans from the Farm Patrol who captures their parents when trying to cross Opium. The first camp he is in only serves beans and tortillas for all of the three meals they get a day. In the camp he gets transferred to they harvest plankton and only ate plankton. The Keepers here are a lot worse than the first camp and often physically beat the kids when they don’t behave. Matt and three other boys eventually escape to a nearby town and get help. Matt then finds out that Opium is in a lock down and needs Matt to unlock it.

There is some stuff in this part of the book that reminds me of the concentration camps the Nazi’s had during WWII.

“The Twelfth Imam”  by Joel C Rosenberg. Pg 387-484

The people of Iran have been looking for the Twelfth Imam for many years. He is a religious and political leader and is supposed to set everything straight in the world. David Harper is still working for the CIA and he is on a special assignment to the Middle East. He has finally gained the confidence of the Ministry of Defense. They have a secret bomb construction plan and are developing nuclear weapons to use against the U.S and Israel. David Harper supplied the heads of the Ministry  with special cell phones that have been bugged by the CIA. Dr Najjar’s father -in -law was suddenly killed in a car bomb. He was the head of the nuclear program. A short while later there is a devastating earth quake in Iran. Najjar and his wife and family tried to escape the city but before leaving he searches his father-in law’s computer to discover all the corrupt plans his father had with the nuclear program. The laptop reveals where all the bombs are hidden and the plans to place them in Israel and America. Najjar meets up with David Harper and wants to defect to America to turn the information into the CIA. “I have studied the reports on my fathers computer. Iran now has eight nuclear warheads; by the end of April they will have twenty. The weapons work.” This quote shows the concern that Najjar has and he wants to help the CIA. Right after this Najjar and David conclude that the earthquake in Iran was really an underground nuclear test. David and Najjar have to escape to a safe place where Najjar and his family can take a plane to the US. Finally ,after allot of bloodshed and car wrecks Najjar and David make it to a safe house were extraction can be engaged.  The twelfth Imam suddenly reveals himself on TV at the Mecca. He makes a short speech as the world is amazed .  He ends it with this quote .” The Islamic Republic of Iran … has handed  over command and control of their weapons to me .We seek only peace … But make no mistake : any attack by any state…. will unleash the fury of Allah and trigger a war of Annihilation.” David finally gets back to Germany as he has an order for three hundred more phones.  Marseille has invited him to Syracuse New York where they will meet for the first time in many years. They live in different worlds . He cannot even tell her what he does for a living …  His CIA boss calls him… Finally David says : Marseille , I’m going to take a risk here . I want you to know that … I’d like to fly back to Oregon with you ….I don’t want to be cut off from you again …I’m going to wrap up this business in Europe and then , if it’s OK with you , I’d like to come to wherever you are .” The theme of this romance has been ” underground” through this story . But at the end , it comes full force and despite all the crazy things happening in the world , David and Marseille find true love .

This story has kind of left me hanging, I don’t know if David marries Marseille or what happens. Im almost positive that there will be a sequel to this book. I would recommend this book for people who like suspense and action. The main message I got out of this book was that people are forced to make difficult decisions and have to risk their lives sometimes to stand up or fight for a cause.

The Afterlife By: Gary Soto, I have  recently just finished the book. After he comes back down to the ground Chuy decides to visit his family because he is slowly disappearing from the earth by the day. When Chuy arrives home he watches his whole family mourning after his funeral. Then all of a sudden his mother’s sadness turn to rage and she asks Chuy’s best friend Eddy to avenge his death by murdering Chuy’s killer. After watching Eddy refuse to do it Chuy finds him self wandering the streets and then he sees a dying hobo on the streets. Once the man had died Chuy saw this man rise out of his body just like he had and he then finally had somebody to talk to. This hobo after hearing Chuy’s story decided to do him a favor and torment His killer by going into his body and controlling him. Later on Chuy met a girl named Crystal who had killed herself by overdosing of pills. Crystal was a star cheerleader who had two boyfriends. She decided to kill herself because she was confused about what to do with her life. Chuy soon formed a beautiful relationship with Crystal and the two of them lived happily ever after as they slowly vanished from this earth.

This book was quite something different. I have never ever read a book like this one before and I was glad I did. Even though most of the characters are dead this is a story about life and how to make the best of it. Chuy never loses his hope even after his brutal death he looks towards the future even if it is a bleak and lonely one, and it paid off because he found a beautiful girl he can spend he “afterlife” with. Although the only thing I didn’t understand is why Crystal had killed herself in the first place because from what the books describes she a had a rich and fulfilling life. Although I guess it was faith because her and Chuy were meant to be together. I know this may sound a little mushy but that is just how I believe the author was trying to portray the ending because with all of the bad stuff that happened before it he felt like he had to have the book end on a good note.

In the second part of this book, Katniss helps the girls she found at the lake and returns to District 12, but the power has been turned back on and the electric fence is active, so Katniss has to find a way to get on the other side of it before she gets caught. I won’t tell you how, but she gets back across to District 12, but when she gets home, she finds Peacekeepers in her house waiting for her. She figures they are trying to catch her with game, which means she was hunting across the fence, which is illegal, and they could punish her. She thankfully had given all the game to Gale’s mom and family, so she didn’t have any with her and they left. She went to town with Peeta and Haymitch and everyone is gone, so she gets a bad feeling and finds Gale at the whipping post, being whipped for having a wild turkey.

I think it’s amazing how things have so far in this trilogy, with Katniss, the Capital, the districts, and the characters. Katniss started out as a teenage girl who was scared of losing what she had left of her family and had to take care of her sister and her mother because her mother was in and out of depression from losing her husband. Now, Katniss is a young woman who has been to the Capital, looked death in the face, been a victor in the Hunger Games, took lives to spare lives, been found as a respected woman, been known as the symbol of rebellion and hope, and been respectfully labeled as “the girl on fire”. Katniss has grown to be an amazing woman, I think.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Pages 244-374

Part III: The Victor

It has just been revealed that the rules of the games have been changed and two victors from the same district are allowed to win together. Katniss has put her trust issues with Peeta aside and decided to find him. When Katniss finds Peeta, he is seriously injured, so Katniss tries to help him recover. As time passes though, they both learn that Peeta has blood poisoning and is in serious need of medicine. It is announced that Katniss will have an opportunity to get Peeta the medicine he needs, but it will be difficult because all of her enemies will be there and they won’t think twice before killing her. After struggling to get the medicine, she eventually saves Peeta’s life. This last section of the book is where Katniss really starts to develop a relationship with Peeta. Haymitch, their mentor, has made a sort of silent deal with Katniss to send them gifts whenever she does things with Peeta that make them look like lovers. Katniss isn’t really sure if she actually feels that way about Peeta, but Peeta really loves her. At the end of the games, they are the last two left when it is announced that the earlier revision to the rules has been put back and only one victor is allowed. Katniss and Peeta threaten suicide with poisonous berries called nightlock and they both become the victors of The Hunger games; but in doing, they have become targets of the Capitol.

“I nod because I do understand. About owing. About hating it.” –Katniss

I loved what Katniss was saying here because it is so true. Nobody likes to owe somebody especially something big. Katniss owed somebody her life and that is something you can never repay.

 “But she secretly slips me an extra roll under the table to let me know she’s on my side.” –Katniss

 I liked this quote because it shows that even the smallest gestures can let you trust somebody so easily.

This book is, by far, one of the best books I have ever read. It had every element it needed to make it a good book. It was well written, it had a good plot, and it had emotion. The ending of this book just made me want to keep reading more and more, I never really wanted the books to end. There is quite a few themes in this book, but one of the major ones was change. In the beginning, Katniss had no feelings for Peeta, but her emotions changed and now she’s not sure, but she thinks she has feelings for him. Peeta was the opposite though; Katniss kind of betrayed him in a way so his feelings weren’t as strong anymore. Everything was changing for them both. They went from being nobody’s in the poorest district in Panem to being celebrities with a mansion and a fortune to blow. Their entire lives changed, but neither of them wanted these changes; All of them just bought pain for them and their families.  I loved this book and I would recommend it to everybody I know.

Twisted By: Laurie Halse Anderson pages 50-74

Since, Tyler didn’t like his class, every time he gets home from school, he argues with his dad. Even though his dad was busy at work, but his dad gets mad and he doesn’t want Tyler to change his class because that what he deserves to learn about and it’s also to know when he grows up. That’s what his dad always tell him to just stick with it and learn from it. Tyler is almost 18 years old on November and he spends his time at the library hiding himself from the two guys that wants to beat him up. Every kid at his school hates him, because maybe he’s that handsome looking guy. They might also think he’s family is perfect. He stands out by himself, because he think he can success to whatever he does to get pay. He works outdoors in the summer, that’s why he’s favorite season was summer, yet there’s no school. He can be athletic if he wants to be, because he likes playing baseball.

I think the repeating theme of this novel is how Tyler stands out for himself in a way that he can be immature to do a job like man. This is good book for every teen about there because they can learn something from it. The quote I picked out was “I was pretty sure that the rest of my life was going to be a bitter disappointment, but at that moment, I didn’t care.”  He thinks that his life won’t go as much as perfect, because he thinks that he has no life at the moment, but he didn’t care.

So far, I’m enjoying reading this book because it’s a pretty good novel. I recommend this to all the teens out there who loves fantasy. The author did a really good job doing this novel. I like the fonts and how its written because you can read it well, and not other books that has small fonts and I hate reading those books. They’re not my type at all. I also like the introduction of this book because right when you read it, Tyler wrote something about himself and people think about him. This is a well written book.

171 – 257

I am reading Saint Iggy. It was written by K.L. going and I have finished the book. Iggy is kind of forced by Mo to leave Mo’s mom’s house. “Get dressed. I made a decision, and we’re getting out of here,” Iggy said. They don’t know where they are going, but Mo says this, “You don’t know it, but you’re lucky to live down her. You don’t have to match a perfect image, this is where the true beauty lies.” Iggy thinks, “Mo does not know what he is talking about, he does not know that he doesn’t know.” All of a sudden they are heading toward Iggy’s old school, but then they make a sharp turn before they reach it and Iggy says he is going to fix everything. He then says that he is just going to give the drugs he’s been trying to pay off back. Iggy can’t believe how stupid Mo is being. Mo almost gets himself killed, but they make it out. But now Mo has to get Freddy, the dealer, his money by Christmas Eve.

Later he leaves Mo’s mom’s house and goes to his house. Freddie comes in while he is asleep and wakes Iggy up. He takes a lot of things and drinks all of Iggy’s dad’s vodka and takes a lot of his dad’s stuff because he owes him. Iggy asks if he knows where is mom is, but he tells Iggy to not bother him. Iggy ends up following Freddie to the house he has been in three times and looks for his mom, but this time he looks somewhere he hasn’t looked yet, in the bedroom. He finds her, but Freddie tells him to take him to Mo so he can get his money, so he does. So a bit later they make the deal, but a cop is there and Iggy gets his attention and points toward the alleyway. They go over there and Freddie almost shoots the cop, but Iggy steals the gun and either he shoots him or the cop does. But Freddie ends up dying and Iggy gets shot to. Then it ends, but he talks about joining a girl and going into the city, but I can’t tell if he is dead or alive, but I am more inclined to think that he is dead.

I’m not sure if I liked the ending of this book. I would have liked to know if he ended up dead or alive. At least someone got rid of Freddie because he was a horrible person that ruined lives. It would be weird to be the cop to because it says in the book that he was kind of wondering if he shot Freddie or Iggy. I thought it was weird though how Iggy totally accepted being shot and almost seemed to embrace it. If I was him I would probably be freaking out.

The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch
In this section of the book, Tom has made a very dangerous enemy out of the witch. He has decided go home for a little while, so he starts the long journey back to his family. When he gets there, he finds that so much has changed since he left. His brother Jack and his sister in law have had a baby. The reunion was full of suspense because every one is afraid of the spook and those who work with him. The only really happy part of the reunion is when Tom gets to hold the baby. During the middle of the night, Tom (who has been a little hysterical) runs outside to get some fresh air. His oldest and worst nemesis (Mother Malkin the witch) was already at his house. There was no time for any thinking, so Tom set out on a process of elimination. The witch has come in the form of the pig butcher. After a tiny battle that lasted about a minute, all of the big hairy pigs in the pigpen eat the fleeing witch that is no taller than three feet. With the big bad witch gone, Tom can now go back to his mentor, finish his training, and trying to find out what he wants to do for the rest of his life.

The best part of the section that I just finished reading is the part that says’ “It was then that I realized the witch had made a big mistake. She’d taken the wrong route, right across the largest pigpen. By now she was small enough to fit under the lowest plank of wood.” This is the part when the pigs eat the witch. I really like how Tom goes on this big journey to be the Spook’s apprentice and ends up fighting the biggest battle that he has right at his own house. This book is a really good book that I would recommend to anyone who likes to read about adventure. This would also be a good book to read if you like reading make-believe stories.

In the book burned Pattyn has just moved in with her aunt. Her dad thought she was rebelling to much and said he couldn’t take it anymore. Aunt Jeanette has  abandoned the mormon church and lives on a ranch in Nevada, that Pattyn comes to love and succeed in. On the ranch she has met a boy named Ethan, a college student who is home for the summer to help is dad. He lives up the road and immediately gets Pattyn’s attention. All summer long, they strengthen their  romance which gives Pattyn love and joy she has never known. However the fact she has to eventually go back home hasn’t left her mind.  She feel likes going back home is equivalent to being sent back to prison. Aunt Jeanette and Ethan help Pattyn with some tools to gain some freedom from her father: a cell phone that Aunt Jeanette is paying for, pre-arranged calls with Ethan and a handgun from Ethan.

This book to me is very motivating. I really love all the characters traits in the story. Aunt Jeanette is like an aunt every one wants. With out her Pattyn would be way off the deep end but she’s helping her learn what a happy life is really like. It’s interesting to watch Pattyn grow through out the book. Each page is like she develops a new strength to help her get through the hard times. A quote I thought was very meaningfull is “I felt angry, frustrated. I felt like I didn’t belong, not in my church, not in my home, not in my skin.” I feel like many teenagers all around the world feel like this every single day and in this book your watching Pattyn develop the confidence to realize she has a meaning to this world. Just like every one else.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, pages 167-end.

Things are already bad enough for Junior, but things still continue to get worse for him. He gets really depressed. His grandmother and his dad’s best friend, Eugene, have recently just died, and he starts to think that God is mocking him. His friends at his “white-school” are actually really good to him though. They look out for Junior and actually really care for him at school. This makes him start to think about everything that brings him joy in life, which gives him hope. Junior never thought that he would be a good basketball player, but at his new school, with new friends who believe in him, he is a good basketball player. His coach is a really good, nice coach that makes Junior want to try to be better. They have a record of 12 wins to 1 loss. Their one loss was at the very beginning of the season when they went to Junior’s old school on the reservation where things were terrible and everyone hated Junior. They are about to have a rematch against them (they have 13 wins and 0 losses), except it will be at their school this time so the crowd will be on their side. Junior gets interviewed before the big game and makes the news caster mad. Junior apologizes and says that he’s never wanted anything more in his life then winning this game. Junior’s coach says that he is going to start and guard Rowdy (his ex best friend that gave him a concussion last time they played) the whole time. He says that their only chance to win is if Junior stops Rowdy. Junior says he can’t do it, but coach says he can do it. Those simple words give Junior so much hope and courage and he believes and knows he can do it. At the very beginning of the game Rowdy steals the ball and runs down court with it wanting to dunk, Junior for the first time ever is able to jump higher than Rowdy, steal the ball, run down to the other side of the court and make a shot in his face. The crown was wild. That play right there, set the tone for the rest of the game. Junior had won the game. The crowd and his teammates were ecstatic for Junior. Then Junior realizes something and feels guilty for wanting to win so badly. All these white kids had a future life with college and stuff, but at his old school those kids aren’t going to college or anything, they have no future. This makes Junior very sad.  Then something terrible happens, Junior’s sister died from being too drunk to wake up and realize that her trailer was burning down. At this point his family can’t stop crying, and he is completely lost, and can’t stop laughing. At the very end, Junior and Rowdy play one-on-one together back on the rez for hours. This part gives Junior and the reader lots of hope due to their conversation they have together.

I think a big theme in this book is hopefulness. This poor kid, Junior, has all these problems in life and can’t seem to catch a break. He never gives up though, he just keeps trying and trying after all the times he is shot down. This book was written very well, through-out the whole book I am thinking to myself how terrible this book is, but really it isn’t and has a very well written ending. When Junior was being interviewed before the big game, he says, “I have to prove that I am stronger than everybody else. I have to prove that I will never give up. I will never quite playing hard. And I don’t just mean in basketball. I’m never going to quite living life this hard, you know? I’m never going to surrender to anybody. Never, ever, ever.” I really like this because you really feel his sincerity, he has been through so much yet he still doesn’t give up. I really liked this book, again at times I was like wow this book is crazy, but in the end after reading all of it, it is a really good book.