Khoury, Lorees 

December 14, 2016 

English, Period 4

A Tale of Two Cities 

Charles Dickens  

Historical fiction 

372 pages 

no award  

                                

             The novel, A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens takes place before and during the French Revolution. 1775, Mr. Jarvis Lorry is traveling to Dover, England to meet young Lucie Manette. 

Mr. Lorry soon tells her that she isn't an orphan and that her father is alive so he traveled to Paris with her to meet her father, who, recently, has been released from the Bastille, a French prison. Doctor Manette is living in the Defarges' wine-shop and has lost his reason, or state of mind, but eventually regains it when he sees his daughter and he gets transported back to London. Five years later, Charles Darnay is tried in London of treason for giving English secrets to the French and the Americans. The dramatic appearance of Sydney Carton who uncannily looks him,  precludes positive identification which allows Darnay to be charged not guilty. Now Darnay, Mr. Carton, and Mr. Stryver fall in love with Lucie, who was a tearful, and an unwilling witness for the prosecution. They all make an attempt to woo her, and she eventually favors Charles Darnay and marries him, Carton knowing Lucie won't return his love, he would do anything for her or for anyone she loves. Darnay hinted to Doctor Manette of his secret identity and reveals to him on the morning of wedding that he is a French nobleman who renounced his title. John Barsad drops into the Defarges' wine-shop to gather evidence of them being revolutionaries or not. They reveal nothing but, Madame Defarge is knitting a list of whom other revolutionaries and her intend to kill. Doctor Manette, Miss Pross - a non governess to Lucie- Lucie and her small child, Little Lucie follow Darnay to Paris, here the Doctor uses his power among the revolutionaries as a former prisoner to secure Darnay's release. Once again Darnay is denounced by the Defarges and is brought back to prison and is sentenced to death. Carton also traveled to Paris because of the sefless love Lucie has inspired in him. He comes to the solution to sacrifice himself to save the life of her husband. Forcing the of John Basard for having recognizing him as Solomon Pross the brother of Miss Pross and Carton also overhears the Defarges 

speaking of a plan to kill Lucie and her child. Carton arranged for the Manettes to leave immediately uses his influence on Barsad to get into Darnay's cell. He drugged Darnay and exchanged places with him while having Basard carry Darnay out from the prison and to safety. Madame Defarge comes to arrest Lucie but the Mantes have already fled to safety but is instead confronted by a protective Miss 

Pross. Madame Defarge accidentally shoots herself and made Miss Pross permanently deaf. Carton dies in Darnay's place, satiated with the knowledge of his good deed. 

       A Tale of Two Cities is a amazing book. I've read books where they talk about this book and it honestly has a meaning to it that relates to the other books I read. The fact that Sydney Carton a lazy alcoholic just waiting for death met and fell in love with Lucie. The book had unrequited love Carton loved Lucie even though she didn't return the feelings but he was willing to do anything for her because of selfless love and that being able to do that is just unbelievable. Instead of letting Darnay die Carton gave his life away just so Lucie could be happy. "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." Were Carton's last words, knowing with the knowledge that he did a good deed to make Lucie happy.In the beginning of the book it says ,"It was the best of, it was the worst of times," it seems the best in the beginning but later on classic love, revenge, and resurrection come in that keep you wanting more. I would recommend this book to serious readers, people who genuinely love reading should read the classics, this is one. Or those who love Historical Fiction.

Stevens, Faith

Book Review #2

Period 4

14 December 2016

A Little Princess

By Frances Hodgson Burnett

Fiction

294 pages

Classic Novel

         
 The novel,  A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a story about a little girl named Sara

 Crewe who is the daughter of a very wealthy man, Captain Crewe. Sara's mother died when she

was born, and she has been living with her rich father in India. Her father thinks that since she's

getting older she should get a good education, and go to a special boarding school in London. They

arrive at Miss Minchin's Seminary for Young Ladies, Sara doesn't like it at all, but her father asks her

to be brave. They meet Miss Minchin, who is pretty dull, mean-looking and kisses up to Sara and her

rich father like crazy. Sara enters the classroom for the first time the next morning, and everyone

stared at her. Everyone seemed fine with her and she even became really good friends with a girl her

age named Ermengarde. The only problem was Miss Minchin would kiss up to Sara just because she

wanted more money. Two years later, on Sara's eleventh birthday her father had passed in search for

diamonds in a mine, this means that Miss Minchin will no longer get paid to take care of Sara. She

stopped kissing up to Sara, put her in the attic, and barely fed her. Sara was forced to helping the kids

with their lessons, running errands, and doing all sorts of other stuff. One day when Sara was looking

out her window she noticed that someone moved into an empty house next-store. He was a very

wealthy Indian gentleman who noticed she had little to nothing. He decided to send his servants over

secretly and give her stuff including food. He had a pet monkey that was very disobedient and hoped

into her room, so she decided to take it back. When she did her and the man talked and it turns out

that that man has been searching for her because he was her father's best friend and wanted to adopt

her and give her, her father's money.

            One of the things I really liked about this book was the main character Sara. It was interesting

to see how Sara went from rich to poor to rich again. I also really liked the author's way of

foreshadowing. The book grabbed my attention on the first couple pages and kept me wanting more

all throughout. "And upstairs in the locked room Sara sat on the floor and stared at the corner round

which the cab had disappeared, while Captain Crewe looked backward, waving and kissing his hand

as if he could not bear to stop." This made me sad but wanting more, wondering if the father was ever

going to come back. The ending was the ending I was really hoping for. Since Sara was adopted and

the Indian gentleman knew that Miss Minchin was abusing the kids, Miss Minchin was fired. This

book is probably now one of my favorites. I would recommend this book to people who like a lot of

foreshadowing and a little cry once and a while.

The Graveyard Book

Abrahamian, Peter

Book Review #2

Period 4

14 December 2016

The Graveyard Book

Neil Gaiman

Fantasy

307 pages.

Newbery Award

 

                The novel, The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman is the story of Nobody Owens, a human boy who lives in a graveyard.  The plot begins when Nobody, often nicknamed Bod, stumbles to a graveyard as a toddler, escaping his family’s murder by a man named Jack. In the graveyard the boy meets Mr. and Mrs. Owens, a family of ghosts who agrees to adopt the boy. After discussing about the lost toddler, the ghosts of the graveyard agree that the toddler will live in the graveyard with Mr. and Mrs. Owens. He will have the Freedom of the Graveyard which means Bod could walk through walls and graves, and that he is invisible to most humans when he is in the graveyard. Silas, an inhabitant of the graveyard, agrees to be Bod’s guardian. When Bod was four years old, he starts to learn how to read and write and he makes a new friend named Scarlett Perkins. Scarlett would visit the graveyard and play with Bod all day long. One day, Bod and Scarlett ventured into a humongous hill, which is inhabited by the oldest occupant of the graveyard. The inhabitant of the inside of the hill is a three-headed snake known as the Sleer, which guards a treasure: a brooch, a cup, and a knife. When Bod and Scarlett traveled out of the hill, cops surrounded the place. The kids have been gone for so long Scarlett’s mother thinks her daughter’s been kidnapped. Scarlett comes back a few days to say good-bye to Bod. She is moving with her parents to Scotland. When Bod was eight years old, he met Liza Hempstock, a nice witch who is considered an outcast by the ghosts. When he hears that she does not have a gravestone, Bod ventures back into the hill and steals one of the treasures, the brooch. After seven years of never leaving the graveyard, Bod finally ventures out into the real world and travels to a pawn shop. The people working at the pawn shop locked Bod up, knowing that Jack would pay a lot of cash to get a hold of him. Luckily, Liza shows up and helps Bod Fade, or become invisible to the human eye. Bod uses human skills to open the door, and he and Liza go back to the graveyard. Later, Bod uses paint, a paintbrush, and a huge paperweight to make Liza a beautiful headstone. When Bod was ten years old, Bod finally learns that his family was murdered, and that the killer is still after him. In order to get revenge, Silas signs up Bod for school. Bod must keep a low-profile and must not cause any attention towards him. This promise is soon broken. Bod tries to teach two bullies a lesson by frightening him with his tricks taught by his ghostly teachers. This caused a lot of attention towards Bod and it even got him arrested for frightening the bullies. After that, Bod tries to stay in the graveyard at all times. When Bod was fourteen years old, he finally reunites with Scarlett. Scarlett's mom and dad have sadly divorced, and Scarlett and her mom have moved back to England from Scotland. When hearing about the murder incident caused by Jack, Scarlett decides to find about it. It Mr. Frost, a nice man who lives in the house where the incident occurred, invites Bod and Scarlett to his house and talks about the incident. It turns out that Mr. Frost is actually Jack, the murderer of Bod's family. Jack tells Bod that he is part of a fraternal organization, known as the Jacks of All Trade. One member foresaw that one day, there would be a child who would walk the borderland between the living and the dead. That if this child would grow into adulthood it would mean the end of his order. Bod and Scarlett escaped the clutches of Jack Frost and stumbles into the other four Jacks. One of them falls into a deep graves and breaks his ankle, and the other three fall into through the ghoul gate. When Bod goes down to the Sleer's place, he finds Jack Frost with a knife to Scarlett's throat. Bod tricks Jack into offering to be the Sleer's master. The Sleer wraps him in his snaky coils and pushes him against the wall. Silas takes Scarlett home and erases her memories of the event. He also convinces her mother to move back to Scotland. The Graveyard Book ends when Bod is about fifteen years old and starts to lose his Freedom of the Graveyard powers. He ends up leaving the graveyard to start his journey as a young adult.  

                    One of the things I really liked about the book was the plot. It interesting to see how Bod was raised in the graveyard and the fun adventures he had in there. I also appreciate the built of tension combined with the disturbing and spooky scenes in the book. It was perfectly balanced at the beginning of the book enough to grab your attention. “The hunt was almost over. He had left the woman in the bed, the man on the bedroom floor, the older child in her brightly colored room, surrounded by toys and half-finished models. That only left the little one, a baby barely a toddler, to take care of.” The tension starts to build up when Jack enters into the toddler’s room. “Jack leaned over, raised his right hand, the one holding the knife, and he aimed for the chest. . . . . . . and he lowered his hand. The shape in the crib was a teddy bear. There was no child.” That really spooked me but it made me intrigued of what is going to happen next. I also appreciate about the book was its magnificent use of vocabulary. I had to use the dictionary frequently to understand what is happening. This book indeed has increased my vast knowledge of vocabulary. Words like aplomb, barricade, and mausoleum were enthralling words that were unknown to me. The ending was a bit satisfying to me. Bod finally gets his revenge on Jack and is finally able to start a new adventure in the real world. What I didn’t like about the book was part of the ending. Scarlett saw Bod as a monster and had her memory removed and she moved back to Scotland. “You aren’t a person. People don’t behave like you. You’re as bad as he was. You’re a monster.” After everything Bod had done for her, she sees Bod as a monster, a terrible human being. What I also didn’t like about the book was how he had grown apart from his ghost friends. He slowly lost his Freedom of the Graveyard and now he has to leave. The place he loved is no longer his home. It was sad to see Bod leave the graveyard forever and to never return. “All the people here have their own lives, Bod, even though if they were short ones. Now it’s your turn. You need to leave.” I would recommend this book to people who love Fantasy and a little bit of spookiness.

Huffman, Hailey

December 14, 2016

English, Period 4

Number The Stars

Lois Lowry

Historical Fiction

138

Newbery Medal: 1990

       




The novel, Number The Stars, by Lois Lowry, is about a girl named Annemarie Johansen who

starts to become part of the rescue of the Danish Jews where Jews were helped to go to Sweden just

to not be in any concentration camps. She has a friend named Ellen who she takes care of  and she

takes care of her sister, Kristi. Nazis came to Germany and they are forcing people to do what they

say. Annemarie misses her older sister that died when the war begun but she died because of natural causes which made her a little depressed and not in the mood to fight. The Nazis are taking Jews somewhere where they don’t know and curiosity is almost catching up to Annemarie. Some families, such as the Johansens, helped their Jewish friends which was a great help to everyone else. Mrs. Johansen keeps Annemarie, Ellen, and Annemarie’s sister safe just so they can go to a funeral that actually wasn’t real because they just wanted an excuse to be alone so the Nazis wouldn’t be so suspicious about so many people being in one house. Annemarie then has to give a lost package to Henrik. Her mother can’t give it to Henrik because she is injured so Annemarie gathered her courage and braveness and had to give it. Henrik and Ellen’s family hide in a boat where there are Nazis to be seen but the search dogs and Nazis didn’t find any humans. Little did they really know that the package had something in it that kept them hidden. So Annemarie saved them all. The boat eventually escaped and went to Sweden with Ellen and her family. They were safe.

         This book was really surprising because nobody would expect all that terrible stuff to happen that quickly. It’s amazing that someone so young can be so brave and courageous. The end was so sad because she kept a necklace that Ellen gave to her and she wore it until Ellen came back. I would really recommend to those who like to read about World War II and to those who would like to learn more about wars and what really happened to the Jews. The author really had a way that just made you keep reading. Any person who reads this would want to read more.

“She fell asleep, and it was asleep as thin as the night clouds, dotted with dreams that came and went like the stars.”

Psihalopoulos Stavros

December 10,2016

English, period 4

Book Review #2

The War Of The Worlds

By H.G. Wells

Fiction

Pages 7-238

No Award

The Novel, “The War of the Worlds” is about Mars sending a burst of flames to earth. The flames are actually large cylinders and inside the cylinders were Martians coming to invade earth. The Martians looked like large squids with a V shape mouth, beak and have the ability of heat vision. Strange ships came with more Martians and more weapons. The news then spread across the country about the invasion. The invasion spread across the country. People fled in panic and ran for their lives. The armies can’t stop the invasion even with their weapons and bombs. The Martians then get destroyed by the earth’s bacteria in which they can not handle. On mars the Martians have no bacteria that will destroy them. After the invasion people were getting ready for the next possible attack.

    I enjoyed the Novel, “The War of the Worlds” because the setting of the book has a great war with the Martians against earth. It was also cool how the author made the Martians look like squids with beaks and a V shape mouth. I think the ending of the book was a surprise because I thought the people would make a special weapon to defeat the Martians but instead they died from the bacteria on earth that they couldn’t handle. I recommend this book if you are into fantasy war. This book can give you a feel, if you were in a war against aliens.

Hamati,  Marina

Book  Report  #2

English,  Period  4

December  14,  2016

                           

Moon  Over  Manifest

Clare  Vanderpool

Children’s  Literature

342  Pages

Newbery Medal

            The  novel,  Moon  Over  Manifest,  by  Clare  Vanderpool  is  about  a  girl  named  Abilene   

Tucker  who  is  a  twelve  year  old  was  sent  by  her  dad  on  a  train  to  stay  at  an  old,   

rundown  town  which,  was  also  a  town  significantly  affected  by  the  Great  Depression  called   

  

Manifest.  The  time  setting  would  be  1936.  While  she’s  still  on  the  train,  Abilene  jumps  out!   

Just  in  to  reach  Manifest.  Her  father,  Gideon  Tucker,  made  arrangements  for  her  to stay  with   

a  man  named  Shady.  Abilene  was  a  little  questionable  at  first,  but  quickly  she  sensed  she   

could  trust  him.  Shady lives  in  an  odd  home  that  is  a  mix  between  a  church  and  a  bar.   

While  settling  into  the  new  room  Shady  gives  her,  Abilene  finds  a  loose  floorboard  with  a   

 cigar  box  under  it  with  some  letters,  a  map  of the  town,  a  fishing  lure,  and  many  other   

little  treasures.  Although  Abilene’s  father  never said  when  he’s  coming  back,  she’s  is  positive   

that  he  is  coming  back  for  her  at  the  end  of  the  summer.  Sad  that  her  father  is  not  with   

her,  she  asks  Shady  how  far  away  Manifest  is  from  Des  Moines,  the  place  where  her  dad   

 

is,  Shady  replies,  ”A fella  in  Des  Moines  can  see  the  same  moon  you  are  looking  at  right   

now.”  While  Abilene  tries  to  take  her  mind  of  missing  her  dad,  she  tries  to  find  out   

Gideon’s  past.  Knowing  she  won’t  be  staying  for  long,  Abilene  tries  to  stay  distant  from   

 

new  acquaintances.  Hattie-Mae  Macke,  the  lady  who  makes  the  newspapers  gives  Abilene   

some  old  newspapers.      While  staying  there,  she  has  to  attend  the  last  day  of  school.  She   

makes  some  friends,  two  to   be  exact,  Lettie  and  Ruthanne  who  are  red-headed  cousins.  All   

three  of  them  go  on  adventure  to  find  the  past lives  and  stories  of  this  dry,  little  place.   

When   Abilene  discovers  she  lost  her  dad’s  compass  on  Miss  Sadie’s  property  and  agrees  to 

work  it off.  Along with  working  off her debt,  Miss  Sadie(  a  diviner)  tells  her  story  from   

eighteen  years ago  about two  boys named  Ned  and  Jinx.  Jinx,  a  thirteen  year  old,  is  similar   

to  Abilene  who  came  to  Manifest  by  a  train.  He  meets  a  boy  named  Ned,  a  seventeen year   

old,  who  was fishing.  Abilene  didn’t  seem  amused  with   story  because she didn’t  want  to   

here a  story  about  these  two  boys  she  wanted  know  about  her  dad’s  past.  Later  on,  she   

reads  the   letters  in  the  cigar  box  who  were  written  by  Ned  and  sent  to  Jinx  saying  Ned  is   

joining  the army.  Jinx  was  devastated  and  life  became  hard  for  him.  Back  to  1936,  Abilene  

 finds  that  ‘manifest’  means  a  list  of  passengers  on  a  ship.  Which  relates  to  the  town   

because  the  citizens  were immigrants  who  came  to  America  on  ships.  October  of  1918,   

Jinx’s  Uncle  Finn  finds  Jinx  and  forces  to  come  back  to  a  life  a  crime  with  him,  when  Jinx  

  refused  Finn  shot  him  in  the  arm.  Jinx  survived,  but  his  uncle  died  later  from  getting  his   

foot  stuck  in  a  raccoon  trap  and  hitting  his  head.  Later  on,  Jinx  gets  mail  saying  Ned  has   

been  killed  in a  war.  Abilene  finds  that  Jinx  is  her  father,  Gideon  Tucker  and  Ned  is  Miss   

Sadie’s  son. In  August  1936,  the  people  of  Manifest  prepare  for  a  homecoming celebration.   

Abilene  telegrams  her  father  Gideon  to  come  home  and  he  does.  Both  of  them  stay  in   

Manifest,  and Abilene  is  determined to  write  for  the local  newspaper.

            I  absolutely  loved  this  book. All  the  adventures  and  stories  were  amazing. The   

transitions  from  1917  to  1936  and  vis  versa  were  outstanding.  The  part  where  the  book 

said,  ”All that  was  left read  MANIFEST: A  TOWN  WITH  A  PAST”  made  me  want  to  finish  the      

book  immediately.  Shady’s  words  were  wise  where  he  told  Abilene when  she  missed  her   

dad,” A fella  in  Des  Moines  can  see  the  same  moon  you  are  looking  at  right  now.”  I can     

sort  of  relate  to  Abilene  when  she  missed  her  dad  because  my  mom  left  for  about  a  month   

and  obviously I missed her.  I  really  felt  bad  for  Jinx  finding  out  his  best  friend  died  in a   

war.  Miss  Sadie ,  a  diviner  or  not,  makes  me  feel  bad  for  her  because  everyone  is   afraid   

of  her  and  saying  she’s  a  witch  and  will  cast  a spell on  you.  I  would  recommend  this  book   

to  anyone  because  all  the  adventure ,  stories  and  friendships  it  brings to  live.  I  am  very  glad  

 Gideon came  back  to  Abilene.  Also,  that  Abilene  was  happy  to  help  Hattie-Mae  Macke  was   

heartwarming.  I  love  this  book  and  I  think  you  would  too.