The Book Thief

Guest Author Review by Filipa S.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Books have never been hard for me to begin, but I never seem to get to the end. So when I first pick up a book, the first thing I do is read the last page and see if it captures me. While I was doing my usual inspection of The Book Thief, I became so intrigued by that last pages that I knew I would be able to read the book from cover to cover.

The introduction to the book is an explanation by the narrator (who is death itself) of the three times he catches the Book Thief stealing. By giving a color to each location of the stolen item, the first in snow, the second in fire, and the third in darkness, he paints the reader a picture of the Nazi Flag. This gives a time period over which the book takes place. Then death introduces the reader to the main character, Liesel Meminger, by explaining their first interaction. From then on the book is split up into ten parts, and on the first page of each part the narrator gives a few key words that hint to what will happen.

Liesel is a young girl whose mother is unable to raise her. Liesel and her younger brother (who dies before they make it) are sent to be raised by a foster family in Molching, Germany. She has a strong desire to learn to read, precipitated by her curiosity over the first book she had stolen. Her foster papa slowly taught her how, and once she could read, words and letters intrigued her. Her adventures on Himmel street fill up the pages of the book, describing how she saves a Jew, joins a gang, and gets into countless trouble with her best friend, Rudy. The reader follows the life of this young girl until the end when her passion for words is what saves her life.

The Book Thief was a compelling, long, and descriptive book. The first parts of the book are captivating, but towards the middle it is very slow moving, although it picks back up near the end. I really like the way the narrator moves in and out of the novel and occasionally gives insight to what is going to happen in the future. I would recommend this book to someone between the ages of 15 and 19.  Not only is the plot stimulating but the historical content is a good backdrop for the storyline.

It Always Comes Back to Mr. Darcy

 

  Pride and Prejudice

by Guest Blogger, Ari

      Jane Austen writes this book like a good nineteenth century romance over the crime of the social system and economic structure to human events. Austen's novels are simple works that make it worthwhile for the engrossing portraits of life. The satisfying plot makes it enjoyable to read and fun. What Pride and Prejudice is mainly about is the main character Elizabeth, who deals with issues of manners, upbringing, education, and marriage in the society of well classed people.
    The story is based on five sisters and their single minded, illiterate mother who is overly pushy about marrying somebody who can provide. Almost every sister is in distress because of their damaging actions that result in engagements that sometimes ruin their mindset. There are two sisters who are generally normal, have a good head on their shoulders, and do not engage in these actions. Elizabeth is the most levelheaded of them all. My favorite part of the story was when Elizabeth's future husband, Mr. Darcy, is at the church getting a lecture from the priest about general expectations when he marries her because there are very strict rules. The plot of the story is relatively simple; two characters stay the same on the first few pages and the last pages with complications in-between. There is some witty dialogue.
    Some things that I liked about this book were the action, learning a moral, and reading how they deal with their issue, since in today's society we are faced with the same problem of following through with commitment. The not so fond parts of the story were the great detail of the plot, slowness of the dialogue, and character interactions. My favorite character was Elizabeth because of her transformation and perseverance. This was a good book, but I would not recommend it for just anyone because of the complexity and slowness of the story at times. Readers who enjoy classic literature would like this book.

Love, Stargirl

Love, Stargirl

A Guest Review, by Emily S.

Love, Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli is about a unique teenager’s life. Stargirl is a kind, helpful person who likes to make everyone happy. She writes the longest letter in the world in a diary format to her good friend, Leo. The book's themes are the longest letter in the world and the winter solstice. I think the author’s purpose was to teach people about dedication like how Stargirl had dedicated her Thursday mornings to waking up before dawn and going to Calendar Hill and to educate people about new events and new words. This book is written from Stargirl's perspective. There are a lot of different moods and tones in this book. On one page she is sad and the next page she is jumping for joy. Stargirl starts writing the letter on January second, and the events take place all over town. This is Jerry Spinelli's second book of the Stargirl series. His first book was called Stargirl. The main character in this book is Stargirl. Anyone can read this book and like it. The book conveys its main points by building up to the point with lots of detail. The book fulfills its purpose quite well by showing Stargirl’s urge to go to Calendar Hill when she is hurt. Over all I liked the moods and actions that take place in the book. Another thing I really liked about the book was when Stargirl’s old friend, Archie, came to Stargirl’s winter solstice celebration. I thought that was really nice, but I did not like the way Avina, a young friend of Stargirl’s, acted. I think Jerry Spinelli did a good job writing the story. I think he could use a little more drama in the book so you couldn’t put the book down. I recommend this book to young teenagers because of the random acts of kindness, the purpose and the nice twists and turns spread throughout the book.

Would You Stay?

If I Stay

by Guest Author Julia

I just finished reading If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I would recommend this book because you really get to know the characters. You get to know them as if they were a part of your own family. During the course of this book, you will begin to express feelings for each character.

This story is set in a modern town outside Portland Maine. It follows the life of a girl, named Grace, that is in a coma after being in a car crash that kills the rest of her family. She is faced with a decision whether or not to stay with her boyfriend Adam and her extended family, or join her brother, mother and father on the other side. She has an out of body experience while she is in a coma. She hears and sees everything her loved ones are going through.  Throughout the entire story, the main character would notice small details about the people around her which would trigger memories and flashbacks. I liked this because it added depth to the story.

 If I Stay  is what fiction is all about. It is recommended for teens through young adults. The New York Times compared it to the Twilight novels which is why I picked it up in the first place. If you like Twilight, then you will definitely like this book. I liked it because the main character’s boyfriend was massively hot and dreamy. I want a guy in my life like him. Throughout the whole book, I was jealous of the relationship between Grace and Adam. I also liked it because I really felt the emotion of what the characters were going through.  I felt like I had to make decisions about what Grace should do.

This book became like a movie in my head, because it was easy to follow and it had vivid details. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a story that brings your emotions on a roller coaster ride.  It explores the complexities of the teenage female mind. It also explores the emotional state that a person goes through when a loved one experiences trauma and is on the brink of leaving... Forever. If you like this kind of book, then I would suggest picking it up and reading it. You will thank me later.

Looking for a Good Read? Look No Further!

By Guest Author, Taylor

Looking for Alaska, by John Green, is about a boy named Pudge. Pudge goes to boarding school where he meets The Colonel, Alaska, Takumi and Lara. Pudge picks up numerous bad habits, such as drinking and smoking, which are all social behaviors. The Colonel is a short built boy who doesn’t associate with many people except his close knit group of friends. Takumi is from Taiwan and is a friend of The Colonel. He often feels left out of plans that Pudge, The Colonel, and Alaska organize. Alaska is a bundle of cute, and Pudge sees her as a goddess. Alaska reads books and spends quality time with Pudge. Just as Pudge is getting used to life on campus something terrible happens. Alaska dies in a car crash. So The Colonel and Pudge try to look for clues about Alaska’s death. They try to figure out what was going through her mind and whether her death was a suicide or fate?

In this story, I fell in love with the characters. They felt real to me, and I truly think that they could be real people. In this book there is always a new twist or turn that will keep you engaged throughout the entire book.  It’s almost as if you can put it down. One thing that stood out to me was how they referred to their room as room 43, but they never said what any other person’s door number was. This book was so graphic it was almost like a picture that plays in your head while you’re reading it.  It could have been a movie. In this book John Green describes boarding school in a very false light. He describes it as if it is almost the promised land for drugs, sex, and alcohol. I would recommend this book to any teenager or young adult who needs to get out of their head. Also I would not suggest this book to any first-time high school boarding students. They will get their hopes up and be sadly disappointed.  Also, I thought this was going to be an underdog story, but it wasn’t.  Even in John Greene’s world, Alaska would never go out with Pudge.  Overall, however, I thought the book was really good.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  

If you want to feel anything at all, any human emotion, this book will bring you on the verge of tears.  

Still Hungry for Hunger Games?

The Hunger Games

by Guest Author Evan

The Hunger Games is a great book by Suzanne Collins. This is a fictional book with an odd futuristic concept. The story is told through a child's eyes. This book may be better for a more mature audience between the ages of 12 to 50. In my opinion the book is a heroic, action, false love story with no way out of your seat.

In the story two children are put through a life threatening endeavor. Decisions have to be made that never should have to be made by anyone. Love is really only a back drop for the big picture. This is definitely a memorable book. Some people may not agree with the positions the author puts the children in; it is a crazy concept, but it shows a different side of society. 

In my thoughts it shows a person’s true view of the future. I believe this book  shows a futuristic view of an extremist government. You just can’t put this book down after the first page. In the book, the author set up the ending so that you keep thinking about it. You just can't get the book off of your mind.

When It's Cold, Be-Were!

Shiver

by Guest Author, Julia

I recently finished the book Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. In the course of two weeks, I was sent on a journey that held love, romance, and hardship. I would definitely recommend this book to people ages 14 and up. I feel that they would enjoy every bit of the story the way I did. This book is set in modern times and is a fantasy involving a teenage girl and her wolf.

Imagine this: you are in a small town. You are a 17 year old girl who, yes, is in love with a wolf. You are trying to hold on to this love forever but each day it gets colder and colder, until you are uncertain you can hold onto this love any longer. In this story you will meet Grace who is 17. You will also meet her not so caring parents, and Sam the love of her life. There are many more characters you will meet along the way.

Shiver is a love story. Grace is madly in love with Sam, but sadly their love is complicated. Sam has a secret that only Grace knows. His secret is that when the cold arrives, he disappears. Grace and Sam try to keep their love pure and alive as long as possible.

I would recommend this book to people ages 14 and up. This novel is somewhat sophisticated. It is full of real love and romance. Shiver would most likely appeal to teens because it includes werewolves, and it involves a somewhat magical aspect of their fondness for each other. It is like a fairy tale similar to Beauty and the Beast. The princess always gets her prince. It is also similar to Romeo and Juliet with their forbidden love. This is a thrilling love story. I believe that only people 14 and up can really grasp and appreciate the concept of love.

Stiefvater has recently published a sequel to Shiver. If you like the author and the way she writes her novels, you might also enjoy her other books. You might enjoy Linger. She has also written Lament and the sequel, Ballad. She has really found that writing is her true calling, and I hope she continues to do it.

The Dunderheads

Welcome to our guest bloggers, Ms. Loftus' 6th Grade Literature Class, from The Kildonan School.  Read what they have to say about their class' recent read, The Dunderheads, by Paul Fleischman.

The Dunderheads 

If you like a story of a nasty, fiendish teacher named Miss Breakbone, you will find The Dunderheads to be a thrilling tale of adventure and mystery. “Never have I been asked to teach such a scraping together of fiddling, twiddling, time- squandering, mind-wandering, doodling, dozing, don’t knowing dunderheads.” She reminds us of Cruella Deville! We love the creative characters like Nails whose nails become different shapes and sizes, customized to fit and unlock a safe. He’ll always have a file on hand! Hollywood is an obsessive movie watcher. “She’s got every movie that was ever made and has watched them all eleven times.” She’s been in so many movie theaters that she has night vision. She helps the gang by using her night vision to see in the dark and by using her sixth sense to guess what will happen next. Google Eyes read a book about hypnotism and can now put people into a two week trance. Just ask the librarian. We loved how the kids broke into their teacher’s house to take back a confiscated toy. Some of our readers thought the book was a bit over exaggerated and definitely not for very young kids who might be frightened by their teachers. Most of us sixth graders at The Kildonan School loved this book. So read The Dunderheads and look out for the meanest teacher in town!

The Boy From the Basement

From Guest Author, E.K.

I usually don't like memoirs, but this specific one, The Boy From The Basement, got me interested. A boy named Charlie had a father who forced him to live in their basement. Charlie thinks he deserves to be in the basement because he did something wrong. The only time he comes up from the basement is at night when his father is asleep to sneak food and get a drink from the sink faucet. 

Charlie never saw things that were outside of the basement. He never had a chance to know what it felt like to go to school. He never had the family that he wanted, like the families that spend holidays with each other. He never got to see animals in wild. It must have been hard that he could not see things that other people can.

There’s a spider that Charlie imagines in the basement. When Charlie sees that spider in the corner he feels that it represents his father. When his father is on his mind the spider appears back in the corner. He feels that no matter what he’s doing his father is always watching him. Charlie thinks he’s not independent.

I can relate to the main character. The main character and I went through similar struggles when we were little. He didn't get enough food when he was living in the basement. The people in the orphanage did not provide enough food for me to eat. I feel that both of us were treated like homeless people. They did not give us the same respect as another family would give to their children. He would sleep on an old, moldy mattress that his father threw down the basement for him to use. What they did for me was put me in any ancient crib that would collapse any moment. 

As I read the book, I was curious about how the boy handled his problems. I wanted to know how he was treated by his father. I wanted to know if he eventually gained his freedom. This book answered those questions.

I would definitely recommend this book to young readers who might have had the same struggles as Charlie. If you like the Pelzer books about survival, this is in the same genre. This book can make you aware of the problems that some children are facing today.

A War of Words

How I See The Alphabet War

by guest author Liz, Grade 12

The book The Alphabet War is a children's book by Diane Burton Robb and illustrated by Gail Piazza.  The book is about dyslexia, and the theme is believing you can't read or spell and then realizing you actually can.


Adam is a little boy with a big imagination who discovers that he can't read and realizes that he also can't pretend he can.  The principal and his parents get together to figure out a way to help him.  They decide to test him and find out in 3rd grade that he has dyslexia.  His 4th grade teacher Mr. Chase is the first teacher who believes in him.  Adam believes he is stupid and doesn't know anything because he doesn't know how to read.  Mr. Chase teaches Adam that he is actually smart even though he didn't believe the person who did his testing.  Then he start doing the things that he can do well, like make a skateboard that can "whip anybody racing down Third Street Hill."  He tries and works his hardest at things that are hard and believes that he can do it.


The book is a good lesson to have children realize that you have to start believing in yourself.  Once you realize you can do it, you can almost do anything.  It relates to me because I have dyslexia.  When I was little, I also thought that it was good enough to pretend and not really worry about doing anything.  I understood the feeling when Adam was getting tested, the feeling like a bug under a microscope.  The books shows realistically how kids would feel and would react to these different abilities.  At one part, he kicked a kid who made fun of him.  I know I have felt that way when someone has made fun of me because of my learning disability that I have to deal with and can not change.


I thought the book was all right.  I would recommend it to some people.  I think kids that aren't dyslexic but think things are really hard should read this book to show them that things can be worse.  Kids who have dyslexia and feel like they can't do anything should also read it.  I would recommend it to Elementary teachers so they can really realize what it is like.  Then they can help the kids so the issues are resolved when they are little.  Little kids should be able to understand what dyslexia is and get through it rather than waiting until a certain age.  It will be way harder if they wait.  Kids should ease in to what they are about to learn so they don't need to do so many things at once, especially with their learning disability, and this book is a good place to start.

How Do You Define Normal?

...by guest author A.J., Grade 8.

Define “Normal”

By: Julie Anne Peters

I read the book Define “Normal” by Julie Anne Peters. I chose this book because I liked the sound of the title, but I also read the back and what it was about. It seemed interesting, so I started to read it, and I really liked it.


Define “Normal” is about two girls from totally different worlds. One of them, Antonia, is a very nice girl. She gets to class on time, she gets all straight A’s, and participates in everything, including peer counseling. Antonia is assigned to help Jazz, the “punker,” as a mentor and counselor with Jazz’s problems. 

The other girl, Jasmine or “Jazz,” is very different. She skips classes to hang out with her friends instead; her friends are mostly drug dealers (so people think), and she doesn't care for girls like Antonia. Jazz has a deep dark secret that she doesn't want anybody to find out about except her parents. Jazz has a big talent for playing the piano; her dream is to go to Juilliard, a school for teens who are more than amazing at playing an instrument. But when her parents start getting too close to her as a family, Jazz quits piano, and her dream ever since she was born to go to Juilliard dies. Both girls have two things in common; they both go to counseling every week. 

Everyone in the school who just judges Jazz think she’s a drug dealing pot-smoker who wears black lipstick that you can only get off with turpentine. If they saw her hanging out with Antonia, all the kids would probably flip.  A girl like Jazz, the unpopular, the loser, the freak, can’t be seen around a girl like Antonia, a somewhat popular girl who is very pretty and tries to make friends with everyone except Jazz. 

Jazz and Antonia also have family issues. Antonia’s father hasn't come home in years and her mother needs psychiatric help. She’s never there for the kids; she’s always smoking or in her room sleeping and not eating. She is also very close to losing her house because she has not been paying the bills for a long time. 

Jazz, on the other hand, also has family issues. Her parents are home with her and feeding and treating her like a daughter, but Jazz has fights with her mom all the time usually about Jazz. She thinks her parents are trying to ruin her life because they don’t let her be who she really is. Jazz’s mom wishes for Jazz to be “normal” like all other kids out there. Jazz’s dad doesn't let anything past him. If he doesn't like the way Jazz dresses, then she better go change, or she gets grounded for two weeks, sometimes even a year. 

But at the end, Jazz and Antonia start understanding each other. They know everything about each other and have each other’s backs. Antonia gets her life back with her mom and the rest of her family. Jazz’s parents after going to her recital, seeing how she plays and what she wears, are speechless. They learn to respect her and appreciate her for who she is and what she wears.

I think this book is very good for teens and some adults. This book reminded me a lot of myself and what I went through at a particular time in my life. I started reading the first page but didn't think I would like it at all. It didn't seem like my type of book, but it was so good I finished it. By the end tears welled in my eyes, because the way the author had written the book, it touched my heart and made me feel so happy for the two girls. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who wants to read a thrilling book about two different girls who can relate to each other so much that a punker and a prissy girl become best friends.