Monster (Walter Dean Myers) is a suspense, mystery novel. where Steve Harmon, along with James king, and Richard “Bobo” Evans, are put on trial for the murder of a convenience store owner in Harlem NY. Steve claims to never have even been there. and the novel follows the events of the trial, and also some interior monologue with Steve. The reader needs patience when reading because only after the first few pages does the story get interesting. The book is in the format of a screenplay because the protagonist Steve, wants to be a screen writer. The book brings the reader into the setting of the story. you can perfectly picture the courtroom, thanks to imagery, you can be in a jail cell with our protagonist. It’s a great book that helps the reader travel to the story. It’s a great book and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a mystery novel.
Day: November 4, 2022
Reading Update: Go Ask Alice
Go Ask Alice (anonymous author) follows the story of 15 year old girl named Alice who struggles with reoccurring drug abuse. This book shows her normal day to day life in the form of a diary entry which later describes how she copes with drug addiction and it illuminates the hard times that she faces. In the beginning of the book she talks about her body insecurities and her struggles that she experiences throughout her teen years. I think that Alice is a very complex character because in some chapters/days she wrote in her diary, she would talk about how good life is and how she is extremely happy to be alive. Then she also sometimes talks about how she hates her life and talks about how she is struggling with her mental health. So far, I would definitely recommend this book because it gives a new perspective no one has ever seen before, her life.
Rebound Book Update
Rebound by Kwame Walker is a book that develops through Charlie Bell. Charlie Bell is the main character who travels upstate New York to visit his grandparents. We see many different sides to Charlie. We see how Charlie goes from having a lot of built-up anger due to the loss of his dad but lets off a little of that steam when he talks to his mom for the first time about the loss. We also see his opinion on spending the summer with his grandparents. Charlie is fighting the internal conflict of losing his dad and not being on the best terms with his mom. Charlie was sent to live with his grandparents in the first place because he and his mother needed to spend less time together. There was a lot of heat between him and his mother and kept on developing so Charlie’s mother had no other option but to send him with his grandparents. Charlie and his mother are now on better terms and we see how Charlie changes over time from being a one side-seeing person to calming down and seeing both sides.
Family of Liars
The book Family of Liars by E. Lockhart is a prequel to We were liars. Both books are amazing but reading We were liars first would make more sense but the books could go in either order. This book follows a privileged family with 3 daughters who spend every summer at their private island. The summer this story follows is different because a group of boys comes to island as well. This book is a mystery it uncovers more and more secrets after every chapter. Exposing the Sinclair family for what it is. The family is constantly putting up a facade and painting a perfect picture from their family. Under all of that there are a lot of secrets and problems especially with Carrie who is the narrator and the oldest daughter. In the story she is dealing with the loss of the youngest sister which no one seems to acknowledge. This cause lots of problems between Carrie and the family especially her sisters. This is a story of betrayal, secrets, and lies. I would recommend this book to someone who likes mystery’s and drama. It is a great books with lots of levels and plot twists and gets better and better every chapter you read.
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
In this book by Ursula K. Le Guin, Lavinia, a side character from the Aeneid, is given a whole plot. She becomes a person with emotions and thoughts and a role to play, instead of just Aeneas’ wife. This book showcases the world even before Rome was built, and goes deep into culture and the inner workings of a city during times of trouble. Overall, the story manages to take many characters and make every single one of them fleshed-out and alive. Definitely worth a read.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Book Review
Jenny Han’s, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was a great read. The book hooks you in from the beginning by introducing the reader to complex characters in a short amount of time, all of which are really easy to fall in love with. The tension between Belly and the boys is prominent from the beginning, which helps make almost all of the characters complex and dynamic, all coming with their own personal backstory.
The plot of the story thickens as Belly has her best-friend Taylor come for a visit, forcing tension with Taylor and Jeremiah, and Belly and Conrad.
Belly is left with the choice between Cam, Conrad, and Jeremiah, which she struggles to pick throughout the book
Towards the end of the summer, when the teens find out about Susannah’s sickness, readers are left on a cliffhanger about what Susannah is going to do to either combat her illness, or accept her fate.
Overall, I recommend this read to anyone who likes an easy read, multiple perspectives, a beachy setting, and a lot of romance.
The Leavers
The Leavers (by Lisa Ko) starts off by telling us about Deming, who’s the main character. The book starts ten years before his mom died, and shows a moment where he and his mom were on a walk. They were just talking about stuff and laughing about things. Deming explains his relationship with his mom. He explains how he really enjoys spending time with her and how he would always try to make her laugh. It’s nice to see their relationship before she passed away. Even after that, it’s nice to see how she stuck with him .
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