Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Summer Reading Reflection?

Over the summer, you were asked to read at least two novels of your choice.

1) Briefly tell me what you read, including the titles and authors.
2) I want to know what you liked about the books, what you learned and, more importantly, what matters to you about the books' content.

*Make sure to adhere to proper conventions and proofread your response. If, for some reason, you did not read two novels, tell me about two novels you have read and answer the above. This blog post must be completed by 3:40p.m. on Friday, August 23rd, 2019.

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Over the summer, I read the novel “Faceless” by Alyssa Sheinmel as well as the novel “Heaven is for Real” by Lynn Vincent and Todd Burpo. I enjoyed “Faceless” because it took readers through what it was like to go through something rare as well as exceptionally difficult. The novel also touched on how different views of difficult situations can greatly affect how a person gets through an ordeal. I learned from this book to always appreciate every day that we are given as well as how important it is to seek support when we go through tough times. It teaches very valuable lessons and I think that is important for others to learn them as well. “Heaven is for Real” was an exceptional book. I loved how it took readers through a heartbreaking experience and told how it affected their family, but then towards the end told readers about an amazing experience. I learned how different situations can cause a great amount of doubt and how to push through those moments. What mattered to me about the book’s content was the number of valuable lessons it taught and how it strengthed people faith, especially when going through trials. Overall, these books taught me a large number of things and I’m exceptionally glad that I read them.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Over the summer I read "That's Not What Happened" by Kody Keplinger along with "When" by Victoria Laurie. "That's Not What Happened" was about six kids who survived a school shooting three years ago. The characters faced the challenge of trying to figure what really happened the day of the shooting when a lot of rumors were spread throughout their small town. I enjoyed this book because it discussed issues that present-day teens are having to deal with today and how to overcome them. The next book, "When", was about a 16-year-old girl who can see the days when people will die. Mistakenly say tells a woman when her son will die. When the son ends up dying the day she predicted the cops tace the murder back to her best friend. She struggles to prove her self and her friend innocent. Although this book took me on a fun exciting adventure it was not my favorite because there were some gory aspects too it. In the end, I was happy with the books I read and I would highly recommend them to you.

Anonymous said...

This summer I read Carry on by Rainbow Rowell as well as The Rest of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Carry On because it was a book that puts a twist on Harry Potter. I like that this book shows the struggles of a realistic character while also placing this book in an unreal, fantasy setting. This book’s content is desirable for me because it portrays relatable perspectives of side characters while also demonstrating how to assist a friend that is struggling with deciding who they are and who they want to be. Therefore portraying lessons that I can live through the characters. On the other Hand in The Rest of Us Just Live Here similar themes are portrayed in a very different format. This book follows the life of a teenager just trying to survive high school while also dealing with unexplained instances in his town. This character additionally is caught up in his world and has difficulty assisting his friends in what they are dealing with. Even though I don’t relate to the struggles of these characters I still enjoyed the book because it pointed out the importance of support in friendships. All in all, these books contained lessons along with a plot that caused me to not want to put the books down.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

For summer reading, I read Elan Mastia’s All of Our Wrong Todays as while as Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. In All of Our Wrong Todays, the author challenges you to think of what could happen if one small thing changed, such as if a death or birth don’t happen the way it did. By challenging the reader to think this, it brings a new perspective to the world and how it happens. In Where the Crawdads Sing, the story is set after the great depression and takes the reader on an emotional journey through the life of a young, abandoned girl in the marshes of North Carolina. The book brings out both the beauty of innocents and the dangers of ignorance and trust. This book made me learn that life is hard, but karma will come to those who deserve it.

Anonymous said...

For summer reading, I read 1997 Master My Story by Tiger Woods as well as After the Shot Drops. The story of Tiger Woods competing in the 1997 Masters was extraordinary. This book taught me the ins and outs of Tiger Woods experience the Masters. This brought to me a new way to look at how to handle myself on the golf course, and in several pressure-filled moments. The next book that I read this summer is called After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay is a book about a young highschooler finding his career in basketball. The young man named Bunny Thompson and his friend Nasir were great friends until Bunny switched high schools to pursue basketball. In the book, there were many hardships and lessons that Bunny had to overcome. This book helped me learn to keep calm in situations and to do what your heart desires.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Over the summer I read "Wonder" by Palacio and "Nightingale" by Amy Lukavics. The thing I liked about both books is that they had a deeper meaning behind them. With"Wonder", it was all about peoples true colors and never be too quick to judge someone. With "Nightingale" it was never underestimated some by there looks and there is always a back story to someone's actions. Form these I learned that I reading can be fun and interesting. In my opinion, these books are meaningful because they teach you an important lesson in a fun and exciting way.

Anonymous said...

This summer I read the books, We’ll Always Have Summer and Shug both by Jenny Han. In both these books I enjoyed the relationships and how realistic it was because you felt like you could relate to the characters. What I learned from both of these books is to always think about others but make sure you think about yourself too. In the books content what really matters is the choices they made in the book and to know if the choices they made were good or bad and to follow or not follow their decisions.

Anonymous said...

Over the summer, I chose to explore topics I hadn't researched before. This included reading Goodbye, Vietnam by Gloria Whelan, in addition to The Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. To start off, Goodbye, Vietnam introduced 13-year-old Mai and her family, who decided it was time to escape their village in Vietnam during the night. They wished to escape, due to the harsh conditions they were forced to work in the rice fields, in which they receive minuscule compensation. In addition to that, local police threaten to apprehend Mai’s grandmother due to her nontraditional healing acts. Once they traveled through the night in nauseating swamps, the family tried to avoid being seized and punished for attempted absconding. After veering clear of main roads, the family finally reached the area of transport. They traveled aboard an emasculated, cramped boat in hopes of living a better life. I enjoyed learning about a foreign country, where children younger than me face problems I may never have to. The main character of this book was unable to attend school past the age of nine due to her family not being wealthy enough to provide food without Mai working in rice fields. I learned that some children born in 3rd world countries don’t ever dream to expect more than what they already have, including better shelter than mud houses that are unreliable in the long run. After reading Goodbye, Vietnam, I decided to explore more of Gloria Whelan’s work. I chose to learn about arranged marriages in India in her book, The Homeless Bird. This book began with 13-year-old Koly finding out her father began searching for a man to join her in wedlock. Not wanting to disappoint her parents, Koly cooperated and went along with the marriage. Soon after the wedding, she noticed her spouse becoming exceedingly sick and he eventually died from tuberculosis. This left Koly, recently a widow stuck with her mother and father in law who don't care for her. Koly’s mother in law took her on a trip supposedly to her mother in-law’s brother’s home for them to reside. After Koly’s mother in law abandoned her among their trip, she remained homeless until brought into a widow home. Here where she resided, other girls in similar positions helped her cope, find a job, and meet a new man. I enjoyed reading this book because it gave me a new perspective. I hadn’t previously known how harsh arranged marriages could be, especially at such a young age. This book was by far the best I have ever read due to the culture shocks we Americans have when learning about different external topics, such as this book portrayed.

Anonymous said...

Over the summer I read the book American Assassin by Vince Flynn. I found that the book was super well written and I loved the story. Its a story about how a Cold War veteran Stan Hurley takes a CIA recruit named Mitch Rapp under his wing. They both investigate attacks that are happening around the world on government and civilians. I liked how the action in the book made it feel like you were actually there. I don't read a lot but I loved this book.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Over the summer I read The Hobbit and The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I enjoyed both of these books, I found that the Hobbit is a very intriguing book to read. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy was also a good book but it was more based around humor then the Hobbit was. Overall I enjoyed reading both of these books although I don't read much. I would recommend both books to anyone looking for something to read.

Anonymous said...

This summer I read "Fighting Back" by Rocky Bleier and Terry O'Neil. The other book I read was Hatchet By Gary Paulsen. I will start with Fighting Back, I have been wanting to read this book for a while but it has been to challenging, I finally got the chance to this summer, I really liked how interesting Rocky's life was, He joined the NFL even with all the challenges he faced then got chosen to go to the Vietnam war, In the war his foot got blown up, he had hard long surgery's and recovery's. He fought back and made it back to the NFL and is now known as one of the best football players in history. In "hatchet" I really like the mountains so I chose to read a adventure survival book about a teenager. Brian was flying over the northern Canadian forest when his pilot had an unexpected heart attack, Brian had to land the little bush plane in the middle of the forest alone and survive, I thought this book really pulled me in from the start there are no parts where you are just like when does this finish. From both "Fighting Back" and "Hatchet" to never give up no matter what. I also learned that things may happen but you have to over come them.

Anonymous said...

For the two summer reading books I read Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I really did enjoy reading the books, I liked the dystopia aspect of the books. And when you were reading you just wanted more and more information about how their world, the romance of it all, and if Katniss, Peeta, and their whole district was gonna make it out of the games and the upcoming uprising in the districts alive. I learned that we should definitely not let our world come to this where no one has any freedom what so ever and we just think it's fine, like there's nothing we could do to stop it. I think what matters to me in these books was how Katniss was such a get main character she didn't want to follow the capitals rules because she simply just didn't believe in what they stood for. Which is what we really need in our world, people that will stand with their opinions and not care if people wanted to change them.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

This summer i read the books "The 5th Wave" by Rick Yancey and "I am Number Four" by Pittacus Lore. I liked that the book "The 5th Wave" was about an alien apocalypse and how it focused on a topic that could actually happen one day. I also enjoyed reading the book "I am Number Four" because it was also about aliens and I like to read science fiction. There was also a lesson that these two books shared. Both of these texts were mainly about how you should live your life to the fullest because you never know when it could be taken away from you. These texts definitely share very important lessons with the world that I think people should live by.

Anonymous said...

During the course of the summer I chose to read the novels “The River” and “Brian’s Winter” by Gary Paulsen. I have always been captivated by books written about topics I can associate to. These two books, being a sequel and alternate ending to award winning “Hatchet,” were very interesting because I can relate to the hardships that Brian faced throughout the stories. “The River” was a continuation of the story “Hatchet” where Brian, the main character, returns to the woods with a Government psychologist named Derek to gather information on survival. One night a bolt of lighting struck their shelter, electrocuting Derek, putting him into a coma, and frying their only radio communication device. The rest of the story describes the thrilling adventure of Brian attempting to find help down a river before Derek dies in his coma. The second story, “Brian’s Winter,” was my second novel read. Being an alternate ending to “Hatchet,” it tells a story of Brian never being rescued and having to survive a harsh winter in the remote North Woods. The tale goes into depth about Brian living off the land, learning how to hunt, fish, make clothes, and most importantly create fire. In the end, the depth of description Gary Paulsen goes into telling about Brian’s survival is amazing. I believe it will appeal to many readers and that is why I recommend the “Hatchet” series.

Anonymous said...

Over the summer, I read two non-fiction titles, Evo Moment 37: One of the Most Famous Moments in Competitive Gaming History and The Book of Melee. Both of these books tell the story of events in the history of fighting game eSports.
Evo Moment 37: One of the Most Famous Moments in Competitive Gaming History is exactly what the title implies. It’s the story of the now iconic youtube video “EVO Moment 37”. The video shows two men playing Street Fighter 3: Third Strike in the losers finals of the greatest fighting game tournament ever: the evolution championship series, or EVO for short. The two men are Diago Umehara and Justin Wong, now legends in the fighting game community. As Justin’s character uses a special move to try and seal the game, Daigo makes a display of skill so unbelievable that it remains one of the most iconic eSports moments 15 years later.
The Book of Melee is another history of competitive gaming. Since its release in 2001, Super Smash Bros. Melee has been a competitive game with one of the most loyal and devoted fanbases in gaming. The Book of Melee tells the incredible story of Melee’s almost 20 year history, from the players to the tournaments to the hardships the game faced. From the story of Ken, “The King of Smash” to “The Five Gods of Melee” and even the tale of Leffen, “The God Slayer” The Book of Melee captures the spirit of the game and presents it as a compelling story.

Anonymous said...

This summer, I read Triple Homicide by James Patterson. I liked that Patterson keeps building on a story and how there is not a dull point; there is always something happening. From this book, I learned what it would be like to work in the crime-solving/stopping business. This summer I also read To All The Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. I liked how this book had an exciting plot and only Included things relevant to the story, not just filling the space with unneeded things that would slow down the story. I think this book feels very realistic, almost like it's happening to someone you know at that exact second.

Anonymous said...

Over summer I read Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. Overall I thought this book was very interesting but I think the fact a book was made about him almost went against his plot of running away. He wanted to self survive without having to be around people or be known by majority of society. His goal was to be completely free and I think by making the book it just spreaded knowledge about him which counteracted his whole point of running away. In all I thought the author did a good job of telling the story and definitely helped create good connections and relationships between each character Alexander runs in to.

Anonymous said...

Over summer I read the two Clive Cussler books Piranha and Odessa Sea. I love Clive Cussler's books because they have a lot of fighting and cool gadgets that the characters use. None of the books are part of a series so each book had completely different characters along with a completely different setting. His books jump around a lot so it can go straight from a ship sinking in the ocean to two people talking at lunch. You have to read a few of his books before you can understand his writing style, but once you figure it out his books can be very addicting.

Anonymous said...

I read "One Day in December" by Josie Silver and "The Proposal" by Jasmine Guillory. I chose to read these books because I wanted to read a "rom-com" type of story. In "One Day in December", I really liked how the story was unpredictable so you would never know what was going to happen next. I also liked how the story was told from two different characters perspectives. I think this book showed how hard some decisions are to make. In "The Proposal" I was able to watch the characters grow as people and how the relationship grew between the main characters which I enjoyed.

Anonymous said...

For summer reading I read "Dear Mrs. Bird" by AJ Pearce and "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green. In "Dear Mrs. Bird I liked how the main character was facing so many challenges, but never gave up and continued to help others in everything that she did. What mattered to me most about its contents was being able to see lessons that can still be applied today even though it was set a little ways back in the past. With "The Fault in Our Stars" I liked the twist ending even though it was very sad and I learned about some different challenges people face. I think being able to see life through the eyes of a cancer kid with a more realistic perspective is what mattered to me most about the book.

Anonymous said...


I read "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker and "1984" by George Orwell. I re-read "1984" every year because every time I read it I realize something new. The ideas and predictions Orwell introduced were inconceivable at the time but as society and technology progressed, his theories became more and more relevant. I had never read "The Color Purple" before, but my mom recommended it to me this summer. It dealt with some extremely hard and disturbing subjects, but it also was one of the most informative and comprehensive novels about slavery that I have ever read. Although it is a banned book due to graphic depictions of abuse and sexual content, I was very grateful I read it because it helped me develop my knowledge of slavery and the life of slaves. This book is important because it was a very realistic and heartbreaking book that every person should read at some point in their lives.

Anonymous said...

This summer I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. I like this book because its cool when the kids start to work as a team to become the best team. Another thing is that it teaches you to get to know people before you judge them. the next book i read was hitchhikers guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams. I like this book because of the weird but true facts. I learned that cockyness and ignorance can land you in trouble.

Anonymous said...

(Im catching up on this)
This summer I read the books
Manson in his own words and All the justice I could afford.
Manson in his own words was about Charles Manson and is one of the only book that actually has information about Manson's early life, and what lead him to do what he did
All the justice I could afford, This book is about a man who thinks he is being discriminated against for a position at a job because of his age, so he sues the company (ADEA age discrimination in employment act) and his struggle through it

Quinten Gardner said...

This summer I read the books A Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds and The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas I liked both of these books because they explained real world problems that I thought didn't get enough attention or action. Both books taught you that you have to think before you act so you don't make a rash decision that isn't in your own best interests. Both book were really good and eye opening for me they both had deep thoughts and really made me think about my life and my decisions.