Summer Reading 4

When I saw the list of all the summer reading books I began to look for action based books, which is what I normally read. The only problem with that was that all of the libraries were out of the books that I had an interest for. It turned out that the library’s and bookstore were both out of the most books that were on the list therefore my choices were narrowed. Then I came across “how I live now” by Meg Rosoff, I read the description and it sounded intriguing even though it wasn’t my normal action based book. More importantly, they had it in stock at the Mason library. After checking it out I began reading and the book started out a bit slow but escalated quickly. Around the middle of the book things began to get really good, the war was in full swing and Daisy and Piper were alone in the woods pushing their survival skills to the limits. I can’t directly say that I can relate to any of the characters but I could see my actions being similar to those of Daisy. When Piper and Daisy are out in the middle of the wood with nothing Daisy takes over and controls the situation, which I myself might do. She also has a wide range of survival techniques, and I knew most of them and would have used them the same way she did. If there is anyone who enjoys a book that constantly leaves you thinking what you would do in certain types of situations, with lots of drama, and hard choices than this would be a great book choice. Overall I am very glad I read this book even though it wasn’t my first choice it ended up being something I really enjoyed.

Summer Reading 3

This book has had me hooked from the very beginning and has continuously gotten better and better. The one part that really got me into the book was, “I went over to the window and looked out and there was the slightest bit of pink light over to one side where the sun must have just started coming up and a totally quiet grey mist hung over the barn and the gardens and the fields and everything was perfectly still and beautiful” (Rosoff 10-11). This seemed so powerful because just a day ago Daisy was living with her terrible father who didn’t even care for her in the middle of the city and now she is in a beautiful place surrounded by people who love her. This is a chance in her life for the better. She can completely restart and meet new people, finally getting the life she deserves. The fact that she no longer has to be with her dad is going to help her to become a much better person and give her more opportunities in life. Before when she was in the city her father was setting a horrible example of how to live. Now she is with her aunt Penn and her cousins who will show her the right way to live and enjoy life.

Summer Reading 2

Over the course of the book the characters have greatly changed. When Daisy first arrives in England she’s not to sure about what to expect and is shy and polite. After a few days she really opens up to everyone and starts to bond really well like they are all one big family. She bonds best with Piper who is always getting her whatever she wants before she can even ask. Piper also is always inviting Daisy to do stuff all over the barn with her. They form a bond similar to the bond between 2 sisters. A little bit later on Daisy and Edmond are lying in bed together and Edmond lays his leg against hers, she finds this weird that her touching her even though they have cloths on. As time go’s on after aunt Penn is gone Daisy begins to develop feelings for Edmond, likewise Edmond develops feelings for Daisy. Edmond and Daisy start to have a serious relationship they know its odd because they are cousins but they also know there is a serious war going on and they are trapped together out in the countryside. They keep their relationship a secret from the others. One day Piper ask Daisy if she loves Edmond and Daisy doesn’t know what else to say so she says yes, and to Daisy’s surprise Piper says she does too.  Osbert has always wanted to be a spy or work in the military and one day he got the job and once he got the job he became much more strict around the house and one time another military soldier came by to the house. After he saw the house and knew there was no parent he ordered that the kids must leave because the military needed to use the house to set up a camp. The boys and the girls become separate and the girls are sent to a nice women’s house about 40 miles east, but they have no idea where the boys are sent. While they are separated the girls become very tough and must stay together and work as a team. Daisy thinks she can still talk to Edmond in her thoughts she thinks he is listening to her and he understands everything. The theme becomes very serious and stressful. They entire plot is based around the crazy side affects that most people would never think would come out of a war.

Summer Reading 1

The main character is a teenage girl named Elizabeth, but no one ever calls her that she usually goes by the name Daisy. Her mom died after giving birth to her and her dad is a very careless parent who sleeps with various women every night and pays no attention to his daughter. Having hopes for a better childhood Daisy moves to the English countryside with her aunt Penn and her cousins. When she first arrives at the airport she is greeted by Edmond who is a fourteen-year-old boy alone at the airport with a cigar coming out of his mouth. He asks to see her aunt Penn but to her surprise Edmond drove himself to the airport at the age of 14. On the drive home Edmond drives like a maniac as any 14-year-old boy would drive, paying no attention to speed limits or signs. When they arrive at the house deep in the English countryside buried in the woods she is greeted by all of her cousins. She first meets Isaac who is a quiet kid who likes to keep to himself, but he is very smart once she gets to know him. Then she meets Osbert who is the oldest cousin at sixteen, who likes to act superior to all of the other cousins and doesn’t always hang out with the rest of the group. Once she settles in to her beautiful room in the old yellow brick L shaped house with the steep roof she meets Piper who she becomes great friends with piper looks up to her as the sister she’s never had. Daisy sees Piper as the cutes girl in the world and bonds really well with her. The house also has a barn on the property with goats, cows, dogs, and cats. The kids enjoy taking care of the animals and the animals also provide the family with a great deal of food. The next day Daisy gets to meet her aunt Penn, the night before she was incredibly busy with work. She is part of a committee to figure out if there could be a war stirring up. She and Daisy talk a lot about Daisy’s mom but the next day aunt Penn must leave to attend a meeting and while she is gone the war begins and she can not get back home, leaving the kids alone with no electricity and other common privileges due to recent bombings in the city’s. The kids have a feeling they are safe from the enemy troops because they are so far out in the country, but they need to figure out a way to stay safe, healthy, and well feed without knowing if aunt Penn will ever come back or when the war will end.

Gatos Dangerous Decision

After Gato goes into the jungle he is warned not to by a lot of people. His mom and dad were beyond angry with him and a lot of people in the town were worried about him. Even after hearing what all of them said he isn't really persuaded not to go into the jungle. There is one person that gets to him in a way not one else could, his grandmother.

His grandmother tells him about a lot of bad things in the forest, but the worst are the ghost. She tells him that there are ghost out there who are looking for a soul to take over to truly die. The ghost do not feel like their life is complete until they have ever thing they every wanted. Therefore to reinforce that idea Gato's grandmother tells him about how a ghost might have always wanted a tall 13 year old boy as its son. If a ghost wants a 13 year old boy and finds Gato his grandmother says that the ghost will take him and he will never be seen again.

Even after all of the stories and warnings from everyone Gato still goes into the jungle. When he goes into it he says that the jungle is beautiful with lots of frogs, hummingbirds, moths, and millipedes longer than his arm. There were lots of leaves and flowers on the hills with streams in between. I think he is going to find something new in the jungle, although I'm not sure if it will be good or bad.

Blogging assesment #1

The main character in Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is Guy Montag. Guy is a firefighter but he doesn't do what you think he would as a fireman. In the future time that this book takes place in all houses are fireproof there fore there is no need for firefighters to put out fires. You might be wondering what he does if he doesn't put out fires, he creates fires. He and all the other fireman are trained to incinerate books and owning books is illegal, therefore whenever someone is found with books the firemen are called to burn the books to ash. I think its an odd process but it puts everything in a completely different perspective to the reader.

Guy has an interesting personal life and its on the verge of being destroyed. Hes been a fireman all his life since he was able to work. Recently he had to burn a house that had books in it and the lady that owned the books wouldn't leave the house and was burned with the books. This event made Guy wonder what was in the books that a lady would take her life to stay in a burning house with her books. Towards the end of part one Guy revels to his wife that he has been hiding books in the house and wants her to read them with him to figure out whats in the books. His wife is blown away at what Guy has done not only has he gone against everything his job works to stop he has also broken the law. I think he does this because of the trouble hes going through in his life. On page 62 Guy states,"I might even start reading books". This quote is so important because this shows how Guy is beginning to change his life he no longer wants to be a fireman and burn books. Hes also questioning his marriage and wonders if he loves her and if hes happy, which makes me think his life is going to start changing dramatically soon.


This is what i think he would look like.





This is one of my best blogs because of all of the amazing writer’s voice. For example, my personality is showed in this quote, “You might be wondering what he does if he doesn't put out fires, he creates fires”. I think this shows how I write very well. When I write I will often try to talk to the reader. This accomplishes that task by saying what the book says and then what I think, along with what the reader thinks. By doing this it helps to keep the reader intrigued and focused on the writing. For some, this will excite them and make them want to keep reading. As a writer this is the ultimate goal, to entertain the reader.

 

I also incorporated some very elevated diction and syntax into my blog post. For example, I said “He and all of the other fireman are trained to incinerate books and owning books is illegal, therefore whenever someone is found with books the firemen are called to burn the books to ash". In this sentence there are many areas that show high end diction. Instead of saying that the firemen burnt books, I changed burnt to incinerate to intrigue the reader. Another example of amazing syntax in this sentence is how I expanded the sentence without making it a run on sentence. I had a few different ideas but they were all on the same topic and because of the well-used commas, the sentence had a very smooth flow to it. With elevated diction and syntax put together it draws the reader in and makes the writing much more stimulating.

Dangers of the jungle

Gato has successfully escaped a dangerous animal from the jungle this time, which he is very lucky to have done. This left me wondering if he would go back in the jungle. Having nothing to do all day really took its toll on Gato, so it made him want to go back into the jungle. I am beginning to think that the Jungle might be a place where he can go to relax and escape from everyone who looks down on him in his village.

After Gato had gone into the village a few more times people began to notice. His village is very small and talkative so word gets around fast. His family had heard the news and his father had yelled at him for being so stupid, and his mother cried. It was his Grandmother that got to him the best out of everyone. She told him that their were many monsters in the forest, such as the demons in the river with blue fire in their eyes that will hypnotize you and eat you whole. She also said their are big trees with roots that are covered in thorns bigger than knifes that will kill you slowly as you hang from their trunks. After all of the stores Gato is told I wonder if he will stop going in the forest or if he will continue and quite possibly get hurt or even killed.