Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (2)

In this post, I'll be writing about the best part and the worst part of my book. I will also write a text to world connection. 

Best part of my book: 
The quality I like about my book is the way it is written. Reading a diary from a girl during the holocaust is reading a primary source from that period of time. Anne Frank always starts off her diary entry by saying "Dear Kitty" because she thinks this diary will be her friend and she names her "Kitty". This shows how much Anne Frank loved writing in her book and how much she is dedicated to it despite all the wrongdoings surrounded by her. She never missed out writing any major events that happened in that office building. Every time she ends her entry by "Yours Anne", she starts off the next entry from where she left off. There is no confusion. Also, Anne Frank's writing is very neat and clearly understandable. Her vocabulary is amazing at that young of an age. For an example, "I only wish I could see the results already or occasionally receive encouragement from someone who loves me. Don't condemn me; remember that sometimes I too can reach the bursting point." (Frank 59). 

Worst part of my book:
There is almost nothing I can find in this book that I don't like. She does skip some days in her writing, but whenever the next entry is, she summarizes everything that happened between the last entry and the current entry. Since it is written during the Holocaust, the mood of this book is solemn. But with Anne's cheerful attitude and actions, she keeps her diary lively.

Text to World Connection:
Anne's diary obviously connects back to the Holocaust - a tragic event that shook the whole world during the 1940s. A genocide of six million Jews. Anne was one of them. Anne's diary shows how she escaped to Amsterdam and lived for 2 years there without getting captured. But unfortunately, she and her family gets discovered by the Gestapo. The Holocaust led to World War 2.

Anne Frank's original diary.

 http://www.annefrank.ch/system/html/tagebuch-db78f214.jpg

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (1)

In this post I will be writing about my 3rd and final nonfiction book for the semester, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. I'll write a concise preview of this book and a summary of what I read so far.

Preview: 
I chose this book because I have heard many positive remarks on it and it is really interesting because the book is written in the point of view by a girl during the period of the Holocaust. The introduction and afterword is written by Eleanor Roosevelt. This book, written by Anne Frank, tells her life of how she and her family escaped from being occupied by the Nazis-but only for a while. They had to remain in Amsterdam in an abandoned office building, away from Holland. They were joined by other families too. They maintained that hiding place for 2 years until the Gestapo discovered they lived there. After the raid was when Anne's father found this diary. He helped publish this book. This book tells the process of how Anne and her family survived in the hiding place for 2 years.

Summary:
I am not very far into the book since I just started this. So far what happened was that she and her family escaped to Amsterdam to live in a hiding place. Few days later, the Van Daans move into the hide out. Anne describes her life in the office building and  how she adapts to the new environment.

Anne Frank's writing is very detailed and is clear. You can openly understand the text and can understand her feelings and actions that take place in the book. So far, I really like this book a lot (much more than Little Boy Lost!) and I hope to keep reading it.

Anne Frank

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Finished Little Boy Lost!

I finished Little Boy Lost! In this post, I'll write about the main events that happened from the last post.

After Pierre and Hilary traveled to France to find his son, they meet Madame Quilleboeuf. Pierre and Hilary ask questions about her life. She worked for monsieur le cure. One day, when she was going to her everyday washing, she found a boy. "A little boy with golden curls all over his head, just about two years old and looking like like one of God's angels as he lay there." (Laski 58). So she picked him up and he lived lived with Madame Quilleboeuf for 3 days. She found out that the little boy's mother died. Some days later, a young man came to the door to fetch the little boy.

Hilary has been told that his son was living in an orphanage. "He walked some distance from the hotel before he asked a passer-by the way to the Orphanage of Notre-Dame-de-la-Pitie." (Laski 99). He meets The Madame Superior. Hilary talks about his son and what he was like. The Mother Superior answers that your son is named Jean (named by the nuns). A few moments later, Hilary sees Jean and instantly feels like this is his son. "The little boy came in and in the instant before his eyes perceived the child there was torn from his blood, his body, his very consciousness the conviction that this was his son." (Laski 115). This leads us to part 3.

Hilary goes on a stroll with Jean. They talk to each other to form a small bond. Hilary tests him by emotionally bonding with him, but Jean fails the test. The Mother Superior says that if you don't take this child, even if he isn't yours, then she is failing in her duty. "...If I see Jean has a chance of a good home, and a home where he may continue in his religion, I should be failing in my duty..." (Laski 202). Hilary is shocked by what she said. Wandering around, he has seen an identical toy to the one where he has bought Lisa. They named the toy, "Binkie". Hilary sends the toy to the orphanage, and when Jean sees it, he yells "Binkie"! This shows that Hilary's son is Jean. "Hilary came through the door to hear the little's boy's shout of passionate triumph: It's Binkie! It's Binkie come back!" (Laski 248).

This is the end of my book. I would rate this book 3.5/5 because mainly of the vocabulary. It took me a very long time to finish this book because of the challenging words. But I really liked the plot of the story because it is a very heartwarming book about a father and a son reuniting. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a challenge in historical fiction books.

*There is also a movie based on this book. You can see it of you want!*

Marghanita Laski

 http://thewritesofwoman.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/unsung-female-writers-part-one/

Little Boy Lost (4)

In this post, I will be writing about what the best thing in my book is and the worst thing in my book is. I will also talk about the most important line from the chapter.

The best part of my book:
I think the best part of my book is when Hilary finally decides to go look for his son. He wants to keep a memory of Lisa by taking the responsibility to look for his son. "In 1945, three years after the little boy was lost, his father came to France to look for him" (Laski 31). He revives how France used to be before the war and compares with after the war. "This was not France as he remembered it, the bombed airport, the anonymous suburban road, the British army trucks drawn up beside him." (Laski 32). I chose these two quotes to support my reasoning because I felt like Hilary took the right decision to look for his son instead of him being an orphan.

The worst part of my book:
There aren't parts in the book that are bad, except for the vocabulary. But there was one part in the beginning I didn't like about Hilary. This was when Hilary relies on Pierre to come to France to look for Hilary's son. "I hope, Hilary thought anxiously, that Pierre will be there. This France was unfamiliar..." (Laski 32). I thought this was the worst part because I thought Hilary would go by himself, independently to look for his OWN son and not to rely on someone else for help. But instead he relied on Pierre. I thought he would take a lot of courage and responsibility to go by himself. This shows that Hilary isn't that responsible and is dependent on others.

The most important line:
I thought this was the most important line so far: "He said to himself, It's been so long now since the boy was lost. I've had over two years to make myself invulnerable to emotion. I can do without comfort now. I am content to live in my memories." (Laski 33). This shows how Hilary feels sorry that his son was lost. He wants to live with his son so he can "live with his memories".

Little Boy Lost (3)

I haven't really read as much in this book because it is very hard to understand, so i will write about some quotes i found and analyzing it. 

Quote 1:
"All that seems to be certain is that we should each do good where it is near to us, where we can see the end of it, and then we know that something positive has been done." (Laski 17). I think this quote means to say that whenever we find an opportunity to do something good, we should do it. Then we will know that at least something positive came out of it.

Quote 2:
"He had lifted his head again and his eyes were wide open and surprisingly bright. He seemed steadily to gather energy as he roused himself for the climax of all he had come to say, the true purpose of his visit." (Laski 21). I think this quote means to say that as Pierre snapped back to reality, he figured out that his visit was for Hilary; to find the little boy.

Quote 3:
"He looked at Pierre, and then saw, with sudden pity, that Pierre was rigid with apprehension. It did not occur to him that Pierre's apprehension was for himself, for his own reception of the story." (Laski 41). I think this quote means to say that Pierre was full of worry/anxiety. But it wasn't anxiety for himself, but the story with the little boy being lost.

Stay tuned to the next post!

Little Boy Lost (2)

In this post I'll write an update on the book, Little Boy Lost and what I think of it currently.

Update:

I'm actually not that far into my new book. I'm at part 2 where Hilary goes out to search for his son in France 3 years after he found out the little boy was lost. Pierre (a character who I didn't introduce in the 1st post),  gave the letter from Lisa to Hilary and told him to go to France to search for his son. Pierre wanted to go too but Hilary denied it.

In part 2, it starts off by Hilary getting off the plane and waiting for his bus to arrive. He says, "This was not France as he remembered it, the bombed airport, the anonymous suburban road, the British army trucks drawn up beside him." (Laski 32). But fortunately, he wanted to start his life afresh by looking for his son. He was hoping for Pierre to arrive because he felt isolated and lonely. He started thinking about how he would look because the last time he saw him was right when the little boy was born. He also thought how his life would be different without Lisa or the little boy or how he would've married someone else.                         

What I think of it currently:

To be honest, this is a challenging book for me. It has many vocabulary words in each paragraph that make it very difficult to understand. For an example, "Hilary shivered and longed for the bus to start, cursing the formalities that had held them so long at Le Bourget, passing them one by one through an incompetent sieve of officialdom." (Laski 33). I don't know about you, but I think that was a hard line to understand. Since this book was written in 1953, I thought of how the structure of the book would be different, than books nowadays. But I think this book is still interesting, so I will continue to read it.

...Well, that's how far I got! Stay tuned till the next post!

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Little Boy Lost (1)

In this post, I will be writing about my new book, Little Boy Lost. I will write a book summary about it, why I chose this and a description of the author. 

Book Summary:
I chose a new book called Little Boy Lost. It is a historical fiction book. This is about a man name Hilary Wainright, a young, successful  English poet. Unfortunately, during the war in France, his wife died from the Gestapo but didn't know anything about his son. This book is about a dad trying to look for his son after the war was over. I'm not that far into the book, but it starts off him learning that his son was missing, that he wasn't dead. This is an excerpt from Lisa, Hilary's wife, who sent a letter to Hilary before she died:
"Hilary, you must come and save our baby. As soon as it is safe, you must come over and fetch him from Jeanne, and teach him English and make him your son." (Laski 13).

Why I chose this book:
I never liked historical fiction books because I thought it was never appealing to me. But then I wanted to try something new...something that was different than realistic fiction...something that actually happened. So my parents and I sat down and concluded that, Little Boy Lost, was the right book for me! So far, I like it!

The author:
Marghanita Laski was a well known author in the 1900s. She was an English journalist, a writer, a novelist and many more. She attended University of Oxford. Her most famous book was, Little Boy Lost. There's even a movie about the book!

                            https://www.movieposter.com/poster/MPW-19124/Little_Boy_Lost.html

Finished Life of Pi!

I finished Life of Pi! In this post, I will be talking about the main events/points of what happened between the last post and now. I'll also be talking about the rating I would give it and who I would recommend this book to. 

After the sinking of the cargo ship, many things happened! A hyena, a wounded zebra and a 450 pound Bengal tiger, named Richard Parker, was on the boat. An orangutan, named Orange Juice, came floating across the water to the boat. Pi let her on. But, soon the hyena attacked the zebra and killed him. It also attacked the orangutan and killed her too. Richard Parker came out of his hiding spot and eliminated the hyena. It left Richard Parker and Pi, alone, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. But the tiger didn't attack Pi, it sometimes got mad, but never attacked him.

In the days, Pi found some lifeboat supplies and made a raft out of them to mark his own territory. On the raft, he kept himself busy by catching rainwater and freshwater, writing in his diary, eating fish and other food and getting food and water for Richard Parker. Pi wasn't in good health. He vomited, his legs were swollen, and he had digestive problems. One day, a school of flying fish attacked the boat and left a lot of food for the hungry people. Another day, a whale from the bottom of the ocean, came up and made a big splash that amazed the two. Other days, Pi found himself training Richard Parker. He survived 277 days.

Pi found an island. "In the near distance I saw trees. I did not react. I was certain it was an illusion that a few blinks would make it disappear. The trees remained" (Martel 256). It was full of meerkats and thick vegetation. At night, he noticed that in the ponds of the island, there was freshwater and bodies of dead fish would rise and disappear. He also saw 32 teeth. A full set of human teeth. He concluded that he was on a carnivorous island. So the next day, he and Richard Parker left the island.

The met land, Mexico. That's where Pi was rescued by 6 or 7 people. But, Richard Parker left him. All these days he was with Pi, and he left him just like that. "I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome at having survived my ordeal, though i was...I was weeping because of Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously" (Martel 285).  This led to Part 3.

In Part 3, it described 2 reporters came and asking for the story. But they didn't believe Pi. Instead Pi, replaced the animals with his family. He told the same story, but instead of animals, he described his family. But still the reporters didn't believe in him.

That's the end of my book! I would rate this book 5/5 because of how detailed and enjoying this book was! It kept me on the edge of my seat! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves fiction, animals and anyone who wants to learn a little about India! In my next post, I'll be talking about my next book.

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Life of Pi (4)

In the 4th post of Life of Pi, I will be talking about where I am at and what happens in the beginning of Part 2 of the book.

Update and Part 2:

From the last post, I wrote about the recap of part 1. Right now I am almost 1/2 way through the book and towards the beginning of part 2. Part 2 starts off foreshadowing. Pi described the sinking of his cargo ship and how Richard Parker, the tiger, got on the lifeboat. The following quote was about the sinking of his ship:
"The ship sank. It made a sound like a monstrous metallic burp. Things bubbled at the surface and then vanished" (Martel 97).
The following quote was about how Richard Parker looked like as he was swimming to the lifeboat:
"He had seen me. He looked panic-stricken. He started swimming my way. The water about him was shifting wildly" (Martel 97).

Later on, in Part 2, It went back to Pi sleeping on the ship and waking up at a startling noise. He swiftly began tiptoeing to the door, opens it and walks up the stairs leading to the deck. The weather was horrible. The water ran across the deck of the boat. Pi began slipping and sliding. He quickly went back down to the lower deck where his family was and...to his surprise...it was flooded till his neck. His family was gone.

That's where I will leave off. Stay tuned till the next post to see what happens to Pi and his fellow "friends".

 
Richard Parker trying to get on the boat.

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Life of Pi (3)

In my 4th post of my book, Life of Pi, I'll be talking about where i am at in the book and predictions.


Update in the book:
I am nearing the end of part 1 in Life of Pi. For a recap of part 1, Pi talks mostly about his childhood including his family, his school and how he believes in 3 religions at the same time. When Pi was young, he is a very naive and curious person. He loved to discover new things. But now, towards the end of Part 1, he gets older (like a teenager). I also saw some chapters of foreshadowing- "Then Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi Patel, bends down and picks up his daughter" (Martel 93).

Prediction:
So in the previous blog, I said that they will move to a new place. I was right. They do move on June 21st, 1977 from Madras. Their cargo ship has lots of Japanese officers and people. The animals were secured in cages.

But that's where I left off. Almost nearing end of Part 1. You'll just have to wait and see till the next post! I know this was a short blog post for me, but I'm sure the next one will be a really lengthy one!  

Pi looking at the sinking of the cargo ship.

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Life of Pi (2)

In my 3rd blog post about Life of Pi, I'll be talking about the likes and dislikes of my book. I'll also talk about the vocabulary in this book.

Likes:

This is an extremely descriptive book with beautiful words. The author, Yann Martel, uses such engaging imagery to describe the setting and the people. The other thing I really like about this book so far is that, the author describes Pi's religious beliefs so much that even a person with no knowledge of religion will be able to understand. It also truly makes you feel like you are in the book right from the beginning.

Dislikes:

At this point of the book, there aren't many dislikes I have about this book. The only thing I would like the author to change is that he explains too much of his childhood and doesn't really come to the climax as quick. He takes too long to reach the "juicy" part of the story. If I had only 1 suggestion, it would be this.

Vocabulary:

Like I said before, Yann Martel uses divine words to enhance his story to another level. I would like to take the time to write some vocabulary that caught my attention.

"domesticated"

"subsequent"
"precisely"
"reverent"
"attributes"
"manifest"
"elusive"
"peculiar"

These are just some of the words I saw. There are numerous words just in the first few chapters.   

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Life of Pi (1)

Life of Pi 

By: Yann Martel

Synopsis:

I'm reading the Life of Pi by Yann Martel. It is a internationally best-selling novel, a winner of the Man Booker Prize and an extraordinary movie. The story is about Pi (aka Piscine Molitor Patel) taking a trip on a cargo ship but, sinks, killing his family. Pi survives on a lifeboat but he is not the only one-he's with a hyena, an injured zebra, an orangutan and a 450 pound Royal Bengal Tiger. This book takes you on a journey to the lush and wild pacific ocean with some of his so called "friends".

Why I chose this book:

I chose this book because of the many people reading this and saying it was extraordinary and a very intriguing book. One of my friends gave it to me and i thought 'why not read it for Honors English?'. So i read the first few pages of the book and immediately got engaged to it. I'm so happy that i chose this book. I've seen the movie before i read the book (and i know i shouldn't have done that) and it was miraculous! I bet the book will be even better!

 Where I am at and predictions:

At this point of the book, Pi is describing his teachers and his school (I'm not that far into the book). Even though, I've seen the movie, I predict Pi's dad will soon get his job shifted somewhere else and they will have to go on the cargo ship. That's probably the point where the ship sinks.

Trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZEZ35Fhvuc

Matched (Summer Reading Book)

Matched 
By: Ally Condie

Runima Banerjee

Summary:

Imagine a prefect society with no mistakes. They choose "who you love, where you live and when you die." That's the world where Cassia Reyes lives in. Things get better when Cassia is planned to marry Xander. But, when Cassia puts the microcard, where it holds all the information about Xander, another face shows up-Ky. Who will she choose? Read the book to find out!


Main Characters:


 Cassia: She is the main character of the book and is a dynamic character; best friend with Xander and is later matched with him; She meets Ky, a mysterious and lonely person, and eventually falls in love with him-because of Ky, Cassia doesn't trust The Society or The Officials in The Society; She doesn't know who to choose, Xander or Ky

Ky: He is a lonely and mysterious person; not considered to be a citizen because one of his family members committed an infraction; Falls in love with Cassia; He kind of knows that The Society is substandard and is a bad influence to the people; Cassia and Ky decide to leave their province; he is a dynamic and round character.

Xander: He was a friend of Cassia since childhood-knows everything about Cassia; falls in love with her ever since they were matched; he is a round character-you don't really know how he reacts to Cassia falling in love with Ky, he doesn't really show that much emotion.

My article is about how Ally Condie wrote her first book, Matched. She said it started off when she was in high school. She was fond of utopias. After she wrote her book, she found publishers and editors to revise her books (Matched and Crossed). She hopes to write more books, but now she focuses on this trilogy.

I rate this book 4/5 stars. Sometimes I felt she didn't describe as much in some of her scenes. At the end, I thought it was rushed-I couldn't feel the mood of it (at the end). But, overall it was a great book- it was very intriguing and almost impossible to put the book down.  I recommend this book to anyone who loves romance, suspense and angst.

Matched Article 

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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05Eyc_EYqg8