Independent Reading Book

     The book Alice tells a story about three close friends and their highly dramatic summer. The girls are in 8th grade and with that new problems begin to sprout up, like the troubles Pamela expierences with her family after the rough divorce of her parents. Alice, the main character, seems to go through her own problems too, though she is the rock of their friendship when compared to her other buddy, Elizabeth. Elizabeth starves herself to get skinnier, with her own hatred of her body causing her to become anorexic.

     I chose to read this book because I thought it could be interesting to read a book that was trying to portray someone around my age, but honestly, I did not enjoy this book. It was odd and despite being relatable with family troubles and new relationships, it wasn't relevant to me. I have never gone through many of the things talked about in the book, and while I could relate to the descriptions of the girls' emotions, I didn't agree with their actions or choices. I thought it overly tried to portray teenagers as stereotypes, with irrelevant moments that bored me. Looking back, I probably should have chosen a more difficult book, with a more interesting plot line and conflict. The book was basically just about being a kid, and while I guess some people could find that thought-provoking, I did not.

     I think this book relates to American culture because in America, especially in the older generation, people tend to stereotype teens as a moody, dramatic, and overly sensitive group that only cares about themselves. Many do not view teenagers' problems as real, and I believe this book propogates that belief through its sad representation of a teenager's life.

Perks of Being a Wallflower, November Book

For my November independent reading book, I chose to read, “Perks of Being a Wallflower”, written by Stephen Chbosky. In this book, Charlie, a young freshman, coped with the death of his suicidal friend. Due to the difficult times he faced, he wrote about many different things that helped him to be an overall happier person. Throughout this process, he learns to grow out of his comfort zone by meeting two new interesting people, Patrick along with his step-sister Sam, they soon become best friends. Charlie always has a tiny crush on Sam, ever since the moment he first met her. However, due to these two new friends, Charlie experiences so much more in high school than he would have otherwise, if he were to spend it going home, being bored all day as he did during the summer. He ends up experimenting with alcohol and drugs, getting a girlfriend along with many other things throughout the book.

If you are interested in this book and want to know more, go ahead and read it, I recommend it! I think that it was very well written and grammatically correct (as expected). But this book goes very deep and allowed me to open my eyes and see what life is like in somebody else's perspective. I think the author did a very good job of showcasing Charlie’s emotions with everything that was happening to him in his first year of high school. If you like realistic fiction and emotional books, I would highly recommend that you read it.

I think this book connects to American culture emotionally. I think that there is a growing amount of teenagers who are facing depression. Not always that difficult, even just daily struggles are represented throughout this book, for example, Charlie was peer pressured into drinking alcohol at a party. Not that everybody has to deal with these problems, but a large number of teens do as our culture evolves. Overall, I think the author did a good job of representing common problems that American teenagers are facing lately.

Divergent

Divergent took America by storm when it became the a popular book around 2013. The author Veronica Roth used her outside the box ideas to create a nationwide hit. These kinds of science fiction books seem to have a large impact on the people of America. There is a similar book called The Hunger Games. 
The setting is in the future. There was a war and now the only people they know are alive are in Chicago. To prevent any more wars and have a perfect society, they created five different groups or factions of people. They created the groups based on important traits that a person should have but to prevent any controversiality people are only allowed to have one trait. There are Abnegation, who are selfless, Erudite, who are intelligent, Dauntless, who are brave, Amity, who are peaceful, and Candor, who are honest. Then there are the Factionless who are people who did not make it into any faction. They are homeless and hungry. At 16, every teenager has to chose what faction they want to be in. Before they make their decision, each person has to take an aptitude test which determines what faction they are best suited for. When the main character, Beatrice takes her aptitude test she discovers that she is suited for more than one faction. This means she is a Divergent, which is not good because she is different and could be killed.

In American culture, these sort of books are very popular. We seem to enjoy a lot action and alternate realities. A similar series that was very popular was the Hunger Games. I think people like to think about what it would be like in a different time, with a different kind of government or ruler. Americans also like it when there is a strong female role, like Tris. The action and plot of this novel is appealing to Americans.

This is a great book that has now been made into a movie, which is also good. It is a great books for teens and you can learn a lot from it.

Mostly Harmless

This book is one book from a series called "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" and it tells a story of a man named Arthur Dent and his search for a multi-dimensional Earth. Since Arthur's original home planet had been destroyed to make way for a space port, Arthur had decided to try and settle down at home in a place that would have been Earth, just in another dimension. Meanwhile, planet Krikkit and it's people are trying to take over the universe just for kicks. Arthur's friend Ford Perfect, who works for "the Guide", is trying to save "the Guide" from aliens. A woman named Trillian, the last woman from earth, finds Arthur and presents him with his teenage daughter called "Random". Basically, a whole bunch of extremely unexpected events happen in a completely unexpected place and order. But that's the point of the book. 

I chose this book because I have read books in the series before and really enjoyed them, so I figured "why not right?". I would definitely recommend this book because of how entertaining it is. Douglas Adams created a series of books that either had to be extremely well thought out, or he is just really good at writing as he goes. This book represents a big part of American culture because America is very sci-fi oriented. From Movies like "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" and every day technology that we use like self opening doors, timed coffee makers, to basically anything that reduces the need for us to work. In the book there are temperature regulating windows and stupid self driving spaceships. 

Independent Reading Book: Speak

This month I chose to read the book "Speak", written by Laurie Halse Anderson. This book captures the idea of acceptance, self worth, and high school cliques. It is about a teenage girl named Melinda who has to go through her first year of high school without anyone to talk to or be with, after she called the cops busting a school party during the summer. Everyone steers far away from her knowing she's the girl who got everyone in trouble. No one knows the real reason Melinda called the cops, they all believe that her intentions were to bust the party. What happened that night of the party, is a mystery, but has left Melinda permanently scarred with a secret to share. She feels like she can no longer speak to others or even herself. Melinda has to learn to open up and speak to the world, accepting herself and feeling powerful, instead of continuing to feel down and out of place. This book was very eye opening and intriguing to read. It took on a totally different twist than I had ever expected, making me really enjoy this book. I also loved reading this book because it was written through the lens of a girl my age, allowing me to be able to connect with the story and it’s environment more. I would definitely recommend this book to my peers if they enjoy reading darker books. It is a deep book, something I am not as familiar with reading, but I found it to be very interesting. I am definitely going to look into reading some of the other books written by Laurie Halse Anderson, because I really liked the way she set this book up.

This book connects to American culture and teenagers today. It explores many issues that teenagers all over America are currently facing each and everyday, shaping our culture. Unfortunately, many teenagers and people are left in the same situations Melinda was in, having to deal with a variety of issues. They all differ, whether it is high school cliques, self asteem, self worth, or many others, but each and every single one can greatly affect the life of a teenager forever. Fortunately, I am not in a situation like Melinda and many other kids my age, but this book allowed me to be more aware of what is going on around me and how I can help others.

Overall, this was a successful book for me. I feel like I was able to gain many things after reading this book, including an understanding of what some of peers around me may be dealing with as well as a new interest for a new genre.

Magnus Chase: Sword of Summer

The story Magnus Chase Sword of Summer is about a homeless guy who’s name is…. I will let you guess. Magnus’ Mom past away in a fire, but not just a regular fire, it was caused by the wolves. Living under bridges, Magnus realizes his crazy relatives are looking for him, and decides to scout out his uncle's house while he was gone. Magnus however, gets caught and his uncle takes him to a bridge where he summons the sword of summer and then kills the giant Surt. As he does this he is killed, but he is taken to Hotel Valhalla where Odin’s, the king of the god’s, warriors live. He becomes stronger than before. The Hotel and the people that live there don’t accept him. Soon he leaves the hotel with his past and new found friends to retrieve the sword and stop an evil wolf from escaping. Will he survive?

This story relates to American culture because it shows how Americans have all types of theories of religion. Even though this is a fiction book, some people actually might believe this along with the other mythologies. In other countries there is usually one religion, but in America there are many different beliefs of how the Earth was created and what really happened. That is how it relates to america.

I would recommend this book because it is action packed and it is very interesting to learn about Norse mythology. This book is full of magic and battles. This book is not a quick read, it is about 500 pages and every bit of it is great. I would totally recommend this book to kids my age. Adults might not like it, but I do.

The Maze Runner

The book the Maze Runner was a fast paced book that was constantly changing. A boy is sent to a field in the center of a maze filled with boys all trying to survive.  Everyone is assigned a different job so that everyone is busy and everyone is helping each other in  order to survive. The runner assignment is meant to explore the maze around them to find a way out. Nobody knows how they got there. When the main character Thomas becomes a runner, his mind is set on getting out because he is not like everyone else in this book, everyone else just wanted to survive while Thomas wanted to find a way out.

I chose this book because I had seen the movie and wanted to read the book before I saw the second one which was just recently released. Also many times before one of my friend recommended it to me because she read it and loved it. I would definitely recommend this book to you because it was never boring and I always wanted to read it no matter the circumstances.

This book can relate to American culture on many levels. Because everybody in the glade (the field) had different views on how to survive. Some people think they should stay and use their resources to survive and flourish in the small community they have, while others believe that the only way they can survive is to escape the glade and find their way through the maze. This is alike to American culture because nobody agrees on one thing and everybody has their own views on what they think is better for themselves and the country.

Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes

In our class, we read a book every month.  In the month of October we could choose to read any book.  I chose the book Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes by Denise Grover Swank.  This book is a crime mystery thriller.  The main character, Rose Gardner, is an adult with the ability to see into the future.  She calls them visions.  Once she has a vision, she has to blurt out what she sees.  People around her are baffled when she blurts things out.  Only her family knows about her visions and when she has one, people are skeptical as to how she knows these things that will happen in the future.  Rose has always been a “Mama’s girl.”  She is still living with her mom at age 24.  Her older sister convinces Rose to stand up to their mother.  Rose has a large argument with her that all the neighbors witnessed.  With her new found freedom, she makes a list of 29 things she wants to do that she could not do before.  She left the 29th spot blank for something else.  That afternoon, her mother was killed, lying on the sofa.  All the evidence led the police to believe that Rose killed her.  Her next door neighbor, Joe McAllister, had never talked to her before that day.  Suddenly Joe became her best friend and boyfriend.  No one except Joe could predict what would happen next.  Rose had a vision that she would die in five days.  Everything happened in those five days that would save her life.

I chose to read this book because it looked interesting.  I like mystery and suspense books.  This book definitely leaves you hanging on for more.  I would recommend it to people who like mystery and drama.  The book is very suspenseful with a love story twist.  I would rate this book 4 out of 5.

This book is mysterious.  In American culture, we tend to like thrillers, mysteries, and science fiction.  Many adults like to watch or read either comedies or thrillers.  As a whole, we are interested in these types of genres.  This book could also represent some of the corruption in our police system.  In the book, the police accuse Rose right away and do not consider other people who could have committed the crime.  In America right now, the police have been given a bad reputation because of some false accusations. In general, Twenty-Eight and a Half Wishes is a good book of suspense and mystery.

The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Valentina Vargas

Cleland

30-11-15

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in Boston in the United States during the early 1600s. It is considered a classic novel, not only because of its age, but because of its timeless themes and innovative statements about American society in the time period. The author starts by introducing the main character Hester Prynne, a young woman who has committed an offense of adultery outside of her marriage, earning a scarlet letter “A” pinned onto her clothing. She is first subjected to the village’s hatred with her newborn baby daughter clutched in her arms. Throughout much of the novel, she refuses to reveal the name of the man that preceded adultery with her. Many questions first arise as there is a lack of information regarding Hester’s past, her crime, and the upbringing of which she came from. Later, we find that her husband appears as Roger Chillingworth who has a thirst for vengeance on his wife. The rest of the novel describes Pearl’s childhood, Hester’s daughter, who carries the mystery of the crime. Hester continues to work in her quiet manner, mothering not only Pearl, by the poor performing all sorts of charity work. Eventually, to escape their current life, Hester and her lover buy tickets to travel to England and live out the rest of their livelihood; however the question is whether Chillingworth will get in the way.

I recommend this book because it is an American classic and shows a lot of the stereotypes we have had and have evolved in our culture. It shows what life was like in a Protestant based community and the beginning of the U.S.’s views on sex out of marriage. Nowadays it has become more acceptable to have multiple relationships, even though it has developed a double-standard between men and women, a man a player and a woman has no self-respect. Regardless of the new social standards, our culture has changed with time. This novel is important though to understand how we have changed and why some of these issues exist in our current society. The Scarlet Letter exemplifies what it meant to have a relationship under different circumstances 400 years ago to today.

Eleanor and Park

Eleanor and Park is a story about two teenagers in their 10th year in high school, 1986.  The book takes place from the narrator perspective of both characters, constantly switching on and off.  Eleanor is the new girl in the school, and is different to most people. She is made fun of for her size, and her thick bright auburn hair. Park is a short Korean boy that has lived in the neighborhood his whole life. He has friends but is not a very social guy. His dad was in the Vietnam war and found his mom is Korea, fell in love and brought her back home. When Eleanor and Park first meet, Park curses at her to sit down on the bus when she couldn't find a seat. They don't talk for weeks, but when Park notices that Eleanor is reading the comic books he reads on the bus they start to bond. Eleanor is the complete opposite of park, tall, "big boned", and pale. When Park is skinny, short and tan.  But their passionate souls intertwine and fall in love with each other, despite their physical differences.

I chose to read this book because i tend to be a sucker for unlikely love. Eleanor is going through some rough stuff at home, having her mother slaving over an abusive step father that beats her mom for pleasure. So Eleanor is alone and needs someone to love her, whens she's too busy giving her love to her mom. The book is heart wrenching and has amazing quotes, and I adore books with quotes. I also just like reading books about puppy love because i wish for some love on my own. But it is harder to find when the majority of the boys in the school are hormone crazed.
This book connects to american culture because of that fact that america is a huge mixing pot for culture. Where races intertwine and mingle. I believe this represents american culture because of the way the two characters ignore there racial differences and fall in love. In most countries this kind of love is very uncommon and even shamed upon.
I recommend it to people because it shows how two very different people can fall in love despite their differences. The lovers go through shocking and heart wrenching events that would tear relationships apart, But not theirs. They remain together, huddled in the storm together, protecting each other no matter what.

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
By: Ann Brashares

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a story about four teenage girls, the Septembers. The girls’ moms were in an exercise class together specifically for pregnant women, these women were known as the Septembers, since they were all due in September, this name later carried on to their daughters who had all been best friends since birth. Thier names are Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget. The summer of sophomore year in high school Carmen was at a thrift store, after browsing around the store she found a pair of pants, just an ordinary pair of blue jeans, she didn't think anything of them, little did she know they would become a huge part of the September’s summer. When the girls were all hanging out one day, they rediscovered the pants, each girl tried them on, feeling insecure that the pants wouldn't fit them, but magically the pants fit each girl although they each had different body types. This was the first summer that all of the girls would be completely separate, each going across the country and across the world for a summer full of adventure. Carmen traveled to her dad’s house in North Carolina, Bridget who goes by Bee traveled to Baja, California to attend a soccer camp, Lena traveled to her grandparent’s home in Greece, and Tibby began her first summer job making a short film. The girls decided when they were hanging out before they went their separate ways for the summer that they would pass around the pants and send them to one another throughout the summer. Besides writing letters to eachother, this would sort of be a way for them to keep in touch with each other and to bring their friendship closer together, even though it sounds weird considering it's a pair of pants. The girls came up with rules like never washing the pants, and never double cuffing the pants because it's tacky. The pants went through the ups and downs of each girl’s summer, whether it be Carmen finding out about her father getting married, or Lena meeting a boy in Greece. The pants, as silly as it sounds, created an inseperable bond between the girls. I would recommend this book because it is a fun and relatable story of four teenage girls, that always has excitement in it. This book connects to the American culture because it shows the diversity throughout the four girls. Each girl is different in their own way but have a bond like no other. Carmen and Lena demonstrate the importance of family and exploration. Tibby shows the importance of creativity and helping others when she creates a film based on a girl named Bailey she met, who had luekemia.  Lastly, Bridget shows the importance of sports and recreation, having fun, and just letting go. The four girls also demonstrate the importance of frienship, travel, and adventure, three major things that play a role in American culture.

Mr. Mercedes

The book I read this past month was Mr. Mercedes, a horror novel by Stephen King. It starts off with the mass murder of the city's unemployed by a mystery driver in an old Mercedes Benz. With the evidence left behind, investigators aren't able to tell whether the criminal is a mastermind, or just plain crazy; whatever the case may be, it is evident that the murderer must be stopped. Then, a retired detective hears about the case, and remembers a case he was assigned to that went cold; a case very similar to this one. He believes that the Mercedes Killer may be the same person as the criminal in the case from his years of duty, and decides to do some investigating; however, since this is illegal, as he is retired, he must work alone. Eventually, the detective begins receiving letters, cleansed of even fingerprints, from the Mercedes Killer, and then is instructed to talk to the person on an anonymous chat site. With each step closer to discovering the identity of the Mercedes Killer, the search becomes more intense; the letters and messages begin to carry threats, the possibility of another mass murder arises, and more people join the secret search for the mass murderer. I chose to read this book because I enjoy horror books, and have recently become highly interested in Stephen King. If you are not bothered by the gruesome, I would recommend this book for the plot and deep meanings; if you are sensitive to those kind of things, this book is not for you. This book is connected to American culture because the events in it are similar to things that happen every day in America; innocent people being killed, retired members of the police force struggling with depression, unemployment; the most frightening thing about this book is how similar it is to everyday life, which implies that it occurring in real life could be possible.