Cris’s Comments (group member since Aug 21, 2014)

Cris’s comments from the BDCHS Advanced Reading group.

I give the novel “World War Z” by Max Brooks 5/5 stars. World War Z consists of a series of interviews with men and women who survived the zombie war, also known as “World War Z”. Each interview is unique in its own way and depicts a certain stage in the zombie war. There is a large variety of characters interviewed but the interviewer’s name itself is never mention throughout the book. It is pretty difficult to summarize this book because the novel is broken up into separate interviews, but when combining all the interviews I have figured out the “bigger picture”.

The story is set in the near future with very minor differences to the present day world. The very first outbreak of the zombie disease (Solanum) is in China; the disease very quickly spreads to Africa, where it is thought to be a form of rabies. A major medical corporation, hoping to cash in on the scare African Rabies has caused, develops an entirely ineffective but well-selling drug called Phalanx to combat the unusual disease. Despite the media attention African Rabies receives, many nations do not see the outbreaks as a major concern, and only Israel quarantines itself and prepares for imminent disaster. A period towards the start of the war, known as the Great Panic, begins when the world suddenly realized that this disease is not something to be taken lightly. China, due to its large population and ineffective leadership, is very quickly over-run, and infected Chinese refugees help to spread the zombie disease to the Americas and Europe. It's not long before the zombie population outnumbers the human population in both China and Africa. In many of the major cities in North America and Europe the disease also spreads quickly, and humanity suffers a crushing defeat in a New York suburb when the United States military attempts to face off against approximately 100,000 zombies in the streets. Air combat proves to be worthless against the zombie hordes because zombies do not rely on tactics or leaders. Militaries all over the globe have to retrain themselves and break old habits, modern warfare needs to be put to rest, and whole new strategies, tactics, and weapons need to be developed if the zombies are to be combated successfully. Eventually, it is realized that the armed forces are simply too few to protect everyone, and, following South Africa's lead, many nations retreat and regroup within an easily defensible area, clear the zombies out there, then push back into the zombie-controlled areas, systematically wipe out the zombies, mile by mile. Part of the strategy, as cruel and brutal as it is, is to use humans who could not be easily rescued as live bait, making it easier to clear out heavily-infested areas. Everyone else who isn't actively fighting provides labor, making weapons and feeding the army. Because zombies freeze solid in the cold, many civilians in North America flee to the wildernesses of northern Canada and the Arctic, where millions of people die of starvation and hypothermia. It is later known that some survivors turned to cannibalism to survive; further interviews from other sources imply that cannibalism occurred in areas of the United States where food shortages occurred. From other interviews, with some NASA professionals, we learn that the three remaining astronauts in the International Space Station survive the war by salvaging supplies from the abandoned Chinese space station and maintain some military and civilian satellites using an orbital fuel station. A surviving member of the crew describes massive swarms of zombies on the American Great Plains and Central Asia, and how the crisis affected Earth's atmosphere. The U.S. eventually establishes safe zones west of the Rocky Mountains and spends much of the next decade or so, eradicating zombies in that region. All aspects of civilian life are devoted to supporting the war effort against the pandemic. Much of it resembles total war strategies used back in World War II: rationing of fuel and food, cultivation of private gardens, and civilian neighborhood patrols. The U.S. government also initiates a "Re-education Act" to train the civilian population for the war effort and restore order. Seven years after the outbreak began, a conference is held off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, aboard the USS Saratoga, where most of the world's leaders argue that they can outlast the zombie plague if they stay in their safe zones. The U.S. President, however, argues for going on the offensive. Determined to lead by example, the U.S. military reinvents itself to meet the specific strategic requirements of fighting the undead: using semi-automatic, high-power rifles and volley firing, focusing on head shots and slow, steady rates of fire; and devising a multipurpose hand tool, the "Lobotomizer" or "Lobo" (described as a combination of a shovel and a battle axe), for close-quarters combat. The military, backed by a resurgent American wartime economy, began the three year long process of retaking the continental United States from both the undead as well as groups of hostile human survivors. Ten years after the official end of the zombie war, millions of zombies are still active, mainly on the ocean floor or on snow line islands. A democratic Cuba has become the world's most thriving economy and the international banking capital. Following a civil war that involved the use of nuclear weapons, China has become a democracy and is now known as the "Chinese Federation". Tibet is freed from Chinese rule and hosts Lhasa, the world's most populated city. Following a religious revolution and the revival of Russian orthodoxy, Russia is now known as the “Holy Russian Empire". North Korea is completely empty, with the entire population presumed to have disappeared into underground bunkers. The situation in the U.K is not entirely clear in the novel. The Pope and members of the British Royal Family had fled to Ireland. In France, the Palace of Versailles has been burned to the ground; the catacombs underneath Paris housed nearly 250,000 refugees during the early stages of the war, all of whom became zombies. Iceland has been completely depopulated, and is the world's most heavily infected country. The Israelis and Palestinians have made peace, and their former territories have been renamed "Unified Palestine". A region called "Pacific Continent" appears to encompass previously uninhabited islands as well as immobile ships due to lack of fuel after the Saudi Royal Family destroyed the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The United Nations fields a large military force to eliminate the remaining zombies from overrun areas, defeat hordes that surface from the ocean floor, and kill frozen zombies before they thaw. Life on Earth is hinted at being brought to near extinction in the final words of the book, but there is no knowing for sure if there may be another incident.

Themes encountered in “World War Z” include survivalism and disaster preparation. Several interviews focus on social changes designed to train people to survive. For example, anyone with knowledge in construction and carpentry was viewed extremely more valuable than anyone with a former managerial position. Throughout the novel it is clearly shown that people with the physical and mental requirements for survival were more prevalent than those that had no survival knowledge.

This novel has taught me a lot about current social and cultural elements of many different nations and how that can affect the way they handle a global crisis. Reading about the government responses in some countries, military actions employed, and the methods of some survivalists showed me that zombies aren't the only things to fear in a global pandemic. In some cases, humans can be much deadlier when they kick into survival mode and allow instinct to take over.
Overall, I loved the book and applaud Brooks for doing such a fantastic job in his storytelling. The layout Max Brooks used throughout the novel was absolutely unique and very compelling. I don’t think a story like this could have been told any other way. It was an absolutely great book.

I give the novel “World War Z” by Max Brooks 5/5 stars. World War Z consists of a series of interviews with men and women who survived the zombie war, also known as “World War Z”. Each interview is unique in its own way and depicts a certain stage in the zombie war. There is a large variety of characters interviewed but the interviewer’s name itself is never mention throughout the book. It is pretty difficult to summarize this book because the novel is broken up into separate interviews, but when combining all the interviews I have figured out the “bigger picture”.

The story is set in the near future with very minor differences to the present day world. The very first outbreak of the zombie disease (Solanum) is in China; the disease very quickly spreads to Africa, where it is thought to be a form of rabies. A major medical corporation, hoping to cash in on the scare African Rabies has caused, develops an entirely ineffective but well-selling drug called Phalanx to combat the unusual disease. Despite the media attention African Rabies receives, many nations do not see the outbreaks as a major concern, and only Israel quarantines itself and prepares for imminent disaster. A period towards the start of the war, known as the Great Panic, begins when the world suddenly realizing that this disease is not something to be taken lightly. China, due to its large population and ineffective leadership, is very quickly over-run, and infected Chinese refugees help to spread the zombie disease to the Americas and Europe. It's not long before the zombie population outnumbers the human population in both China and Africa. In many of the major cities in North America and Europe the disease also spreads quickly, and humanity suffers a crushing defeat in a New York suburb when the United States military attempts to face off against approximately 100,000 zombies in the streets. Air combat proves to be worthless against the zombie hordes because zombies do not rely on tactics or leaders. Militaries all over the globe have to retrain themselves and break old habits, modern warfare needs to be put to rest, and whole new strategies, tactics, and weapons need to be developed if the zombies are to be combated successfully. Eventually, it is realized that the armed forces are simply too few to protect everyone, and, following South Africa's lead, many nations retreat and regroup within an easily defensible area, clear the zombies out there, then push back into the zombie-controlled areas, systematically wipe out the zombies, mile by mile. Part of the strategy, as cruel and brutal as it is, is to use humans who could not be easily rescued as live bait, making it easier to clear out heavily-infested areas. Everyone else who isn't actively fighting provides labor, making weapons and feeding the army. Because zombies freeze solid in the cold, many civilians in North America flee to the wildernesses of northern Canada and the Arctic, where millions of people die of starvation and hypothermia. It is later known that some survivors turned to cannibalism to survive; further interviews from other sources imply that cannibalism occurred in areas of the United States where food shortages occurred. From other interviews, with some NASA professionals, we learn that the three remaining astronauts in the International Space Station survive the war by salvaging supplies from the abandoned Chinese space station and maintain some military and civilian satellites using an orbital fuel station. A surviving member of the crew describes massive swarms of zombies on the American Great Plains and Central Asia, and how the crisis affected Earth's atmosphere. The U.S. eventually establishes safe zones west of the Rocky Mountains and spends much of the next decade or so, eradicating zombies in that region. All aspects of civilian life are devoted to supporting the war effort against the pandemic. Much of it resembles total war strategies used back in World War II: rationing of fuel and food, cultivation of private gardens, and civilian neighborhood patrols. The U.S. government also initiates a "Re-education Act" to train the civilian population for the war effort and restore order. Seven years after the outbreak began, a conference is held off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, aboard the USS Saratoga, where most of the world's leaders argue that they can outlast the zombie plague if they stay in their safe zones. The U.S. President, however, argues for going on the offensive. Determined to lead by example, the U.S. military reinvents itself to meet the specific strategic requirements of fighting the undead: using semi-automatic, high-power rifles and volley firing, focusing on head shots and slow, steady rates of fire; and devising a multipurpose hand tool, the "Lobotomizer" or "Lobo" (described as a combination of a shovel and a battle axe), for close-quarters combat. The military, backed by a resurgent American wartime economy, began the three year long process of retaking the continental United States from both the undead as well as groups of hostile human survivors. Ten years after the official end of the zombie war, millions of zombies are still active, mainly on the ocean floor or on snow line islands. A democratic Cuba has become the world's most thriving economy and the international banking capital. Following a civil war that involved the use of nuclear weapons, China has become a democracy and is now known as the "Chinese Federation". Tibet is freed from Chinese rule and hosts Lhasa, the world's most populated city. Following a religious revolution and the revival of Russian orthodoxy, Russia is now known as the “Holy Russian Empire". North Korea is completely empty, with the entire population presumed to have disappeared into underground bunkers. The situation in the U.K is not entirely clear in the novel. The Pope and members of the British Royal Family had fled to Ireland. In France, the Palace of Versailles has been burned to the ground; the catacombs underneath Paris housed nearly 250,000 refugees during the early stages of the war, all of whom became zombies. Iceland has been completely depopulated, and is the world's most heavily infected country. The Israelis and Palestinians have made peace, and their former territories have been renamed "Unified Palestine". A region called "Pacific Continent" appears to encompass previously uninhabited islands as well as immobile ships due to lack of fuel after the Saudi Royal Family destroyed the oil fields in Saudi Arabia. The United Nations fields a large military force to eliminate the remaining zombies from overrun areas, defeat hordes that surface from the ocean floor, and kill frozen zombies before they thaw. Life on Earth is hinted at being brought to near extinction in the final words of the book, but there is no knowing for sure if there may be another incident.

Themes encountered in “World War Z” include survivalism and disaster preparation. Several interviews focus on social changes designed to train people to survive. For example, anyone with knowledge in construction and carpentry was viewed extremely more valuable than anyone with a former managerial position. Throughout the novel it is clearly shown that people with the physical and mental requirements for survival were more prevalent than those that had no survival knowledge.

This novel has taught me a lot about current social and cultural elements of many different nations and how that can affect the way they handle a global crisis. Reading about the government responses in some countries, military actions employed, and the methods of some survivalists showed me that zombies aren't the only things to fear in a global pandemic. In some cases, humans can be much deadlier when they kick into survival mode and allow instinct to take over.

Overall, I loved the book and applaud Brooks for doing such a fantastic job in his storytelling. The layout Max Brooks used throughout the novel was absolutely unique and very compelling. I don’t think a story like this could have been told any other way. It was an absolutely great book.

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I give the book “Inception and Philosophy: Because It’s Never Just a Dream” by David Kyle Johnson a 4 out of 5 rating. The novel is a philosophical interpretation of the brilliant movie “Inception”. The novel presents possible answers/theories to questions left unanswered in the movie. The director of Inception, Christopher Nolan intended for the movie to be up for interpretation. Nolan planned on having audiences amazed and confused by the movies awe-inspiring puzzles, and thankfully this book explores these puzzles with great depth and provides theories/arguments, some of which I didn’t agree with as well as others that I did. Based by philosophical themes, the book is divided into six sections. Each section has a number of essays, usually running about a dozen pages in length. The first section begins to list the four main interpretations of the movie, from ‘Most Real’ to ‘Full Dream’ and with two degrees in between: (Most of the movie was real) & (Most of the movie was a dream). Each is well explained and defended throughout the book. It encourages me to explore the possibilities, and it gives the arguments a sense of perspective and balance. These interpretations, understanding them, and understanding what the filmmaker (Christopher Nolan) intended, dominate the beginning of the book. The essays sometimes take long detours into classic (and modern) philosophical theories and debates, which show interesting takes on the world we live in. Section 2 is a take on the question. “Is the top still spinning?” At the end of Inception, Cobb (the main character) spins the top that tells him whether or not he’s in reality or in a dream. If the top spins infinitely then he is still in a dream, but before this is answered the movie cuts to black. Section three describes the process of inception and if it is possible to go into others dreams and control them. This section talks about metaphysics, ethics, and mechanics in actually accomplishing inception. Section four and five both include essays on what dreaming is exactly and why we do it. It is an interesting take on the human mind. And the final section, section six talks about: What does it all mean? This section explores the hidden lessons of Inception and why we should care if it’s just a movie.

The theme of the novel is that the most resilient parasite is an idea. A single idea from the human mind can build cities. An idea can transform the world and rewrite all the rules. And when this single idea spreads throughout the brain and into other people’s minds it can result in many different interpretations, but only you can decide what’s real to you… and what is simply just a dream.

The strong points I like about this book include its excellent descriptions of the movie scenes. I also appreciate the understandable language used in the book; this writing is tailored for the typical reader and is not weighted down with confusing philosophical vocabulary. This novel has taught me many things like: Everything in life starts off as an idea, our subconscious has unlimited resources that we need to access, if you kill your fears you free your soul, everything you experience has a root cause, and most importantly reality is what you want it to be.

Overall, I loved the author’s insight and interpretation of the movie along with the theories he presented (even though I didn’t agree with some) but my mind remained engaged regardless.

I am reviewing the extraordinary autobiography “I Am Zlatan” by Zlatan Ibrahimović. I give this novel a 5/5 rating because it is the most compelling autobiography ever to appear under a footballer’s name. This novel illustrates the entire life of one of the absolute best soccer player’s to ever live. Told as only the man himself could tell it, this book features a fascinating insight into the world of European soccer, agents, transfers, rumors, and much more. Telling the ultimate tale of a poor immigrant underdog growing into one of the best soccer players ever. The book starts off with a young boy running away with his parents out of Yugoslavia because of war and immigrating to Sweden. Born into a divorced and poverty-stricken family, Zlatan Ibrahimović learned how to live independently from his rough neighborhood. While his father was busy drinking to forget the war back home and his mother living in a house engulfed in chaos, Zlatan would be out with his friends getting into fights, stealing food from neighbors, arming himself with a shampoo bottle he shaped to look like a gun so he could scare neighbors with his mates. He was a disorderly child who never listened to anyone but the people he cared about. Zlatan would go out with his friends and steal other people’s bikes to ride to the soccer field and play. He would do anything to get a ball under his feet, soccer was his passion since he was a toddler. Soccer was his release from the chaotic world he lived in. After being recognized at a soccer game for his incredible talent with a ball, Zlatan was put into the town’s soccer team. Goal by goal, this young outsider grew into an unlikely prodigy and into an international phenomenon. By the time he was 16, Zlatan signed for Ajax (a professional soccer club) being the most expensive Scandinavian player in history (8.5 million Euros). Throughout the years, Zlatan Ibrahimović has become one of the most transferred soccer players in the world. Going from teams like Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Fc Barcelona, Ac Milan, and now Paris Saint-Germain. He has completely dominated at almost every massive European club as well as captains the Swedish national team. Zlatan Ibrahimović is a genius soccer player that has made history time after time, a perfect representation of an underdog making it into the history books as: The Best.
The theme of “I Am Zlatan” is to never give up on your dreams no matter how bad situations can get. This man suffered terrible issues throughout his life and has persevered through every obstacle. I learned that anything is possible if you are persistent and believe in yourself. This is absolutely the best autobiography of an athlete I have ever read (and I’ve read a lot). It has sold over 700,000 copies in Sweden alone and been published in fifteen countries. Zlatan’s book illuminates the struggles of an immigrant trying to accomplish his dreams yet is an extremely unique experience. The entirety of the novel is written through Ibrahimović’s perspective, and Zlatan is known for being quite egotistical. It is hard to explain his personality, but if you’ve ever seen an Iron Man movie… imagine the huge ego Tony Stark has, Zlatan is the same. He is basically the “Tony Stark” of soccer. His personality shows all over the novel and adds a hilarious aspect in his uproarious underdog tale. For example, these are some quotes in the book that just show how he is:

Reporter – “Is your playing style Swedish or Yugoslavian?” Zlatan – “It’s Zlatan-style.”

Zlatan (Answer to criticism from John Carew that Zlatan’s moves are pointless.) – “What Carew does with a football, I can do with an orange.”

“Arsene Wenger asked me to have a trial with Arsenal when I was 17. I turned it down. Zlatan doesn’t do auditions.” .

When asked what he got his wife for her birthday – "Nothing, she already has Zlatan.”

“We are looking for an apartment (in Paris). If we don’t find anything, then I’ll probably just buy the hotel.”

"I can play in the 11 positions because a good player can play anywhere on the pitch."

“An injured Zlatan is a pretty serious thing for any team.”

“Lionel Messi is awesome. He’s unbelievable, but I don’t really know him. We are totally different. He came to Barça as a 13-year old. He’s raised in that culture and has no problems with that ‘school’ shit. In the team, the play is all around him, pretty naturally actually. He’s brilliant, but now I had arrived [at Barca] and scored more goals than him.”

I give the book “Maze Runner” by James Dashner a 4 out of 5 rating. The novel was very fast-paced even though it starts off a little slow. The whole concept of boys being kidnapped and trapped in a mysterious maze intrigued me and got me hooked right away.

The story starts off with a boy name Thomas who wakes up in an elevator and can only remember his name. When the elevator doors open, he is dragged out and pulled into a huge glade by a bunch of teenage boys who also have no memory of anything before being put in the Glade. They all speak English, but a very awkward vocabulary that includes many words unknown by anyone else. Thomas gradually discovers that the Glade is run by two boys who seem to be in their late teens/early twenties: Newt and Alby. They maintain order by setting up strict rules and keeping all the boys working. Outside the Glade is the Maze, a terrifying labyrinth of high walls covered in ivy that houses strange, lethal creatures known as Grievers. So the boys are stuck trying to survive as well as attempting to understand the Maze by running through it as fast as they can while tracking movements of the walls and trying to find an exit. Then, a day after Thomas's arrival, a girl is delivered through the elevator into the Glade. The boys are stunned and actually a little excited to have someone who doesn't smell like crap. However, she shows up mumbling strange prophetic words and then falls into a coma. To make matters worse, her arrival triggers everything in the Glade to change: the sun disappears, the deliveries of supplies stop coming, and the doors stay open at night which allows the Grievers to pick kids off one-by-one. Doesn’t that just sound like fun? Thomas has a brilliant idea, and figures out that maybe the walls of the Maze aren't moving for no particular reason, but that maybe their movements are actually a code. So they craft a model of certain parts of the Maze and discover that the maze is in fact spelling out words. Thomas also discovers that the Cliff that they all thought was just a cliff turns out to be where the Grievers are coming from. If they can come and go through a weird entrance over the edge of a cliff, then maybe so can the boys. The girl, Teresa, wakes up and tells Thomas that they knew each other before they were put in the Glade and they can communicate telepathically. (I don’t even know how or why, but let’s go with it) In an act of desperation to get his memory back, Thomas gets himself stung by a Griever and discovers the Griever Hole is indeed an exit. Also, the code that the Maze has been spelling out is their ticket to escape. A large group of them decide to make a run for it, knowing that it could be suicide trying to take on the Grievers but figuring that nothing could be worse than being stuck in the Glade. They succeed, only to find out that what they've been doing is an experiment being conducted by the Creators, a group called WICKED, who may or may not be evil. During this process, Thomas and Teresa discover that they were the ones that built the Maze! Thomas and Teresa built the Maze and then were forced to go into the Maze and solve it after their memories were wiped. The boys and Teresa then get "rescued" by some kind of rebel group and brought to a safe haven while being told about "the Flare"—an apocalyptic disaster that killed off half of the world's population. The epilogue reveals that the "rebel group" may just be another variable in the experiment, and they weren't the only group being evaluated.

There are six major themes/lessons that I could withdraw from “The Maze Runner”. These themes included the necessity of friendship for a society to function, as well as the unescapable fate that every living thing has…death. The Glade and the surrounding Maze carry a specter of death that plays a key role in the urge for Thomas to escape. Other themes are: persistence (though the task may come to feel pointless, they continue to persevere), environmental collapse/order vs. chaos (presents a world without order in which conventional ways of life have been all but eradicated. Humanity is reduced a struggle to survive), and bravery (pretty self-explanatory).

Overall, my experience with this book was great. It was a great concept, and the story was compelling, the characters and plot twists interesting, and there was no limit to the author’s creativity. Although, certain solutions to conflicts in this book were a little too unrealistic for me (and I mean too unrealistic for a sci-fi/fantasy novel), that’s why I give it a 4/5.

I am reviewing the graphic novel called “The Walking Dead: Compendium One” by Robert Kirkman. I give this novel a 5 out of 5 rating. This novel was an absolute thrill ride from cover to cover. I never realized how frightening and dark a graphic novel could be until I read this. No one and I mean no one is safe in this ongoing saga.
The novel starts off in a shoot-out between two cops and a runaway criminal. In just a matter of seconds the main character, Rick Grimes, gets shot and well…dies. (Or so we think.) Rick wakes up from a coma in an abandoned hospital, and as soon as he escapes he realizes that the world was overrun by monsters. He didn’t understand what happened to the people in his town in Georgia. He rides to his house on a bike he found on the street but ends up in an empty home that has been completely looted of its food and supplies. In the house Rick runs into two survivors, Morgan Jones and his 9 year old son Duane. Morgan explains everything that has been going on in the world while Rick was in a coma. The world has been overrun by zombies and people are infected if they get bit by one. Rick sets out on a dangerous quest to find his wife, Lori, and son, Carl, before they join the masses of the dead. Hearing that most survivors are making their way towards major cities, Rick journeys towards his nearest city of Atlanta, Georgia. Everything is going well until he gets into Atlanta and realizes that the situation is far worse than he could have anticipated. For as far as the eye can see everyone is dead, and they are all walking towards him. This is a tense moment in the plot, but it is certainly not the most tense. All of this takes place within the first ten pages.
To summarize this entire compendium in under 12,000 words is extremely difficult. There’s a whole abundance of events that occur in this very book. The book itself ways about 6 pounds and is over 1000 pages! It would be way simpler if I just write down the storyline in bullet points for every MAJOR event that happened. After Rick finally escapes the dead that engulfed Atlanta he reaches a small camp of survivors where he is reunited with his wife and son. We meet Shane Walsh, Rick’s police partner that was there when Rick got shot. We find out that Shane had sexual relations with Lori (Rick’s wife) while he was in a coma. Shane and Rick have a disagreement whether to stay or leave, and Rick feels the group needs more guns. Rick and Glenn (a 20 year old Korean kid that is in the group) make a trip into the city limits to get more guns, but not without trouble. Rick teaches the survivors how to shoot. Shane becomes increasingly angry at Rick. Later on, the camp suffers from casualties when it is attacked by zombies. As the group mourns for those that have died, Shane pulls a gun on Rick and blames him for ruining everything and causing the group to fall apart. He is about to shoot him when Carl (Rick’s son) shoots him in the neck. The group buries Shane and leaves the camp. They encounter a small group of survivors, Tyreese, Chris, and Julie. While on the road Lori reveals she’s pregnant, but everyone is skeptical about who the father is. The survivors settle into their newly found community. Their streak of luck is ruined when the group is attacked and some members are killed. Weeks after, Carl is seriously wounded and the survivors are taken into a family’s farm. They meet Hershel and Maggie Greene in this farm and they fix up Carl’s wound. After a series of horrible events, Rick’s group is forced out from the farm and stumble upon their new home, a prison. The survivors rid the newly found prison of walkers. Inside they find an interesting surprise, four surviving inmates, and they give Rick's group a tour. Meanwhile, Chris kills Julie in a suicide pact gone wrong. Tyreese kills Chris in revenge, and the survivors learn something important, you don’t have to be bitten to turn into a walker. If you die… whatever the cause...you turn into a zombie.
Rick kills the inmates for murdering one of the survivors after getting a chance during an attack of zombies. Outside The Prison, survivors discover a helicopter. Rick, Michonne and Glenn are tracking the helicopter, and find it crashed, with footprints on the ground. Rick, Michonne, and Glenn encounter Woodbury, Georgia, and meet a man that is known as “The Governor” and his men. The Governor informs them that they are feeding the walkers with strangers. Locating Woodbury turns out to be a horrifying mistake. Rick wakes up in the town's hospital and is shocked to see that his left arm was chopped off. After waking up, The Governor informs Rick that he let Glenn free and knows everything about the Prison. Tyreese tries to track the missing survivors. The Governor reveals that he lied about letting Glenn free. The Governor hires Michonne to fight with one of the cage fighters but she executes the fighter quickly. Martinez, one of the Governor’s henchmen, tells Rick they have to leave immediately. Survivors are gathered up and are leaving Woodbury behind. Not everyone makes it out alive, and Michonne goes to get her revenge on The Governor. Michonne mutilates The Governor, leaving him for dead. She reaches the others and acts as if nothing had ever happened. The survivors arrive at the Prison, but the sight isn't delightful. The Prison is quickly secured, but not without losses. Rick realizes that Martinez is gone and he tracks Martinez and kills him. Rick tells everyone to be ready for Woodbury's attack. Woodbury, Georgia finally reaches the Prison, ready to fight. Flashback shows, how The Governor survived Michonne's torture. After a few weeks, he starts the assault on the Prison survivors and captures Tyreese. The Governor brings Tyreese to The Prison and decapitates him in front of everyone, failing to get access to the Prison. The Governor commits his final attack to The Prison and destroys the fences. The assault claims a lot of casualties from both sides. After much blood and death, including Lori and her newborn daughter, Rick and Carl remain to be the only survivors.

The Walking Dead has many thought provoking themes. This graphic novel includes themes like: the balance of chaos and order, the inevitability of death, corruption of power, the evils of man, and the disturbing reality of the human mind/condition. In The Walking Dead, we are treated to wonderful philosophical composition as this case made below by primary protagonist Rick Grimes as he and his brethren come to grips with the loss of their humanity and the loss of the world by humanity to the undead:

“Do you think you’re ever going to watch television again? Go to the bank? Buy groceries? Drop your kids off at school?! Ever?! It will never happen! You can come to grips with that sad fact—or you can sit around wishing for it to happen! You can sit around trying to follow every retarded little rule we ever invented to make us feel like we weren’t animals—and you can die! We will change! We will evolve. We’ll make new rules—we’ll still be humane and kind and we’ll still care for each other. But when the time comes—we have to be prepared to do whatever it takes to keep us safe. Whatever it takes! You kill—you die. That was probably the most naïve things I’ve ever said. The fact is—in most cases, now, the way things are—you kill—you live … and that’s just it. That’s what this comes down to. You people don’t know what we are. We’re surrounded by the dead. We’ve among them—and when we finally give up we become them! We’re living on borrowed time here. Every minute of our life is a minute we steal from them! You see them out there. You know that when we die—we become them. You think we hide behind walls to protect us from the walking dead! Don’t you get it? "We are the walking dead!” – Rick Grimes, “The Walking Dead: Compendium One” So it goes.

On the other hand, there were moments where I had to double check to make sure I was reading a zombie apocalypse and not a soap opera because these people have more affairs, more marital problems, more social issues, and more drama then a Spanish telenovela. I absolutely loved this comic book compendium. Lack of food, water, shelter, warmth, security, stability, freedom from fear, friends, family, spouse, lover. When these needs are combined with the diabolical Governor we have a best-selling novel that is sure to keep any reader who enjoys a good thriller on the edge of his or her seat. I learned that the human instinct of survival is unquestionably terrifying, the lengths a person would go to survive is horrifying. I learned that the dead are not the only ones to fear in these times of crisis. People can snap under the pressure of fearing for their life, and this book is certainly not afraid to challenge the reader's morality. I don’t even know if I can say anything else to describe how amazing this book is. It is just overall…perfect.

I give the book “Monster” by Walter Dean Myers a rating of 4 out of 5. Personally, I believe that the novel was very well written and kept the reader intrigued throughout the entire story. The way the novel was composed helped me connect to the story, even though I’ve never been in a situation as grand as the one the main character has gone through. The fact that I felt like I was ACTUALLY reading a story written by a teenager during his time in prison impressed me and I want to congratulate the author in making it all so believable.
“Monster” follows the journey of a young sixteen-year-old African American boy named Steve Harmon. Steve is from Harlem, New York and is caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. He lives with his mother, father, and younger brother. At the start of the book we find out that Steve is awaiting trial for supposedly being an accomplice in a drugstore robbery that ended in murder. While in confinement, Steve decides to write his experience in prison as a movie script. We learn later on in the story that, before he was imprisoned, he enjoyed amateur film making and aspired to be a famous film maker one day. In a movie script format, Steve gives the reader an account of the events leading up to the crime. He gives us the background information through short flashbacks dispersed throughout the entire novel. The other suspects accused for the crime alongside Steve include: James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, and Osvaldo Cruz. Each suspect was prosecuted by the state lawyer Sandra Petrocelli. Steve’s defense attorney was Kathy O’Brien, a caring lady that gradually developed a friendship with Steve during the storyline. As the story progresses, Steve directs camera angles at various characters in the story from the judge, to witnesses, and to the other teens involved in the crime. The reader is given a first-person experience of what it is like to be on trial for murder as a teenager. The story switches back and forth from Steve’s thoughts in his journal entries to screenplay he creates of his trial. Steve wants to name the story after what Sandra Petrocelli, the prosecutor, called him… a Monster. After reading about all of the obstacles this character faces in the story we learn that he perseveres in the end. After the closing statements of both the defenders and the prosecutor, Steve Harmon is found not guilty. But he himself is still trying to figure out what he really is… guilty or innocent.
“Monster” has many thought-provoking themes that speak a lot about the society we live in today and the hard life of some teenagers. One theme is that you have to come to terms with yourself and figure out who you really are before other people tell you. Another theme is peer pressure. This is especially seen in how Steve associates with young men he’s aware are less than savory individuals, and yet whom he is willing to be around. There is a sense that he needs to prove his manhood in some way by being with the “tough guys” and acting like one in spite of the fact that they are a bad influence on him. Overall, I believe that “Monster” was an amazing book, although it could have had a more conclusive and satisfying ending. I didn’t really like the conclusion of the book but everything else was great. I learned what it is like to be a young teen trapped in a terrible and ongoing situation, and how to persevere through any situation or obstacle, no matter how hard it is, never stop believing in yourself.