Summer’s Comments (group member since Aug 22, 2014)

Summer’s comments from the BDCHS Advanced Reading group.

The book I read is Cinderella by Henry W. Hewet. I rate this piece a 4 out of 5 due to it's place as a classic which filled my childhood with joy, even though I watched the movie more than I can count. The text is set in the house where Cinderella and her step mother and step sisters followed by her father live. In the story it starts out with Cinderella and her mother and father living happily until her mother falls sick and dies. Her father wanted to find a new wife as soon as possible and luckily for him but sadly for Cinderella he found a women and married. She has two step siblings both girls. Cinderella's step mother wasn't up to be the mother role and made Cinderella clean the whole house. She got the nickname Cinderella because when she was done cleaning she would sit by the cinders and rest. A ball came around and everyone is invited for the prince to find his wife. Cinderella wanted to go extremely bad but she had nothing to wear and her step mother and step sisters left while Cinderella sulked in despair. A little old lady knocked at the door begging for food and Cinderella happily obliged. The women asked what was wrong and she had told her everything the women said she was her fairy godmother and told her she will go to the ball and have better clothing than everyone. Cinderella was told to fetch a pumpkin in the garden and when she took it into the kitchen, her godmother gutted it and did her magic and made it into a marvelous carriage. She had Cinderella dressed in a magnificent dress and glass slippers and sent her on her way to the ball but told her that had to leave by midnight because everything will disappear. When Cinderella arrived at the ball everyone looked at her in awe and the prince was taken a back and immediately asked for a dance and after that there wasn’t a care in the world. It was only until the clock was close to striking midnight night and she had to escape in time only leaving behind her glass slipper. When she got back she was upset it was all over, on a sort of up side all she had left was her other glass slipper. The next day the prince sent out a proclamation to whoever the glass slipper fit he would marry. When it came time to Cinderella to try on the shoe of course it fit and her family was astonished and apologized to Cinderella for being so ruthless and she embraced and forgave them. Cinderella was taken back to the palace and lived happily ever after with the prince.The problem in the story is that Cinderella is mistreated and never will fall in love. The solution is she gets to go to the ball and meet the prince and marry him in the end. The theme is never give up on your hopes also it can be determination can overcome anything. What I learned from this story is even though people put you down you have to be strong if you really want something.I liked this story because it's everyone's dream and cliché to have which to me is such a guilty pleasure. My overall thoughts about this story is that everyone should a chance to read even though you've watched the movie it has originality that you won't get from watching the film.

The book I read is Soul Surfer by Bethany Hamilton. I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars because her phenomenal story had me intrigued the whole time from start to finish. Bethany is from Kauai Hawaii and she truly adores where she was raised. Bethany's parents are Thomas and Cherilyn Hamilton. She has two older brothers Noah Hamilton is eight years older and Timothy Hamilton four years older than Bethany. Bethany was born a surfer, since she could walk she surfed. As a young girl she had many ambitions and she had an unbelievable faith in god to help her along in life. She was a very young rising star. A big changed happened in her life only when she was 13, October 31 2003 was when she was bit by a shark, it severed her left arm up to her shoulder. She was surfing with her best friend Alana Blanchard and her brother Byron Blanchard along with their father Holt Blanchard. Bethany lost a lot of blood that she had to get blood transfusion. This didn't get Bethany's bright personality down. All she had was hope and that's all she needed. Many people were surprised with her quick recovery. No one would have ever believed she would be surfing again besides some of her loved ones. About a month later she went out to try surfing again. After a couple of tries she got on her feet and rode her first wave since the attack. It was truly a phenomenon that a spark of hope got her back on that board. After that her faith and desire became her uprising as a professional surfer. I believe because of the whole problem with the attack happened she became stronger as a person.She overcame her complication just by believing that she can do it and that it was god's plan all along. In the book the theme is courage and ambition can overcome any obstacles. I learned from Bethany that even though something horrible happens god has something in plan for you and it's only for the better. Also, it taught to go for those far to reach because it's possible you just have trust yourself and work hard. For this being a non fiction book I extremely enjoyed the book and it's one amazing story about Bethany Hamilton. Overall I thought that Bethany was such a interesting person that I took my to research her and how she is doing now and to find out she is happily married, still surfing, and motivating the people around her.

I give Dead Is the New Black a 4 out of 5 rate. The book was very interesting from it’s high school reality to it’s supernatural unreality. I liked this book because of the way the author articulated it and the fun ways of plot that just kept me reading.
The book is placed in a town called Nightshade in the state of California. The main character Daisy Giordano is an ordinary girl who is a junior in high school. She lives with her two sisters Poppy and Rose including their mother. Her dad disappeared when she was twelve. Rose, Poppy, and their mother have supernatural powers. Rose has telepathy, Poppy has telekinesis, and their mother is psychic. Daisy is just a norm so she thought. There’s a problem in Nightshade where a psionic vampire is going around and sucking the life out of young beautiful girls. Daisy’s best friend Ryan that later becomes her boyfriend helps her solve the case but during Daisy is evolving and getting powers which is telepathy and telekinesis. To help her with the case she has to take up cheerleading because it seems that most of the girls are dropping from the squad for an unknown reason that Daisy believes it’s from the psionic vampire. From being the cheer team makes Daisy regain a relationship with her old popular friend Samantha Devereaux. Samantha is a rich girl who is now having family problems and her parents are divorcing. In the end the cheerleading coach happened to be the psionic vampire which Daisy took out by her telekinesis powers.
A theme for this book is coming of age. Another theme is loss of innocence. This helped me learn from the book in a deeper meaning which is sports and activity’s gain friends. My overall comments is that you can just read this book for a quick and playful read.

I read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. I rate this book a 4 out of 5 because the story was a great phenomenon of the hardships living through the holocaust. Although this book has a fantastic meaning it seemed a bit depressing. The story takes place in Amsterdam Germany in Otto’s office building hidden in the secret annex. The secret annex is where the Frank family, Van Dann family, and Mr. Dussel took shelter during the time when Hitler was sending Jews to death camps. The characters in this book are Anne Frank who wrote this diary, Otto Frank the father of Anne also creator of the secret annex, Edith Frank mother of Anne, Margot Frank the sister of Anne and can be considered the prodigy child in Anne’s eyes. Also there is Mr. and Mrs. Van Dann, Peter Van Dann the son of Mr. and Mrs. Van Dann, and Mr. Dussel who was a dentist before he went into hiding now living in the concealed living area as well. In the beginning of the book Anne started a diary wanting to express her life without telling others. She was just a normal girl talking about friends, school crushes, as well as academics, little did she know what was to come. Germany was invaded by house calls, which forced the Frank’s to flee into hiding. Famine begins and devastates Amsterdam because of the war. Some details of the events make it in her diary. Anne goes into maturation because of the way of her writing and her opinion seemed grown up. August first is her last entry and it makes you believe that there will be continuation of her diary. In the afterword’s it tells readers that the residents of the secret annex was betrayed and put under the bus. Otto was the only survivor of the family. In time he discovered Anne’s diary which he got published. I think the problem in this story is that they have to go into hiding and the solution is they are caught and sent to death camps which is a bit morbid. The theme is pushing through the bad and continuing on. I learned that if life gets hard get through and find the good. I truly liked this book because Anne Frank is a strong and powerful young lady and can give amazing inspiration. My overall comment is that this could be a book for you if you are feeling empowered by history.

The book I read is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. I give the book 5 out of 5 stars because I thought John Green constructed the book in a fantastic way and had my emotions running wild. The book is mainly set in Indiana and the trip they take in the middle of the book is in Amsterdam. The characters are Hazel Grace, Augustus Waters, Isaac, Peter Van Houten, Lidewij Mr. and Mrs. Lancaster, Mr. and Mrs. Waters, Patrick, and Kaitlyn. The plot of The Fault in Our Stars is that the main character Hazel Grace has cancer that affects her lungs so she has to have an oxygen on her twenty four seven. Hazel meets Augustus at support group which he automatically fell for her. Augustus had cancer some time ago which resulted into amputating one of his legs. Throughout the story Hazel and Augustus connect and get to know each other very well. One thing they particularly connected to is a book named An Imperial Affliction which they refer to as A.I.A. it was written by Peter Van Houten which they visited during the book in Amsterdam though the confrontation didn’t go very well. It ends up Augustus has cancer again but all over it’s just matter of time. In the end Augustus dies and Hazel has to learn to accept. The problem in this book is that Hazel doesn’t let people get close because if she dies she doesn’t want to hurt those people. The solution is that Augustus shows her it’s okay. The theme is don’t fear oblivion or the unknown.
What I learned from this story is that being sick shouldn’t control your life you need to live your life the best way possible or why live it at all. From my perspective I loved this book I could read it again. It gave me an understanding about life and more guidance. My overall comment would be that everyone should take their time to read this book.

The assigned book is Monster by Walter Dean Myers. I give Monster a 3 out 5 stars because I didn’t find the book appealing as other reviewers would have. The story is set in various places in New York. The characters in this book are Steve Harmon, Sandra Petrocelli, Kathy O’Brien, James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Osvaldo Cruz, Lorelle Henry, and Jose Delgado. The plot of Monster is about sixteen year old Steve Harmon involved with a drug store robbery and the story explains everything that happens to him and what he was thinking while he was on trial. The problem in my eyes is that Steve Harmon is on trial and the evidence shows he really didn’t do anything. In the end the solution is that the jury finds him not guilty but he doesn’t tell the readers himself if he really is guilty or not. The theme is don’t do anything that will result in great consequences. What I learned from the story is that peer pressure can affect your life in many ways good or bad. I did not like the book because if there’s going to be crime involved I want to read about the action. My overall comment is that it would have been better if something exciting would have happened.

I give Monster 3 out of 5 stars because I didn’t find the book appealing as other reviewers would have. What I learned which is also common sense is that think before you do because their might be major consequences. Like I said before I didn’t find that connection with the book as others would.
The screenplay is about sixteen year old Steve Harmon and his connection to a drugstore robbery which was followed by murder. The whole screenplay tells many things that are going on with him and his trial. The book is in his point of view and he doesn’t hold anything back except him telling us if he’s really guilty. In the end the jury doesn’t find him guilty but he never said if he was or not.