Great Start

I just finished the first book in the His Dark Materials series (the Golden Compass series) which is The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman and I really liked it. The book is about Lyra Belacque and her journey with gyptians, politicians, scholars and many more. In the book every human has a daemon, an shape shifting (though it chooses one form when you become an adult) animal who is with you at all times, that you cannot part, that is connected to you and is your soul.
I thought the book was amazing. Since Lyra is my age (only a little younger) it was easy to connect to her and her journey. The book was  fast paced which I liked but it didn't feel rushed. I really liked the concept of worlds in the book as well. Lyra was living in our world but since all humans had daemons it was not  really our world. I think that made the book easy to connect to as well because it was different but the same. I also  thought that the book brought some really great connections to the real world. The Gobblers snatched children and "cut" a child and their daemon apart. In the real world rebel leaders take kids away from their families and make them child soldiers, or in the girls cases make them into sex slaves. I thought the book was great and connected really well to the real world

BEST. BOOK. EVER.

I just finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky and it was the BEST BOOK EVER. The book is about Charlie in high school and his life with his new friends that he makes, Sam and Patrick along with others. The whole book is written through letters to an anonymous "friend" from Charlie as he observes the world he lives in. The book is very hard to explain because it is so good and reading it is an experience and I think it is probably a different experience for every person. I could not put this book down and read it in 3 days. Throughout the book you become very attached to Charlie and hurt when he hurts, feels infinite when he does, and wants to hug him when he cries. Charlie is such an emotional person so I could really connect to his innocence and thought that the writing overall was amazing. Charlies letters are so intimate and don't leave things out like some books  written in letter form. Totally, I love love love this book and highly recommend it to kids in our grade.

Not So Great

I just finished the book Marked by P.C. and Kristen Cast, which is the first in the House of Night series. Zooey is "marked" by the Tracker to become a fledgling vampyre. Once she is marked she goes to the House of Night, where she learns lessons related to vampyres and all of the classes are at night. Once a fledgling is "marked" they get a mark on their forehead, which is filled in with color once they go through the "change." The "change" is the process that a fledgling goes through to become an adult vampyre, and then their mark expands. However, Zooey is different and her mark is colored in already and she is a special fledgling from the start.
I really felt like I have read this kind of book before. The ideas are good but all books are about how the main character is special and meant for something more, and vampires are written about a lot in much the same way. This was the kind of book that I liked well enough and is fun to read but is clearly not great quality writing or anything like that. However, it was a fun read so if you are looking for something light to read over the summer by the pool, this could be the book for you.

Am I Blue?

Growing up is hard to do and figuring out who you are, when your growing up is even harder. In Bruce Colville’s short story, Am I Blue, the main character Vince is struggling to find out who he is- all while growing up.

In the beginning Vince is very confused about his sexuality. Vince is struggling to find out who he is. When Vince is visited by his fairy godfather, Martin, Vince says- “‘does that mean I’m gay?’ I didn’t mention that I had been trying to figure out the same thing for a year now.” This shows Vince is still figuring out who he is and is searching for an answer.

In the middle of the story Vince is still struggling  but is gaining guidance and good advice from Martin. “ ‘…it would make life easier on us-’ I interrupted. ‘Speak for yourself’” and “…Signs Are Mixed. In other words, you’re one confused puppy. That’s the way it is sometimes. You’ll figure it out,” are lines of encouragement from Martin that helped Vince in his journey.

                In the end, Vince has matured greatly. “I’ve decided to save it for when I really need it- maybe when I meet the girl of my dreams. Or Prince Charming. Whichever.” In this final line of the story, you can see that Vince is more mature and ready to figure out who he is. However, Vince has not figured it out completely because he is still maturing and growing up.

                Finally, Vince has matured greatly from the beginning and middle, when he wasn’t in touch with himself. In the end of Am I Blue, Vince has not totally figured out who he is, but is on his way. Vince’s journey isn’t over year.