Category: Summer Learning

Book camp(Summer Reading)

I just wanted to make this post to clarify what book camp is. Thalia Book Club Camp is at symphony space, in the upper west side. I have been going for 3 years and I really enjoy it. You are sent 5 books in June, and the camp is in July. You read the books, and then meet the authors for each day of the week. This camp gives me a lot of great experiences and opportunities, like meeting the Clintons last year. It is a really fun camp and I think my favorite part, is talking to other kids about a book that we both read.

Of Mice and Men(Summer Reading)

OfMiceAndMenI talked a little bit about this book when I was writing about The Pearl and I spoke very highly of it. I read this book, truthfully less for pleasure and more because It was on the reading list. My grandfather was a professor and he taught Steinbeck, so my mom thought it would be a good choice for me. When I started it it was good, but I didn’t think much more of it. By the end of the book I couldn’t keep it down, and it made me so sad, but in a good way. I loved how the whole book flowed, and built up to the ending, but very subtly so you didn’t know that anything was getting built up. Lenny, the main character is such an exaturated version of what I think anybody in the world would be like, but his stupidity makes you love him even more. Though he is a little exaggerated, you don’t care by the end of the book, because you are so distracted by all the action and sorrow. I thought this was a great depiction of what the depression would be like, even though I obviously was not alive for it. I think this was my favorite book that I read this summer and I hope that I didn’t give anything away, because I think everybody should read it.

The Old Man and The Sea ( Summer Reading)

I read this book in two hours because it is so short. It is full of emotion, and while I think Steinbeck might be a little more heart wrenching, this book defiantly came close. It’s interesting because I thought the only reason it wasn’t as sad as Of Mice and Men or The Pearl was because the protaganist never complained. I’m used to the main character complaining about his life or how bad it is, which is helpful, but it basically spells everything out for the reader. It was nice to have subtle hints about the characters emotions and thoughts, while never knowing exactly what was on his mind.Oldmansea

 

The Pearl (Summer Reading)

41DsxsN2b2L-1The Pearl, by John Steinbeck is yes a short book, but also an amazing story. It is the book I annotated and I am glad that I picked this one because most of the character especially the main, is a completely round character and you see so many sides of him. I just finished it and by the end I was hooked to Steinbeck . It’s about this town, somewhere in California, set around early 20th century.  I thought it was interesting how Steinbeck sometimes repeats the same word in one sentence like on page 92 when Kino, the main character is fighting the trackers,” In the moonlight he could see the frantic frightened eyes, and Kino aimed and fired between the eyes.” I am pretty sure that Steinbeck is doing this to be poetic or add emphases to bring the sentence home. I loved how this book showed that money does not bring happiness and in this case the pearl brings them sorrow. If you compare the end of the book to the begining and if you read the last page and the first page you will be astonished at how the beginning and end are polar opacities. If I was to tell you that in the beginning, everything is great and this family is just living a quit simple life and then I was to tell you that they found a priceless pearl, you would think that there life would get better, but it just goes down hill and ends in a catastrophe. I actually read Of Mice and Men after I read this book which is another Steinbeck classic, and in comparing them I saw the seams in the pearl, while I thought that everything about Of Mice and Men was amazing. I now really do love Steinbeck and I am about to start reading The Red Pony. I really loved The pearl and even though compared to  other Steinbecks its not the best, it is still a really great story and I recommend it. I haven’t read that much of Steinbeck but just from The Pearl and Of Mice and Men I have observed that he ends his stories in the most unique way. He sets the whole book up to think nothing of a certain character or even dislike the character slightly but then something  happens to that character. Something awful and sad and in one way or another he or she is gone. Even though the character was not your favorite when they leave you are really sad. It was like I had met that character and I had interacted with them before. I really have never felt so sad about a character dying and that is really why I loved The Pearl. Everything happens in the last few pages but what you don’t realize is the whole book is a very subtly a build up to the big finish.

The Beast Of Cretacea

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The Beast Of Cretacea, by Todd Strasser, is the last book I read for book camp. This happened to be my favorite book, which surprised me because it seemed very sci-fi and had to do with space. It took me about 100 pages to get into this book, and once I did I really enjoyed it. It’s actually a spin off of Moby Dick and I know that spin off is not the right term, but to me it seems appropriate. The main character is a boy named Ishmael, just like Moby Dick and a lot of the other character are the same. Its about this futuristic universe where earth is a complete mess. One of the most civilized planets in the new solar system is called Cretacia. It is basically the modern day earth and it is beautiful. Some people go to Cretacia to live out the rest of there lives, while others go on missions to fight the Cretacean Monsters. The monsters are actually just sea animals but since it’s the future they think of them as dangerous creatures. The ship that Ishmael lives on fights these kinds of animals and captures them. The books technical term for the beast of cretacia is the giant terrafin. Ishmael has a crew that help him capture the monsters and take them to the chief, Starbuck. Throughout the book different things happen separating Ishmael and his friends from the ship. They run into a group of Islanders who have secret remedies and cures for disease, pirates that take them captive and try to starve them, and a group called the gilded that trick him into thinking that they are powerful. The books course changes making it a drama, comedy, thriller, and a little bit of sic-fi.

Skin and Other Stories (Summer Reading)

Skin and Other Stories, by Roald Dahl, is the first book I read for the 7th grade summer assignment. It’s a group of short stories and some novelas. When reading it, I liked how every story was completely different. It felt like this book was just Roald Dahl showing off about how many points of views he can write from. I actually did not like the story Skin, and was surprised that he put that on the title. After asking my mom, I found out that it was used in other movies and was recreated in many other horror stories. This was frankly my first short story collection, and I loved it so much. One of the reasons I am able to sit down and get something done is I compartmentalize. When I read a book, I set a schedule for each day; and then when I am reading throughout the day, I read 3o pages in the morning, 5 pages in midday, and 15 pages in bed. Also, when I am trying to get through ten pages, I have a method of thinking about the ten pages in smaller amounts to process it. The reason I think I now love short story collections is that it literally does the compartmentalizing for you, and every story is almost all action, and the plots get right down to it and fast. Also it was always interesting to get to the last paragraph of the story and still have no idea what the ending would be. I don’t know If this was specific to Roald Dahl’s writing, but if it is for all short stories, I will have to start binge reading. I think that maybe it is an exception for this book to not talk about the plot, considering there are about 15, and they are all funny and strange. I will talk about one of my favorite stories – mostly because of the comedic aspect. It was called Galloping Foxley. It was about this man who lives a very repetitive life. Every day he goes to work on the same train, at the same time, and then walks the same way, running into the same people. One day, there is a strange man waiting at his train station. He is basically the antithesis of the main character, and he seems to be jealous of him. The main character thinks he recognizes the man, and realizes he was his elementary school bully, Foxley. For about 15 pages, he explains how was mercilessly beaten by Foxley, and how awful his childhood was because of him. He then builds up the courage to introduce himself and give him a piece of his mind. He first says, “Well hello, my name is “William Perkins- and I was at Repton in 1907 “. Then the man introduces himself and says, “Mine’s Fortescue, Eton 1916.” The story then ends. I loved this ending, because throughout the whole story, you just hate this bully and you feel so bad for this man. Then you realize the man that you hated had done nothing. I just thought that the whole story was Genius.

Shadow Shapers (Summer Reading)

22295304-1Shadow Shaper, by Daniel José Older, is a book I read for book camp that was truthfuly one I did not enjoy. Out of all the books that I read for book camp, I just thought this one was poorly written. It was interesting that this was the most famous out of the four books, and the only possible reason I could think for that is that it is the most commercial and normal. I thought that the plot was not well constructed and it didn’t grab my attention. After reading this book I felt unfulfilled, like I had stopped half way through the book. The protagonist, Sierra, is a teenage girl living in New York. Her life is pretty normal despite the fact that her grandfather had a stroke one year prior, making him paralyzed and unable to speak. Sierra is an artist and paints murals around NYC and Brooklyn. One day her grandfather starts to speak to her and tells her that she has to finish the mural as fast as she can. He also tells her that the murals are fading. The shadow shapers are leaving, and a boy named Robby can help her. She not only thinks he is going crazy, but basically ignores him until she runs into Robby at a party. She asks him what the shadow shapers are, and he seems surprised that she knows. Soon after, a half dead looking man comes and starts to run after Sierra. Once she gets away, Robby realizes that she is a shadow shaper and you start to find out what that is. Robby shows her that shadow shaping is the transferring from a soul to a painting. A shadow shaper must create almost a portal for a soul to go into. The soul enters the shadow shapers body and then moves onto the painting that the shadow shaper has intended the soul to go into. Once the souls have entered the paintings they obey anything that their shadow shaper wants them to do. Sierra soon learns that a man named Wick is trying to take over the souls and cast away the shadow shapers for ever. She also learns that her grandmother, Lucinda, who had died many years prior to the setting of the book, had once been the leader of the shadow shapers, and now that she is dead, the paintings are starting to fade and disappear. Sierra fights Wick with her shadow shaping powers and attempts to save the shadow shaping world. Despite this book’s difficulties, I really did love the beginning of the book, and now I really know how much the end matters for future reference.

This Side Of Home ( Summer Reading )

01f099c0-7e68-0132-1d7e-0a2c89e5f2f5This Side Of Home, by Renee Watson, is one of the 4 books I read for Thalia Book Camp at Symphony Space. It is almost the antithesis of what we have learned in school; the structure is a new creation in itself, and the plot and obstacles are less prominent. Though this book was just a normal read for me, I respected the fact that the author changed the vibe of this book compared to the others I am reading. I loved the simplicity of it and how it was just about daily life instead of all this high speed action that I am used to. The main character is a African American teenager living in Portland. Her old neighborhood starts turning into an expensive gentrified place, and her friends start having to leave because of the constantly rising rent. The identity of her school morfs and more hispanic and white children join. This book is about change and coping with it. It is really a good easy read, and I recommend it to anybody who just wants to sit down with a book each day and relax. This Side Of Home was a great book, and I am excited to meet the author.

P.S. Book camp happens for a week in the summer where we read 4 books,  meet the authors and talk to them about their book.

The Secret Sea (Summer Reading)

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          The Secret Sea, by Barry Lyga, is an advanced readers addition that I read for Thalia Book Club Camp – at Symphony Space. It is about Zak – a New York City boy with a heart condition. He always feels that his two best friends, Nora and Khalid, don’t truly understand what he goes through,  they – in fact – always support him. Zak has always felt an urge and a voice guiding him to do the best possible thing, but during the book he feels the urge getting stronger. Zak finds out that his parents have hidden the existence and death of his twin brother – Tommy – who died of a faulty kidney at two years of age. So Zak and his two friends escape to an alternate dimension to help save Tommy from his purgatory state. It is a science fiction fantasy clash, and I recommend reading it when it comes out.