Intro:
Before I start this blog post, I would like to make a little introduction. The first book I read this summer was Eleanor and park, and I found it on the middle school supplement list. I forgot we were not annotating all of the novels we read this summer, and so I did. When I finished the book, I decided I would record all of my annotations, and annotate all the books I read the summer. I often annotate books and I don’t really have a reason why I do, but it I think helps me understand the book. It also helps me think why the author did this or that. I am going to record my annotations and make a small review on the book from my annotations. Here is my summer assignment:
Eleanor and Park:
Review
I recently completed the amazing novel that is Eleanor and Park. I have been meaning to read this book for a while, and when I saw it on the Middle School Supplement List, I knew immediately I had to read it. The book consists of Eleanor, a girl with an abusive step-dad (Richie), a fearful mother and many scared siblings. She has just returned to her family after Richie kicked her out for a year. Starting the school year, she arrives at the bus a few days after the first day of school scared and isolated from society. She then takes the empty seat next to Park, who is almost Eleanor’s polar opposite. His family is caring and he has many friends, which all happen to be the kids who bully Eleanor. The book follows Eleanor and Park navigating their high school year together. When I first started this book, my mind was focused on how isolated the characters were from each other. Looking more deeply, you can find isolation as a common or maybe even the most prominent theme in the book. I loved this book, and recommend it to everyone. Below are my annotations:
Annotations:
I think a theme in this book is isolation. Page 15
Eleanor is isolated from her siblings. Page 16
The book starts with Eleanor and park being so isolated from each other they don’t speak. Page 24
Eleanor is also isolated from her family. Page 26
This is the start of Eleanor and park not being isolated. Page 39
Eleanor is isolated from her family from her mom because of her step dad. But, Park will be her friend. Right now she is isolated from society. Page 53
Eleanor and park are having their first conversation to avoid isolation. Page 59
Isolation fading from Eleanor and park. Page 64
Park referring to Eleanor as a friend meaning isolation faded. Page 70
Mental isolation faded and now that Eleanor and park held hands physical isolation fades. Page 71
All isolation of Eleanor and park is gone. Page 90
Richie (her step-dad) kicking her out for a year is isolation from her entire family. Page 153
When Eleanor says that parks Dad looks more like park now, she’s saying she thinking of him like she thinks of park. Isolation fading between them. Parks family will be like the family she doesn’t have. Page 200
Eleanor tells park everything now, isolation gone. Page 287
When Eleanor runs away, she is now 100% isolated from her family. Page 292
When Eleanor ignores park, she quickly makes a new wall of isolation from him. Page 323
Fangirl
Review
I read this book over the course of three days and am having a very difficult time having an opinion about it. I can’t call this book bad and say I did not lie, but saying this book was good is a lie too. The plot is simple, a girl named Cath and her twin sister are going to college. Both are obsessive when it comes to a book series called Simon Snow. Cath writes fan fiction. Her mother ran away when she was young, and her dad is fragile. Her twin sister (Wren) has moved on from fandom, but Cath still loves it. The book had some plot points that were smart, and some are not the best choice. This book is by Rainbow Rowell, and after reading her book Eleanor and Park, I was a little disappointed. I annotated on appearances, which may not have been the most prominent theme in the book, and I had a hard time annotating it. Below are my annotations:
Annotations:
I notice Cath is very shy about her appearance, maybe I’ll annotate that…. Page 15.
Cath cares what everyone thinks of her. Page 15
She cares what Reagan thinks of her. Page 38
Cath cares about what the people who read her fan fiction think of her. Page 51
When Cath meets the girl who is a fan of her fan fiction, she doesn’t tell her she writes it because she is scared of what she will think of her. Page 202.
Cath even cares what her boyfriend thinks of her. Page 290
The Haunting Of Hill House:
Review
I love the author Shirley Jackson, and when I saw her name on the reading list, I knew immediately that I had to read her book. I have read her short story the Yellow Wallpaper, and could easily say it was my favorite short story. But this book has to be my favorite thing written by her so far. When I first started reading this, I took note of the characters personalities. As time progressed in the book, their traits have a humungous change. If only could use adjectives to describe the book, they would be haunting and marvelous. The way the author takes something like a haunted house that is so cliche and turns it into such a perfect portrayal of reality is unreal. Below are my notes that are organized by person.
Annotations:
- Dr. Montague
Not respected. Page 1
Won’t beg
Wants to find history of house
Careful. Page 2
Intelligent. Page 48
Control Freak. Page 84
A little insane. Page 99
Obsessive. Page 100
Not as afraid of the house. Page 106
Lazy. Page 112
Terrified. Page 130
- Eleanor:
Loner. Page 3
Full of hate
Depressed
Does not care for anyone. Page 7
Dead inside. Page 12
Already hates the house. Page 16
Intelligent. Page 48
Lazy. Page 68
Dizzy. Page 83
Slightly Insane. Page 97
A little Insane. Page 99
Childish. Page 104
Not fearing the house. Page 106
Fears the house again. Page 108
Defensive.
Outsider. Page 109
Lonely. Page 110
Lazy. Page 112
Wants to kill Theodora. Page 117
Insane. Page 131
Insane. Page 171
Obsessed with the house. Page 177
Absolutely Insane
- Theodora:
Joyful. Page 4
Excited. Page 4
Happy. Page 32
Light. Page 34
Intelligent. Page 48
Hard Worker. Page 68
Slightly insane. Page 97
A little insane. Page 99
Childish. Page 104
Lonely. Page 110
Lazy. Page 112
Hysterical. Page 116
Insane. Page 131
Doesn’t like Eleanor. Page 156
- Luke:
Thief. Page 5
Liar. Page 5
Intelligent. Page 28
Brave. Page 102
Childish. Page 104
A little insane. Page 104
Lonely. Page 106
Lazy. Page 11
Coward. Page 137
- Hill House:
Lifeless. Page 23
Hated, Scared. Page 24
A little good. Page 37
Disturbed. Page 51
Insane. Page 52
Everything Leads To You
Review
I am finding making a review on this book almost impossible. I have conflicting feelings about this book, and it is really hard to have an opinion on it. The plot is about a girl who graduated high school, living at her brother’s house while he is away. She designs sets for movies. She finds a note in a house leading to the great granddaughter of a deceased movie star, who has no idea of her grandparents. While this happens, she is put as the production designer of a touching movie called yes and yes. She got the job from her ex-girlfriend Morgan. Ava has a mom that she ran away from, and when she confronts her again, all the emotion of the book just disappears. The book is very emotional, and what should be the most emotional scene of the book, is actually such a letdown. The author doesn’t describe any feelings, just dialogues. The dialogues are missing emotion and are disappointing. Throughout the book, some of the emotions in this just flow and work, while some try too hard. Themes in this book are hard to describe, and I couldn’t find a theme that stays prominent. Themes come and go, making annotations are hard to do. Also, I didn’t have a pen, so annotations were almost impossible. That is why I didn’t annotate this.
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings
Review
Trying to explain my feelings while reading this book is almost the same as trying to explain life. Almost impossible. But I am going to try. The plot is about a black girl growing up in the times of racism, around World War 2. I am going to start my explanation with one word: flow. Now, something that makes me know I like a book is that I am so into it I am rooting for everything to turn out right. I wasn’t in this book. I was rooting for the plot. If things had to go bad, I was fine with that I was just rooting for the interesting plot to continue. The book just had this flow to it, that even if you don’t like the book, you were interested if that makes any sense. I wanted to know what happened next. Something about this flow didn’t make me want to stop and annotate. Maybe I wasn’t wrapped up in the book, but stopping this flow to take notes just seemed horrible. Still, I did and below are my notes:
Annotations
Segregation. Page 1
Would like to be white. Page 3
More segregation. Page 13
Race is a big theme. Page 14
Religion plays a major role. Page 41
A lot of prejudice. Page 50
Is she rebellious or dangerous? Page 66
Even general stores are segregated. Page 102
She cares for Bailey more than herself. Page 121
Religion=Theme. Page 123
She is finally okay with her color. Page 126
Religion again. Page 161
The family is a theme. Page 163
Racism. Page 177
More racism. Page 188
Religion is less important. Page 202
Less Racism. Page 210
Now everyone is lonely together. Page 248
She has no more friends. Page 256
The Savage Song:
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest:
(I lost the copy of the book that I annotated, which held my review in the back)
Like No Other:
True Letters From a Fictional Life:
P.S. I Like You:
This summer was a fast moving one. I was always off somewhere, camp, friend’s house, grandma’s house, and in total I probably spent two weeks in my own bed. I wish I had more time to relax and not do anything, but that was okay. I like having something to do at all times. I like it better than being bored, and I am used to it. Looking back at my posts I realized that the stories I liked sharing were the small ones, not the big crazy exciting ones. I don’t know why it turned out that way, just those stories seemed to be more fun to write about, or more fun to tell. That also means I had zero pictures to use, which sucked. During my summer I was always jumping off a cliff, swimming at camp or staying out at a friend’s house for a week. It was always an excitement with something to do at every turn. That also meant I had no time to settle down. I am looking forward to have that time. My summer was ever-changing, and that was amazing and bad at the same time. It was amazing because I was always happy, having fun. The bad part was when it came to things like homework, school supplies shopping and things like that, I just didn’t have time. Everything was back to back. I got home from camp, stayed one day with my parents then spent the next week at Piper’s birthday. It would have been nice for some chill time. Another good thing I had was I saw a lot of people. I saw all of my grandparents this summer. I saw around 75% of my friends. I got to things that not many people can say they did. Yes it was annoying, always doing something at every moment, but at the end of the day, this summer was so much fun.
Today was a big day. It was Piper’s Birthday. Piper had decided to through a party with her closest friends. Stella, Olivia, Grace and I were all in her basement doing a variety of things. Piper and Stella were tossing a twelve pound ball back and fourth. Olivia and Grace were on the couch talking. I was trying to link my feet in two hoops and swing back and fourth. I also was discussing the difficulty of this task with Piper and Stella. It was all awkward and fun. We all had one thing in common. Our hunger, not just any hunger, our hunger for sweets. Olivia then brings up the cake that her and I made for Piper. It was a vanilla sponge cake with rainbow frosting. Piper looks at me with determination and says “We still have leftover frosting.” This was a moment where everyone looked out the window and smiled. “Yay, frosting.” I say to myself. Stella looks me right in the eye and says “Stepipda to the rescue!” Stepipda is Piper, Stella and I’s ship name. We tip-toe up the stairs to the living room. Piper cracks open the door just a little bit and I hold my breath. I let go when I see no one there. Relief floods through my body. Piper takes the first step out, followed by me then Stella. As I take my step I trip on air, almost fall down the stairs and then regain my balance. That was a close call. We tip-toe into the kitchen with synchronized steps. “Left, Right, Left Right.” Stella whispers. Piper opens the fridge and the cool air touches my body. I look around, spot the icing and grab it, and hand it to Stella. We run back down to the basement, laughing at every step. Then everyone starts eating. Piper and Stella are taking a little at a time, but always going back for more. Olivia and I are taking medium sizes, not to much. Grace is eating a lot, obviously not caring she has already probably gone through half of it. We quickly finish the full thing and Piper runs up stairs and throws it out. We continue doing our own awkward things. Piper is bowling with Stella and I (by bowling I mean that Stella and I are the pins and piper is rolling the ball trying to hit us) and Grace and Olivia are still talking. Piper’s mom then comes down the stairs and says “Did you guys eat the frosting?” and we all look at each other and laugh. The End.
It was a hot sunny day in August and I was at camp. The bell had just rung and it was officially fourth period. I was super relieved that rest period was over. I grabbed my towel and a spare change of clothes (wasn’t going to forget them this time) and headed out to swim class. There were four people in this class. Naomi, Talia, who are two of my closest friends in my cabin and a boy named Ben in give me shelter, the boys cabin that’s our age. There was a long path through the forest to the lake. Naomi, Talia and I started down the path. Talia is leading, then me and last Naomi. Naomi is yelling at Talia to tell her to look out for daddy-longlegs. I am trying to tell Naomi that daddy-longlegs aren’t poisonous, and aren’t even spiders. She doesn’t care. She’s doing this hopping thing, like the game you used play when you where you were little, don’t touch the lava. Instead of lava, we have daddy-longlegs. Talia stops quickly and almost pushes me off the path. She whispers “someone is following us.” then we hear a little crackle of leaves. “Don’t worry.” I say, “Its probably just the stalkers.” The stalker story is a full other story. Inside my head I know it’s not them because they are always late. We keep walking. “I hear it again!” Talia yells. “Calm down girl, just keep looking for daddy-longlegs.” Naomi exclaims. Talia keeps walking, but bent down low like a ninja. We don’t hear anything for a few minutes. Talia calms down. Then we hear a twig break. This time Talia screams and Naomi falls off the path. “I told you it was something! Do you hear that? Its not the stalkers!!! My life is over! I am going to die! I’m dying! I knew swimming was a bad choice!!” Talia yells. Naomi just looks scared. After two minutes of calming down, I force Talia and Naomi to keep walking. We look like the FBI on a mission. All bent low, ducking at every sound. I am officially leading, while everyone else stands guard. And then we hear the rustle of leaves. Talia pulls to a halt and ducks. Then the most life-changing thing ever happens. A chipmunk runs across the path. Talia screams and jumps off the path and pulls Naomi down with her. “It was the chipmunk!!! Chipmunks are evil!! I knew it the full time!!” Talia is hysterically screaming. I am on the floor laughing so hard. Naomi jumps up obviously scared of the bugs. “We have to go.” Naomi says. “But the chipmunks might be on the path!!!” Talia answers. “The chipmunks also could be under you” I respond. She jumps up on to the path. “That’s how you do it.” I think to myself. We spend the rest of the walk walking like the FBI again. The sounds are still there. We arrive at the lake and are the first ones there. We sit on the bench and wait. Then, out of the blue, Ben arrives. “Hi” he says. “Did you hear us?” Naomi asks. “Yeah.” he says and then looks at Talia. “Why are you so scared of chipmunks?” She laughs and looks at me. “Long story” I respond. Naomi whispers something in my ear “Ben was making the sounds, he was the chipmunk!” A few minutes later the teacher arrives and points to a barrel on the shore of the lake. “That fell off the dock of the people across the lake. We are going to swim it back over.” He throws us life-vests. “Lets go.” He says. I pull over my vest and start swimming. The only two people actually rolling the barrel is Ben and I. Naomi and Talia are swimming behind. Ben wouldn’t take his baseball cap off and is having a little trouble. The lake is long and when we reach the end everyone is tired. The people not end other side ask “Is this ours?” The teacher explains that it fell off their deck. Talia swims up to me and whispers in my ear “I bet it’s full of evil chipmunks!” I start laughing and respond “Why don’t you go ask?” Now when I asked this I didn’t actually think she would do it. But she does. She approaches a boy who lives there and asks “Are there chipmunks in there?” He looks weirded out and responds “I don’t think so.” he says shyly. “Well if there are text this number” and actually says her number. She swims away obviously proud and we laugh about it the whole way back to our dock.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Pride and Prejudice is a book that I highly recommend. It is about five sisters living in a time where the only way for a women to be “successful” was for them to be married. The oldest is Jane, a shy and quiet girl who most men fall in love with. Then there is Elizabeth, the main character. She is very quirky and honest, she isn’t afraid of the truth. She could be considered rude, but she doesn’t care. The next is Mary, a very religious girl who is a little crazy. She obviously isn’t going to get married. Then are the two youngest sisters. Lydia and Kitty. They will do anything to marry. Watch this family go on crazy journeys. The only thing is the language. It is very complicated to read, all the characters have a very strong vocabulary. You have to make sure your really are ready to read it. I rate this book four stars.
Go set a Watchman by Harper Lee
This book is a sequel to To Kill A Mockingbird which I read a while ago and loved. Most of the characters you love and know come back and make a return in this book. “Scout” Finch, has moved to New York and returns back to her home town. It is bitter-sweet. Everything has changed. Henry is home, waiting for Scout to marry him. Atticus has grown old, and has changed a lot since scout last saw him.Watch the full world change in front of Scout’s eyes. I rate this book four stars.
1984 by George Orwell
Now this book is very surprising. I expected something about I don’t know, 1984. This book was written in 1949, so 1984 was the future back then. The world is dark with leaders that believe a utopia is a place with no thought. I can’t tell to much without ruining the full book. First of all, I used to judge a book by the last sentence. DON’T read it. It spoils the full book for you. Also it takes a while to get the world they live in. I still love this book though. I rate it four and a half stars.
The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby is one of my favorite books of all times. It is about a man named Nick, who moves next door to a man named Jay Gatsby. He’s rich and has everything. Except Daisy. Daisy is a rich girl who is married to a man named Tom. She is a little crazy, falling love with other men, drinking. She can’t settle down. The other thing she has is this thing of innocence. Gatsby loves her and will do anything to get her. I rate this book five stars. I absolutely love it.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews
This book reminds me so much of The Fault In Our Stars. I thought that it was a copy at first. Turns out they were written at the same time. Greg is the main character. He doesn’t believe in friends. He could have friends if he wanted them, he just likes it better without them. The closest thing to a friend he has is Earl. Greg considers Earl his co-worker. He likes to make movies. Everything goes wrong when his mother makes him befriend the girl next door who has leukemia. He now has a friend. He doesn’t understand it. I can’t say more without ruining it. I give this book five stars.
Paper Towns by John Green
I just had to read this book because all of my friends were obsessing over it. I really enjoyed it. Quentin is a boy in high school with a crush on the marvelous and daring Margo Roth. Margo barely knows he exists.But then comes the comes the night where she climbs into his window and they go on what I call the revenge night. Shaving people’s eyebrows, shaving cream and more. The next day she runs away. Quentin goes on a quest find her, risking all the odds to find her. I rate this book four stars.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
This is my second favorite book of all time, next to The Outsiders. Miles Halter moves to go to a boarding school and falls in love with Alaska Young. The daring, beautiful perfect Alaska Young. The full book is based in two parts, before and after. You don’t know what it is before, or what it is after. When you finally get to after, you can’t think about anything else for days. I rate this book five stars.
The Age Of Innocence by Edith Wharton
This wasn’t my favorite book. I liked the idea of the book, but not the other things in the book. The main character, Newland Archer is about to marry who he thinks is his true love, May Welland. But then he meets Countess Ellen Olenska, a woman who just came off a horrible marriage. They fall in love, and Newland has to chose between Ellen and May. This book is very slow moving. I rate this book three stars.
Counting By Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan
In my opinion, this is a very bad book. I thoroughly disliked it. This book I read last minute so I had a book from the list read and I just can’t get myself to like it. I can’t tell much about the story without ruining it all, but I can tell you about the main character. Willow Chance. She is the oddball out, with not many friends because she doesn’t try to get them. Even though she wants friends. But she complains about it none the less. She likes to study plants and medical conditions. Something that I don’t know anyone who can relate to even though she is supposed to be relatable. She also is a genius and doesn’t need to study to get 100% right on every test. No person is like that. That is Willow Chance. I do think this book is right for some people, just not me. I do think that this could be someone’s favorite book. I rate this book one star.
