“Shells” by Cynthia Rylant is a realistic fiction short story about a fourteen-year-old boy who learns to live with his aunt after his parents deaths. In the beginning, Michael’s parents died. His Aunt Esther decided he could live with her. Esther was the only one who offered to take him in. Michael's other relatives didn’t want to deal with a fourteen-year-old- boy.…
In the book “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand, we follow young Louie. Louie as a young child adventerous, and bullied. Stalked by his peers they catch him beating him till someone steps in for Louie, this is his life. His brother bounds, transforming Louie. Louie races past his opponents with glee, running toward the Olympic arena.…
There are some very exciting books coming out this Fall, and more than I have seen in a long time. This list just scratches the surface. I've already pre-ordered all the books listed below. You may want to consider checking them out! 1.…
I really enjoyed Sandra Cisneros reading of her memoir, A House of My own. I enjoyed this performance for numerous reasons. Firstly, because it was a chapter that was very fresh and clear in my mind. Whilst watching Sandra read her written words out loud I felt as if I could see my own book in front of me and read the words along with her. Furthermore, in spite of the fact that I love writing and there are certain genres and authors that I can genuinely enjoy reading, I am a very poor reader.…
Destiny, karma, beyond control… these are a few synonyms for the word fate. In Gerda Weissmann Klein’s memoir, All But My Life, fate plays a large role in Gerda’s survival. This theme is reinforced through plot details, dialogue, and character development.…
Racism is embedded into essentially every American institution and is nurtured by people who have racist predispositions. Ta-Nehisi Coates in Between the World and Me, writes “the ground we walked was trip-wired. The air we breathed was toxic. The water stunted our growth. We could not get out” (Coates, p. 28).…
For this assignment, I read Coates, Tanehisi. Between the World and Me. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC, 2015. Between the World and Me is written as a letter to Coates’ teenaged son. The book was dedicated to his teenaged son who is fifteen years of age during the time Coates wrote the book.…
In this stunning memoir, Rosemary Bray describes growing up poor in Chicago in the 1960s and becoming one of the first black women at Yale--and she shows why changes in the welfare system make it virtually impossible for her inspiring story to happen today. "Certain things shape you, change you forever," Bray writes. " Years later, long after you think you've escaped, some ordinary experience flings you backward into memory. Being poor is like that.…
Susan Griffin, the author of the short essay, “Our Secret” tells remarkable stories of several people and their families, showing how their histories are interconnected with each other. As Griffin was writing this essay, it is clear that she leaves it up to the readers to find connections and how those connections relate to the readers’ lives. Throughout this essay, Griffin makes several claims on how humans are all related to each other. Whether if we’ve never met that person before, friends of friends, or people who has an influence on us. We are all connected in some way to every other person.…
Without a stable family, life for Jeannette Walls and Adeline Yen Mah was disastrous. Though they both come from different cultural backgrounds, they share similar experiences of a tragic childhood. In Yen Mah’s autobiography, Falling Leaves, she recaps her life in a disunited family under a strict step-mother, Niang. Yen Mah tries desperately to distance herself from Niang by traveling to America, only to discover that Niang did not care enough about Adeline to leave a portion of her money in her will to her. While Adeline came from a wealthy family in China, Jeannette Walls experienced a life with a disunited, poor family.…
The first thing I noticed about this book was the amazing quality of writing. Right off the bat, I was hooked, drawn in by the fantastic storytelling of Ransom Riggs. In Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Riggs creates a world all it's own by mixing humor, magic, and mystery flawlessly. The way in which he writes is beautiful: ". . . these weren't the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind…
Bad, the product of good. Science is evolving. Each day, new inventions, discoveries are made. Most of them is good.…
The story “The One and Only Ivan” is compelling because Katherine Applegate creates characters that have human emotions and characteristics. For instance, Stella cares for Ruby as if she was Ruby’s mother. Furthermore, Stella assures Ruby’s freedom even after her death; as a human mother would. Then, there’s Ivan, a mighty silverback, who lives in denial, thus, avoiding his reality. Consequently, Ivan constantly corrects others who label their habitat a cage or jail.…
Vivienne Walsh’s This Is Where We Live explored various concepts of entrapment. Walsh presented aspects of entrapment in the fields of domestic violence, one’s inner emotions, and falling into the cycle of school life through the character of Chloe. This Is Where We Live challenged and supported certain views of mine regarding the different forms of entrapment and how a victim may react these situations.…
The theme between Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi , Sixteen pictures of my father by Marion Winink, and An American Childhood by Annie Dillard have related themes which are self-identity and discomfort. Even today we live in a complex society and people are constantly changing mentally and emotionally and people’s actions are based on what they feel is right not what is right by nature or law. In Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi who grew up and adopted the Islamic culture because she was from Iran. In the beginning of the story, she was very young and tries to find answers about war and current issues.…