All of you chose a book to read this summer in addition to The Gatekeepers. Write a two paragraph review of your choice book. Your review should include:
- Start by listing the title, author, and the number of pages (ex. Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat, 211 pgs.)
- Then give us a brief summary of the book. (We haven't read it. Tell us what it's about!)
- In your summary, include two quotes that you think encapsulate the book. (Explain the context, what the quotes mean, and why they are significant or representative of the book. Basically, tell us why you chose them.)
- Then give us your critique of the book. (Your critique should include both positives and negatives. What did you like about it? What didn't you like about it? What type of person would be interested in reading this book?)
The book I choose to read was Push by Sapphire. Push depicts the lifestyle of a young sixteen year old black girl named Claireece precious Jones. Throughout the book Claireece and everyone around her identifies her by Precious. Precious lives in Harlem NY with her mother, who is an abusive parent, precious is physically and mentally abused by both her mother and her in and out farther. Precious’ mother beats her and sexually abuses while her farther also abuses her by raping her since the age of the three in the presence of the mother; who does nothing to stop him from abusing Precious. By the age of twelve Precious had her first child by her farther, her son was diagnosed with down syndrome and Precious had decided that the young baby boy should be named little mango and that he should live with her grandmother because he looked funny to her. Later on in the story precious is sixteen and has another baby by her farther that she names Abdul. Since precious has had many struggles in her life she was not able to complete her schooling and be a high school student. Precious as a child struggled with reading and writing and throughout the book it is present to the readers that she has some type of a delay. It is shocking throughout the book to know that Precious’ mother does not even want her daughter to have an education but wants her to live off public aid and rather beat and abuse her daughter to death. However, Precious is against her mother’s opinions but things start to change for Precious when a social worker begins to take a front seat in Precious’ life. Precious at first is against the idea of attending an alternative program, but this program helps kids like Precious to have a better life and learn to deal with their problems. At first Precious has an emotional wall built up but that soon changes for her and her guard is let down. Precious towards the book I believe has a different outlook on her life and has more hope to better herself and be a mother to her son because of the new environment she was put in which had a positive influence on her.
ReplyDeleteThe quotes I choose were: “sure you can do anything when you talking or writing, it’s not like living when you can only do what you doing(pg.3). This quote is powerful to me because it has such great meaning I think to anyone who is facing problems like Precious or different from hers. It goes to show that life is sometimes harder to understand but while writing or talking about one’s life it is easier to understand and release more feelings vs. just living life in a constant routine. The other quote is “is life like a hammer to beat me down?”(pg.96). I consider this such a great simile , because I think many people could relate to life as hammer beating them down and causing them pain. I think these two quotes representative most of the book Push because throughout the book Precious felt like her life was only causing her problems and only beating her down although she faced pain within her life she learned to write and express herself and understand who she is in a different manner. I personally enjoyed the book it was pretty graphic to me at times but I think any young adult could handle the meaning of this book. This book isn’t for only people who may be experiencing similar situations as Precious but for anyone who may sometimes see their life as a gray cloud or just may want to experience life in another person’s view. Overall the book was good and I recommend everyone to read it
Love In The Time Of Cholera,Gabriel Garcia Marquez,348 pages.
ReplyDeleteBrief summary:
The book takes place in places that range from Paris,France to the Caribbean Islands.It tells the tale of the three main characters Florentino,Fermina and Dr.Urbino.The story begins with the death of Dr.Urbino where his last words were "Only god know how much I loved you"(pg43) to his wife Fermina.The story then flips back to the true beginning of the book.It starts with Florentino expressing his love to Fermina when they were younger.At the time a disease called cholera was going around and Florentino started showing cholera like symptoms.The doctor said he was fine and his mother said that "The symptoms of love were the same as those of cholera"(pg62)showing he was very much in love with her.He was in love with her but she was not in love with him,but what kept him around was her curiosity of him.Eventually Fermina responds to Florentino's letter and rejects it to go marry a young doctor.We later learn that this doctor was in fact Dr Urbino.Florentino, not satisfied with this pursues her for may years and this leads him to places like Paris.Florentino has a lot of affairs during the years and it ends up tallying up to 622.Eventually in his old age Dr.Urbino dies by falling from a tree while attempting to retrieve his pet parrot.This leaves the now widowed Fermina with no one.A couple of days after she had been widowed,Florentino shows up to her door and pronounces his love to Fermina again.They then live on together though we the audience are lead to believe that she still misses Urbino."She had a headache scented with anisette, and her heart was stunned by the impression that Dr. Juvenal Urbino had come back plumper and younger than when he had fallen from the tree,and that he was sitting in his rocking chair, waiting for her at the door of their house"(pg345)
What I liked about the book were the surprises when you figure out what you thought wasn't the truth,like when you find out the doctor was Urbino.What I didn't like was the long explanations of things.It would be a page of details of surroundings before you found out what the character you were following would do next.All in all i would recommend this book to a person who is likes these kind of stories,but not to someone looking to read something with a little suspense because it can get wordy in some parts of the book.
Malik said
ReplyDeleteThe Pearl by John Steinbeck, 90 pages
The Pearl is about a fisherman, Kino, his wife, Juana, and their baby boy, Coyotito, who endured pain and suffering when Coyotito is stung by a scorpion. Because they are broke, they can’t afford a doctor. So Kino, like other fishermen, hopes to find a pearl to become rich. On day, Kino found a huge pearl that was his solution to curing his son. After Kino and his family took the pearl to appraise, the appraisers told them the pearl is not worth nothing. The pearl brings more trouble than they can bare.
After having the pearl for a couple of days, a thief and Kino fight for the pearl and Kino is cut. At another instance, Kino kills a man. Steinbeck states Kino “was attacked in the dark and in the fight, [he has] killed a man” (64). This is one of many problems he encounters with the bad luck pearl. Then Kino’s hut is burned down. From the start, Juana warned Kino that the pearl was causing chaos in their life. Juana claims that the “pearl is like a sin! It will destroy us” (38). This shows their lives turning for the worse. Juana convinces Kino that the pearl isn’t worth their lives so Kino throws the pearl back into the ocean.
Overall, this book is adventurous because Kino and his family go through the ups and downs of having this pearl. On the positive side, Kino was seeking the attention needed for his son, but on the other side, the pearl led the family to being homeless and into poverty. I like the way Steinbeck used vivid imagery in the opening of the book because it leaves me with a picture in my head.
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ReplyDeleteThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley,466 pages.Malcolm X's father was killed by a group of white men and his mother then became emotionally unstable. X moved to a average sized home in Roxbury, Massachusetts with his sister Ella. As a Result of all the events that occurred in the early stages of X's life he became involved in gambling,drinking,and selling drugs and he slipped up one day and then he ended up in Jail.As he was in jail with his conk(perm) he was then converted in the Nation of Islam because one of the members were in jail as well.It was here when X became a philanthropist and started to preach the word of Allah,the god of Islam.
ReplyDeleteMalcolm X on multiple occasions was talked about .Many people said that he was a racist and that he was violent.In actuality Malcolm X was not a racist one of his primary focuses when he was with the Nation of Islam was to break the barrier line of race and skin color X said '"I saw all races, all colors, blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans in true brotherhood! In unity! Living as one! Worshiping as one! No segregationists, no liberals..." here it does not show racism;X only brings up to par that every one derives from Africa.This idea that he had brought into par was what was known to Marcus Mosiah Garvey as Pan-Africanism. Many people also thought that he was violent in comparison to Martin Luther King Jr. because Malcolm X took the approach of "by anything means necessary" meaning that if the wanted brutality the would receive brutality.Whereas in contrast, Martin Luther King Jr. took the approach in peaceful sit-ins,boycotts, and protests.What I liked about this book is that it gave a board view of his life item by item and piece by piece.It was actually quite intriguing because the book is so descriptive. What I didn't like about the book is the fact that it doesn't really give credit to those who did contribute to the philosophy in which X had built for himself. I would recommend this book to those who believed that Malcolm X had a racist point of view and to those who just want to know what he went through and how he became a successful leader.
once a king always a king by Reymundo Sanchez,286 pages. as a sequel to the making of a latin king, Sanchez uses this part of the story to depict the life of a ex latin king gang member. the latin kings were a major gang in chicago during Sanchezes life. now that sanchez has drawn him self away from the gang life, he can see the damage he has done to his society. growing up without a real family and being raped by the small family he did have, he turned to the streets for protection. once he matured, he noticed that the protection given from the kings was temporary. once he decided he had enough, he "endured a brutal three minute beating called a violation"(pg.1)this was the only way of getting out of the gang alive and he survived to live the life he decided was for him. being a ex latin king didn't mean he lost all privileges that came with being a latin king. while in jail, reymundo " didn't have to worry about being beat up, raped or taken advantage of in any way"(pg.65). he still had some of the respect but because people knew he was no longer an active gang member, he had no protection while walking through their territory. the good thing about him no longer being in a gang is he doest have to prove his self. the bad part is he is known as a traitor and is no longer safe in any part of the ganglands of chicago. the book shows both the pros and cons in a very realistic way which is why i choose to read this book. however, due to the translations from spanish to english, the vivid imagery and excessive foul language, it takes away from the reader understanding what's going on because you start to read just for the exciting parts of the book. I found my self reading this book twice because the first time i understood but but missed a lot of crucial parts such as sanchezes mental break down on pg. 241 where he poured his heart out to people he knew cared about his problems. by this time, his living circumstances were not stable and he was reliving his drug habits. after being treated by professionals, he moves to Dallas because it was far away enough to where he knew his past wouldn't follow him. All in all, snachez ends up with a family living a life apart from the gangs and took the path of legitimacy. after living in dallas he moved to miami and continued to live a gang and drug free life with his family. he did various jobs that rang from cleaning floors to working at a burger place. I think all inner youth that live around gangs should read this book and really think twice about why they are in a gang or y they would or have thought about joining a gang especially with a reality as epic as this one, " i have never met a gang member who wasn't looking out for him or herself first and foremost. the loyalty they show you to suck you into the lifestyle disappears the moment you decide not to risk spending the rest of your life in a jail, not to be a moving target or the moment someone who outranks you suddenly has something against you"(pg. 285). this book would be interesting to people who want to leave gangs but don't know how, young, troubled youth and people who are trying to educate others about the gang life and want the gruesome reality of the harsh streets to be shown.
ReplyDeleteSuperfeakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Stepheb D. Levitt, 239 pages
ReplyDeleteThis book is basically about stories and fun facts on the economy and how it's doing. I mainly close this book because the title had quickly caught my attention. I found it funny how prostitutes are patriotic and why suicide bombers needed life insurance if they are criminals as well and wouldn't mind risking their life. Another reason why I chose this book was because it had focused on economics. One of the choices I had chose for my college classes at B.U was the study of economics. I had wanted a better look on what the economy was like and how it is affecting the world. Honestly, I would recommend this book to any reader who has a high level of maturity or is just interested in crazy yet fun facts. It's a really cool book that can go on about horse manure to the prejudice of gender roles. On page 80, I learned that "TV patients were drastically more likely to die in the hospital than in real lifepatients". This shows how television shows capture the audiences attention by exaggerating events than in reality. If I had never read this part I wouldn't have realized that a lot of shows I have watch on tv cannot be trusted so easily. Another quote I had chose is about the safety of the seat belt for both kids and adults. "the adult seat belts passed the crash test with flying colors. Based on the head and chest impact data, neither the children in the safety seats nor those in the seat belts would likely have been injured in this crash" (pg. 165). This event shows how important it is to always wear a seat belt no matter what. The chances of getting injured is extremely lower than those who do not wear seat belts.
There is a lot I like about this book, it's probably one of the most interesting books I have read so far and usually not a lot of books would capture my attention. I like this book because of the way it's structured, it's very organized and describes a lot of important events in just 239 pages! It startes off small stories such as the cultures of a variety of ethics races and grows bigger into more important issues such a climate cooling and greenhouse gas. There want anything I disliked about the book because there want any point in the book where I wished to put it down and stopped reading. I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone as I said earlier.
Shooting Stars, LeBron James and Buzz Bissinger , and pgs 251
ReplyDeleteThis book is about the High School career of LeBron James whom went to ST. Vincent-St. Mary and displayed his incredible talents as a basketball player which would lead to him being drafted to the NBA. He wasn’t the only talented player on the team there were some of his childhood friends on the team as well and they called themselves Fab 5. These five young boys came together and learned the true meaning of teamwork and togetherness as they needed such to win championships for their school. The Fab 5 was made up of LeBron, Little Dru, Sian, Romeo and Willie. Out of all them I could relate to both Little Dru and Romeo the must. Little Dru was a short kid whom was mocked about his size and not taken serious as he was known as “midget, smurf , and mascot “ to other teams. This was until he had a break out game hitting 7 3 pointers and having 21 points in 10 minutes. The purpose of this is to not judge a book by its cover because Dru’s book has a lot of fight and talent within his own. Then came Romeo. . .
Romeo was a kid whom transferred from school to school and couldn’t fit in that much that was like me as I first came to match didn’t really know too many people but then after a while things began to gel and calm down. For Romeo he felt as if he had to be a tough guy in order to hold his own as he said “ I didn’t want to be there , and they didn’t want me there. “ After a few fights and arguments he ends up being accepted by the fab 4 causing them to become the fab 5. The purpose of the book is to show the struggles and hardships of growing up as a young man with a dream as a basketball player.
The book I read was Motherless Brooklyn by
ReplyDeleteJonathan Lethem with 311 pages. The book is about an orphan, Lionel Essrong who also works for the mobster Frank Minna's Limo service. Then when the mobster is stabbed and died Lionel's world is turned upside down. The positives of the book was that it was nice and great details of how each thing went. It also was nice how the text of the book flows and wasn't hard to understand. Two negatives was that the book took to long to start and it took a long time to end.
The book i chose to read this summer was The Color Purple by Alice Walker,288 pages. This book takes back after slavery and its a passionate story about two sisters one whos a missionary in aferica and the other who is a child wife for a man named "mr" in the south. The novel speaks of the tale of how these two sisters trust and believe in one another in their slience and loneliness from one another. The oldest sister is Celie and the youngest is Nettie. Celie "i am fourteen years old. 'i have always been a good girl. 'maybe you can give me a sign letting me know what is happening to me" pg 1. During this time young girls around the age of 14-16 were married off to men who are 30-40 years of age to cook, clean, and take care of the mens children. Celie was married off at the age of 16 after already having two children by her father. Nettie was forbid to marry Mr because her father wanted to have his "way" with her and didnt want not other man touching her. Men in this time of age slpet with their daughters and sisters and it wasnt looked upon as bad. where as today it is looked on as a crime. Furthermore societ back then didnt do right by one another. For example the black men didnt do right by black women nor did the white do right by the blacks at all. Mr, celies husband, would beat her and treat her like a slave. he would call her names and treat her as though she was nothing. The story really begins with these two sisters when Nettie runs away from home after Celie gets married to Mr because her father was trying to hard to have sex with her and she was tired of it. Mr has always had his eye on Nettie and when she came to like with Celie nothing but trouble lied ahead for her. This is where the story of these two sisters begin when Mr seprates the two because Nettie fought back against Mr when he tried to make his move on her and from there ceile and netties lives changed. Overall the novel discuesses the all the hardships Celie endures without Nettie, but also it gives the story of how they find their way back to each other.
ReplyDeleteLastly, what i like about this book was the story its self. The story about these two girls was very passionate and inspiring to all sisters in the world who have gone through the same hardships as Ceile and Nettie did in this novel. Furthermore, Celies statement at the last dinner with mr when she says "until you do right by me, everything you touch will crumble" pg 206. This statement really spoke to me on a different level because thinking about the setting of this novel and the time period these characters where living in, its not just a reality check to Mr, but also to the racist whites during that time period as well. Also when Celie says "Every lick you hit me you will suffer twice" pg 207. That statement was the most powerful statement in the novel. It speaks to how the black men were treating their wives and how the whites where treating the blacks. Similarly to speaking about the past what what live was like for balcks also speaks to how life is for all races today in society. Thats what i like about this novel. Therefore, what i dislike about this novel is that it only focoused on the story these two sisters and not the story about the black women and society itself. If it spoke more about that it would reached out to more of society than just a certain race and group. overall this book was a very good novel and i would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Its a life changing story that educates the minds of the youth and inspires those who are older.
The book that I chose to read this summer was Beloved by Toni Morrison. Beloved is about slaves who go through the past and they constantly want to get rid of the past because of the burdens that it brings. The main character Sethe is constantly agonized by memories of the past that come to her through her daughter. 20 years earlier Sethe murdered her daughter so that her daughter would not have to be a part of slavery.
ReplyDeleteThis book is very interesting because it shows you how the characters are dealing with things. It also shows you how things went down and you can see and witness things from a different perspective. I think anyone who wants to read a book for fun should try reading Beloved it is a good book. ". . . if you go there—you who was never there—". "if you go there and stand in the place where it was, it will happen again; it will be there"
The Color Purple, Alice Walker,288
ReplyDeleteThe Color Purple is a story in which the main character, Celie, over comes her long battles with abuse. The book is written as letters to God, which entails us into all of the crevices of her lonesome life. Celie had suffered abuse from the time she was fourteen. She was sexually abused by her father,and when he sent her off to marry, her husband physically abused her. He believed that, "[w]ives is like children. You have to let 'em know who got the upper hand. Nothing can do that better than a good sound beating" (35).
Celie eventually goes through a metamorphosis in which she leaves her husband and begins to what she loves. With her new freedom she finds her long lost children which her father had taken from her when she was young, and starts a sew shop. She becomes so independent and assure of herself that not only did her store run, it flourished. Celie was also able to confront her abusive ex husband as well as become friends with him. "[J]ust when Mr.___ done ast me to marry him again, this time in the spirit as well as in the flesh, and just after I say Naw, I still don't like frogs, but let's us be friends" (283). Celie definitely exhibits what it means to be a life survivor.
This book is very interesting. For those that like books that seem very autobiographical this is for you. This book does have some sexual connotations so if anything homosexual disturbs you, this book would not be in your best of interest as well. I liked how detailed the book was. The author either had a very illustrative thought pattern or really took the time to study the background information for this novel. I personally enjoyed the book.
VICTOR said...
ReplyDeleteThe Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X and Alex Haley,[466 pages].
In this stunning life time story of the very strongg political and civil rights leader Malcom X, highlights the way that Malcom X grew up. Malcom X who really spent most of his time with his father was now put in a situation where he was forced to live in Roxbury, MA with his sister after the sudden death of his father. In the roughness and traumatized past that X carried, he then started to get involved with the wrong crowd and started to use drugs, get involved with gangs and sooner or later ended up behind bars for the life he decided was good for him. Malcom while in jail seemed to find a alternate route and not continue the lifestyle he ounce had and convert into the gropup pf Nation of Islam, due to a fellow member of the group also being in jail with him and really telling him about the whole movement.
This book was a really interesting one to read not only because it was on one of the most inspirational black figures in the history of civil rights movement but because it shows a lot about one person that leads to other over arching ideas. Some poitn figures saying X was ounce a racist and seen everything in a violent way but for the most part he was just about saving the race and making sure they are respected."I saw all races, all colors, blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans in true brotherhood! In unity! Living as one!.." X's is motives and ways lead him to be one of the most respected like Martin Luther King Jr, was a very creative speaker and a very outstanding powerful figure in his race. i enjoyed the book becuase it involves some scenary in the city i group up in, Roxbury,MA so to know that such an outstanding figure was developed and brought up around there was really a pleasure to know more about. I recormend the book to those who want to know more about the cause and effect that Malcom X was driven by, because its really interesting. The book proves a lot of negatives wrong and really opens the eyes of many things people never accepted or seen in Malcom X.
The Coldest Winter Ever by Sister Souljah, 430 pgs.
ReplyDeleteIn this book the protagonist, Winter Santiaga, a spoiled, pampered teen is brought up in the projects of Brooklyn, New York. Her successful drug dealing father, Ricky Santiaga gave Winter and her three sisters anything and everything money could buy. Throughout the book readers follow Winter through her life. We see the good and the bad. Everything in Winter’s world changes when her mother is shot in the face and her father gets sent to prison. After these major events Winter is on her own because her sisters get taken away and she soon enters the House of Success which is a group home for teen girls. Living here Winter does anything for money. She later gets back together with her old boyfriend Bullet. Just for his money. Her life quickly goes back to rich and fabulous. Since Bullet also sold drugs he was constantly running from the police. One day they arrive at his car and as Bullet is escaping Winter is left behind to take the blame. She is given a 15-year prison sentence for transporting drugs. By the end of the book Winter and her father are both in prison and only see each other at her mothers funeral. As for Winter’s sisters, Porsche is now following in Winter’s foot steps which foreshadows what her life will soon become.
One quote that stood out to me was “people who panicked made stupid mistakes, overlooked critical things”(pg.88). I found this quote interesting because I believe that it is true. Those who panic often times do end up messing things up for themselves. Another quote that stood out to me was “she’ll learn for herself. That’s just the way it is”(pg. 430). This quote proves that you cannot depend on anyone but yourself in life. Overall, I loved this book. I never like reading and I was able to finish this book in two days. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves drama, and likes to read things that are real and keep you wanting to know more. With this book I think there is a lesson the reader could learn. Which is, not everything in life is perfect and you must work hard for what you want. The only thing I disliked about the book is that there isn’t a sequel.
I read a self-improvement novel called the 50th law by 50 cent and Robert Greene, 201 pages. I purchased it for myself because 50 cent is one of my favorite artists and he is very successful in his business. The novel is mainly about FEAR and how it historically modified the human psychology. I learned that, "fear is the oldest and strongest emotion known to man, something deeply inscribed in our nervous system and subconscious",(pg.3). Supposedly, our fear began in our prehistoric years, way before civilization evolved into what it is today.
ReplyDeleteI recommend this book to anybody that is "soul searching" or just need some guidance on how to overcome their fear. I'm a person that is deep into philosophy so this was a good thing for me to run into. A reader would recognize that, "we place unnecessary limits on what the mind can accomplish, and what becomes our reality", (pg.81). I knew as a student this could be true for me because of the intimidation I felt from my previous classmates that had obtained honor rolls for their grades and me scoring a C average because I hadn't believed in myself that I could be in that position; but before one reads this book, that reader must first be open minded to new perspectives on how to view society and how it plays a big role on your life when trying to accomplish goals or pursuit happiness. I look forward to reading similar books like this, this year in English 12.