This Semster's books

This semester I have read so many books that, I am not able to remember all of them. They were all good but with the rush of school, work, and home activates, time seems to fly by like a cheetah with its tail on fire. I always read fictional books like syfy and fantasy. The appeal of another world is so great, and the escape of melting into that otherworld get me all excited, and I always have trouble putting the book down.

· Tempted (336pages): This novel by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast is one of my favorite reads for this semester. Tempted is the sixth book in the House of Night series. The House of Night series is about a group of vampire friends living in a world where vampires are discriminated against when they just want a happy life like everyone else. This book was a bit different from the other five. The chapters switched back and forth from one character to another and I was not sure that I would like that at all. I was afraid that I would hate it and it would ruin the book, but I feel that in the end that method really made the book have so much more depth and made it so much more interesting. The main character, Zoey Redbird, in this series is always going up against some dark evil, and in this novel she is faced with the same previous evils she faced in the last novel and they are posing as a couple that they are not in an attempt to take over the world and declare war on the humans. In this book she ends up losing something that is so dear to her it could tear apart ones soul for good. She is such a strong character, and a great leader. If she were real I would want to be on her side that is for sure. Another complaint I have about this novel is that the plot is somewhat slow, it takes forever to reach a climax, but the climax was a good one so I guess it evens out.

· Blue Moon(284pages): This is a novel by Alyson Noel. This is the second book in the series known as the immortals. Something I noticed when I picked the first book and this book up to read is that the author does not capitalize the title, her name, or the name of the series. It makes me wonder, does she do this so kinda show the reader that when one lives thousands of hundreds of years such little things like capitalization is not seen as important. It becomes a boring time wasting task. The main girl in this novel is named Ever. She is a girl that can be described as a loner. She lost her family when she was 13 and she only has a couple friends until she falls in love with a man named Damen. Which all happens in the first novel. Now (in this novel) something is wrong with Damen, her soul mate, and Ever has to find out who is causing the change and why before she loses him forever. But in her search she faces a chance to go back and save her family and return to her old life. Which will she choose her family of the man that it connected to her soul whom she could not live without?

· Eternal (307pages) This book has the theme of Angel in love with a vampire. At first, it is a bit different, but as the book progresses a forbidden love forms and causes chaos. Miranda was just a regular girl with a guardian angel that always watched her but she never knew. Then one night her and her best friend go out to meet some guys and both of their lives change forever, and Zachary her angel falls. I like this book. It is not my favorite but it was enjoy about. The story line was good. It did take me forever to read at first because I had trouble getting into it. There is a moral to the story though that is so important and so sweet.

Should Homosexuals Have the Same Rights?

Gay people are people too. This is a statement that few Americans believe in, few humans believe in, but it is a very true statement. According to an article by Brian Montopoli in CBS new, "forty-two percent of Americans now say same sex couples should be allowed to legally marry." This poll information was posted April 27, 2009. Twenty-five percent agree that gays should be allowed to have civil unions, but not marriages, and twenty-eight percent want gays to have no legal recognition what-so-ever.

They are people with souls, minds, hearts, and the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They should have all the rights that "straight" people have, which includes the right to be joined in marriage, a beautiful ceremony that represents love, commitment, and dedication for one another. But in our society today gay marriage is seen as an abomination, and a statement against God.

There are many scriptures in the bible about homosexuality in the bible such as:
Leviticus 20: 13
If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

But there are so many other scriptures, that out weigh the number of homosexuality scriptures, which talk about issues that are against God that we a a human race do not fight so strongly against. Sex before marriage for example:
Jude 1:7
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.

So if you read and follow these scriptures exactly then if you are gay all you have done is committed an abomination that you can repent for, because God is forgiving and if he can forgive us for taking a live then he can forgive you acting in the manor that he has made you. But if you have sex before you are married then you are going to go to be punished with the "eternal fire," which I assume we all know what that refers too.

Some may argue that there is not a problem with sex before marriage so this comparison has no backing, but sadly they are mistaken. Melissa S. Kearney brings forth some very startling data on teen and non-marital childbearing. According to Melissa S. Kearney's article entitled Teen and Non-Marital Childbearing, in 2001 there were 1.1 million pregnancies that were to unmarried women in their twenties.

Even the 36th president of the United States, while signing the Voting Rights Act, said that gay marriage "must come; it is right that it should come. And when it has, you will find that a burden has been lifter from your shoulder," according to Taylor Harris with The Washington Post. If the human population would open their minds a bit more, and accept people for the way they are then we could cast that burden of fretting over same sex marriage aside. In doing this we could focus on the more pressing issues in the world, such as: the sudden changes in climate, global warming, and how we can fix them, new ways to protect the environment, sources of energy that are Eco-friendly, and efficient so that we can preserve fossil fuels.

Discrimination Against Language...What is American Coming too?

?Que? No lo entiendo. Translation: What I do not understand. It is becoming apparent that if a person does not speak what we as Americans call english, then that person is breaking a law, a law that does not against, a law that some Americans have created in their own minds. Something needs to be done to protect theses people that have all the right to be here in the U.S. and speak their fluent tongue just as much as we do. Don't think other tongues are being discriminated? Read the following story and its links.

According to an editorial in the New York times, police in Dallas have been giving tickets to people who could not speak, or understand fluently, english. The tickets were an outrageous $204! In the main article about this situation, which was written by Scott Goldstein in the Dallas News, it is said that, "Dallas police wrongly ticketed at least 39 drivers for not speaking english over the last three years." Most of these 39 drivers, according to Scott's article, were pulled over, charged with for their violation, but also charged for being a "non-english speaking driver." As stated by the New York Times, "all but one of these drivers were Hispanic."

I would say that this is an eye opening situation to what our nation is breaking down too. Most people do not want to focus on the bigger problems in our world, such as our growing national debt, our crippled economy, starving people near us and far away, so they begin cracking down on the little things that frustrate them, or confuse them.

One may say that the ticket incident was a fluke in their computers or a complete accident, but could a fluke or an accident happen 39 times over a three year period? And the ticket case is not the only situation where people of different languages are discriminated against. Kids are discriminated at school, adults and teens are discriminated in the work place. It's heart breaking to claim but, the evidence is all over, and if one pays attention then they will see and hear it.

I have heard kids, and adults alike, say "If they cannot speak english they do not need to be here," and when I hear that said over and over again, I laugh to myself, because our U.S. Congress never sat down and said, "The official language of this nation is English." Mind you that what we call english is really not english, it is a mix of nations, tongues, and regions I like to call American English because there is no other language like it. That being said, shouldn't we as a land of equal opportunities accept these other languages and the people that speak them? These people enrich out nation and bring variety and diversity.

Cell Phones...Friends or Foes?

Cell phones have become an unsuspecting weapons almost more than they have become useful tools.According to a group called Lawcore, on an average, there are more that 6 million car accidents on the roads of the U.S., annually. The rate of accidents caused by texting and driving are rapidly shooting toward the sky, and teenagers are not they only ones at fault. People of all ages have been swept up in the hazardous phenomenon of texting and driving.

Here are a few stories about texting related accidents which involve a range of ages which have been recorded by the website momlogic:

Bailey Goodman, 17, was killed along with four of her fellow cheerleaders when she swerved into oncoming traffic, hit a tractor-trailer and her SUV burst into flames. Five days later, the five teenagers would have graduated from high school. Two minutes before the crash it was reported, her phone was used to send a text greeting to a friend.


Ashley D. Miller, 18, veered into oncoming traffic and hit another car head on while she was texting. She and the other driver, a 40-year-old mother of one, were killed instantly.

17-year-old Vana Francis and 15-year-old Ronnie Scoggins drowned when a car carrying seven teenagers drove off the road and into a river. The 20-year-old driver admitted she was texting on her cell phone when the car plunged into the water, and was later arrested.

18-year-old Makayla Lynn Belew was killed when a text-messaging driver hit her as she walked along the side of the road and then the driver drove away from the scene. A year later, Larry Chad Smithey, 28, was arrested for the crime.

Something needs to be done about this terrible situation the world has fallen in. Some may argue that most states have made laws that ban texting for all drivers, or for drivers under the age of 18, but does this law really keep anyone from texting and driving? How could it? It is like the law that does not allow people under the age of 18 to buy cigarettes, kids under that age still find a way to by pass this law.

Many teens, and adults alike, have developed the ability to text with out looking. They may argue that this puts them at a better chance at not having a wreck, but they are sadly mistaken. Most people do not realize how little they are able to focus on the world around them when they are texting.

As recorded by a writer at hubpages.com, MRI brain scans taken while the patient partook in a driving simulation, shows that when a driver concentrates on driving the spatial awareness region of the brain sparks to life(click here to learn more about the spatial awareness regions of the brain). The same patient was then taken and put in a driving situation, and engaged in a cell phone conversation. The difference between the two simulations was that in the cell phone engaged simulation the part of the brain that controls, speech, language, and language understanding becomes alert and the spatial region of the brain is reduced in function by 37%. One may think, "Oh that's not too big of a difference. Driving is still possible." True as it may be that driving is possible, it is not true that driving in such a spatial reduction is safe. Texting while driving increases a persons chances of a crash by 23%, according to the author of this article, at hubpages.com.

We as a country need to slam a fist down and put a halt to this growing epidemic.According to an article in the Maryland Gazette, we have the technology to stop unnecessary cell phone use while driving. This wonderful technology is called cellcontrol and it was crated by a man that was almost hit by a person who was texting and driving. This amazing device regulates what calls can get through a phone, and what calls can be made. Text messages are also monitored and all operations that need to be ended, or changed can simply be done online at home. As of October 28, 2009 there are 20 people using cellcontrol, and a total of 75 devices in use. If these numbers do not increase then the roads will continue to be more and more dangerous as more and more people text and drive.




This blog post was was inspired by this article by Megham Daum with the Los Angeles Times.

Sentence12

Novel: Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

His Sentence

How much of the world did people miss because they were not calm enough, empty enough, to experience it?

Commentary: Cole has had a revelation and is asking some rhetorical questions, and out of all the rhetorical questions he asks himself, I like this one. I like this sentence for the simple fact that people do miss a lot of the world because they are to busy and stressed. Humans are too rushed and crammed for time to realize the beauty around them. I feel that the author used these rhetorical questions to get the reader to realize that there is a lot in the world and sometimes it is best to sit back relax, accept, become empty (not in a depressed way in an enlightened spiritual way), and experience the world around them in a new sweeter, magnificent view.

My Sentence

How much of what he said to me was a lie because he was not strong enough, brave enough, to tell the truth?

Sentence11

Novel: Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

His Sentence

It was as if the sky was holding it's breath.

Commentary: At this moment in the text, the poor boy has been hurt dearly and just awoke to dead quiet and stillness. This use of personification to describe the stillness and the loss of sound makes me oooo and aaaaa. I try to imagine the sky holding it's breath, and the sentence it's self just sounds beautiful to me, even though the situation in the book is a very eerie one, far from beautiful. It is as if the whole world is watching this boy endure all the trials and the sky is worried about what will happen next, just like a lot of people with they watch horror movies and all goes quiet in the movie. The holding of breath brings anxiety.

My Sentence

It was as if the ocean was dancing with me.

Sentence10

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Her sentence

Prim comes home from school bubbling over with excitement.

Commentary: This is a very straight forward sentence with a cute little metaphor weaved within (bubbling over with excitement.) When I think of something bubbling over I think of a big batch of blowing bubbles dripping over the rim of the container. When I think of Katniss's little sister Prim running into the house bubbling over with excitement I can see he bouncing around like bubbles. In the times that this family are dealing with it warms the heart to know that they can still be happy over the simple things such as wedding pictures. So this is kind of a way of lightening the mood for a soon to be terrible scene.

My Sentence

I ran to the house from town dripping with enthusiasm.

Sentence 9

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins



Her Sentence

So if I don't show up, worry they will.


Commentary: This sentence struck me are unique. I thought of Yoda when I read it. If I am not mistaken Collins has used a from of hyperbaton known as inversion in this balanced sentence. Inversion is when the verb is placed in front of the subject to bring about a different effect for the sentence. The effect that I feel that Collins is trying to bring about is Katniss is deeply concerned about her family worrying about her, with all that is going on they may panic and end up getting in trouble.


My Sentence

I have to clean my room or sink it will.

Sentence 8

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Her Sentence

Prim.

Commentary: This is a fragment,obliviously, but a lot is felt in this one noun sentence with no verb. Prim is Katniss's sister and with the Capital hot on Katniss's, thinking that she purposefully defied them, Katniss's main concern is her sister and her sister's well being. Suzanne Collins purposely made this fragment to show that Prim was Katniss's only thought, her biggest worry. The use of this fragment pulls the readers emotions. It personally made me think of the one person that I cared the most about in the whole world, and what I would do to save them in a time like Katniss was going through.

My Sentence

Dakota.

Sentence 7

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Her Sentence
Tossing her head, she lets out a long, eerie howl that is picked up by other mutts nearby.


Commentary: Katniss is dreaming about a Career from the last Hungry Games, the one that she was in, named Glamour. I do not want to ruin the first book for anyone so I will say no more on the topic =). Having read the first book I can see Glamour howling and preparing to tear Katniss to shreds, and I must say the images shakes me. In sharing this dream the reader is able to relive parts of the past novel, and see how badly the games have scared Katniss. This visual in this sentence derives from the participial phrase at the beginning of the sentence. We can all visualize any creature tossing their heads back toward the sky, and most people have heard a howl, either real or fake, and know the feeling that it sends down the spine.

My sentence

Throwing her bag on the couch, Joshlyn relaxes with a deep, refreshing nap that is interrupted by her young brother.

Sentence 6

Novel: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

Pg. 3

His Sentence: I can still see Hassan up on the tree, sunlight flickering through the leaves on his almost perfect round face, like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire.

I was really able to feed off of the simile that he used in this sentenced. I could see a perfect little Chinese Doll, the only flaw being the cracked lip up to the nose (his clef lip). I am also able to really see the bamboo leaves for eyes that are different colors at different times. I could see the leaves changing colors like all leaves do during the summer. This may be a bit out there but the what I am getting from this is that the light to Hassan's eyes is like seasons to the colors of leaves. Such a beautiful description and such a beautiful thought.

My Sentence: Joshlyn could still see her lover in her mind, strenght radiating around the air in his proximit, like a radioactive star fallen to the earth: his thick, muscled body arching, full lips like juciy fruits, lips that curled, depending on the situation, up, down, crooked, and even and even forward.

Sentence 5

Novel: Blue Moon By Alyson Noel

pg.11

Her Sentence

I swallow hard and look at her, knowing exactly what she's after, hoping to kill two birds with one meal.

Commentary: The first thing that I noticed about this sentence was that she said, "kill two birds with one meal," aside from saying, "kill two birds with one stone," which made me giggle. I had to read the sentence twice to make sure that I read it right. Ever, the main character, is talking about her aunt who is afraid that Ever is not eating, and that Ever may not be with the right guy. So her aunt is wanting to take her and her boyfriend out to eat on the weekend, which will confirm or deny her worrisome feelings about Ever. I think I spot a gerund phrase in the middle of the sentence, I love gerund phrases and I love this whole sentence.

My Sentence

I run fast and look at death, knowing what he wants with me, catching another soul with one sweep of his scythe.

Sentence 4

Novel: Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen

pg 26

His sentence:

He wanted revenge but felt little joy from this act.

Commentary: This sentence does not exactly sparkle to me, but as I was reading the sentence did make me stop and think about what was going on. The main character Cole had just burned down the only shelter on the isolated island he had been sentence to stay on for a year. He thought that in burning the shelter he would hurt those who put him there. When I read this sentence one thought came into my mind so strong I had to say it out loud in the middle of class...DUH! This sentence made me wish that I could walk up to this kid and put the palm of my hand in the middle of his force head and yell, "Why on earth would you think that would give you joy and revenge!?!?!?" Now that I have finished the novel I believe that the author did this on purpose to make the reader get mad, or laugh, different reactions for different people, in order to get the reader emotionally involved in the story.

My sentence:

She desired love but felt little fulfillment from the event.

Sentence 3

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins


Pg122



Her Sentence :

I imagine these things and I'm terrified, but let's face it: they've been lurking in the back of my brain anyway.



Commentary: In this passage Katniss is thinking about the Peacekeepers coming in and getting her and shooting her for something that she has recently done that might lead to a rebellion. These are just thoughts of course but she almost lives through them as she thinks about them. Collins could have made this sentence into two separate sentences, but she did not. I like the way this sounds better than the two simple sentences that she could have used. Using this wording shows Katniss's acceptance and despair that she is not as tough as she would like to be, and that the Capital does really scare the britches off of her. When she says "they've been lurking in the back of my brain anyway," I can just see a little thought creature crawling around on all fours. Great use of personification.



My Sentence:

I paint these landscapes and I am content, but let's face it: I have been wanting more in the bottom of my heart.

Sentence 2

Novel: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Pg 117

Her Sentence:
What a pair we were - fatherless, frightened, but fiercely committed, too, to keeping our families alive.

Commentary: I love this sentence. When I read this sentence I can feel emotions stir within me, and I feel like I better understand the character. Katniss is reflecting back on the beginning of her life with Gale and as I read I can feel the reminiscing simmering deep in my heart. Such sweet yet sorrowful memories. I noticed that instead of making to separate sentences with this one sentence she combined the two. Making the second half feel more like a thought to the reader, and to show that Katniss was in fact thinking and reliving memories. Collins also uses a type of consonance within this sentence. Katniss says, "fatherless, frightened, but fiercely committed..." This use of consonance beats the point home that life is hard, but the have to always tough through it. That is their only sane choice. The other is to starve and watch their family starve, and no one wants that. Collins show the reader that no matter how tough things in life may be there is always a way to make it though, and everyone has to be strong no matter what.

My Sentence: What an alliance we were - scattered, scorned, but savagely dedicated, also, to surviving this terrible game.

Sentence One

Her Sentence: Over the years the odors of liquor and vomit, boiled garbage and burned meat, unwashed clothes and mouse droppings have intermingled into a stench that brings tears to my eyes.








My Sentence: Through the years the scents of coffee and vanilla, boiled cinnamon and roasted barley, untainted love and lavenders petals have interlaced into an aroma that brings joy to my soul.

Commentary: With the sentence that Suzanne Collins has written, describing the house of Haymitch, there are many descriptive words and phrases that most everyone has experienced or heard about. Thus, it is hard not to wrinkle your nose along with Katniss when reading it. I could see the vomit, liquor, burnt meat, and mounds of mouse droppings all over the floor, and I could smell and almost taste the nasty rotten stench. I tried to take a more pleasant route with my sentence. =)

Book: Catching Fire


Page: 13


Paragraph: 3

A Whole New Mind: My Empathy Experience

I just finished the novel A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink and I found the whole novel to be very remarkable. I loved every line of every chapter and I intend on reading his other book Drive. In which he talks about what truly motivates us as human beings. While I was reading A Whole New Mind, I began to ask myself, “Do I think with the right side of my brain, the left side of my brain, or the both sides of my brain?” Daniel H. Pink provides many ways to encourage thinking with the right side of the brain.


One of the six aptitudes or “six senses” that Daniel discusses is empathy. As Pink states, “Empathy is the ability to imagine yourself in someone else’s position and to intuit what that person is feeling.” The first ideal that I learned at the beginning of the empathy chapter is that empathy and sympathy are two completely different actions. Sympathy is feeling bad for some one. Empathy is a deeper emotion, or action. When one feels with someone else, he or she is being empathic.


Ending the empathy chapter is an empathy portfolio, and in the portfolio, Pink lists ways to enhance, identify, or research empathy. I personal chose, out all the great ideas, to take the EQ test. The reason I chose the EQ test is because I was curious as to how empathic I am. This test measures a persons’ Empathy Quotient (EQ), and determines if you have a “female brain.” To be honest I was also interested in finding out if I had a what passed for a female brain just as much as I was to learn my empathy level. The EQ test was constructed by Simon Baron-Cohen, and is only a mere sixty questions long. The test only took me three minutes to take tops. Here is my result and all the possible results:


Your score: 59
0 - 32 = low (most people with Asperger Syndrome or high-functioning autism score about 20)33 - 52 = average (most women score about 47 and most men score about 42)
53 - 63 is above average
64 - 80 is very high
80 is maximum


I am very happy with my results, and I encourage everyone to try this little test. This test is located at this link: http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/EmpathyQuotient/EmpathyQuotient.aspx

Pink also tells of a test that will determine if you have a “male brain.” Simon Baron-Cohen made the “male brain” test along with the EQ test. The “male brain” test’s formal name is the SQ (systematizing quotient) test. Finding out how systematic my brain and I are sounds very appealing and enlightening. The link for the SQ test is as follows: http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/SystemizingQuotient/SystemizingQuotient.aspx

The End ofa Great Year

WOW! I cannot believe that we have already made our journey through a whole sophomore year. Everything zipped by faster than a roadrunner running from a coyote. All the seniors are gone. I miss them so much, but in two more years, we will be the ones going off to bigger and better things.

This year is full of so many great memories. The girls track team won state again, I was so happy. I enjoyed all the track meets so much. I have found that I love to run so much, and all the pain is worth it in the end. We had a wonderful play this year, Oklahoma. All the students involved did a tremendous job performing the play. I had no idea that Andrew Cox could sing until I went to the play. Another little event that I will never forget is our English Debates. Those were so much fun. I was scared at first because I had no idea what I was doing, but when time to perform came along, I was in it to win it.

I have learnt so much this year. I have a better idea of what field I want to go into when college rolls around the corner, and I have a plan all made out. One subject that I have learned that I never thought I would be able to comprehend, that I was afraid of trying to learn, was the human body. I now know what makes the human body tick, where all the bones and organs are, along with their proper names, and how the heart works to keep us alive. I have also learned that there are lot of No No’s in writing, and my English teacher has broke me of them. I used to say the word it all the time, and now I get annoyed when my little brother says the world three times in the same sentence.

Next year we will be juniors, how unbelievable is that? I just cannot wrap my mind around that concept, and I probably will not fully do so until the third week into our junior year. This year was great and I am sad that it is almost gone, but I am ready to reach higher heights, and reach a deeper knowledge. So come on let us go rock out this summer and come back ready to take the world on headfirst.

Of Mice and Men

Everyone knows about the Dust bowl of 1931, but not everyone knows what life during the Dust bowl was like. John Steinback was there in California at the time of the Dust bowl and he knows how life was. John Steinback wrote the novel Of Mice and Men to show how life was during that time. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinback, is a great novel. I have to be honest; Of Mice and Men stunned me to my core. Of Mice and Men is a very eye-opening novel.

The main characters in this novel are two men named George, and Lennie. George is a skinny defined man, while Lennie is a more rounded. Lennie is also special, which becomes very evident within the first few pages of the novel. Lennie is slow minded, and his favorite thing to do is pet soft objects or animals. Lennie also tends to mimic Georges movement. If George rests his head on his hands then Lennie looks at him and tries rest his head on his hands just like George are. George is like a father to Lennie. George protects Lennie and has been watching over him ever since Lennie’s aunt passed away. George and Lennie are traveling partners, and they travel from job to job collecting their stake.

The two men have a great dream in mind. They intend to take all the stake that they are saving up from their jobs and buy some land over their own. George promises Lennie that is he behaves he will let him take care of the rabbits that they will have on their future ranch. George tells Lennie that he can feed the rabbits the alfalfa that they will grow. The dream to own land was not only a dream of George and Lennie. All the men at the time of the Dust bowl wished to own their own piece of property in which they could run on their own, without someone bossing them around. Hardly any men reached that dream, because times were very hard and everyone needs to find their own comfort to get them along, and sometimes such comforts cost money.

John Steinback really captured the life of men at the time of the Dust bowl. I will admit that the men had fowl language, but what is to be expected of men living in such hard times. Steinback showed the hardships that men went through and all the hard decisions that each man had to make. Some men were privileged, such as the ranch owners and their families; while other men were under privileged, such as the ranch workers that bucked barley and lived in bunker houses. John illustrates that the people living in the time of the Dust bowl lived with only the bare essentials of living.

I highly recommend that everyone read Of Mice and Men at sometime in their life. I would recommend that younger kids wait until they reach high school before reading the novel, because of the language, but nonetheless they should read it. I loved how close George and Lennie were. They only had each other, which is why the ending of the story really surprised me. John Steinback really knew what he was doing when he wrote this story, and because he was alive during the time of the Dust bowl, his knowledge and passion on the subject really shown through. I hope to read more of his books to see how great they are. I plan to read The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl, and Travels with Charlie.

The House on Mango Street

Have you ever been the new kid at school, or been the new kid in the neighborhood, because you and your family just moved? Most of us have moved before, and most of us can say that at some point we have been the new kid. Sometimes being the new kid is easy, and making friends is a breeze. This is not always true, unfortunately. Every so often, a person will have problems when he or she moves. Some families move a lot; therefore, some kids never get to make new friends that they can keep. This can be tough on kids and adults alike. In the novelette, The House on Mango Street, the main character Esperanza Cordero is a child that does not have an easy life. This creative little novel by Sandra Cisneros was interesting and the whole story captivated me.



Esperanza is a sweet timid Hispanic girl that lives with her family of five on Mango Street. She has two brothers, a sister, Nenny, and her mom and her dad. Esperanza is embarrassed by the home that her and her family live in, but she likes the house they live in now better than the houses they lived in before. Her and her family has moved so much that she cannot think of a time when they have not been moving from home to home. Esperanza constantly dreams of getting a house of her own away from Mango Street and the people that live there; a house that she can be proud of . Throughout the story of Esperanza’s life, she meets many people on Mango Street that influence her growth. Esperanza sees herself as an ugly duckling, but she loves to protect the ones that she loves. She writes down all the adventures that she goes through, and all the information she found interesting about the people she meets while living on Mango Street. Once she is grown she realizes that no matter what life she escapes to Mango Street will always be a part of her, and she cannot change that.



The author Sandra Cisneros wrote this novelette in a way so that you get to see little parts of the main character’s life. When reading the novelette one gets a peek at all the small happenings that mold Esperanza throughout her life to make her strong and noble. Sandra Cisneros also show the reader what life is like for some Hispanic people. Life is not always gentle and easy. She shows the reader that life should never be taken for granted and that life is different for everyone.




The theme for this novelette is that no matter where you go in life, you cannot change your upbringing or the past that has shaped you. That past will always be a part of you, and will stay with you until the day that you die. No one can change their past; they just have to accept that the past is part of them. Esperanza realizes this once she is grown and ready to move on in life on her own.



This novella could take place anywhere. The events that occur with the main character and all the changes that she goes through could happen to anyone at anytime. I myself have gone through many moves and drastic changes that have shaped me into the person I am, and that is exactly what happens with Esperanza. People do not realize how hard life can be for people that are different from them. The difference could be race, religion, or political view, and people handle them all in their own way.



I really enjoyed reading this novel. I found The House on Mango Street to be a cute little read, with deep meaning, and an important message. People of all ages should read The House on Mango Street, and maybe even experiment on writing their own little novel about their live on their street. Sandra Cisneros wrote did a phenomenal job writing this novel, and I intend to read more of her works. Some more novels that she has written include Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories, Bad Boys, Caramelo, and Vintage Cisneros. These are just a few of her many popular pieces of work.