Weekly Book Response #3

NAME Maddie DATE 10/19/10

TITLE Elephant Run TIME 4  HOURS

AUTHOR Ronald Smith PAGES 1- 318

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK 318 

        The book Elephant Run was one of the best books I have ever read. It was a fascinating and exciting story of a boy trying to survive in World War II and save his family and friends. It was a thrilling and action-packed adventure that kept you turning the pages to figure out more. I loved reading this story and I learned a lot of new interesting things about Burmese culture. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrilling adventures and captivating plots.


      This book had a lot of very strong points but there was one line that really stood out to me. It was, "In the end, the only thing that really matters is family.  These are the people who will be beside you when you die. Or you at theirs." It was so meaningful; family is the only thing that survives through thick and thin. Family will always be there for you when you need them, they stay by your side. This book refers a lot to the importance of family but this quote meant a lot to me. Family is what it all comes down to, those are the people that you can trust, the people that know you the most. There was so much power behind those words, so much strength. The reason Nick's father pushed himself through each day at a rough labor camp was the image of seeing his son when the war had ended. Family will give anything for each other. Their bonds are so strong that nothing can break them; nothing can tear them apart. Indaw stayed at his labor camp because he knew if he escaped his sister could be killed. Families give their lives for each other, everything they have. This quote shares the importance and strength of family and the power that it holds.  


       Many of things I read in this book surprised me. The war was shocking. How could these soldiers be so senseless to shoot someone on the spot, to behead people that were in defiance. They lived every day, they slept and woke up, they ate and drank, they had families too, but they were different. These soldiers were ruthless, they killed innocent adults and children. They enslaved all of the Burmese and forced them to work as slaves or in camps. This was shocking to me. Some of these people had families and children, how could they look into the eyes of people who's children they had just killed? How could they not feel any pain when they looked at the starving people they had enslaved? Yet they felt no remorse or pain, only hatred. That was another thing that surprised me in this book, the hatred. People in this war had such strong hate for each other. They would be willing to kill the other, some of them wanted to. These people did not know each other, their back rounds or who they were, but they were willing to take their lives away. The hatred was that strong.


       I felt a lot of different emotions while reading this book, I was scared for Nick, I wanted him to escape and save his family and friends and I wanted the war to be over. Every minute Nick spent as a slave he was in danger. When he escaped with Mya every second they were at risk of being discovered. If they were discovered they would be killed. I was always scared and worried about what could happen, the dangers they were facing and the threats that it could have on their life. Everything had a risk, a chance of death, nothing was safe. I was scared for Nick and Mya and wanted them to escape. I was sad for the soldiers like Sonji that were forced to work in the war, the innocent people they had to watch be murdered or starve to death. Also, I was angry. Angry at the people who started the war, killed all these people, and separated all these families. What right did they have to take over this land and murder these innocent people? I thought about all the pain and suffering, on both sides. I wondered, is this really worth it? Through out this book I have felt scared for Nick and Mya,and felt fear and sadness for the soldiers and families lost in the war. Also, I felt anger at the people who started this war and the pain and death it caused.
  

        I think the authors message in this book was not only about the power that war has. The anger and hate of people and the fights that cost many people's lives. This story shows the life of a country that couldn't fight back even though some wanted to. A people were taken over and treated as prisoners of war. This story is about a couple people's lives as they lived through the war and eventually ran away together. The unfairness of wars and the obstacles they had to overcome. But there was another message even deeper then that. Family and friendship was one of the main themes in this book. The power that families have, they will do anything for each other. As you grow your friends will change and you will meet new people and forget about the old ones. Family is not like that. You are always family, through everything that happened, is happening, or will ever happen. Family keeps us going through the day, the people who will put our broken pieces back together. We need them and they need us, we keep each other going. The power and love that families have is a big part of this story during the war. The sacrifices people made and the pain they went through. Nick's father was dying he hung onto his life for longer than anyone could expect, he survived. It was just so he could see his sons face once again that kept him clinging for his life. That is what it all comes down to, family. These are the people that have known you forever and will know you forever. Family is the glue between our many cracks that keeps us going and patches us back together. You can always count on family. This book taught me a lot about the importance of family, I have never read anything like it. I really enjoyed reading it and learned a lot.

I am reading Elephant Run by Ronald  Smith.

Weekly Book Response

NAME Maddie Menke DATE 10/14/10 TITLE Catching Fire TIME_5_HOURS

AUTHOR  Suzanne Collins  PAGES  1 - 391

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK_391  

        This book was amazing, just like the first one was, with a lot of action and suspense. I could not put it down. My favorite line is something that Katniss, the main character said. "I'm sorry, Peeta, I think. I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Save him? More likely I stole his last chance at life, condemned him, by destroying the force field. Maybe, if we had all played by the rules, they might have let him live." This quote was so meaningful to me because of the power of her words. She was going to kill him, kill them all, but it was for the greater good. To defeat the real enemy, the leader of the games. She was sad that she couldn't save him, keep him alive even though he would rather die than live in a world without her. This shows the power of their friendship. She wanted to die for him, to let him get a chance at life. It amazed me how she was ready to kill the four or five of her friends in the arena because she knew it was right, it was what she needed to do. She didn't let her feelings for them or for her own life get in the way but she fought for what she knew was right, she fought to take the Capitol down. I thought about the amazing strength she must have had to make that choice and this quote really stood out to me.

       I wondered about a lot of things while reading this book. I thought about the power of friendship and the amazing strength it has. The power of love, to protect someone, lay your life down for someone. In this book Katniss is willing to sacrifice herself for her friends, there are many examples of it throughout the story. She puts herself in between the man with the whip and Gale. She let the whip hit her in the face to protect him. Also, in the arena and throughout the book she has told Haymitch, their mentor, that they need to keep Peeta alive, no matter the cost. In the arena her only thoughts are to keep him alive. She wants to kill herself in the end and leave him as the victor of the games. I thought about the strength and power that friendship holds, the feeling that you could not manage to live without someone. Her feelings are so strong, at one point when she thinks that Peeta has been captured, she tries to find him, she wants to kill him so they wont torture him to his death. She is willing to kill him so he might not have the same horrible fate as her. This book talks a lot about the amazing power of friendship.

        What I found confusing in this book was all of Katniss's different emotions. She never knew what she felt. She had a two very interesting relationships with two boys in this book, Peeta and Gale. Both of them were in love with her but she did not know how she felt for them. She loved Peeta, she was completely willing to lay her life down for him but she didn't feel in love with him as he did for her. Everything she did was for their survival, to keep him alive. If that meant marrying him, that is what she would do. She loves Peeta and sometimes she felt like it is more than just a friendship but her feelings are always so confusing she just doesn't understand. With Gale it might have turned into something else but that is impossible now. He loved her and she loved him. He was her closest friend, she would do anything to protect him, but she never felt in love with him. She is hurting both of them, when she wants to help them, she wants them to understand. But she doesn't even understand herself.

        At the end of this book Katniss is rescued by Haymitch and reunited with her friends. They are running away from the sectors, running away from the Capitol. Now a lot of people are going against the Capitol, rioting, trying to escape. Katniss is the leader though she did not intend to be. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol even though Katniss had tried as hard as she could to protect him, she has been saved and now he is in danger. In the next book my prediction is that Katniss will go off on a journey to rescue Peeta from the hands of the Capitol and try to escape and find what could be in Sector Thirteen. They were told it was destroyed  but they show the same footage for every showing they have of it, if that is not really Sector Thirteen, what is? What is hiding there? My prediction for the next novel is that Katniss will take on an adventure to save Peeta and discover what lies in Sector Thirteen. 
         This book was astounding and I would definitely read another book by this author. Suzanne Collins has a very interesting style of writing and the way she writes books makes it impossible to put down. The suspense and action makes you hang on to every word. You want Katniss to live through the games, and you want Peeta to live through them too. But them both making it through is impossible. Suzanne Collins draws you closer to characters so you care about them when they are in danger and cry when they are hurt or die. The way she writes this story makes you feel that you are in the arena with Katniss and Peeta, you feel their fear and pain. She writes about many things that leave you up in bed at night wondering. What is right and what is wrong? What you want might not always be the best answer. Suzanne Collins talks about the power of sacrifice and the strength of friendship. Chasing Fire was an amazing book that I recommend you read!

I am reading Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.

Weekly Reading Response

NAME  Maddie M DATE 10/07/10

TITLE The Hunger Games TIME  3   HOURS

AUTHOR Suzanne Collins PAGES 0  - 374

TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK 374

         The book I read was a exhilarating novel that I could not put down.  It had suspense, action, and emotions that could make you laugh or cry for the characters. This was a thrilling story that made you feel like you were there in the book and some moments took my breath away. This book made me angry at first, I was mad when Katniss had to go to the hunger games and leave what she had behind. Her sister, her mother, her whole life. She could be saying goodbye to her life forever, it was very likely. But I was surprised at how much compassion I felt toward her as she held back her tears even though she was going into a situation that she might not live to talk about. How she held her head high even though inside she was breaking. Throughout this story I have been disgusted by the hunger games. How they are considered a sport, a game, entertainment for viewers. How could they so thoughtlessly kill twenty three innocent children every year to something they called a game? It was horrifying. I was surprised at how easily the kids could adjust to the mind set of killing each other. The hatred that flowed between each other. It shocked me at how ready to kill each other they were. How eager to survive. That was their only thought, survival. Anything they could do to live for one day longer. 

         In this book I had many different feelings. I was angry at the people who put these children in the hunger games. It was murder. Watching the horrifying deaths of twenty three children seemed like cruel entertainment. I was also scared for Katniss, every day she was in danger. Anyone could pop in front of her and kill her before she could do anything.  Every night I waited in fear that someone could creep up on her in her sleep and take away her life. In the morning when she arose I would breathe a deep sigh of relief. It was so easy to die in there. Her only way of survival was to kill all the others. You could win but at what cost? I had contradicting feelings, I didn't want Katniss to die, I wanted her to make it through with all of my heart. But what about the lives of the others? Those were people, children who had lives too. It was confusing, what I knew was right and what I wanted were impossible. Only one could win but how could she kill all the others. How could she live with herself with the death of all those people on her shoulders? If you won you became famous and it would change your life forever, if you lost you died. I didn't want anyone to die but I wanted Katniss to live, to make it through the games no matter what it cost her.  

         What surprised me was how the people and the president were convinced this solution of the hunger games was the best way to prevent people from rebelling. How they could so easily kill twenty three people without feeling any remorse. They considered it a game. It also shocked me how desperate these children were to live. Everything Katniss did was based on survival, she weighed all options of her survival and what was the best to do. It amazed me how she could live for another day with the only things she had. She always had a plan, a way of escape, a way to defend herself. They all knew that survival was only possible without the others and their own survival meant that much to them. Alliances were good until it came down just to two people. You couldn't get close to someone because you could be the one to have to end their life. It surprised me but it made sense, these were children who everyday worried about their survival. They knew how to take care of themselves. I just thought that if I was in the same situation I would not be able to end another person's life just so that I could live. It wouldn't be worth it. My life isn't worth the death of someone else and the grieving and pain that it would cost their friends and family. It surprised me the power of their will to live.

         
        This book was taken place in a future time and it made me think about our future. Could we end up like this? All our essence of humanity lost in a game of murder?  It made me think about how far we have come in our existence. The lessons we have learned. That murder is not a form of entertainment and how we do not force people to do things so they wont rebel. Our society seems much more advanced then theirs and it makes me wonder what the future has to hold for us. I think one of the themes in this book is the power and strength of our ideas and beliefs. The power of the will to survive. Katniss knows that these games are not right and she stands up against the people in charge. She will not let them make her kill her only friend in the hunger games, the one who saved her life. When she began the games she thought she would be able to kill any one of them to survive but she couldn't take his life away, he was her friend.  This book is about following what you know is right and being determined to get your goal no matter what the odds. You always have a chance, it doesn't matter how unlikely it is, nothing is impossible. Stand up for what you believe in and don't let someone make you change your views. The Hunger Games is about fighting for what you know is right and never giving up. This was an amazing story that taught me many new things.

I am reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.