Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan Book Review

This book is called Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan. I had really enjoyed this book because I was able to really relate to it. The author bases the book off of the Indian culture. Since I am indian, I was able to really understand some of the terms the author uses.

I will provide just a brief summary of the book. Like many girls her age in India, thirteen-year-old Koly is getting married. When she discovers that the husband her parents have chosen for her is a sickly boy with wicked parents, Koly wishes she could flee. According to tradition, though, she has no choice. On her wedding day, Koly's fate is sealed. In the wake of her marriage, however, Koly's life takes an unexpected turn, and she finds herself alone in a strange city of white-sari-clad widows. Her only choice seems to be to shed her name and her future and join the hopeless hordes who chant for food. Even then, cast out into a current of time-worn tradition, this rare young woman sets out to forge her won exceptional future. And a life, like a beautiful tapestry, comes together for Koly--one stitch at a time.

Some people might find this book to be very disturbing because of certain actions that take place in the book. But, we as a society have to accept that these things do happen and we will have to live with it the rest of our lives.

The author's writing style was also very authentic and I would give this book a rating of 4 of 5 stars. I hope that you guys add this book to your list of future reads.

2nd Trimester Blog Reflection

One thing that I have learned this trimester is that I can be a great writer I really try. I learned a lot about myself and me as a writer. I have definitely grown as a more analytical writer this trimester thanks to the weekly blog posts.

One thing that definitely helped me to find some of the books that I read during this trimester is Goodreads. This site was a great help for me to look at some of the books that other people find interesting and their thoughts and ratings of the book. When I had some free time, I would go on Goodreads and look at some of the books that people rated as a 4 or a 5. And these are some of the books that I had enjoyed most throughout the trimester.

Some strengths that I had with blogging include summarizing, reviewing, and evaluating a given text. I was able to read a certain text and come up with my own summary of the text. I was also able pick out some important lines or pieces of text from a book and talk about it and also talk about how that line or piece of text relates back to the book as a whole. From one of my blog posts called Most Important Line from Chapter: Love. I created this blog post when I was reading the book Incantation by Alice Hoffman. I was able to pick out a line from one chapter and relate back to the chapter as a whole and the book as a whole as well.

One thing that I struggled with through this experience is being able to connect the text to anything else. I found it difficult to make connections with the text. I was able to make the connections while I was reading but I found it difficult to put my connections into words. I overcame or worked through this struggle by jotting down notes when I made a connection with the text. I would later use these notes to create a well-rounded blog post.

            The quality of my writing has definitely improved over the course of the trimester. My first blog post was the summer reading assignment blog post. I had the read the book Have a Nice Day by Julie Halpern. In this blog post, I mostly just summarize the book and I don’t take a closer look at the smaller details in the book. Towards the end of the trimester, I posted a post called Maximum Ride-School’s Out Forever Book Review. In this post, I talk about the summary of the book, the type of audience for this book, what I would rate the book and the writing styles that the author used when writing the book. I feel like I have definitely provided more information of the book and my thoughts about the book as well compared to the blog post at the beginning of the trimester.

            I really enjoyed blogging and independently reading this trimester. This opportunity allowed me to read a lot more than I would have without having to do the blog posts. I am definitely looking forward to reading a lot more and blogging next trimester for the English 1B class.

The Kite Runner

I started reading a new book called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I had first heard this book from a friend, who really enjoyed to plot of the story and how well the book was written overall. This book takes place in Afghanistan.
When people first hear the country name, Afghanistan. They usually think of a place where there are many wars. They also have that stereotypical mind set that if they cross the borders of Afghanistan that they might get killed and might not return back again. I wanted to read this book because, I know it would be much more different than the usual stereotypes.

According to the New York Times Book Review, "This powerful first novel tells a story of fierce cruelty and fierce yet redeeming love. Both transform the life of Amir, Khaled Hosseini's privileged young narrator, who comes of age during the last peaceful days of the monarchy, just before his country's revolution and its invasion by Russian forces. But political events, even as dramatic as the ones that are presented in The Kite Runner, are only a part of this story. In the Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini gives us a vivid  and engaging story that remind us how long his people have been struggling to triumph over the forces of violence-forces that continue to threaten them even today."

I really look forward to reading this book!

Nevermore by James Patterson Vocabulary

I am still in the process of reading the book, Nevermore by James Patterson. I want to dedicate this post to carefully examine the type of vocabulary that is used in this book so far. James Patterson used a great variety of vocabulary to enhance the writing and his style of writing as well. Reading this book, has definitely allowed me to recognized the different types of sentence structures that I can apply to improve my own writing as well.

For example, "The news anchor peered out at me with grave accusation. Yep, felt like a Monday." Words such as, "peered" and "accusation" definitely bring a different perspective to the story. Not only does the author use a great variety of vocabulary but he also incorporates some figurative language. He is comparing the news anchor staring out from the T.V which, makes him realize that it definitely feels like a Monday morning.

Another example, "When the image was crystal clear and the monotonous beeping had ceased, he cocked his head, listening to the talking head deliver the morning doom with unbeatable pep." The author uses words such as "monotonous". I also noticed how the author uses one word to describe something that he could have written in two or more words. How shows the readers a tip that "less is more".

Nevermore Author Review/ Romeo and Juliet

I have just starting reading the book, Nevermore by James Patterson. I haven't really got much into the book so I am going to dedicate this blog post to talk about the author.

James Patterson is a great author who wrote many great books which include the series of Maximum Ride. James Patterson was born on March 22, 1947 in Newburgh, New York. Patterson published his first novel in 1996, after retiring from a successful career in advertising. Patterson currently lives in Palm Beach, Florida with his wife, Susan, and son, Jack. He has published many books and also has some TV shows and films that he has started. He explains his other works in the following video. I hope you enjoy it.

Romeo and Juliet:
I am definitely enjoying Romeo and Juliet right now. I find it to be more interesting than what I expected it to be. I feel like I am kind of used to Romeo and Juliet because, I am able to understand the Elizabethan Language and derive the meaning out of it into my own words. I also noticed that there are some small characters in the play that definitely play a major role in the play. In some parts of the play, it is very comedic but there are also some tragic factors to it too. I personally feel like Romeo and Juliet is a great love story that may not turn out to have a very good ending.

Maximum Ride-School's Out Forever Book Review

I read the book Maximum Ride-School's Out Forever and I had really enjoyed the book. Not to spoil the book for you or anything but here is just a small summary just to get you going:

Max, Fang, Iggy, Gasman, Nudge, and Angel, six absolutely unforgettable kids. With some major problems. They are being hunted by killers. But who? It's even worse than that. Max is sure that a microchip has been inserted under her skin-leading freakish forces of evil to ambush them at any moment...and worse! She and hte others are supposed to save the world. But from what? when? and how? Max will stop at nothing to find answers. One thing she does know: it's got somehting to do with an astonishing ability they have that no other can claim. They can fly. Max's heart-stopping quest to protect her "family" and investigate the mind-blowing mystery of her ultimate destiny continues in the sariest, strangest, and funniest James Patterson thriller yet.

The type of audience that would enjoy this book would be any teenagers. This is because some of the vocabulary and writing style of the author is more upper class and yonger age children might not understand the book that well. This book is a suspense filled thriller and it would definitely draw the teenagers into this book.

I would give this book a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 with 1 bieng the lowest and 5 being the highest. This book had definitely drew me in and would not let me go till I had finished the book. But, the beginning of the book was slightly boring, but once all of the characters were introduced then, the actual action began and the book got more interesting.

The writing style the author used made the book even more interesting. This is becuase with the use of short and reasonably long sentences, it keeps the reader engaged and won't let them doze off without paying attention to the small details in the story that might make a difference in understanding the book as a whole. But, overall I really enjoyed this book and I am looking foreward to reading the next book in the Maximum Ride series.

Incantation Final Book Review





 

I have just finished reading the book, Incantation. I know I have already provided a summary of this book but, I would like to state it again. The book, Incantation is merely about a girl named Estrella deMadrigal. She thought she knew who she was: a loving friend, daughter, granddaughter, and sister. But again, truth is rare and very precious in the cruel country of Spain, where Jews who refused to convert to Christianity risked everything-love, life, family, and faith. Only one small action of hers is what shakes her entire life to the ground. That small action is a kiss, a kiss from someone who she is forbidden to love. When Estrella finally comes out of her dark hole, everything burns to the ground and her friendship crumbles along with her family. Estrella is now someone that she never could have imagined. That would conclude the summary of the book and I will not be telling anymore information of the book because, I want to keep you all waiting.

 

I had definitely enjoyed this book and I hope that you guys will too. A reader who would definitely enjoy this book is someone between the ages of 13-15. Someone could also read this book if they are interested in some friendship betrayal stories or a little bit of romance. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. The author's very intricate and detailed writing also made me rate this book very well. The author had used plenty of detail to explain the setting of the book and she also explains each every character very well. I really enjoyed this book and I hope that you guys enjoy this book as well.

 

Click Here To Watch A Summary Of The Book: Watch The Video Here