Example Post [Book Title-page #-Date]

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The Color of Water up to page
The family in Color of Water is very unusual.  First we have a white mother, who is a Polish Jew, a black father, & 12 kids. The mother for all intensive purposes is a single-parent and most likely is trying her best, but she is barely surviving. "She barely had time to wipe the behind of one child before another began screaming at the top of her lungs" (10). 

In some ways though, the story reminds me of To Kill a Mockingbird.  Atticus is a single parent, his kids play with each other and play pranks on one another, just like the siblings in Color of Water, but thankfully in TKAM Scout and Jem have a supportive neighborhood.  I think this is the big difference on the overall emotional health of Scout and Jem.  They appear to be well-adjusted.  Unlike the neighborhood in McBride's life. McBride and his family live in St. Albans, Queens, a predominantly black neighborhood where "Ma" sticks out like a sore thumb.  This controversy confuses the kids about their own identities and throws the kids into hiding whenever their mom rides through the streets on her blue bike.  "When I was a boy, I used to wonder where my mother came from, how she got on this earth.  When I asked her whre she was from, she would say, 'God made me,' and change the subject" (21).

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest up to page

On first reading, it is easy to assume that this story is simply a tale of members of a mental institution and all the "insane" events that surround them.  However, a deeper analysis reveals that this story is really about all of us, the sane and insane.  We are all institutionalized in some way.  For example, we are all a part of a system that follows rules, like school.  We are told to wear certain clothes, speak in a certain way, learn in a certain way, or else.  When someome joins the institution, we tell them the rules to follow in order to conform.  If they don't conform, we view them as strange and disruptive; they get in trouble.  Perhaps, we are all wrong and the non-conformist rule-breaker, represented by McMurphy in the story, is the sanest one of all because he is unabashedly himself.  "They're asking him where he's from and what his business is in a way I've never seen them do before" (24).  The funny thing is that the "inmates" love him and appreciate the fresh look he brings to their dreary world.  Wouldn't it be interesting if the kids who were the troublemakers in school were truly appreciated for this gift of theirs -the gift of questioning authority.   

To Kill a Mockingbird up to part 2-

At first, I thought that the town of Macomb where TKAM is set would be a beautiful place to live (picture), but as I progress through the book I am noticing that the town has some secrets.  Of course,  there is Boo Radley, the neighborhood boogey man (insert picture), but really Boo is the least of their problems.  It is the ease of their use of the "N" word and the racism that is brewing beneath the pretty exterior that is the problem.  Atticus Finch is one of the only town members who holds to high standards.  He tells Scout his daughter not to use the word because it is "common".  After this chastisement, Scout pays better mind of her language, but the other townsfolk show their true colors when Atticus takes on the case of Tom Robinson, a black man accused of a crime against a white family.  "Scout, when summer comes you have to keep your head about far worse things....it's not fair for you and Jem, I know that, but someitmes we have to make the best of things, " (109).   As summer approaches both the young and the old, freely spurn the Finches for their beliefs.

A Pale View of Hills up to page-
I think this book is really one big mystery novel.  Let's start with the cover of the book.  A woman is running after a little girl.  Is the woman, Etsuko and her daughter Keiko or is it Sachiko and her daughter Mariko?  The picture is so faded, you can barely make out the figures.  I believe that is the mystery of the novel.  Etsuko, the narrator tells us about this mysterious woman and child she met when she lived in Japan, but really the mystery lady and young girl is herself.  At the beginning of the novel, we learn that Etsuko's daughter has just killed herself.  Right after this revelation, Etsuko starts her story of her life in Japan and her mystery friendship.  "So very kind.  I'm sure you'll make a splendid mother" (14).  I believe that she is so upset with herself for her daughter's death, believing that it is her fault, that she conjures up this fictitious woman and child to confront her past abuses of her daughter, the abuses that made her daughter emotionally unstable and ultimately lead to her suicide.

Speak up to page-
Melinda is the narrator of Speak.  She is telling or "speaking" her story to us.  She is rejected by almost everyone around her, even her parents barely speak to her.  Her existence in her freshmen year of high school is pitiful and tragic.  I wonder though if it is made out to be more than it is because she is telling us the story.  If we were to view things from a third person narrator who has no stake in the information related to us, would we get a better and more accurate view of things.  As I am reading the story, I wonder sometimes if what she is describing could really happen in real life.  A few students have said, yes, it can, which makes me extremely sad to know.  There should be systems in place, a caring adult there for her to get help.  Instead she is met with harsh treatment from everyone around her.

Wizard of Earthsea up to page-

After studying the hero cycle in class, I noticed from the first page of the novel that Le Guin, the author, uses the format to write the story.  First of all, we are introduced to Ged  or Guny a.k.a. Sparrowhawk who had a relatively normal birth, but his mother soon died and his father unable to raise him alone, he sought the assistance of his sister.  One day he noticed his aunt chanting a rhyme that enchants a goat.  His aunt begins to teach him different spells after she realizes that he possesses certain powers as well.  "This was Duny's first step on the way he was to follow all his life, the way of magery, ...." (5).  Duny's powers come in handy one day when he saves his family from a powerful group of invaders called the Kargs.  He says, "I've hidden us all" (10).  This reminds me of several scenes in Lord of the Rings (book & film), where we as the audience fear the worst only to find out that the hero, Froddo has been saved through magic or just good luck.