Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

The book that I am currently reading is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling. This is the 7^th and last book in the Harry Potter series, so if you haven’t read the other books then read no farther. In this book Harry, Ron and Hermione are off to find Horcruxes-which are pieces of soul- and hopefully kill Voldemort.

Harry Potter is selfless. When Harry is going to be transported to the Burrow he thought that it was just going to be him and Mad-eye-Moody. But when he discovers that six other people are going to drink a potion that will make them look like Harry he says, “’ If you think I’m going to let six other people risk their lives-!”’ (p.48) This quote clearly shows how Harry wants to protect everybody even if that means his death. Now if you have read the other books in the Harry Potter series then you know that Harry often risks his life for others. This is how Harry Potter is very selfless. 

I highly recommend this book to 10 and up because some parts might scare children. Also people who haven’t read the other books in the series shouldn’t read this book because it spoils story and the person wouldn’t know what is going on. I highly recommend the whole series. 

Esperanza Rising

            A book that I have recently finished is Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan.  This book is about a young girl who is very rich in Mexico. One day a tragedy strikes her family.  They have nothing left and they have to come to the United States to work.  Esperanza is heartbroken.  She doesn’t’ know how to work because she has always been waited on, so having to come to the United States and take care of herself is very difficult. Her mother becomes very ill so she must start to support her family.  With the help of close friends Esperanza is able to overcome her troubles and support her family. Esperanza is a mature young woman determined to help her family. 

            When her mother gets sick, Esperanza realizes that she must work and soon. You see how determined and brave she is when she says, “’I could work in the fields or in the sheds and Melina and Irene have already offered to watch Pepe and Lupe…I am tall.  I’ll wear my hair up.  They won’t know.’”  (p.166) This quote clearly illustrates the fact that Esperanza realizes that she must support her family if she is going to be able to pay the bills and help her mom survive. Also, Esperanza knows that if her mother is truly going to get better she needs to bring her Abuelita up from Mexico.  This fuels her need of work, to bring her family back together.  This shows how mature and determined Esperanza is. 

            In conclusion, Esperanza Rising is a very inspirational book about troubles and hard times and how to overcome them.  I recommend this book to nine years old and up because some parts are very sad, like when she loses her father and when her uncles try to hurt her family.  This book is very inspirational and I highly recommend it. 

           

Life As We Knew It by Susan Pfeffer

The book that I have just finished is Life As We Know It by Susan Pfeffer. The book is told in Miranda the protagonist’s diary entries as she and her family struggle to survive. When the moon is hit by a meter and is pushed closer to earth’s orbit the world is sent into chaos. The supermarkets run out of food, the price of gas is more than ten dollars a gallon and schools are closed. When it starts to snow early in September Miranda realizes the fact that this isn’t getting better anytime soon. The book shows the hardships of survival and also the love of family and the little joys in life. 

 Over the course of the book Miranda matures from the beginning when she pigs out on chocolate and is mad when her mom says that they should cut back on food to make it last longer to the end where she decides she would rather die to save her family than live.  In a crisis, everyone needs to step up to the plate in every way possible and that is what Miranda and her family do. In the beginning Miranda and her mom fight, but in the end, Miranda will do anything to make sure her mom is eating and is healthy even if that means visiting the elderly neighbor Ms. Nesbitt to discuss the dismal future. These are only a few examples of how Miranda matures over the course of the story.

 I would recommend this book to 11 and up because of the topic of the moon getting hit by a meter and sending the world into chaos. I highly recommend this book to people who like novels about survival and an apocalypse that could actually happen. 

The Help By Kathryn Stockett (Finished)

The book that I just finished is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I all ready wrote a review for this book before I finished it so now I will explain the rest. The story is based in 1962 in the Deep South were there is segregation. They story is told in different perspectives from the African American maids to their full of themselves white employers to the one woman who thinks she can make a change. Aibileen is raising her 17^th white child.  Her current child is Mae Mobley, Elizabeth Leefolt’s little girl. One day during bridge club the topic of the Africans Americans have “dirty diseases” and how the help should have different bathrooms. Ms. Skeeter comes to the kitchen later and asks what Aibileen thinks of the bathroom situation. Later when Ms. Skeeter gets a job as writer of the house-cleaning column for the local paper she turns to Aibileen for help. As time go’s on Aibileen and Skeeter get more comfortable things that are usually kept private between African Americans and white people, slip out. So when Skeeter gets an approval to try and write a story about “the help” from a job she applied for in New York Aibileen actually thinks about letting her self be interviewed and later on says yes. When Aibileen and Miss. Skeeter start their interview things are tough because Aibileen isn’t really comfortable talking about Mrs. Leefolt with Miss. Skeeter because they are friends, but soon becomes comfortable. When the editor from New York calls and says that the story will only work if there are at least twelve maids. This becomes a challenge when only Aibileen and Minny Jackson (Aibileen’s best friend) have agreed to share their stories. When a shooting and then a terrible injustice happens in the community more maids what to help make a difference. When the story gets published and is on TV it brings Jackson, Mississippi into chaos. Some of the women especially Mrs. Hilly (the meanest white lady) figure out the fact that the book is about them. When Mrs. Hilly convinces Ms. Leefolt to fire Aibileen it seems like the end but is not. This is a quick summary of The Help.

Even though this story is fiction, there were real African-Americans who wanted to make a change and real people like Ms. Skeeter who were really brave to try and make changes. I talked to my grandpa who lived in Texas during the time of segregation. He said that 1962 was during the time when integration was happening. He said that there were race riots, which were demonstrations for rights. He said that these demonstrations were still going on in the 1990’s. He also told me about the Klux Clan who were white men who burned crosses on people’s yards and hated African-Americans. They even went as far as hanging Africans-Americans and people who believed in their rights. He also talked to me about how that in most clubs famous African-Americans performed in they couldn’t actually have sat watched the performances. Hopefully this gave you an idea about how brave people would have been to try and a difference during the time of segregation.

 I think that this book is really amazing and well written but I don’t think that children under 12 should read this because of the topic of segregation and the consequences that could happen if you did something to try and make things equal. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a though provoking novel about change.

The Help

The book I am currently reading is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. So far I really like the book. The story is based in 1962 to in the Deep South where there is segregation. They story is told from different perspectives from two African American maids to their full of themselves white employers to the one woman who thinks she can make a change. Aibileen is raising her 17^th white child.  Her current child is Mae Mobley, Elizabeth Leefolt's little girl. One day during bridge club the topic of the Africans Americans have “dirty diseases” and how "the help" should have different bathrooms. Miss Skeeter comes to the kitchen later and asks what Aibileen thinks of the bathroom situation. Later when Miss Skeeter gets a job as the writer of the house-cleaning column at the local newspaper she turns to Aibileen for help. As time goes on Aibileen and Skeeter get more comfortable together and things that are usually kept private between African Americans and white people, slip out. So when Skeeter gets an approval to try and write a story about “the help” for a job she has applied for in New York Aibileen actually thinks about letting herself be interviewed. This is a quick summary of what I have read so far in The Help.

The fact that Aibileen actually thought about letting Skeeter interview her is a big deal because if people found out Aibileen and Skeeter would be in so much trouble. This is because a story like this had never been published and also they are in the Deep South where there were very thick lines of what’s ok and what’s not. This is why it would be so brave of Aibileen do even consider much less saying yes.

So far I really like this book and I recommend it to 12 and up because of the topic of segregation. I am only a little ways into the book and I already really like it. I think this book can only get better.