A LONG WAY GONE- ISHMAEL BEAH

Ishmael beah lives in New York City. He was born in Sierra Leone, where, during his childhood, Civil war initiated. Before the War, Ishmael was a normal boy living a normal life filled with friends, music and sports. Ishmael and his friends manage to escape violence until they reach Yele, a government protected village. There, they are converted into drug addicts and killers. Eventually they are forced to go to rehabilitation. Later, Ishmael is deported to New york where he writes this story and suffers frequent memories and dreams of violence. The book was good, but because it was such emotion and events, it was much more interesting. Alos, I feel that the book had a good ending and meaningful plot. I enjoyed it very much.

FIGHT CLUB

Fight Club was an unexpectedly good book. Also, I thought it was interesting that Brad Pitt was in it, because I did not know that there was a movie. It was an interesting read. As mentioned earlier i was not anticipating a well written plot or surprising twists that had enraveled the book. The language and mood made the book increasingly interesting. The title I still believe is slightly irrelevant, however, it makes a little sense. If there's a sequal, I will read it. I highly recommend it, because it was probably the best book I read this year.

Thoughout the year i have read mostly non fiction stories such as biographies and actual stories. However, this quarter I mixed it up a little. I read a realistic fiction book, Monster, and a fantasy, Eclipse. Dramatically different books, I thoroughly enjoyed both. From this quarter I learned alot about myself as a reader, that I can red more than just non-fiction and different writers. Also, I seriously need to keep a more stable and steady reading policy because it limits my reading ability. Despite liking both books, I prefered MONSTER because I enjoyed the story more, the writing style and way it made me feel when i finished the book.

CHARACTER CONNECTION

In my independent reading books, ECLIPSE AND MONSTER, two major character easily connect. The characters are Edward and Steve. Both Edward and Steve have similar qualities, both are quiet passive and all-round nice guys. However, they both are seemingly dangerous in the eyes of others. Edward's a peaceful vampire and Steve is a strong young black boy in a gang in the projects. Despite such titles, in reality, the two are completely harmless and are pacifists. Also, the two suffer similar problems, because of discrimination, the peaceful duo must unjustly suffer. Through no fault of their own, both are attacked by people for things they have no control over.

MONSTER

The book is continuing to be increasingly interesting. Now, Steve seems to be so terrified, so afraid, so nervous that he has almost lost all hope. He is so demoralized he says, "what's the point? I'm gonna be locked up FOREVER.". Court is resumed. There are not a lot of people in the court. No friends, barely any family and a lot of people who hate him. He almost believes that he deserves to live in jail for the rest of his life. However. seeing his parents and siblings greatly comforts him. He flashes back, where he sees his father and him meeting at an unkown place where they are both crying. His father promises and offers Steve hope until he is forced to leave by the police guards.

Steve's face exemplifies no emotion. His lawyer is trying her best, but the odds are depressing. The prosecutor looks extremely confident and the jury returns with an undecided verdict: only one member voted innocent. All of a sudden the door open, the courtroom's quiet and Steve's last chance at freedom walks in.

MONSTER

As the story progresses, Steve uses flashbacks of his previous life: Life when he was free. His recollections reveal that, in fact, Steve always had a tough life where he was either manipulated, forced or framed for being a bad kid, which continues to provide sympathetic rationalization that Steve is, in fact, innocent. However, the witnesses and evidence, unfortunately, provide seemingly undenialable proof against Steve.

Trial's eventually adjourned. Every moment Steve feels like every one is looking at him and is beginning to feel the pressure. As he is about to return his cell, his lawyer approaches saying that his chances are slowly diminishing. Scared more than ever, Steve hears 3 men down the hall. There's a lookout, ironically, just like him, a rapist and a victim. Steve can only listen and watch the shadows of the trio, parying that he won't be stuck here.

MONSTER

In the book MONSTER, by Steve Harmon, Steve is the main character. He is a black sixteen year-old boy from the streets of Brooklyn. At the beginning of the book, there is no backround information about him. The book starts out with Steve in a prison cell enlightening the reader with his story. In order to maintain his sanity, Steve records his experiences in jail and pretends to be a movie producer. He explains that he was wrongly convicted of being an accomplice in a murder at a local store where the owner was murdered. Steve is currently seperated from his family and locked in a prison cell until his trial that will determine his entire future. He continuously describes the agony he faces in prison: the food, the people, the endless thinking. He repeatedly states that he, "HATES, HATES, HATES!!!" prison.

He soon explains the inspiration of the title. He says that the prosecutor refers to him only as a "MONSTER,"