The Hobbit

My favorite character in The Hobbit was Gandalf, the wizard. I wouldn't say he's the typical wizard, he has more to bring to the table than just his magic. He is very wise and resourceful compared to everyone else in the book. Gandalf is an interesting character because even though he is clearly there to protect Bilbo and the Dwarves it seems as though he leaves them to figure out difficult situation on their own from time to time. His intentions, besides defeating evil, aren't very distinct when it comes to this mission, the mystery that this character possesses is quite compelling. When it comes to his powers there's no doubt that he's the most powerful character, this is especially shown when he helps the Dwarves escape the clutches of the goblins. Gandalf is crucial to the story because ultimately he's their leader and protector, without him the Dwarves wouldn't of even been able to recruit Bilbo for the journey. This character stood out to me because he's the glue that keeps this odd group of misfits together and functioning, and he proves that the almighty, wise wizard shouldn't be questioned because he indeed knows what he's talking about. I'm sure I'll see just how dynamic Gandalf is when I begin the Lord of the Rings series but for now I can already assume he's the most thought-provoking character.

Paper Towns

My second quarter SSR book was Paper Towns by John Green.  This thrilling and hilarious book is one of a kind. My favorite character in the book was Margo Roth Speigelman. Margo was a major part of the storyline because her adventurous spirit lead the story. Margo is a risk-taker, rebellious, and intelligent. Margo was a dynamic character and this hurt and helped the story in different ways. She sometimes would be disrespectful to people who had hurt her and would be forceful at times. But Margo’s dynamic personality is also a plus because she influences Quentin into being more brave and fearless. Margo develops tremendously through the story because she is first seen as a fun, popular girl at school but as the story unfolds people start to see her more deeply and find she is different than they thought. A hilarious interaction Margo has is with Quentin (her next door neighbor). Through the book they are partners in crime and achieve heart racing activities. Quentin would always be weary but Margo was always assuring him that everything would be fine. In conclusion the book Paper Towns is an awesome read because it will feel as if you are right there experiencing the journey with them. It is also incredible to see how these characters grow throughout the story.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

   One of my second quarter SSR books was Wither by Lauren DeStefano. It is the first book of the Chemical Garden Trilogy and science fiction. This book follows the life of Rhine a sixteen year-old girl living in a dystopian society where no female lives past the age of twenty and males only live to twenty-five. In the beginning, Rhine is in survival mode, she is quiet, calm, but observant. When she is stolen by a group called the Gathers and married to governor along with two other teens these skills come in handy. The longer she stays in the governor's mansion the more she changes. She is now more confident, outspoken and dangerous. She has become accustomed to the opulent lifestyle of being a wife, she enjoys her sister wives, and even the company of her husband. Yet, she is still always searching for a way out of this lavish prison. She craves freedom and this creates a dangerous curiosity, that often leaves her in harm's way. Sneaking around the mansion, she finds many dark surprises, that make clear she is not as safe as she believed. This fear grows inside of her and is watered by the presence of her father-in-law, a scientist determined to find the cure to their virus. It is because of him that Rhine creates a new persona, of the happy submissive wife, that allows not only for her to survive, but to thrive. Using her quick wit, Rhine just might be able to escape with her life and her lover.

Recruits

Recruits

Thomas Locke was brilliant in the way tells this story. A pair of brothers are in a regular city with parents that are barely at home due to work going to school everyday until one day they find themselves entering a whole new of adventure and unlocking powers within them they had no idea they had. I was cool seeing how different these twins were but also a lot alike. One was sarcastic and thinking ahead while the other was very violent and active, but somehow they maintained the same morals as to finding the threat to their people. Their trainer was badly wounded before they met him and somewhat became a father figure and protector to them. It was a more of a brotherly love brought closer together.

Second Summer of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants

The book I read for the second semester was the Second Summer of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares. This book is a continuation of the previous book which is from the previous summer and yet talks about the adventures of the girls while they are split up during the summer. My favorite character out of the four girls would have to be Carmen Lowell. Carmen realizes how fragile friendships can be which makes her a good friend compared to the other girls. Her passion for friendship shows how valuable friendships really are. Carmen is also the most introspective of all four girls, she always struggles where she fits and how she feels which I can relate to. Carmen stays the same throughout the story and is not seen as a dynamic character. The traits of these characters change up the story making it really fun to read, so maybe y'all should read these series because I would recommend it.

A Wrinkle In Time

Madeleine L'engle tells the story of Meg Murray, protagonist, as she embarks on a quest to find her father after he went missing a long time ago.  Meg struggles with the fact that she is different from everyone else.  She sees that there is a definite solution to everything and when no one gives her a thorough answer, she struggles to accept.  For example, when she meets with Calvin, she asks her mother for an opinion of him, instead she does not get an answer that answers her question but and it upsets her.  Reading her like this, reminded me of Okonkwo from Things Fall Apart.  This is because both Meg and Okonkwo both share a desire that they expect from people.  For Meg it is a direct answer when she asks one.  For Okonkwo, it is a demonstration of strength and doing what is meant to be done.  While Okonkwo gets himself into more trouble when he does not get what he wants than Meg but both are not pleased when they don't get what is right.

Meg eventually learns though that not all knowledge can be known or learned and she finds a way to accept this.  Like me, I thought that there was a way to know everything, but then I learned that nobody likes a know it all.  It might not have gotten me sent to the principal's office like Meg but, I've taken to learning rather than to soak in information all at once.  Overall, Meg is a person in that she is unique her own ways and different from everybody else and while she may not have liked it at first, it is useful when she needs it the most.

All the Bright Places

My book is titled All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. The story revolves around two characters named Finch and Violet who one day meets up on the school's clock tower. The book discusses sensitive topics like, mourning, suicide, depression, bullying, abuse, ect. and story itself really heart-wrenching. It starts off in the clock tower where Finch originally planned to jump off of until he saw Violet, the schools' star girl, standing at the edge. Both protagonists are suffering from depression from Finch being bullied and unwanted at home to the death of Violets sister. When Violet topples off the edge and Finch saves her from death she had been thinking of, she feels grateful but also embarrassed because she didn't want to be associated with the school delinquent. During this first encounter, I already knew that a cliche teen romance type of love would ensue between the two and boy was I both right and wrong. Finch and Violet start off fresh and it turns into something explosive and then dies down into a pile of ashes. At the end when I felt my soul get crushed, Finch commits suicide at the lake where he and Violet had their first date. The end and the continuing story kept toying with my emotions and how the author deals with mental illness and having everything hold you back from the world hit a little too close to home. Niven showed the true painfully dull colors of depression and how adding a love interest won't make it go away, because you don't romanticize mental illnesses. There was one point in the book where I could feel myself be pulled in and empathize with Finch. This was when he was dating Violet and throughout their time while he was still alive, he gave her the reasons and encouragement on why she still needs to live and in turn pushing away all his problems just so he could keep her long enough and to make sure she was stable enough to handle his death. The love, the gloomy aura, the story,the handling of sensitive topics and placing them in a light where I can feel it correctly is what made me so intrigued and so angry at this book. I love and I you will too.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson

For my second semester book I read the amazing book of Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan. This book was absolutely amazing and though not a particular writing style I am used to reading I still enjoyed the story and characters within this novel. I absolutely loved all the characters within the novel but if I had to choose a favorite character I would have to choose Will Grayson from Naperville. I found this character very caring and relatable within the span of the story. With this character suffering from depression and the impacts it has on his life I, personally, relate to this a lot. With being officially diagnosed with moderate to severe depression I can relate to the characters struggle within the novel and how it effects his life and relationships within the novel. With this characters Illness and struggle interfering with his relationships and even confidence it is cool to see by the end of the novel this change. Will is able to grow as a character and help appreciate characters more that are around him. Instead of being focused more on him and his shame he is able to focus less on himself and more on the people he loves, such as his partners and showing his appreciation towards them. Even though I loved this character I just overall loved all the characters within the novel and their different personalities. Seeing these characters change and be able to progress through their crazy lives together was very fun to read and kept me interested within the story.

Delirium

My second quarter book was Delirium. There was multiple characters as any other book, but the character that interest me the most was Alex. The reasons why Alex is my favorite character is because he at first acted as if he was cured from the disease that existed in his time period (love, empathy etc.),but he actually isn't cured and opens up to Lena which is hard to many guys.The traits that Lena described him as constantly smiling or laughing or both. Despite this he does have a serious side; showing empathy and anger when Lena revealed what happened to her mother and sadness when talking about his own backstory. He is also a proficient liar, lying to authorities, and even on occasion, Lena, without suspicion or detection. Mostly the biggest change for Alex was trusting a person which he haven't done in a while, The ways that I connected to this character was by being so uptight and always being cautious who I talk to and who to open up to ever since I was young due to some occurrences in the past; maybe not as bad what Alex went through but understandable.

The Forest of Hands and Teeth

     The exciting novel that I chose to read was titled, The Forest of Hamds and Teeth, a book about a young girl who lives within a gated community that is protected from the outside infected world. Mary is throughout the entire book the main focus of the story. Given the sad conditions in which many of the people in the community live Mary still managed to be caring and a very loving young girl. Throughout the story Mary’s only focus was the love she had for the stories her mother told her about the ocean out in the world. She is most definitely a static character, since the ocean was her only interest and that remained the same throughout the book. The love she had for the ocean was something much bigger than even the love she felt for her family members. Love was indeed an important quality of her’s, but even though she felt it for her family, it would always take second place to her love for seeing the ocean. Besides her being loving and caring she also has a lot of determination in her. Mary knew that she wasn’t someone who was meant to stay inside the community, but as time passed she put up with that and faced some really hard things, which did not stop her determination to leave her home and go to the unforbidden outside. Her determination is what pretty much made me like her very much as a character. She knew all along that her only purpose was to see that beautiful ocean that she had never in life seen before, and she didn’t care if it meant risking her life because it had such an important meaning to what her life was like all along.

Prophecy Girl

2nd Quarter Book: Prophecy Girl by Cecily White. To give a bit of background info, the story revolves around the secret lives of the crossworlders, a race of human descendants from angels and demons. The humans with the bloodline of the angels are blessed with supernatural powers, classified into two classes, watchers and guardians. The character that I find most fascinating in the book is the protagonist, Amelie Bennett is a rambunctious teen following whatever she wants to do in her life. She is constantly rebelling, her mood is all over the place, but she is very protective and caring when the ones she cares for are in danger. With graduation almost over, she struggles to find a "partner" since watchers and guardians need to be paired in order for their powers to be more useful and stronger. Throughout the book, she is very dynamic, learning more secrets and lies about her own life and further develops her character as well as the plot. This helps further the action in the book and create a better read for the reader, inticing constant twists and problems that are thrown at Amelie. The reason I chose this character because she is a very wild character, creating many events, good or bad, that are fun to read and fun to react to when she tries handles them. One of my favorite character moments was when Amelie's best friend saves her from a teacher. Instead of letting Ami get taken in, she knocks the teacher unconscious, throws her a backpack full of food, money, and clothes, and gives her the "I gotchu" face when Ami teleports away from danger.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars was a spectacular and heart wrenching story that made me feel a swarm of  emotions.  There were quite a few characters that stood out to me, but of course, the main character Hazel Grace Lancaster gave me the most prominent impression.  Hazel Grace was a 16-year-old cancer patient that met and fell for a boy named Augustus Waters.  Throughout the plot, both of them would banter back and forth and experience life.  Some things that drew me to Hazel was that she was very witty and understanding.  Furthermore, I felt as if I could relate to Hazel towards a certain extent.  Just like her, my uncle has cancer.  I can kind of understand how she feels during certain events in the novel because my uncle is going through the same thing.  It's unfortunate though that my uncle needs a bit more attending to than Hazel.  I would say that I liked how Hazel was a dynamic character.  At the beginning of the novel, she didn't really socialize and go out with friends for fun.  Once Augustus came into the picture though, she began to go out again and socialize a bit more, even if it was only with him most of the time.  From the moment I read page one, to the very last page of the book, Hazel had been mature, and her maturity grew greatly.  The experiences she had, and the people she greeted played a huge part in her maturity growing.  Overall, Hazel Grace was certainly my favorite character in the novel, and her whole demeanor, her way of going about life, it really stuck with me.  She was also by far one of my most favorite characters from all the books I've read.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

My favorite character in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was Professor Albus Dumbledore. I always am a fan of mentor characters that seem omniscient in the main character's situation/task at hand. Dumbledore never wavered in strength or position, and acted as a great mentor for Harry. He did a great job for Harry by teaching him the methods of how to hunt down horcruxes. Instead of just telling him how to do so, Dumbledore gave more practical instructions by letting Harry discover information on his own with the information given to him. From a teaching standpoint, this is an effective way of trying to teach something. From a critical standpoint, it was a good idea for all of this information about Voldemort's past to be unfolded and for the audience to find out the information at the same rate as Harry so that one big blob of potentially non-captivating exposition to come out of someone's explanatory mouth all at once. Dumbledore was definitely not a dynamic character. Instead, he served as a device/drive for the development of other characters. By mentoring Harry, Harry became more mature, a more skilled wizard, and better at finding horcruxes. By being the target of Draco Malfoy, Malfoy was pushed to the point of near mental breakdown because he wasn't able to kill Dumbledore, and he was also pushed even further to the dark side because of this. By convincing Horace Slughorn back to the school, Slughorn becomes more loyal to the cause of defeating Voldemort since it gives Harry the opportunity to convince Slughorn to do so when he gives Harry the memory of Slughorn and Tom Riddle. Also, in Slughorn's eyes, this action redeems him of when he gave that advice to Tom Riddle. One of my favorite interactions between Dumbledore and others is when he and Harry went to the cave to hunt down the locket of Slytherin. It was so cool when he deduced what was needed to pass all of the different traps that were laid to stop intruders, and the audience gets glimmers of how Dumbledore's past will be explored in the next book when he drinks the potion that allows for Harry to retrieve the locket.

12 Rules For Life an Antidote to the Chaos

Jordan Peterson's latest novel entitled 12 Rules For Life An Antidote to the Chaos gives readers 12 rules or more seemingly tips that you could use to enhance your place within society or completely change the mentality you have when it comes to dealing with life's problems. My favorite idea by Jordan Peterson is his sixth rule," Set Your House in Perfect Order Before You Criticize the World"(Peterson 147.) Within this chapter, Peterson discusses the value of human existence and quotes Leo Tolstoy when Peterson explains Tolstoy's paths to escape the meaninglessness of life, explains the 4th path the only true method of escape, quotes Tolstoy saying, "It consists of destroying life, once one has realized that life is evil and meaningless. Only unusually strong and logically consistent people act in this manner. Having realized all the stupidity of the joke that is being played on us and see that the blessings of the dead are greater than those on the living and that it is better not to exist, they act and put an end to this stupid joke; and they use any means of doing it: a rope around the neck, water, a knife in the heart, a train."(Peterson 150.) However, Peterson argues that Tolstoy's twisted view of life is sprung from Tolstoy's own existence where life seemed to be naturally evil and twisted. Instead, he brings German philosopher Nietzsche's idea that life's twisted and evil experiences shape you but it is up to you what changes positive or negative it will bring and any evil can bring a "variety of interpretations."(Peterson 153.) Peterson then evolves these ideas further to simplify them into his overarching idea that the focus on such trivial questions such as the meaning of life or the purpose of your existence is pointless if your own life is wrought with flaws that would bring about the questioning the use of your own existence. He instead argues to, "use your own standards of judgment," (Peterson 158.) to prevent events that will cause the questioning of your existence from occurring again. Peterson then believes that after changing yourself with such beliefs that you will begin to see humanity less like a miserable existence but instead as something of genuine good. Then with this mindset of positivity and self-worth, Peterson believes you can begin to question existence and the world.

Every Last Word

In the book, Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone, there were numerous characters that I could have easily chosen to be my favorite. However, Caroline Madsen's role in the novel stood out to me the most and here's why...Caroline becomes friends with Sam within the first week of school, coming back from summer break. Caroline has the traits of a shy outsider and is seen as a geek. She is the complete opposite of any of the popular kids. However, Sam is one of those popular girls in her junior class. But who would have known that Sam suffered from her OCD and is always doubting herself, drowning in her own dark thoughts. The only people Sam feels comfortable to talk to about her OCD is with Caroline and her psychiatrist. When Sam meets Caroline, it is like a breath of fresh air. Caroline has a great sense of humor, has no style, compared to Sam, and is very sarcastic. Caroline introduces this hidden room to Sam called Poet's Corner, a place to get away from school. Anyways, Sam feels more "normal" than she ever has been with her new friends in Poet's Corner. But, the crazy part of the whole book was discovering that Caroline was not even real. Caroline was a student there at the school, but has been dead for years, and somehow she helped Sam through her darkest thoughts and worries and made her feel "normal" for the first time ever. Her friendship with Caroline was going through her mind the entire time. But to be more specific, Caroline stood out to me the most because of her kindness, support, and guidance for Sam, especially since she wasn't actually present.

Once And For All

For my second quarter ssr novel I read Once And For All by Sarah Dessen.  I would categorize this novel as a typical love story, following the main character Louna Barrett in her journey of falling in love.  To give a little background of the book, Louna's mother owns a high demand wedding planning business that of course helps couples remember this milestone in their relationship.  However, it is ironic that they run this type of business yet they both do not believe in love.
My favorite character in the book has to be Ambrose, Louna's love interest.  We are introduced to him as this douchebag of a brother that doesn't care for his sister's wedding.  However, as Louna spends more time with him, he is not seen this way anymore.  One of my favorite attributes he has is his patience.  He is very patient with Louna, even though she tends to give him the cold shoulder.   In a way, Ambrose is also very disrespectful and respectful at the same time.  I find it interesting that a guy like him does not get into other people's problems, and respects other's choices.  He uses people for rides and a place to sleep, but will respect your personal life.  Louna sees him as the opposite of herself, but I believe because of his differences it makes Louna more intrigued to get to know him.  Overall, Ambrose isn't just the typical pretty boy that gets into trouble, but a down to earth, caring guy.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer: 3rd volume to the Mara Dyer Trilogy

         In The Evolution of Mara Dyer, the character that grabbed my attention the most was no doubt the main protagonist, Mara. Throughout the trilogy, I learned to appreciate her character but it wasn't until this novel that I really understood her character for who she really was and whom she was becoming. At the beginning of the novel, we see how Mara is beginning to discover who she really is and what is happening to her. Mara became a strong and brave girl who was ready to do anything to protect those she loved from the evil that tried to approach her, she never thought twice when it came to doing things that would put her life in danger in order to save her family and friends. I also liked the fact that as well as bravery, she showed fear, as any human would. Of course, she was scared when new things arose but she fought through it and dominated her fear. Mara was definitely a dynamic character, that is very clear. She started as a wilted flower with nothing but fear and blossomed into a strong evergreen tree with the strength of multiple. I would say that the development of character shaped the novel into an even more epic story with much more excitement and thrill. I feel like I connected easily with this character because she truly is very relatable throughout the book. It is understandable that she was somewhat forced to change due to all the events that happened in her life and I admire how she handled things on her part. The events that should have knocked her down and stopped her life made her stronger and more farce, traits that I would like to have when faced with those types of life-changing events. Aside from Mara, another character that I really enjoyed learning more about as I advanced into the novel was Noah Shaw, Mara's boyfriend. He is the typical teenage boy who tries to hide his true feelings with a straight face. Noah was the one who managed to make Mara smile in the hardest times. He is a very complex character that I now understand a bit more after reading the following volume of the trilogy: The Retribution of Mara Dyer. In general, this novel was better than extraordinary as well as the novel before and the novel after, I would defiantly recommend it to anyone!

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

In the book I read, Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, there were many characters that interested me, but one stood out to me.  This character was Opal Koboi, a genius fairy criminal.  She is a devious criminal (although she appears as just a cute fairy) that is devoted to exposing the fairy world to the human world.  The fairies live under the Earth's crust, so Opal appears as a human and hypnotizes a powerful company owner in Europe to control him so that she could use his company to dig into the Earth's crust, thus discovering the fairy world.  Opal, in order to expose the fairy world, had to first escape a mental hospital which she was placed into after she was captured in the first book by fairy police. At first she was put into a prison, but she put herself into a self-induced coma so she could be placed into the mental hospital and she convinced the janitors to help her escape.  Opal's high IQ is the main reason that I like this character so much.  She is a great at devising strategies and smart in every situation presented to her.  She takes into account every single possible flaw in any plan she has and does all she can to prevent it from happening.  She is also very cocky because she knows how smart she is, making her an even more interesting character.  She holds herself to a high standard and is so full of herself that she makes her helpers bow when talking to her and they aren't even allowed to look in her eyes.  Her determination to carry out all of her plans, even if it gets close or dangerous, makes her an appealing character to read about.

When You Reach Me

In the riveting novel entitled, When You Reach Me, by author Rebecca Stead, there were a substantial amount of characters that appealed to me. However, while lacking a dominating role in the plot, the character named Richard was by far my favorite. Known to readers as the boyfriend of Miranda's (the narrator) mother, Richard was characterized by his gentle and charismatic demeanor; a source of security throughout the novel. He consistently provided comfort and kindness, confiding words of wisdom and advice to Miranda, and thereby reinforced how paternal he was towards Miranda. I liked how his calm persona was always there to console Miranda, filling the void that was Miranda's father. While substituting as a father, Richard provided another blanket of trust on top, as he had another dimension to his character, one that was comparable to an inquisitive and thoughtful friend. I appreciated how he maintained himself as an individual Miranda could fully trust with her secrets. That pacifying ability of his remained static throughout the novel, as Richard's overarching persona remained consistent regardless of what havoc was thrown at the family. His rationality kept Miranda grounded. Despite any tumultuous events that occurred in the novel, such as discussions about time travel or about the family's home being broken into, Richard was always there to envelop Miranda, her mother, and even the reader with a sense of security, bringing everyone who he interacted with back to Earth. I appreciated his practicality and sensibility, being that it was a stark contrast to the often aloof and disorganized one of Miranda's mother. Richard's humility overcame any sense of arrogance that he could've otherwise felt, as his good looks and good personality garnered him the nickname "Mr. Perfect." The sheer simplicity of his character was appealing, that of which brought the plot line to a far more realistic and stable level, since all he ever truly wanted was to be fully accepted into Miranda's family.

[KC]: SSR Quarter 2 Blog Post

Hi kids,
Here's your Quarter 2 SSR assignment (I know, it's just a tad bit late):

Step 1: Create a new POST in which you reflect on your favorite character from one of the SSR books that you read during the 2nd Quarter. Title your post with your BOOK TITLE.
- Feel free to use these questions to help guide you, but don't feel tied to simply answering them: What type of traits did this character have? Was the character dynamic or static? Did that hurt or help the story? How was the development of this character across the novel? Why did you connect with this character? Were there any cool interactions between this character and any of the others?

Step 2: Once other classmates have posted their reviews, COMMENT on two other reviews. (Be sure to read the comments on your review as well and engage in conversations as necessary.)

POST Due: Thursday 1/31/19 by 11:36 pm

COMMENTS Due: Friday 2/1/19 by 11:18 pm

CONVERSE! EXPLORE! BLOG AUTHENTICALLY!