summer reading

Twilight

2009-09-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

The Cullens split up Bella and Edward to try to confuse James. Bella is sent to hide in a hotel in Phoenix with Alice and Jasper. James calls Bella while she’s at the hotel and claims he has her mom captive and unless Bella meets him in her old dance studio alone, he’ll kill her mom. Bella, trying to protect everyone else, goes to the studio to meet James. James attacks her, but the Cullens show up and rescue Bella and kill James. However, James bit Bella’s hand and if the venom spreads, she’ll transform into a vampire so Edward sucks the venom out.

When Bella finally returns home to Forks, she and Edward go to their school prom together. Bella tells Edward her desire to give up her human life to become a vampire with him so they can be together forever. Edward refuses because he believes her human life is too valuable to give up and promises that he’ll stay with her till the end.

I loved this book. I got really into it and it’s definitely one of the best stories I’ve ever read. I wish I had an Edward.

Twilight

2009-09-05T08:57:00.000-07:00

Bella goes crazy trying to figure out how Edward saved her life and pesters him with endless questions that Edward refuses to answer. Bella gets Jacob Black, a family friend who has a crush on her, to tell her the local legend about the “cold ones”, a group of blood drinkers who have sworn off hunting humans. She realizes that this legend is about Edward’s family; they’re vampires. The fact that Edward’s a vampire doesn’t change her feelings for him. She says “About three things I was almost positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him – and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be – that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.”

Edward and Bella fall in love. The relationship is hard for Edward because although he loves Bella, he does crave her blood more than anyone else’s, so he’s always fearful of harming her. Edward also has a special gift of reading minds. However, he can’t read Bella’s mind which is interesting. Bella must be special.

When another vampire coven comes into Forks, trouble starts. They want to join the Cullens in a baseball game but as soon as they realize that Bella is human it turns into another kind of game for James, a tracker vampire. He is drawn by the Cullens' relationship with a human and wants to hunt Bella for fun.

Twilight

2009-09-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

Twilight is a young-adult vampire romance novel. It is the first book in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. Every girl enjoys a love story and this is the favorite of many girls my age; they love getting caught up in the romance of this fairytale story. This book pulled me in right from the start, I couldn't put it down. This book starts off about seventeen-year-old Isabella "Bella" Swan, who moves from the sunny Phoenix, Arizona to the rainy, gloomy Forks, Washington. She goes to Forks to live with her dad, so she wouldn't have to travel with her mom and her new husband, Phil Dwyer, but she doesn't expect to like it there.

Bella, who's shy and doesn't like being the center of attention, is the new hit at her new high school. Everyone wants to be her friend and boys try to show off to her, especially this one boy, Mike. On her first day she meets the gorgeous, dreamy Edward Cullen, who acts disgusted with her and this offends Bella who makes the comment, "if looks could kill". She was convinced he really didn't like her. Edward goes missing for a few days and when he comes back he is really friendly to Bella as if nothing happened. Maybe he's bipolar?

Then, one day, Bella is nearly run over by one of her classmates in the parking lot but Edward, standing on the opposite side of the parking lot, instantaneously appears next to her and stops the van with his bare hands and saves her life.

Raisin in the Sun

2009-08-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

Act III: It's moving day. In the beginning, everyone is still in despair about the loss of money but as the play goes on, things brighten up. Asagai comes over and convinces Beneatha not to fret over the money and offers her the opportunity to come to Africa with him where she can take up a medical practice there and learn more about her African background firsthand. Linder tries to buy the house back from them and Walter almost sells it, but then seems to suddenly mature and declines to sell it saying that the Youngers are proud, hardworking people and fully intend to move into their new house, despite their racial difference. This is a turning point for Walter who suddenly realizes that his first priority isn't satisfying his own needs, but putting the needs of his family first.
In the end, Mama finally fulfilled her dream. She moved out of that apartment just like she and Big Walter they promised they would.

I didn't really like this play very much; the plot just didn't hold my interest, but I thought it had a good, happy ending.

Raisin in the Sun

2009-08-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

At the end of Act I, Asagai is introduced and he brings Beneatha some Nigerian clothing and music as gifts. I think he would be very good for Beneatha because he accepts her for who she is. We find out that Ruth is pregnant and is considering having an abortion because she's afraid the baby will only cause more financial stress on the family. One quote that stood out to me is when Mama says in a conversation to Walter, "Once upon a time freedom used to be life—now it’s money." I agree with this because now to go anywhere in life you have to have money.

In Act II, Mama announces that she bought a house. The only problem is that it is located in Clybourne Park which is an entirely white neighborhood, but it's the nicest house Mama could afford. However, Ruth is happy about having a new house because now she feels like her family will be better taken care of and Mama left enough money to help pay for Beneatha's school tuition. The only one not happy is Walter who set his mind on that liquor store and goes into a depression. I don't like Walter at all, I think he's selfish and believes the whole world revolves around him and that his problems are the worst. Mama feels bad for Walter and gives the rest of the money telling him to put away some of it for his sister. But of course Walter invests all of it into his liquor store and at the end of the act, one of Walter's business partners comes in and announces that Willy Harris ran off with all of the money that Walter invested in the store. Everyone is devastated because they now have no money and Beneatha has no way to pay for tuition. I feel really bad for the family, Mama should have never given Walter the money.

A Raisin In The Sun

2009-08-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

Right from the start this book did not grab my attention. It's too slow, too wordy, and too descriptive with setting up the plot. Lorraine Hansberry just needs to get on with the story. I also found that it was hard to keep track of all the characters and how each of them were related to each other. The Youngers all seem to be focused on a $10,000 check coming from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy and all want to use it in different ways. Ruth wants to use the money to support her family, especially her son Travis. Walter Lee wants to use the money to invest in a liquor store with his friends and believes it will solve ALL their finanical problems. Beneatha wants the money to help pay for her medical school tuition to become a doctor. Mama, who the money lawfully belongs to, wants to buy a house for the family to fulfill her dream of giving her family the best they can possibly have.

Walter's and Ruth's relationship seems to have a lot of problems. Ruth hopes to bring the fire back to the marriage, where as all Walter can think about is his own selfishness to start that liquor store. Beneatha is my favorite character. She seems to be the wisest of them all and what I really like about her is that she doesn't go with the flow and try to fit in, she's her own person and has her own beliefs, much against those of her mother's conservative, religious views. She tries to find herself by looking back deeper into her African background. Mama deeply wants what is best for her family and for them to persue their dreams. She has deep rooted beliefs in God and is very passionate about her Christian views and expects everyone else in her family as well. Mama flips out on Beneatha for not believing in God, but I think Beneatha makes a good point about how God gets all the credit for human achievements, she says "there is only man and it is he who makes miracles!"

Lucky,,,

2009-08-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

I was so happy for Alice when she finally won the trial. They shouldn't make it so hard for a rape victim to win the case, haven't they been through enough?! Madison deserved the maximum sentence he got. Alice could finally put the rape behind her and start over...

I could not believe it when Lila was raped. Seriously what are the chances of two best friends both getting raped?? I'm so scared of being raped now, this book has completely raised my awareness. When Lila starts turning her back to Alice, all I could think is what a jerk. All Alice was trying to do was help her get through everything using her own personal experience and Lila just cuts her out of her life. Poor Alice, all she wants is a normal life.

I didn't like the ending. I thought it would be something like that everything was now okay and that she was finally happy again but it wasn't. I feel like the rape ruined her life.

Lucky,,,

2009-08-29T12:28:00.000-07:00

The more I read, the more I want to keep reading to find out what happens next. It's a little slow in places because the trial seems to drag on and on. It really sucks how everyone, including her own friends, judge her differently and backs away from her because she was a rape victim. It's not like she asked to be raped. Her story really gets to me, it's so sad to watch her life fall apart.

I thought she lost it when she chose #5 in the lineup instead of #4. What really caught me off guard was when Alice asks Murphy why Madison's father was backing his son up in the trial when he was being accused of rape and Murphy says "It's his son," I never saw it from that point of view, through the eyes of the father.

Lucky!

2009-08-29T11:43:00.000-07:00

After reading the back of this book, I knew it was going to be intense. The first chapter was overwhelming and so difficult to read with all the detailed descriptions of Alice's rape, I just wanted to get through it as fast as I could. I admire her for coming out and writing a book about being raped because I know I sure the heck would never be able to do that! It must have taken a lot of courage and strength. I feel so bad for Alice and I wish they would just catch her rapist and prosecute him; if it were up to me I think he deserves to die, because what he did is just so wrong and messed up.

The Glass Menagerie...

2009-08-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

Everything is this play is unrealistic. All the characters are caught up in their own problems living in their own little world. Jim O'Connor seems to be the only "normal" character in this story and is at least is making something of himself. My favorite character is Tom; he gave up chasing his dream for getting a job at the factory to support his family which shows he has a big heart. He's the only one in his family who is actually trying to fix up his life by getting out and starting over.

Laura's glass collection is strange. I think her favorite is the unicorn because its like her. It stands out from the rest of them and doesn't fit in just like Laura. When the horn broke off I think it resembled her opening up and finally feeling like she fit in.

Overall, I didn 't really like this play and wouldn't recommend it. It just dragged on and on and I just didn't connect to it at all.

The Glass Mengarie...

2009-08-29T11:20:00.000-07:00

Amanda needs to butt out of her children's lives and just let them live their own life. She needs to give Tom the freedom to persue whatever career he wishes and if Laura doesn't want to get married, so what! Not everyone has to be married to be happy. I think she takes the disapperance of her husband out on her kids.

I feel kinda bad for Laura even though she's overexaggerating the situation and isn't really crippled. She has no one in her life to get her self esteem up with Amanda's constant pushing and Tom's disappearance at night.

The Glass Menagerie

2009-08-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of this play the narrator points out repeatedly that this is a memory play so I knew it would be different than anything else I've ever read. Before I started reading this play I didn't know what the word Menagerie meant so I looked it up..."a collection of wild or unusual animals," so I guess this has to do with a glass collection of animals?

The beginning is really slow. Williams spends so much time setting up the story analyzing every specific detail down to the lighting and music that you just want to get on with the story. When Tom first introduces his mother Amanda at dinner, I knew she was a crazy drama queen still living in the past. She obsesses about all the gentleman callers she had one Sunday afternoon in Blue Mountain and doesn't let her kids forget it. She's really weird too, for example, when she describes in detail how Tom should eat his food and goes on explaining the whole digestion process.