2nd Quater Book Review

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt. Scribner, 2003. genre: Autobiography, memoir

Angela's Ashes is about the author, Frank McCourt's, childhood in Ireland. His family was very poor because his father, Malachy, used all of his paychecks to drink. They lived in horrible conditions in Limerick, Ireland after being in Dublin and New York City. Through all of this, Frank has to provide for his family as he gets older, and he also finds who he really is and what he wants in life.

Mary Gordan said, "I was moved and dazzled by the somber and lively beauty of this book;it is a story of survival and growth beyond all odds, a chronicle of surprising triumphs, written in a language that is always itself triumphant."

Frank McCourt writes his memoir from the first person, and as if it is the first time he is experiencing the events.

There are many elements and themes in this story including hunger, poverty, and class snobbery. When writing dialogue, he does not use quotation mark, which can be confusing. Through the book, Frank describes how he gets past all of this to become who he is now. McCourt also wrote Tis' which is a sequel to Angela's Ashes. I plan on reading it, as it describes what happens after the first story ends.

"I have to go downstairs again and show the men where to step to keep their feet dry. They keep shaking their heads and saying, God Almighty and Mother of God, this is desperate"(104).

Frank McCourt's story was really moving, and it opened my eyes to poverty in different places. It also gave me a better idea of what Ireland and America were like in the 1930s and 1940s. I plan on reading Tis' to find out what happened to Frank as he became a man.

Simple Joys in Life

When someone asks me what I value most, what would be the first thing that I say? Most people today would start off by saying that they value all of their expensive items. Why do they do this, though? Maybe it is because of the economy, and money is more important to people. Or, is it possible that people just do not take the chance to enjoy time with each other anymore?

I get to practice early just to make sure I have time to shoot around before everyone else arrives. I pull my soccer ball out of my bright orange bag. For a moment, I look at all of its imperfections. The rips in its skin, the grass stains, the faded Sharpie letters spelling out my name. I drop it on the wet ground and tap it forward with the toe of my cleat. I watch as the tiger-like stars roll over each other on top of the yellowed backdrop. The ball skids to a stop dew covered grass.

As I strike the ball, all I have to think about is hitting the ball as hard as I can. Every emotion that might have been in me early is gone, and all that I need to worry about is the goal and my ball going in it. I feel the impact on my left foot and stumble forward as I watch the perfectly spherical object float through the air and finally hits the back of the goal. All of a sudden, all of my ball’s imperfections are lost in the sea of waves the net makes as the ball takes the air out of it. My ball probably cost me about twenty dollars, but the amount of stress and emotion that I have taken out on it, along with how much I use it, makes it worth 200 dollars to me!

It is early Christmas morning, and I can here my little brother rifling around in his stocking. I slowly and quietly crawl out of bed making sure not to wake anyone else, and as I peek my head into the living room, the first thing I see is the Christmas tree and below it, all of our presents. And there is my brother, looking at me like I caught him red-handed, glimpsing at what was in his stocking. Soon after, everyone else wakes up, and my brother begs my parents to let him open his stocking, even though he already knows everything inside of it. After my parents get their coffee, they let us start opening presents. My brother always finishes opening his first, and is always ready to help others open their presents, too.

Once we all open our presents, it quickly turns into chaos around the house. We hastily eat our Christmas breakfast, cinnamon rolls, and then we all get ready for Christmas to be celebrated at our house. It is the one time of the year we can always count on where all of our family comes. Some come all the way from Colorado, while others live right here in South Hadley. As we run around the house, you can smell the ham and turkey in the oven, along with the tortellini soup being made.

Once every room is cleaned to my dad’s ­­­expectations, we are ready to celebrate. The most exciting part of Christmas is seeing family members that we have not seen in almost a whole year. We all crowd around the long table and enjoy our dinner. Nobody minds how close we are at the table because we are all enjoying ourselves and having a good time. When it’s time to open presents, we all do it at once, but the kids are the ones that get the most attention. After, we all settle down again and just catch up with each other because we know that the next time we see each other will probably be for the next Christmas.

I value both my soccer ball and Christmas day very much. They both allow me to relax and just be myself. My soccer ball allows me to relax by myself and just take a break from everyday life, but Christmas day is a day that I can enjoy with my family and I always know that even though there is so much chaos in the morning, it will be a relaxing day. I am not sure which one I would choose over the other, but I do know that I value both of them very much.

1st Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay. St. Martin's Griffin, 2007. Genre: Historical Fiction

Sarah, a ten year old girl, lived in Paris in 1942. Her family was one of the many in France who, on July 16, 1942, had to leave everything they had and were roundup by the French police by the orders of Germany. Sixty years later, Julia Jarmond, an American Journalist living in France, is assigned the story of the Veledrome d'Hiver Roundup of 1942, and ends up chasing down Sarah's story.
Author Beth Harbison said, "Beautiful, painful, compelling. At times I didn't want to read on but I couldn't stop. A lyrical lesson in how the human spirit still shines through the shadowed shames of history."
Tatiana de Rosnay starts off by alternating who is telling the story in each chapter. Sarah tells her story and about what is happening in France of 1942, while Julia tells about her story and chasing down Sarah's story. About halfway through, only Julia tells the story, and it leaves you with a mystery, for Julia to find later, about what happened to Sarah.
The way De Rosnay wrote the book reminds me of My Sister's Keeper. It reminds me of the way Jodi Picoult also alternated between who told the story, and "let" everyone tell "their part".
"The day dragged on, endless, unbearable. Huddled against her mother, the girl watched the families around her slowly losing their sanity. There was nothing to drink, nothing to eat, the heat was stifling. The air was full of dry, feathery dust that stung her eyes and her throat"(30).
Tatiana De Rosnay was very descriptive in a way that made you feel like you were right in the scene with the main characters, but did not drag on about small details that would not have made a difference to the story.
Reading Sarah's Key really opens your eyes to what living in Europe during World War II. The Holocaust did not only affect Jews who were sent to the camps, although they suffered tremendously, but also the families who moved into the emptied house, knowing, and having to live with the fact that another family was just recently forced out of it. Before reading this book, I knew of the Holocaust, and that Jews were discriminated against. I knew that they were sent to camps, where most of them were killed. But, the details of how they did not know what was going to happen to them or their loved ones, and the suffering, not only physically, but mentally. Also, I did not know about the children. The number of children that were murdered during the Holocaust was huge, but the Vel' d'Hiv roundup had the greatest number of children that were sent to the camps, and none of them were able to return to Paris.

What happens in Europe

Briar Rose- Rebecca
How I Live Now- Daisy
Setting- The same airport in England that Daisy originally arrived at in "How I Live Now". Both girls are headed back home after two large adventures.

After being away from home for two weeks, Rebecca was ready to be heading back to her family in Holyoke. As she boarded the plane, she realized what she had just done. Would her sisters believe the story? “Well yeah, they have to believe it, it’s Gemma’s story.” Just as she began thinking about what else her sisters would say when she got back, she felt the plane lift off the ground. Thankfully, she got the window seat, so she could take a final look at the beautiful land of Poland below.
Becca must have fallen asleep because when she awoke, they were arriving in England to switch planes for the final leg of the trip. She pulled her long scarlet hair back into a pony tail, and prepared herself for the chaos awaiting her inside the airport. Getting through security seemed to be the easy part because once Becca arrived at her gate, she realized there were definitely some delays. Becca quietly took a seat and patiently waited. An hour went by and things still were not moving, and unlike many of the people waiting, Becca was very calm and was not in much of a rush. Just then, a very fragile looking teenage girl walked up to her and pointed toward the chair next to Becca, “Is anybody sitting here?”
“No, it’s all yours,” Becca answered friendlily.
“My name is Daisy,” the girl said.
“I’m Becca,” she smiled and asked, “So, Daisy, are you from around here?”
“Well, not originally…it’s kind of a long story.”
“I’d like to here it if you would like to tell it…I mean it seems like we still have quite some time before we board the plane.” Becca glanced at her watch. She had been waiting for an hour and a half, going on two hours.
“Well, when I was fifteen, my dad sent me here to live with my aunt and cousins.”
“Were you okay with that?”
“At that point I didn’t really mind because my dad and stepmother were not the most exciting people to be around, and I was all right with leaving.”
“Alright, so go on. What happened while you were in England?”
“Well did you hear about the occupation on the news at all?”
“Yes, it lasted about nine months, right?”
“Yeah, that sounds about right. Well, my cousins and I were split up during it, and me, a girl from New York City who barely new this country was caring for her younger cousin during a war!”
“Wow, you were really brave to do that.”
“Well, I didn’t really have a choice.”
“So, are you now going back to New York for the first time since then?”
“Oh, no!” Daisy exclaimed. “My father made some connections, and he had me flown home before the occupation ended.”
“So then why did you come back?”
“My dad only flew me back to New York, so my cousins were left behind. Once the borders were opened to the public again, I immediately went back to see if they were all okay.”
“And they were, right?”
“Yes, for the most part,” as she said this she thought of Edmond and how devastated he was that she left before they reunited.
“So now you are headed home after visiting your cousins for a while.”
“I figure ill stay in New York for a little while, but at some point, I want to move out here to be with my cousins.”
“That sounds really nice.”
People began boarding the plane, so both Becca and Daisy stood up and grabbed their bags. Then, Daisy looked at Becca and asked, “So what were you here for?”
“I was actually in Poland for a couple of weeks chasing down some family history.”
“Sounds interesting,” Daisy said, “I’d liked to hear about it if you would like to tell me about it.”
Becca smiled as she took her seat next to Daisy and said, “I’d love to.”
So, the whole plane ride back home, Becca told Daisy about her grandmother’s adventure through Poland and all of the people that changed her life along the way.