Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

           The novel, Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson is a powerful book written in a diary format by a freshmen girl named Melinda. Between the summer of eighth and ninth grade, she and her best friend, Rachel, go to a party where everyone is drinking. While being drunk, something happens to Melinda, making her call the cops and bust the party. Keeping the incident a secret, she enters high school where she is ostracized by her peers, including Rachel, and becomes an outcast of the school. As she struggles to deal with depression, fear, trust and isolation, she slowly tries to change herself and mature into a stronger person.

            An important part of this book is when Melinda starts communicating with people again. After the incident, she becomes scared and loses the ability to speak out, making her bottle up all her emotions inside. She has no one to talk to, which makes her feel very depressed, lonely, afraid and painful. Thus, it was very surprising when she makes an effort to reach out to Rachel, who stopped being friends with her after the party. Melinda tells Rachel everything that happened, which makes her sympathetic at first but then angry after. However, Melinda’s intention is not to hurt Rachel but to protect her from the same mistake she made. Although Rachel betrayed Melinda, the action Melinda takes is very caring yet courageous.

            I think Anderson did a great job, constantly attracting the readers to continue reading throughout the book. The readers, especially the teens, can relate to this book in some ways because we all struggle with growing up and friendships just like Melinda. I think anyone would enjoy reading this novel, and for those who are looking for a new book, you should try this one!

            

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The novel, The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold is a suspenseful book about a 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon, who is murdered and watches her family and her murderer continue their lives from heaven. 

One of the significant scenes from this book is when Susie’s sister, Lindsey, starts getting involved in the investigation of her sister’s murder. One day, Lindsey and her dad talk about Mr. Harvey, whom he thinks is the murderer, and how they need to find evidence that would link to Susie. Thus, Lindsey decides to stalk Mr. Harvey and memorize his daily schedule in order to break into his house. When the day comes, she secretly and successfully sneaks into his house. She “sees” Susie and is lead by her to Mr. Harvey’s bedroom where she finds a sketchbook. Inside the sketchbook is “a small drawing of stalks above a sunken hole…in a spidery hand [Mr. Harvey] had written “Stolfuz cornfield”…Now [Lindsey] saw what [Susie] wanted her to know.  [Susie] had died inside that hole; [Susie] had screamed and fought and lost” (183). While Lindsey is horrified by her new discovery, Mr. Harvey comes home and hears her upstairs. Although Lindsey is able to escape and is unharmed, Mr. Harvey sees her run away. After reading scene, I thought that this was an important part of the book because now that evidence is found, I figured Mr. Harvey would be arrested for all the crimes he has committed in the past, including Susie’s murder. However, this cunning, clever man acts all innocent and tells the police a believable story that he was trying to figure out how Susie’s murderer killed her in which the cops believed. Thus, Mr. Harvey unfortunately gets away with it once again.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel because I like suspenseful stories, and I constantly wanted to know what would happen next. People should read until the very end since it is very satisfying and karmic. Although I saw the movie first, it was still interesting to read the book and compare it to the movie. I recommend this novel to those who like suspense, and they should watch the movie after as well.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous

            The book, Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous is a diary of a teenage girl named Alice, who enters the horrifying world of drugs. It first starts out when she has a drink laced with LSD at a party she goes to. Since this day, she becomes addicted to drugs, and everything goes downhill from there.

            There are many significant scenes throughout the diary. One of them is when Alice loses her virginity to a boy named Bill while she is on acid. This act shows how people cannot make the right judgment while being on something. Alice worries that she may be pregnant and expresses her feelings, “I keep asking myself how I could have been such an idiot, and there is no answer other than the fact that I am an idiot! A stupid, bungling, senseless, foolish, ignorant idiot” (47). She promises herself that she will never try drugs again except she breaks it shortly after, which reveals her hypocritical character. Another unforgettable part is when she and her friend, Chris, flee to San Francisco after witnessing their boyfriends having sex while being stoned. Once again, Alice along with Chris “pledged to each other that [they are] going to stay clean” (64), but they fail to do this after going to a party, which shows how Alice cannot stay committed to things. The escape also affects every aspect of Alice’s life because she leaves her loving family, drops out of school and starts working. She makes a quick decision to throw away her life without thinking about anything.

             I enjoyed reading this diary because I got to read what was going through Alice’s mind and hear her true, honest thoughts on her experiences. It realistically captures the nightmare of drugs, and people can definitely relate to it because there are some teenagers out there, who may be in similar situations like Alice. From this book, readers can learn the dangers of drugs and receive the message the author is trying to send: stay away from drugs!

At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks

           The novel, At First Sight, by Nicholas Sparks is a suspenseful, love story filled with secrets and unexpected events that keep the readers’ attention throughout the book.

The main character, Jeremy Marsh, is engaged to Lexie Darnell, whom he met when he was in Boone Creek, North Carolina for work. She is the love of his life, and he believes that they are meant to be especially when he learns that Lexie is pregnant although Jeremy has been told by the doctor that he can never be a father from his first marriage. Jeremy moves to Boone Creek and anticipates the start of his family. Just as everything seems to be settling down, he receives mysterious emails from an unidentified person that threaten to tear him and Lexie apart. Keeping the emails a secret, series of events occur as they try to deal with the tension, fear and doubt. Towards the end of the novel, Jeremy learns a shocking truth that puts all the pieces of the puzzle together, followed by an unexpected ending that no one would have ever guessed.

          An important choice Jeremy makes in the novel is when he decides to move to Boone Creek, leaving his family and friends behind and risking his career. It is very significant because it leads to the incident where he gets mysterious emails from an anonymous person. This occurrence tests Jeremy’s relationship with Lexie as it creates many questions such as who could have possibly written the emails and what his or her motive was. I also wondered if what the person was saying is true or if he or she was just messing with Jeremy. This suspense is what made the book interesting and made me want to read more to learn the truth.

           Sparks did an amazing job on writing this novel. Just like his other books, I enjoyed reading it very much because the plot and the way he writes make me want to keep on reading until the very end. I recommend this book to those who like love stories with a little bit of suspense in it, and I think anyone can enjoy it.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The book, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls is a well-written memoir about the author’s childhood to adulthood. Having little cash and food all the time, the Walls family frequently moves from place to place and tries to settle down. This story reveals the obstacles and hardships Walls has overcome in the course of her life time and tells how she is able to become a successful writer.

Walls is an optimistic, hardworking girl who is always helping around the family. She has two sisters, named Lori and Maureen, and a brother named Brian. Lori, the oldest sister, is a smart girl who is into drawing and painting, Brian, Walls’s younger brother, is a protective boy who is particularly close with Walls, and Maureen, the youngest sibling, is a dependent girl, who is always relying on someone to take care of her, including her friends. Rex is the intelligent, loving father except when he is drinking, constantly losing jobs and takes everyone’s precious money for alcohol, and last but not least, Rose Mary is the lazy, irresponsible mother and also an unsuccessful artist, who values self-sufficiency although she does not like to provide for the family herself.

There are several scenes in the book that made me very sympathetic, astonished and shocked.  First, Walls explains that she sleeps in a cardboard box because she is too poor to own a bed. If the readers are in the same situation, they would be uncomfortable, freezing and complaining, but Walls “liked [her] boxes. They made going to bed seem like an adventure” (52), which reveals her positivity as well as maturity at such young age. Then, she describes her new house, “The toilet wasn’t hooked up to any sewer or septic system. It just sat atop a hole about six feet deep. There was no running water indoors…While the house was wired for electricity, Dad confessed that we could not at the moment afford to have it turned on” (151). From this description, readers can see the harsh struggles Walls went through in her childhood.  Finally, the author reveals that because she had no food at her house, she had to look for lunch in the garbage after everyone threw away his or her food in school. Again, it is very difficult to picture a girl, searching through trash for something to eat and consuming the leftovers that had been in the garbage. Especially because these are true events that actually happened to the author, it is very unimaginable to think about.

As a result of continuous poverty and Walls’s alcoholic father and unconcerned mother, the children could not take it anymore and want to get away from their parents. When Walls is asked to go to Iowa for the summer to babysit and is offered $200 plus a bus ticket back to Welch, West Virginia, where she currently lived, Walls suggests that Lori take the job and give her a ticket to New York instead of Welch. Thus, Lori leaves Rex and Rose Mary, eventually followed by Walls, Brian and Maureen. Walls’s decision to go to New York like her sister is an important choice that greatly impacts her life because it leads to not only a successful writing career but also a stable life she has never experienced before. She finally achieves her goal by getting her dream job and  having enough money to support herself with food, clothing and shelter on her own.

I thought that this memoir was remarkable, and I enjoyed reading about Walls’s life. It was very interesting to learn what the author went through as a child and how she became a successful writer.  Although I am usually not into this kind of book, I really liked it, and I think everyone should try reading it too. The Glass Castle was a phenomenal book that all people, including adults, can enjoy.