Wednesday, January 27, 2010
RANGER'S APPRENTICE
DRAGON QUEST
THe tale of Despereaux
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
Fifteen
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Diary of A Young Girl - More Thoughts
I’m still reading The Diary of A Young Girl. Where I am, it’s 1944 now, and Anne has grown up quite a bit since first arriving in the Secret Annexe. She’s been in the same building with the same people for a year and three quarters of a year – straight. I’m surprised that she hasn’t gone crazy. The Van Daans (the other family hiding with them) have a son named Peter. Anne is a teenage girl, and Peter is a teenage boy, so it’s not much of a surprise that Anne and Peter have sort of become… more than friends. So there are a few pages straight about Peter, then a page or two about something else, than more about Peter! At times, she seems obsessed with Peter! She talks with him frequently.
However, she does talk about Annexe life as well. And there is something scary going on in the part I’m in the middle of. They are scared that they may have been found out. Someone broke into the building, and they think it may have been the police. It’s quite frightening to read, and sort of sad, too, because this may have been how they were found out. No one is sure just who reported the Franks, but it is possible that it was one of the people who broke in. However, judging from the length of the book, it’s not the end just yet. But it’s sickening to think that it may have been the beginning of the end.
DRAGON QUEST
number the stars
The tale of Despereax
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
CARTOON WORLD HISTORY
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Anne Frank - The Diary of a Young Girl
As one can imagine, seven (later eight) people cooped up in a small space for two years will get into a lot of fights. Anne mentions these fights frequently. They’re usually between the Franks and the other family. And to add to that, there is the constant threat of discovery by the Nazis that keeps them under pressure.
One wonders what kinds of things Anne would have written in that diary if the Holocaust had never happened. I doubt that it would be very well-known – I mean, who wants to read some schoolgirl’s diary? Well, this schoolgirl’s diary has been called “a powerful reminder of the horrors of war and an eloquent testament to the human spirit.” (That was off this publication’s back cover, by the way.) Is it really all that?
I think so. For being written by a “thirteen-year old schoolgirl,” this is an amazing work.
Revenge of the Spellmans
DRAGON QUEST
number the stars
TUCKET'S HOME
The tale of Despereanux by Kate dicamillo
Evil Genius by Catherine Jinks
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Pearls of Lutra
I’m almost done with Pearls of Lutra. I’m reading the climactic battle scene. I’m sure it will end well, but at least one of the good characters will die. That is how every Redwall book I have ever read ends. Wait - a good character (or two!) died already, around the middle of the book. However, many more bad characters have been slain. If one were to do a body count, the good guys have the upper hand – or in this case, paw. Just like in all the other Redwall books.
I think the reason for all these happy endings is because people, especially children, prefer happy endings. But actually, there is some tragedy in the Redwall books. For example, in Martin the Warrior, someone important dies. (I won’t say who, so as not to spoil the ending.) When good characters die in the series, they make a big deal about it. That’s probably because the good guys are always outnumbered, so when one of the “vermin” dies, that’s no big deal – there are plenty more. (Unless he/she was a leader of course, then the book makes a big deal about that.) But the reader’s sympathies are (usually) with the heroes and heroines of the story, so when one of them dies, that’s sad for the other protagonists - and the reader, too.