The Best Blog #Group 1

This fall, I read the book Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand, a nonfiction biography of an Olympic runner named Louis Zamperini who served as a bomber in the Air Force during World War II. I read this book off of several recommendations from friends and family but was a little doubtful about starting it, since it seemed pretty long and dry. Surprisingly, I found it both an interesting read and a well-written, fascinating story. (This summary includes spoilers all the way to the end of the book, but this is a nonfiction biography/history book.) The book opens by describing Louis’ childhood, where he was a well-known troublemaker in the small California town where he grew up. He was pushed into joining the track team at his local high school and soon discovered his talent for running, which took him all the way to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Soon after, he enlisted in the Air Force in the Pacific Theatre during World War II, where he went on bombing missions from the island Funafuti. ...

September 10, 2019 This is Arya Thirodira and this is my review (so far) of Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card.  Speaker for the Dead is a novel written by Orson Scott Card and was published in 1986. This is part of the Ender's Game Series and is the second book in the series. It describes the aftermath of the war with the buggers and follows multiple young characters in their journey against a new alien species that may yet prove to be threatening.  At the beginning of the book, it follows a few xenologers (alien biologists) on an alien planet inhabited by the first alien race they have seen in decades. The planet is populated with intelligent pig-like humans (piggies) that have different cultures and ethical beliefs than the people on Earth. The people of Earth are hesitant to interfere with their affairs because of the last time they met an alien race (a teenager killed an entire species of intelligent beings). I like how the author includes moral and et...

Over the summer I read  Divergent  by Veronica Roth published in 2011. It is about a girl named Beatrice (Tris) who has to live life in a system of factions what are divided up based off the way your mind thinks. Amity are the kind and peaceful, Dauntless are the daring and brave, Abnegation are the selfless and modest, and Erudite are the intelligent. When you turn 16, you have to take something called an aptitude test which determines which faction you would best fit into on choosing day. However, Tris ends up being divergent which means she doesn’t fit into any category which is dangerous for her, because the government believe they can’t control divergent’s and want to kill them.  This wasn’t the first time I’ve read Divergent since I enjoy reading it a lot and personally it’s my favorite book of the series. I’d have to say my favorite overall message of the book is that when you hit rock bottom the only way to go is up. Tris has to face a lot of challenges through...

Hello reader, I am Nick Bodony and this is my review of Palestine by Joe Sacco. Palestine  is a graphic novel written by Joe Sacco about his trip to Palestine and the West Bank in December of 1991 to January of 1992. The story focuses on the history of the Palestinian people especially the large amount of religious conflicts over control of the holy city of Jerusalem in the West Bank and how it has affected everyday life. These are some of my favorite sections of the book: There is an extremely high military presence in all of the West Bank and Palestine which makes a lot of casual situations, such as shopping, intense and eventful. I think that Sacco's choice to select everyday life as the focus of this book is really interesting because in the text he is constantly noticing slight differences from his life in America which have a much larger significance than it first seems. These gradually build throughout the book to leave the reader with a feeling of understanding as ...