Book Report(s)

If you'll remember I started working on a reading list suggested for high school students a couple months ago.  I had finished The Lord of the Flies and had started The Scarlett Letter.  Well, The Scarlett Letter turned out to be brutal in a very boring sort of way.  From the time I started The Scarlett Letter to the day I finished it, I read 4 other books.  And I skipped a lot of it.  In fact, I think I still may have a paragraph or two to finish up, but lets just call it done.  Now I'm on to Frankenstein.  We shall see.

The four other books I read were The Maze Runner by James Dashner, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacquline Kelly,  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, and The Scorch Trials (book 2 in The Maze Runner series) by James Dashner.

My sister recommended this book to me.  The premise involves a bunch of boys stuck in a maze.  A new boy is sent to the maze once a month like clockwork.  They have all had their memory erased so they don't know why they are there, who sent them or any recollection of their life before.  The book starts when Thomas arrives in the  maze before the next boy is supposed to arrive.  The next day a girl is sent in with a note that basically says that she triggered the end of the maze.  The book follows their efforts to get out of the maze, including fighting Grievers (weird mechanical monsters that patrol the maze during the night) and getting infected by Griever stings.  

The writing in this book is terrible.  The author obviously missed the lesson on showing not telling during college because all he does is tell us what is happening. And he repeats himself.  A lot.  And Thomas is not all that likable.  He's whiney and annoying and not all that smart even though he's supposed to be the smartest one there.  Having said that, I liked the premise and it was interesting enough that I read the whole thing as well as the 2nd book in the series.

***

I loved this book.  Emily and I went to the library and this was displayed in the children's section of the library.  I picked it up because the cover art pleased me.  It turned out to be a really good book.  It takes place in Texas in 1899 and follows the story of Calpurnia Tate who lives on a pecan farm with her parents, 7 brothers and grandfather.  Callie decides that she wants to be a naturalist.  She gets a notebook and starts writing down her observations of the animals and plants around her home.  Her grandfather, an amateur scientist himself, takes her under his wing and teaches her how to observe and document and experiment.  Together they discover what they think could be a new species of plant and send it off to the National Geographic society to have it verified.  

This book is so charming.  Callie is sweet and funny and vivacious as any girl with 7 brothers would be.  She follows her heart despite what society dictates she should be.  I loved, loved, loved this book.  It was so well written.  I will by buying it for my kids.

***

I wanted a spooky Halloween read and had heard good things about this one.  The creepy vintage photos in the book didn't hurt either.  However, the book turned out to be less spooky than I expected, but it was still good.  

The story goes that Jacob grew up hearing stories from his grandfather about a magical island where children with peculiar abilities were cared for by a mysterious Miss Peregrine.  Jacob's grandfather claims he was one of those children, rescued from a concentration camp during WWII.  Jacob's belief in these stories eventually fades until his grandfather is murdered, leaving behind a trail of vague clues that leads Jacob back to a magical island where he discovers that his grandfather's stories are true.

I enjoyed it quite a bit and hope that there is a second installment as it was left wide open for one.  I love how Ransom Riggs included the vintage photos, such an interesting addition to the story.

***

The Scorch Trials was more of the same.  Terrible writing, annoying characters, and needless repetition.  But, I read it in a day.  I just want to know what is going on.  I'm hooked even though I hate reading it.  I can't explain it.  It just is what it is.

The kids from the maze get out of the maze and are taken to a dormitory thinking they are safe now and everything will be well.  Not so.  The have the Scorch Trials to go through.  They have to make it across a barren wasteland that is now the earth to reach a safe haven while avoiding super-sized lightening storms, disease infected crazy people and a competing group of girls.  Thomas is even more annoying in this book.  He's supposedly meant to become the leader of the who knows what after all this, but he really has no qualities that stand out as leadership material.

I'm totally not selling you on this book, I know, but like I said, I can't help myself.


And now I'm onto Frankenstein.  Wish me luck.