The Young Visitors

      The Young Visiters is a book written in 1881 by Daisy Ashford, a 9 year old girl. So far, it tells the story of a young man named Mr. Salteena who often has people to stay at his home. He goes to the country to visit a friend with a young lady named Ethel Monticue. At his stay, he realizes he wishes to be more of a gentlemen. The book has a level of innocence and brutal honesty that any grown up writing about the same topic could not be able to portray. I think most children's minds, and they way they carry themselves is very straightforward- because of this, the way they write is very true to life and kind of cuts through all the unnecessary details many adults throw into their work.
       For example, in her book, she talks point blank about how Mr. Salteena likes having young ladies stay at his house, and how he wants to become a gentleman, and if he wants to do that he must talk to more higher society people and dress in classy suits and ties to gain respect. Her approach to things that people have a hard time talking openly about is exciting and really interesting to read.
      Anyone who has a hard time trying to get their ideas into a book or on paper should read this, because it not only is hilarious, but it goes to show how much honesty and simplicity can improve art.

Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi

         The book "Hurricane Song" by Paul Volponi tells about Hurricane Katrina that occurred in New Orleans in 2005. The story illustrates a lot of the social and racial ignorance that effected many during the storm.
         During Hurricane Katrina, privileged people were definitely the safest. The wealthier, mostly white people with connections to people outside New Orleans had an easier time getting transportation out of danger zones than poorer, mostly hispanic or African American people who didn't have an easy route to safety. It was an unfair time for many who were stranded by the disaster. The worst part of it was that none of the people with the authority to control the damage had had the foresight to see that the less fortunate people of New Orleans wouldn't have ways to avoid it.  This caused many problems, for example, while some people were able to escape the city and stay in safer areas, others were killed by the storm, had their shops stolen from, starved, developed sicknesses, or were killed by gang members.
          The government's solution to save the endangered citizens from harm was to keep them in the Louisiana Superdome. They were unprepared for the thousands of people that would need shelter, and soon they were overcrowded, the bathrooms overflowed, people stole from one another, the temperatures were dangerously high, gangs arose, and people were raped and murdered, all in the pitch black dark of the storm.
         The mindlessness and ignorance on the government's part led to the deaths of hundreds of innocent people. I think that lack of foresight and consideration of a wider spectrum of people can lead to destruction of many lives, much like how many teenagers don't think about how kids who aren't as cool as others feel about things.

A Hat Full of Sky

       In "A Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett, a 12 year old witch named Tiffany goes off to be the apprentice of an adult witch named Ms. Level.  A hiver, or an evil spirit, follows after her to possess her powerful body, although Tiffany does not know this. Terry Pratchett does an incredible job of giving characters a very distinct nature.
      For example, when the characters speak, they almost never say anything normal, like "hey!" Their convesations always reveal something interesting, and in that way, you learn more about the people in a few sentences than you could in a chapter of a different book. The language he uses is so unique I take note of it to think about how to do what he does in my writing.
     "A Hat Full of Sky' portrays a very intricate world of creatures and ideas about the world, all written very fluently and in a way that captures your attention.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (SPOILER)

     I finally found Go Ask Alice and finished it! It was a terribly consuming and emotional book and I was saddened to know that what was mentioned in the book really happened in real life.
      The story is based off the true diary of a 15 year old drug user and the main character, unnamed, starts off a little lonely and insecure. This is common is almost all teenagers, but her case must have been deeper than that, because the choices she ends up making seem to derive from self uncertainty.
    For example, she tries LSD for the first time at a party and has a wonderful experience. Then she feels guilty about it, but goes on to try more things like Speed and acid. Her experiences are sometimes bad, but she continues her use, even starts dealing to young kids and loses her virginity at 15. She is a teenager, but people who make those decisions aren't just adventurous, to me, it shows that they didn't have a strongest grip on their life in the first place. She gets in fights with her family and soon runs away to San Francisco with a girl a couple years older, where she lives in a ratty apartment and finds an okay job. Her friend finds a job with a woman who invites her and the main character to classy business parties, where they end up taking hard drugs and being abused by the hosts. However, they become sober and start up their own jewelry shop, but after that she goes home and pursues her chain of drugs, consequences, bullying, soberness, and back to drugs.
        My point is, I think the core of most drug users, beyond curiosity and being naive (which is also a cause) is instability, whether it is in self confidence, family, friends or relationships. It was a really good and HEARTRENDING book that will definitely tell you the pros and cons of drug use. (Mostly cons.)
     

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

       The setting in "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost hints that the man in the poem is middle aged, and deciding at a later point in his life between two life paths.
        The first line in the poem, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" made me think of fall, and that the narrator was caught between a decision at mid-age. The rest of the poem describes the man taking one path and thinking about trying the other, and never getting around to it, but in the end, both roads are the same. To me, the author is trying to say that the man is stuck in a kind of minor mid-life crisis.
      In the last stanza, it says "I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence" making it clear that he's looking back on his choice years later, and maybe feeling some regret. This isn't completely clear- but the poem clues toward the narrator being somewhere in the middle of his life.
     

Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

      I've recently started reading "Bridge To Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson and I love the way the book opens.
       Sometimes books open EXTREMELY boringly and you have to wait till the middle of the book for it to get interesting ((((Andromeda Klein)))) but this one really showed a lot about the boy's life;  his family dynamic in a few short sentences, his town, his desire for running. I've only read a few pages and I already am interested.
      It also makes me excited to see where the book will turn, because I know something interesting is supposed to happen where him and a girl end up in woods. With that in mind, I have a much better time reading this than Andromeda Klein; (which, as it turns out, is interesting but is still too hard to understand.)

Andromeda Klein

      I have officially decided that I hate the book Andromeda Klein. Which is sad, because other than a few reasons, it could be a really interesting book.
      For one, its eXTREMELY boring. There is literally a page about wicker furniture, like no, no one needs to know that. I barely know what the storyline is-if the book is made for kids, at least make it compelling enough to enjoy.
      Second of all, the book uses hundreds of confusing terms in every sentence, and I don have time to look them up. It doesn't make it seem smart or intellectual either, it just frustrates me.
       So basically I'm never reading this again.