friendship

To Kill A Mockingbird

 in Adventure / Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Young Adult by

by Harper Lee

Summary

When a local African American man, Tom Robinson,  is accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell,  Maycomb turns into a nasty little town. It is nasty for Atticus, Scout, Jem, and Calpurnia. Atticus, a white lawyer, is assigned to defend Mr. Robinson. And then, people disliking  Atticus, Scout and Jem start getting bombarded with people calling their father “nigger lover” and other hateful things. And with the court case coming up soon, the pressure is on Atticus to keep Tom safe in jail (from people who want him dead), keep his own family safe, and make sure justice is served. Also with Bob Ewell running around the town making mischief, he just might be finding himself in a whole lot of bother.

Review

I had heard about this book about 3 years ago and I always thought it was really hard, just like I still think that Pride and Prejudice is hard. I thought that I was never going to read it. I though I would read this book when I was a grown up. But when I started my grade this year, I saw our reading list for the year, and To Kill A Mockingbird was on the list. I told my friends and only one of them had read it. They said they had loved the book but that it was a little weird. That kind of put me off the book. But then it was time to read it. The first three chapters are a little confusing because it is referring back into the past and I got a little lost in it. But after that I was thoroughly enjoying it. Many of my friends did not read the book because of the language. The language is not complex, like Anne of Green Gables, but it has a Southern accent to it. This story is set in a Southern state so everyone has an accent or is not very literate. Some of them cannot talk well so it is hard to understand them.

This book is quite old, written in 1960 and all. This is one explanation of why the book is so racist. It was a racist time and it was a racist area that the book was set in. But I do warn you, if you are offended by racial discrimination then this book is not the right one for you. They do use the word negro and nigger. They use some terms like “nigger lover” and other phrases with the word “nigger” or “negro.” But I do have to say, you should read this book because it is definitely a classic and I think you would be missing out. Hope that you enjoy the book.

Character List
Just to help you when you read the book

Jean Louise “Scout” Finch – Daughter
Jeremy Atticus “Jem” Finch – Son
Atticus Finch – Father
Calpurnia – Finche’s “black cook” there is not mother in the household so Calpurnia takes on this role
Charles Baker “Dill” Harris – a summer and neighbor friend of Scout and Jem

To Kill a Mockingbird

Image via Wikipedia

Arthur “Boo” Radley – a man who lives in Maycomb, who is believed to be insane Bob Ewell – father of Mayella Ewell
Mayella Ewell – blamed Tom Robinson of raping her, brought court case about
Miss Maudie Atkinson – Finche’s neighbor, sharp tounged widow
Aunt Alexandra – Atticus’s sister
Tom Robinson – accused of raping Mayella Ewell
Nathan Radley – older brother of Boo Radley

For more information on the characters click here.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

 in Book Reviews / Books / Interesting / Older Readers / Young Adult by

Summary

In Sue Monk Kidd’s The Secret Life of Bees, 14-year-old Lily Owen, neglected by her father and isolated on their South Carolina peach farm, spends hours imagining a blissful infancy when she was loved and nurtured by her mother, Deborah, whom she barely remembers. These consoling fantasies are her heart’s answer to the family story that as a child, in unclear circumstances, Lily accidentally shot and killed her mother. All Lily has left of Deborah is a strange image of a Black Madonna, with the words “Tiburon, South Carolina” scrawled on the back. The search for a mother, and the need to mother oneself, are crucial elements in this well-written coming-of-age story set in the early 1960s against a background of racial violence and unrest. When Lily’s beloved nanny, Rosaleen, manages to insult a group of angry white men on her way to register to vote and has to skip town, Lily takes the opportunity to go with her, fleeing to the only place she can think of–Tiburon, South Carolina–determined to find out more about her dead mother.

-Amazon.com summary

Review

This was really a heart warming book. It was very sweet. This is definitely a mother-daughter book because it is really about women. This book is something that I would recommend to any girl over the age of 12. There is nothing inappropriate as such, it is just weighty issues talked about. This book I might read again because it was so good.

I had wanted to read this book this summer because it was part of my summer reading list, but my mom did not know whether it was suitable or not. She checked out about 10 websites. They all really said the same thing. They all said that it was ok for teenagers. And my personal opinion is that it is great for any girl of the ages 12 and up. I must warn you that there are some racial comments because Lily stays with African-Americans and T. Ray is racist. In the beginning of the book, there is a little violence, someone gets hit on the hit and there is some racial language again. That is the only thing to watch out for. Other wise this was a great book and I would recommend it to all girls. Boys might not like it so much because this book is about women and there are some mentions to female body parts. Otherwise it is great.

I also just wanted to mention that Sue Monk Kidd makes her characters come alive in the book. She describes them very well. I felt like Lily was alive and T. Ray was actually in the room (which was kind of scary because he was so mean). Her writing is very good and she makes the words on the page come alive. I actually felt like I was part of what was happening or was a spectator to what was happening.

I hope that you enjoy the book.

The Middle School Survival Guide

 in Book Reviews / Books by

by Arlene Erlbach Illustrations by Helen Flook

As school time is slowly approaching and many students will be going into Middle School, I thought that this would be an appropriate book to review. I got this book while I was in 6th grade because in my school, middle school does not start until 7th grade (yes it is kind of confusing). So I got this book because I wanted to “survive” in middle school. But when I got this book I realized it had a lot more than I originally thought. Some of the topics covered throughout the book are…

Peers
The Opposite Sex
Really Serious Stuff
Puberty
A New School, A New Environment

I wanted to first talk about the sections of “The Opposite Sex” and “Puberty”. When I got this book I thought it was just about school, but I found out that it is also about growing up. The changes that happen to your body. In the section about the opposite sex they talk about crushes and parties. This was the part that was really kind of disturbing to me. In 6th grade I knew a lot of the stuff that they talked about, but some of it was new to me and was really kind of revolting. I cannot give any examples because I do not know the ages that are reading my blog and I do not want children running off to their parent and asking “What is this and how does it work?” But with that statement I think that you can probably guess what is covered. A broad topic are things that happen at parties.

Also the other section I wanted to talk about was Puberty. This book is a book for both males and females and so it talk’s about puberty for girls and boys. This was also disturbing because I really did not need to know all that information about the male. I knew what I needed to know for my age, but unfortunately I learned a little bit more. Some of it I wished I had not learned just yet.

Those are the two main thing that I wanted to talk about because everything else is practically ok. So my recommendation is that parents check the book out before it is bought. Amazon says it is ok for children 10-12 and grades 6-8, but I personally strongly disagree. This book I would put for 12-14 year old or kids going into 7th grade.

But everything that I have mentioned is all negative, do not get me wrong this is a really good book with a lot of information, it just should have been toned down a little bit. This book describes some of the ways that middle school works and how friends work and all that type of stuff. This book is mostly direction toward students who are heading or are in a public school. This does not seem to apply to private. It also talks about family issues like divorces and what might be happening to you while you are emotionally in trouble. I definitely would recommend reading the book, but only really if you are older or are supervised. That is my opinion.

How To Build A Better Community

 in Interesting / Library by

When you hear the word community, do you think of a group of people living in a particular area??? Well, that is part of what a community is. You might think this because there are different types. There are communities that are just groups of people living together and then there are communities like a town. A town is a type of really big community. But when I think of the word “community” I think of a group of people who live in an area where they help each other and care for one another. An example of this type of place is the Fellowship Community in Spring Valley.

“The Fellowship Community, founded in 1966, is a community of all ages, centered around the care of the elderly. About 150 elderly, children and coworkers live in a rural setting of farm, woods and orchards about 30 miles north-west of New York City. Working and learning together in service to others and in caring for the earth is the central motif of the community life. Those who are interested in a path of self-development in the process of building and maintaining community might find this a place of interest.”

This is what they say on the front page of their website. I visited this community once and as soon as I entered, it felt like I was entering a world of peace and tranquility. Literally as soon as I entered and saw just one building, I knew that this was a really nice place. When I saw the people there, I knew that they were close together because when they saw each other they greeted each other warmly. And since I was just visiting, they welcomed us like we had always been there.

Well this is what this post is about. This is about how to build a better community. Here are a few step to help you get started to help bring your neighbors and friends closer together.

  1. Share – if you share, you gain trust from one another
  2. Spend Time Together – have a get-together once a month to catch up with each other and learn new things
  3. Be Kind – if you want to gain trust from your neighbors, you must not hurt them. The occasional argument is ok but do not ever try to hurt them deliberately

An Example Of A Community That Is Like This

Skyview Community

This community that inspired me to write this post. My mother was going to visit and the first time she went without me and told me that there was a library there, and that it was not actually a library as we understand it. It was more like a shack with books in it. This peaked my interest. I was curious just how the books were not stolen and how the system worked in the community. My mom had to go back and she took me with her and I saw what the community was like. In this area, everyone is one with the earth. They are not hippies, they just have a feel for nature and care for their surroundings. So on the way back from the house, my mom stopped in front of the library. I got out and took pictures. Those pictures were the ones that were in my last post named “A DIFFERENT Type Of Library.” It is small and I wondered at how the books were kept safe. I wondered until my mom said one word. Trust. There is trust in this community. I am sure that there have been some books that have gone missing here and there, but there is trust in this community. In this library, all of the books are donated by the people in the community, they buy the books and put them there. I personally thought this was a great idea and it helps to bring your community together.

I know that this is a little hard to read but I did the best I could editing it. There are no words missing. This little “poster” was inside the library. There was also another little thing in there. It was like guide lines. This is it.

Hopefully this will all bring your community, neighborhood, or town closer together.

A DIFFERENT Type Of Library

 in Fun / Interesting / Library by

There are, as you hopefully know, many different types of libraries. But did you know that there is a library that actually does not have a building as such. It does have 3 sides and a roof and the “building” is only  about 8 ft. tall and  7 ft. wide. It is small but it is powerful. Look at some pictures of this type of library and wait and see the next post to find out why it is so powerful and how this type of library can help you build a better community.