Lord of the Flies by William Golding (3rd quater)

Later in the book, in chapter 5, Ralph is walking along the beach and he suddenly gets frustrated. He realizes that all the other boys are the island are not doing their jobs, not hunting, no building shelters. He blows the conch shell and calls a meeting. Ralph realizes that the boys society is slowly falling apart. He tries to fix it but is not really sure how. Shortly after, Ralph and Jack's group officially split. In a way i see this as a replica of real society. Ralph and his group, i believe, represent the good in society. While Jack and his group represent the evils of society. Most of the boys give in to the urge. Deep down, everyone could be evil. However, in society we try to cover up the evils that lurk within. In real society, certain rules and regulations guides us away from it. However, when there are no rules, as you can see with the boys on the island, people often give in to desire and temptation. In Lord of The Flies, joining Jack's group of the hunters represents giving in to these evil desires.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding (3rd quater)

I am at the start of this book and am trying to refresh my memory a bit after reading it in 9th grade. At the beginning, a group of young boys end up on an island after their plan crashes. The first thing they realize once on the island is that their are no other adults with them. Some of them seem to be happy about that, while others feel that without adults, they will not be able to get off the island. Even at the very beginning, the boys quickly figure out that they must establish some kind of order in their mini society. One boy named Ralph finds a conch shell on the island. Throughout the book, this conch represents power. The boys later if you have something to say, you must be holding the conch shell and cannot just yell things out. This is their way of creating order in their society. Ralph, one of the older boys on the island, is also voted to be leader over all the other boys on the island. Some people are happy about this, while others are not and feel it is unfair that Ralph gets to be leader.

I Know What You DId Last Summer by Louis Duncan

I finished the last book i was reading, Killing Mr. Griffin, and since i like Louis Duncan i decided to read another book by her. I am only just beginning I Know What You Did Last Summer, but so far it is good and makes me want to keep reading. Like the other book by Louis Duncan, it is also about a group of teenagers who accidently kill a mysterious man. They are horrified and don't know what to do. Instead of reporting it to the police, they dump the man in a river and pledge to never tell anyone about what they have done for as long as they live. That is where I am at as of right now. What i like most about Louis Duncan's style of writing is that it is very suspenseful. I like this because it keeps me engaged in the book and makes me want to keep reading. My predictions for the rest of this book is that the secret of the accidental killing will somehow get out. The teenagers will then be faced with an even bigger problem...

Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan

I really like Lois Duncan. I have read many other books of hers. My favorite by her was I know What You Did Last Summer. Which is why i chose this book because Lois Duncan is very good with thriller and suspense books. I am a couple chapters away from the end of the book and I do not feel that this was one of her best books. I felt that it was not bad to read and somewhat entertaining, however, like many other mediocre mystery book, too predictable. The plot of the book is that Susan and a couple of her friends plot out a "practical joke" on their english teacher, Mr. Griffin. None of them meant to actually kill them and when they did they did not know what to do. They chose to try and keep everything a secret and not let anyone ever find out about what happened. I still have the last few chapters to read so i am not completely sure of what the overall turn out of the book will be, but up to this point i feel everything that has happened i could have easily predicted. I do like Lois Duncan's style of writing, especially in other books of her. After this book i plan to read another book by her because i really enjoy reading mystery/suspense books.

"A Long Way Gone" By Ishmael Beah

Over the break i completed The Blind Side- which i highly recommend to any sports fan. I also re-read a book that i read last year, "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah. The reason I chose to re-read this book is because last year after i read it I decided it was one of the best book i had ever read and I do not remember everything that happened since it has been over a year since i last read it. This book is a memoir about a young boy named Ishmael Beah. He is living is Sierra Leone. At age 12 rebels come and attack his land. Slowly, he becomes seperated from all of his family. He becomes sure that he will most likely never see his family again, and after a year of running, he decides to fight in the government army at age 13. What made this book so good, and worth re-reading, was the detail that the author gives. When Ishmael is fighting in battles with the army the detail makes given makes it seem as if you are sitting their watching everything. Being that it is written by Ishmael himself, it is not hard to really understand how the character feels and the horrors that he went through. It is also a very sad and emotional book.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

As the book progresses, it begins to talk more about the life of Michael Oher, and how his football career began. Oher was a poor, homeless African American boy who is taking in by a wealthy white family. While in high school, a big-time recruiter happen to come by one of Oher's football films. He had no idea who he was, but he saw something that nobody else seemed to see in Michael Oher. This recruiter, Lemmings, went to visit thousands of high school prospects and had thousands more begging him to watch their films or meet with them. So, to say the least, he was busy. However we he saw this tape of Michael Oher he knew that he could not just let this kid slip by him; he was the first one to see that Michael Oher had a chance to play professional football.

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis

This book is very interesting so far. The beginning of the book does not focus on the life of Michael Lewis and his football career. Instead it talks about before him, how the game of football evolved to become what it is today. It specifically talks about Lawrence Taylor and his career as a pro football player, and the impact he had on the rest of football. Lawrence Taylor used to play linebacker and was well-known for being a lunatic that did not seem to care about anything but getting to the quarterback, and hitting him as hard as he possibly could. He would tell anyone that he spoke to that he preferred to attack the quarterbacks "blindside" (the opposite side which the quarterback was looking). His logic for this was that if the QB doesn't see him coming, its only going to hurt more. Teams began to realize that if they couldn't stop Lawrence Taylor, it was very unlikely they could beat the Giants (the team Taylor played on in the 80's). So teams began to put a new type of player on the line of scrimmage, specifically on the side of the quarterback which became known as his blindside. This became known as the left tackle.