Second Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass, Little, Brown and Company, 2006
Genre: Fiction

In this book the main character Jeremy Fink is turning thirteen and he finds out that his father, that had passed away, has left him a box with the meaning of life inside it. The only problem is, the keys are lost and this box is not an ordinary box it takes four different keys to open it.Throughout the book you follow Jeremy and his best friend Lizzy through the journey to find the keys in time for Jeremy's birthday.

"This is an unforgettable book that you will want to give to someone the minute you reluctantly turn the final page."
- Book Page

Mass shows the streets of New Jersey from Jeremy's point of view as they are on the ultimate scavenger hunt to find the missing keys that could be anywhere. They travel all over New Jersey because of some unexpected trouble that they got into while on a search for the keys. The two friends are have always been inseparable but now more than ever they keep each other going even though it is rough.

Mass uses the much detail to describe each unusual place that Jeremy and Lizzie travel. She makes sure that no nook or cranny is left out and that the reader knows exactly where they are. She also takes care in describing her characters. When she described the characters I got a very clear image in my head of what the person looked like.

"Staring up at me are the engraved words THE MEANING OF LIFE: FOR JEREMY FINK TO OPEN ON HIS 13TH BIRTHDAY. I'd recognize my dad's handiwork anywhere." (13)

I really like this story and I would definitely recommend it. I got recommended it by my friend. The book has so many twists and turns and it makes you keep reading. The suspense killed me at points but it made me read faster, and until I couldn't open my eyes any longer. Mass throws so many things you wouldn't expect which make the book so much more fun. I really like that she had two friends that were opposite gender because my best friend is a boy. People that don't know us think that we are like dating and say it is so cute but then we just look at each other and if the whole we are just friends excuse doesn't work we say we are brother and sister or we are cousins! It works every time.

First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Penguin Books, 2003

Genre: Fiction

In the book The Secret Life of Bees the main character Lily Owens, a teenage girl, is growing up with her abusive father, T.Ray during 1964. Lily runs away from her South Carolina home with her house maid Rosaleen, and ends up in Tiburon, South Carolina. She goes to Tiburon to find out more about her mother and about her death that Lily caused. She ends up staying in a pink house with three colored, bee keeping sisters.

“Maybe it’s true that there are no perfect books, but I closed this one believing that I had found perfection.” –Book magazine

In The Secret Life of Bees Lily Owens has always been told that she murdered her mother. She remembers her mother going through the closet and kept telling her to hurry. Then her father came up the stairs with a gun and they started fighting. Her father, T.Ray, dropped the gun and she went for it the next thing that she remembered was an explosion. In this story Lily has only a few things from her mother. One unparticular is very important. A picture of a colored Virgin Mary that on the back says Tiburon, S.C..Lily has a house maid named Rosaleen and she got into some trouble and ended up in jail. That night Lily gets her out and they run away to Tiburon. They find the ladies that have the Black Madonna picture on their honey jar and they end up staying with them for a good amount of the summer. Lily gets to help bee keep and becomes really good at it. Through the book Lily has a strong feeling that her mother has been there and has her search for her. The author gives you a look into this topsy-turvy teenager’s world and really makes you feel like you are in the book. She makes you feel like you feel what Lily is feeling. I have never read this a book like this and this is just too good of a book to be compared.

“T.Ray sat in a chair and cleaned his nails with a pocketknife. I swayed from knee to knee , hoping for a second or two or relief, but the pain cut deep into my skin. I bit down on my lip, and it was then I felt the wooden picture of black Mary underneath my waistband. I felt the waxed paper with my mother’s picture inside and her gloves stuck to my belly, and it seemed all of a sudden like my mother was there, up against my body, like she was bits and pieces of insulation molded against my skin, helping me absorb all his meanness.” (pg. 24)

I really enjoyed this book. I think that it was good because a number of people can relate to or understand it. My mother recommended it to me and she said that she loves it too. I think that this is a perfect book for any adolescent and that the writing that she used was very good. In this book you were always waiting for more to happen. Kidd gave you more and more with every page you turned. I really enjoyed that it was about teen adventures because I always imagine things like that in my head doing crazy things like running away and almost everyone wishes that they could have a secret relative to find more about. This book was excellent and I would definitely read more by Sue Monk Kidd and I can’t wait to see the movie!!

Running with the Necklace

Now that I am older and somewhat wiser than I was in my earlier years, I look back on things and truly appreciate them more. While I look around and all of my friends talk about their new designer this and their new designer that, I wonder who really cares about that? Should we care about who has given it to us or what was given? I do admit I have splurged on some designer things but I have tried to cut the habit. Should I care about something given to me by someone special or getting something special?

I slow to a jog as my feet hit the hard street with making wonderful noise mixed with the falling rain. I raise my head and squint into the gray clouds and the cool rain. The stray rain drops from my hair fall onto my neck. A huge smile crosses my face as my friends catch up and we start the unofficial race again. The rush runs through my veins and the pounding is in sync with the beat of my heart. My sneakers let out squeaks which match with the rain perfectly, like Mother Nature herself was conducting the music to one of my favorite moments.

I look to the left then to the right and I see all of my best friends beside me. They all look very familiar to me but in a soaking wet form. The one on the left's hair whose was pin straight this morning is now busted out in curls. The one on the left whose hair was in a messy bun is now down by her chest and pin straight. The laughter pours from all of our mouths and mixes in with our nature song. As I sprint through the rain and stop for another head lifting drink, I realize how special this is to me and how free it makes me feel.

The rain slows and the water slides down the concrete and into the drain with a flush. The whispering drops of rain falling from our hair seem to fill me ears like the beat of a drum. Without hesitating I start one last sprint before the rain completely stops. I look around while the rain is slowing and make note in my head because I begin to think of this as one of my fond memories. I soak up the last moments to make it complete, just as the sun light glistens upon each raindrop uniquely. Out of the corner of my eye I notice the slight start of a rainbow. The perfect ending to my rain day memoir.

The gold shines as I twirl the gold square link chain through my hands. The purple amethyst is glistening from the light of the lamp in my room. I admire the carefully carved shape of a heart made of my grandfather's wedding ring. The amethyst hangs at the upper point of the heart where the two halves meet. The rush I feel is almost indescribable as I can feel the love and care that the necklace was made for me because of my grandmother's death. I had never gotten to meet my grandmother but I know that this necklace was made so that I would remember who she was.

I think about my grandfather and how he sacrificed his own wedding ring that was given to him by his wife to give it to me. I only get to see or wear this ring once in a long while because of how valuable it is. The gold and amethyst to me are worth millions but in real life it still has a considerable amount of value. The wedding ring was so carefully carved and has Din Ase gently scripted into the inside of the golden ring. Din Ase is Norwegian, the native language which my grandmother spoke, but in English it means Yours Ase. This was my grandfather's word of honor to my grandmother. In the long run I think that I would want to do this for my grandchildren so that I they could have some source of money or if they wanted to keep it as a memory.

I think that my two items are very different but also very similar. The way that both things make me feel are priceless and they both make me feel the same way. They each have their unique quality of "talking "to me. The necklace says money and memory while the rain sings me a gentle song. I don't think that I would ever trade the necklace or running in the rain for anything because they make me feel so great. Even if the necklace might be a nice accessory I think that running in the rain is a great action and shows who I really am. In the end I equally love running in the rain and the necklace and I think that moments and items should be worshiped together.