No Name

 Hello all,      I decided that for the last blog post of the year that I would do a post on a series that I've been reading for most of a semester. During basketball season, I decided to read through all three compendiums of  Invincible  by Robert Kirkman, and I only recently finished it about two days ago. Over the entire time I was reading Invincible  I enjoyed the interesting world development and also the expansive routes that the story took.     Invincible  follows Mark Grayson who is the son of Nolan Grayson, a superpowered alien and also a secret villain. The story begins right as Mark is gaining his powers of flight, strength and durability. Mark stops a couple of small villains and then his dad reveals he intends to take over the planet for his alien race. This is the point where the story expands drastically and brings the characters into new worlds and dimensions. The rest of the series revolves around stopping the alien race...

If you’re looking for book recommendations for the summer, you’re in the right place! For my last post, I have gathered a mix of books to hopefully inspire you to continue reading over the summer. Sci-Fi: Andy Weir’s The Martian is a pretty scientifically accurate, humorous, survival novel about an astronaut stranded on Mars. It’s engaging plot wise and emotionally, and is great when you want to read something that makes you feel smart but isn’t too heavy. If you like the book, you could also watch the movie which is pretty cool!  Historical fiction: Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See is a WWⅡ novel about a French girl and a German soldier and how their lives intertwine. It’s very rich in storytelling and nicely written, so if you like lyrical writing, a layered plot, and heavy topics, you’ll appreciate this book. Historical fiction/social commentary: Doctorow’s Ragtime is an interesting novel that mixes real and fictional characters in early 20th century America to ...

For my very last blog post, I really wanted to read a book that had summer vibes, because I am so ready for summer break! While I was researching some books to read, I stumbled across this title. In case you’ve heard of it before, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was adapted into a popular movie as well! The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is about four teenage girls who’ve been friends since they were babies – Carmen, Tibby, Bailey (called Bee), and Lena. They are all feeling pretty glum as summer break starts, as this is their first summer apart from each other. Carmen is visiting her dad, Bee is going to a soccer camp, Lena is visiting her grandparents in Greece, and Tibby is staying home. That’s when they discover a pair of magical pants! These pants seem pretty normal at first glance, just a pair of blue jeans. However, they fit all four girls (who have very different body types) perfectly. They decide to mail the Pants to each other throughout the course of the summer to s...

Hey guys, forever ago I made a review from the halfway point of Throne of Glass. Now I am back to tell you my final thoughts after finishing the series! First of all, these books are HUGE, but sometimes I wished they were longer because I enjoyed them so much. Sarah J. Maas is such an amazing world builder, and there are always so many twists in her stories. Because of the surprising changes, I can’t tell you much about the story or I will spoil the entire series.  Essentially, the story starts with a young assassin who was saved from a slave camp to participate in the king’s competition to find the best person to do his dirty work. From there, the story evolves to something so much bigger. There is romance, drama, sorrow, struggle, and so much happiness. After reading the first book, I could have never guessed just how much the story would change. This is absolutely my new favorite series. My favorite books in the series are Empire of Storms or Kingdom of Ash. As is typical fo...

  Warriors by Erin Hunter is a book series about a bunch of cats with their own civilization in the forest. I read this series back when I was younger, and have just started to get back into them.  In Warriors , there are 4 groups of cats; Thunderclan, Riverclan, Windclan, and ShadowClan. Thunderclan is known for their bravery, Riverclan is known for their swimmers, Windclan is known for their speed, and Shadowclan is known for their deviousness. The clans can be compared to the different houses of Harry Potter. Each clan has their own leaders, 2nd in commands (deputies), medicine cats, and warriors. Leaders and 2nd in commands are in charge of keeping everyone in line. Medicine cats are there to prevent and treat injuries. Warriors are in charge of the hunting and protection of borders from cats of other clans. Most of the stories revolve around some kind of dispute between the clans; sometimes a cat from one clan has attacked one of another clan; sometimes one clan steals a...

 First off, apologies for the late post! I had thought we were still in the third week of the blog cycle, but I guess I was mistaken... We have all read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books when we were kids; the author Jeff Kinney does a great job at portraying Greg as a lazy, somewhat egotistical middle schooler, who often takes advantage of his best friend, Rowley Jefferson. But have you ever heard Rowley's side of the story? Diary of an Awesome Friendly kid by Jeff Kinney was published in April 2019, about 6 months after his book Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown , and portrays Rowley's relationship with Greg. The books' structure consists of multiple entries, each of which Rowley talks about his experiences with Greg. I will now overview the entries, and state points that stood out to me. The first few entries are about Rowley and Gregs' meeting. Rowley was in fourth grade when his Dad got a new job, so Rowley moved next to Greg. Even at their first meeting, Greg was ...

A common dilemma for teens in this era is that there’s not a third space to hang out and spend time. The options are primarily school or things that cost money. While there are other options like the park or just walking outside, you can’t really do that in the winter and that brings the question if walking outside every day is really fun for teens.  I present libraries as an option to solve this problem. I know that lots of people think that libraries would be a really boring hang out spot, but it’s actually not! Not only can you look around at the books, but most libraries host all kinds of events that are completely free. Most people that live in the same area have a library card so it is easy to obtain. For example, the Champaign Public Library hosts a teen lounge almost every week day at 3 o’clock. There is also something called Club Fred that is marketed for teens where you can do crafts and fun activities. These are just a few of the options that the Champaign library alone ...

                                All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven follows two broken teenagers, Finch and Violet, and their personal conflicts. Violet is grieving the loss of her sister and struggling to return to everyday life. Finch, on the other hand, lives with bipolar disorder and suicidal ideations, which he hides behind humor and impulsive behavior. The two grow close through a school project, and a relationship slowly forms between them as they bond over their shared hardships.               My favorite part of the book is how openly it centers around mental health. Both characters struggle with serious emotional pain and share the feeling of being “different” from the people around them. Jennifer Niven says the story was inspired by personal loss in her own life, explaining why the book talks about grief and ment...

Paper Towns by John Green follows the life of senior Quentin “Q” Jacobsen in his last month of high school. His life is pretty normal, even a bit boring. That is, until his old friend Margo Roth Spiegelman comes back into his life (who, coincidentally, Q has loved all his life). They have a wild night of getting revenge on all of Margo’s enemies and breaking and entering into various places. But in the morning, Margo is just…gone. No note, no voicemail, nothing. Q then spends the rest of his senior year trying to find Margo by decoding the cryptic clues she left for him. I have a lot of things to say about this book, but one of the first things I notice in a book is the characters’ personalities. And I have to say, there was nothing special about the characters in this book. Q is your stereotypical “nerdy kid” who thinks way too much about everything. I guess he has some character development over the course of the book, but it’s kind of hard to tell. His best friends really don’t have...

    Wilderness F irst Aid  is a book that I had to read for, you guessed it, a wilderness first aid course, which is often required for high adventure trips in scouting. This means all but about four people will not give any mind to this book, and I figure that's perfectly fine. Wilderness First Aid  is a 32-chapter e-book used as a prerequisite to taking the wilderness first aid course to get the certification. If any of the scouts are interested in taking the wilderness first aid course, get in contact with anyone from Crew 1. They tend to run the course over the weekend at Camp Drake.     Wilderness First Aid  covers about every condition/injury you could possibly come up with and teaches you how to perform first aid for the condition/injury. The book teaches how to deal with anything from dislocations to being struck by lightning. If you have taken first aid courses before, Wilderness First Aid will likely just be a review except for some of the m...

    Paul is the son of the head of house Atreides. Leto Atreides (the house head) is ordered by the emperor of the universe (or something like that) to take over Arrakis in place of house Harkonnen. Arrakis is a desert planet spotted with patches of a cinnamon-like substance called spice which is only found on Arrakis and is crucial for inter-planetary travel. Arrakis is also home to a group of natives called the Fremen who are great fighters and have adapted to the desert life along with giant sand worms that react to vibrations in the sand. Spice is one of the most expensive and coveted materials in the universe and house Harkonnen has just had it taken and given to the Atreides. Do you see where this could go wrong? After a small time of control over the spice, house Harkonnen takes back control of Arrakis, killing most of house Atreides including the Duke Leto, but Paul and his mother Jessica escape. They make their way into the dessert and meet up with some of the Fremen ...

                 I recently read the first book of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, a short comedy sci-fi that follows the intergalactic travels of a very mismatched crew of aliens, humans, and animals. The main character, Arthur Dent, is the only human aboard the ship. He’s joined by his friend Ford Prefect (an alien researcher for the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy who’s been stranded on Earth for 15 years), Zaphod Beeblebrox (the two-headed, ex-hippie, President of the Galaxy), Trillian Astra (mathematician and astrophysicist), a guy named Veet Voojagig, Marvin the perpetually depressed robot, and two hyper-intelligent mice. Arthur and Ford escape Earth moments before it’s demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, and from there, the story evolves into a quest involving a fabled planet and the meaning of life. The humor is definitely the main component of this novel and is what keeps it going. The author’s...

In my opinion, a Kindle or different type of digital reader is better than a physical book. This is of course always a decision that has to be made by each specific reader, but these are a few reasons why I believe this. In this article, I am going to be arguing specifically for a Kindle because that is where most of my knowledge and experience is centralized. The main argument that people make against Kindles is that they don’t “feel” like a book when you’re holding it. Honestly, I don’t have a great argument against that. Yes, it doesn’t feel like a book and there is no paper or physical pages. It feels a bit weird at first, but I adjusted to the feel pretty fast. If you’re not someone who can get used to a different feel, then a Kindle might not be for you. For me, the different feel was positive. I can leave my book open on the counter while I’m doing other things and I know I won’t lose my page if the book accidentally closes. It is very light and thin, so you can just throw it ...

I first read When Stars Are Scattered in sixth grade, because it was on the Rebecca Caudill Young Reader’s Book Award list. It’s inspired by Omar Mohamed’s real life story. When I first read it, I thought it was pretty good, but now that I have more appreciation for the deep themes inside the book, I love it even more. When Stars Are Scattered is narrated by Omar, an adolescent Somalian refugee. He lives in a refugee camp called Daadab, with his younger brother, Hassan. Hassan has a disability that limits his ability to speak (he can only say one word), and he sometimes has seizures. Hassan is also the only blood-related family Omar has left; their father was killed in Somalia, and their mother has not been found. The book follows Omar’s day-to-day life in the refugee camp as they hope and pray for a better life. The fact that it’s narrated by Omar and not in third person gives the reader a unique window into his frustrations, worries, complicated emotions as a refugee. This book conta...

 Hi guys, in this blog I'll be going over the classic Peanuts comic series by Charles Schulz. Peanuts has been a world favorite ever since Schulz began writing it in 1950. Throughout my childhood, I have been reading these strips online and in The Complete Peanuts collections of the strips between the years. I have read almost every single Peanuts strip in existence, as when I was younger, I had nothing better to do during my free time. In this blog I’ll overview the strips from the 1950s to 1960s. Peanuts consists of quite a few characters: The main 2 characters showing up are Charlie Brown and Snoopy, showing up 8588 and 7744 times in strips respectively. Charlie Brown is often portrayed as a “wishy-washy” person, with a somewhat weak personality, often giving in to other people. He often has a lot of bad luck, shown in his many kite flying accidents and baseball games. A recurring pattern in these strips is when Charlie Brown chickens out of doing something, and everyone get...