Contrary to the title, I am announcing first. I just passed 2,250 views on my blog! And, yes, I know, many of them are visits from the same person. But it means you care enough to come back! You have faith in me and my writing. So, thank you, to everyone. At least I know you’re there, even if you don’t subscribe or comment. [Take the hint!] Back to the awesomeness.
*Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou*
I love all of you so much! Thank you for reading my posts, for reading my rants, and book reviews, and maybe even stopping by to check out my novel. You are the reason I have over 2,250 views.
Top Ten Fictional Characters I Would Want to Sit At My [Awesome] Lunch Table
1. Hermione Granger Because we are soul mates. Besides Evi, of course. Won’t forget you, bae. :)
2. Leo Valdez He is my OTP. So, um, duh?
3. Annabeth Chase We can talk about how annoying Hera is. ;) And how Seaweed Brain, is well, a seaweed brain.
4. Cinder She is so amazing! Just to have a conversation with her would be like, woah… But then again, all these people are pretty amazing.
5. Sabrina Grimm She has a wicked sense of humor and sarcasm. We both have little sisters.
6. Isabelle Lightwood Her sense of fashion is truly awesome. She is the best stylish, kick-butt girl I know.
7. Simon Lewis I mean, he just might top Leo Valdez. Although, kinda hard to beat Izzy…
8. Augustus Waters Another OTP.
9. Sadie Kane She’s British. An she can give me tips on hair-dyeing!
10. Tris Prior She is just so cool, I mean, come on.
That was my TTT; I loved doing it, by the way. Sorry I didn’t have pictures! I was too lazy.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Title: To Kill a Mockingbird
Author: Harper Lee
Number of Pages: 324
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
Summary From Cover: The unforgettable novel of a childhood in a sleepy Southern town and the crisis of conscience that rocked it, To Kill A Mockingbird became both an instant bestseller and a critical success when it was first published in 1960. It went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and was later made into an Academy Award-winning film, also a classic.
Compassionate, dramatic, and deeply moving, To Kill A Mockingbird takes readers to the roots of human behavior – to innocence and experience, kindness and cruelty, love and hatred, humor and pathos. [By the way, “pathos” is actually a word. Crazy, right? It means “a quality that evokes pity or sadness.]
Discussion: God, did I love this book. I heard such wonderful things about it from many other bloggers, and when I found it in my homeroom teacher’s classroom, of course I had to pick it up!
The first few chapters were really too slow for me, and I began to think that To Kill a Mockingbird would be my first bad review. The plot moved slowly and many big words were used that I didn’t understand. Finally, though, the plot sped up with Boo Radley and Dill and such, and I was happily entranced.
Boo Radley fascinated me, along with the trinkets in the tree. In fact, the whole town fascinated me. Each member was lovely in some way, but had their hamartia. Maybe their hamartia wasn’t exactly huge, but I loved how none of the residents were peachy perfect.
I enjoyed seeing Scout and Jem mature, growing up past Boo Radley and ghosts and the like. Jem’s stage of being very adult-like reminded me of myself. My sister (think of her as Scout) is always pestering me to play with her, while I don’t want to (think of me as Jem). I sympathized with Jem, and learned more from Scout about this and why my sister gets sad when I don’t play with her.
Although this book is funny and sweet, it also has some huge themes that I thought were snuck in nicely. Lee didn’t make the book a lesson, but she also told the truth.
Sexism actually shows up a lot, and from a feminist’s point of view, I was disappointed with parts of it. Scout is scolded for “acting like a girl,” and then Aunt Alexandra says it isn’t proper for a girl to be wearing pants instead of a skirt. Scout is very sexist, too, but only by listening to her elders and observing those around her.
Racism: the second of two -isms that frequent the pages. The whole second part of the book is about racism. Black people are often referred to as a racist term I cannot repeat, but I bet you can guess. And the whole court trial and the final verdict is about race, and not at all about justice and facts.
I think Scout and Matilda would be best friends. Both are scolded for learning early and are wise beyond their years.
All in all I adored this book, but think the slow parts were a bit…well, slow. They are the only reason I give To Kill a Mockingbird 4 stars. Read it!
Next, I’m reading The Giver by Lois Lowry, and already I’m more than halfway through.
Free As a Girl With Wings 