Finished city of the beasts **some minor spoilers alert**

I finished the book City of the Beasts, and all the characters have changed from the beginning to the end. First of all, Nadia was just a small Indian girl, an average tribe child. The only notable thing she had was her intelligence of knowing many other Indian tribe languages, although that did help her, Alex, and the rest of the expedition a lot throughout the book.
   And Alex was an average American kid living in California. He went to school, played sports, all that kind of stuff. The only thing unusual about his life was his poor sick mother who has cancer, which kind of got him into this mess, since the mom had to go to Texas for an operation that might help with it a lot, and Alex couldn't go so he had to end up with his somewhat crazy grandmother.
    Anyway, both of them had to conquer so many obstacles after being kidnapped by the People of the mist, a mysterious tribe, that they had matured so much over those few days. Alex attempted many brave things, like going on a long journey for something important, passing the initiation of becoming a man in the tribe, and much more. Same with Nadia. She used to be really afraid of heights and now she she doesn't mind them at all, and she did many other brave things throughout the book, just like Alex. Alex came out a brave man, and Nadia came out a noble woman. Even Kate changed a little! She still tries hard to hide the affection for her son, but it's a lot easier to see for Alex now, the great pride she feels for him.

City of the Beasts

I started reading a book called "City of the Beasts". It's about a teenager named Alexander. He has a sick mom, and while she had to go to a special hospital in another state, Alex has to stay with his weird grandmother for a week. But he has no ordinary grandmother. His grandmother is an explorer, who has traveled to many parts of the world. This time, she's going to the remote islands of South America, where there's apparently a (maybe fake, maybe not) beast, a legendary yeti of the Amazon. and this time, she's taking her grandson with her.
       I think Kate, Alex's grandma, is a very interesting character. She rarely shows any love to Alex, the way most grandmothers do. She treats him like an adult, and doesn't even care about him that much. She just seems like a crazy old lady that likes to go on expeditions with scientists and explorers. But I still think she has some love deep inside for Alex. In the book, Alex notices the glint of pride in his grandmother's eyes when he does something brave while they're there, or that little hint of sympathy when he gets hurt.
       But I'm not sure why she tries to hide it. She barely says a word to him throughout half the book, and even if she does, it's usually not very polite. I think the reason might be because she's trying to look tough or something, trying not to look all loving and sympathetic in front of all the photographers and professors she's on the expedition with. I think it's that, or that she is just a tough person who doesn't get any sympathy herself, probably some of the expeditions she's been on she was alone, so she's trying to toughen Alex up too. She's kind of a complicated character.

City of thieves ** SPOILER ALERT**

I finished the book City of thieves  and I actually enjoyed reading it. It was a nice mix of comedy, action, and tragedy. I was also right, form my previous post about how Lev and Kolya's friendship strengthened by the end of the book.
  But it was kind of sad to see the end. Lev got used to Kolya's jokes, even laughed at them sometimes, and in the end, they knew they had each other's backs. Those 4-5 days changed them. But as soon as they got back to Leningrad, they got shot by their own Russian "comrades", since they were thought to be German. Kolya was carrying an MP-40, a German sub-machine gun, which is what made them think he was German, and they came in without warning. Lev was unharmed, But Kolya got shot in the backside. He later died from bleeding to death,
and he and Lev knew he was going to die, even when he was minutes away from the hospital. And while he was dying, he still acted the same, telling his bad, sexual/perverted jokes. He was even trying to toughen it up, saying how it was just a scratch and that he's seen worse wounds. He reminds me of Mercutio from Romeo and Juliet, where he was trying to toughen it up, pretending it was just a scratch. I feel bad for him, since they did find the eggs, and all they had to do was walk over to the mansion, but instead they got shot by their own comrades, after going through so much.

The City of Thieves

I started reading a book called The City of Thieves by David Benioff. This book takes place in a city in Russia called Leningrad, during World War two. Leningrad is a city being shelled by bombs and lit up with gunfire every night right outside its gates, for Nazi-Germany is trying to occupy it. If Leningrad falls, Russia might fall. The book focuses about this seventeen year old boy named Lev who wants to be a soldier and protect his country, and to protect his hometown. He's too young to join the red army, so he's in a small firefighting crew. But things change when he is caught looting a dead German's body, and is taken away by the NVK where he is sure he will face execution, a bullet to the back of the head. Instead, he is ordered by a powerful Soviet Colonel to do a mission, a very weird one. To find and collect a dozen eggs, with the help of someone who also thought he would face death, a deserter named Kolya. The eggs are to make the Colonel's daughter's wedding cake.
         I think Lev is a very lucky kid. Instead of an execution, all he has to do is find a dozen eggs for the Colonel! He is given about 4-5 days, and if he finds some, he's free. But as I read on, I realized this isn't going to be easy. Leningrad isn't what it used to be, the war has torn it apart. Buildings topple from bombs and mortars everyday, there is barely any food left, so many people starve. Some people have even turned into cannibals because of this, tricking people into their home and then slaughtering them and turning them into dinner. Even if it's a small child it could be killed! But that is unlikely, because all young children and women have evacuated. But still, a dozen eggs in a city with barely any food? With dead bodies lying the alleys and streets?
          But I also realized this might have Kolya and Lev form some kind of close friendship along the way. But so far they haven't been getting along. Kolya is a buff, aryan (meaning blond haired and blue eyed, to some people this kind of defines being perfect at that time) and a ladies man, and kind of egotistical, thinking he's always right, while Lev is the opposite. A small, skinny Jewish kid with a big nose and brown eyes and hair, and is still a virgin. Lev has been kind of jealous of Kolya for a while, always envying him.

Still on Little Brother **SPOILER ALERT**

I am still on little brother, and so far, Marcus is still working to take down the DHS, the people who got so paranoid with homeland security after the terrorist attack, where they added new laws that really get into the privacy of the citizens of San Francisco and actually break some laws in the constitution. The DHS doesn't think so, but many citizens do.
     Marcus has gotten a little more famous now on the internet. Many people seek his advice, he plans what to do in ways of protesting against this or hacking into their system, he's almost like one of the main leaders of this geek revolution. It makes you really root for him too, since he is a very interesting character who's very intelligent when it comes too computers, and he also has some very strong political views, too.
       But I also wanted to talk about how this book can be kind of like a warning about the future. When 9/11 happened, it was probably the worst and most devastating terrorist attack in United States history. People later got more paranoid, everyone got A LOT more aware and really tried to prevent this from happening. But imagine such a terrorist attack just as horrible and devastating happened on U.S. soil again, like in this book. Think how even more paranoid people will be, how more aware, and how much more scared. Laws like the ones in this book might actually be passed. Maybe we will have cops checking where we've been, or having the homeland security put us in the back of a truck if we seem too suspicious. You never know how the world will get, and this book makes you think about it.

The Paranoid Homeland Security in Little Brother

I just started reading a new book called Little brother, which is about this geeky high school kid named Marcus, A.K.A W1N5T0N, because that is his nickname, since he is this geeky hacker kid who spends his time on the computer a lot and hacks into websites and stuff. Anyway, one day he and his other geeky friends wanted to ditch the last few periods of school to play this real life game called Harajuku Fun Madness this kind of scavenger hunt game that a lot of people play. And when they ditched to go find the next clue, they were caught during the wrong time. During a terrorist attack in San Francisco. Next thing they know, they're all stopped by a bunch of people in a Hummer, got sacks tied over their head, and thrown in the back of a truck, being kidnapped by Homeland Security as possible suspects of the terrorist attack. Now they are being treated like prisoners, under watch, and are losing their freedom.
              I feel really bad for Marcus, because he gets treated so badly over the next five days, as if he could actually be a terrorist. He's a seventeen year old American high school student! But this could kind of be his fault, too. They did decide to ditch school to do this, and I realized why the Homeland Security sees him as a possible threat. Since he is kind of a notorious hacker, who's hacked into some sites on the internet and has some illegally downloaded files. This obviously does lead to suspicion, no matter how annoying and paranoid these Homeland Security guys are.

Still on Goliath

So I'm a little more than halfway done on this book, and so far, a lot of people know Deryn's identity by now. Alek, Volger, Pancho Villa, Eddie Malone, and Dr.Barlow. That's definitely a lot for a girl who's really wanted to keep this secret. I understand if someone like Alek knows, since he is her best friend/ally, but it's been starting to leak out in bad situations. And soon, almost the whole world will know, thanks to Eddie Malone.
    When Pancho Villa, a Mexican rebel leader, found out, while he was talking to her about it sneaky American reporter Eddie Malone was eavesdropping on them, and found out. It may not seem like a major issue, but this took place in World War One. Back then, women did not have a lot of rights in many countries. They couldn't vote, join the military, couldn't wear pants, and other things. And to know that a girl was smart enough to fool the great British Navy and join the service, dressed as a man, that's a story to write about. So chances are, Eddie will make a story about this in the New York World, and news will spread to the rest of the world, giving the Brits a bad name.
         It may seem like Deryn should be punished for this, giving the whole British Navy a bad name and stuff, but I feel bad for her. Why should women be denied such rights I mentioned earlier? Deryn is a great soldier, even better than many male ones, and is a hero to some. And after everyone will realize she's a girl they'll look at her differently. Even Alek does, her best friend. I think Deryn is going through some hard times, and doesn't
deserve it.