Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

I started reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, since it was the book me and my philosofamily assigned ourselves. I am starting to like this book because it seems to involve a lot with philosophy. Oskar's dad died in the 9/11 terrorist attack, and instead of mourning his death all the time, he finds an envelope hidden in a vase on top of a shelf in his house one day. It has a key inside and the envelope has one word labeled on it; black. Oskar thinks it's for him so he embarks on a journey to find out what this key is for, and what "black" could possibly mean.
       I think this book is kind of philosophical because this task Oskar has given himself isn't easy. There are many locks in New York city, and this key could only fit in one. And his only clue is the word black written on the envelope in red pen. There will be many decisions for Oskar to make on this journey; where should he start, what to do next, who should he ask, where should he go, when should he go? I can tell he is very determined, since he keeps on looking for clues and walks through all the boroughs just to find the lock this key could fit into, and he doesn't give up, he keeps on trying. If this was me, I think I'd give up pretty quickly. Oskar doesn't even tell his mom or any other friend or family member about it.
         To me, he might not even have to do this. Who knows, whatever is in that locked chest might not be from his dad, or be meant for him or might not mean anything. He could just forget about it and try to move on with life. I think Oskar is doing this is because it seemed so hidden, and who else could it be from. And his dad died, maybe he thinks his dad had to leave him some type of message, or maybe he doesn't have enough things to remember his dad by, or thinks there are more. Anyway, I think Oskar is an intelligent character and is very determined, and I am definitely rooting for him.

FTW freedom

So, I am still reading For the Win, and today i want to talk about how it kind of connects to philosophy, or the
philosophy I learned in Ms. Rear's ELA class. Recently, we have been talking about freedom, and I think this book connects with what we've learned about freedom very well. Just to remind you, the book is about how gamers and gold farmers (if you don't know what gold farmers are, read my previous post) from all over the world are forming a special kind of labor union. Well, I mean the gold farmers are, and the normal gamers, the ones who play the game for fun, not for pay are just there to help them fight against their abusive bosses, bosses who don't pay them very well and would beat them if they found out their workers quit without notice or
something. And if you were a girl, they might even rape you.
              Anyway, I think that this book connects with what we learned about freedom because it's pretty simple; these gold farmers are demanding freedom, to get away from their bosses if they don't get treated fairly or paid well or put in better working conditions. and if they want freedom, they act. This labor union starts protests and riots and things like that to act out and to demand their freedom. But you know what sucks? So far, it's not really working. They are not getting their freedom. The brutal bosses would send henchmen to go after them, and the police won't really help them either, especially in places like China. The government does not help them at all, and in fact, some of the police are corrupt. If they have protests, the SWAT team comes over to throw tear gas at them and stuff. So basically, not many people are on these unions' sides, because it is pretty dangerous to be. So that's how this has to do with freedom; these people are demanding it, but not getting it.

For The Win Character Perspectives

I am still reading For the Win, and I have been starting to realize why the book focuses on many different perspectives of different character throughout the world, in places like California, Mumbai, Singapore, China, and much more. I think it is on all these perspectives because that sometime later in the book, all the characters will meet, or start working for the same cause or something.
     The cause I think they will be joining is Big Sister Nor's labor union for gamers, where gamers from all around the world who farm gold, basically make money for people that would be willing to pay them for certain things, like advancement in the game, or to find valuable stuff in the game and sell it to to other people using the game's currency, to meet up over the internet and do strikes and stuff for gamers who work for bosses that give them very low pay and bad working conditions. almost like a gamer sweatshop. And other gamers, like Mala, one of the characters, put these gold farmers out of business by destroying their gold farms or whatever. And this Big Sister Nor girl tries to protect these poor gold farmers from people like Mala, or "General Robotwallah" as she likes to call herself.
      And the reason I think all the different characters in the book will join this big cause is because that's what I think the book is all about, how people can make money through videogames, and how other gamers are ruining it for them. A girl named Yasmin, who lives in Dharavi, India, who is Mala's friend, or was, until she joined Big Sister Nor's union because she thought what Mala was doing was bad. So one of the main characters has sided with another, and I think slowly, the rest will too, to start kind of like a gamer revolution.

FTW

I started reading a book called For the Win. I decided to read this book because it is by the same author who wrote little brother, a book I enjoyed. I also thought I enjoyed it because it involves video games. But it's kind of complicated and challenging to read sometimes, when the character(s) talk about currency and stuff like that, which is quite often. The reason they do this is because it's about these kids who make money of of video games, how they can make money by doing missions for someone on a different computer screen who is willing to pay them, earn profit of selling in-game items, and stuff like that. And it's really complicated, because they mention all this video game stuff that even I am getting bored by it.
           Also, it has many different character perspectives, so it's like five different story lines, and confusing to follow. Maybe about two of the characters have an interesting story line, but the rest don't, and I get annoyed when there's a new chapter and it goes from the interesting character's perspective to the boring character's perspective.
           And another thing is that there is lots of math involved sometimes, and it's usually some high school level calculations that involve a game's currency rate and stuff, and it's very hard to follow. Maybe it's just boring because I'm at the beginning of the book and not all the characters have conflicts yet. I read it kind of slowly, and it is a very long book. I could barely even predict what most of the characters' conflicts will be.

The Hunger Pains

I just finished reading a book called The Hunger Pains, which is basically a parody to the hunger games. At first I thought it would be more corny instead of funny, but I was actually quite humorous IT was very short, more of a summary of the hunger games except with some funny twists, like Peeta is fat. A lot of the humor is basically crude humor, some of the jokes being immature, but it still made me laugh throughout the whole story. I just wish it was a little bit longer.
                 I recommend this book if you are a fan of the hunger games or even if you are not. Other than that, the plot is the same, (since it's a parody obviously).

DJ Rising

I recently started reading a book called DJ Rising, a book about a teen who live a pretty harsh life working everyday after school washing dishes and stuff to get money, so he and his drug-addict mother won't stay homeless. But his real dream is to become a DJ, a real DJ, playing for very famous clubs and getting paid lots of money to do it.
         This book actually reminds me of the movie 8 Mile, a story of Eminem's hard childhood and how he grew up to become a rapper. Marley, the main character in the book, and the character of Eminem in the movie seem to have a lot in common. Marley's dad died years ago, and Eminem's dad left him and his mom when he was little. Both of them don't have the most loving moms, either. And they both have a dream they are trying to fulfill; Marley wants to be come a professional DJ, and Eminem wanted to become a professional rapper, and they both get through it with the help of their goofy, but supportive, best friends. That's a lot of things in common, right?
        The only thing that I don't really like that much about this book, or that I think is weird, is that there isn't really any major conflict in the book. If you take away the fact that his mom's just sitting in front of the TV everyday like a couch potato with her "loser" boyfriend that's only there to keep her company, eat all the food, and help her take shots of heroin. But Marley already found a good gig at a club pretty early in the book, and no one ever said he sucked, and he never messed up once. It's almost like life just keeps on getting
better for him with barely any obstacles in the way.

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.

Goliath

So after finishing two books I really enjoyed reading, The Leviathan and Behemoth, I started reading the third one, Goliath. In this book, I guess the main plot is about Alek and Deryn trying to stop the war, with help of an inventor, Mr. Tesla, who built a weapon that can stop the whole world, as long as he doesn't use it, since it can wipe out a whole city, maybe even more.
       But the book also focuses on Alek and Deryn's relationship. Or is it Dylan? That's what Alek finally finds out, that Dylan is a girl, named Deryn. Confusing, right? He realizes that Deryn has been lying to him the whole time, so he's been pretty angry at her for a while. He also finds  out that she has feelings for him. But although Deryn did lie and probably should have told him earlier, I feel bad for her. She's been trying to tell him since the first book, but she's afraid he'll "run a mile" if he finds out that she's a girl, and the whole reason she was pretending to be a boy in the first place was because girls aren't allowed to be soldiers. So there's kind of a small sexism issue here. And if the captain does find out, she could be hung for treason.
          I think it's wrong to only let men into the military in this book because although Deryn is a girl, she's done many brave and daring things while serving, more than a normal middy (as in mishipman, or soldier). I think Deryn is actually a very inspiring character and could play a very good role model for some women.

Finished The Roar

I just finished the book The Roar, and it is a very good book. It was probably one of the best books I have ever read. The book is about 500 pages, but it doesn't feel like that at all when you're reading it. It felt too short to me actually, and I wish there was just a little more to it, or if there will be a sequel. But I think this book teaches you a lesson, it teaches you about how the world might be like if we don't stop global warming, and it does seem possible.
            It turns out that Mika finds out that the animal plague was a lie, that the government did it to scare people by showing it on TV. They just wanted the remaining land to themselves, since only a little bit is left because of the floods and stuff caused from the global warming. So they just scare everyone with the fake Animal Plague by showing it on TV, so they build the Wall and crowd in there, where it's so overcrowded and horrible people die form being camped in there. Only the very rich live outside the wall, like very important people. I think this is kind of selfish, them in their giant mansions in the beautiful forests while people live in tiny apartments with floodwater and mold on the walls.
               But the book teaches you another thing, which is that people can believe anything from the media, which I think is true.

The Roar

I started reading a new book called The Roar. I picked just because the title and blurb looked convincing, but I realized I made a very good choice. The book is a sci-fi, which is my favorite genre. The book is about a boy named Mika who lives behind the wall, like everyone else living on Earth does. The wall surrounds some of Europe and Asia, because of the animal plague, which caused all animals to try to kill humans, but then they built a wall to keep any animal away.
   I feel bad for Mika because most people don't understand him. His sister, Ellie, died a year ago. Or at least, that's what everyone thinks. Mika is the only one who thinks she's alive, and he's actually right. But a lot of people think he's just crazy, and just can't get over the fact that she's dead. But she actually was kidnapped by this very powerful organization that keeps her and some other kids in space. The reason they're abducting them was still not revealed, but it is for the company's benefit, they're training the kids. And when the organization uses new tactics to get the kids really fit and skillful with the fit mix and the flight simulator before they abduct them is actually bringing Mika closer to Ellie, but further from his parents, which is why it's kind of a sad book.

Opinion about other people's post about "Freak the Mighty"

So instead of doing a normal post about a book I am reading, I have decided to do responses on my classmates'
blog posts that are about the same book I have read. I found a few good posts about Freak the Mighty, so I have decided to do my opinion on them. Sophia's  blog post on Freak the mighty was really good. I agreed on a lot of the things.
     One thing I like that she said is that **Spoiler Alert** when Freak died at the end, their friendship stayed in Max's heart, which I can totally agree with, and it's a really good observation. I did feel bad for Max when that happened, but I never thought about how friendship could still stay in someone's heart, even when you think it's over. I also agree with what she said about how Freak is a character that's hard to forget. I have to admit, Freak is a very interesting character. A character so small physically but so big in geniocity (I know, it's not a real word, but I couldn't think of a real word that would be good enough to describe him as). Freak practically knows almost every word in the English dictionary, can invent so many cool things from scratch, can name alol of the chemical compositions of a firework during the fourth of July. Come on, tell me he's not unique. Who could ever forget him?
       I also like Dia's second blog post on Freak the mighty, how it teaches you a lesson. I never was able to really figure out the author's purpose or lesson in the book, just that it had something to do with friendship. But Dia said that the lesson is that there are two roads in life, and you have to take one, the one you feel safe and secure in, the one you can comfortably walk down. I think this is a really deep thought and I never would of thought of that.
    I'm glad I read other peoples' blogs about a book I have read, it helps me think deeper about the book.

Millions

      I'm still reading millions, and for this post I want to focus more on Anthony and Damian's dad. Their dad is also kind of weird, like the whole story itself. I find it weird how long it took him to notice the huge heavy duffer bags they sometimes carry around, and all the new toys in their room (although they're hidden). He found out near the end of the book, so about a month or two in real life.
      I think maybe it's because of the death of his wife/Anthony and Damian's kids, and that he's still not over it or something, because the book never stated how or when she died. The kids are still pretty well behaved besides the lying about the money, and he just encourages them by constantly telling them to be "excellent". But he doesn't really enforce it. It's like the Jaywalking law. Damian does try to do what his dad says as much as he can, but Anthony is more of a slacker kind of kid. He technically lies the most throughout the whole book and stuff, while Damian just keeps his mouth shut, but that's also bad, too.
      But I also kind of feel bad for the dad, too. In the book, he meets this woman who works in an organization that collects donations for the poor, and they kind of start to get close. But later he realizes she really didn't work for that organization, that she just used him to get the money Damian and Anthony found to keep it to herself, which she manages to steal a little before Christmas. After he found out about the money, he let Dorothy count it with him, since he thought they were good friends now (or soon to be more than that).      After that, he didn't seem as heartbroken as I expected. For now he's just focusing on getting his money back.

What would you do with a million in cash?

The book I started reading now is called Millions and it's about these two brothers who find a huge bag filled with a million in British pounds, and become rich. But the thing is, they only have a few days to spend it because the money is in British pounds and they will soon get rid of the British pound and switch to Euros.
     The main character in this book is named Damian and his brother, Anthony. Damian is a very weird and interesting character. For instance, the thing he keeps on talking about throughout the whole book is about saints.  
Yes saints, saints and patrons of almost anything you can imagine, and he knows all their full names, what they did to be considered saints, and when they died. So this makes him pretty religious too and he thinks the money came from God.
        And since he likes saints so much he wants to be like one. He wants to donate most of the money they found to charity and people who need it more and stuff. I think that's what makes him inspiring, to do good deeds to the world. But his brother is kind of the opposite. He doesn't care much about the poor and doesn't really agree to all this donating stuff, he just wants to buy things for himself. What he also does is that since their mom died, whenever he wants something or gets in trouble for something he just mentions her death and pretends to cry. I's like doesn't care about her death or something, but I don't want to judge because I haven't
experienced something like that, but most characters from other books don't do such a thing.
                  Another weird thing is that their dad doesn't even know about this. He did question the big duffer bag once or twice, but they just answered with a lie. He didn't even notice all the new toys they bought for themselves! Also, Damian is weird to. He has these visions of saints talking to him or something, and I don't know if the author is trying to make this book more fantasy-like or just trying to make Damian seem like some
weird kid with mental problems.
        And one last thing that makes this book a little weird. England never switched from Pounds to Euros, but
I guess he can do tat since it is a fiction book after all. But what I did notice is that England is just instantly getting rid of their pounds. The day after they switch to Euros they can't take the money in Pounds and exchange it to Euros. Most countries still allow you to exchange old money, if you still have any, to the new money.
         But overall, this book is pretty good, just a little... different.      

Behemoth time

After reading the Leviathan  I instantly decided to pick up and read its sequel, Behemoth. I started almost exactly where the Leviathan left off, Alek and his crew aboard the leviathan, after helping the British escape the Germans while they let them stay on the ship for a few days to work on the engines. At first, I was wondering what the conflict could possibly be now, everything seemed to be going on just fine, until things drastically changed. Britain was officially at war with the Austrians, and now that there were Austrians (A.K.A. Alek and his crew) on the ship, they now had to be considered prisoners of war.
     I thought this was really unfair because Alek had done so much to help the ship repair and escape from the Germans. He risked so many things by doing this. His loyalty to the country, his name and position in the royal family, and even his own life. Alek only had one choice. To escape the ship. And Deryn knew that, and she secretly had a crush on him without wanting to admit it since she's secretly a girl, but she helped him escape. She never said anything to anyone when Alek was snooping around on the ship to find an escape hatch. Deryn thought she was stupid for doing this but I think it was very brave of her, risking being hanged for not being loyal and telling the captain just so Alek can be safe. Deryn is one of the strongest female characters I have read in a book and she is very unique, different from other girls.
       After Alek escapes, everything goes to even more chaos, something I will continue on into a next post.