Jall's Blog

  I recently listened to the audiobook If He Had Been With Me , a story about Autumn, who is starting her first year of high school. She’s in a very close friend group known as the “weird” kids around school. This book goes through her years in high school and focuses on her relationships, challenges, and growth.  One thing that stood out to me was how much this book reminded me of The Summer I Turned Pretty . Autumn’s mother is best friends with Aunt Angelina (who isn’t her biological aunt), who is the mother of Finn, Autumn’s childhood best friend. Just like Belly and Conrad/Jeremiah, Autumn and Finn grew up like family. Autumn and Finn also have absent fathers, just like Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah. Although the two protagonists in the story drifted apart sometime in 7th grade, to keep in line with “social order” (Finny is popular, Autumn is weird), they obviously continue to care deeply about each other.  Despite these interesting parallels, I didn’t really like this ...

Until I find other stories to read, I’ve been scouring through my old backpacks and bins of school supplies for some books I haven’t read for… wow, six years now. Nearly seven! I saw Janny’s blog post a while back on a tale about a china rabbit and suddenly the vague memories I had about the book became clearer, so when I happened to stumble upon my old copy The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane I just knew I had to read it again! Edward is a snobby porcelain rabbit doll (oh, not a doll I guess—he doesn’t like being called a doll) who cares a lot more about his appearance than his loving owners. That is, until Edward finds himself lost, travelling from owner to owner, being treated both as a beloved companion and as a burden, as trash. With each new owner, Edward’s outlook on his life changes. At a first glance, the book might just seem like a simple tale about a porcelain rabbit getting lost, but the story quickly turns into something deeper. It explores themes of what it means to ...

"WE ARE ONE IN ALL AND ALL IN ONE. THERE ARE NO MEN BUT ONLY THE GREAT WE, ONE, INDIVISIBLE AND FOREVER." These are the words of truth for the society in the book Anthem .      Published in 1938, Anthem by Ayn Rand is a dystopian novella following the life of main character, Equality-72521 in a future world where the word "I" is forbidden and is the worst law you could break with the consequence of death. This book serves as a diary for 21-year-old, Equality-72521 as he writes about his life.       In this society, being different is frowned upon and everyone must be alike. Though, Equality-72521 is different. At 21 years old, he is six feet tall which he calls a burden as not many people are this height. Many of his teachers and leaders say that he has evil in his bones because he is taller than everyone else. He believes he has a curse which caused him to be so different. On page 5 he states, "We were born with a curse. It has always driven us to th...

       Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a fantasy adventure book based on Chinese folktales. The main character is Minli, a poor girl who lives with her mom and dad in the Village of Fruitless Mountain. The mountain is sad because of the Jade Dragon, which makes the land dry and hard to live on. Minli’s mom is upset about being poor, but Minli enjoys listening to her dad’s stories, which are full of magic and adventure.      One day, Minli buys a talking goldfish who tells her about the Old Man of the Moon, an immortal who can change fortunes. After learning about him, Minli begins a journey to find him. Along the way, she befriends a dragon.      Minli and Dragon face many challenges on their journey, including greedy monkeys and the dangerous Green Tiger. They also meet kind people who help them when they need it most. When Minli finally meets the Old Man of the Moon, she can only ask one question. Instead of asking how to bring f...

I first read Frindle six years ago, back when I was nine years old in third grade. I distinctly remember my teacher at the time, Mr. Flodstrom, a tall man with neat brown hair starting to thin on top, a clean-shaven face, and a presence that was both approachable and authoritative. He was very enthusiastic when introducing this book as a class read, and—something unusual for a group of third graders just given a ton of reading work—the class seemed to enjoy it too. Even I liked it, and rereading it now has given me a whole new perspective on the story, along with the many subtle lessons it contains. Frindle is about Nick Allen, a curious and clever fifth-grader who, out of boredom, decides to make up a new word for pen: “Frindle.” Now that I’ve been a fifth-grader, I must admit this does indeed sound like something a fifth-grader would do. But unlike in the typical fifth-grade experience, Nick’s inside joke quickly spread from his classroom to across the entire nation, sparking debate...

  Lately, I haven’t been reading much outside of school. Between homework, classes, and everything else going on, it’s been hard to just sit down and really get into a book. Still, I’m eager to get back into reading, so here are a few books that have been sitting on my mental “to-read” list forever.   The Summer I Turned Pretty (Trilogy) - By Jenny Han I’ve already seen all three seasons of the show and I loved them. I’ve read the first book in the series and would like to continue with It’s Not Summer Without You and We’ll Always Have Summer to see how the story plays out in the original version.  1984: The Graphic Novel by George Owell I read the original novel version of 1984 in seventh grade and although it was challenging, and to be honest, confusing to read, I still thought it was interesting. My dad recently bought the graphic novel adaptation and I think it will be interesting to compare the two and see how the story unfolds visually.   Powerless by...