Poem

We go down the streets picking up trash. Looking at the community. I picture people going down the same sidewalk. People who live here. People who pick up trash too, who try to make a difference. Even the littlest difference can be seen. They help their community only to come back and see tomorrow that there is more trash. I know that even though we made a noticeable difference in the amount of trash, I know that won't last long. But we did good deed. And we know we could do more.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

This is a book about a man named Atticus Finch, a lawyer, defending an African American man who was framed to have raped a woman. His kids, Scout and Jem, who are always trying to get Boo Radley out of his house, because he is considered to be a scary man, who eats rats and sits locked up in that house. But they realize that may not be true. This is a book about adventures, and history. Its a really good book, although has some mature topics and language. Overall, I really liked this book although it was a little bit tough.

I am looking into some realistic fiction, lately that has been really interesting for me. If you have any recommendations, let me know!

Smile By Raina Telgemeier

This book is about a girl named Raina, and she experiences a lot of problems from 6th grade to high school. The book starts out as Raina being in 6th grade, right when she has a girl scout meeting and on the way back she trips and falls flat on her face, her two from teeth getting knocked out. So she has to get two fake teeth, and throughout the book she gets braces, and you can see the whole process. She also has troubles socially with her group of friends, and emotionally. This is a graphic novel, and has no mature topics at all. I think that is was a pretty good book, because it was interesting and really short. I would recommend this to people who want an easy quick read, and anyone in general.

Find Me Unafraid by Jessica Posner and Kennedy Odede

This is a non-fiction book about a young American named Jessica (fun fact she actually went to Logan) and an African man named Kennedy. The book starts out as Kennedy remembering his life as a young boy, and how hard it was in Africa for him. The chapters switch off, so it is Kennedy for one chapter and then Jessica and her current life in the other. Kennedy talks about all the problems in Africa and what he wants to do about it, and how tough his life was especially when he was younger. As he grows up, he decides to start a school for little girls because they weren't very well educated. Jessica hears about this, and so she comes to Africa and helps Kennedy. Along the way they fall in love, and deal with all the problems about how a white person and African American isn't a good choice, and so on. This was a REALLY good book, and I would recommend it for anyone in the class. It has some mature topics like rape, and violence and some language but it isn't bad. Everyone should read this book if they like non-fiction books about a tough life, with some romance but not the bad kind :). Plus, it talks a little about Jessica living in Denver, and it is really cool that she went to Logan!

Four of a Kind by Valerie Frankel

This book is about four moms, Bess, Alicia, Carla and Robin, whose kids go to a school called Brooklyn Heights, and the moms are part of a Diversity Committee. They start by getting to know each other, and how they do that is by sharing secrets that no one else really knows. Over the course of the book, you really get to know the characters, and I can't really say too much without giving the book away. This is written in different perspective, each chapter has a character change, and it made me get confused. Overall, I didn't like this book, because it isn't for me. It has a lot of mature topics, and the summary on the back of the book is nothing like the book itself. I didn't see any symbolism in this book, it was very straightforward. I do not recommend this book for people like me who get confused when characters change and just when the story doesn't have a point at all.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Part 2

The second part of the book is about how Charlie is still getting tested and experimented on, and he gets a lot smarter than the scientists experimenting on him. He starts to understand what is really going on, and Algernon somehow does too. So basically Algernon tries to run away, and Charlie goes with him. Algernon suddenly seems to go crazy, and so will Charlie too? In this part of the book many events occur, especially when he tries new things. He has a lot of physical and social interactions with people, that changes him. This was a really good book, and it was really realistic. I feel like this book really made me think twice about what was going on, and I really got close to Charlie throughout this book. Since at first he couldn't spell and didn't have a good memory, we really got to know him and see how much he changes throughout the book. This book is sad, funny, and kind of intense at parts. It covers some mature topics like sexual interactment, and a little bit of drinking. But overall, I really liked this book. I would definitely recommend this for future book groups, because this is a really good book to think about and just to read. You really get a feel for this book, and it introduces you to a really good way of writing a story, instead of writing it in third person where you don't get as close to the character.

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

This is the book group book I am doing, so I am not done with it. It is about a man named Charlie, who has a really low IQ. So he became a part of an experiment to become smarter. Along with him, there is a mouse who is part of the experiment. The doctors see how he is developing, and it becomes a really quick development. This book is written in his perspective, meaning at first it has a bunch of misspellings, and that way it seems more realistic. Throughout the book, since he becomes a lot smarter, he learns a lot of new stuff, and that is not always a good thing. So far I have liked this book, I like the realistic feel to it and how it makes you think a lot. It has some mature topics, but overall I would recommend this to anyone.