Category: Independent Reading

Perfume by Patrick Süskind it set in the 1800’s Paris. the main character of the book is named Jean-Baptiste Grenouille because of his gifts and sole ambition were restricted to a domaine that leaves no trace in history, the fleeting realm of scent. Where this story takes place it seems as if the whole world smells, the river stunk, the market stunk, the churches stunk, the people stunk, everything smelt awful even the king himself stunk. The king like a rank lion and the queen an old goat. the worst stench in the city was between the rue aux fers and the rue de la ferronnerie. for 800 years people had been brining dead bodies here to be hidden or disposed of. on July 17th 1738 Grenoullie was born, it ended being the hottest day of the year when he was born, his mother worked at a fish stand in the market when she was in labor and just wanted the pain to leave quickly. Grenoullie was one of 5, she wanted the birth to be over when the final contraction came she squared over and gave birth to Grenoullie. His mother bent down with a butchers knife to cut the cord but under the heat she passed out while people crowded around her

by stander 1 – what happened to her

by stander 2 – nothing

by stander 3 – what is she doing with the knife

by stander 2 – nothing

by stander 3 – where’s the blood on her skirt coming from

          by stander 2 – the fish

I chose this quote because its one of the only conversation in the first 2 pages of the book that I’ve read

Kathleen Glasgow’s fictional book “Girl in Pieces” explores themes of trauma, recovery, and self-discovery. The story follows 17-year-old Charlotte “Charlie” Davis, a girl who has experienced immense pain, including the death of her father, her mother’s neglect, and losing her best friend to suicide. Struggling to cope, Charlie turns to self-harm as a way to manage her emotional turmoil. After a particularly traumatic event lands her in a mental health facility, Charlie embarks on a journey to rebuild her life. She relocates to Tucson, Arizona, where she begins working at a coffee shop. There, she meets an eclectic group of people, including Blue, a tough yet supportive co-worker, and Riley, her brooding but troubled boss. These relationships become pivotal in her journey toward healing.

“You think you know someone in the sunlight, but you don’t. There’s something about the dark that makes people lie. You can see their faces but not their hearts. You can hear their words but not their thoughts. And sometimes the dark makes us strangers to ourselves, too.” (pg. 178)

I chose this quotation because It is something I think about constantly. You truly never know what someone is feeling or thinking. You think you know someone when, in reality, they could be the complete opposite of what you think they are like.

Out of My Mind, written by Sharon M. Draper, is a meaningful and powerful story that follows the life and struggles of a twelve-year-old girl, Melody Brooks. Melody has photographic memory, making it feel like her head is “recording” The novel offers a deep dive into the world of a non-verbal child, providing a well understanding and exploration of her internal thoughts, frustrations, and even dreams. The book emphasizes the importance of making awareness to inclusion, and the capabilities of individuals with disabilities. Through Melody’s journey, Draper portrays how society often underestimates the potential of people with any physical disability.

 

Words have always swirled around me like snowflakes-each one delicate and different, each one melting untouched in my hands.

Deep within me, my words pile up in huge drifts. Mountains of phrases and sentence is a connected idea. Clever expressions. Jokes. Love songs.

From the time I was little-maybe just a few months old-words were like sweet, liquid gifts, and I drank them like lemonade. I could almost taste them. They made my jumbled thoughts and feelings have substance. My parents have always blanketed me with conversation they chattered and babbled. They verbalize and vocalize. My father saying to me. My mother whispered her strength into my ear.

Every word my parents spoke to me or about me I absorbed and kept and remembered. All of them.

I have no idea how entangled the complicated process of words and thought, but it happened quickly and naturally. By the time I was two, all my memories and all my words had meanings.

But only in my head. I’ve never spoken one single word.

I am almost twelve years old. ( p.284)

This quotation speaks to the inside of Melody’s mind, her wanting for communication, and the isolation she must experiences because of the disconnect between her thoughts and her inability to speak. It really highlights both the beauty and the anger of being unable to share your thoughts with the world.

 

 

 

 

This book is Gone by Micheal Grant. This book is first in the series of 10 books and the story is set in fictional Southern California town of Perdido Beach, in which every human is aged 15 and older. when the book begins all of the 15 year olds start to vanish from a small town, leaving only the children and teens behind.  As the children struggle to stay alive, some of them start to develop dangerous and supernatural powers. The quotation that I chose to do is about when drake starts to get violent when he attacks (hits) Orc.

Sam jumped into help his friend, but Drake was quicker. He stopped behind Orc, grabbed him by the hair yanked his head back, and smashed his elbow into Orcs face. Blood poured from Orcs nose and he howled in rage(p.174).

I chose this quotation because it really puts an image in your and this also reminds me of one of my favourite movies.

 

 

Beloved by Toni Morrison is about a woman whose name is Sethe. She escaped slavery and lives in Cincinnati with her daughter, Denver, in a house that is haunted by the ghost of her dead baby. Sethe’s past is full of pain, and the ghost reminds her of the terrible things she went through. 

One day, a man named Paul D, who is someone Sethe knew from the Sweet Home plantation shows up. His presence makes her feel less lonely, but also brings back memories of when she was a slave.

Counting on the stillness of her own soul, she had forgotten the other one: the soul of her baby girl. Who would have thought that a little old baby could harbor so much rage? Rutting among the stones under the eyes of the engraver’s son was not enough.

Through flashbacks, the book explains the horrible things that happened to Sethe during slavery and how she escaped. It talks a lot about things like motherhood, trauma, and how hard it is to move on from the past. The story shows how love can be powerful but also painful, especially when tied to such a terrible history.

currently i am reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller a novel inspired by the events of Iliad written by Homer currently in the novel  Achilles and Patroclus are heading to the Trojan War where achiless has been destined to fufil his duty as a great soldier along with patroculos who has chosen to come with him to the war.

“This is what Achilles will leave us, I thought. A story told by our children’s children.”

This line captures the duty and power achiless has and the role he is expected to fufill and foreshadows the longlasting legacy he will leave behind.

 

I have been reading the book INSURGENT by Veronica Roth. Insurgent picks up right after the events of Divergent, with Tris prior and Tobias Eaton on the run after the attack on the Abnegation faction, by the Erudite faction. The story follows their journey through a fractured society where trust is very hard to find and alliances are fragile. Tris is struggling with the aftermath of her parents deaths, the betrayal of her own faction, and the weight of the choices she has made. As she navigates the political tension between factions, she uncovers dangerous secrets, confronts her own fears, and accepts her identity as a Divergent.

“There are so many ways to be brave in this strange world. sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. sometimes it involves giving everything up have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. (p.128)”

This quotation said by Tris, is talking about how the world is a weird, confusing, and scary. She mentions how in life you need to be brave no matter what circumstances; If its for a friend, family member, or someone you have loved. You need to slowly keep pushing forward and going on with life, through any  challenges for a better way of living.

secrets of sable island is a story written off the coast go Halifax Nova Scotia famous for its ship wreaks and its wild horses. Caleb Mackean lives in a lodge with norse who saved him after he was washed off board of a ship, Caleb eventually makes a friend Marin who is struggling to take care of his sick mother and her cruel father who wants to take her back tot he main land and send her to a conversion school to teach her some manners.

Rodney – so thats what you’ve been sneaking off to gallivanting around up to God knows what when you should’ve been back taking care of your mother! go home and pack. we’re leaving on the supply ship tomorrow …the whole family!

marine  but mother docent want to leave!

Rodney – don’t defy me girl I’ve made up my mind. I should’ve put your mother in the hospital and you and that  convent months ago!

the family slowly begins to fall apart after Rodney lost his leg during a rescue and tends to take it out on his daughter and the others around him while his wife tries to fight it even though she’s in critical condition

 

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is a classic novel exploring themes of love, class, family, and personal growth. Set in early 19th-century England, the story centers on the complex relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth initially views Darcy as arrogant and proud, while Darcy sees Elizabeth as beneath him socially. Over time, they both learn to see past their first impressions.

“I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding. My temper I dare not vouch for. It is, I believe, too little yielding— certainly too little for the convenience of the world. I cannot forget the follies and vices of other so soon as I ought, nor their offenses against myself. My feelings are not puffed about with every attempt to move them. My temper would perhaps be called resentful. My good opinion once lost, is lost forever.” (pg. 52)

In this quotation, Darcy admits he has flaws, but he believes his judgment and intelligence are sound. This suggests a self-awareness but also a sense of pride in his insight and intellect. He acknowledges that he is stubborn and inflexible, perhaps unwilling to conform to societal expectations or to compromise easily. This inflexibility can be seen as both a flaw and a mark of personal integrity. I picked this quotation because I think it is realistic since not everyone is perfect.

The science of Self Discipline is a book made by Peter Hollins a bestselling author, human psychology researcher, and best known for is work on self defence. He has been studding about psychology and peak human performance for over a dozen years. He has helped and worked with numerous individuals to help them unlock their potential and to achieve success. He has put all of These teaching into his book called  The science of Self-Discipline. The book is about how to understand self-discipline, how to increase will power and motivation, and mindset. In this book Wille he is explaining the biological basis of self-discipline he says how you should focus on self-discipline when you are trying to achieve ling-term goals.

“Being disciplined in your pursuit of long-term goals is only possible if you can consistently focus on the decision and actions that lead to accomplishing those goals. Thus, it’s nearly impossible to achieve focus and self-discipline separately, as each is intertwined with the other.” (P23)

What he means is that when you are trying to achieve a long-term goal you have to keep focusing on the chooses and decisions you are making when your trying to achieve it. For example you can chose to go to the gym and work out or stay home and watch TV even if its for one day you have to focus on your goals and actions you do. you have to chose the right option and stay focused on what you are doing. That is what he means in this quote.

For this quote on the champions mind by JIM AFROMOW. It is on chapter three, Be In It To Win It.  Jim is talking about how to be patient and to let the play come to you. He calls this part PACE, DONT RACE which means don’t try to speed up or rush to what’s going on when you feel pressure but to stay calm and be on the same pace as the play that is going on. In this part he says what you should do if you are going to fast and making errors.

“when things go wrong or you feel pressure increase, everything usually speeds up-your walking pace, rate of speech, and so on. If your inclination is to rush, remind yourself to slow it down in order to avoid making errors.”(P72)

What he means is when you mess something up, make an error, or start to fell pressure you will start to speed up and rush. which could lead mistakes and if you are in a tournament finals you cannot make mistakes or that will cost you a game or the lead. you have to slow down and remind your self no to rush and to stay on the same pace as the play that is going on. If you do that it will be easier to play and to avoid mistakes. That is what he means in this chapter.

I am currently reading a book called 1984 by george orwell. It is about a character named Winston smith, and it takes place in a “dystopian future” where the government is in absolute control of the public and society. Winston is a minor government employee who works in ‘The Ministry of Truth’ under oceania. He is not happy with the living conditions they are offered and he thinks about rebelling multiple times. winston is a thirty-nine year old man with poor health due to the state of living.

“In the end the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it. It was inevitable that they should make that claim sooner or later: the logic of their position demanded it. Not merely the validity of experience, but the very existence of external reality was tacitly denied by their philosophy.” Ch VII pg 83

This quote shows us how controlling the party is and it tells us about how the party controls the minds of people by forcing them to believe whatever they wanted and convince others that what the party says is right – ‘Psychological manipulation’.

In the book A Good Girls Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson, it is about a girl named Pip. About 5 years ago, a girl named Andie Bell was murdered supposedly by her boyfriend Sal Singh. In school Pip has to do this big project and she decides to do it on the murder. Throughout the book it explores her journey to find the truth and if people were right. She meets people from Andie’ s past and people who were involved in her life.

When you ask people in town what happened to Andie Bell, they’ll tell you without hesitation: ‘She was murdered by Salil Singh.’ No ‘allegedly,’ no ‘might have,’ no ‘probably,’ no ‘most likely.’ He did it, they say. Sal Singh killed Andie. But I’m just not so sure (p.19).

Andie was always a strong believer the Sal was not the one who killed Andie and that something else happened. She is determined to find the truth and wants to know what actually happened. Everyone in the town has believed that is was Sal including the police who quit the investigation because that thought it was Sal. But was is really Sal? Or was that all a lie?

The DaVinci Code, by Dan Brown is the book I have been reading for a while now. It is about a symbologist named Robert Langdon, who meets a cryptographer named Sophie Neveu at the Louvre museum in Paris when they are investigating a strange murder. The person who was murdered left a code and arranged his body in a particular way that meant something to Langdon and Sophie, But no one else. Them discovering and deciphering the code entangled them in a dispute between the Priory of Son and Opus Dei over a possibility of a child.

“Meaning that history is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and thw winner writes the history books–books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe. As Napoleon once said, ‘What is history but a fable agreed upon?’ ” (P.256).

This quotation makes us think about what history actually is, and where it originates from. Because really, there is no way to confirm that history is true, it was just passed down through generations. Same with books, or plays. Anyone could’ve written a book and filled it with a bunch of lies and acted like it was true. Makes us realize that we just take history and believe it true, when the reality could be the exact opposite.

I Am Malala is a book written by Malala Yousafzai, a women’s rights advocate who lived during the Talibans oppressive ruling. In the book, Malala describes witnessing the Taliban taking away the education and freedom of girls in her country. Refusing to accept this, Malala began fighting for women’s right to education, making her a target of the Taliban which lead to her being shot on her way home from school. Malala having Survived the attack continued to fight for educational rights throughout the world and went on to become the youngest-ever Nobel Prize winner.

“Let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons.”

This qoute highlights Malala’s belief in education as a form of empowerment and how important it is.

The Song of Achilles is a novel written by Madeline Miller inspired by the events of Iliad written by Homer but instead told through the perspective of Patroclus, a young prince who has been abandoned by his father and exiled to the kingdom of Phthia. The story follows his relationship with Achilles the prince of Phithia who is the son of a king and a goddess, as they grow up together and

“He is a god, and I am only a boy. He is a golden chariot, and I am a mud-spattered cart.” – Patroclus

This quote highlights how Patroclus seems to struggle with himself compared to Achilles who has been destined to become a God and in a way can illustrate the compalexitty of growing up

The 5th Wave is made by Rick Yancey. The story is about a girl named Cassie Sullivan, who is one of the last surviving people on Earth after a lots of bad things happened like alien invasions. The book is about a world where the aliens, known as the “Others,” have taken over the people through four waves of destruction:
The First Wave: is a big electromagnetic pulse that takes out all electronics, making the world a chaos. The Second Wave is a super big tsunami that wipes out coastal cities, causing millions of people to die. The Third Wave is a about a really bad virus that kills about all of the remaining people and the Fourth Wave is when the aliens begin using human, or “silencers,” to kill the last survivors. By the time the story begins, humanity is going to extinction, and Cassie is trying to survive in a world where there is no trust, and danger is everywhere. Cassie’s journey is because she is looking for her younger brother, Sammy, who has been taken by a military group. And while she is looking for him, she encounters Evan Walker, a mysterious boy who may or may not be alien.

“The enemy’s strategy is simple: If you don’t know who the enemy is, you can’t trust anyone.” – Cassie Sullivan. “The 5th wave is the last wave. The wave that ends the human race. And it’s already here.” – Rick Yancey

The title is the “fifth wave,” which is about how the alien plan to use human children to carry out their final assault on the persons in the whole world. These children are trained by the military to fight against the Others, though many of them don’t realize they are being manipulated.

This story has a diferente side between Cassie’s perspective and that of other characters, including Ben Parish (Cassie’s classmate before the caos begin), and Sammy, who each have their own roles in the fight for survival. The 5th Wave is the first book in a trilogy, like the “The Infinite Sea” and “The Last Star”.

The Kite Runner is a very interesting book by Khaled Hosseini about  the life of Amir, a young boy from Kabul, Afghanistan. The story is about  the country’s tumultuous history, including the fall of the monarchy, the Soviet invasion, and the rise of the Taliban. The plot is mainly about Amir’s relationship with his best friend Hassan and how there life’s both go in very different directions.

“But better to get hurt by the truth than comforted with a lie.” ~ Chapter 7, Page 124

This quote refers to Amir’s life and the invasion of Russian forces and how he was told lies to comfort him but then when the truth gets out it is so hard to take it in and understand.

The Champions Mind is a book made by JIM AFREMOW who is a high performance consultant. he is the author of mutable best selling books on sports psychology and leadership with one of those books being The champions mind. The book is about how to develop confidence, concentration and mental preparedness (the elusive edge that sets a champion away from the rest.) In the book he is talks about how to improve focus and he says a quote that was said by Michel Phelps, history’s most decorated Olympian with 22 medal with 18 of those medal being gold. This quote is about how you should stay focused when you are playing sports anywhere.

when I am focused, there is not a signal thing, person, anything that can stand in my way of my doing something. There is not. If I want something bad enough, I feel I’m going to get there. (p.44)

what he means is that when you are playing sports you have to stay focused and Wille you are focused there is nothing that can stop you from what you are trying to achieve or get. you also have to believe and know that you are going to achieve it because if you are just trying to achieve a goal and you don’t know if you are going to achieve it you wont get it you have to know and believe that you are going to get to that goal. That is how great athletes think train and thrive.

The book is Harry Potter The Deathly Hallows By J.K. Rowling. The main characters in the book are the same as any of the other books Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Voldemort, Dumbledore, Dobby, Draco Malfoy, and some others. The quotation is about how it took a whole another hour to clean and put something away.

It took another hour to empty it completely, throw away the useless items, and sort the remainder in piles according to whether or not he would need them from now on. His school and Quidditch robes, cauldron, parchment, quills, and most of his textbooks were piled in a corner, to be left behind. (p.25)

I chose this quotation because it reminds me of when I thought it would only take an hour to do something but it ends up taking a whole other hour.

Dead Poets Society is a novel written by Nancy H. Kleinbaum, that is based on the 1989 film. It focuses on identity and the struggle for self-expression. The story is set in an elite boys’ prep school and shows the life of John Keating, who is a teacher that always encourages his students to “seize the day” and embrace their own passions.

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.”   

Through his unusual teaching methods, the boys begin to question the  structures of their lives, and the pressure from their families and school. The novel shows the emotional and mental journeys of the students. Specifically Neil, who desires for freedom and self-expression while his dad believes in strict parenting. Dead Poets Society shows the consequences of going against social expectations but also represents how education can show the importance of being true to yourself.

Secrets of Sable Island by Marcia Pierce Harding is about an island at the edge of the Continental Shelf or the southern side of Halifax Nova Scotia. The island sounded by sandbars that go on for miles and is covered by an almost constant wind pushing the sand around burring buildings and shifting the island into different shapes unexceptionally. The story takes place with a boy names Caleb on a bout sailing through a storm past sable island and is swept off the side go the boat by a rough wave, he’s swept to sable island and lays in the mushy sand as he feels the water rising higher and higher till he feels the warm breath of something on his face to see a big horse standing over him. He passed out again watching it run away and wakes up when hes grabbed and thrown over a mans shoulders “as a sack of potatoes” he explains. He wakes up in a cabin that smells like smoke and the breakfast the man is preparing for the two, Caleb realizes theres a bandage on his head and wood planks wrapped around his leg. The man preparing breakfast see’s Caleb awake and explains the horse came and got him throwing a fit outside his window and leading him over to Caleb saving his life.

Elvis and Me is a book written by Priscilla Presley. It explains what her life was like with Elvis Presley. The book explores their relationship, from their initial meeting when Priscilla was just 14 years old, to their marriage, life together, and eventual divorce. Their relationship was controversial due to the big age gap. Priscilla has even made a movie about their relationship to show people what Elvis Presley was actually like. Priscilla struggled to have friends while dating Elvis, and this continued even after they had a daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.

“You have so much to share, you have so much to tell, you have so much you want to expose, so much that’s inside that you’ve learned from that life period. There are really very few people I can share that with.” (p.116)

Priscilla Presley says this quotation. It reflects a deep sense of personal experience and wisdom. The quotation speaks to both the desire to connect with others and the challenge of finding people who can genuinely relate to one’s life journey. She believed few people understood her and appreciated what she had to offer.

Divergent by Veronica Roth is a book set in a dystopian future where society is divided into five factions, each representing a different virtue; Abnegation (selflessness), Amity (peace), Candor (honesty), Dauntless (bravery), and Erudite (intelligence). The story follows Beatrice “Tris” Prior, is a sixteen year old girl who discovers that she is “Divergent,” meaning she does not fit into any specific one faction. Being Divergent is considered a treat to the societal order. Tris chooses Dauntless, the faction dedicated to bravery, and begins a very difficult initiation process. As Tris navigates the challenges of her new life, she uncovers dark secrets about the society and begins to question the system that controls them all.

“We believe in ordinary acts of bravery, in the courage that drives one person to stand up for another, becoming fearless isn’t the point. That’s impossible. It’s learning how to control your fear, and how to be free from it.”

This quotation is said by Four a divergent leader, who later in the story becomes close with Tris teaching her all his ways, this quote suggests that real courage isn’t about getting rid of fear, but about managing and controlling it as well as  using it to empower yourself to take action towards better good.

The title of my book is “ Hatchet” and the author is Gary Paulsen Hatchet is an adventure novel about Brian Robeson’s survival after a plane crash. The novel shows examples of positive thinking and perseverance as Brian faces challenges from nature, like bears, porcupines, dehydration, and starvation, all with only his trusty hatchet to help him. “Patience, he thought. So much of this was patience waiting and thinking and doing things right. So much of all this, so much of all living was patience and thinking”. I chose this quote because patience is very important and if your not patient then you will not succeed because patience is needed in everything.

“We have always lives in the castle” by Shirley Jackson is an intriguing story that follows the life of a young girl with antisocial personality disorder, her name is Merricat Blackwood. Merricat lives in a mansion with her uncle Julian and her sister Constance. The rest of her family died from poisoning. Merricat lives in a society where people don’t like their family. Merricat has to go through a lot of tension while getting the groceries for Constance, everyone in her village judges her and makes mean comments about the family. People are still trying to solve the mystery of who poisoned the family. Constance and Merricat were sexually abused by their father. We find out later that Merricat was the one who poisoned the family. She put poison in the sugar because she knew that her sister Constance did not eat sugar, and she wanted her to stay alive because she loved her.

I decided that I would chose three powerful words, words of strong protection, and so as long as these words were never spoken aloud no change would come. I wrote the first word – Melody – in the apricot jam on my toast with the handle of my spoon and then put the toast in my mouth and ate it very quickly. I was one third safe. (p. 49)

This quotation represents how unsafe Merricat feels. She doesn’t like change and she gets scared really easily. That’s why she poisoned her family.

Dragonsong is a book written by Anne McCaffrey featuring a young girl called Menolly, whose dream is to make music and sing. But her father is incredibly strict as women aren’t generally allowed to sing. So after a tragic incident leading to her severely injuring her hand and no longer being able to play, she runs away from home and lives alone in a cave with 9 fire lizards as her friends. When she is caught outside during a thread fall she is rescued by a patrolling dragonrider, and taken back to the weyr, where she eventually leaves to go to the harper hall to pursue her dream of music.

“Does he hear what I’m telling you?” Menolly whispered anxiously in T’gellan’s ear. “Yes, so be careful how you speak of him. He’s very sensitive.” “I haven’t said anything, have I, that would hurt his feelings?” “Menolly!” T’gellan looked back at her, grinning, “I was teasing you.” “Oh!”

I chose this quote because She is talking to a dragonrider about his dragon. Literally a gigantic dragon up to 45 meters in length and height, and she is worried about hurting his feelings. I just thought it was really funny. Also I was really struggling to find another quote.

 

The book is Harry Potter Sorcerer Stone by J.K Rowling. Uncle Vernon was trying to be nice to Harry. Then they heard the mail man dropping off the mail for that day. Earlier before that day there had been another letter. They also argued when Harry wanted the letter but Uncle Vernon would give it to then.

With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the
hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the
ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact
that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind. After a
minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the
Smelting stick, Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with
Harry’s letter clutched in his hand (p.30).

I love this quotation because it represents Uncle Vernon and Harry’s relationship throughout the book and how the rivalry they have. I also love how J.K Rowling says everyone got hit by the Smelting stick even though he was going for just Harry.