Category: Independent Reading

The Testaments is the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale book written by Margaret Atwood, it takes place years after the events in the first book and focuses on the downfall of the society of Gilead. The story is told from the perspectives of three different women, Aunt Lydia,  a powerful member of Gilead’s government who helped shape gileads regime years before, Agnes Jemima, a young girl raised in Gilead who is being forced into an arranged marriage, and Daisy, a teenager living in Canada who learns the truth about her past and connection to Gilead. Through these three perspectives, we see many events take place, such as the creation of Gilead, the present daily life of the women and residents of Gilead, and the many plot twists and storylines which all connect together in the end including past events that happened in the previous book the handmaid’s tale.

“Knowing was a temptation. What you don’t know won’t tempt you.” – Aunt Lydia,”

The Testament This quote stood out to me because it explains how all the characters Aunt Lydia, Agnes, and Daisy are shaped and controlled by the secrets they do or don’t know.

I saw my last IRJE entry and I am going to try and make this one a lot shorter. In part three of The Dragonriders of Pern, The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey, the young Lord Jaxom of Ruatha hold is faced with a challenge. He and his dragon Ruth are making history as the first Lord Holder to ever own a dragon, but the problem is that he can’t be a full time dragon rider, and Ruth is different from all the other dragons. He is the only White Dragon on all of Pern, and he is much smaller than even the smallest of the small dragons. Together they will strike out on their own and pursue what they are denied in secret, but in doing so will find themselves facing a desperate choice, one that will push their bond to the breaking point and threaten Pern itself.

“Ruth, what if N’ton finds out we’ve been timing it,” Jaxom said through chattering teeth as they broke out of between into the hot midmorning sun of Telgar over the Mastersmithcrafthall.     He will not ask.                                                                                      Jaxom wished that Ruth wouldn’t sound so complacent. But then, the white dragon wouldn’t have to take N’ton’s tongue-lashing. Timing was bloody dangerous!                                                              I always know when I’m going, Ruth replied, not at all perturbed.                                                                                                That’s something few other dragons can say (p.540).

I chose this quote because I find the confidence in the dragon funny and entertaining. Dragons generally do not differ from their riders opinions, and are usually quite polite and respectful. I just enjoy the way that Ruth sounds so confident in his abilities to tell when he is going.

In this second part of the novel, written by Anne McCaffrey, Dragonquest, we see the effects of the last book when Lessa travels back in time with her dragon to bring forward the Weyrs of the past to help fight the alien threat called thread in the future. Thread is a substance that eats any and all living material and kills it all. The only thing that can stop thread is the fire from dragons, who fly over Holds and Halls to protect the people of Pern. Thread falls for 50 years at a time every 200 years. However the last interval lasted 400 years and many people thought that thread was just an old story, and that the dragons were no longer needed because the Weyr was supplied food from all the Holds around. There used to be 6 weyrs but 5 mysteriously disappeared–which was actually Lessa bringing them forward in time–and left only one small Weyr. Even now that Lord Holders and Craftmasters alike are forced to admit the importance of dragons, they are still impatient and start pressuring the riders to go between to the red start where thread falls form. (Dragons have the ability to travel between any place and time, but if the rider stays between too long they are in incredible danger.) One young rider from Benden Weyr decides to go between with his dragon, Canth. The risk to the rider–F’nor– and his dragon is great, seeing as no one really knows what to expect. (This was an improvised and spontaneous plan) There has been such a tremendous loss in the recent past that he feels he must do something to try, he is also scared that his older brother will try to go and get himself killed.

 With the desperation born of frenzy, Prideth wrenched herself free, Wirenths talons leaving gouges to the bone along her shoulders. But as she twisted free, beating for altitude, she slashed at Wirenth’s unprotected head, across one gleaming eye. Wirenth’s tortured scream pierced the heavens just as other queens broke into the air around them; queens who instantly divided, one group flying for Prideth, the other for Wirenth. (p. 419)

Later, ;lksd fie lksd kjasdf:

Brekke doubled up, right shoulder hunching as if to protect her head. “My eye! My eye! My eye!” Brekke was covering her right eye, her body writhing in an uncontrollable, unconscious mimicry of the aerial battle to which she was tuned. (p. 421)

This quote takes place when Brekke’s queen dragon Wirenth rises to mate, and when a queen rises to mate you always take other queens out of the wyer to not make the mating queen jealous. But you are also not supposed to take your queen out of the weyr when she is close to mating. So Brekke’s queen rose to mate and Kylara’s queen Prideth had gone out and she had risen at the same time and they fought and went between. Which is the equivalent of dying. I chose this quote, or two quotes because I thought that it was a good representation of the bond between a dragon and their rider.

The Dragonriders of Pern is part of a large series written by Anne McCaffrey. The Dragonriders of Pern consists of three different parts, Dragonflight, Dragonquest, and The White Dragon. This book takes place on a planet called Pern and features Lessa who is an outcast survivor–her parents murdered and her birthright stolen–a strong young woman who has never stopped dreaming of revenge. But when an ancient threat reemerges she will face it head on along with her dragon Ramoth. She is struggling to adjust to a new way of life and the next choice she makes will change Pern forever and could put the life of her and her dragon in danger. Dragons and their riders share a mental and telepathic bond so intimate to the point were if any rider dies their dragon will suicide. If a dragon dies a rider is only half a person, often driven to insanity by grief.

Oblivious to the descending bronze dragons, oblivious to the presence of their riders, Lessa stood caressing the head of the most wonderful creature of all pern, fully prescient of troubles and glories, but most immediately aware that Lessa of Pern was Weyrwoman to Ramoth the Golden for now and forever (p.66).

This quote is from right after Lessa impresses Ramoth. An impression is when a rider forms the bond between them and their dragon and occurs in a large sand pit where future riders gather around the last clutch of eggs laid by the queen, and when the eggs hatch the dragon chooses the rider and forms the bond. I chose this quote because it shows a different side of the character that we don’t always get to see.

Good girls guide to murder by holly Jackson is about Pippa fitz-amobi trying to solve the murder of Andie bell for a school project, now from where we left off Pip was going through phone interviews with family and friends of Andies as well as the evidence that was left and trying to find leads. Since then Pip has received a note telling her to stop digging, multiple messages from an anonymous number and whoever was behind all of it broke into her house, looked over her research and left hundreds of lines telling her to stop and back off. Besides all the threats from whoever was sending them, Pip managed to prove sals innocence, she found out Andie bell was dealing drugs and who she was getting the drugs off of and a few people she was selling too, how Andie bullied a girl named Nat De’silvia and Nat got charged with aggravated assault a few years later, Her best friends got in a hit and run while drunk driving then crashed the car and the first police officer who arrived at the scene was Nats older brother (Daniel De’silvia) who’s best friends with Jason bell (Andies father)  and when Sal was killed and Ravi tried to ask questions he would shut them all down and told him its better to forget about it.

Pip: “Nat said her brothers a police officer, lets look him up.”

Ravi: “hey I know him”

Pip: “you do?”

Ravi: “yeah. Back when I started asking questions about Sal, he was the officer that told me to give it up, that my brother was guilty beyond doubt. He does not like me.”

Pip was out walking one day after finding out sal was innocent and had let her dog off leash. she had her headphones in so she couldn’t here but when she got home and called her dog (barney) he didn’t come back. She later received a message from the anonymous number to bring everything with her project on it to a tennis club walk into the forest and destroy it if she wants to see her dog again. She packs all her stuff up without thinking destroys it and goes home but when she had gotten home her dad told her they had found barney in a ditch and he had drowned.

Black Boy by Richard Wright was a very creative book, full of twists and turns, the 416 pages are about the hard life of a boy living down south (where many racists are). His parents support him while everyone without color brings him down with his hopes of being a writer not everyone believed in him but he still managed to get through it. He was a very curious kid who wanted to learn more about the world.

I would make his life more intelligible to others than to himself. I would reclaim and cast his disordered days into a form that people would grasp, see, understand, and accept. *beginning of CH 19 (p. 329)

This describes Richards’s motivation for his life story about Ross (The black communist. Richard thinks of life as painful and horrible).

 

The Forgetting a novel by Sharon Cameron. The novel is set in a unique place where memory is a cruel thing in society. The novel follows a girl named nadia and she just happens to live in a city that forgets the past  every 12 years. Nadia is on a journey through the book to find a way to retain the memories that she has lost. I would recommend reading this book because its interesting book.

Gray throws a hand out toward the light wall. “why would a little girl keep a book before the first forgetting, Nadia? All these stories, these things we’ve been looking at. The people who came here”- he emphasizes the next words (p.221).

This quotation is about Nadia before the time that she is going to forget the past 12 years of her life.

It Ends With Us, is a novel by Colleen Hoover that is set on Lily Bloom’s life as a flower shop owner in Boston who had left to the town of Maine for a new beginning. To start off the book, Lily meets a neurosurgeon named Ryle Kincaid with whom she begins dating later into the story. As their relationship deepens however, Lily begins to face some challenges which take her back to her younger days and her first love Atlas Corrigan.

“It stops here. With me and you. It ends with us. This is a quote that gets tossed around a lot, but it’s one of those things that gives me a sense of strength. Like maybe if we keep saying it, we’ll believe it. That we are capable of breaking the cycle.”

This moment in the book shows Lily’s determination to change the cycle of decisions from her past, giving herself a better and happier future. Mainly, The story explores the ups and downs of love, the choices we make, and how our past experiences shape who we are.

 What Would Audrey Do? a book written by Pamela Clarke Keogh. It is a lifestyle guide that explores how Audrey Heburn’s timeless elegance, kindness and poise behaviour can inspire modern women. Through anecdotes and lessons from Audrey’s life, the book offers advice on fashion, relationships, grace, and self-care. It delves into her approach to challenges, personal style, and values like generosity and empathy, encouraging readers to embody her sophistication and kindness in their own lives. The book paints Audrey as more than just a Hollywood icon but a role model for living a graceful and fulfilling life.

“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others. I have learned how to live and be in the world and of the world.” (p.148)

Audrey Hepburn was a loving mother to two boys. She has inspired many women, including me. She believed nothing was impossible and you should always follow your dreams. She also believed inside beauty was more important than outside beauty, which I find truly inspiring.  In this quotation, she explains that not only is helping others important, but also helping yourself.

Kill Joy, by Holly Jackson, is a novella of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, it is about Pip and a couple of her friends who host a fake murder mystery night. Pip is deciding what her Capstone project will be and is wanting to solve the case that happened in her town 5 years ago, where a well known girl in town is murder and everyone thinks its her boyfriend who did it. Since she is already interested in the solving cases topic, she is very excited and thinks she will be great at this game night.

 “And it had been good, right up until the end. The whole world outside this house had disappeared; it had been just Pip and her mind and a problem to solve. Exactly the way she liked it. Exactly when she was most herself. But she’d been wrong. Pip hated being wrong.” (p.113)

After she realizes that she was wrong about who killed the person in their fake case she was questioning whether she should do the “closed” case in her town for her senior project. This quotation is saying how she is becoming unconfident in her solving abilities and doesn’t like being wrong. 

I am currently reading a book called “The Catcher in The Rye” , and it is quite interesting. It is about a kid named Holden Caulfield, who got expelled from prep school because he failed most of his classes. The story recounts the two days after the expulsion and dissolves us in the mind of the 16 year old. He is confused and disoriented, he becomes exhausted and mentally unstable. Holden describes his fiction of being “the catcher in the rye”, that was inspired by a song he heard a little boy singing: “If a body catch a body comin’ through the rye.”

“Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.”

“This is a people shooting hat,” I said. “I shoot people in this hat.”

The best thing, though, in that museum was that everything always stayed right where it was. Nobody’d move. . . . Nobody’d be different. The only thing that would be different would be you.

In the first quote, his teacher teaches him about the importance of playing by the rules.

in the second quote, Holden uses the hat as a mark of individuality and independence.

in the last quote, the museum gives him this vision of life that he is able to understand: it is frozen, silent, and always the same.

THE book is Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It was made by J.K. Rowling. In this part of the book Harry had been invited to got to Hogwarts which was a school for wizards and witches. It is talking about what happened in the last month in the Dursleys house.

Harry’s last month with the Dursleys wasn’t fun. True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn’t stay in the same room, while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn’t shut Harry in his cupboard, force him to do anything or shout at him-in fact they didn’t speak to him at all.

This is a funny part of the book for me because before they found out Harry was going to be a wizard they treated him like trash. This is funny because it shows just how quickly someone’s mind set can change depending on what is going on around him. Dudley was also very mean to Harry and tried to make Harry scared of him but now he won’t even be in the same room as him he is so scared of Harry.

In the book The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne it talks about how the German’s and Jewish were very different and how the conflicts effected the society. The protagonist of the book is a boy named Bruno who is the son of an Schutzstaffel officer. This story was based off of the Holocaust which was in 1933. In the story, Bruno makes friends with a jewish boy named Shmuel.  One day, Bruno went exploring in the forest and saw a fence. On the other side of the fence was a camp and had many people wearing striped pyjamas. And that is when Bruno saw a boy sitting down. That is how he met Shmuel.

Bruno: We’re not supposed to be friends, you and me. We’re meant to be enemies. Did you know that (p. 54)?

This quote expresses how the jewish and Germans were not allowed to be together or friends at all! This is forbidden and when they did try to see each other they would have to be very secretive. But as the boys were young, sometimes they never understood why they couldn’t just be friends like normal 9 year old boys. Which is sad to think about because now a days we are very lucky because even thought some people did have a hard childhood, none of us had to go through what they did.

The DaVinci Code, written by Dan Brown, is a book that I haven’t finished yet. 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.

“The Pentacle – The ancients envisioned their world in two halves – masculine and feminine. Their gods and goddesses worked to keep a balance of power. Yin and Yang. When male and female were balanced, there was harmony in the world. When they were unbalanced there was chaos.”

I think this quote is special as it brings us back to the old times, even before humans really existed, when it was just the gods, envisioning and creating the world. It makes us think, and it could remind us that balance is important, and why our world was made the way it is, and how it has changed since then.

Currently I am reading Lies by Michael grant. It is the 3rd book in the series. This series about if one day all the adults just disappeared. Without adults this leaves young teenagers to take care of young children who can’t take care of themselves. In the book they organized a daycare so that they can have all of the kids who have to be taken care of (not in a scary way) have a place to be. One girl stepped up at the beginning of the FAYZ (Fallout Ally Youth Zone) to take care of the kids. However putting up with the stress of taking care of 20 or more kids along with he bulimia (where she throws up after every meal and cant control herself around food) has caused her a lot of stress. Even with people to help her she just jokes at the sound of a break.

“Maybe I’ll go check on her,” Mary said. “In my spare time.” She laughed. It was a running joke that had long since stopped being funny.

This shows that everybody needs a break and its not good to pressure yourself too much. Especially when you still need to take care of yourself.

“The Giver” by Lois Lowry, is a really odd novel, it is clear yet confusing. This book is written in 3rd person. In the first two chapters we are introduced to Jonas (in this case the protagonist), an eleven-year-old boy living in a highly controlled society, that prioritizes sameness and conformity. As Jonas is preparing for the Ceremony of Twelve, where he will receive his life assignment, he reflects on the emotions of fear and uncertainty that spread through his community. The world around him is empty of color and genuine emotion, leading to sense of emptiness.

“It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened. No. Wrong word, Jonas thought. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way he felt when he was afraid of the gabble of the baby’s cry.” (p.1)

This quote highlights Jonas’s internal struggles and hints the deeper complexities of his society. It sets the tone for his journey, making his awareness of the fear that underlines the community’s front of perfection, and hints of his eventual quest for truth.

The book is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. The author is J.K Rowling. Harry is having a conversation with this new Professor named Professor Slughorn. He is trying to get a memory about Voldemort. Voldemort killed Harry’s parents when he was little. Voldemort also tried to kill Harry, but Voldemort has never been successful. Harry is trying to convince professor Slughorn to give him a memory so he can use it to kill Voldemort. 

“You are the chosen one?”

“Of course I am” said Harry calmly.

“But then … my dear boy …  you’re asking me in fact, to aid you in your attempt to destroy-”

“You don’t want to get rid of the wizard who killed Lily Evans?”.

Harry, Harry of course I do, but-”

“Your scared he will find out you helped me?”

“Be brave like my mother Professor…”

This conversation was one of the best in this book. I love how Harry tries to guilt Slughorn into giving him the memory. And how slughorn is so

The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton, is about two feuding social groups, the Greasers and the Socs (short for “Socials”).T he context to this quotation is that there was a fire at their local church because someone left a cigarette and it lit on fire, all the Greasers group ran into the church to save the children in there, and when lots of them left brunt they went to the hospital, where the nurses told them Johnny was burnt the most and with fetal injuries. When Ponyboy and Dally saw Johnny, he was on his deathbed. They told him about how they beat the Socs, but he was to drained to think about that considering his injuries.

“Stay gold, Ponyboy. Stay gold… It’s a good way to be. It’s like the way you try to be, like you used to be. The way I wanted you to be when we were kids. Stay gold, Ponyboy, stay gold.” (p.148)

In the moment that Johnny tells Ponyboy to “stay gold…” he is referencing the Robert Frost poem that Ponyboy had shared with him earlier in the book, nothing gold can stay. The poems meaning is that beauty and innocence are fleeting, and that you have to hold on to it. By Johnny saying this he is saying to Ponyboy that he needs to hold on to that “gold” for as long as he can.

I am reading the Gone series by Michael Grant right now. I am on the second book. So far, in the book, the adults have been gone for over 1 year. In the book, there are no firefighters, doctors, or parents, and the remaining kids have spun out of control without someone telling them no. Some kids even started to get powers. But a majority of the kids remained without powers. Some kids got jealous and thought they were ‘freaks’. Those kids then formed a group led by Zil. It was called the Human Crew. ‘Freaks’ that encountered the Human Crew met a deadly fate.

It wasn’t over. It couldn’t be over.
“Actually, I could use your help,” Zil said to Lisa. “I have plans.”
“What are you going to do?” Lisa asked eagerly.
“I’m going to put real humans back in charge. Get rid of the chuds. Run things for
us, not for them.”
“Yeah!” Turk said.
“The six of us, here? We’re just the start,” Zil said.
“Absolutely,” Hank agreed.
“Zil’s crew,” Turk said.
Zil waved that off modestly. “I think maybe we should call ourselves the Human
Crew.”

This shows that there will always be an opposing side, that not everybody will agree on everything, and that it is not a good idea to leave a bunch of teens (and younger) alone.

In the book The Summer I Turned Pretty written by Jenny Han, it dives into the concepts of life with friends and family, young summer love and the joys and struggles of being a teenager. Belly Conklin (as the protagonist), annually spends the summer at cousins beach with her family and close friends. Throughout the series, a love triangle begins with Belly and two brothers: Jeremiah and Conrad. As the book goes on, new adventures begin and old memories come back.

I loved the feeling of talking and having somebody really listen to what I have to say. It was like a high or something (142).

Whenever I read this book or think about it , I always remember how well written the book was. This book is a very popular book and is the first out of a series of three. I think the book is a great example of how life can be hard sometimes and confusing but you still have to forget about it all and still have fun. You’re only a teenager once so do what makes you happy.

 

The School for Good and Evil, by Soman Chainani, is a series of 6 books in where 2 girls, Sophie and Agatha, are taken from their homes to the mystical school called The School for Good and Evil. Really, the school was actually 2 different schools, one magnificent, grand, and expensive school; the school for Good, and one run down, old, and dumpy school; the school for Evil. In the first 3 books, Sophie and Agatha go through their 3 years in the school, Sophie in training to be a princess, and Agatha trained to be a villain. In the last 3 books, their kingdom faces attack from the School Master, and they have to team up and defeat him. My quote is from the first book, though.

She had always found villains more exciting than heroes. They had ambition, passion. They made the stories happen. Villains didn’t fear death. No, they wrapped themselves in death like suits of armor! As she inhaled the school’s graveyard smell, Agatha felt her blood rush. For like all villains, death didn’t scare her. It made her feel alive.

This quote made me think deeply for a while when I read it, because I think there is a lot of meanings behind it. I think it demonstrates off the bat a different way of thinking. It makes you think about how villains affect the stories we read, and how if there were no villains, every hero we know wouldn’t be a hero, because they never saved anyone from anything.

“Wonder” by R.J. Palacio tells the story of a kid named Auggie Pullman, with a facial difference because of a medical problem The story follows him as he moves to a regular school for the first time in the fifth grade. But because of his medical problem the bullying, trust, and friendships makes some problems that Auggie suffers, but he also finds good acts of kindness and support. Some people see how Auggie’s presence impacts his friends’ and family’s life because the story is told from many of perspectives.

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.”

This quote is about the central message that the book is trying to send to everyone. This message is that you have to be kind and respectful to people around you and it doesn’t matter what do they look like

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

The Testaments is a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale book written by Margaret Atwood  The Testaments is set 15 years after the original story in the dystopian scitety of Gilead and is narrated from three different perspectives Aunt Lydia, a powerful member of Gilead’s, Agnes, a girl raised in Gilead and finally Daisy, a young woman living in Canada who learns about her connection to Gilead. This book explores many themes such as power, resistance, survival and betrayl.

Quoute “Aunt Lydia said that silence, too, was a form of power.” (Agnes, Chapter 45, Page 218) This quote stood out to me because it shows how silence can be used as a tool of control in Gilead, especially in Gilead where speech is dangerous and silence can be a way to protect yourself or maintain your position of power.

Maybe in Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid is a novel based on a woman who returns to her hometown, Los Angeles after many years. One night, she faces a decision wether to go home with her ex-boyfriend, rekindling their past romance, or to stay out with friends. Which would lead to new experiences and relationships, this moment created two parallel storylines, that alternate throughout the novel.

I can’t help but think about all the choices we make. How they lead us to where we are, and how we can’t see how it all plays out. What if I had made a different choice? What if I had taken a different path?

When I read that passage, it made me think about how our choices really shape our daily lives and how important it is for everyone to find a balance in what they do.

“The Sigma Protocol,” by the best selling author Robert Ludlum a interlacing story between espionage and conspiracy. when Ben Stalworthy a son of a holocaust survivor who is also haunted by his past, finds himself upon an organization known as sigma, Ben finds himself in a risky game of owl and rat. As he finds chilling secrets with his friend Anna Navorro about the shadowy corridors of power. Ben Stalworthy must race against time to revel the secrets that he found about the shadowy corridors of power while tracking the clues left alone by his brother. But along the way he is questioned by the police.

Ben glanced at Schmid, who was tapping at his keyboard and no doubt listening. “I’m beginning to see that. So what am I supposed to do?” “the way it works in Switzerland, they can you for up to twenty-four hours without actually arresting you.” “You’re kidding me.”                                                     “And if you tick them off, they can throw you in a dirty little holding cell overnight. So don’t.”               “Then what do you recommend?”                              “Hartman, you can charm a dog off a meat truck, buddy boy, so just be your usual self. Any problems, call me and I’ll get on the phone and threaten an international incident. One of my many partners does a lot of corporate espionage work, point being we’ve got access to some pretty big databases. (p.40)

This quotation it’s from when Ben is taken to be questioned and being held for more than 20 hours by the police, this is a good book and I do recommend the book.

“Stargirl” by Jerry Spinelli, is a weird yet captivating story. At first I thought it was really stupid and boring, but it is actually really interesting. It is an adult-fiction novel based on a girl that was different than anyone else. It takes place in a fake city in Arizona called Mica. It follows the life of a 15 year old boy called Leo, who meets this strange but fascinating girl called Susan, but she prefers to be called Stargirl. Leo and everyone else at Mica Highschool are puzzled by this girl who shows up with her pet rat and a ukulele, at first. But then Leo discovers that Stargirl liked him, so he started liking her too, and they started dating. Stargirl is an unusual girl, but she is really kind to everyone who stands in her way.

“She is one of us. Most decidedly. She is us more than we are us. She is, I think, who we really are. Or were.” p.g 32

This quote captures, the way stargirl acts, she is curious and she always stays positive. People were wondering if she was real for the way she acted, and that quote is the answer.

The book Nothing More to Tell is a mystery novel by Karen M. McManus. This book follows a girl named Brynn, who four years ago, left Saint Ambrose School following the murder case of her favorite teacher, a story that made the headlines after the teacher’s body was found by three Saint Ambrose students in the woods behind their school. The case was never solved. Therefore, Brynn wants to be the one to solve it.  

“Things’ll get worse before they get better”. 

My reasoning behind this quotation was because it shows when Brynn was trying to solve the case, she knew she would uncover some things she did not want to uncover before she got to the truth. 

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” written by J.K. Rowling is the seventh out of seven books in the Harry Potter series. The series takes place in an world parallel to ours except for one twist; Wizards and witches (people who are capable of doing magic) exist among the people. The novel explores the life of a wizard boy who lives a miserable life with his aunt and uncle, who gets sent to the magical school of Hogwarts at 11 years old, where he learns about his past, why his parents are dead, and much more. He ends up in a massive feud and battle with a villain named Voldemort, and the final battle happens in book 7, the book where this quote is from

“Do not pity the dead, Harry. Pity the living, and above all, those who live without love. By returning, you may ensure that fewer souls are maimed, fewer families are torn apart. If that seems to you a worthy goal, then we say good-bye for the present.” (p. 722).

In this quote, I mainly focus on the first sentence, and to me, this quote has a very deep meaning, I think it symbolizes different points of view or different outlooks on life, and it makes you rethink how you live your life.