Summer Reading Analysis

Over the summer of 2016, each person in high school had to chose a book to read, and keep a log of the time, date, and other notes. The book I chose was Darwin Portrait of a Genius, by Paul Johnson. This book talks much about Darwin’s personal life, writing career, major accomplishments and work with all life forms. Charles Darwin came from an entire line of wealthy English geniuses who were incredibly successful in everything they did. While reading, I found many connections to my own life, but what stood out to me the most was how similar we both were raised. We both spent lots of time as children outside, studying the local flora and fauna as well as collecting different objects, such as shells, coins, and minerals. Also, Darwin was “passionately fond of shooting” just like myself. We both became very good at shooting at a young age and absolutely love to hunt. Overall the book was a phenomenal read and I would recommend it to anyone. 

Summer Reading Review: The Third Twin by CJ Omolou

For my summer reading assignment I chose to read The Third Twin by CJ Omololu. This book sparked my interest as soon as I picked up the book and read the back cover. The book's mysterious eerie tone and ominous voice really caught my attention, as I absolutely love these types of books. The book's exact location isn't mentioned throughout the story but I believe that the setting is in California as the family lives a wealthy life, lots of beaches are mentioned and the father is almost always traveling throughout the story. Meaning that, the main characters, Ava and Alexa, known throughout the story as "Lexi," live with the housekeeper, Cecilia. Even though Cecilia is just the housekeeper the twins think of her more as a mother since they were abandoned by their own mother at a very young age.

 The unsettling part of this story is the fact that the twins at a very young age made up a third sister, Alicia. According to the back of the book, “When they were little, Lexi and her identical twin, Ava made up a third sister, Alicia. If something broke? Alicia did it. Cookies got eaten? Alicia’s guilty. Alicia was always to blame for everything.”

However, now they are all grown up and beginning their last and final, senior year, Alicia is still around. Alicia was the twin's excuse to go out with guys who they would never go out with as their real selves, or if they wanted to do something deranged they would follow through the situation as Alicia. The girl who doesn't exist, or so they say. There were only a couple rules when it came down to being Alicia. According to Omolou,"Always wear the diamond pendant; never sleep with any of the guys; and after five dates, they're history, no matter how hot they are" (1). The twins keep these rules throughout the entire book. Until they start to realize that something crazy is going on and either someone is messing around with them or the twins have a lot more issues than just trust when it comes down to the end. 

his story relates to my life very little. While thinking of how this relates to my life a couple different points comes to mind, one being, how different my sister, Hope and I are, as are Ava and Alexa. Ava seems to be the one that wants to go out and have fun, more like me while Lexi comes off as the more studious and homebody like my sister. 

Although Ava and Alexa are the same exact age, Hope and I are exactly five years apart, me being the older one. Ava throughout this story is more of an outgoing person, she likes to have fun and make memorable experiences, meaning she could careless if she crosses the line as she's basically on her own with only the guide lines that Cecilia sets for her. Lexi, has her standards set on getting into Stanford College, as her dad went there and hopes Lexi to follow through with that. Another way this book relates to my life is the fact that the two sisters blame Alicia for their mistakes, as Hope and I are usually the ones to blame each other if something goes wrong. Not so much anymore as we're older, more mature, and have learned how to own up to our own mistakes. I can't say I would know what it's like to have a twin, but having a little sibling would be close enough to that situation. 

Summer Reading Review: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Over the summer I read The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. This was a vary good book about a journey for Thorin to take back the Lonely Mountains.

Which is about a hobbit named bilbo baggins. He lives in a hobbit hole in shire town. He enjoys being at his home and not really going anywhere. Gandalf The Grey shows up to his hobbit hole and later on joined by a bunch of dwarves who later on take him on a journey to take back the Lonely Mountain. They ask Bilbo to go because they need a thief to steal the Arkenstone. Along the way they run into a lot of dangerous situations one of them being the Trolls, Orcs and Bilbo coming across a ring. Bilbo finds out the the ring wields a lot of power. After a long journey when they finally get to the mountain they have to go up against a dragon Smaug. Thorin is to become the new king after taking back The Lonely Mountains that his father once ruled. Bilbo is able to get inside using the ring  and after a encounter with Smaug he is able to get the Arkenstone. Meanwhile Thorin turns very greedy because of all the gold.After a fight with the town they got help with to kill Smaug, They get the Lonely Mountains back in Thorins control and Bilbo goes back to the Shire and he still has the Ring with continues of to the next book The Lord Of The Rings.

Gandalf says, "But share and share alike!You may find you have more needs than you except" (273). The quote is saying that that you may have more needs than you expect I can't really make it more simple than that. I think that when there going on there journey is how I can relate to it in my personal life cause me and some of my friends go do cool things like going cool places around the island.

Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

The book I read was Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. The first part of the book was the regular Alice in Wonderland, in the second part it was Alice Through the Looking Glass. In the first part of the book, Alice discovered a secret drink that she drank and it made her very tall. She ate something after and it made her very short. A while after that she met a caterpillar. He was kind of rude to her and didn't seem to be pleased she was there. Shortly after she left the caterpillar she came across a tea party. They all talk about a song and ask Alice if she remembers it. Theres lots of characters, but some of the main ones are Alice, the Hatter, and the King. Alice is a very polite girl and is curious about everything. The Hatter is a man that is very smart and always wears a hat. The king is very mean and likes to fight, he isn't a good guy. 

In the second part of the book, Alice met a kitten. A short while later she saw a very scary creature. Alice walked into a garden and met many other people on her journey. She saw plenty of animals too, like deer and a walrus. Alice was having fun but she was also upset. "Only it is so very lonely here! Alice said in a melancholy voice; and, at the thought of her loneliness, two large tears came rolling down her cheeks" (166) The quote is trying to say that where Alice is right now is very lonely because she is living in the woods and don't have very many real people friends. She wants to be around more people. This relates to my personal life because on Vinalhaven there isn't a lot of people to hang out and I get lonely sometimes too.

Cujo by Stephen King

This summer I read Stephen King's novel Cujo. This is a story about a family St. Bernard is bitten by a rapid bat, and while he is slowly driven mad by rabies, he murders members of his family and citizens. The perspective is from the conscience of Cujo, the real Cujo, as he attempts to stop himself from harming the ones he loves. Though I can't relate to the serial murder part, Cujo's battle with his demons could be a simile for bipolar disorder, from which I've witnessed close family members suffer from. The cycle of ups and downs reminds me of Cujo, and how he phases in and out of his sickness. Cujo was a lovable, friendly, jovial dog, but the bite (diagnosis) drove him mad and turned him on his loved ones, just like the people suffering from bipolar unintentionally hurt the ones they love. My uncle was sent to a hospital after having a psychotic breakdown and accidentally hurting himself. I know he feels the same way as Cujo did in the story. Though King wasn't directly referencing this disorder, the details of Cujo psychologically are very similar.