Book Review: The Secret Garden

I read the book The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Mary is a rich, bossy, English child who lives with her parents in India. Without any warning a plague sweeps through India, killing both of Mary's parents. Numb to the world Mary is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven in his mansion Misselthwaite Manor. During the day, she spends her time exploring the surrounding gardens, one day she happens upon an old key while digging. She finds the garden that the key opens and finds an old, but lovely garden. One night she hears terrible howls echoing down the hallway by her bedroom. When she finds the source of the noise it turns out to be the secret son of Archibald Craven, and being locked up for years in a room has caused him to lose his ability to walk. Every day Mary and Colin take trips out to the garden to water the plants and revive them. Soon Colin is able to walk and they are ready to show Mr. Craven that they found his deceased wife's garden and revived it. By doing this they brought life back to the gardens, the house, Colin, Mary, and Archibald Craven.

While reading this book I saw one shining theme. That theme is revival. The revival happens in not only the characters but in the memory of a loved one. The characters also revive the plants in Mrs. Craven's garden. They revive the happiness of the mansion and they also revive a father and son relationship that was denied before.

I saw so many developments throughout the whole book in each of the characters. At first Mary is a snotty rich girl who demands everything she wants and if she doesn't get it she throws a tantrum. "Everyone said she was the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true, too" At the end of the book she loves and is loved by others. Colin starts out as weak, sickly boy who doesn't get to move very much and has no confidence.  At the end of the story he is running through the gardens enjoying himself as a normal boy should. Towards the end he asks a neighbor of his, "Are you surprised I am so well?" the character replied by saying, "Aye, that I am!" Mr. Craven is a totally different story altogether. At first he is a lonely man who denies having a son and misses his wife so much. He was hurt so badly when she died that he cut her favorite things out of his life, the gardens. At the end he loves his son and celebrates his wife's life, and her gardens.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good classic. Anyone who likes a happy ending will definitely like this book. This book is somewhat realistic, but the characters are not real, I recommend this book to anyone who likes to get to know the characters in depth. Anyone who likes happy surprises and twists in the plot will also like this book.

I first heard The Secret Garden when I was ten on one of my family's across the country road trips. I loved it from the beginning. That summer I bought my very own copy of the book in one of the towns we stopped in. I read the book that winter and three times since. I really enjoy seeing the transformation in the main character, Mary. I guess I have always been one that sees the good in all people and that really made this book just that more special.

I got my picture from: http://thesecretdmsfilesoffairdaymorrow.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-is-secret-behind-vines.html

Book Review: The Red Pyramid

I read the book The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan, a book with strong Egyptian mythological influences. Sadie and Carter are siblings that live far apart and only get to see one another once a year. Their mother and father are both magicians under the House of Life, but their mother died years ago. One night while Carter, their dad, and Sadie are together their dad takes them to a famous museum that has the Rosetta stone inside. Their dad goes in to the museum and attempts to use the old famous artifact to bring his wife back from the dead. He end up unleashing five very powerful gods, one who want to destroy the human world. The god, Set, only has five days until his birthday, the day he is the most powerful on. Sadie and Carter work with multiple allies and prepare themselves to face Set only hours before his birthday. During the final showdown Sadie and Carter work very hard and end up defeating Set and his minions, but their father was sent deep into the depths of the duat where he is assigned to help rule the dead alongside the god of the dead, Osiris.

Throughout the whole story I saw a major theme of teamwork and contributing. The main thing that showed the teamwork theme were the siblings, they didn't know each other very well but no matter what they stuck together and didn't give up on one another. They worked together in many difficult and stressful situations. During the first night that Sadie and Carter were together after finding out about the task at hand Carter told himself "I was not going to go all weak. Sadie needed me. Dad needed us." This to me shows Carter's side of the teamwork. He knew that he had to do his part and stay strong for both his sister and his dad. As far as the contributing theme goes I felt like every character contributed to the success of Sadie and Carter. Even though some of the people they encountered were not necessarily good they did help Carter and Sadie learn something that was useful to them later.

During their adventure Carter and Sadie get to know each other more and get to work together. Carter started the story as a boy that traveled and didn't ever do anything dangerous. As the adventure progresses he does more and more dangerous deeds. He also gets to take up the big brother act, even though his sister is very independent. At the beginning to the story Sadie is somewhat arrogant and doesn't really care what the consequences to her actions are. Through the quest she learns to make sure that her actions don't hurt her or her brother. She also gets better at being there for her brother and making decisions with him instead of doing things at the spur of the moment.

I would recommend this book to people who like adventure. You also have to enjoy cliffhangers and suspense. This book also has a lot of Egyptian mythological references. I enjoyed the books because of the way the character is the one talking, in the first person and also because of the magic events that happen. I like how this book also has teenagers doing things alone in a sense but also referring to adults for advice and help along the way.

I got my picture from: http://www.kingtutone.com/pyramids/information/

Book Review: Cecile, Gates of Gold

I read the book Cecile, Gates of Gold by Mary Cassanova. Cecile is the daughter of a poor doctor that lives in Rileaux, France. One day while collecting food she sees a random horse eating just mere feet away. She grabs the horse and her and her father save its rider, who happens to be an important woman in the royal court of Versailles. Madame grants Cecile’s father’s request and brings Cecile to Versailles. When Cecile gets to Versailles she finds that every single person has their place, and she learns that one step out of place would send her back home. Luckily she stays in her place and gets close to the young royal family. When the young royal family begins to die Cecile and a small group of other royal maids save the life of the youngest and last member of the young royal family. Cecile has now stepped out of her place and is sent to a very expensive girl’s school instead of home because she helped the royal family.

Cecile is around the age of 13 or 14. She is fair skinned with blonde hair. To me her mindset seemed somewhat rebellious, she doesn’t always agree with the rules. In the book it states- “I gave in and with the dogs, set off running- something frowned upon at court.” This showed that she was mindful of the rules but sometimes she just didn’t care or didn’t agree with the rules. I think she was courageous because in a time of need she did the right thing and ended up saving a young boy’s life. She shows all her courage when it is needed. Cecile said “So much had happened at court, and so much of it was a tragedy, that I had been powerless to stop. But I will not let them touch Anjou.” She also said “But during those long, dim hours, my own welfare truly did not matter to me. I would do everything I could to save Anjou even if it was to simply hold him in my arms.”

I saw one huge theme in this book that I have chosen to call the theme of values. Cecile had to make so many decisions while she was at court and she had to have her priorities straight. She knew who she held dear, and she knew who she could trust, and she learned so much.

This book was definitely a historical fiction book. Cecile lived in 1711 during the reign of the “Sun King.” She went through things that some girls may have really been through and probably did go through. I would recommend this book to girls around the ages of 11-13. I enjoyed the story that is told in this book.

I got my picture from: http://www.ww1westernfront.gov.au/versailles/index.html

Book Review: The Giver

I read the book The Giver by Lois Lowry, which takes place in the far future. It is about a young boy named Jonas. Everything in his world in completely controlled by the Chief Council, jobs, who lives where, weather, and food. Jonas, when he comes of age, is assigned the most important job in his whole community, as Receiver of Memories. As training Jonas goes to see the old Receiver, who is now the Giver, and receives memories of what life is truly like. He receives memories of colors, snow, sledding, holidays, wars, weapons, and sunshine, the true pains and pleasures of life. All these things the whole community has no idea about. Through his training Jonas finds that life has so many pains, but so many pleasures as well. Soon Jonas and the Giver begin to think rebelliously because they feel that one person should not have to deal with all the pain of life. The  Giver and Jonas think of a complicated plan to get Jonas out of there so the community will have the memories. When Jonas escapes he takes a baby with him and together they make the long hard journey to Elsewhere, beyond anything that Jonas has ever known.

Throughout the book I saw a very strong theme of true personality. In his community Jonas and everyone else works so hard to not stand out, to be uniform, and all the same. Jonas begins to realize in the book that everyone needs to be their own person. In the book the Giver tells Jonas "It's the way they live. It is the life that has been created for them." By this he means that the life they live has been made to be uniform. Jonas now knows that he needs to change that. When he leaves the community is forced to deal with the memories that Jonas had, this in time will make them all his own person. That was the theme I saw in this book.

Throughout the whole book Jonas changes so much. He goes from being a fun-loving young boy with no cares to a mature boy who deals daily with the problems of the world. He knows what is truly going on in the world and he has learned so much about life in the short year that he had been in training. The book states “Do you know Jonas, of all the knowledge you have gained, with all your memories, with all you have learned from me.” That was the Giver telling Jonas that he had learned and changed so much! I think that Jonas changed for the better and he changed the lives of the whole community for the better.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading science fiction and enjoy somewhat mysterious endings. I would also recommend the book to people who enjoy reading about super heroes of sorts or life changing events. This book is somewhat dark because of the sufferings of both Jonas and the Giver. I found this book to be interesting but mysterious.

I got my picture from: http://7bbs.edublogs.org/2011/03/27/the-giver-by-lois-lowry/

Book Review for Number the Stars

I read the book Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The main character, Annemarie Johansen, lives in Denmark during World War II. Annemarie’s family lives with many restrictions, no butter, limited sugar, no real tea, no coffee, and limited heat. These things seem small but the country of Denmark has been without these things for more than three years. Annemarie’s best friend Ellen Rosen is a young Jewish girl. During this time all Jewish people are being hunted by the Nazi army because of their race and their beliefs. One night Ellen comes to stay with Annemarie’s family because the Nazis have found out her address. The next day Annemarie, her mom, her little sister, and Ellen all get on a train to go to Uncle Henrik’s farm. They stay there because they are less likely to be found while there and they can relax a little bit until Ellen’s parents get there. A couple days later the Rosens are reunited on the farm and ushered quickly to a boat that will take them all safely to Sweden, which is still a free country. Annemarie and her family live peacefully in their home and every week they dust the Rosen’s apartment that is next door. In two year’s time the war ends and the Johansens along with all of Denmark celebrate and mourn for those who died.

Annemarie is a girl that’s at the age of 10. She is tall for her age and has long blonde hair. She puts the interests of people before hers because she truly cares about the people around her. In the book Annemarie has a conversation with her uncle that I think proves this and I would like to share with you.

“Brave?” Annemarie asked, surprised. “ No I wasn’t, I was very frightened.

“You risked your life” Uncle Henrik pointed out.

“But I didn’t even think about that! I was only thinking of-“

She risked her life for the safety of her friend and her family. She showed bravery that not every 10 year old can put out there. She ended up saving their lives.

I saw one huge theme in this book that truly stood out to me. I saw the theme of true friendship. Ellen and Annemarie had known each other for their whole lives and would do anything to save each other. Annemarie saved her friend in a dark time and I’m sure that Ellen would never forget that. When the war ended at the end of the book Annemarie took out her friend’s Star of David necklace and wore it herself until her friend’s return.

This book would definitely be classified as a historical fiction book. Most of the major events that happened in the book were real and the characters personal stories were made up. I really enjoyed this book because of the things that it taught me about World War II. I felt like the story was a sad story that had a huge impact on me, but the characters had a positive outlook on the events that made the story  a lot better.

I got my picture from: http://www.vermontteddybear.com/SellGroup/Star-of-David-Necklace.aspx?bhcp=1