Summerization [:p] of Give a Boy a Gun

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser is [what I think] a pretty interesting book [but it takes some time getting used to...an all quotes book]. Anyway, the 2 main characters are Gary and Brendan, takes place at Middletown High, & it tells you just how long it took them to snap & say, "Screw this, enough is enough," & just what they did about it. Give a Boy a Gun is about 2 very normal, non-sporty, intelligent kids who are [to put bluntly] looked down upon by the world basically created by the high school football players [who beat the crap out of them]. They wrestle together with their thoughts on what to do with their football enemies [and mention some of it to their "friends"]. But it becomes clear that when you give the boys their guns, the only thing on their minds is pure revenge.

a quote, some facts & thoughts

Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser.
Page 16:[quote]


" I still find it difficult to believe he was part of what happened. The guns and holding those poor children hostage in the gym like that. What they did to that football player. That wasn't the Gary I knew. If you are looking for answers, don't look at him. Look at Brendon Lawlor."

-Ruth Hollington


Thoughts:


O.k. look, since he was involved in the school killing and you still claim that he's innocent, you know him better & all that good old crap, then you are wrong. I'm siding with Gary's "friends" and yes, I agree that he was more sad & upset than mad, but Gary was still responsible for the bombs because he was the only one that was smart enough of the to do that kind of stuff. You're just in denial.


Page 63:[fact]


In 1995 alone, 35,957 Americans were killed by, firearms,...suicides, and accidents....during 3 years of the Korean War, 33,651 were killed.


Thoughts:


I'm not surprised at the fact that many people die here in America, but when I saw the numbers...wow. Just, wow. Also, it's 1 American year against 3 Korean years [365 days vs. 1095 days]. I must say that the numbers help my shock.

Yes, this draft is missing a quote. I don't have my paper with me now.

Changes

If there was one thing [and there is, but only one] that I could change in the last book in the series Harry Potter, it would be the fact that Fred Weasley dies. True, they were in a war against Lord Voldemort and someone they new was bound to die, but why Fred? Why not Percy? After all, he did betray them at one point in the series to stand behind the ministry, why let that go unpunished? Why destroy the hearts of the innocent? How's George going to run their shop without him? Who's going to make jokes about the fact that George only has one ear now? It's so sad, I could cry.
Obviously, [as I said above] if I were J. K. Rowling, I would make Percy die because he deserves it, unlike Fred. Fred never did anything wrong [only good] yet he dies. That's so unfair [then again, that's how life works].
I think this would make the book loads better because everybody [except the parents] has grown to hate Percy after what he did. Percy all of a sudden becoming a good guy feels so out of place [especially because someone dies right afterward].
Oh well, as the great Jacob says, [off Twilight] "Life sucks, and then you die. Yeah, I should be so lucky."

The End...

I don't want the Harry Potter series to end!!! It's practically a crime to end it!!! Oh! but the ending was so good, I could cry [maybe anyway...]. I have so many questions! Who does Neville marry? Does he even get married? She never told us the name of Malfoy's wife...so who is it? Why did Fred have to die? That must be so horrible for George! Are all the Weasley's still alive by the end of the book, or did they lose someone else in their family? Is she going to make another series for their kids? If so, who would the new enemy[s] be? Who is the head master by the time their kids are in school? Do Harry and Ginny [and the kids] live in the house passed down from Sirius or did they get a new house [...probably a new house, now that I think about it]? Are all the old teachers dead? How old is Hagrid now? Questions, questions...
But, the end is the end, I suppose...

Newness!

I'm now reading Harry Potter And the Deathly Hallows. I'm on page 311 and I love it so far, but I really want to punch Ron in the face. He's such a jerk at this point! whine, whine, whine. Complain, complain, complain. What a baby. Hermione's devastated since he ran ou ton them, though. So go find him if you miss him so much, if he hasn't died yet, tell him I said "hi".

Connections: Catalyst to Speak

I've already finished Catalyst in the time it took us to get in the Lab!!!!!

This book is a lot like the book Speak [which incidentally is by the same author, Laurie Anderson]. The character's [ Kate, Teri, & Melinda] [or something like Melinda...] situations are what I am comparing today.

Speak: [main character]

Melinda [I hope you are not intending to read the book, 'cause I'm spilling the beans!] goes to a party and gets raped & calls the police [no one knows why she did] and now everyone hates her. She loses her purpose in the world & thinks she forever useless and has to find a way to heal the wounds.

Catalyst: [main character]

Kate is one school yr. older [senior] and has no mom and decides to apply to the college as her mom did, but was rejected. She becomes 'Ms. Depresso' and to top it off, her life gets worse when her worst enemy, Teri & her son, Mikey [Teri=same age, Mikey=2] have to move in to her room when Teri's' moms' house burns down. Now not only does she have to find out what to do with herself, but with Teri & her son as well.

Catalyst: [non-main character]

Teri is majorly suffering. Her son has died of a severe electrical shock in the midst of everyone tyring to rebuild her house and is still having to deal with people feeling sorry for her & a mother who doesn't know what is going on because her mind has been slow ever since her husband hit her up-side the head with a baseball bat & raped her daughter, causing her to have a kid, Mikey [the one who dies].

...sad, huh?

Turn the Page...

I just finished Breathe my Name and it had such a good ending [though a part almost got too gross for me...bleah!] I am dying to blow the ending, but you have to read it.

And I just 'dove' into Harry Potter And the Half-Blood Prince [I'm on page #465 and I just started a couple days ago!]. It's 6th year and 'Professor' Snape finally got his dream job...Defense Against the Dark Arts [woopie...he treats it like a god, it ticks me off...]. And with a little help from Harry, they convince an old friend of Dumbledore's to rejoin the staff at Hogwarts, taking Snape's old potion job. Also, Ron and Hermione get a little too close[as Harry thinks] to be friends...


P.S. this blog took me 2 days to publish this & I'm done with the book! [it rocked]

Current Setting...

Place Nix and Frances are currently in are at is...



Nix's car [don't remember exactly kind...]. It's warm and cozy, sorta like a homey feel. It's currently where all emotional things happen in the story. Sad things. Happy things. Anythings! Its a stick-shift, so it's kinda jerky. There's a constant changing view outside the window and the world always flies by. The car smells slightly of french fries and has spots where his mentally challenged brother put stickers all over the car...not much else to say about it really...just that its a sad sight.

...

Oh! last time I forgot to tell you what my book peoples are like!!!


Frances: Doesn't have a lot of self confidence. She very quiet and shy...but don't be fooled! She's not sweet all the time! And when she's afraid, she kinda [in a way] shuts down. In fact, with any emotion she doesn't think is o.k., its crucial for her to keep it to herself. [& she is 18]

Ann M.: Is a total sports freak. She has a very sportsy build too [but not fat]. And she is good at everything! Her and Frances are best friends. Ann is not at all modest like Frances, if she does somthing worthwhile, you'll hear about it.

Nix: [a.k.a.-new school hunk] is Frances' sweet boyfriend. He [like Ann] has a big sportsy build, but he doesn't really like sports. I'm not possitive, but I think his real name is John [the book goes by 'Nix'] and he doesn't like his real name anyway, he thinks it's too common. He also has a mentally challenged brother, but he has nothing to do with the story [just some info.].

Breathe my Name

O.k., you guys are going to love this book!!! The main character's name is Frances...or that's what they call her [her biological name is close though]. Her real name is Francine Jenks, or Shine, as her old mother called her. But she doesn't like being compared to her monster of mother, the one that she doesn't live with anymore.

Almost a decade ago, before she was adopted, she lived with her Mom [Afton Jenks] and her 3 other sisters [and her Dad, but he worked lots so she only saw him on the weekends] out in the middle of nowhere. Frances and her sisters were never called by their real names, they were given special names in the place her Mother called Fireless [that's what she called their home]. Anyway, some weird things started happening to her Mom. She had to be taken to the hospital once for tyring to kill herself. Soon the insanity devoured her, and she calls the kids up to her room one by one with a pillow...so how does Frances survive? READ THE BOOK!!!

Anyway...some lawyer comes to her one day with news. Her birth mother is out of prison and in a mental home. And her mom has a letter for her..."come right away. we have to finish what we started." So what does her mom want exactly? Gotta read to find out!!! But I already told you that, didn't I?......................

Myself as a reader

I LOVE TO READ! I'm such a book worm. I've been known to have several books taken away from me by teachers [it's true!] from reading too much [even in reading class!!!]. The first book ever read to me was Dr. Suess's ABC Book [it has the world's most awesome rhymes!!!]. I think that was when I was two yrs. old. I would be reading right now if my teacher didn't make me do this frickin' blog!