A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, By Ishmael Beah-The Complete Book

WOW. That's all I can say after reading this inspirational story. The book is a memoir. The main character, Ishmael lives in Sierra Leone. After being separated from his family, he is in hiding with a few other teenagers. Eventually, he is forced to become a child soldier.
When he is a child soldier, he begins having to kill people, and begins using drugs. These are things that are foreign to him. Eventually, they become the only thing he knows. For this reason, when UNICEF comes in to end the conflict, and brings the child soldiers to a rehabilitation facility, he has a lot of trouble. He and his friends do bad things, like fighting and stealing, but they get away with it, because the people at the center believe what they experienced is an excuse. Ishmael suffers most from various nightmares. One of which involves his family, and him not being able to get close to them. Over time, Ishmael improves and makes progress, and becomes a spokesperson for a campaign against child soldiers. Eventually, an uncle he didn't know was still alive comes and asks Ishmael to live with him. Ishmael then receives the opportunity to go to New York to attend a conference at the United Nations. Later, when he is back in Sierra Leone, the conflict starts again. To avoid becoming a soldier again, he gets out of the country illegally. Although the book ends just after he gets out of Sierra Leone, we know that he eventually gets to the United States where he currently lives, and still speaks out against child soldiers.
Ishmael Beah goes into detailed, gruesome accounts of what he experienced. This makes it very difficult to read at times.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this inspirational story. No one, especially a teenager, should have to experience what Ishmael and his friends had to. Yet, he still survives it, and becomes a better person for it.
I liked the fact that I read this book in a literature circle. This is because I think I got a lot more out of it by discussing it with my group members, and hearing their thoughts and ideas about it. Plus, doing the various activities helped me see, and think about parts that I would not have otherwise thought about.

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, By Jane Leavy-The Complete Book

As a fan of baseball history, I really enjoyed this book. Yes, like most autobiographies it went on tangents at times and was boring, but I was able to work through it. It tells the story of a man who is arguably the best pitcher of all time: Sandy Koufax. This Jewish pitcher, faced many obstacles for just that reason.
I've always been interested in Sandy Koufax and his story, not only because he was a great pitcher, but also because he's been one of the few great, Jewish athletes, and therefore, I was very interested in learning more about his story.
I also really liked how it was written. When sports autobiographies include things about specific games, they get very intense, exciting and fun to read. However, usually it doesn't last very long and then they go right back to some of the interesting, but more boring stuff. However, what Jane Leavy did which was cool, was she did a good job balancing the exciting and boring stuff. What she did was she would alternate chapters, between information about him and his life, and an inning of his perfect game. The chapters in which Leavy summarized parts of the game, were written from the point of view of different fans, which was a cool spin on it. It set the scene by telling a little bit about the fan and what they were doing it. This made it more interesting. Basically, by alternating the "action" and facts, Leavy got all the information across while also keeping the reader interesting, Few authors can do it this well. This made it better than most biographies.
Telling Koufax's story also teaches valuable lessons. For example, because of his religious beliefs he did not play in a World Series game because it was on a holiday. Few people would do this, and Koufax doing it shows how important it is to follow your beliefs, and do what is important to you.
Overall, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in baseball and its history.

Our Mickey, By Bill Liederman and Maury Allen-The Complete Book

As a Yankee fan, I found this book to be very enjoyable. Mickey Mantle is on of the most famous Yankees to ever play--and considering the people who have played for the Yankees, that is a pretty big deal.
Yankee fans know that Mickey is a special guy. What makes this book so cool and unique is that it's not just an autobiography, of his successes on the field--of which there were many. Instead, it is about what he was really like as a person, behind the scenes, in the dugout, and the clubhouse, and overall just what he was like when he was hanging out with other ball players. To do this, the authors of the book compiled stories told by other people. These people included coaches, other ball players, and other celebrities. By doing this, the reader got a view on it that he/she wouldn't normally get. In addition, it really shows what he was like with all different people.
I'd recommend this book to any true Yankee fan. I don't mean just someone who follows the team. I mean someone who is really interested in the team and the history. I am very interested in the history which is why I like books about the history. It's why I read an autobiography about Roberto Clemente and Sandy Koufax. And, it is what made me read this. But this is very different from those. The autobiographies were long and had a lot of extra details and were very boring at times. Since this book was just different accounts and funny stories, there were never dull moments. It didn't just tell stats and meaningless information. It really gets information about Mickey's personality across to the reader, which autobiographies do not always effectively do.

Quarter Three Summary

So far this year, I have really enjoyed the books I have read on my own.
I have completed all of my genres for the year by reading Deception Point (mystery), Brave New World (classic), Clemente (non-fiction), and All Quiet on the Western Front (historical fiction). Therefore, I do not have to read anything else to fill a genre.
During the third quarter I have read All Quiet on the Western Front, and City of Thieves. I am also close to finishing Digital Fortress.
In the fourth quarter, I will start by finishing Digital Fortress which I have really enjoyed thus far. I also plan on reading Lost Symbol, the latest Dan Brown book, at some point. Besides this, I have no specific plans.
I have learned that I really enjoy reading mysteries. This is something I would like to do more of in the future. I am currently reading my second Dan Brown book this year, and plan to read a third next quarter. I find mysteries very exciting to read, and they are the books that force me to keep reading.
This quarter, I'd have to say that Digital Fortress was my favorite book, even though I am not yet done with it. I find Dan Brown to be an amazing author, not so much in the quality of his writing (I think that's really where he's lacking), but in the creativity and plot of the book. With the constant twists and turns, it is impossible to put down Digital Fortress, which is what I like about it and other Dan Brown books, and is the reason I plan on reading his his fifth book, Lost Symbol, next quarter.

All Quiet on the Western Front, By Erich Maria Remarque-The Complete Book

I recently finished this book and really enjoyed it. Personally, I preferred the book to the movie.
Part of what's so interesting about it is the history of the book itself. The fact that it was written from the point of view of a German soldier is in itself unique, and quite uncommon. Furthermore, it is interesting how controversial a book it was in Germany is that because of its negative portrayal of life as a German Soldier, it was banned and burned, so that the German people would not read it and therefore not have negative opinions about war, and life as a soldier. Instead, the government tried to get the country to be very patriotic and tried to make life as a soldier seem appealing. In addition, in schools, students were taught that they would be better respected if they joined the army and that it was their duty to serve their country. This was the case with Paul Bäumer and his friends. While in school, they were encouraged to join the army by their teacher, and therefore, upon graduating, they immediately enlisted together.
The book is interesting in that it's not about great soldiers who are war heroes. Instead, it tells the story of a group of average soldiers, and focuses more on the conditions which they experience. They don't even use specific events or battles in the book.
Paul and his friends have a lot of trouble adjusting to life at war. In the trenches, their food supply is limited. In addition, they have to get used to the constant bombing and the fact that they could have to fight at any time. They also have to get used to watching other people--including their own friends--get hurt and sometimes die right in front of them. This is clearly very difficult for them, and this difficultly is clear when Paul goes home on leave and can never get comfortable, or used to life back at home.
Overall, this is a great book, that I think would be enjoyed by anyone.

All Quiet on the Western Front, By Erich Maria Remarque-#2

I continue to find this book very interesting. I like that I am reading it right after we learned about World War I in class because facts about the war are fresh in my mind. Furthermore, I really like the point of view in that the narrator is a German soldier--there aren't too many books around that are told on the German side. While I have read and learned a lot about World War II over the years, I have never really learned very much about the first World War which adds to my inquisitiveness in the book.
As I get more into the book I enjoy it more and more. In addition, we watch as Paul Bäumer, the main character, develops and changes because of his experiences in the war. The war is a lot more intense than he had expected it to be, and he has a lot of trouble handling the different experiences, including seeing people get injured and die--even his friends from his days in school. This is a huge adjustment for him.
I am eager to continue reading the book and see what other things Paul experiences during his time in war.

All Quiet on the Western Front, By Erich Maria Remarque-#1

I found out about this book while learning about World War I earlier this year in global. I have heard from many people that it is a great book and definitely a must read. In addition, in global we watched the movie which was pretty good. The combination of these things made me eager to start the book. Unfortunately due to a lot of schoolwork I have been unable to really get into the book but that will change this coming week.
It is a very interesting book. It is about a German soldier and how he struggles to deal with being in war as well as how he never feels the same after he gets home from the war. It is very interesting because there aren't very money books that are from the point of view of a German soldier. In addition, it is a very realistic situation.
So far, not very much has happened. However, we have learned a little bit about what they do in the trenches on a day-to-day basis, as well as how Paul and his friends ended up enlisting together. They were in school together and were pressured by many people including their teacher to join the army after they graduated, which was soon after the start of the war. They experienced extremely tough training and had a tough time getting used to being at war. In addition, they recently experienced the first death of one of their good friends.
I am enjoying the book thus far and am eager to continue reading it.