C.S Lewis

This week I read C. S Lewis by Janet and Geoff Benge. It starts with C.S Lewis, who prefers to be called Jack, as a young boy who loves to write. He and his older brother Warren would write for hours at a time about their imaginary worlds. This is one reason why Jack was such a successful writer. Another reason was his imagination, which helped him to concoct amazing story's. His imagination was so vivid that one time he and Warren dug a hole in the yard looking for treasure. Unfortunately there father was coming home from work and stumbled into the hole. Father thought they had purposely trapped him and he punished them. Much later in Jacks life he wrote a book expressing his grief after his wife died. He told the publisher not to put his name on the front since it was very personal and a little embarrassing. Without his name the book didn't sell many copy's but Jack felt better after writing it. Throughout the book you see that Jacks motivation was simply his love for writing. I admire his writing prowess and his intense love for the lord. Jack used his gifts to write many great tales such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity and I believe the world is a better place because of it. Another thing about Lewis I admire is how he cared for people a trait he did not inherit from his father. After his friend was killed in the war he took care of his friends mother and sister for as long as he lived no matter how irritating or inconvenient the situation. This is a reflection of how God cares and loves for us. In conclusion C.S Lewis was and is one of the worlds greatest authors.

The Wizard of Oz

This week I read The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. The story begins in a small town in Kansas were Dorothy lives with her uncle and aunt. One day there is a huge hurricane and Dorothy and her dog Toto are swept away in there house and they land in the wonderful land of Oz. They land on the wicked witch of east who had been terrorizing the people there. Dorothy notices that the evil witch was wearing some silver shoes and Dorothy snatched them for herself. Dorothy is greeted by the good witch of the south who tells her that the only way to get home is to travel to the city of Oz and see the Great Oz. The good witch then gives here a kiss of protection and sends her on her way. As the little girl was walking she came upon a large field and in the field was a scarecrow. The scarecrow asked to be let down so she did. The scarecrow told her that he wished he had brains so he could be smart like other men. So the scarecrow and Dorothy started of together to get there wish. On there journey they also met a tin man who wanted a heart, and a lion who wanted some courage. They faced many tasks on there journey including fierce monsters and gaping holes but finally, they arrived at the emerald city.  Shortly after arrival they requested to see the Great Oz. After postponing there meeting he finally allows them to see him one at a time. He tells each one of them that to get his or hers wish they must kill the wicked witch of the west the most evil and powerful witch of them all. So they began there new journey. The witch sent all her henchmen to stop them but they defeated them one after another. At this point the witch is forced to her last resort. She uses her golden cap to summon the flying monkeys for the last time. The monkeys ripped the stuffing out of scarecrow and dropped the tinman on some rocks leaving him so battered up he could not move. As for Dorothy and the lion they were brought to the witches lair to work as slaves. After the lion and Dorothy are captured by the witch and the other two left to die they begin to lose all hope. Then one day out of anger, because the witch stole her shoe, Dorothy grabs a bucket and dumps water all over the witch melting her into a pool of nasty gunk. After getting her friends they make there way back to the emerald city to see Oz and claim there wishes. When they enter his throne room Toto decides to run behind a curtain and when Dorothy goes to get him they discover that the great Oz isn't a wizard but just a man that has been tricking the people of Oz for years. After granting all the wishes except Dorothy's he goes to work making a balloon to carry them both home. On the day of the launch Toto runs away into the crowd and Dorothy goes to find him causing the balloon to leave without them. So now Dorothy and her friends must find the good witch of the north to grant her wish. And after a difficult journey they do. It turns out that the slippers Dorothy had taken from the witch of the east held the key to returning to Kansas. Using the shoes magical powers Dorothy and Toto make it home safe and sound. This book was an amazing book in my opinion. Not only was there adventure but there great characters, and many obstacles they had to overcome. A quote that I liked was when the tinman asked the mice to carry the lion. "A lion! Why he will eat us up! Oh no this lion is a coward". I rate this book 4 stars suggest you read this book.

Fredrick Douglass

This week I read Fredrick Douglass by France's E. Ruffin.  The book begins with Fredrick being raised

by his loving grandparents. Unfortunately his mother was a slave so that meant he was a slave as well.

At a young age he remembered saying that "(Aunt Katy) meant to starve the life out of me." when Fred

Was moved into the city he began reading and writing with his mistress. When her husband found out

he rebuked her and she stopped the lessons. But that didn't stop Fred. Instead he got his friends to teach

him and give him books in exchange for food. At one point of his life,when he was much

older, he was sent to a slave breaker because his master thought he was to rebellious. Fred and the other slaves there were beat often until one day Fredrick had had enough. When the man approached him to begin beating Fred like lunged at him and so it began. They wrestled for a while until his master gave up and left. Fredrick was never beat again by that man. Later in his life he stated that when he won that fight he also won the determination to become a free man. Finally Fred ran north and into free country. He got married and had kids while becoming a very popular speaker on freeing slaves. Sadly Fredrick Douglass died on February 20th 1895. This was a good book with very good writing. I liked that they gave lots of quotes and pictures as well. My favorite quote was after Fredrick received money for the first time as a free man. He said "I have no master who could take it from me, that it was mine that my hands were my own. I rate this book 3 stars and if you enjoy reading about American history I would recommend this book to you.

Insurgent

This week I read Insurgent by Veronica Roth. In the book, the city is split into 5 factions. Erudite (The intelligent) Dauntless (the brave) Amity (peaceful) Candor (the honest) and last but not least Admegation (the selfless). Basically what happens is the Erudite attack the Admegation using a special serum they made to mind control the Dauntless into killing all the government leaders. Tris, the main character, and some of her friends are Divergent which means they are not effected by the serum, escape and flee to the amity for shelter eventually they team up with the factionless who are basically a homeless group of people, and plan an attack on the Erudite. Tris was all for the attack until her boyfriends father, Marcus ,reveals to her that the Erudite attacked to make sure some important history information was not revealed. Tris is forced to help Marcus instead of her own friends to save the information. She was prepared to give up her life for the cause just like both her parents had but after failing to obtain the information she was saved by her boyfriend Tobias. After that the factionless attempt to take over. In my opinion this book was not great but still good although not as good as Veronica's first book in the series Divergent. I quote that I like in this book is when Tris is about be put under a serum that was supposed to kill her. “The serum goes into effect in one minute, be brave Tris. Out of 5 stars I would rate insurgent 4 stars and if you like books that are action packed then this book is for you. 

Pursuit Of Happyness

This week I read The Pursuit Of Happyness by Chris Gardner. The book begins with Chris being a young boy growing up fatherless in the hood. I guess he wasn't really fatherless but his abusive stepfather Freddie wasn't the most fatherly figure. In fact Freddie found it necessary to remind Chris daily that he wasn't his father. After he left home he went into the Army in hopes of going overseas. Unfortunately that wasn't Gods plan so he was stationed in the states as a medic. Out of the Army Chris tried to take a career as a doctor and soon he was better than most new doctors . It was about this time that he was married to his girlfriend Jackie and she came to live with him in San Francisco were he was working. When he realized he wouldn't be able to make much money without a going to medical school he quit his job not wanted to wait years to become Dr. Chris Gardner.

Chris and Jackie fought often but always made up in the end. All of a sudden Jackie became pregnant with a boy and Chris was thrust into fatherhood. On one occasion, before the baby was born, Jackie abruptly demanded to know how Chris was going to be a father if he had never had one. This confrontation caused Chris to really think about him as a father. Obviously there was quite a few things he didn't know about being a father but he knew one thing, he would always be a presence in his sons life.

At one point Jackie and Chris fought and Jackie walked off but Chris wasn't finished so he grabbed her arm and they struggled for a while until he eventually let go sending Jackie flying into a thorn bush. The next day he was charged with beating his wife and was sent to court. It ended up he wasn’t arrested for “beating”her but for the loads of parking tickets he had left unpaid. The sentence was ten days. Returning home he finds the house locked and empty with their car no where in sight. Jackie had left him, took his son, and everything he owned.

After that he struggled on the brink of homelessness until eventually Jackie came to give him their son and the homelessness began. About this time he gets a job as a stock broker and long story short he gets him and his son off the street. In my opinion this book was incredible especially considering it is a true story and not fiction. One reason for this is the constant action. For example when everything was finally looking up his wife and son disappeared. I also like it cause it has great writing and there is never a dull moment. I rate this book five stars and I strongly suggest you read this book.