laura west

8/3/2019 Laura West

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Laura West

2nd Period

1. The Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer, The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger, ToKill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, the Harry Potterseries by J. K. Rowling, The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Outsiders by S.E.Hinton, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, and Matilda by Roald Dahl.

2. The Twilight series- The Twilight series is an exciting adventure and love story betweena small town girl named Bella and a vampire named Edward. They fall in love but arefaced with the challenges of Edward being stuck in his 17 year old body.

The Catcher in the Rye- the Catcher in the Rye takes place around the 1950s and is toldHolden Caulfield. Holden doesnt make it cle ar on his location, but he makes it clear thathe is in a mental hospital. Holden looks for some degree acceptance from all the

characters he encounters, but he is denied. As a result, Holden feels dislocated, as thoughhe does not belong anywhere.

To Kill a Mockingbird- In the beginning the main character, Scout Finch, starts out to bea very immature child not knowing the hard times around her. Her dad, Atticus Finch,was being courageous of a black man being accused of raping a white girl. Her dad is anattorney only doing his job and not discriminating against this man. The black man, Tom,is the mockingbird in the story and all he does is stay out of harms way and is accus ed of a crime and in the end is eventually guilty and dies.

The Outsiders- the Outsiders follows the rivalry between the Greasers, a group of boysfrom a poorer side of town, and high class Socs through the perspective of Ponyboy, a 14

year old Greaser. In an incident, Johnny panicked stabs a Soc to death when he tries todrown Ponyboy. The two boys run away along with Dallas, who supplies money. Afterbeing forced to go to the hospital after saving children from a burning building, Darry,Ponyboys older brother, admits about their harsh relationship that he was only beinghard on Ponyboy because he wanted him to have a better future than himself. LaterPonyboy talks to Randy (a Soc) and realizes that they are not all that bad.

Matilda- Matilda is about a young girl called Matilda who is five and who can multiplyenormous numbers like nineteen times fourteen, read adult books like Charles Dickensand many more amazing things. Along with all these amazing things Matilda has superpowers that allow her to control objects using only her mind. Unfortunately for Matilda

her mother and father dont show her enough love that a child needs. The children hatinghead mistress at her school is even worse. The mistress believes Matildas parents,disbelieves Miss Honey, refuses to put Matilda in year six where she belongs and deniesbeing a child once herself. Matilda later tries to find love in her teacher Miss Honeyrather than her parents and tries to live a better life.

3. The one book that I think everyone must read is The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.I think that this is one of the most influential books that can really change onesperspective on life, people, and lots of other things that are in our everyday lives. I liked

8/3/2019 Laura West

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reading this book because I find that I can relate a lot to Holden. I like how the book touches on the themes of isolation, maturity, and the idea of phony people. Holden seemsto isolate himself which he does as a way to shield himself from harsh reality of theworld. He tries to find acceptance from people around him but is only shut down andspotted as an outsider. Even though he isolates himself he wants to protect the lives of the

innocent. Holden sees his younger sister Phoebe growing in a world he wishes shewouldnt be involved with . Holden shows his maturity through wanting to help and protect his younger sister by sheltering her and dreaming of being a catcher in the rye.This job of the catcher must hold back all the younger children than Holden from fallingoff a cliff into the adult world which is seen as a phony world by Holden. I think thatpeople will be influenced and will be forced to see the world with a more open view andwith a more open mind after they read this novel. I hope that people will see this book tobe as entertaining as I did and will share this book with others.