I'm Not Her

  I'm not her is about a girl named Tess who's older sister, Kristina, gets diagnosed with cancer. But Kristina is really popular and people keep on coming to Tess and asking for updates about Kristina. So now Tess is the popular one but she doesn't know if she can handle being the only strong person. i think the theme of this book is you can't always handle everything you think you can.
     First, when Kristina first gets diagnosed and starts treatment, Tess convinces herself that Kristina will be fine and everything is going to go back to normal. But Tess has to handle most of the problems on her own because her mom is so scared she starts ignoring Tess and her dad works really late and is scared to see Kristina. So when Tess is left picking up the pieces she finds it harder for her to persuade herself that nothings wrong.

     Also, there is this boy Nick who Tess likes but everyone says he's a player. Then Tess kisses him and he says that she's just a kid and that he doesn't want to hurt her. She starts crying and realizes how much she likes him. Tess had never really had a boyfriend so she didn't know she couldn't handle rejection and heartbreak.
    Lastly, when Kristina starts talking about dying and losing her leg (because that's where the cancer is), Tess doesn't know why she's trying to be so strong when no one else in her family is. Her sister says she might die, her mom can't reassure Tess on anything, and her father is never home. 

Letter To Ms Berner

Dear Ms. Berner,

       Many teachers and parents have been concerned with the books that are in the 6th graders school libraries. Parents don't like the issues that we read about. I think that it's for parents or teachers to say what we read, because we're learning from from these young adult texts. Kids should be able to read whatever we want. Books should be banned because books save kids lives, and gives kids a sense of the world and problems in the world.
       Books should not be banned because they save kids lives. Ellen Hopkins, author of Crank, said at one of her book signings a girl came up to her and shared that Crank saved her life. The girl started getting high because of the absence of her alcoholic mother. She said Crank showed her that weed and drugs were the wrong decision and has now been clean for two years. On HTV video on schooltube, a high school student spoke about banning the book The Absolutely True Diary Of A Part Time Indian from her school library. The girl said the book was one of her favorites and taught her so much about big life problems. It's not right to take away from kids because they save their lives.
       Books give kids a sense of life as well. A girl who reads about rape is going to be more aware of what to do to avoid an attack  and to be more cautious. Also, books teach kids about the bad problems that come. When kids read about drugs and how awful your life turns when you do drugs. That teaches kids not to do drugs because your life will be ruined if you do. If you ban books, it's harder for kids to get that lesson.
       On the contrary, some books are a little extreme and rough for kids to read. Parents may be concerned that reading about suicide or other tough problems.  But it doesn't do that it shows us that suicide or drugs is the wrong answer and we shouldn't do drugs or drink alcohol. On a news report, a man who's daughter was assigned "Fahrenheit 451" wrote a list of all the things. On the list he said "cigarettes, burning of books, etc;" First of all, you can't say that cigarettes are inappropriate when you see and smell people smoking them everywhere. Also, the burning of books is what the book is about and the whole point of the book is that banning books is wrong, so the parents just seems like he doesn't understand the book.
       All in all, it's wrong to ban books for kids because books save kids lives, and teach kids responsibilities that only books can teach. Yes, some books are not right for children but that doesn't mean that kids don't have a right to read them. It's our choice what we read, not the school board.

Stolen

              Stolen is about a girl, Gemma who is captured by a man, Ty at an airport going on a family vacation. Ty captures her and takes her to the middle of nowhere, where he lives and says she is going to live with him. And he's not what you would think a kidnapper would be like, he is in love with Gemma. He had been following her for 6 years to find the moment to take her. The book is written as a letter to Ty from Gemma. At first Gemma tries to escape but Ty keeps telling her there's no one around and she'll never make it out there. He tries to make Gemma enjoy being there and she hates it.
               Then she starts to fall for him, while he made a deal that if she still hates it after 4 months, she can leave and he'll take her to the next town. But right as she's falling for him, she is bitten by a snake. Ty has antivenom but it doesn't work so he has to take her to the nearest mine site, where Gemma is saved and Ty is arrested. Then in court Gemma is caught about what to say because she can either say what they want her to that he took her and she hated it. Or she could say that she was falling for him and that she wasn't completely upset about being taken. In the end you don't know what she does but she says that she hopes one day he'll make it out of jail and return to his home and finish his home.
               I think that the theme of this book is you can't always trust yourself and first impressions. Gemma's first impression was that Ty would beat her and rape her and torture her. Then she thought he was a psychopath who had been stalking her since she was 10. But as she learns more about him she realizes how much he's been through and he's actually a warm hearted person. Gemma also can't trust herself because she doesn't know what she's feeling. At first she was plotting how to kill him and kept  a knife under her bed. Then she still thought he would hurt her so she was always hesitant to be near him. Then as she falls for him she knows she can't because a part of her still wants to get out of there. She can't trust her opinions and she can't fully trust Ty.

prom

Prom is about a girl named Ashley who never wants to go to prom but then someone steals all the prom money. The one who stole it was the teacher in charge of prom. Then Ashley is the one who comes in and saves the prom. But then she gets banned because of all of her detentions. but she goes anyway and it turns out well. 

I think the theme of this book is to never give up and always keep trying. Sometimes you have lots of problems and you just want to give up. But this book teaches you that you really shouldn't give up. And that you can't just say it's to hard and not just saying it's too difficult. 

faithful elephants

i think that faithful elephants is about the bond between an animal and a person. this is shown with john,wanly, tonky and their trainer. the trainer had to sit and suffer and watch his beloved elephants be killed. and him even caving to the grief to save their lives. this shows no matter what happens an animal and a person have an everlasting friendship. 

in the text it says "seeing his beloved elephants dying this way the elephant trainer felt as if his heart would break" this line really shows the misery the trainer was going through. also he cared so much for his elephants. to then imagine being a person and see animals your very close with die right in front of you.  so you really cant break a bond between an animal and a person.

Crazy

the book crazy is about 2 friends connor and isabel who were counselors at camp. they are about 18 and the book is written in emails they exchange. as you read the book you learn that connor is in love with isabel but she doesnt know and is in a relationship with a much older man. as the book goes through isabel starts down a downward spiral and connor is very nervous. he tries to protect but its hard because she usually takes help as pity and gets mad so he apologizes and then nothing gets resolved. at the end isabel tries to kill herself and only tells connor so he calls her mom and they save her just in time. in the end they end up together although she is in the hospital they end up together.
i think the main theme of this book is friendship and communication and always having each others backs. its about friendship because the bond is so strong between them especially since they both kind of like each other they are extremely close. its about communication because when your in as bad of a place as isabel you really need someone to talk to but she didnt tell him enough and get his help or anyones help so i think that thats a big theme because if she has just told him more she wouldnt have tried to kill herself. and mostly its about being there for one another. connor was there for isabel so much that he would have gone and lived with her if he could. it may have been because he was in love with her but i think it was more how much he truly cared about her and didn't want to be without her. i think thats the main thing to take away is the importance of always showing your there for someone.