Month: January 2024

In January, I read the book Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This book is the finale of the series called Hunger Games. In this finale the main character, Katniss Everdeen is finally safe in rebel hands from the capital’s president, Snow. Throughout the book the war between the capital and the rebels is fierce. However, Snow’s biggest threat is Katniss, the girl on fire. She is the mockingbird. The symbol of the rebels. The rebels won’t win without her. Will she participate to be the mockingjay everyone needs or be finally done with it all.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has read the first two. However this book only makes sense if you’ve read the first two in order. I must admit this book is not better than the first book in the series but no book is. This book has to make my top ten books though.

My favorite character in this book is Peeta. Throughout the book Peeta has been so nice and forgiving to everyone even in the Hunger Games. Only when he is captured by the capital does Katniss know that she took him for granted. “‘No!’ bursts out Peeta. ‘I vote no, of course! We can’t have another Hunger Games!’” Even though the capitol killed his family, tortured him, and burned his district to the ground, he still is kind enough in his heart to spare the capitol children.

My favorite quote is on page 375, “My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.” I like this quote because Katniss always is on the verge of death whether it being in District 12, being in the arena twice, or just trying to kill herself in the hospital with the syringe. I also like this quote because it’s straight out funny. Who ever tells themselves that the should be dead?

In the Harry Potter series, Dumbledore quotes, “We all must face the choice between what is right and what is easy.” I believe this quote means what is right is not always easy. For example, during thanksgiving I could have made mashed potatoes because it is easy to make, but there were also three other people who were going to make mashed potatoes. So instead, even though it was harder, I made a cheesecake. This is an example of choosing what is right instead of choosing what is easy.

Somebody I really admire is my friend Ajay. There are many reasons why I admire Ajay. First of all he is an amazing role model who leads by example. When we play a game he will always include others. Not only that but if we wanted to play a game with someone else and was afraid to ask he would. He is also naturally very funny. When playing basketball he would pretend he was a real NBA basketball player. His arguments for the Tv is also pretty funny. The final reason I admire him is because he always brings a positive energy that is so nice to be around. Whenever he’s around no one could help but smile.

This year I am going to focus on the word relax. There were many words that could be focused on but relax was the best for this year. This is because there are many reasons to choose this word. One example of this is if I am very busy and start to get stressful, I will take a breather and eat a snack because if I don’t I wont accomplish anything. Another thing I could do to relax is make origami. Origami is a slow and steady process that clears your mind as you make an object out of a piece of paper. Finally relaxing is the key before starting a sport activity. It is really hard to relax before a soccer or baseball game and sometimes the first instinct is to practice a lot before the game. If you don’t you will be worn down before the game even starts. That is why I chose relax as my word.

In December, I read a book called ALLIES by Alan Gratz. ALLIES is a historical fiction book with many perspectives of WW2. In this book people from all over the world unite to stop Hitler and the nazis with not one but many different operations. D-day is often mistaken as one operation where people storm the beach of Normandy but this book shows many different efforts to make a impact on D-day.

I totally recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn little bit about one of the world’s biggest historical event. This fabulous book is hard to put down and is a must read for anyone who follows Alan Gratz and his books.

My favorite character in this book is Dee because of his understanding and merciful nature. While guarding the Nazis, Sid means to kill them but Dee gets in the way knowing that if he didn’t leave Germany he would have become a Nazi himself. According to the text , “‘Sid, don’t,’ Dee said. ‘Go. Go!’, Sid ordered the Nazi’s ignoring Dee. ‘Sid, you can’t kill them in cold blood.It’s murder.’” This shows that even after all that the Nazis have done, Dee protects them from being shot at.

My favorite quote from the book is, “Bullets whizzed. Mortars exploded. Behind Dee, something big exploded in the water. ‘Medic! Medic!’ He heard a soldier scream. Dee ignored them all and ran.” This is my favorite quote because it shows you what it was like in the mix of WW2 really well and helps you appreciate the soldiers that were in it defending against Hitler.