Writing of the month

SEPTEMBER

First Place: The Kite Runner by Kathleen-May Llamas (Grade 12)

Reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was more than satisfying for me. While there were some parts that certainly made me freeze up on the inside just a little, I couldn’t turn away. It’s the kind of book that I wish I’d written before the author did.  Two of the most recurring themes in The Kite Runner are those of forgiveness and compassion.

Hassan, whom one might think of as very unlucky at first, being assaulted by Assef, and not really knowing who his father was, does not take out any anger on anyone, and holds nothing against Amir for his silence. One might see things another way when Amir reaches Sohrab, and is finally able to take care of him. Although it takes a long time for Sohrab to be able to speak again after his suicide attempt, he gives Amir a meaningful smile on a rainy day of kite-flying, and it is the beginning of Amir being able to forgive himself.

One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Sohrab shoots Assef’s eye out with a slingshot. I remember two things here: earlier in the book, Amir says one of Assef’s favorite insults (hypocritically) is "fag," although the second boy he victimizes apparently turns everything around). Secondly, "They’re going to have to call you one-eyed Assef," which Hassan said earlier on in the book. However, I didn’t see that scene as being about revenge. I saw it as Sohrab, an innocent boy, taking this opportunity to help his father’s best friend, the man who has come to take care of him.

The Kite Runner is definitely now one of my favorite books. It reminded me of some of the most important things about people: that the world is more forgiving than it seems, and that the most human traits are the most divine.

Second Place: The Kite Runner by Jon-Michael Chand (Grade 12)

The Kite Runner is the first book in a long time that I read from cover to cover. I think that this is my favorite book now. I actually only wanted to read this book because it tells the story of a changing Afghanistan child and I am half-Afghan. I felt I could get some insight into the culture by reading the story. I learned a lot. From what I have heard on the news, I felt that Afghanistan was always full of war and chaos. It really struck me to learn that there was order and structure, and even social classes. I had always been under the assumption that they were all poor. Baba had money and did a lot for Kabul.

This book was great. My favorite character is Hassan. I liked his loyalty to Amir. I hated the fact that he was raped.
I.wanted to strangle Amir for letting it happen. The reason I like Hassan so much is that I can relate to him, except for the getting raped part. I have done things for friends and gotten betrayed. It is not a good feeling. However, Hassan was always positive and encouraged Amir to follow his dreams. I only regret that Hassan died never knowing that Baba was his father and Amir was his brother.

Third Place: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by Ben Marcus (Grade 12)

I have read every Harry Potter book, starting with The Sorcerer’s Stone when I was ten years old. I have enjoyed all seven of them enormously, but this one stands out in my mind—just for the fact that Harry does not have Dumbledore to look up to for help and doesn’t have Hagrid to give him comfort. He is on his own and must prove himself triumphant against Voldemort.

My favorite moment in the book is when Harry actually taunts and intimidates Voldemort by calling him by his true name: "You just don’t learn from your mistakes, do you, Riddle?" This signified that Harry was not scared of him, and that he was the true Master of the Elder Wand.

This book is and definitely will remain on my list of all-time favorite works of literature.

 Juniors

For my summer reading novel, I chose Razzle. I deeply enjoyed this book and can relate to it extremely well. My favorite character was Razzle Penney because she wasn’t afraid to be herself. She didn’t conform to society just to please others. Growing up isn’t easy for any child but Razzle’s life was hard. The most interesting part of the story to me was when Razzle finally found out who her father was. At that point you almost felt as if you yourself were Razzle. I felt her pain when she found out that her father had committed suicide because her mother had said that she was not his child, when in actuality she was.

I would recommend this book to any teenager. It showed me that being different doesn’t always mean you’re "weird." It just means "you have an imagination," in the words of Razzle herself.

In my opinion, Black Boy is a good book overall. However, I feel that it was a bit dragged out. The chapters were too long. One part of the book that stood out for me was when Richard’s father left him, his mother, and his little brother. Richard and his little brother had to stay home alone while his mother went out to work, so Richard would hang out at a saloon near their house. At first he would just stand outside and beg people for money, but then one day he went inside, and after that he would go in and people in the bar would buy him drinks, get him drunk, then watch and laugh at him. This stood out to me because at the time, he wasn’t even six years old. I especially liked his grandmother, who was uneducated but who was all about God and extremely religious. She didn’t condone any darkness in her house. What was most interesting to me was the fact that even though Richard’s life was so hard, no matter what was going on, he still had the urge to want to read. He was interested in what was going on in the world and he wanted to learn. His grandmother even got upset with him for reading a book that the young lady who used to live with her gave to him.

Third Place: An Inconvenient Truth: The Crisis of Global Warming
by Liz Rivas Grade 11

Global warming is a serious issue and Al Gore’s book was really blunt about the effects and causes. I can’t say I enjoyed the book because of how sad it is what we are doing to our earth, but I did find it a great read for the information it contained. I passed it on to many people.

The book opened my eyes even more. The charts on carbon dioxide emissions since early 1900 made me sick to my stomach, knowing that our earth is not used to the pollution and won’t ever be. It made me more aware of the damage we are doing, but also gave pointers on what we can do better. I rated this book as a 10 because people need to be more aware of what we are doing, and it’s something everyone should read before it’s too late.

Al Gore stated that we are behind the rest of the world in making changes. With only a few states instituting bans on pollution, it makes us all ask the question "What’s more important? Our selfish needs or our only home?"

First Place: The Truth About Forever by Will Burkhardt (Grade 10)

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen was an interesting story. My feelings toward the story changed almost in unison with Macy’s behavior and feelings toward her life. Reading the beginning of this book, as Macy was a played-out, cool, composed, almost-perfect citizen, felt like murder. Who wants to hear of perfection? Being spotless is boring! But as the plot thickened and Macy, along with several new characters, revealed themselves to be humans instead of perfectionists,

I found them much more likeable. I think what interested me the most was how the small similarities between Macy and Wes slowly showed themselves. Their evergoing game of "Truth" was a very interesting point also. The ending of this tale seems to wrap together too quickly, though, almost rushed, as if Ms. Dessen just wanted to finish it.

In conclusion, I would suggest this story to anyone who enjoys sweet teen romances. You may have to struggle through the slow bits but it’s smooth sailing after the climax.

Second Place: Beloved by Blessing Eke (Grade 10)

I enjoyed reading Beloved because of its plot and the way that Toni Morrison told the story. The plot was captivating and unpredictable. I loved the fact that Beloved was reborn because it gave me insight into her side of the story. Through Beloved’s rebirth I could understand Sethe’s protectiveness, Denver’s loneliness, and Paul D.’s running away from the past. Beloved helped Sethe let go of the past and of her fear of her children going into slavery. Beloved helped Denver mature and become social Beloved also helped Paul D. face his past. Without Beloved, I couldn’t have understood each character’s personal struggle. My favorite part of the book is the poem. I loved how it showed both the characters’ individual feelings and their overall feelings. I praise Toni Morrison for how she incorporated the past and present to tell a wonderful story. It was a very interesting novel to read.

Third Place: Scorpia by James Gonidakis (Grade 10)

I originally thought that Scorpia would be a boring historical fiction novel. It turned out to be one of the greatest books I have ever read. I loved Nile and Alex Rider’s conflicts. When Nile left him to die in the basement, it gave my heart a rush. The chapter on Albert Bridge gave me insight into whose side I should be on, who the bad guy was, and how John Rider died. There was a lot of action in this book—not only combat but stealth and escaping dangerous situations. Julia Rothman annoyed me in most parts, smiling behind her teeth, sucking up to Alex. I rate this book a 10! Two thumbs up! I will probably read it again soon.

Honorable Mention:

First Place: Night Hoops by Rachel McNair Grade 9)

I loved the book Night Hoops because I just enjoy reading basketball books. A lot of parts stood out for me, but my favorite part was when Trent and Nick put their problems away and helped each other become better players. They had some problems in the beginning but got over them. I also liked how despite everything Trent did to Nick, Nick still cared about him and helped him when he needed help. My favorite character in the book was Nick, because he went through a lot but still managed to become one of the best basketball players on the team. Nick went from second string player to third string player to first string player. He had to learn to be a team player. I learned a lot from this book.

I learned that you can’t get things easy—you have to work hard for something you really love. In conclusion, I loved this book because it relates to me and I learned a lot from reading it.

Second Place: The Thief Lord by Nicole Cavalluzzi (Grade 9)

The Thief Lord was very satisfying for me. What really stood out was the characters. There wasn’t a character that I didn’t like. Scipio reminded me of an anti-Peter-Pan, and I liked how Hornet was a little bit more unafraid of him. The merry-go-round story was really interesting because I’ve never read anything like that, so it was pretty original for me. I was a bit unhappy about the ending. I felt unhappy that Barbarosso broke the merry-go-round. Then it was kind of weird that Scipio
became an adult all of a sudden. I wanted him to turn back into a kid! Overall, I really liked the book