Peak by Roland Smith

For my second book of this last nine weeks, I read the novel, Peak by Roland Smith. This book is an adventure story that revolves around the life of Peak Marcello, a fourteen-year old boy whose life is climbing. After being arrested for climbing a skyscraper in New York City, Peak is given a way out of juvenile detention by the judge. He must go with his estranged father to the country of Tibet until his climbing stunt blows over. What Peak does not know is that his father not only wants him to come to Tibet, but he wants him to climb a mountain. The one called Mount Everest. Reaching the summit of Everest has been a dream of Peak's, but once he reaches the mountain, he realizes just how difficult it will be to achieve his goal. As Peak prepares for his climb, he discovers that him reaching the summit carries more weight than just achieving a dream. It's a matter of life and death for not only himself, but for those close to him. I chose this book because it sounded really suspenseful and intriguing. As it turns out, the story was not very heavy on both of these aspects. Peak did have moments of suspense and those moments were what held me to this story. However, most of the book is spent developing the characters in a rather boring fashion. In the story, it was shown that it takes weeks to become used to the high altitudes and extreme cold before an attempt to the summit is even plausible. For me, the plot was the exact same way. The author took so much time leading up to the big climax, which was not that big anyway, that I was tired of reading the book to even care what happened to anyone. Overall, the book too long to get interesting and was a disappointment for me.

What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

The setting of Peak was definitely unique. It took place on Mount Everest, one of the tallest mountains in the world. One positive aspect that the author brought to this book was how he described the rigors of Mount Everest. When one thinks of climbing Everest, it seems like it would be hard, but not a matter of life and death. As Peak comes to find out, by climbing the mountain, you are basically throwing your life to chance. One of the climbing instructors tells Peak "You can never tell who the mountain will allow and who it will not...". That statement sums up the risk people take when they climb Everest. Its not a joyride to the summit. It takes endurance, will, and some stupidity to make it all the way to the top. The author did a great job painting the picture of just how hard it is to reach the summit of Everest.

How do characters change or evolve throughout the story? What events trigger such changes?

At the beginning of the story, Peak basically hates his dad. His father left his mom when he was born and has not really contacted them at all until Peak's arrest. When Peak leaves for Tibet with his father, he still doesn't trust him. As the weeks go by on the mountain, the relationship between Peak and his dad goes up and down. Sometimes, they seem to have everything fixed. Then, one of them does something and it all crumbles. By the end, however, Peak comes to understand his dad and accept him for who he is. His father ends up doing the same for his son.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

The first book I read for this nine weeks was The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This book is the first one of the series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which contains five books in all. The book is of the fantasy/adventure genre and was very compelling for me. The story is about a 12-year old boy named Percy Jackson, who thinks he is a normal kid. He is greatly mistaken and finds out he is actually a demigod. What is a demigod? A demigod is the offspring of a mortal human and one of the Olympian gods or goddesses from Greek mythology. As Percy starts to realize who he is, he finds out that Zeus, the head god, has been robbed of his most prized possession: his master lightning bolt. To make things worse, Zeus is blaming Percy for the crime. Zeus tells Percy that he has ten days to return the bolt or he will destroy the mortal world. With the entire human race at stake, Percy, along with two companions, sets off to find out who really took the bolt and return it to Zeus by the deadline. I really enjoyed reading this book. The plot was totally original and kept me interested the entire book. The author mixed humor and action perfectly to create a deep, but light theme around the plot. The characters are developed well and you can easily relate to the main protagonists of the story. One aspect of the book that I really liked was how the author took a lot of subplots and tied them together. Although some of them did not completely tie up in this book, the remaining books in the series bring everything together without confusing the reader. For example, there is a prophecy is hinted at throughout this entire first book. From the hints, this prophecy seems to carry a lot of weight on how the rest of the series is going to work out. The author, however, never fully explains what the prophecy is in this book. This created a lot of suspense for me and it hooked me into reading the rest of the series. Creating subplots and tying them together in an easily understandable way is a difficult task to do in writing. However, the author definitely nailed it here.

Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

I thought the characters in the book were very realistic. Besides the fact that they were half-god, half-human, they thought and acted as any other normal human would. Not all of their predicaments were totally out-of-this-world either. For instance, one of the main characters has to deal with division in the home because her stepmother hates her. You don't have to be a demigod to experience that situation. Unfortunately, anybody is prone to those circumstances. I can relate to Percy in some ways. For example, Percy has to switch schools constantly because of his demigod powers. He has to go through the "new school" experience a lot. I've gone through that a couple times myself.

How do characters change or evolve throughout the story? What events trigger such changes?

At the beginning of the story, Percy meets a girl named Annabeth, a fellow demigod. They don't really get along at first. Annabeth sees Percy as an inexperienced little kid, even though they are close in age. She doesn't trust him and never really opens up to him. Then, they are both sent on the same quest and go through a lot of dangerous situations that bring them closer together. By the end of the story, Annabeth still isn't confident she can trust Percy, but she does open up to him a little more than before.

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The second book I read for this quarter was The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. It is a mystery/suspense novel and takes a lot of thought to read. It is not the kind of book that you can just pick up randomly and dive into. You have to read it straight through as long as you can in order for it to make sense. The thing is, you will not want to put it down. The plot is rather complicated so its hard to summarize. Basically, a very wealthy man dies and leaves his will to 16 "random" people. The will, however, is not ordinary at all. It comes in the form of a puzzle. The 16 heirs are divided into 8 groups and are each given a unique set of clues. Once a group figures out the puzzle, they will inherit the man's 200 million dollar fortune. This competition to solve the puzzle before everyone else makes for a very interesting and complex story. This genre of books is one of my favorites so I really enjoyed the book. I liked how the author kept bringing in pieces of the puzzle as the story moved on. Just when you think the puzzle is solved, some new element comes up and you have to seemingly start all over again. But thats what made the book so captivating. You always wanted to know the next clue. Another aspect I liked about the novel was the way the author individualized each heir. In other words, all the heirs had their own unique characteristic you could label them with. For example, the girl named "Turtle" was a bratty child who always seemed to cause trouble. It seems simple to give each character a different quality, but with 16 different characters, it would be hard to make sure you remembered who each one was. I had no trouble at all with this. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes a good mystery novel. Again, its very interesting and makes you want to keep reading.

Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

I thought the characters were realistic. Each one had their individual flaws and strengths, just like a normal human being. The one character that might be unrealistic is the "dead" man. This pretty much spoils the whole book. The wealthy man apprently takes on 5 different alter egos that each interacted with the heirs. It seems a little bit of a stretch for one man to take on 5 different roles and not get caught somehow. However, without this rather unrealistic aspect, the story would not have been as good.

What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

The setting of the book was in modern times. It takes place just outside the city where the estate of the deceased man is. Its during the fall months so it kind of gives you the spooky feeling of Halloween when it talks about an old mansion. One thing that was unique about the setting was the story did not just take place in one location. Events occurred in the mansion, in the apartment complex where all the heirs stayed, and in the city. By doing this, the author kept the story from being stagnant, which helped keep the story interesting.

Summer Ball by Mike Lupica

For this nine weeks, my first book was Summer Ball by Mike Lupica. I chose to read this book because it is the sequel to another book I enjoyed reading, Travel Team, which was also written by Mike Lupica. Basically, the novel is about a teenage boy who goes to a premiere basketball camp over the summer. While there, he meets old rivals as well as new ones who challenge him on and off the court. Through it all, he has to learn not to bring himself down, but to stand strong through adversity. The thing I liked most about this book was that it was written in a personal way. In other words, the main character was not some superhuman that had no real emotions. The author really lets us into the mind of the protagonist and allows the reader to feel how the character is feeling. I also liked the fact the book was not cliche. Most sports books are so repetitive in their plot. It is the same old story. The main character stinks at a sport, he becomes a hero somehow, and leads his team to a championship against the best team out there. Everyone has heard that story and its not interesting after you have read it many times already. Summer Ball is quite the opposite. The main character actually starts out being good at basketball. However, he never becomes a hero. When opportunities come to make himself look good for his stingy coach, he ends up messing up. It does not sound like a very fun book, but its a lot more interesting than the cliche underdog story. There was not really anything I disliked about this novel. It kept me captivated throughout the whole story and I could relate to it a lot because I play basketball myself. I would definitely recommend Summer Ball for any of my friends, especially the ones who play sports.

Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

As I said before, one of the things I liked about this novel was the personalization of the characters. They thought and acted just like any other teenager would. For example, in the book, there is a kid who is just a jerk. The main character cannot stand him because the jerk is always messing with his head. Not only does this affect the main character off the court, it also affects him on the court. With all of this in the back of his mind, he has a hard time concentrating on playing basketball. He starts making a lot of mistakes and he just has to learn to shut out the jerk's taunts. If someone was mouthing off to me, I would react the same way probably. I would start doubting myself and it would affect my normal life. It would be really hard to clear my head and focus on what actually matters.

How do characters or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

Most of the characters dynamically change over the course of this story. One change I want to focus on is the main character's little friend, Zach. Zach is a short kid who was forced by his parents to come to the camp. Although he is pretty good at basketball, he just does not want to be there. Because of his short stature, he gets picked on a lot. At first, he is just miserable, always doubting his abilities. Eventually, the main character, who is in a similar situation, gives him some encouragement. This causes a big change in Zach's behavior and he starts to gain more self-confidence. He went from being an unsure, angry kid to a confident and content person from the beginning of the book to the end.

IQ: Independence Hall by Roland Smith

For my second book of this quarter, I read IQ: Independence Hall by Roland Smith. The book is a modern day thriller/mystery involving current events. It mixes recent, yet historical events, like 9/11, and fictional characters. I liked how the author integrated the made-up characters into the real-life world and made it believable. Basically, the story is about what happens behind the scenes of the war on terrorism. Lots of different agents, who work for competing agencies, are constantly trying to take down the terrorists that plague the world. With so many agents, it is hard to keep track of who is on who's side. They could be just posing as a terrorist to get inside information. Or, they might actually be a terrorist. Nobody knows. I really liked this suspenseful aspect of the story. However, I think it got confusing when everybody's identity/loyalties were revealed. For some characters, it was not clear what side they were actually on when the author attempted to explain. My favorite thing about the book was how the author made no one invincible. Every character had their personal fault. Whether it was overconfidence or fear, each character made a mistake somewhere in the story. This made the characters much more realistic. Overall, I liked the book because it kept me on the edge of my seat for the whole story.

How do characters change or evolve throughout the course of the story? What events trigger such changes?

Two of the main characters, Q and Angela, make dynamic changes throughout the story. Q has been an only child for his whole life. His mom is the only family he knows. Then, his mom gets remarried to Angela's dad. Now that he has a stepsister, his independence turns into working as a team with his new sibling. It takes him a while to adjust to collaborate with someone besides himself. There are even some clashes on decisions between the two siblings. However, Q and Angela finally learn how to work together, using teamwork to outsmart even professional secret agents. Angela also evolves personally throughout the story. She begins the book as very emotional about her mom's alleged death. She just cannot to get over it. As the story goes on, Angela begins to gain strength by putting her past behind her and doing what is necessary in the present.


What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

The setting of the book is in the modern day world with the war on terrorism still going on. It takes place in a number of locations including San Francisco and Philadelphia. These big city settings provide a good area for the "cat-and-mouse" game that plays out in the story. Hiding in buildings and dodging your pursuers is not really possible in a country setting. The suspense was put up a notch just because of the city setting. Seeing the enemy without them seeing you and vice versa added great suspense to the story.

Word Count: 470

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

I read The Golden Compass (or Northern Lights) by Philip Pullman. I enjoyed the book since fantasy/adventure is one of the genres I like when it comes to novels. I think the story started off slow, so it took me a while to get into the book to where I couldn't stop reading. Once I got to that point, however, I really could not stop reading. I liked the character development of the main character, Lyra. At the start of the book, Lyra was just an innocent girl. As the story goes on, she begins to be more independent and able to make decisions on her own rather than her mentors do it for her. I also like her relationship with Iorek, the armored bear. In this world, bears are isolated for the most part and only bond with other bears. Iorek has been banished from the bear kingdom and has lost his armor, which is basically his soul. Lyra gets his armor back and develops a rare connection between a human and a bear. Everything leading up to the end was great. It was a lot to take in, but it seemed to make sense. Then, the author tried to tie it all together and I just felt confused. It seemed like he started too many plot lines to be able to make it make sense for the average reader. That is about the only aspect I disliked about the book. Overall, the plot was exciting and kept me coming for more. If the ending was a little more clear, I would definitely give The Golden Compass a perfect score.




In what ways do the events in the books reveal evidence of the author's world view?



Basically, the main storyline of this novel is the characters want to find a portal to a parallel universe. In this parallel universe, there is a way to erase the original sin of man. The original sin of man, as explained in the book, is the Adam and Eve story where they eat of the forbidden fruit, disobeying the divine presence. This original sin is what gives man the ability to commit evil actions. If this original sin was erased, it would, in theory, make mankind "good" again. This plot line reveals Pullman's humanistic views of the world. In Christian religion, it is believed that man is inherently bad because of the original sin. The humanistic world view is that man is inherently good. By using this plot line, Pullman is saying there is a way that man is good from birth, a humanistic viewpoint.



What was unique about the setting of the book and how did it enhance or take away from the story?

I thought the setting was perfect for this book. What made it unique was that it combined fantasy and real-world aspects to make its setting. Colleges and big cities are real-world things that appear in this book. Some of the fantasy aspects are bear kingdoms and witch societies. One of the prominent fantasy aspects is the daemon concept. Every human has a daemon, a shape-shifting manifestation of their soul. The daemon can be basically any animal it wants to be. If they are seperated from it or cut off from it, the human will have serious trouble living as will the daemon. The bear kingdom was the best fantasy part about this setting. Imagining all these enormous polar bears with gold armor in a palace made of pure marble is quite a picture. Overall, the setting did a good job giving the book a realistic sense and yet, keeping it in the fantasy genre.

Word Count: 570