This is what I’d like her to get through this year.  Others will, of course, be added.  Some we probably won’t manage.  But we’ll attempt it.

Technorati Tags: homeschool, readinglist, junior, highschool, books

This summer I’ve been reading Michelle Tea’s new book, her first novel, Rose of No Man’s Land. It’s about a young teenage girl named Trisha who is a bit of a loner and has a really strange family. Her sister lies to get her a summer job at the most popular store in the mall "Omigod!". The girl that used to work there, Kim, tried to kill herself and so Kristie, Trisha’s sister, tells the owner that Kim and Trisha were friends which is not the case. Then Kim’s real friends come in and reveal the truth about Trisha. At least Trisha met someone (her summer goal was to make a friend) before she was fired, Rose. Trisha steal’s Kim’s cell phone from under the desk and she and Rose recieve a phone call from "xxx". "XXX" turns out to be a drug dealer and from there the girls get into all sorts of trouble. The book was amusing and slightly disappointing. I liked it, but not as much as a Francesca Lia Block book.  I think Michelle Tea is now my second favorite author.

In the first couple of chapters of this book, the author
tries to introduce you to the Dashwood family. It explains how the older Mr.
Dashwood brings his son and his grandson’s families into his home but only
leaves a fortune for his grandson. Then the younger Mr. Dashwood passes on and has
his son promises to take care of his wife and three daughters (Elinor, Margaret,
and Marianne). Also during the first few chapters you get the sense of the
three girls finding marriage.

Before Mrs.
Dashwood and her daughters move to her cousins, Elinor starts to find comfort in
a man named Edward Ferrar. This man seems plain to Elinor’s sisters but she is
till very fond of him. But after they arrive at Barton cottage Elinor and Marianne
begin to fall for two other men. Elinor falls for Colonel Brandon and Marianne for
John Willoughby. However both of these men have to go away to London for a good bit of time and leave the two girls heartbroken. However, shortly
after Wiloughby by leaves, Elinor finally receives a short visit from Ferrar and
during this visit she is still confused by his aloof emotions. Lucy Steele, a
distant relative then reveals that she has been engaged to Edward Ferrar for
four years secretly because Lucy has no fortune.

Elinor and
Marianne then go on a trip to London with their relatives, Lucy and Mrs. Jennings. Marianne is excited to see
Wiloughby but Elinor is apprehensive about possibly seeing Lucy and Edward
together. Marianne is devastated when Wiloughby keeps avoiding her when there
is great talk about their ‘engagement’. But after she finally sees him, he is
rude to her and the next day sends her a letter informing her of his engagement
to another woman.

Colonel
Brandon visits Elinor to discuss Marianne’s situation and then proclaims that
he was once deeply in love with a woman but she was married to his brother so as to ensure her fortune for the family. She
disappeared shortly after they divorced. Colonel then found the woman dying and
promised to take care of her three year old daughter. Wiloughby placed her in
school and visited her periodically. Brandon then tells how this girl is the girl that Wiloughby is engaged to!

The girls
also get a visit from their brother John. He tells Elinor that she should marry
Colonel Brandon but she assures him that she has no intentions of doing so.
Lucy then visits and brags about Edward’s favorable behavior to her at a party.
A servant suddenly announces the arrival of Mr. Ferrars, and Edward walks into
the room. He looks immediately uncomfortable after realizing that both Lucy and
Elinor are in attendance. Marianne, who does not know anything about Lucy’s
claims of an attachment to Edward, expresses her joy at his arrival.

Mrs.
Jennings then reveals, after a visit with a friend, that Edward and Lucy have
been engaged for over a year. Elinor then tells her sister.  Marianne is amazed at how calm Elinor remained over the last
four months. John Dashwood visits his sisters again and tells them how Edward
mother knows about the engagement and he has refused to break it off so now
Robert will get all of her inheritance.

Before
Marianne and Elinor leave London, Colonel Brandon visits them and tells then how
he is going to give some of his inheritance to Edward so he can support
himself. Before returning to Barton the
girls go along with the Palmers to their estate in Cleveland.
When they arrive at Cleveland,
Marianne takes several, long walks in the evenings and
catches a violent cold and Colonel then volunteers to bring Marianne back to
Barton to get better. Just before the expected arrival time of Mrs. Dashwood
and Colonel Brandon John Willoughby comes to offer Elinor an apology for his
behavior toward Marianne. He tells her that he always knew that he could never
afford to marry Marianne and did not appreciate love when he first became
attached to her. He confesses to marrying Miss Grey for her money and will
forever hold Marianne in the highest regard.

Willoughby asks Elinor to communicate his confession to Marianne and request her
forgiveness. Mrs. Dashwood and Colonel
Brandon arrive at Cleveland and are
relieved to learn of Marianne’s improved state. Mrs. Dashwood tells Elinor that
on the long carriage ride from Barton to Cleveland,
Colonel Brandon confessed his love for Marianne. Elinor
tells Marianne of Wiloughby’s confession on a walk one day and Marianne feels
much better knowing that his abandonment of her was not the final revelation of
a long-standing deceit, but rather the result of his financial straits. They
then receive news that ‘Mr. Farrars’ has married Lucy. This news distresses
both Elinor and Marianne. Soon after though, Edward arrives and the girls
confront him about the news. He then says that they are mistaken. Robert has
married Lucy. Within the next three hours, Edward proposes to Elinor and she
accepts. Elinor and Edward live together at Delaford and invite both Marianne
and Colonel Brandon to visit often, in the hope that the two will form an
attachment with one another. Their plans is successful, for the Colonel and the
younger sister later become engaged and move in with Elinor and Edward at
Delaford.

Technorati Tags: janeausten, senseandsensibility

Michelle has to choose a book from this list (scratched out books she’s already read) for her SAT prep class.  What do you think she should read?

# Achebe, Chinua. Things Fall Apart

# Agee, James. A Death in the Family. 1957. The enchanted childhood summer of 1915 suddenly becomes a baffling experience for Rufus Follet when his father dies.

# Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility

# Bernstein, Leonard. The Joy of Music. 1959. Bernstein describes all aspects of classical music.

# Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. 1970. There’s another side of America’s western expansion: the one seen through Native American eyes.

# Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. 1962. This landmark book gave birth to the environmental movement.

# Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. 1899. Edna Pontellier, an unhappy wife and mother, discovers new qualities in herself when she visits Grand Isle, a resort for the Creole elite of New Orleans.

# Cisneros, Sandra. The House On Mango Street. 1991. In short, poetic stories, Esperanza describes life in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago.

# Edelman, Marion Wright. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours. 1992. A child advocate shares her thoughts on values, raising families, and the future of our country.

# Forster, E. M. Howards End.

# Gaines, Ernest. A Lesson Before Dying. 1993. When Jefferson’s attorney states, "I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this," disillusioned teacher Grant Wiggins is sent into the penitentiary to help this slow learner gain a sense of dignity and self-esteem before his execution.

# Gibbons, Kaye. Ellen Foster. 1987. Casting an unflinching yet humorous eye on her situation, eleven-year-old Ellen survives her mother’s death, an abusive father, and uncaring relatives to find for herself a loving home and a new mama.

# Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. 1942. Gods and heroes, their clashes and adventures, come alive in this splendid retelling of the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths.

# Hayakawa, S. I. Language and Thought in Action.

# Hersey, John. Hiroshima. 1946. Six Hiroshima survivors reflect on the aftermath of the first atomic bomb.

# Kendall, Elizabeth. Where She Danced. 1979. The contributions of major innovators and the conditions of their times are the basis for this history of modern American dance.

# Keneally, Thomas. Schindler’s List. 1982. Oskar Schindler, a rich factory owner, risks his life and spends his personal fortune to save Jews listed as his workers during World War II.

# Mason, Bobbi Ann. In Country. 1985. After her father is killed in the Vietnam War, Sam Hughes lives with an uncle whom she suspects suffers from the effects of Agent Orange, and struggles to come to terms with the war’s impact on her family.

# McPhee, John. In Suspect Terrain. 1983. Traveling along I-80 with geologist Anita Harris, McPhee describes the geologic features that reveal the history of the Appalachians.

# Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko’s Daughter. 1993. In the years following her mother’s suicide, Yuki develops the inner strength to cope with her distant father, her resentful stepmother, and her haunting, painful memories.

# Morrison, Toni. Sula.

# Paton, Alan. Cry the Beloved Country.

# Shaara, Michael. Killer Angels. 1974. Officers and foot soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy steel themselves for the bloody Battle of Gettysburg.

# Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. 1988. A soldier exposes the corruption undermining the American war effort in Vietnam.

# Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.

# Wright, Richard. Native Son. 1940. For Bigger Thomas, an African American man accused of a crime in the white man’s world, there could be no extenuating circumstances, no explanations and only death.

Technorati Tags: readinglist, SATprep

The Scarlet Letter was one of the worse books I ever read. It’s about a woman named Hester who commits adultery and must wear a scarlet a stiched on her dress at all times. She does not reveal who the father of her daughter, Pearl is but you find out in the book. Her husband from Amsterdam, Chillingworth also shows up and tells her that he will be staying in town until he finds out who Pearl’s father is. Reverend Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father and because of the secret he grows ill. Chillingworth is a doctor and takes care of Dimmesdale. I really just hated the storyline to this book and how it read.

One of the last books I read for this year was The Celestine
Prophecy by James Redfield. This book is an adventure book about people being
united and finding spiritual enlightenment. I’ve been describing the spiritual
enlightenment as the "Alex Grey Way"
to my friends so that they will understand that it is about energy.

The book starts off in the states with the main character, John, feeling
restless with life. (The book does not actually say his name but it is John in
the movie.) Then his old friend, Charlene, calls him and tells him about a
manuscript. In this manuscript there are insights. Charlene reveals the first
one to John but in order to find out the others, he goes to Peru.
When he gets there the man he met on the plane is captured and then he meets Wil
who takes him on this journey to learn the 8 insights and find the 9th.

On this journey John meets many people; each at the right time to help him
learn the next insight. And, throughout the whole book the characters rely on
their instinct and do not take coincidences for granted. The journey is
dangerous due to the government not wanting the manuscripts revealed. So, many
people do get captured and some are even killed.

This book was a good book. I loved the idea of all of the insights. I also
liked the adventure part of it. I thought that this book managed a good balance
of the different aspects a book should have. Apparently there are two more
books following this one. I can’t wait to read the next one.

Technorati Tags: TheCelestineProphecy, JamesRedfield, 9Enlightenments, PeruAdventure, AlexGreyEnergy,

Last night I read a short book with three of Dorothy Parker’s short stories in it. They were Big Blonde, The Sexes and Dusk Before Fireworks. All three amused me equally. I really liked the “reality” in them. The women characters and the way they thought or acted was very realistic. The way that she portrayed relationships was also very realistic.

Dorothy Parker was a critic, satirical poet, and short-story writer. She started her career as Vanity Fair’s drama critic and moved on to the New Yorker’s theater and book reviewer. She published many books throughout her time and even wrote some films for Hollywood. She also wrote two Broadway plays.

After researching her biography and finding out that she was a “Jersey Girl” I think that explains the realistic humor in her books and stories.

Technorati Tags: DorothyParker, BigBlonde, ShortStories, Poems, Movies, Plays, Critic, VanityFair, NewJersey

Today I had to read a poem in "The Portable Oscar Wilde". It was Poem VI on pg. 689. In this poem it describes "a man killing something he loves". The poem basically states that when someone messes something up, which they always do, then it is only right for them to pay. I generally liked this poem. It was sort of "moving".

Technorati Tags: OscarWilde, Poem, VI,

I read the book Watership Down. It is one of my good friend’s favorites so I was excited to read it. I had seen bits and pieces of the movie in religious education about a year ago but I didn’t know that the book would be so much better.

In the movie they switched around certain parts. Like who finds Erafra and the end scene when the farm girl, Lucy, takes Hazel home in the car. One thing I also didn’t like about the movie is that they made their journey seem a lot shorter than it really was. The movie also did not get into detail about rabbit behavior. The movie did show how the rabbits were tricky but it didn’t give the behind the scene look like the book did.  I think that it was cool that they showed the characteristics of rabbits and how they live well.

Over all the quality of this book was exceptionally high. Some of the
descriptions of the scenery were dragged out too much. It was just too
long for me and it didn’t read as well as I’d have liked it to. I wouldn’t say this book was my all time favorite book because it wasn’t. But I guess I would say it is a must read. The only warning I would give is that the beginning may seem too slow but it gets better at the end.

Technorati Tags: watershipdown, rabbits, literature, movies

I was watching Bleak House on PBS every Sunday. I missed a few episodes so my mom got me a movie series. It wasn’t the same one as the PBS series but it was just as good.  I kind of thought that this one had poorer viewing and the actors weren’t as good. The story is still pretty cool though.