SUMMARY

The book Paper Towns, is about two childhood friends and how their lives have changed. Quentin turned out to be a “nerd”, and Margo became the most popular girl in school. In the middle of the night, Quentin hears a tapping on his window; he opens it to find Margo, standing on a ladder asking for his help. He agrees and they go on trip to get payback from people who have wronged her. Her boyfriend, her best friend, even her teacher. After their fun little trip, Margo states that she missed hanging out with him and that she will miss him. The next day Margo goes missing and no one seems to have a clue where she went except Quentin.

 

LOVE STORY

The love story involved in this book is one that we all saw coming, I mean come on, two childhood friends? If that doesn’t scream love then I don’t know what does. All throughout high school Quentin had a crush on Margo, but she was too “popular” for him so he never said anything about it. Margo on the other hand seems to never notice him. She is always enthralled in her own problems that she never realizes the flirting glances he’s been giving her.

WHAT MAKES IT TRAGIC

What makes this love story a tragic one is the fact that Margo runs away just after she hints at liking him. The whole book he looks for her and you never know if she’s dead, just ran away, or if she was kidnapped. Quentin is worried sick but he comes to the realization, what if she wouldn’t care enough to look for him. Then the book pulls a whole, “I don’t know if I love her” move, further adding to the suspense and tragedy of the novel.

REVIEW/RECOMMMENDATION

This book really is one that you cannot put down. It was one of those that kept you up at night not knowing if you would be able to sleep because you were either thinking about what just happened or the fact that you just can’t stop reading. John Green is a brilliant author who wrote many award winning books and one of which is now a movie. He has a way of making cliffhangers and page turners that make it so that you cannot put this book down. I give this book five out of five stars.  I would recommend this book to anyone who loves love stories that make you sad and angry enough to throw the book at the wall. To anyone who loves laughing and crying at the same time. This I sa great book and you will absolutely love it if you read THE Fault in our Stars. It is along the same lines of that book but without the cancer. This book needs to be purchased by you and read and reread until you can preach it to someone. Please note however that this book should not be read by anyone under the “Young Adult” age range, for it has some very PG-13 parts to it that should not be read by a child. (WC 522)

Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children - Naree Tanglertpaibul

Summery
The book Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, is about a boy, Jacob who has always known there was something a little out of place, he just never quite knew what it was.  When he finally finds out, and he is afraid he has gone crazy.  He enters a time loop set in the day September 3, 1940.  The children inside are also very strange. They call themselves "peculiars" meaning they have super human abilities.  Jacob has his eye on one girl especially, her name is Emma Bloom.  Together they battle the villains of the story and learn more and more about each other's worlds.  However, there is just one problem, it is impossible for Emma to live in the real world with Jacob because she would die in just a couple of hours.  On the other hand, if Jacob chooses to live in the time loop with Emma, then he would have to leave behind his whole life and start over with his new found friends.

Love Story
There is definitely some sort of love story in this book.  The main characters, Emma Bloom and Jacob Portman meet in the time loop of the peculiar children.  Emma and Jacob know there are feelings between them right off the bat. In the beginning however, they aren't sure if the feelings are good or bad.  Jacob has always had problems being social and having friends, and now he has moved up all the way to having a girlfriend.  Emma and Jacob spend every minute of all the time that Jacob is in the time loop,together. Eventually they even work together and help to save Miss Peregrine and some of the children from the house.

Tragedy
In this story the element of tragedy is definitely shown.  The tragic love story of Emma and Jacob is present throughout the story.  Even though they are happily together, both are avoiding the fact that one of them will have to give up everything they know and start a new life with the other.  Each person keeps putting off the conversation they both know needs to be had.  Another conflict that is present in this love story is the fact that Emma has also dated Jacob's grandfather, Abe.  When Abe was younger, he too would travel into the time loop and go and see Emma.  Because of this, Jacob thought that the only reason that Emma was interested in him, was because he was the last closest thing to Abe she would ever get.  This was not true though, Emma truly did love Jacob for who he was and that would only make it harder to separate.  Although Jacob and Emma loved each other, the fact was that they lived in very different worlds and one of them would have to make a big sacrifice.

Review/Recommendation

I thought this story was very well written, the author added a lot of details and included much imagery.  The concept of the story is very different from most of the books I've ever read.  Some of the themes in the book are, seeing is believing, and don't judge a book by it's cover.  In order to believe his grandfather's stories about the children with amazing talents, Jacob had to travel all the way to the little island and see them for himself.  He also thought they were quite strange at first and wasn't sure what to think of them.  As time went on he realized they were just normal kids, and got extremely close to some of them.  I would recommend this book to teenagers around my age.  Sometimes the story is a bit confusing and all the themes and imagery can be a bit much.  I feel as if people my age might take interest and enjoy this book as much as I did.


(word count 640)

If I Stay

Summary

When school gets canceled one morning, Mia and her family decide to go on a drive. She’s secretly enjoying being with her family, until an old truck spins and hits them changing Mia's life forever. Now she’s stuck with the question should she stay or should she go. Through the book she's narrating from her spirit while she watches the medical team, boyfriend, friends and family care for her. Woven in with that, she has memories of her life before the accident; including her love for classical music, her relationship with her boyfriend, and her love for her parents and brother.

What makes it a love story

Mia's love for her boyfriend, Adam, plays a big part in this story. He is one of the main reasons she’s still even thinking about waking pack up from her coma. They have a strong relationship and doesn't want to leave him alone. Another reason is her love for the cello. She has been playing it since she was four and has only gotten better through her years of playing it. She wants to go to Julliard and keep going with it and keep getting better, but she won’t be able to do that if she doesn't let herself wake up.

What makes it tragic

In the beginning of the book, she gets into a car crash and she is greatly injured. She has to decide whether she wants to let herself give up, or stay. This is a hard question for her to answer because she doesn't want to live with the fact that her parents and brother are dead, but at the same time she wants to stay with her best friend Kim, her boyfriend Adam, and wants to go to Julliard to continue her cello career. While this is happening she has her spirit watching after her. So, she notices how her family, friends, and boyfriend react to the situation.

Review

 I liked this book a lot. It was really heart felt and heart breaking at the same time. I can’t wait to watch the movie to see what’s different and the same. The details were so precise that i could perfectly picture everything that was going on and what was happening. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes to cry during a book. It has a love story in it for the lovers out there; it has tragic events for the tragedy lovers out there and a little bit of mystery for the mystery lovers out there. The love story is about how her friends, family, and boyfriend care for her while she’s in a coma on the hospital bed. The tragic part is when she got hit by the car and not knowing if she’s going to wake up or not. The mystery part kind of goes along with the tragic aspect of the story because you don't know whether Mia is going to give up on herself or wake up again. 

(Word count: 510)