The novel Blind Sight by Meg Howrey is about a 17 year old boy spending the summer with his long-1ost father, an successful actor. The two bond over their many similarities, and the boy, Luke, comes of age that summer. The lavish lifestyle offers contrast to his humble upbringing in Dover, Maine. Luke discovers a lot about his father, but he learns a lot about himself, too.

     Blind Sight weaves a social justice sub-theme through the book, when Luke learns that his dad is a closeted homosexual. The two are careful to keep this a secret, for potential casting purposes. Among this theme, an important storyline is the deadline for Luke's college essay, he searches for ideas, and doesn't find much substance until he writes and essay about how living in a house with no manly figures. There are multiples storylines handled through the story.

       To conclude, Meg Howrey crafted fantastic novel, that felt real, the themes were not forced, they were free flowing and abrupt, like real-life. I would recommend this book.

'Czar Putin?' Reading Response

 Lars Asmundsson 803

        The article Czar Putin? by Patricia Smith is about the conflicting views around the world of Russian president Valdimir Putin. Some western pundits call his views 'authoritative' and 'tyrannical', yet he has a 87% approval rating among Russian citizens. His policies somewhat resemble those of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, but the Russian economy thrived for years, leading to Russian's labeling him a 'hero. Putin refusal to grant full freedom of the press and other basic rights to Russian citizens and his aggression in Ukraine has led to the U.S and other western powers strengthening economic sanctions on Russia, leading  their economy into a free-fall, and partly erasing Putin's macho image.
        The author talks about the correlation of the state of the Russian economy, and the Russian populations views on Putin. When the economy thrived, the Russian people were more-or-less able to overcome some of his bad policies, but now, with the economy in shambles, he has had to strengthen control over the press and suppress now-often street riots. Western sanctions on Russia has led to the decline in Putin's popularity and influence.
         After reading this article, I realized that people are more inclined to overcome oppressive policies if the economy is stimulating job growth, and doing well overall, but when even the economy is doing subpar, people can come to realizations about the state of the government as a whole. This is a bad thing for Putin, but in my opinion, this is a good thing for the Russian people.

Orson Scott Card - a Literary Genius

          Although Enders Game is a staple of late elementary school reading, I respect the book now more than ever. With a few more years of experience under my belt, Card's craft is easier to find and analyze. Enders Game is, in fact, the masterpiece it has been labeled so frequently mostly because of Card's ability to respect writing as the art-form it is, and to master such technique.
         Enders Game is a sci-fi novel about Ender Wiggin, an extremely gifted boy who gets recruited by the military to save the world from the alien-invasion. He goes to battle school and works his way up from a useless young-un to commander of one of the war-game armies. Author Orson Scott Card uses writing technique to enrich the story.
     
         Card uses metaphors to describe specific setting and emotion. Metaphors can take description where literal meanings simply can't go. Enders Game is a perfect example of this. At one point, Card says "He imagined the ship dangling upside down on the undersurface of the Earth, the giant fingers of gravity holding them firmly in place.". This example is one of many metaphors strategically placed through the book.          To conclude, Orson Scott Card is a writer who's works should be included in all ELA curriculum. Ender's Game's success is a testament to Card's craft. 

             Never Fall Down Response
Lars Asmundsson 803

           Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick is a true story about about one boy's life during the Cambodian genocide. The protagonist, a boy named Arn Chorn-Pond, lives with his aunt and his three siblings in a small town in Cambodia when one day soldiers "dressed in pajama" overtake his town and evict everyone, marching them to rice fields miles away. Throughout the time Arn spends in the fields, he witnesses one of the most gruesome genocides in history. Through courage and cowardice, generosity and greed, Arn is able to survive against all odds.

           The Khmer Rouge or 'Red Cambodia' were, as it sounds, a communist guerrilla group. They were lead by Pol Pot and were able to overthrow the monarchy in Cambodia and set up an semi-communist government. They murdered anyone previously high in social class. Arn witnesses many people with lighter skin or larger cheeks get "taken to the mango grove" and never seen again. Arn uses his cleverness to stay on the good side of his captors and becomes "little bit famous" by singing, dancing, and playing and instrument at concerts with many high-ranking Cambodian officials in attendance. As Vietnam invades Cambodia, Arn is given a weapon and used as bait to locate where the vietnamese are, and eventually finds himself in a refugee camp where he meets an American man who brings him to the U.S along with a few other boys. Arn becomes 'the face' of the Cambodian genocide and, with help from his newfound american friend, brings attention to the travesty. Arn does not always make morally-correct choices, but he does show compassion at times and, although he puts his survival first in terms of priorities, he does look out for those close to him. Arn, in no little way, is a hero.

          To conclude, Arn shows bravery in the face of danger. It is amazing how a gruesome conflict can form unlikely-friendships, and this book highlighted that.

In Response to Darkness Too Visible

Response to Darkness Too Visible

Lars Asmundsson 803

In Darkness Too Visible, author Megan Cox Gurdon talks about young adult literature not being fit for teens. She believes that books meant for teens are  too dark, hence the title “Darkness Too Visible”. She also notes the drastic spike in obscenity over the past few decades in the genre. Throughout the article, she tries to convince readers that young adult literature is detrimental to the minds of teen readers.
 
Gurdon uses imagery to paint a horrid picture of young adult books in the minds of readers. For example, she uses forceful language like “ bulldoze coarseness or misery into their childrens lives” to close her article. Also, she uses voice to connect to the reader by saying “How dark is contemporary fiction for teens? Darker than when you were a child, my dear”. I think that she she successfully uses craft to enhance her argument.

 
Personally, I believe that young adults should be able to decide for themselves if the genre is appropriate for them. It isn't up to some out of touch adults to decide what teens can read and what they can’t. Earlier in history, elder people were considered wise, but certain adults these days are so conceited that they believe that they know what is best for children even though many themes that come up in YA literature are legitimate issues that many children face. These certain adults may have come from privileged families where they didn't face many serious roadblocks in their development as kids, but bad things happen, and writers of young adult literature have the guts to address these issues head on.

Lars Asmundsson

I have taken Social Studies for many years now, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that history repeats itself. Apparently, iconic sci fi writer Ray Bradbury agrees. In the 1500’s and 1600’s Europeans ventured by to ship to the Americas. They took over the lands that the natives had inhabited for centuries and destroyed their culture. In the Martian Chronicles Earth is in ruins and people want off it, so they  turn to space travel to turn Mars into Earth 2.0. Earthlings leave Earth for Mars and pillage the people and eventually wipe out the great majority of the native Martians. The few remaining Martians flee into the mountains and only come in contact with humans on rare occasion. I think Ray Bradbury is basing the Martian Chronicles off the events that conspired when the european pilgrims settled in America and nearly wiped them out eventually.

The reason Ray Bradbury is writing a story about the interactions between earth and the native martians is because he wrote this book slightly before the space race possibly as a cautionary tale. He wrote this book a couple years before the period of 1955-72 where the U.S and the (then) U.S.S.R tried to be the first to get a rocket into space. He wrote it in 1950 but the book took place in the late 1990’s as a cautionary tale about how settling and conquering foreign lands. I think was a smart approach to the promise of space travel seeing how many people believe in space travel and humans have a knack for destroying other living things.

In conclusion, Ray Bradbury is a literary genius, who not only wrote a fantastic story but also made a compelling argument about the dangers of space travel. I agree with Bradbury when it comes to the promise of future travel to faraway planets and think we should take the explorations very cautiously. I think what people can take away from this book is that many times people get swept up in the promise of exploration that they don’t realize how it can destroy native civilizations. It has happened many a time in history that one or more countries explore and claim a new land peacefully, but, without intending to, conquer all of the native inhabitants in and around the land and, as I said, history has a way of repeating itself.

Lars Asmundsson
803

              Summer Reading

          This summer I read the book Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The book is about a group of British boys who get stranded on an island with no adults when their plane crashes. Although I did not like the book initially, towards the end I started to warm up to it.

           The majority of the book is fairly predictable: The group elects a boy named Ralph to be their leader. Ralph tries to keep the island civilized but ends up having a power struggle with another boy named Jack. Jack believes that hunting is the most important aspect of survival but Ralph thinks the boys should keep a fire going to attack the attention of ships going by. The majority of the boys join Jack in a savage society. Ralph stays away from them with his small group of followers. I do understand why the boys turned to anarchy, but I don't know how they were willing to murder each other. The whole premise of the plot is mostly why I like this book, though it is written very well too.

           Towards the end of the book the group of boy-turned-savages hunt for Ralph on the island. They find him hiding in the jungle and he flees to the beach. They follow in suit. As they hone in for the kill Ralph finds a naval officer standing in front of him. The boys fall to their knees and weep. This is the only plot twist in the book and it wraps it up very nicely.

           In conclusion, I enjoyed the book The Lord of the Flies very much. I would recommend this book to kids from 5th grade up. This book keeps the reader interested without have drastic changes in plot every second. This is not one of my favorite books of all time, but it was a good summer read.