Summer Reading Entry #4

I choose this book because it relates to African-Americans and their lives in the bad communities and their lives. What drew my attention to this book was that it was a Coretta Scoot King Honor Award, National Book Award Finalist, Michael L. Printz Award For Excellence In Young Adult Literature, & the cover of the book & rear of the book. There were personal connections I saw between myself and the novel after reading. And they are that I too am African-American and sometimes we are just wrong by our color but not by whom we are.

I would recommend this book to those who like Drama, Crime, Mystery, Third Person perspective, and First Person perspective. The book uses a mixture of a third-person screenplay and a first-person diary format to tell, through the perspective of Steve Harmon, an African American teenager, the story of his trial for felony murder in the state of New York. Why I would recommend this to those who like Drama, Crime, Mystery, Third Person perspective, and First Person perspective is because those who are more into the genres they like tend to read more of those genres. And if you only like to read either third, second, or first person perspective only then this book is for those who like third person perspective or first person perspective or both.

Summer Reading Entry #3

"The best time to cry is at night, when the lights are out and someone is being beaten up and screaming for help. That way even if you sniffle a little they won't hear you. If anybody knows that you are crying, they'll start talking about it and soon it'll be your turn to get beat up when the lights go out."

I choose this selection because I wanted to show that the beginning of the book is crucial for an author to get it right and make sure the reader is interested to read on and read more. This selection I choose is a paragraph of the beginning of the book. The beginning of a book is crucial for an author to “hook” potential readers in order for them to make sure the reader decides to read on into the book and read more. And maybe also if the book is interesting the reader may decide to read other books of the same author and the same genre of the book. If the author does not get the beginning right then most readers will not read the book and will assume that the rest of the author’s books are both boring and bad. Examples of book with great beginning are E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, The Gentle Giant Octopus by Karen Wallace, Bat at Night by Nicola Davies, Look Out Jack! The Giant is Back! by Tom Birdeye, A Storm on the Desert by Carolyn Lesser, Owl Moon by Jane Yolen, Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Dicamillo, My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston, Bubba, The Cowboy Prince by Helen Ketteman, Stop That Dog! The Great Gracie Chase by Cynthia Rylant, The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant, Click Clack Moo by Doreen Cronin, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator).

Summer Reading Entry #2

Here are three different complexities of three different characters:

Sandra Petrocelli, the prosecutor, wants the jury to be persuaded to having Steve Harmon charged as guilty for murder. She only believes based on her opinions and the facts then tries to persuade the jury.

Kathy O’Brien, the defense attorney, wants the jury to be persuaded to not have Steve Harmon be charged and arrested for murder. Basically she tries to help and defend Steve no matter what happens in the courtroom.

James King, the thug, doesn't want to go jail but at the end of the story he is in fact charged with murder and does go to jail 25 years to life.

The themes that are beginning to appear are: in the bad sides of New York there is a lot of violence and drugs; young kids are being blamed and mistaken for all problems and mishaps; and African Americans aren't always troublemakers and cause everything bad in life.

The book is structured as a movie script because Steve Harmon loved movies ever since being in the film workshop with Mr. Sawicki at Stuyvesant High School. At the beginning of the story he decided to write the entire journey he went through in movie script form.

Summer Reading Entry #1

The book I am reading this summer is called Monster. The major characters of this book are Sandra Petrocelli, Kathy O’Brien, Asa Briggs, James King, Richard “Bobo” Evans, Osvaldo Cruz, Lorelle Henry, José Delgado, and Steve Harmon.

There are many different settings like the Courtroom, the Cell, the Detention Center, the Drugstore, Steve’s house, the Holding Room, Stuyvesant High School, Neighborhood Park, Visitor Center, and more.
There are three different conflicts in the book used many time, and they are: Text vs. Media, Text vs. Self, and Text vs. World.

The connection that I found via media was a true life story of a sixteen-year old African American young man who resides in Florida and was accused of the murder of an elderly white female tourist. The young man was accused however, the court found him NOT GUILTY as was Steve Harmon accused of murder. As the story closed, a news report is broadcasted to indicate the 'real' killer was located & charged and he looked nothing like the young man who was accused.

The connection I found to the world is that African-Americans are accused of mistakes and/or problems no matter what it is. As the Florida story above it didn't matter who was arrested as long as the killer was African-American.

And my last connection is to self where the cover of the book itself explains it’s going to be about a young African-American getting accused of murder.