Weekly Blog for English

I am currently reading the book “Always and Forever, Lara Jean” by Jenny Han. The book is the third one in the trilogy “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before.” I have read all three books before and I’ve watched the movies but each time I read it, the book just gets better and better. The book is about Lara Jean and her boyfriend Peter Kavinsky and how they overcome their problems in their last year in high school. Peter got an early decision in UVA, a college near where Peter and Lara Jean lives. Lara Jean has always wanted to go to UVA so that she could be closer to her family and now so that she can be close to Peter as well. Lara Jean later finds out that she didn’t get into UVA. She is devastated because it’s what she wanted all her life. Lara Jean gets scared that she won’t get in at any other college and she also starts to worry that she and Peter will start losing touch with each other.   Lara Jean gets into another college that is not in the state of Virginia. She and her fri...

  (this blog will contain minor spoilers) The novel Unwind is a book revolving around a terrifying concept. In this future world, parents can choose to “unwind” their child once they turn 13 years old but not after they turn 18. The process of “unwinding” kills the child, and their body parts and organs are given to other people. This book’s ideas cover very controversial issues, mainly abortion, but also society in general. The concept of teenager’s lives being held at their parent’s hands is very frightening, and the author does not shy away from the dark implications that the concept has. While the book has 3 main characters, the story seems to mostly focus on Conner. He is 16 years old and not a good example of a mature and responsible teenager. Although he is quite smart, he gets bad grades, rebels against the school, treats his parents badly, gets in many fights, and more. His parents decide that the best option is to have him unwound. They try to keep this information from C...

“Dear you, / The body you are currently wearing used to be mine.” (O’Malley 1). “The Rook” by Daniel O’Malley is a book surrounding a supernatural secret agency based in London. The main character, Myfanwy (pronounced “Miffany”), has to navigate the agency after waking up with no memory of any events of her life beforehand. The book quickly develops into both a thriller and mystery, as Myfanwy finds someone in the organization is chasing after her wanting to kill her.  I’ve read many books with beautifully written intros that make readers desperately want to keep reading. However, there are only a few books I’ve read where the amazing intros carried through the rest of the book. Additionally, it’s a slight pet peeve when reading a book where the writing seems to slowly fall off after the first chapter. I have to admit, that “The Rook” is one of those books. In this blog, I want to break down what I thought made the first few pages of the book so intriguing.  The book begins wi...

     History is written by the winner, and in many cases, the winner has the bigger stick. From the bow to the stirrup to the gun, the one who wields the more powerful weapon comes out on top. However, no weapon in history can even compare to nuclear technology, which some claim was discovered 2 centuries too early. When nuclear fission was first discovered in the 1930s it revolutionized our understanding of physics, but also opened up a new opportunity to build a bigger stick. In order to survive, the top powers sought to build the most dangerous weapon in history, the nuclear bomb, able to determine the outcome of the second world war. Bomb written by Steve Sheinkin reveals the complete story of the race to build the atomic bomb (and how to steal it) during the height of WW2.   Little Boy, the First Atomic Bomb Used Publicly.  It all started in Germany, where a (German) scientist named Otto Hahn made the shocking discovery that rattled physicists across ...