Novel #12
Title: The Diary of a Young Girl
Author: Anne Frank
Grade: A+
Brief Summary:  This book is the diary of Anne Frank, a Jewish girl who hid with her family in a secret annex during the German Occupation of Amsterdam. It details the lives of the eight individuals in hiding, the on-goings of WWII, and the burgeoning adolescent life of the author herself.
Review: I have tried to read this books for years, but had never made it past the first 10 pages. I was determined this time around to make it through. And I'm glad I did. This book was amazing. Not only is this a first-hand account of the Nazi prejudices against the Jewish people, it is also gives amazing insight of human nature, considering it is written by a 13-15 year old. Even though this was written during WWII, I felt as though this was more a coming of age book than a Holocaust novel. Throughout this book, you read first hand about the struggles and self doubts that a teenage girl faces, and how she is able, by the end of the novel, to become more self assured.  It is sad to think that just a few months after her last entry, Anne died in a death camp. This girl had the beginnings of a bright future that was stifled by a war. She had a better grasp on life than most of the adults surrounding her, and she wrote about hope and happiness, which is surprising due to her circumstances. At one point in the book, she tells of how her mother suggests that when Anne feels sad, she should think about "all the misery in the world and be thankful that you are not sharing in it!" (171). Anne writes her opinion about that idea, and is one of my favorite parts of her account:
        I don't see how Mummy's idea can be right, because then how are you supposed to             behave if you go through the misery yourself? Then you are lost. On the contrary,
        I've found that there is always some beauty left--in nature, sunshine, freedom, in
        yourself, these can all help you. Look at these things, then you find yourself again, and
        God, and then you regain your balance. And whoever is happy will make others happy
        too. He who as courage and faith will never perish in misery! (171).
This is something I have slowly learned throughout my life, and Anne figured this out in a matter of years in hiding.
    Even though I read a lot, there are only a few books that have changed my life, and I will say without a doubt, that this book is one of them.

Novels #9
Title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Author: Lewis Carroll
Grade: A+
Brief Summary: The classic tale of precocious Alice and her journey into her imaginary Wonderland. Alice meets iconic characters such as the Caterpillar, The Mad Hatter and March Hare, and the tyrant Queen of Hearts.
Review: I have always loved the film versions of Alice in Wonderland, particularly the Walt Disney version, and so I decided to give the books a whirl. I absolutely loved Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I love the idea behind the tale, that sometimes a little silliness is needed and you can't be serious all the time. Alice struggles with this idea in Wonderland. First of all, her size is constantly changing, and she faces an identity crisis. My favorite chapter was her conversation with the Caterpillar. She explains the Caterpillar her feelings by comparing it to his imminent change into a butterfly. I loved the imagery there, and the Caterpillar's blunt expressions to Alice about how she should know how she is were oddly comforting. Second, Alice quickly realizes that she is the most sensible person in Wonderland, and it makes her stand out. Whenever she tries to interact with the inhabitants and join in their fun, she gets frustrated and can't accept their funny ways. When she does start to get silly, as with her odd recitations of poetry, she goes completely off into the nonsensical, and the Wonderlandians find her to be very odd. I think Lewis Carroll was trying, in a roundabout way, to say that there needs to be a balance between serious and silly.
Novel #10
Title: Through the Looking-Glass
Author: Lewis Carroll
Grade: C
Brief Summary: Alice returns in the sequel to Adventure's in Wonderland. She goes through the mirror in her house to a new land, and she joins in a chess game in order to become a queen. She meets characters such as the Red and White Queen, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the White Knight.
Review: You know that myth that Lewis Carroll was high when he wrote these stories? Well, I didn't believe it when I was reading the first story, because it just seemed to be a fantasical story from a child's imagination. This story, however, makes the myth seem totally plausible. The story reminded me of those dreams you have where you'll be doing one thing, and then suddenly you're doing something totally different, and you really need to get somewhere, but you can't because all these obstacles get in your way (for instance, in my dreams, I usually need to go to the bathroom, and I can't ever get there, and then I wake up and realize that I actually really do need to go to the bathroom.) Anyway, this story is very jumpy, and if you aren't paying close attention, you get lost and have to go reread what you just read. Where I got lost in Carroll's language from the first story, I was very very bored with his language in this tale, and I just wanted the story to end. Bottom line: it was really weird, and I don't think I'll be rereading it in the future.
 

Novel #11
Title: If I Should Die Before I Wake
Author: Han Nolan
Grade: B
Brief Summary:  Two girls are fighting for survival. Hillary is a girl from the present day. She is part of a Neo-Nazi group and she absolutely hates Jews. She gets in a  motorcycle accident and is taken to a Jewish Hospital, where in a coma, she starts to have dreams of a different life. Chana is a Jewish girl living in Poland at the onset of WWII. She and her family live in the Lodz Ghetto, and soon she is taken imprisoned and taken to Auschwitz. She has to deal with the separation from her family and the many deaths surrounding her, and tries to keep her own at bay.
Review: This was a very interesting read. I have always been fascinated by the Holocaust and the events of WWII. Even though the stories are deeply depressing, I still love reading them. I picked up this book at the bookstore because it had an interesting premise. When I first stared reading, it took me a minute to realize that Hillary was from the present day. When I read the back of the book, for some reason I though she was supposed to also be from WWII. So, it took me a while to get into the story. Once I did, I read the book in about a day. I'll be honest, Chana's story interested me more than Hillary's did. But the intertwining of their stories was very well done, especially in the ending. When I first was reading Hillary's point of view, I didn't know if I could keep reading. This girl's point of view was written with a lot of hatred, specifically to the Jewish people, and it just made me sick. But once you start to learn more about her past and her relationship with her parents, it starts to make sense where her hatred comes from, and what it is really covering up. Chana's story goes into just enough details for the Young Adult reader wanting to learn about the Holocaust. The were the familiar, gruesome, painful details that help us remember what happened, and how it can't ever happen again. Parts of this story did made me think of The Devil's Arithmetic, just because that book has a similar story, but I still enjoyed it.