1984

(contains some spoilers)
George Orwell is illustrating Winston Smith, the main character of 1984 as the last seed of hope. According to Wikipedia, George Orwell originally planned to name the book The Last Man in Europe but later changed the title.
Winston just might have been the'last man' in Europe. in this book, 'man' means
a person who hasn't yet lost their true conscience, their true-to-human human mind, and someone who overlooks the setups, evil doings, lies  and brainwashing that the Party create and overtake. Throughout the plot, the reader can have a thorough lookout on how Winston starts off hating the Party but in the process of finding someone with similar thoughts to him, getting betrayed by the people he trusted and getting his cover blown, you can see how the Party eliminates mindsets like his. You can see how minutely they plot his capture and watch his every move, facial expression and thought, and in the end captures him and puts him in the ministry of love. In the ministry of Love, he is  tortured and brainwashed. Through beating, starving and putting him through drastic pain, he confesses to crimes he did not commit, admits that 2+2=5, and is slowly brainwashed to the point that he is convinced that the Party will not stop for power. He is convinced that every document that he falsely corrected had never existed, he is convinced that the past belongs to whoever writes it, whoever has a hold of power.
The saddest thing in my personal opinion, is that he starts to think(as a result of the brainwashing) that the flashes of memories that he used to have, the ones he had about his mother and his little sister, where he took chocolate from his starving baby sister's hands, where he saw the last happy memory of the three of them, sitting in their small living room with a dusty board game in front of them, laughing as they slid down two squares and sometimes went up a square. When Winston convinced himself that these memories were nothing but hallucinations, it was like the last bit of hope , the last bits of the true past were gone. Those memories were swimming in the surface of his conscious mind, waiting to be pulled out and put into the light so they could help recover the world from lies and nothingness. When he was forced to pushed those memories down, it was like the last shred of hope had vanished and the world in the reign of Big Brother would last for ever.
At the end, Winston appears sitting in a cafe, as an alcoholic. It makes the reader wonder if there will ever be, and how there might ever be hope for the fictional world of Oceania.
In the end his joy for his own spontaneous love of big brother represents Winston's final destruction, his final breakdown that the ministry of love intended to accomplish. It is old Winston's last defeat and the new Winston's, and the Party's final victory.

Inventing Elliot

by Graham Gardner

Elliot's life wasn't always the way it was- before the incident, he was just a regular kid with regular friends living a normal life. But after what happened to his dad, his life had started to rapidly go downhill. Elliot and his mother were forced to live their lives as if nothing had happened while his father just sat on the couch staring at the TV screen. Every minute. Every day. Elliot constantly got bullied in school, and he felt he could not do anything about it. He made no effort. It felt as if he was living as an already-dead person.
That's when he moves to another town, transfers to Holminster High, and tries to start a new life. Things are different in Holminster high. A group called the'Guardians' rule over the school, and soon enough Elliot finds himself trapped in a position he doesn't know how to get out of. In his 'new' life, he tries to invent a new Elliot, as he tries to push the past Elliot away. But he knows that the old Elliot will always be a part of him, because that is who he was and what he would always be.
This book handles the biggest problem that exists and will exist in schools all over the world. Many kids suffer from the physical, verbal, and psychological violence that they are given in their everyday lives. Just like Elliot, they feel like they can do nothing about the problem. This book will help readers to understand that there is a solution to this undying problem, and that the problem can only be solved if one is brave enough to face the task. Also, readers will understand through this book... how much it hurts to be bullied. They can experience this through Elliot's eyes as he realizes that moving and transferring schools is not the real solution to the problem.

SPOILER ALERT
This book ends with Elliot turning the doorknob to the principal's office. Of course, this means he finally realized getting an adult's help, letting them know what's going on might just help solve the problem. Maybe he knew it all along, but he was just afraid to confront the fact, afraid to work up the courage to put the truth into action.

Les Miserables

Victor Hugo

Les Miserables is a must read classic. In this book there are a few rants on history by the author, but it is one of the greatest novels of all time.


If you find the book hard to understand, i recommend seeing the movie first, although the movie slightly alters some parts of the story.

Jean Valjean is a character you will find yourself looking up to. Even as a peasant and an ex- convict who continually has to run away from Inspector Javert, he manages to turn his life around and also find the new light of his life, and live in complete honesty and nobleness.
The book illustrates the poverty on the streets of Europe and criticizes the French political system at the time.  Victor Hugo manages to link many character's lives together in to one dazzling story. His tale of injustice, heroism and love will touch the heart of every reader and let them criticize the history and meaning behind this story.

Life of Pi

Yann Martel 
This story starts as an Indian father takes his family and his zoo on the deck of the Tsimtsum. One stormy night, the boats  sinks and our main character, the son of the indian father,Piscine Molitor Patel climbs- or, falls- aboard on a lifeboat with an orangutan, a hyena, a broken legged zebra and a bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
Life of Pi is about a boy and a tiger on their adventure on the wide pacific ocean. They face sharks, an acidic and carnivorous island, hunger, and everything that is thrown their way. 
Is this book worth reading? definitely. This is a must read, expanding the reader's imagination, with a slightly mysterious ending that the reader themselves must solve.
Is this book worth buying? I recommend just borrowing in a library.

-SPOILER-
Do not read if you have not read to the end of the book yet!

At the point where Pi and Richard Parker is stranded in the middle of the vast ocean, I started to think that it was amazing how the author could illustrate such a blank part of the story where only hunger and starvation was half of what was going on. The parts where nothing was actually going on except the main character's narration was fascinating because you could see inside the mind of someone who was struggling to survive in the middle of nowhere with a bengal tiger beneath him. 
The ending was a bit confusing, but at the end of the book, during the interview, Pi Patel says "So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?" I think we can agree that the story with animals was much more thrilling and adventurous. The author is asking the reader which ending they prefer, expanding their imagination and belief. Through this the author leaves the ending up to us, and we find the answer in how we see the world, and how we want to see it.
The way the author said'Tigers exist, lifeboats exist, oceans exist. Because the three have never come together in your narrow, limited experience, you refuse to believe that they might', I came to realize how narrow our imagination can come down to, only believing in what we see and can prove. Also it brought an urge for adventure and experience in
me and I am sure it can do the same to any other reader. 

Belly Up

Stuart Gibbs

       Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt Fitzroy has discovered-or suspects- that the hippopotamus at  Fun Jungle has been not what most people think as just dead, but murdered. Who would want to murder a hippo who lives in the new zoo? He meets Summer McCraken, who is the daughter of the owner of Fun Jungle, and the two of them reveal the truth on what had really happened.

Belly Up
Stuart Gibbs

       Reccomended to people who like mysteries

The Throne of Fire

The Throne of Fire
Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan
   Carter and Sadie Kane has fought Set- that had tried to cause chaos and take over/destroy the world-  but now they must face the real and bigger threat: the Chaos Snake Apophis. He has been trapped in his cage for centuries but now he is close to breaking free of his prison. Carter and Sadie must stop him before it;s to late, before he is released and will cause the world's end. In order to battle and defeat him, they must bring back and restore the sun god, Ra. But that won't be an easy task, in other words, hard and almost impossible. What will happen to Carter and Sadie? Read.

The Red Pyramid

The Red Pyramid
Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan
   Carter and Sadie Kane are siblings. Their mom has died and they do not know where their father has dissapeared to, when they last saw him at the museum. They learn a secret about their family- they have blood of a pharaoh,  and that they are powerful magicians with magical powers.
   They discover that their dad has accidentally unleashed many gods at the day they were at the british museum, and one of them named Set would try to destroy/ take over the world. And the Kane siblings must stop that.

The Phantom Tollbooth

By Norton Juster Illusrated by Jules Feiffer

   A boy named Milo gets a mysterious package which contains a little tollbooth and a little vehicle. He drives through the tollbooth and finds out he is in a totally different world. He sees strange cities that think words are very important, and they buy and sell words and letters. he also passes villages of numbers and math, sound and other places.

The Phantom Tollbooth
Norton Juster

   Milo meets a watch dog(a real WATCH dog) that accompanies him on his adventure and he also meets a humbug.
   Then he hears a story from an old lady about the story about two princesses that brought peace to many lands but then got banished by 2 kings that were having an argument. After Milo hears the story, he decides to rescue the princesses and bring them back to the land.

  What will happen to Milo? Read the book.

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Hope Was Here

By Joan Bauer  
 Hope has moved a lot to different places, and she lives with her aunt Addie.This time, she moves from New York to Wisconsin to work in a diner(as a waitress). She later discovers that the owner of the diner has cancer. He also announces that he will be running for mayor unexpectedly.

Hope Was Here
Joan Baur

   In this book you can read about having hope even in things that don't seem possible. This Newberry Honor Award book was really good and you can learn that after all, everyone could use a little hope to get through the tough times, even hope herself.

The Help

Kathryn Stockett

   This story takes place around the early 1960s when segregation was still around. There are three point of views in this story, Ms.Skeeter, Minny and Aibileen.

       In this book, Ms.Skeeter, who dreams of being a writer, works on a book that includes negro maids' stories about working for white families. Everyone who helps write the book know this is a big risk, but they share their stories anyway. 

The Help
Kathryn Stockett

       From another point of view Minny gives her story(read to know)to put in the book, so they can have something like an insurance to keep them anonymous and safe, Aibileen taking care of the kids she love. They might all have their hard times but they stay strong and all hope for the best.

       When you read this novel you may be able to realize that no matter what skin color,we are all people. It's the inside that counts.

         Annd there is a movie too.

The Last Battle

By C.S. Lewis

The Last Battle
C.S. Lewis

A donkey controlled by an ape puts on a lion skin and pretends to be Aslan. The donkey doesn't want to but the ape tells him to and the ape tells the animals what to do with the fake Aslan. Jill and Eustace go in to Narnia to help king Tirian (and his unicorn Jewel) find who the false Aslan is and they fight against the ape who turns out to be more evil and clever. When he tries to take over Narnia and the dwarves stop believing in Aslan, the real Aslan takes the animals, good people, etc to a new Narnia through a magic door. The new Narnia is a place where some dead people live(kind of like heaven) and where the animals, dryads, etc live. Then Jill, Eustace, peter, Edmund,Lucy, their mother and father die in their world and gets to stay in Narnia.

The Silver Chair

C.S. Lewis
Eustace Scrubb and Jill pole go to Narnia and they are sent by Aslan the lion on a mission to find the lost price, price Rilian, the son of king Caspian. They are sent to Puddleglum the Marsh wiggle who goes with them on their adventure. They find the prince in an underground world and that he is under an enchantment set by the evil witch/snake. but the enchantment does not work in the night so every night the witch binds him to a silver chair so he cannot escape. But Eustace, Jill and Puddlegum lets him free and the enchantment breaks. Prince Rilian sees his father before he dies and he ruled Narnia well. This book was good and fun but it shouldn't be called the silver chair.

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader

C.S. Lewis

The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader
C.S. Lewis

Edmund and Lucy stay at their aunt and uncles house, also with their cousin Eustace. They discover a magic painting that leads them to Narnia on a boat, the Dawn Treader. On the boat is king Caspian and his crew. they are sailing to find seven men, friends of king Caspian's father that had been sent on voyages by Caspian's uncle Miraz and which they never came back. And Reepicheep(talking mouse) wants to find Aslan's country and in the end he finds the place and decides to stay there. This book is really fun because they have a different adventure every time they find one of them. There is a movie too.

Price Caspian C.S. Lewis

Prince Caspian's mother and father is dead so his aunt and uncle(Miraz) become king and queen. his nurse and tutor has told him about old Narnia where animals talked and there were dwarves, naiiads, dryads, etc. But Miraz(king) is against all of that. And now prince Caspian must run away before the king comes to kill him(read for reason). he meets talking animals and all the stuff his uncle said didn't exist. he gathers an army to fight king Miraz and also calls Edmund, Peter, Lucy and Susan .They overthrow him and prince Caspian becomes king and the four of them go back in to their own world.

The Horse and his boy C.S. Lewis

A boy named Shasta and a horse named Bree(that can talk) run away to Narnia together. On the way they meet Aravis(girl) and Hwin(horse) who are also running away to Narnia so they decide to go there together. They encounter a lot of things on the way like lions, kings, deserts, etc. At the end they find their way to Narnia and Shasta finds out he is the son of the king of Archenland and that his name is cor. he invites Aravis to like with him and the horses too.

The Lion The witch and the wardrobe C.S. Lewis

Lucy goes in the wardrobe while playing hide and seek and finds another world(Narnia). Nobody believes her but they(Susan, Peter, Edmund) soon find out its true. Before they all went in Edmund had been in there before. He met the white witch and thinks she is good. She tricks him and tells him to bring his brothers and sisters with him to her castle(for a bad reason). When they all go in they meet talking beavers, Aslan the Lion, the white witch and more. But when the white witch declares that Edmund belongs to her now because he betrayed everyone but Aslan gives himself up instead. eventually he comes back alive and makes Lucy, Susan. peter and Edmund kings and queens of Narnia after the Witch is dead.

The Chronicles of Narnia C. S. Lewis

The Magicians Nephew(1st book)- Digory and his friend Polly is forced by his uncle to enter another world by magic. And in that world(Narnia) they find another world and in that other world they meet an evil queen with magical powers. They accidentally bring the queen in to the present world and then find a way to get her out of their world in to Narnia. then again they accidentally bring the cabby man and his horse too. They meet Aslan the lion and Aslan sends Digory, Polly and the horse(now a flying and talking horse) to ind a magical fruit that will grow in to a tree that will protect Narnia from the evil queen(witch) he gets the fruit and Aslan tells Digory to give the magic fruit to his sick mother which will make her all better. he goes back in to his world and his mother eats it and gets better.he plants the core of the fruit and it grows in to a tree. The tree had some magic powers in it(digory didn't know?) many years later he moved in to his own house and before anyone could chop the tree don he had it made in to a wardrobe.

Funny In Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas

Funny in Farsi is a memoir about the author, Firoozeh Dumas moving from Iran to America. Every chapter is like a little short story and the stories can be funny, about the life of the author in america.

I kind of liked the book because it was funny and because i moved to america too. One thing i wondered while reading the book was why it was called Funny in Farsi, and i now i know its because Farsi is a kind of language( i think). I want to reccomend this book to people who like humor and other people who have also moved to the united states from a different country.

Tom Sawyer By Mark Twain

Only read if you wanna know the whole story.

Tom Sawyer lives with his aunt and brother. He likes adventure and playing with his friends Huckleberry Finn, Joe Harper etc. They pretend to be pirates and robbers, run away from home(they eventually come back) and other stuff.

One night they were out in the graveyard and witnessed a murder. They promise not to tell anyone but eventually Tom Sawyer reveals that Injun Joe was the murderer. And so he thinks that Injun Joe is after him.

Another night Huck and Tom find buried treasure in a haunted house. But while they are at it, Injun Joe and somebody else enter the house, Tom and Huck runs to hide and then loses the treasure to him. And towards the end, Tom gets trapped inside a cave for a couple of days and discover that injun Joe is in there with him. He eventually comes out and the people of the town block the ntrance to the cave so that no one would get lost in there again. And then Tom remembers that Injun Joe was in there and they find out that he is dead.

Tom and Huck go in to the cave one more time and find the treasure chest and becomes rich.

This book is really old so it was hard to understand a lot of stuff but it is ok.