“We lose ourselves in books, but we find ourselves there, too.”
Amelia Htoo’s most loved book: Lonely Castle in the Mirror
Amelia’s favorite book is “Lonely Castle in the Mirror,” which follows several students who are struggling with social isolation. They all meet in a castle after discovering that they can go through the mirrors they have in their rooms. The author’s purpose is to show the shared loneliness among all of the generations and similarities between all youth, and to show how they grew up without even noticing it over time.
Something that Amelia really loved about this book was that the plot of the story was paced well, and the story conveys the themes of friendship and loneliness. But something that she didn’t like about the book was that she would like it more if the story talked more about each of the students or adults’ lives after they grew up. The character that she liked the most was a girl named Aki. Aki had the most character development and her backstory was the most interesting out of all the other characters. So the techniques that the author used in the book was that the story was told through the perspective of the main character “Kokoro,” and the backstories and thoughts of the other characters can also be pieced together by the subtle hints she used while writing the book. “But if I was writing this book I would’ve talked more about what adults’ lives would look like after they grew up and also would talk about how students meet each other in the real world,” Amelia said. Amelia does recommend this book to her friends because it is heart-warming and worth spending multiple hours reading it.
Mr. Anderson’s Favorite Book: Hatchet
Mr. Anderson’s favorite book is “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen, which is about a kid who crashes in a plane and has to survive for months on his own. The author’s purpose for writing this book was to get the children interested in reading as they read about the struggle of man vs. nature.
Something Mr. Anderson likes about this book is that the main character, Brian, has the ability to survive on his own even though he faces many challenges. Something Mr. Anderson dislikes about this book is the trauma he had to face with his family before leaving. Mr. Anderson would have given Brian different experiences before he left for the wild if he was the author of this book. “I would highly recommend this book for the students from 3rd to 8th grades because it will get them more interested in reading,” Mr. Anderson said.
Jenn Bui’s Favorite Book: Blue Lock
Jenn Bui’s favorite book is a manga called Blue Lock. It is about soccer and becoming an egoist in order to get onto the national team. Something that Jenn liked about this book is the plot and how intense the scenes were and how the matches were dramatic. Something that Jenn did not like about this manga was that she felt like the information on the book was kinda wrong because in the story it tells the reader that your teammates slow you down.
The author’s purpose for writing this novel was that in the real world people might not like you for being egotistical, and that working hard will help to accomplish your dream. The author switched perspectives throughout the story so that readers have a chance to learn more about each of the characters individually.
“My favorite character in the book was the first main character Isagi, because he had some stuff in common with me,” Jenn said. If Jenn was the author she would like to change the main character’s personality. Jenn recommends this book to her friends because she thinks that it is interesting and it is about sports, and Jenn is interested in sports.