shadow of the wind

in this section of the book, Daniel explains the change in his relationship with Clara. Clara no longers wants to be left in a room alone with Daniel. Her uncles usually pretends to read a newspaper and Daniel now thinks Clara is embarassed by him. also a new character is introduced. Neri, a music instructor, is a "rich kid from the snobby uptown district of San Gervasio". Daniel doesn't like Neri at all. he thinks Neri is a flirt and a suck up. in this section of the book Daniel also goes into detail about his birthday dinner that did not turn out how he planned.

DQ: why do you think the man in the shadow believes he and Daniel will become friends?

shadow of the wind

in this section of the book Clara describes the joy of reading. also Daniel becomes attracted to Clara, who is twice his age and blind. Clara tells Daniel about a man who also looks for other novels of Julian Carax. but instead of reading them, this man sets them on fire. in this section of the book, Daniel talks about when he once dreamed of becoming a novelist. he later goes into detail about a pen that he heard about when he was younger, and what that pen could accomplish.

DQ: why do you think the pen that Daniel describes represents?

The Shadow of the Wind

the first 26 pages of the novel The Shadow of the Wind, written by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, was interesting. i was introduced to the setting -Barcelona , Spain in the aftermath of the civil war. some of the major characters and their history. Daniel, the story's narrator, is 10 years old ("almost eleven") and loves the read. His father is the owner of a book shop and his mother died of a sickness when he was four. after forgeting what his mother looks like, Daniel's father takes him to the cementery of Forgotten book, where he finds the book The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Daniel now wants to read Carax's entire collection of book and wants to learn more about the author.

Quote: "never trust anyone, Daniel, especially the people you admire. those are the ones who will make you suffer the worst blows."
-Clara Barcelo

DQ: Do you think Clara was right when she told Daniel to "never trust anyone"?

What Happened to Lani Garver

What Happened to Lani Garver, written by Carol Plum-Ucci, is a book about what happens when a girl, who has just overcome cancer, meets Lani Garver-who no one knows is a girl or a boy. the theme of this book was non-comformity. Lani Garver never cared that no one knew what gender he ( i'm just using he because i think Lani was a boy, but that information was never mentioned in the book) was. He also didn't care that because of this fact, he became an outsider who peopled talked about regularly. Lani just wanted to be his self. i really liked this book because it was the first book where a lot of information wasn't given about one of the main characters. so Lani was a mystery to me as well as a mystery for the characters in the book. i think an implied argument of the book was not to judge people because they are different.

questions: Why do you think it was so important for the characters in the book to figure out what gender Lani Garver was?
Do you think Lani Garver was an angel?

The Perks of Being a WallFlower

The Perks of Being a WallFlower, written by Stephen Chbosky, is a fantastic novel about adolescence. the book has multiple themes. one theme in the book was Conformity. this theme was illustrated when one of the characters, Brad, denied his true sexual orientation so his friends and family wouldn't think he was weird. This theme also ties in with another theme, Appearance vs. Reality. Brad was the high school quaterback and he felt that he had to maintain an image that people have of a quaterback. For example, being the tough guy who picks on the nerd and being straight because everyone knows quaterbacks can't be gay. I really enoyed this book; i felt that it covered all the main teenager issues: sexuality, drug&alochol use, abuse, incest and more. i believe one of the author's implied arguments was that you should just be yourself.

question: Who was your favorite character why?
Do you think one day Brad will be ok with his sexuality?