Lord of the Flies is a tale of pigs and death, boys and men, and the nature of humans themselves. The story is set on a remote island where a plane’s worth of schoolboys have crash landed while flying to safety during a war. They set up a somewhat ordered society while they wait for rescue, despite the conflicts in leadership and the struggles of staying true to the assigned tasks. But a strange bloodlust seems to take over at times, a dangerous thirst for meat.
I read the urban fiction book, The Hate U Give, by Angie Thomas. In this book, the main character, Starr, sees her bestfriend, Khalil, get shot and killed by a police officer. Starr’s parents, Lisa and Maverick, help guide her through the legal justifications and hardships of Khalil’s death. Alongside Starr, her full brother, Sekani and her half brother, Seven, help her through the hard times seeing this death causes.
The One is the final installment in the story of Maxon and America. Finally, after weeks and weeks the competition is down to just four girls, each with their own benefits and drawbacks for the throne of the country. It is finally time for Maxon to choose a bride, but the rebel attacks, the political confusion and America's own confusion may complicate this. America finds herself losing feelings for one of the boys but is the other one slipping out of her fingers at the same time?
The Elite is a continuation of the Selected series. It follows America as she becomes one of the top eight contestants in the Selection. She still struggles between the decision of Maxon or Aspen (who has become a guard at the palace where she is staying). At the same time, she's learning more about the political state of her country and the secrets of the king and his predecessors. She even begins to learn more about the rebels - and what they might want from her.
The Selection is a book about a teen named America. She lives in a dystopian society where everyone is separated into numbered castes: she is a Five, and the only chance she has to change that is to enter the Selection. A competition where the prince of their society will choose a bride, it is every girl’s dream chance for love, riches, and power. But even though America eventually becomes one of the Selected, her heart lies somewhere else: with Aspen, a Six who she secretly meets with in her tree house at home.
This work of William Shakespeare presents the drama between two lovers in Verona, Italy. They would like to become married to one another, but their opposing families stand in their way. The name of these “star-crossed” lovers are Juliet and Romeo, hence the title of the tragic drama. They attempt to circumvent such by concocting a plan to run away, but the efficacy of such a plan is not to be discussed in this review.
Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan is a historical fiction book. Esperanza’s life seems perfect. She lives on a beautiful family ranch in Mexico with everything she could ever want. That is until one night her father does not return. Esperanza and her family escape to California with the hope of building a better life for themselves. The only problem is life at a Mexican farm camp during the Great Depression is nothing like Esperanza’s old life. She must
Esperanza Cordero is a young girl in a poor area in Chicago. Working towards the goal of self-empowerment and self-discovery, she finds problems with race, gender, class, and economic statuses that stand in the way of her. Short vignettes, stories, and poems provide insight into her life as she progresses towards her aspirations.
