I Have Lived A Thousand Years

I Have Lived A Thousand Years, by Livia Bitton-Jackson, is a 216 page story filled with hardships and torture. This all happens to Elli Friedman and her family. Ell and the rest of her family are taken to the Ghetto after being forced out of her home. This is a big change for Elli since she is only 13. Elli and her mother are separated from her dad and brother once they are taken to a labor camp. They go on for days without food or water and receive beatings everyday. Elli's life completely changes after she sees a little girl get shot in the head and an old woman get whipped 25 times. No matter how frail they are they fight and work as hard just as if they were healthy so they can survive. Elli, the main character, is an extremely strong girl.

Throughout the whole story Elli is surprisingly a strong girl. Once her father is taken away from her she knows she has to be a strong girl and not give up. She knows her mother is extremely frail and doesn't want anyone to hurt her she even risks her life by hitting and SS guard just so they wont kill her mom. Lastly, when her brother is about to die she has hope that he will survive and will do anything for him even get shot. This book is recommended to anyone who is mature enough to realize the tortures of the Holocaust.

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’engle has 230 pages filled with complete excitement! This story is about a girl named Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace Murry, and their new friend, Calvin O’Keefe. All of these children always seem out of the ordinary. They all run into three different characters, Mrs. Which, Mrs. Who, and Mrs. Whatsit. They go onto a mission to find their dad in a lost world named Camazot. They run into so much danger that Meg almost loses her brother! In this story Meg Murry has many different characteristics as the book goes along.

Meg Murry is a girl filled with mixed emotions. In the beginning of the story she is a dorky sort of shy girl. Once she goes to the world Camazot she becomes so much braver and stronger. Since she takes an important role as a big sister she never realized how important that is. She then feels she has to take care of her family and especially her little brother. Although, Meg can at times make dumb decisions and be a bit of a klutz. Meg’s different feelings make this story even better.

Riding the Flume

Riding the Flume by Patricia Curtis Pfitsch is a 222 page book filled with so much adventure, love, and trusting yourself. This story is about a young girl Frances who just lost her sister, Carrie, in a landslide. Frances found out that Carrie has her own tree, the oldest in the world,but the lumber company wants to cut it down! Do you think Frances will have enough time to save her sisters tree? Read it to find out!

Boy of the Painted Cave

Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel, with 158 pages filled with excitement, adventure, and friendship, has many great main characters. Those main characters are Tao, Ram, Graybeard, and the evil leader Volt. A major problem in this great story is that Tao wants to be a cave painter but it is against his clan's rules. With the help of Graybeard and much perseverance he becomes a great cave painter. Ram helps Volt change his thinking about wolf dogs. Although there is another conflict that affects the story as well.

Another major conflict in Boy of the Painted Cave is that Tao is against his clan because he breaks many taboos. Tao goes to the Slough to get food, which he believes is plentiful, but the clan is against it because of the "evil spirits." He also draws in a cave because it makes him feel happy and lively though the clan very much dislikes that. After he enters the Slough he meets a very friendly wolf dog which he names Ram. First of all, owning a wolf dog is against the clan rules and second of all he hunts with Ram which of course is against the clan "law." Tao knows all these things are taboo but he does them anyway.

The elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog, a 325 page book tells the story of two extremely different characters. Renee a 54 year old woman and Paloma, a spunky 12 year old girl, both live in the same apartment building in Paris, France. They are people that hide their inner selves throughout most of the story. This story explains everything that happens in life from their points of view. This is a fantastic book that should be read as soon as possible.

The Hobbit

The Hobbit was written by J.R.R. Tolkien. It has 287 pages filled with great adventures. This book is filled with many characters including Bilbo Baggins, his 13 dwarf friends, Gandalf, and many more different and unusual characters throughout the story. They all go on a quest to find the mountain guarded by a dragon by the name of Smaug. They search for important gold left by Thorin's great grandpa. They run into many new characters and run into much danger as the go along. They achieve their quest with the help of friends, through perseverance, and by believing in themselves. There is a theme throughout the story that relates very much to the main character Bilbo Baggins: maturity.

The main theme for this story is the maturing of Bilbo Baggins. In the beginning of the story Bilbo is a very cautious little hobbit that never has gone out to face the world. He is asked upon a quest to be the "burglar" which gives him an important job. Throughout the story he gets tangled in many adventures and faces many dangers to save his friends. He learns how to become so much braver and how to use a sword. In the end he is a much bolder character who is willing to take many chances in life and also take many risks as well. As a result I would love to read this story again and I am sure many others would too.