The Absolutely True Diary f a Part-Time Indian

Sherman Alexie quotes in his book that living in todays world is a balance between fitting in with a group, and maintaining some amount of individuality. He tells the story of a boy who is divided into two people; Native American, and Caucasian American. It starts out by describing his close encounters with death straight from birth. He had a brain stem disorder that caused many anatomical problems, as well as giving other kids plenty of reasons to bully him growing up. After an unconventional discussion with one of his teachers during freshman year, Junior realized that he was doing him a disservice by staying at the reservation. Moving schools is tough for anyone, but for most kids, you aren't betraying your friends and home town, nor are you judged so critically by the kids at your new school. It seams as though both the Native Spokane Indians and the Whites living around them have a deep seeded intolerance for one another. After punching the biggest at school in the face, Junior earns a little bit of respect and even makes a couple of new friends. Things seem to be looking brighter for him. He is learning a little more than he would if he had stayed on the reservation, he has a sudo-girlfriend, and he has made the varsity basketball team. Of course, that all changes. In quick succession, Junior is forced to deal with two close deaths, and then an even tougher third. He learns some important life lessons and makes some big decisions. The book ends with Junior making up with his old friend, and getting "it" all figured out.

The purpose of this book is to show the differences and importance of acceptance and individuality. It shows the difference between doing what is best for yourself and what is best for the people you love. The book is written is a creative part diary, part conventional way. The story is broken into many different events and in first person like a diary, but each event is told more like a classic novel. Alexie writes with a very straight forward style of writing. I feel like he tried to make it sound more like natural speech or a conversation. The book was written for a slightly younger audience, most likely around the age of fourteen year olds. The main characters are in their freshman year of high school so it is very relatable. The book is a quick read with fairly basic language and an easy to follow storyline. They also added a few silly comics to go along with the section.

Enjoyment	Weight	Well Written	Weight	Holds Attention	Weight	Length	Weight	Difficulty	Weight	Story line	Weight
8	3	9	2	10	2	7	1	7	2	8	2
	Points		Points		Points		Points		Points		Points
	24		18		20		7		14		16
	Total Points 99/120	Score 83%	Official Review B		B

Into the Wild

Into the Wild

Jon Krakauer

 The book starts off after Chris McCandless graduates from college. He comes from a wealthy family. His mother and father were always having problems and Chris felt like everyone was trying to fix their problems with money. After graduation, he had finally had enough. Chris took all of his savings and donated it to charity. Whatever money he had with him, he burned. He ditched his car far out in the desert and had his mail held at the post office as to buy him some time before his parents figured out that he had left. Chris just wanted to experience his life to the fullest. He changed his name to Alex Supertramp. On his journey he met up with lots of other people, some living like him, and others living a more traditional life. For a while he worked at a grain elevator to get some money. Later, Chris said that having all the money just took the fun out of his adventures. The ultimate finally for his journey was Alaska. He said after that he might settle down and write a book about his experiences. To prepare for his trip, he was forced to take a job at a Burger King to buy the supplies that he would need. In Alaska, Alex finds an abandoned Volkswagon bus that he sets up camp in. For the first few weeks, he is having the experience that he had wanted. He hunted and gathered for food, along with a bag of rice for when the game was slow. He eventually ran out of food and had a few too many hunting outings and decided that it was time to head back, but there was something that he didn't account for. When he came back to the little stream that he crossed on his way in, all the melting snow had converted it into a rushing river that he was unable to cross. His only option was to wait it out. As Chris got more and desperate for food, he got sloppy with his berry book and made a fatal mistake. There is no absolute proof, but investigators assumed that Chris ate a poisonous berry, which looked very similar to a safe berry. The effect of the poison was that it shut down your body's ability to digest food. So no matter how much Chris ate, he would still starve to death. 

The story starts out at the end. "Four months later his decomposed body was found by a party of moose hunters." Right off the bat they eliminate the surprise. I was actually wondering when I first got the book whether or not he would survive. My question was answered in about 15 seconds. The story is written using lots of different kinds of mediums. Krakauer narrates some of the story, while other parts are told through stories from people Chris met along the way, or through magazine articles, or through the accounts of his family. In addition to all the different methods of telling the story, the timeline jumps around a lot. It keeps going back and forth between his Alaskan adventure and the rest of his travels. The book also briefly mentions some other similar stories as a sort of warning to the reader. Between all these methods of writing, the story can be tricky to follow if you aren't paying attention. The audience for this book, I would say, is your average teenager or adult. There is nothing too technical about his outdoors life because he was kind of a novice himself. Descriptions are usually pretty general. It is really all about the story. There is also a sort of overarching feeling that part of Krakauers reasoning for writing this was to send out a warning. Kind of like, "look at what happens when you just jump into things that you aren't prepared for". Being an outdoorsman himself, I'm sure that he was cringing over some of the stuff Chris tried to pull off. The reason that Jon Krakauer wrote about Chris is because he did a very similar thing. He went off into the wilderness for a few weeks all by himself. He, of course, didn't do anything as ridiculous and obviously lived to tell his own story.

Enjoyment	Weight	Well Written	Weight	Holds Attention	Weight	Length	Weight	Difficulty	Weight	Story line	Weight
10	3	9	2	10	2	8	1	8	2	9	2
	Points		Points		Points		Points		Points		Points
	30		18		20		8		16		18
	Total Points	Score	Official Review
	110/120	92%	A-		A-

Seductive Poison

Why wouldn't you believe him? After all the man was Jesus!
Deborah Layton was in high school when she started getting into trouble. She had troubles with her parents and started doing hard drugs and breaking the law. When she was on break from her boarding school, a friend convinced her to go to the Peoples Temple and listen to the Reverend Jim Jones Speak.
Jim Jones was the reverend of the "People's Temple" in the 1970's. His goal was to appeal to anyone willing to follow him. He was very anti-prejudice, and preached about socialism. He had a very convincing demeanor about him which is what got him so many followers. Deborah went in and was immediately hooked. She states that Jim was like the father that she always wanted. He cared about her when no one else did. Deborah quickly got completely attached to The People's Temple. She dropped out of high school and moved into the dormitories at the temple. As she moved up the rank at the church, she was allowed to travel around the country with Jones, preaching socialism. Somehow even after spending so much time with Jim Jones, Deborah never thought anything seamed fishy.

Jones literally preached to his people that he WAS Jesus. He said that he had reincarnated from Jesus, as many people including Lenin, and was now on a mission to protect. He set incredibly strict rules on his followers. Disciples were not allowed to have relationships, converse with others in private, or have relationships with their family. Members of the temple were under no circumstances allowed to leave. Higher members were forced to sign documents stating that they had either attempted to assassinate the president, or that they had molested a child. This was then used to blackmail people who tried to leave.The reverend did other strange things such as saying that all men, other than himself, were homosexuals, and that having facial hair meant that you wanted to be a woman. Amazingly, no one ever questioned these ridiculous acts. Jones committed many illegal acts, with fraud being the big one, always saying "The ends justify the means".

In the late 1700's, Jones told his followers that he had been using his powers to hold back a nuclear war and that it was no longer preventable. The only place that they could be safe was a small village in Guyana that had been set up by Jones himself and aptly named, Jonestown. He was able to convince almost 1000 people to pick up and move with him. His followers had to be prepared to commit suicide at a moments notice. At one point, Jones even held a mock suicide drill in the middle of the night. Still his followers didn't question him. It all ended when Jones told everyone that the time had come for them to escape this life. Everyone was given a drink laced with cyanide.  Children had to drink first, then adults. Those who refused or tried to escape were shot by armed guards. In total, 909 people perished in Jonestown that day. It is amazing that people could be brainwashed is such an extreme way.


This book really interests me because of how unbelievable it is. It is like reading a fiction book, and I found myself forgetting that it actually happened. I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone under 16 years old. Aside from the large vocabulary and complicated context, it is a tough topic. It was a pretty grouser event that doesn't make for a fun read. I think the author wrote this book with education in mind. She wants people to be able to think for themselves. During the book she mentions that something didn't feel right but she never thought much of it. Everyone was completely blinded by Jim Jones' power and influence. One thing I really liked about how the book was written is how Layton usually describes Jones in a positive light. Knowing how the book ends in the back of your mind, it makes you disagree with her and really makes you passionate about it. Her style of writing leave you in even more disbelief. It gives you that same gut feeling that you get when you watch a horror movie. "Don't go into the attic... don't do it!

Enjoyment	Weight	Well Written	Weight	Holds Attention	Weight	Length	Weight	Difficulty	Weight	Story line	Weight
10	3	9	2	10	2	9	1	9	2	9	2
	Points		Points		Points		Points		Points		Points
	30		18		20		9		18		18
	Total Points	Score	Official Review
	113/120	94%	A		A

Bucket List

Graham's Bucket list

• Sail around the world
• Build a Go-Kart
• Become a gourmet chef
• Get a pilots license
• Ski pillow lines in canada
• Heli ski in Alaska
• Sky diving
• Buy a water jetpack
• Own my own house
• Travel to every continent
• Be on a gameshow
• Have 1,000 blog views
• Paint something worth hanging in my house
• Finish an Iron Man
• Keep a pair of shoes clean for over a year
• Write a computer program
• Eat a $1000 meal
• Play real life fruit ninja

No one makes it to the presidential ballot without being a good candidate. The president makes tough decisions every day under the toughest scrutiny of the public. It is impossible that they could please everyone. This being said, while Mitt Romney is a very sharp and bright individual, we can do better for our country. Re electing President Obama would be electing more American Jobs, better education for our children, a more practical healthcare system, and a more smoothly functioning government. Re Electing President Obama would be a benefit for the vast majority of the public.

It is undisputed that we as Americans are in a job crisis. O ver the past three years President Obama has been able to decrease the unemployment ratio in this country by 2.1%. That is what we need more of. Additionally, President Obama is against outsourcing jobs overseas. He knows that it is necessary for the people of America to go back to work in order for the economy to get back on track. “my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed.” - Barack Obama. On the other hand, Mitt Romney is more concerned with the short term success and doesn’t plan on doing anything about the problem with shipping jobs overseas. "I'm not happy exporting jobs but we must move ahead in technology and patents.” - Mitt Romney. Bringing jobs back to the US will in no way inhibit the development of technology or patents. It could only be a boost for our economy.

That is just one example of President Obama making the smarter decision. Another example of this is Obama stating that using marijuana strictly for legal purposes should be allowed under strict regulation. Mitt Romney’s reasoning is that marijuana is dangerous and there are better alternatives, when there are many times more deaths due to other (acceptable) pain medications than there are due to marijuana.

When talking about same sex marriage, president Obama once again has the right idea. Romney stated that the best way to raise a child is with a mother and a father. Personally I know multiple same sex couples who have raised or are raising a child who is perfectly happy and successful. Laws should not be put into place based on personal or religious views, and President Obama understands that.

There are countless more issues where Mitt Romney falls Just short of Obama. And in the end you aren’t voting for someone because of their opinion on a few issues, you vote for them because they have good logic and reasoning, and because they can do what is best for America. Barack Obama is and will be this person. Vote President Obama for a second term!

Between a Rock and a Hard Place.

Between a Rock and a Hard Place is the self written story by Aron Ralston. It goes into much depth about his near death experience, and how he overcame his situation by doing what most people cannot imagine.
The story starts out with Ralston mountaineering through Canyonlands with the intent to hike Blue John Canyon, and be back before dark. Blue John is one of many narrow slot canyons in Southern Utah that requires the highest level of skill. This journey would be a dangerous one for a small group of skilled mountaineers, but Ralston made the mistake of going by himself. And as if that weren't bad enough, he didn't tell anyone where he was going.
As he makes his way to the canyon, he meets two girls going the opposite direction who try to talk him into heading back and going to a party with them. He insists that he wants to finish his journey and that he would try to make the party later. Those girls would be the only people who actually knew where he was going, except that they weren't really expecting him to be at the party, and therefor weren't surprised when he didn't show up.

When he was no more than a couple hours away from his truck, his plan fell apart. He was climbing over a rock that was wedged in the the canyon, when it rolled and fell. He said that all he could think about was not getting hit on the head. It never occurred that he needed to worry about his arm. But he did. His arm was stuck under a boulder that weighed roughly 1000 pounds. At first he tried to pull it out but it was clearly stuck. He yelled for help but it was already getting late on a Sunday night and the chances of someone walking by were almost impossible. In his panic, he guzzled and spilled about half of his remain water.
Over the next couple days, Ralston tried breaking away the rock, calling for help, and even rigging a hoist system with his climbing gear, but all to no avail. But at least he could sit down in his harness. He had a camera and video camera that he used to record final words to his family and friends. His expectation was to die in that canyon.  He didn't even want to think about what needed to be done. After a couple more days, he started losing his mind and hallucinating because of the dehydration. He started seeing images of what he wanted his future to look like, and realized that he couldn't give up.
His large knife was dull from chipping at the rock, but he still had a smaller blade in his multi tool. Try to imagine cutting off your own arm with a dull secondary blade from a chinese multi tool. Now imagine that while standing in an awkward position and without having anything to drink for four days. He should have already died. The arm was mostly dead, except for the nerve on his forearm. Plus he had to break two bones.
After he cut himself free he was able to make it out of the canyon and find some other hikers who ran and got help. Ralston was picked up by a helicopter and brought to a hospital where he almost died in critical care. He did survive though and he still enjoys the outdoors with his prosthetic arm and hopefully a buddy at all times.

This book especially appealed to me because I love being in the outdoors and I enjoy both hiking and rock climbing. This book, aside from being a good story, can provide some priceless info and a very important warning to anyone who is into recreation. On the other hand I think that it would also appeal to people who aren't familiar with the outdoors just because of the shock and disbelief that it would bring them. I also enjoyed this book because of the way the voice changes. In the first half of the book, Ralston uses a very "matter of fact", "this is what happened" kind of approach. This changes to a more unrealistic almost spiritual style when he is describing his hallucinations and starts touching on topics like the meaning of life, and his purpose.  A third aspect of the book that I liked was how Ralston was so honest in his writing. I didn't get the feeling that he was trying to build himself up to be a hero or anything like that. He always pointed out his mistakes and mentioned dumb things that should have been done differently. His purpose wasn't to make himself a millionaire or to get famous off of his unfortunate experience. He had a good story to tell and he wrote about it as a lesson to others which, I think, gives him a lot of credibility.

On a side note, I have seen the movie, (127 hours) and they actually did a very nice job of holding the story true to the book. Even details like how the party he was invited to was Scooby Doo themed came through in the movie.

Enjoyment	Weight	Well Written	Weight	Holds Attention	Weight	Length	Weight	Difficulty	Weight	Storyline	Weight
7	3	6	2	6	2	9	1	9	2	8	2
	Points		Points		Points		Points		Points		Points
	21		12		12		9		18		16
	Total Points	Score	Official Review
	88/120	73.33%	C		C

Favorite Book

When you ask someone to write about their favorite book, they will at least think, if not say, that is like a parent choosing their favorite kid. I can't say I can relate. My situation is similar to a seven year old trying to choose their favorite vegetable.  I am not saying that I have never enjoyed a book, it is just not as daunting of a decision.
I am a person who likes math and science, and cannot connect easily with language, history, religion, and other things of that order. That is why my greatest reading experience is surprising to me, and I still cannot figure out why I enjoyed it so much. My all time favorite books were from the "Percy Jackson and The Olympians" series by Rick Riordan. A book all about a teenage kid (half kid, half god) who is living in Greek Mythology.
Before I read the first book, The Lightning Thief, I had a decent background on Greek Mythology just from watching movies and tv shows. I was completely blown away reading about all these great stories coming to life in the same world that I live in, to a kid my age. It is the same kind of feeling you get as a kid when you see a picture of a brachiosaurus next to a human, or when you learn how long it takes light to travel around the world. Just picture your middle school teacher going from an old man in a wheelchair to a centaur. What a great thing as a kid. This book just about kept me in a state of disbelief the entire time.There is never more than a few pages without an unexpected twist. It is like watching a riveting tv show (Breaking Bad is a personal favorite.) where each chapter is an episode and leaves you with a thousand unanswered questioned, then when the book is over it is even more of a cliff hanger, like the end of a season on tv. Then you have to wait for the next book, of which there were five. It is obvious that this works with more people than just myself because there are over 1.2 million copies sold of just the first book.
In addition to being a great story, this book is written so that a middle schooler can read and comprehend it without too much struggle. And as a slower reader, that is a key quality in a book. It is organized in a very easy to follow way while having several switching points of view. Riordan used this to throw you into the action and right when something big was about to happen, he would switch to another character to update on them. For me that made the books very hard to put down.
After writing the last book, The Last Olympian, there was a movie made about the books. Now I know that everyone is different, but I personally don't like a movie that butchers a great story to try and fit almost 2,000 pages into 2 hours. Not to mention that it is very challenging to take a story like this and not make it cheesy. I would say to watch the trailer and go no further.