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The Residential School Diary of Violet Pesheens.
 * Dear Canada, These are my words. **

This book is of a story about a young girl and her experience at a Residential School in Northern Ontario, dating back to September in year of 1966. She writes in a journal about everything she feels, hears, and sees and especially about what she’s thinking about. She keeps it hidden throughout her time spent away from home.

It all starts at a train station, with Violet’s first time leaving without her grandma. She remembers crying and hugging her as she’s boarding the train. She looks out the window at every stop and sees other kids with their moms and grandmas crying as they are saying their “goodbyes”. She called it “The Train of Tears”.

Violet is a 10-11 year old girl, with long black hair. She is the main character in this story. She talks about her grandma a lot whom she is very close to because she used to live with her. Violet’s mom and siblings live in her stepfather’s community. Violet mentions them throughout the story but not as much as her grandmother.

When she arrives at her destination, she is amazed to see “the city, with such big buildings” her first time experiencing it first hand. Violet was curious to see what the “residential school was like”. She was also scared to be away from her community and grandmother for so long.

The way the author describes certain aspects to her story, you can just imagine it so clearly. It’s almost like you’re right there with her. The author recites the experience of the residential school well. There are parts of the story in which, I hoped there was more information given to get a better idea, but I guess in this situation there wasn’t any way that she could possibly know without getting into trouble or being sent to the front office.

I think the author’s purpose that she was trying to tell was that her experience wasn’t as bad as some, but to endure the mental and physical changes one must go through at a young age takes its toll on a person. The way the author was able to capture the detailed descriptions and distinct smells that make you feel like you are with the character in this story.

This book is a great read as it captivates the events through a tragic time for one of the many survivors of the Residential School era.

I was interested in this book, to read about a one’s personal experience and to feel the loneliness and anger developing as you place yourself in a situation as you read through, well that’s the way it made me feel. You just wanted to help. I was almost waiting for something really terrible to happen to the character. We’ve all heard the stories of Residential School peoples and they are always terrible and so heart-breaking to listen to but it was once part of reality.

This book really had me intrigued as my dad, some of his brothers and sisters were part of the Residential School. Some of my uncles and aunts, don’t talk about it but my dad isn’t afraid to tell his story as he says to me, “He’s dealt with his demons”. Which to me is so inspiring and I also believe that one day others can heal from the effects of the Residential Schools.

-Jody

Of Mice and Men

 I chose to read Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. This book is about two guys named Lennie and George who are working on a small ranch in the Salinas Valley in northern California. Lennie is a tall bulky man with the brain of a young child but can work very hard. He is a very nice person who might make some mistakes but he doesn’t mean any harm to anyone or anything. George is Lennie's good friend who looks out for him and makes sure he's always safe because people don’t understand Lennie like he does.

 One thing I noticed while reading the book when we get introduced to Candy is that he sort of seems like an older version of George or a representation of what he will become. At one point in the book Candy has a dog that people think he should get rid of. The dog was old and suffering and Carlson agreed to shoot him so that Candy wouldn’t have to. So he shot him and later in the book Candy admits to George that he should have shot the dog himself instead of having someone else do it. At the end of the book I think that’s what George was thinking about. Instead of someone else killing Lennie he thought that he should do it himself so he wouldn’t regret it later.

 My favourite part of the book was probably the beginning and the end when Lennie and George talk about getting their own place and tending the rabbits. It was very emotional and at the end I kind of had a feeling what George was going to do but that didn’t change how sad it was. It was right for George to shoot Lennie instead of having Curley do it because Curley would have made Lennie suffer. George made sure that Lennie had happy thoughts in his head before he died. I don’t like the fact that Lennie died because I think that they could have run away or hid somewhere but the way he died was the best way possible.

 The theme of inequality is conveyed in the book through many characters. Inequality is shown through Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks in the forms of prejudice against mental disability, sexism, and racism. The author conveys inequality mainly through Lennie. He is often distinguished from the crowd because of his mental disability and physical structure since he is very big. Curley's wife is also a victim of inequality through sexism. The fact that she doesn’t have a name and is simply referred to as 'Curley's wife' suggests that Curley is in control of their relationship. Therefore, she is not treated as an individual in her own right. Crooks faces inequality through racism. No one except for Lennie treated him equally because of his skin colour. They didn’t even call him by his name, they re ferred to him as the 'stable buck'. They didn’t let him do anything with them like play cards or even stay in the same area as the rest of the guys.

 One character that I ended up liking and feeling bad for was Curley's wife. She didn’t really seem like she was treated fairly so that’s what made her a 'mean' person. Right before Lennie killed her she started opening up to him and all it seemed like she wanted was for someone to listen to her. All she wanted was a friend. I felt bad for her because people misunderstood her just like people misunderstood Lennie. She turned out to be pretty nice even though everyone thought she was just trouble. I don’t think any differently of Lennie for killing her because he can't help what he does. He just didn’t want to get in trouble but I don’t think he meant to kill her.

 Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I like how that it was sort of short but still told a great story. If I had more time I probably would have finished the book in one day. I would definitely recommend this to my friends who haven't read it. I usually don’t read books because I find it hard to focus on them but sometimes I just couldn't put it down. It was a great read! -Jazmyn

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel written by Suzanne Collins. I read it recently, and although it wasn't my "cup of tea" it did provide me with some things to think about.

The setting in this book is Panem, once known as North America. Panem is separated into 12 districts, all with different ranks. District 1, is the wealthiest. District 12 is the poorest. All 12 districts are run by the Capitol, a rich and powerful group. Every year, the Capitol organizes the Hunger Games. In these games, two teenagers from every district must fight to the death on live TV as a reminder that the Capitol controls Panem.

The main character of The Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old hunter that is the breadwinner for her family. She lives in District 12, and I liked her right away because of her love for her younger sister Prim. Prim was chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, but Katniss volunteered to take her place. The other teenager chosen from District 12 was Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. He is quiet, kind and strong, and for most of the book I feel bad for him because he loves Katniss and she doesn't love him.

As said before, this book wasn't my favorite. I found that the punctuation and grammar was off (the author didn't use many commas and had extremely long sentences that could have been broken down). Also, I'm not one for violent books. If the book has a really good plot with suspense and mystery, then some violence is okay. I found that The Hunger Games was all about violence, however, and there wasn't that much of a plot. There was constant action, and no real reason for it. I was surprised when Rue died, but that was all. The rest of the book was fairly predictable. I knew that Katniss and Peeta would fall in love, and I knew they'd win. The main characters usually do.

Even though I didn't exactly like the book, I did like the book's message. It hit me around halfway through, when Katniss was talking about how she thought the Capitol was ridiculous. She wasn't talking about a fictional place. She was talking about our future. Our technology is becoming more and more ridiculous, and we're becoming lazier. We don't remember what it's like to be hungry and cold and sick. We don't even help people who ARE hungry and cold and sick, because we think they're below us. If we continue in this direction, we will become heartless and extravagant just like the Capitol. We might even start our own Hunger Games.

Another thing I enjoyed was the way people were portrayed. Most books have characters with only one emotion and not the whole range. The Hunger Games actually showed people as the complicated (and often misunderstood) creatures they are. My favorite example was Haymitch, a survivor of the Hunger Games that helped train the teenagers from District 12. At first I thought he was a drunk just because he was bored and rich, but then I realized he was a drunk because he trained teenagers every year and then had to watch them die. It damaged him, and he felt like alcohol was his only option. Haymitch wasn't a character that was born unloving. He was a character that had been drained of his love. Even though I probably won't be reading this book again, I will be thinking about it often. The Hunger Games is not only a book about fighting and loss. It's a book about judgment and love and courage.

-Hannah

  I chose to read Of Mice and Men written by John Steinbeck. This book is about two guys named Lennie and George who are working on a small ranch in the Salinas Valley in northern California. Lennie is a tall bulky man with the brain of a young child but can work very hard. He is a very nice person who might make some mistakes but he doesn’t mean any harm to anyone or anything. George is Lennie's good friend who looks out for him and makes sure he's always safe because people don’t understand Lennie like he does.

One thing I noticed while reading the book when we get introduced to Candy is that he sort of seems like an older version of George or a representation of what he will become. At one point in the book Candy has a dog that people think he should get rid of. The dog was old and suffering and Carlson agreed to shoot him so that Candy wouldn’t have to. So he shot him and later in the book Candy admits to George that he should have shot the dog himself instead of having someone else do it. At the end of the book I think that’s what George was thinking about. Instead of someone else killing Lennie he thought that he should do it himself so he wouldn’t regret it later.

My favourite part of the book was probably the beginning and the end when Lennie and George talk about getting their own place and tending the rabbits. It was very emotional and at the end I kind of had a feeling what George was going to do but that didn’t change how sad it was. It was right for George to shoot Lennie instead of having Curley do it because Curley would have made Lennie suffer. George made sure that Lennie had happy thoughts in his head before he died. I don’t like the fact that Lennie died because I think that they could have run away or hid somewhere but the way he died was the best way possible.

The theme of inequality is conveyed in the book through many characters. Inequality is shown through Lennie, Curley’s wife, and Crooks in the forms of prejudice against mental disability, sexism, and racism. The author conveys inequality mainly through Lennie. He is often distinguished from the crowd because of his mental disability and physical structure since he is very big. Curley's wife is also a victim of inequality through sexism. The fact that she doesn’t have a name and is simply referred to as 'Curley's wife' suggests that Curley is in control of their relationship. Therefore, she is not treated as an individual in her own right. Crooks faces inequality through racism. No one except for Lennie treated him equally because of his skin colour. They didn’t even call him by his name, they re ferred to him as the 'stable buck'. They didn’t let him do anything with them like play cards or even stay in the same area as the rest of the guys.

One character that I ended up liking and feeling bad for was Curley's wife. She didn’t really seem like she was treated fairly so that’s what made her a 'mean' person. Right before Lennie killed her she started opening up to him and all it seemed like she wanted was for someone to listen to her. All she wanted was a friend. I felt bad for her because people misunderstood her just like people misunderstood Lennie. She turned out to be pretty nice even though everyone thought she was just trouble. I don’t think any differently of Lennie for killing her because he can't help what he does. He just didn’t want to get in trouble but I don’t think he meant to kill her.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I like how that it was sort of short but still told a great story. If I had more time I probably would have finished the book in one day. I would definitely recommend this to my friends who haven't read it. I usually don’t read books because I find it hard to focus on them but sometimes I just couldn't put it down. It was a great read!  The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel written by Suzanne Collins. I read it recently, and although it wasn't my "cup of tea" it did provide me with some things to think about. The setting in this book is Panem, once known as North America. Panem is separated into 12 districts, all with different ranks. District 1, is the wealthiest. District 12 is the poorest. All 12 districts are run by the Capitol, a rich and powerful group. Every year, the Capitol organizes the Hunger Games. In these games, two teenagers from every district must fight to the death on live TV as a reminder that the Capitol controls Panem. The main character of The Hunger Games is Katniss Everdeen, a 16-year-old hunter that is the breadwinner for her family. She lives in District 12, and I liked her right away because of her love for her younger sister Prim. Prim was chosen to participate in the Hunger Games, but Katniss volunteered to take her place. The other teenager chosen from District 12 was Peeta Mellark, the baker's son. He is quiet, kind and strong, and for most of the book I feel bad for him because he loves Katniss and she doesn't love him. As said before, this book wasn't my favorite. I found that the punctuation and grammar was off (the author didn't use many commas and had extremely long sentences that could have been broken down). Also, I'm not one for violent books. If the book has a really good plot with suspense and mystery, then some violence is okay. I found that The Hunger Games was all about violence, however, and there wasn't that much of a plot. There was constant action, and no real reason for it. I was surprised when Rue died, but that was all. The rest of the book was fairly predictable. I knew that Katniss and Peeta would fall in love, and I knew they'd win. The main characters usually do. Even though I didn't exactly like the book, I did like the book's message. It hit me around halfway through, when Katniss was talking about how she thought the Capitol was ridiculous. She wasn't talking about a fictional place. She was talking about our future. Our technology is becoming more and more ridiculous, and we're becoming lazier. We don't remember what it's like to be hungry and cold and sick. We don't even help people who ARE hungry and cold and sick, because we think they're below us. If we continue in this direction, we will become heartless and extravagant just like the Capitol. We might even start our own Hunger Games. Another thing I enjoyed was the way people were portrayed. Most books have characters with only one emotion and not the whole range. The Hunger Games actually showed people as the complicated (and often misunderstood) creatures they are. My favorite example was Haymitch, a survivor of the Hunger Games that helped train the teenagers from District 12. At first I thought he was a drunk just because he was bored and rich, but then I realized he was a drunk because he trained teenagers every year and then had to watch them die. It damaged him, and he felt like alcohol was his only option. Haymitch wasn't a character that was born unloving. He was a character that had been drained of his love. Even though I probably won't be reading this book again, I will be thinking about it often. The Hunger Games is not only a book about fighting and loss. It's a book about judgment and love and courage.