Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Will Grayson, Will Grayson 

by: David Levithan 

and John Green

Synopsis: This is about a depressed boy named Will Grayson, who randomly meets another boy with the very same name. He believes it's fate and they become friends in a way. They both are very different but are both going through something. Both Will Grayson's are friends or become friends with Tiny, who writes the most amazing and most fabulous musical to ever be seen on a high school stage. It's told in alternating views between the two. 

Review: This was an amazing book. It's extremely funny and actually made me laugh out loud. But it also is serious and sad. I read it in about 2 days. At first I wasn't sure because one of the Will Graysons, wrote in all lowercase and not in proper English. It also was sort of dark and I don't really like dark stuff at all, but the comedy evens it out and it turned out great. I am so glad I kept to it and read it all because it is probably one of the funniest books I've ever read. I also really like the end. The other thing that was really cool was that the two authors, David Levithan and John Green, both wrote as a Will Grayson. Usually I would say that that wouldn't work but they made it work so well. This emphasized the differences in the two characters, so when the two different authors wrote, two different characters wrote. They worked nice together to produce a funny, real book that makes the readers feel. 

The Crucible

The Crucible 

By: Arthur Miller 

Synopsis: The Crucible is a play about the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. The play is based on real events and the characters are based off of historical people that were actually involved. As Abigail as their leader, this group of girls accuse dozens of people of being witches. This is taken to court because they live in a Puritan society, which is a religion. In court the accused people are given the choice of weather to confess that they are witches or they will be hanged. This obviously causes many issues which need to be resolved throughout the play. 

Review: I usually don't enjoy reading plays, but because it's historical fiction I mostly liked it. It definitely was interesting but it was a little to dramatic for me at certain parts. Also if Miller's point was to make me hate Abigail, he did a great job. Everything about her was annoying. It was very interesting to learn about the witch trials, which I thought I knew, but really didn't, about what happened. Although some stuff was boring, hard to read and understand, and confusing it was still a good read. I'm glad I read it but I probably will never read it again. It also is something I wouldn't recommend to anyone unless it was for school, which is the only reason why I read it. 

   

Brooklyn

Brooklyn 

By: Colm Tóibín 

Synopsis: Brooklyn is about an Irish girl named Eilis Lacey who leaves her family behind when she immigrated to Brooklyn from a small-town Ireland a couple of years after World War 2. Eilis gets a job and she starts to struggle with her new life in America, and to distract her from her homesickness she enrolls in college. Then she unexpectedly falls in love with an Italian man named Tony. Just as she's adjusting to her new life, she receives devastating news from Ireland and she must make some very hard decisions. 

Review: Brooklyn is an amazing book. It's very well written and has a great story line. It's full of emotion and shows the reader what it would be like to live during that time. It makes interesting comparisons between Irish and American culture. Tóibín also makes amazing, unique characters. All of them are different in at least 5 ways and that's nice to have when reading these types of historical-fiction books. Occasionally it became a little hard to read, but it's probably because I saw the movie before I read it. The movie was great but the book was obviously better. It's just when I know what's going to happen in a book it takes me longer to read it. But if I hadn't seen the movie first I would've read this book in a week. Overall it was great, and wonderfully written. (Also a Major Motion Picture.)

The Catcher in the Rye

The Catcher in the Rye 

By: J.D. Salinger

Synopsis: This is a story about a teenager, Holden Caulfield, and the days following his expulsion from his boarding school. It's about him exploring New York by himself and basically the struggles that come along with finding oneself. He has quite the adventure in the two days before he goes home and excepts his fate. 

Review: Personally I hated this book. I thought it was pointless. All it was was the rambling of a spoiled kid who had some issues that really had no importance to anything. Holden talked to  much about pointless things and all of his "problems" were really not that big of a deal.  I can not find anything good about this book, some people think it's a coming of age story or that Holden is trying to help keep children innocent but personally I saw no message. I would rather read a book that has a message or even a storyline, which this book had neither of. I was excited to read this book but I was very disappointed.