First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. Delacorte Press, 2003. Genre: historical fiction A Great and Terrible Beauty tells the story of sixteen-year-old Gemma Doyle, who is an Englishwoman living in India in 1895. The book begins on her sixteenth birthday in India, the same day that her mother is murdered and she discovers that she has supernatural powers. After her mother's death, she is sent back to England to attend a finishing school, Spence Academy. Here, she learns about many different things that women are supposed to be for their husbands, and also about all of the gossip that girls her age talk about. She soon makes friends, and together they try to solve the mystery of her strange visions and her mother's murder, who turns out to be her former best friend when she attended Spence. "A Victorian boarding school story, a Gothic mansion mystery, a gossipy romp about a clique of girlfriends, and a dark other-worldly fantasy--jumble them all together and you have this complicated and unusual first novel," says Patty Campbell from Amazon.com. After reading this book, I have observed that the writing style is not like any others that I have seen before. For instance, the main character, Gemma, seems to always have a negative attitude about her no matter what she is doing, and this seems to be a very odd tone to choose when writing a book like this. I also noticed that the author goes into very deep topics that most people would think only partain to today's society, such as when she mentions that Ann cuts herself because she needs to reassure herself that she can feel. That overall seems very graphic and not quite what you would expect out of a novel set in the 19th century. "Why do you do that to yourself? Cut yourself the way you do?" There's no answer fo ra good long minute, and I think that perhaps she has fallen asleep after all, but then it comes. Her voice, so soft I have to strain in the dark to hear it, to hear the faint cry she's holding back. "I don't know. Sometimes, I feel nothing, and I'm so afraid. Afraid that I'll stop feeling anything at all. I'll just slip away inside myself." There's a cough and a sniffling sound. "I just need to feel something."(177) Personally, I think that the book is in some ways sort of a different way of telling my life, because I go through the pressures of fitting in with people as a hard thing, too. Just like Gemma, I sometimes feel like no one really understands what I'm going through, but then I remember that I have my friends there to guide me, and I feel much better. I also really am fond of historical fiction books because I think it's interesting to see how history would unfold itself with all of the real drama put back into it, and not just the facts like a history text book would give you.

Value Essay

My Crazy Life Takes A Break

What is value? Is it the price tag that is put on something? All of the moments and memories that we share with our loved ones? Is it historical value or financial value or sentimental value or even moral value? These questions are often proposed when someone is talking about the true value of something, and the only real answer to all of these is that value can be expressed in many different and unique ways, depending on the subject. In short, value itself can sometimes be valueless, think about that.

I waltz over to my jewelry box, with its white paint, various drawers, and a necklace rack, and open the drawer that contains all of my earrings. Here, there is a variety of colors, shapes, and sizes; blues and pinks, studded and those dripping in gems, large silver hoops and chandelier patterns, too. I carefully rifle through the tiny drawer, trying to find the perfect pair to go with my outfit, and then there they are, silver ovals dripping in single and double green gems; they match perfectly.

Whenever I go out to somewhere important, such as school or shopping or a friends house, I always take care in making sure that I do not forget to put on an appropriate pair of earrings. To me, wearing earrings or any other type of jewelry is a must, because I feel that they can give almost any look a polished finish, and that is the basis of my style sense. They always seem to fill up any space left that my hair doesn't in framing my face, and can add either a girly charm or a fiery edge to my look for that day.

My eyes open sleepily, and as I peer over at my clock radio, which reads 9:57am, I immediately know what kind of day today will be, and I can't help but sigh happily to myself as I finally get out of bed. Today is one of those days that doesn't really have a name that would fit it appropriately, but they happen every so often in the late fall and winter months, and they are about as close as I can get to a perfect day, with the temperature a little bit snappy, the skies overcast and a brisk wind blowing. It's on a day like that with nothing to do that I can get away with wearing my most comfortable pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt without worrying about where I have to go or when I have to do something.

I walk carelessly downstairs, and fix myself a breakfast of something sweet that I wouldn't normally have; a muffin or a cinnamon bun usually does the trick. Then, I head to my living room, where I flip channels on the TV until I happen to come across my favorite movie, so I settle in on the couch to watch and relax. Later, I will have to go to my brother's soccer game a few towns away, and afterwards we'll get to go to my favorite country store in the whole world and get hot chocolate. When we get back I will probably have a friend over, and we'll talk about everything under the sun, from gossip to boys to whatever inside jokes we might share, and maybe go sledding if there is enough snow on the ground.

For my life, value consists of both things that have a price tag with a dollar amount and those that happen over time that may have dollar amount items within them. For example, my collection of earrings and other jewelry has some type of overall financial worth, and someone had to pay a sum of money in order for me to have them. But my "perfect day" is really more of an experience that consists of things that have financial value, such as the cinnamon bun, the TV and cable, the hot chocolate from the country store, and the sleds that I might use.

Both my jewelry and my perfect day are important and valuable to me, but for very different reasons. My jewelry collection helps me to take the way that I already feel and look for that day and enhance it just a little to boost my day. On one of my perfect days, however, I am able to go for a whole day without worrying how I look, and can concentrate on doing absolutely nothing important, which are the types of days that I think we all need every once in a while. I believe that by valuing these two very different items equally, I am able to access both sides of who I am; one shows the prim and proper, dress-to-impress stylish side of me, and the other lets a more calm and go-with-the-flow me show through.