May 2011 - Jefferson County Public Schools
May 2011 - Jefferson County Public Schools May 2011 - Jefferson County Public Schools
Unwind By: Neal Shusterman. Letitia Brown pic Simon & Schuster New York 335 pps. Beep...Beep...Beep…fills his ears, along with people in scrubs, masks, and gloves surrounding him. All of a sudden, a bright light from a distance gets closer and closer towards him. Roland looks over to see many wires attached to his body, and before he knows it… he blacks out. The story, Unwind, by Neal Shusterman, is truly one of a kind. No other book that I have read can compare to this. The author of this story Neal Shusterman is very unique in his own special way. He is very popular and has other books, as well; EverWild, EverLost, Bruiser, Red Rider’s Hood, What Daddy Did. As a screen and TV writer, Neal has written for the "Goosebumps" and “Animorphs” TV series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie, “Pixel Perfect”. He is a very inspirational author and is sure to be guaranteed to have more eye catching books/novels. Of course, in every story there conflicts involved. One conflict in this story would have to be the argument that occurred between Roland and Connor. Connor became convinced that Roland was trying to kill him because of how Roland was trying to replace Connor’s spot on the airplane. What makes this such a big deal is that Connor had originally planned to be in that position on the plane since there was a plan between him and the pilot to kill all the unwinds. Roland trying to take his spot made it a big deal for the both of them, which eventually led to a fight. The book was set in the future and tells about how parents can not abort their newborn, but they can do so they choose to unwind their children once they reach the ages of 13-18. What makes the story more suspenseful is that 3 teenagers work together to try to escape and avoid being unwound. Their journey had a few twists and kinks. But lets’ not spoil it. You can read and find out yourself. There’s drama, drama, and more drama between characters. The book lets you see everyone’s thoughts, so you get a look at their perspective on what’s happening. It shows the difficulties they have to face in order to survive. Once they reach the end, there’s no where else to run. One strength of the book would have to be the good imagery the author provided for the reader. There was a moment in the book where one of the surgeons in the camp took a scalpel and sliced it right into Roland’s leg. You see half of a male teenager’s body laying down on a metal platform with nothing else at the end. The intense description of this scene was very easy to imagine in the reader’s mind. Not all authors provide that use of imagery. Another strength of this book would have to be the remarkable use of dialogue. Usually, dialogue would be not as exciting, but, in this case, dialogue played a very important role in the story. One conversation led to another, and it became more and more dramatic as the story continued. It’s not the common typical dialogue that you would normally expect in most fiction stories. The dialogue also helped the reader understand more about the situations that were happening. Another strength is most definitely the foreshadowing of the story. The foreshadowing led you on as you flipped page by page. The dialogue also assisted in the building of suspense as well. I believe that the purpose of the suspense was to mainly reach out to the readers and keep them more interested in finishing the story, instead of, like most books, being boring and causing teen readers to give up and put the book down. One final strength that I came across while reading was that the author uses descriptive detailing. Every sentence he writes is so in depth and he pulls in the reader with intriguing action. It was easy to comprehend and simple to grasp. Every bit of detail followed up with a great image in my mind, and that’s what I like to see in books.
Randy Truong The River Gary Paulsen 1991 Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers New York 0-440-22750-X 125 Pages pic Being caught all alone in the wilderness for 54 days, surviving without anything but a hatchet, can you imagine that? Well that isn’t quite what happened in the story, but it is what this young boy went through and then he happens to get caught in the same predicament once more. Set in the Canadian Wilderness, The River, by Gary Paulsen, is about a young teen boy who happens to get caught in the same situation twice. After recovering from his incident, he isn’t given enough of a break to withstand the second one. Derrick is a man who works for the government and trains people for survival situations. He asks Brian to help him make a book for these type of circumstances, and the only way to do it is to see Brian in action. Both parties agree to not take anything along with them but a means of communication, which was a radio, and a notepad. When catastrophe strikes, Brian has to use the best of his abilities to make things right again. Overall, The River is an audacious story that takes you through how to react when every move you make is crucial to saving another’s life. Gary Paulsen demonstrated that it is not always about yourself and that helping another will also assist you in the long-run. Throughout the story, you see Brian attempting to help others, especially Derrick, who keeps making decisions that’ll will slow him down and cause him to go through much trouble. Brian makes the choice that will be more beneficial for Derrick. What makes The River such a good story is how every single scene seems to sink you in details of each surrounding vividly. Another good thing about The River is how it tells you some tips on how to survive in the wilderness which may affect you in real-life. There is nothing better that you can learn from a book then to transform it into something that you can use in real life. The River is not over exaggerated; it is kept very realistic. It puts you in the mindset of young Brian Robeson, really giving you the feel of what happens when you are forced into such a situation. The River is one of those stories that shift from scene to scene very fast and keeps you on the edge, so if you’re one of those readers who love constant action, then this book is for you. But you know when things move fast, some parts can be very unclear and leave you full of questions. That was one of the problems for me. I wanted to learn more about main characters, but they didn’t describe much about his background, which left a lot of questions. What you will learn exactly from The River is that it is not always about yourself but about helping someone else in need and that will benefit you in the long-run. Every book you read should it helping you learn and build as a person in which The River did a good job of having a good moral behind it. This is shown by Brian simply helping out Derrick, and you will learn the reason for him doing so if you choose to pick up this book. This book itself is worth reading, especially if you are a fan of adventure books. Also you should pass this on to a friend because it is not too long. It remains consistent, filled with action, so you really won’t fall asleep reading it. So if you ever feel like hopping out a plane and getting dropped in middle of nowhere, you should pick up The River before even attempting to do so.
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Randy Truong<br />
The River<br />
Gary Paulsen<br />
1991<br />
Bantam Doubleday Dell Books for Young Readers<br />
New York<br />
0-440-22750-X<br />
125 Pages<br />
pic<br />
Being caught all alone in the wilderness for 54 days, surviving without<br />
anything but a hatchet, can you imagine that? Well that isn’t quite what happened in<br />
the story, but it is what this young boy went through and then he happens to get<br />
caught in the same predicament once more. Set in the Canadian Wilderness, The<br />
River, by Gary Paulsen, is about a young teen boy who happens to get caught in the same situation twice.<br />
After recovering from his incident, he isn’t given enough of a break to withstand the second one. Derrick is a<br />
man who works for the government and trains people for survival situations. He asks Brian to help him make a<br />
book for these type of circumstances, and the only way to do it is to see Brian in action. Both parties agree to<br />
not take anything along with them but a means of communication, which was a radio, and a notepad. When<br />
catastrophe strikes, Brian has to use the best of his abilities to make things right again.<br />
Overall, The River is an audacious story that takes you through how to react when every move you<br />
make is crucial to saving another’s life. Gary Paulsen demonstrated that it is not always about yourself and that<br />
helping another will also assist you in the long-run. Throughout the story, you see Brian attempting to help<br />
others, especially Derrick, who keeps making decisions that’ll will slow him down and cause him to go through<br />
much trouble. Brian makes the choice that will be more beneficial for Derrick.<br />
What makes The River such a good story is how every single scene seems to sink you in details of<br />
each surrounding vividly. Another good thing about The River is how it tells you some tips on how to survive in<br />
the wilderness which may affect you in real-life. There is nothing better that you can learn from a book then to<br />
transform it into something that you can use in real life. The River is not over exaggerated; it is kept very<br />
realistic. It puts you in the mindset of young Brian Robeson, really giving you the feel of what happens when<br />
you are forced into such a situation.<br />
The River is one of those stories that shift from scene to scene very fast and keeps you on the edge, so<br />
if you’re one of those readers who love constant action, then this book is for you. But you know when things<br />
move fast, some parts can be very unclear and leave you full of questions. That was one of the problems for<br />
me. I wanted to learn more about main characters, but they didn’t describe much about his background, which<br />
left a lot of questions.<br />
What you will learn exactly from The River is that it is not always about yourself but about helping<br />
someone else in need and that will benefit you in the long-run. Every book you read should it helping you learn<br />
and build as a person in which The River did a good job of having a good moral behind it. This is shown by<br />
Brian simply helping out Derrick, and you will learn the reason for him doing so if you choose to pick up this<br />
book.<br />
This book itself is worth reading, especially if you are a fan of adventure books. Also you should pass<br />
this on to a friend because it is not too long. It remains consistent, filled with action, so you really won’t fall<br />
asleep reading it. So if you ever feel like hopping out a plane and getting dropped in middle of nowhere, you<br />
should pick up The River before even attempting to do so.
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