Monster

This week I began a new book called Monster by Walter Dean Myers. When I first started this book it was a little weird for me because it is written as a movie script! Pretty unusual huh? Well I thought it would be another boring prison story but this is a book about a young mans journey through his trial to prove that he is innocent. The first part of the book is a very interesting description of 16 year old Steve Harmon who is being accused of murder. Harmon is described as a monster by the prosecuter and is also described as a shame to his family because of what he has done. Steve has brought his friends into this big mess by giving them information without them even knowing. Steve wants to make a movie about his journey through the trials and his experience while in prison. My question that I would like to ask is why? Why would you want to make a movie about, what are most likely the aboslute worst years of your life. my thoughts are that maybe there are things that happen while on trial that people don't know. Steve may be trying to expose the judicial system for something that he thinks is not right. I am only a little ways into the book so I am not sure. Hope this might make you want to read this interesting book sometime.

Why I Fight

Why I Fight by James A. Oaks

During my hiatus I read 3 different books, Why I Fight by James adams Oaks, IQ by Roland Smith and Baseball 365 written by various authors. In this post I have chosen to write about my favorite book, Why I Fight, I havent finished this book yet but I hink I will be able to finish it over springbreak.                                                                                                                                          
 So far I am about half-way finished with the book and up to this point it has not dissapointed me at all. One of my teachers reccomended this book to me last year and told me it was a great book (naturally I dismissed it as every book that an english teacher reads is "great"). This book is about 15 year old Wyatt Reaves and his journey to realization. Wyatt is a fighter, he competes in the bare-fist Fight Club. This is a band of fighters that fight for money and do not want to draw a ton of attention. The men who run this league do not care how much you get hurt or how old you are but only about how much money they make. When Wyatts mom turns to drugs and his dad turns into an alcoholic Wyatts uncle Spade offers him "saftey". When Wyatts uncle heard that he had nobody to turn to he saw a money factory. Wyatts uncle thought that because of Wyatts anger he would be an excellent fighter. Just 12 and a half years old, Wyatt had never fought before. By nature Wyatt was a good kid and hadn't gotten into trouble earlier in his life. Wyatt was in for a big surprise when he first stepped into the ring.
"The boy is a natural" (Oaks, 149) uncle Spade thought. Standing 6'2" weighing 150 lbs. Wyatt was a tall lanky boy who would eventually stand 6'4" and weigh 265 lbs. He was a natural fighter with instincts like no other, it was hard to think that he had never been in a fight before the way he moved and fought. "This kid is so big he will be the most demanded fighter in the league, more fights more money." (Oaks, 150) Needless to say Wyatt ended up winning the fight. One of the things I couldn't help but wonder about is if Wyatt had seen fights or even just watched them on T.V. prior to the first fight. I hope you consider reading this great book sometime as I have loved it and I am only halfway through the book