7th Grade Summer Reading #4
Stand Tall by Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer wrote Stand Tall with a connection to a lot of people in the world. She wrote about very important subjects such as divorce and abandonment and especially divorce connects with some people’s everyday life. Sam is a 12 year old boy who is 6 foot 3 because of his height he is called Tree. Tree’s parents are divorced and both of his brothers are off at college. Throughout the book Tree makes new friends, finds new challenges, and learns new things about life.
“Cats are good at keeping dogs alive. Loss helps you reach for gain. Death helps you celebrate life. War helps you work for peace. A flood makes you glad you’re still standing. And a tall boy can stop the wind so a candle of hope can burn bright.” This quote showed Joan Bauer’s writing because she writes in short sentences instead of a run on one. This quote stood out to me because every sentence takes from a part of the book so at the start when Bradley is about to die a cat walks around and Bradley lives, Tree’s grandfather get’s an amputation, and Tree’s parents get divorced and so on. This quote fits in the story because of the way she pulls parts of the book and the short sentences. This quote represents the theme war because Tree’s parents fought, Tree’s Grandfather went to war, and it’s a constant fight for Tree to get through school because of an awful boy named Jeremy Liggins. (MP)
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer wrote Hope was Here from a present time perspective. Hope’s mom gave Hope away to her older sister Addie when Hope was a baby. Together Hope and Addie go from place to place and at the time when Hope is 16 she has moved to 5 different states in her life and her next one is coming up, Mulhoney, Wisconsin. Hope is a waitress and Addie is a cook / manager when they move to Wisconsin to work for a man named G.T. Hope and Addie get to know him and Hope starts to think about a boy who she just meet but she has to focus on her boss G.T. running for mayor. G.T. has leukemia so no one in the town of Mulhoney knows what to think or do about the situation.
Joan Bauer writes in themes and this quote represents her writing in that way. “‘Most of you know what’s going on with me, and some of you don’t. I wouldn’t be making a public announcement about it except for you needing to know what I’m planning to do. When I was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year, I realized I needed to get myself more of a desk job.’ He chuckled. ‘So I’ve decided to run for mayor.’ A deep shock fell on the crowd. Eli Milllstone’s smile evaporated. I looked at Addie, who turned stone still.” This quote stood out to me when G.T. Stoop stood up for himself and spoke up, because when you first meet him in the book he is very quiet but when the reader gets to know him he speaks up. The quote fits in the story because of the themes and because of how G.T. acts. It represents the theme of emotional strength because Hope and Addie are strong for moving from place to place and G.T. is strong for fighting his disease and telling the town what he wants and what he is going to do about it. (MP)
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Chains was written by Laurie Halse Anderson. She wrote about the hard times being a slave in 1793. This book is written from the main character Isabel's Point of view. At the start of Chains, Isabel and Ruth are sold to the Locktons, a rich family in need of more slaves. She meets two important characters along the way Colonel Regan and Mr. Bellingham. Isabel gives them deals that will get her out of the Lockton’s keeping but both of them break the promises. Isabel sadly has to suffer over the selling of her sister Ruth, the selling of her, and many other hard things she had to overcome along the journey of Chains.
Joan Bauer wrote Stand Tall with a connection to a lot of people in the world. She wrote about very important subjects such as divorce and abandonment and especially divorce connects with some people’s everyday life. Sam is a 12 year old boy who is 6 foot 3 because of his height he is called Tree. Tree’s parents are divorced and both of his brothers are off at college. Throughout the book Tree makes new friends, finds new challenges, and learns new things about life.
“Cats are good at keeping dogs alive. Loss helps you reach for gain. Death helps you celebrate life. War helps you work for peace. A flood makes you glad you’re still standing. And a tall boy can stop the wind so a candle of hope can burn bright.” This quote showed Joan Bauer’s writing because she writes in short sentences instead of a run on one. This quote stood out to me because every sentence takes from a part of the book so at the start when Bradley is about to die a cat walks around and Bradley lives, Tree’s grandfather get’s an amputation, and Tree’s parents get divorced and so on. This quote fits in the story because of the way she pulls parts of the book and the short sentences. This quote represents the theme war because Tree’s parents fought, Tree’s Grandfather went to war, and it’s a constant fight for Tree to get through school because of an awful boy named Jeremy Liggins. (MP)
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Joan Bauer wrote Hope was Here from a present time perspective. Hope’s mom gave Hope away to her older sister Addie when Hope was a baby. Together Hope and Addie go from place to place and at the time when Hope is 16 she has moved to 5 different states in her life and her next one is coming up, Mulhoney, Wisconsin. Hope is a waitress and Addie is a cook / manager when they move to Wisconsin to work for a man named G.T. Hope and Addie get to know him and Hope starts to think about a boy who she just meet but she has to focus on her boss G.T. running for mayor. G.T. has leukemia so no one in the town of Mulhoney knows what to think or do about the situation.
Joan Bauer writes in themes and this quote represents her writing in that way. “‘Most of you know what’s going on with me, and some of you don’t. I wouldn’t be making a public announcement about it except for you needing to know what I’m planning to do. When I was diagnosed with leukemia earlier this year, I realized I needed to get myself more of a desk job.’ He chuckled. ‘So I’ve decided to run for mayor.’ A deep shock fell on the crowd. Eli Milllstone’s smile evaporated. I looked at Addie, who turned stone still.” This quote stood out to me when G.T. Stoop stood up for himself and spoke up, because when you first meet him in the book he is very quiet but when the reader gets to know him he speaks up. The quote fits in the story because of the themes and because of how G.T. acts. It represents the theme of emotional strength because Hope and Addie are strong for moving from place to place and G.T. is strong for fighting his disease and telling the town what he wants and what he is going to do about it. (MP)
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Chains was written by Laurie Halse Anderson. She wrote about the hard times being a slave in 1793. This book is written from the main character Isabel's Point of view. At the start of Chains, Isabel and Ruth are sold to the Locktons, a rich family in need of more slaves. She meets two important characters along the way Colonel Regan and Mr. Bellingham. Isabel gives them deals that will get her out of the Lockton’s keeping but both of them break the promises. Isabel sadly has to suffer over the selling of her sister Ruth, the selling of her, and many other hard things she had to overcome along the journey of Chains.
“The next week passed in the kitchenstorm of flour and sugar, for Christmas was fast approaching. Madam's list of required delicacies was endless: gingerbread, pies of brandied peaches and preserved cherries and mincemeat, macaroons, blancmange, Jordan almonds, sugar candy, as many kinds of cake as there were fingers on both hands.” (pg. 232.) This quote was a good representation of Laurie Halse Anderson’s writing because throughout the book she seemed to provide more things to make the book more focused on the differences of the two classes. This quote stood out to me because it had an abundance of different types of food, and in Chains, food for Isabel is quite limited. This quote really surprised me and didn’t fit the story but when the book kept going the writing continued to be very much like this quote. This quote shows the theme of Isabel’s limited options in this book because Isabel kept going on and on about the different types of food that she probably had never seen before. It’s Isabel’s first time ever seeing foods like Jordan almonds and macaroons but all she get’s to do is serve and watch it be eaten by her masters. In Chains the quote above shows Isabel’s limited options. (MP)