If you chose one of the recommended WAR & CONFLICT book titles, or selected one of your own, please check out this page. Be sure to leave a comment on the bottom of the page that allows us to have a whole grade-level discussion about our reading.
Here are some ideas you can write about:
~a person/character from the story that impressed you
~something that surprised you about what happened in the story
~some new understanding about the topic you selected
~a connection you made while you were reading
There is no need to be wordy; a blog is a way to communicate with others, so just use this space to let us know something meaningful about your summer reading.
Let’s get this conversation going…
Suggested Titles for War & Conflict:
Farewell to Manzanar
by Jeanne & James Houston
Hiroshima
by John Hersey
The Green Glass Sea
by Ellen Klages
All Quiet on the Western Front
by Erich Maria Remarque
September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City
by Wilborn HamptonCode Talker: A Novel about the Navajo Marines of WWII
by Joseph Bruchac
Bomb: The Race to Build-And Steal-The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon
By Steven Sheinkin
When I read Hiroshima, I was shocked. Before I read the book, it was just the name of one of the two cities that was struck by an atomic bomb. The book tells the stories of multiple people in Hiroshima at the time of the bomb and what happened to them. It truly broadens your understanding of how terrible the bomb was. The result of using the bomb was genocide, and how it affected the people hit by it is unethical. However, the book mentions how Japan will fight to the last man, which makes me think that this sudden destruction may have actually saved lives of Americans and Japanese. The stories are sad, with one of the characters stuck for days with her leg smashed under a bookshelf (She ended up crippled for the rest of her life). I am glad I read this book, as I had never understood the effects of the atomic bomb.
ReplyDeleteI read the book Hiroshima, which was originally a news article in the New York Times. In this book, John Hersey, a journalist, asked several people about what happened when an atom bomb hit the center of the city. This story tells the reader about a horrible act in warfare, when the United States dropped an atom bomb onto a city with at least 245,000 people. The people mentioned in this story are a few of the many that got severely injured and burned, while even some lost limbs, feet, and hands. When you read this, it widens your view on what happened on August 6, 1945 and educates you on something that many might not know. I would recommend this to people that like to read or learn about history and warfare.
ReplyDeleteFor my book about War & Conflict, I chose to read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. It was a story that greatly interested me, and it was very moving. I had read stories like it it the past, my favorites being Night by Elie Wiesel and Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz. And I recommend them both as well as The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
ReplyDeleteAlthough Night, Prisoner B-3087 and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas were very alike in many ways, such as the same setting and the same(ish) conflicts, the two stories were also quite different. Prisoner B-3087 and Night were from the viewpoints of two moderately young men who were Jewish/Polish prisoners being held and worked almost to death in various concentration camps. Whereas The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was from the perspective of a much younger boy, by the age of nine, and I feel like the author used his innocence to sort of emphasize the cruelness of what was going on. In the story, the nine year old boy (Bruno) is the the son of an authority figure in 1942 Berlin and he moves to a house that is located right next to a concentration camp. He befriends a prisoner who is around the same age as him and that is what I found so particularly moving about the story; it doesn't matter who you're related to or what religion you are a part of, you can still be friends with someone who is not necessarily different from you, but just has a different backstory.
DeleteThe book I decided to read was Hiroshima by John Hersey. I liked this book because it showed the point of view of the Japanese and the Americans don't realize the pain and suffering that they caused during the dropping of the bomb. This book was also an eye opener because the main character, Father Kleinsorge, had to help people when he didn't even know what was happening and the sickness they had. This book is very good at describing the other side of the conflict and showing what happened from a different point of view.
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ReplyDeleteI read The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. This book kept me intrigued throughout the entire story. I enjoyed how the author switched perspectives, adding insight into each character's mindset and point of view. It was a tense time for everyone and the book really captured the challenges of living in Los Alamos during World War II. I was surprised when Dewey’s dad died considering all the hardship she had already experienced. Dewey had already been abandoned by her mother, injured as a baby, and ignored by the girls at school. The whole story had an impressive realism about it. For example, Dewey and Suze had separate interests, and their friendship took time to grow. Overall I was impressed with the story and absorbed in the twisting plot, relatable characters, and shocking ending.
ReplyDeleteI read 'The Nightingale' by Kristin Hannah. This book was set in France, during World War II and revolves around the life of Vianne Mauriac and her sister Isabelle. Their mother died after their father came back from fighting in World War I, and he no longer acted like the father Vianne and Isabelle had remembered. He was unloving and neglecting, and sent them both away to schools. Vianne met her husband, Antoine, but Isabelle – who liked to do things her own way - was just expelled from school after school.
ReplyDeleteAntoine is called to fight for France in World War II and Isabelle is sent to live with her sister. As the Nazis invade France, Isabelle decides to join the Resistance. She rescues downed airmen, and hikes over the Pyrenees to get them safely to Spain. This they call the Nightingale Escape Route. Vianne doesn't know of her sister's actions, Isabelle had told her that she was visiting Paris for other reasons and Vianne believed her.
Vianne's best friend, Rachel, is Jewish and was deported, leaving Vianne to care for her young son Ari.
In town, Vianne sees many Jewish families’ being boarded onto a train to be taken to work camps. One mother begs Vianne to save her son and without thinking, Vianne takes the boy and leaves the scene. When mothers who are being deported ask her to take their children, Vianne does without complaint, procures false identity papers for them and brings them to the orphanage where they are safe.
Isabelle gets caught hiking over the Pyrenees Mountains and is brought in for questioning about The Nightingale. Both sisters independently worked to save the Jewish people during the war. After the war ends, Isabelle comes to live with Vianne.
This book is both motivational and moving. It was incredibly written and shows that even in a terrible time, there are people who are willing to help.
This summer, I chose the book "Hiroshima" by John Hersey. This was a book that spoke about the lives of five different people and how they endured one of the most difficult times in their history, the bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Some of them suffered physical injuries which made it impossible for them to ever live the life they had before. Others, had undergone psycological trauma, which gave the same consequences and effects in the aftermath. The atomic bomb spread poisonous chemicals to the people causing severe illness, discomfort, and eventual death. One of the worst parts about when countries are at war, is that innocnet people will get hurt no matter what.
ReplyDeleteI chose All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. This book is about Paul Baumer a German soldier during World War One. This book is very gruesome and really shows what it was like to be a soldier in WWI. It is so realistic because the author was in World War One himself. I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone that is interested in WWl.
ReplyDeleteCode Talker
ReplyDeleteBy Joseph Bruchac
Code Talker is a good book for many reasons. One reason is It explains the life of a Navajo Indian during WWII. Another reason is It shows people that nobody is worthless. My final reason is because the book showed how much the Navajo language was needed to win the war. I would Recommend this book to anyone who is interested in WWII.
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ReplyDeleteOver the summer, I decided to read the book The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. I found this book extremely realistic in terms of real life problems. The author used impressive imagery and the book was easy to be pulled into. Dewey Kerrigan captures how a child in World War Two copes with being in such a horrible situation. I find it interesting the way she then is placed into the hands of her father, and the realm of the war’s scientists. The way the author almost switches the roll of Dewey’s mental and physical condition from when she is first introduced in the book to when she is settled in with her father is a key component in the book and I found it cruel, due to the ending of her story, when her father dies.
ReplyDeleteHi Mrs. Ferreira,
ReplyDeleteI also read this book, and I liked it a lot and learned a lot from it. I thought the book was interesting because of all the spies that were able to get valuable information. When they took people for Los Alamos I was surprised that the didn't interview them in case they were spies, and one of the was a spy. I didn't understand why the didn't tell the spies what the were training for most of the time. This book was the best war book I have ever read.
The book I read was Gladiator. It was about gladiators (usually a young boy who was captured in war and trained in ¨gladiator school) and how they were treated. There were different types and they were treated as slaves, except they had good medical treatment and 3 meals a deal. To me the book had a perfect amount of action and history. Plus it gave facts about the fall of Rome, the emperor who came up with the idea to build the Coliseum. In total I think it was a great book.
ReplyDeleteI read the book A Long Walk To Water.
ReplyDeleteThe main character's name was salva and he survived an incredible journey from southern sudan to a refugee camp with water food and shelter. then he got adopted into a family in New York and salva had an idea to build a water well and a school for the less fortunate kids in sudan I feel that was a huge act of kindness.
In Fact i was so inspired i freeze 8-10 water bottles a night and take the water to soccer practice and give the water to the kids that forgot or don't have water.
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ReplyDeleteI read The Number on My Grandparents' arm because it's interesting they talked about Hitler my sister told me about Hitler and I wanted to learn about it. I can relate in away to this girl because we both have grandfathers that both have secrets. I like the book because it reminds me of my grandfather.
ReplyDeleteI read the book George Washington’s Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved America. The book is about how George Washington formed a spy ring for the revolutionary war. The spy ring’s mission was to find out about the weaknesses of the british army. The ring were made of a group of ordinary citizens who helped america be a free country. This book reminded me of our book from the blizzard bag groups because it was about ordinary citizens helping America be free. I liked the book because it was about the revolutionary war and I found that interesting.
ReplyDeleteI read the book Hiroshima by John Hersey. It was about a few victims from the event of one attack on a city called Hiroshima. This book touched me by explaining the pain and suffering of the victims. I liked that it was from the point of view from the victims. I loved learning new information that I didn't know anything about.
ReplyDeleteI read the book The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. It is a sequel to The Maze Runner, a book about a group of teenagers placed in the middle of an extremely dangerous maze. After escaping in the end of the first book, they are rescued by a group of armed men and women. They are bused to a building with beds and a bathroom where they sleep. Once they get outside they see a scorched planet populated by mangled and bloody maniacs. The next morning, they experience many horrifying and confusing things. They meet a mysterious looking man who tells them of the second trial, one of which where they have to make it many miles through The Scorch and at the end they shall receive the cure. On their way through The Scorch, they meet new people, make new friends, as well as lose many more.
ReplyDeleteI read the book Hiroshima by John Hersey for my required reading. What I liked about the book was that it was from the view of different people. Also, I liked how the book showed the aftermath of each person's life after the bomb. It described the wounds they received from the bomb and how each person’s life was changed. What shocked me most was that over 100,000 people died from the bomb and how bad the radiation effects were.
ReplyDeleteI read the book "Bomb, The Race to Build-and Steal- The Worlds Most Dangerous Weapon. The book explained how the American scientists developed a bomb that could take out an entire city. It explained how fission and fusion bombs work. It also showed how Soviet spies tried to steel the technology from the Americans and build there own bombs. The book was great overall and i would read it again.
ReplyDeleteThe book I am writing about is called The Old Man and The Sea. The book is a bout a fisherman named Santiago. He was not doing very well with his casts. He had not caught anything in over fifty days. The main theme is perseverance. No matter how hard, complete the task. One day while he was fishing he hooked a massive marlin. He fought and fought for days until he caught the fish. He then attached the fish to the boat wearily. Santiago really impressed me in the fact that for days he didn't stop for anything during his struggle. The most surprising part was when the shark attacked the hanging fish. Santiago fought tooth and nail to keep his fish but failed. A sad ending of a great book. One of the best books I'll ever read
ReplyDelete