Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner

I recently read the book "Spanking Shakespeare" by Jake Wizner. It is about a senior in high school, Shakespeare Shapiro, and his struggles. The protagonist is influenced by almost everyone in the book. Some influences are good, while others are bad. For instance, Danny, a student at his school, gets Shakespeare to do drugs for the first time in his life, and he goes home high and his parents get angry, so it does not go his way. One character relationship that developed throughout the book is the relationship between Shakespeare and Charlotte. At first, Shakespeare doesn't ever talk to Charlotte, but then they slowly become friends, and in the end they are dating. The internal conflicts in this book are  that Shakespeare always cuts himself down, and the external conflicts stem from this inner hatred towards himself.

Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have by Allen Zadoff

I recently read the book "Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have" by Allen Zadoff. It is about a 307 pound sophomore named Andrew Zansky. He falls in love with a girl named April at a wedding that his mother set up, who turns out to come to his school for sophomore year. During the first day, the bully that Andrew has been bullied by since middle school bullies him, but Andrew is saved by O. Douglas, the football star. O. is very nice to Andrew, and helps him join the football team. Andrew gets in after trying out in practice as center and feels good about himself for the first time in a long time. But things go wrong when he discovers that O. and the entire team were using him to win a game. The author wants me to feel bad for Andrew, but also understand the side of the team. I think that the author wants me to choose a side on my own.

For Us, The Living by Robert Heinlein

I have recently been reading a book called "For Us, The Living" by Robert Heinlein. It is about a man named Perry Nelson from the year 1939 who died from his car being driven off of a cliff, and wakes up in the year 2086. He nearly dies from frostbite until a woman named Diana finds him and brings him into her home. Her and her friends proceed to explain the ways of the world in 2086 and all history from 1939 to then of relevance to him. I think that this book is interesting because Robert Heinlein made a lot of assumptions which aren't true. It's cool to see what people thought the 21st century would be like in the early 1900's.