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.

National Geographic: The World's Largest Trees

     I read an article in National Geographic magazine called "The World's Largest Trees". It was about scientists discovering more about the old sequoia trees. The biggest one they've found is one that they named "The President" 90 years ago, and we still call it that today. It has a dead spire on its top that was struck by lightning, and a canopy that holds nearly 2 billion leaves. It has 4 large branches, each the size of a tree themselves. Though sequoias are not the largest trees in height, they make up for it in trunk width. They are also extremely old. The reason that it has survived for so long is it has simply outlived its competitors. The scientists are trying to get me to know that this tree has been studied for an extremely long time, and they have learned a lot about it.
     The scientists have done a lot of work to learn about these trees, and this is because they want to conserve them. They are telling us about this tree because they want us to become interested in things about the tree. The scientists want us to feel interested in the tree, so that no one will try to get rid of it. If people understand the tree, they will not look to use the wood for fuel or furnishings. At least that's what National Geographic wants people to feel.
     I believe that National Geographic has the right idea on this topic, but I think they could make the idea a bit more blatant. They basically just give information about the tree. I only noticed the idea because of the loaded words spruced throughout the article, but for someone who hasn't learned about that sort of thing, it might be hard to notice.

Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert

I have recently been reading "Dune Messiah" by Frank Herbert. it is the second out of six books in the series "Dune". Paul Atreides, the main character in the book, has aged significantly since the previous book, but the book does not give a specific age. His sister, Alia of the Knife, however, is 16. As an embryo in her mother's womb, she was given the memories of all of the former Reverend Mothers, along with her mother's memories up to that point. A Reverend Mother is a teacher and a High Priestess of the Bene Gesserit (Mainly girls, because Paul is the only boy Bene Gesserit that has ever existed). Bene Gesserits are people trained from birth to have the ability to persuade people to do what they want among other things. There are many conflicts in this story, some external but many internal. External problems include the schemes of the Princess Irulan, daughter of the previous Emperor (before Paul took over) along with the (former) Emperor's old Truth-sayer (a Reverend Mother who can hear when the truth is said), a Guildmember (basically the transportation in the Dune universe) named Edric, and the Tleilaxu Face Dancers (Bene Gesserit trained to shape their faces any way they please, mimicking other peoples faces). Some internal problems are the fact that Paul's prescience is waning, and the only way he can see into the future is using massive amounts of a drug called melange, and Alia being attracted to the ghola (a servant made from dead flesh by the Tleilaxa) made from Duncan Idaho's flesh. Duncan Idaho was a friend and mentor of Paul's who died in the battle against the former Emperor's army.

Muad'Dib by Frank Herbert

I recently read the third book of the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert. The main character, Paul, has acquired prescient powers that he could never imagine he would have. The Baron of the Harkonnens has allied with the Emperor to overcome Arrakis by force and kill off the Atreides bloodline for good. Paul wins and becomes the Emperor. This reminds me of justice in the real world in that the Emperor and the Baron are bad people, who take advantage of the less fortunate unfairly to gain power, and Paul, who is righteous and helps who deserves it, wins the battle and earns justice for the people.

Dune

I've recently been reading the book "Dune" by Frank Herbert. It is a science fiction book made in 1965. Frank Herbert basically made an entire world (more accurately, a whole universe) with its own economy, ecology, landscape, and religion, among other things. The main character in this book is Paul, a 15 year old Bene Gesserit who is the only male Bene Gesserit. Their are many legends about a male Bene Gesserit that the Missionaria Protectiva (missionaries of the Bene Gesserit) spread throughout many worlds, and it ended up intertwining with the religions of the people in these different planets. Paul is the son of the Duke Leto Atreides, Duke of Caladan. When they move to Arrakis, the Reverend Mother (pretty much the teachers of the Bene Gesserit) has visions of the Duke Leto getting killed, but says Paul and his mother, Jessica, (a Bene Gesserit) can be saved. The reason they are moving to Arrakis is because the Harkonnens, a rivaling Great House, has had it taken away from them by the Emperor. Little do the Atreides know, the Emperor is working with the Harkonnens, sending in Sardaukans (prisoners turned soldier) and dressing them in Harkonnen armor to help the Harkonnens kill the Duke and the Great House Atreides. Dr. Yueh, the doctor of the Atreides House, betrays them and takes Duke Leto to the Harkonnens to interrogate, but he is also a good person, so he saves Paul and Jessica and tells the Duke Leto how to kill the Baron. The Duke Leto gets a poisoned tooth that he bites down on and kills himself and Piter, the Baron's Mentat (a form of assassin), with the Baron just barely surviving.

Arrakis is a planet that severely lacks water. The Fremen (warriors of the deserts of Arrakis) are used to it, it being the only thing that they have lived with. They have technology, such as the stillsuit, which allows them to only lose a thimbleful of water a day. I think that this is one of the hugest conflicts in the story. The Fremen are trying to make the world of Arrakis livable, but they say that it will take many many years and they will not see the outcome in their lifetime. I think that this is the best way to handle this problem, although they have to keep it a secret, bribing the Guild (basically a spaceship company) to not set up satellites to view them. Though they will not see the sands of Arrakis boasting water, their great-grandchildren might.