![]() Stephen King’s “The Green Mile” is a story about a man, Paul, who oversees Death Row at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary. Paul is now an old man, and he tells the story of how he met inmate John Coffey in 1932. Paul and his fellow employees Brutal, Harry, and others run the cell block non stop. Their encounters are very unique and filled with uncertainty. They get to meet a french man and his circus mouse, the second coming of Billy the kid, and the miracle worker John Coffey. Paul also has to deal with a young rebellious co-worker, Percy Whetmore, that tends to get himself in trouble. Even with all the violence and gruesome executions a life is still saved by the hands of a graceful giant. This book was a super good read and had a lot of important messages. Some include to always be aware of what's around you and to do what is right. What really stuck with me is how a person can be prosecuted and found guilty, whether they did it or not may not matter. Either way the reputation and the good that was once upheld, is now completely obliterated. The faces of many are turned away from you because you are branded in a certain way. Or the faces of many stare into your soul and tells you that you are no good. Every good deed or positive attribution to society is disregarded because of what the higher power calls you. It’s wrong and unfair, but it’s how a cruel world works. -AL, grade 12
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![]() The first story in the book called “Low Men in Yellow Coats” sets the tone for the stories that follow. Ted Brautigan arrives in Harwich, Connecticut while on the run from the group of people called the “low men”. He befriends a boy named Bobby Garfield and his two friends, John "Sully" Sullivan and Carol Gerber. Bobby sees the lost pet posters that he is supposed to tell Ted about, but doesn't because he doesn't want to lose Ted. Bobby's mom comes to believe that Ted is a child molester and turns Ted over to the low men. Ted is taken by the low men to act as a Breaker. In the he second story which is named after the title of the book a bunch of college students in Maine become addicted to the game of Hearts. Their grades drop and the students are in danger of failing out and being drafted. Carol and Peter Riley join the peace movement. Carol leaves school to join the movement full-time and Riley barely manages to pass despite continuing to play Hearts. The next three stories are short stories. In the third story named “Blind Willie” a character named Willie Shearman performs penance for the things he did in Vietnam and to Carol Gerber. He goes blind everyday and begs for money. In the fourth story, “Why We're in Vietnam”, Sully from the first story attends a funeral of a fellow soldier and reflects on the events that happened in Vietnam. Sully dies of a heart attack. In the final story “Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling” Bobby returns to Harwich for Sully's funeral. He finds Carol and a baseball glove sent to him by Ted. I thought that “Hearts in Atlantis" was a pretty good read and that it is one of the best Stephen King books that I have read. I knew about the movie based on this book and I decided to read this book from that. I thought that the story that most stood out to me in this book was “Low Men in Yellow Coats” I thought the characterization in this story was great. I also I also liked the little links between and thought it was interesting that “Low Men in Yellow Coats” is linked to The Dark Tower series which is another series of books by Stephen King. I thought that the story named after the title of the book was pretty interesting and well written. Overall I liked this book I think that the way King published this collection of interconnected stories and short stories worked pretty well. I liked the links between the stories and other books that King wrote. I also liked the little links between each tale. This is a good collection and I’m glad I read it. I would give this book a 9/10 instead of a 10/10 only because the book was a little long. -EX, grade 12 ![]() The Shining, written by Steven King, dives into the horrific and twisted mind of a man who has been driven to madness over the course of one fateful winter. Jack Torrence and his family are trusted with guarding and keeping up a hotel that is riddled with secrets and a dark past. As the story goes on, Jack slowly begins to turn against his family as he starts to hear voices in his head that tell him to do demonic and cruel things. These voices and visions put both Jack’s life, as well as the lives of his wife and children, at risk. Jack starts the book a family man looking for some extra money over the winter, and as he becomes lonely he slowly begins to lose his mind, with voices inside his head telling him to kill his entire family. I would give this book a 5/5 because I felt engaged and on the edge of my seat throughout the whole journey. Unlike many other horrors/mystery books I have read, The Shining does a very good job of keeping the story going and not adding unnecessary dialogue for the point of extending the book. King does a wonderful job at using the readers' natural fears of something that could really happen, exploiting them in a way that makes the story very believable and real. Overall, this book was one that kept the reader in limbo, never knowing what would happen next, and therefore lead to a great mystery and horror. -NS, grade 12 ![]() The Zookeeper’s Wife is about the remarkable true World War II story of Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonina. Together, with an insane amount of courage, they are able to shelter and provide safety to 300 Jews in addition to Polish resisters. They did so by hiding them in a variety of animal cages and sheds in their zoo. Throughout the book we meet a variety of people such as Rabbi Shapira (the spiritual head of the ghetto), the leaders of the Zegota (Polish organizers that help rescue Jews), and many more. Each day brings new struggles, but each day Antonina finds the courage to keep not only her own spirits up, but also those around her. I would give this book a 3.5/5. I found some passages of the novel hard to read, especially those dealing with the horrors of Germany’s Polish occupation during World War II. It was a very interesting book with an interesting plot line, but I felt as though it was a bit dry without much zest. Much of the book is spent describing settings and moments that do not further the storyline. Although this could be due to the nature of the book being a true story, transposed from a diary, it still could have been more interesting. However, overall, the book was fairly interesting and had a good storyline, one that just could have been focused on a bit more. -NM, grade 12 ![]() Stephanie Kuehn’s novel When I am Through With You is an intense story about love and adventure that keeps you sitting on the edge of your seat. When Ben Gibson and his girlfriend Rose go on a school club’s camping trip in the remote mountains of northern California, they were expecting to have a good time while learning survival skills. However, they did just the opposite. When the campers meet a group of “hikers” they suspected to be escapees from a nearby prison, they decided to murder them to steal their money, however, things did not go as planned. After a long and eventful night, the campers’ trip went from enjoying the wilderness to a horrifying effort to survive it. Overall, I thought When I am Through With You did a very good job of keeping me engaged and not wanting to put it down. The author’s use of descriptive language and cliffhangers kept me hooked -- I couldn’t stop flipping page by page! This book did have some elements that disappointed me though, such as cliché survival plot and personalities of the characters, but the author does a good job stitching everything together to create a captivating novel. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes to read about adventure, but this book is not for everyone. The violence, explicit content, and gruesome descriptions may be too much to handle for the faint of heart. -TT, grade 12 ![]() On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is a memoir written by the king of horror and suspense in writing, Stephen King. In this book, King documents his life, his growth in writing, and his rise in recognition as an author of horror. The reader gets to see where King first started his career in writing, and how he grew as a writer, using his uncanny skill of establishing uneasiness, which is so prominent in all of his books. While describing his story and his development as an author, King also fills the pages by providing his insight and advice for aspiring authors alike, which is really what drew me into this book. While I do not see myself becoming an author, or deciding to go into that area of expertise, I am interested in writing, mainly in screenplays and scripts. I am extremely interested in film, and that's where I want to grow as a creator. My mother bought me this book, and urged me to read it. I also do not see myself working with horror in film, I realized that if a good horror movie or book is in fact good, it must also have convincingly good characters and stories. And when you look at lists for the greatest horror stories, Stephen King and his books appear often. I read the book hoping to learn a lot about writing, not only about horror but about all aspects of storytelling. I mean, the author is considered to be one of the greats. I read the book, and was satisfied. It delivers a great story with very insightful pieces of advice from an accomplished author. If you are looking to go into writing, or storytelling of any kind, I implore you to read this book. -LC, grade 10 |
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June 2020
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