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Showing posts from September, 2014

Banned Books: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

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The Jungle by Upton Sinclair                 When Jurgis Rudkus first laid eyes on Ona he fell in love and knew immediately that she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. It was because of her young age and Lithuanian tradition that he sought permission from her father for marriage. Her father was a rich man and Jurgis was a country boy. Ona’s father was not impressed by the two horses he was presented by Jurgis and refused the arrangement. But when her father died leaving most of his estate tied up with creditors, Jurgis, Ona and her remaining family decided to move to America to start anew. In America a man could be free, become rich and not be forced to join the army. So the Lithuanian family moved to America with all they had. They went to the Stockyards of Chicago where a friend of theirs had made it rich. They came seeking a fortune but they soon realized that they weren’t the only ones seeking change and that the land of plenty they had dreamed of

The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson

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The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson Jun Do was not an orphan but he lived at the orphanage, Longs Tomorrow, with his father the orphan master. He was the oldest boy at the orphanage since his father refused to let anyone take him away. He knew nothing of his mother except that she was a beautiful singer taken to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. His name is one that he chose from the 114 Grand Martyrs of the Revolution whose stories and names he had all memorized. It was when the famine came, when Jun Do was 14, that the boys were sent to the Army and his fate was sealed. It was because his home was Longs Tomorrow that he was assigned the detail of tunnel soldier. That’s how he learned to fight in the dark. That’s how his reputation spread to attract the attention of those in higher positions. When the officer came looking for him he wasn’t given a choice. Everything in North Korea is done for the good of the country and for the love everyone has for their Dear Lea

Banned Books: Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

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Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence                 Lady Constance Chatterley is in a loveless marriage. Her husband, Clifford, was injured in the war and paralyzed from the waist down and for that reason they are not intimate. He is the sole heir to Wragby and a Baron to boot. Unable to father a child, he has given Constance the option of having a child by another man that he will raise as his own so the Chatterley name will live on and the Wragby estate will continue to flourish. Constance was unsure how to respond to such an offer. Would Clifford really want to raise another man’s child? She began having lovers unsure of who she would want to have a child by. She wasn’t expecting to fall in love with anyone. She wasn’t expecting to discover herself in the arms of a man that wasn’t her husband. But when it happens she begins to experience a moral dilemma of the heart where there is no easy answer or way out.                 There was a complicated question asked in th

Banned Book: Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll

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Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll                 Alice has found herself on the other side of the looking glass. One moment she is peering through, trying to see if there was an actual fire in the fireplace, similar to the one on her side of the glass, and the next moment the glass has melted away. Alice expects she is quite alone in this looking glass house and her curiosity has caused her to wander around and see if there are differences between this world and her own. After conversations with chess pieces within the house she sets off for the garden where the extraordinary and unbelievable continues to happen. Then she begins her quest, to become a queen herself, by traversing through the woods to the other side. Along the way Alice meets many animals that can speak and many flowers that can too, some of which are helpful while others don’t have a clue.                 Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There is another

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow

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The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow                 Rachel was the only one to survive the fall. Her mother, younger brother and baby sister lost their lives that day. A few months earlier Rachel’s Danish mother, Nella, left Roger, Rachel’s African American father and took all the kids to live in Chicago with a new man in her life. Their untimely death has left Rachel in the care of her paternal grandmother in Portland. It’s the 1980’s and Rachel stands out like a sore thumb as the only biracial child in class. She doesn’t fit in with the black girls who tease her about being so fair skinned and she doesn’t fit in with the white girls either because of the neighborhood she comes from. As Rachel ages and matures she struggles to identify with those around her. She fights to remember the father that never bothered to return for his daughter and the mother whose love she lost in the fall and whose secret she’s kept.                 The Girl Who Fell from the S

Banned Book: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll                 Alice is bored waiting for her sister and the book that is near holds no interest. The white rabbit is running past and talking about the time, discussing to himself about being late. But what could a rabbit possibly be late for and since when did white rabbits keep the time? Young and curious Alice follows the white rabbit and falls slowly through the rabbit hole into a land of wonder. A land where consuming different foods or drinks can make you grow or cause you to shrink. A land where riddles are made with no answer in sight and everyone can be considered mad. A land where gardeners paint flowers and babies can turn into pigs and the Cheshire cat disappears. It’s a land of fantasy, a land of dreams, a land of wonders.                 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a fantasy novel full of clever quips, beautiful imagery and whimsy. This is the well-known story of a little girl’s dream and her trip int