Entry Four

I chose In Darkness because one particular thing caught my attention.  As I was browsing through the selections, I knew what to look out for since this is my second year choosing from YALSA.  In Darkness had a young boy, the same age as me when I chose it and went through something devastating just like Japan.  The protagonist was trapped in an earthquake just like the 2011 one. After reading, I could connect Toussaint to some people I learned in history class but I didn't see any big or deep personal connections between myself and the novel.

I would recommend this book to people who like two sides to a book.  What I mean is that this book goes back and forth between Shorty’s life and Toussaint, this Haitian slave who led a rebellion.  I could relate the structure of the book to Whirligig.  To those who read it back in eighth grade, the book went back and forth between settings that seemed unrelated.  Then at the end, the whole story came together like a puzzle and you could connect everything.  So you can expect the book to be confusing at first mostly because you may not know who Toussaint is and how he connects to Haiti and Shorty.  I give this book 7 out of 10 because of those reasons.

Entry Three

 “She was wrong, I know that now.  It was not Dread Wilme who became the other half of my soul” (Lake, 126).  Here in this section of the book, Shorty, the 15 year old protagonist is recalling a time in his life when the Site Soley’s top official was killed saving his own life.  Shorty was just shot by a guard and there were vehicles coming right towards him.  Lucky for Shorty, Dread was there to save him but Dread was killed as he flashes back.  Throughout Shorty’s life, major events have happened to him so at this point, he is living with Manman (mom).  Dread supported them as well with a shelter on the Site and education.  Shorty saw Dread as a supportive father so when he died, Shorty had another hole in his life.  When Nick Lake wrote that Dread was not the other half of his soul, this puzzled me because this left me hooked to the story to find out who was filling Shorty’s heart and why Dread wasn’t.  Shorty received a stone that he currently has in his possession in the hospital that was brought down by the earthquake.  The stone was given by Dread during the last moments of his life so that is why the passage hooks the reader.

Entry Two

The main character, Shorty wants water instantly.  He also wants to be free from all of the rubble.  But when Shorty flashes back to his childhood, I am sure that he wants to change the timeline of his life such as the kidnapping of his twin sister or when his dad was killed right in front of him.  Toussaint wants the slaves in Haiti to be free from their owners.  He proposed a revolution that is about to take place in my book.  I can relate Toussaint right here because Toussaint wants to do this revolution in a non-violent way like Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.  A theme that is starting to appear in my book is that you must work toward your goals.  Another theme is that a non-violent protest or a revolution is usually better by what is accomplished than the violent means of a revolution.  My book, In Darkness, is structured like a normal book, with chapters, but when there is dialogue, the author uses a dash instead of quotation marks.  Also, the author will flip back and forth between Shorty’s actual life and Toussaint’s revolution which can be easily identified as it does it every other chapter.

Entry One

The main character is Shorty, a 15 year old Haitian boy who was in a hospital for a gunshot he took.   Shorty is part of a gang named Route 9 Another character is Toussaint, a character that Shorty imagines while he is in a coma.  I did not know about this Haitian slave so I looked to the Internet to do some research on Toussaint.  He was the leader in the Haitian Revolution.  The story takes place in a slum in Haiti (hospital).  Haiti has just been hit by an earthquake and patients around Shorty are dead.  Shorty is trapped underneath the rubble and his lack of water is making him conscious and unconscious.  When he is unconscious, his mind goes back in time to when Toussaint was alive.  The conflict is that Shorty is trapped and needs water and food.  If he was not trapped, he may not be unconscious and have flashbacks.  I have a question for the author, Nick Lake.  Why does Shorty think of Toussaint when he is sleeping?  I predict that once Shorty is cared for, he will realize that people need freedom and he will try to save many people as he can from the rubble.  I think his inspiration will be Toussaint.  I cannot think of any connections to other pieces of work.

About the Author

Ben Macintyre, the author of Operation Mincemeat was born in 1963. This was way after when World War II ended and when Operation Mincemeat was carried out. He is a historian and columnist writing for The Times newspaper. His columns range from current affairs to historical controversies. In July 2006, Macintyre wrote an article in The Times called "How wiki-wiki can get sticky", criticising the limitations of Wikipedia. He cited the self-regulation system as inadequate when literally "anyone" could add supposed "facts" to Wikipedia.   However, he also clearly states that while Wikipedia "should always be taken with a pinch of salt", these problems ought to disappear as more people "contribute and revise" articles, putting a positive slant on the project.

Ben Macintyre has also written other popular World War II books such as Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal,Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies, and The Napoleon of Crime: The Life and Times of Adam Worth, Master Thief.  On Goodreads, their ratings range from 3.81 stars to 3.90 stars on a 5.0 scale.

Final Blogging Assessment in English 1B

I have not been reading much over break so I am not far into the book, Yellowstone Treasures. The guide book I am reading takes me (the reader) through the trails and roads of Yellowstone National Park. Chapple describes the hot spring, Firehole to her readers by saying, "The mustard yellow, orange, and brown runoff over the side of Excelsior's crater into the Firehole is a perennial favorite of photographers" (Chappple, 64). This is an example of the vivid imagery the author provides. Janet Chapple goes through the whole park with pictures and words to describe what you may see. There is also history throughout this guide book to help you apprehend and appreciate the park more. For example Janet Chapple gives the reader more information on when to expect the geyser to erupt by saying, "Old Faithful has never recorded time erupted 'every hour on the hour' as you may have heard. Here are some figures given for average expected intervals between eruptions: 60-65 minutes in 1870, 65.5 minutes in 1964, 78 minutes in 1990, and 92 minutes, 2008." Unless you kept track of the wait time, I am sure you would have not known that the overall wait time has gradually gone up over the decades. The author contributes helpful tips that would help you enjoy the trip more. As a tourist, it just makes your travel a whole lot better, tranquil and more of an advantage over other people who may be visiting Yellowstone National Park.

Here is Firehole hot spring in Yellowstone National Park.
Notice the lava like water coming off of the hot spring.

The most important line from the chapter

A passage from chapter four of Operation Mincemeat is when the author talks about how to defeat the Axis powers, Germany specifically, "The Allied invasion of Morocco and Tunisia had fatally weakened Germany's grip...The time had come to lay siege to Hitler's Fortress.  But where?"  That answer was Sicily, Italy (Operation Husky).  The title of the chapter gives it away but the author makes you read the chapter and see how it all lays out.  Of course, Operation Mincemeat comes into play by making a decoy and setting it on the oceans east of Spain (German spies are occupying in Spain) and hopefully side tracking the Axis powers and try and get the reassuring win for the Allies.  The Allies knew there have been successful defends near Sicily by the Germans yet the area was not well protected by the Germans.  If the invasion was successful, the Allies would be able to close in on Germany and Hitler.  If it was unsuccessful, there would have been mass casualties along with a beefed up defensive line along the southern borders of German territory.