Million Dollar Baby By: Clint Eastwood

The book Million Dollar Baby is based on the movie. It starts by telling about Frankie Dunn who has trained and managed some incredible fighters during a lifetime spent in the ring. The most important lesson he teaches his boxers is the one rule to always protect yourself. Maggie Fitzgerald is a poor thirty-one year old waitress from Southwest Missouri who has been a waitress since she was 13. She sees boxing as the one way she can escape being a waitress for the rest of her life. Maggie just wants a shot at making it in the ring. In the beginning, trainer Frankie does not believe in training women what so ever but Maggie doesn't give up. She is determined to learn from the best and to fight before she gets too old to stand a chance against younger competition. Maggie is a perfect example of a woman who doesn't give up and does the impossible to prove all the potential and strength she has to offer in the ring. Trainer Frankie Dunn is a man who at first does not want to do anything for this woman but ends up doing everything he can for her. Later on, trainer Frankie takes on his first female fighter when he trains Maggie. He does not feel so sure about this but he decides to give it a shot. Maggie is determined to become a champion and trainer Dunn is determined to make her that champion. I would really recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the sport of boxing. Most importantly, I would really recommend this book to all those people out there who don’t believe a woman can succeed in the sport of boxing.

Jadira Z.

Books Being Made Into Movies

With the Oscars behind us this now is the perfect time to introduce some great books being made into movies in either 2012 or 2013. Some of these books are more recent and some of these books were written in the 1920s as is the case with The Great Gatsby. Most of these books seem to unite around a central theme where the characters are trying to decide whether it is worth the trouble to conform to societies or social groups that are more troubled than they appear to the general public. The only book not on following this theme would be World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War which is about the spread of a plague where humans turn into zombies. Read these books to find out what decisions the characters make and the consequences of those decisions.

F Brooks,M

Brooks, Max World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War  (2012)

Max Brooks is an agent of the United Nations Postwar Commission depicting the history of ‘World War Z’. The start of the zombie pandemic is unclear, but possibly started when a zombie bit a young boy in China who is ‘patient zero’. Why would a government conceal such a deadly plague? How could this plague spread to other countries? What countries would be affected by such a plague? How are the war tactics in this war similar to real wars in history? Could the whole human civilization collapse because of this war? If the human civilization survives, how could it recover?  

F Chbosky,S

Chobsky, Stephen The Perks of Being a Wallflower  (2012)

This story sheds light about the experiences of a high school student, Charlie. The reader gets to know Charlie and his experiences through Charlie’s letters. The letters are a mystery. Charlie is devastated because of a tragic event that happened to his best friend and Charlie has alienated himself from his friends. Will Charlie fit in with a new group of friends? Will Charlie find a girlfriend who suits him? Is Charlie’s family life causing him trouble as well? Will Charlie be able to acknowledge his own dark secret and finally face his past?   

F Fitzgerald,F

Fitzgerald, F. Scott The Great Gatsby  (2012)

Nick Carraway, a recent Yale graduate, hoping to go into the bond business, has rented a house for the summer in West Egg New York. Nick’s neighbor is the mysterious Jay Gatsby who lives in a mansion and throws lavish parties, but doesn’t really attend and partake in the drinking. In fact, many of the guests do not really know Gatsby. While Nick is visiting his cousin Daisy and her husband Tom Buchanan Nick meets the young beautiful Jordan Baker. Will Nick be accepted within a social class he is not really comfortable being a part of? Why does Gatsby throw his lavish parties? Does anyone really take the time to know Gatsby and would anyone care if anything tragic happened to him? Are the Buchanan’s really a happy couple? Will Nick come to respect or despise the people in his new social class?

F Card, O

Card, Orson Scott Ender's Game  (2013)

In this novel, government agencies mold child geniuses by training them as soldiers to protect against a hostile alien race’s next attack. Andrew “Ender” Wiggin lives with his parents, his brother Peter and his sister Valentine. Peter and Valentine were possible children to be trained as soldiers, but they just weren’t good enough. Ender is drafted to Battle School for the training. How does Ender deal with the loneliness of being away from his friends? How does Ender deal with the stiff competition among his peers in training with him? Is Ender the one who can save his world if the world can survive?

F Westerfeld,S

Westerfield, Scott Uglies (2012)

Tally is about to turn 16 and lives in Uglyville. Uglyville is a town set in the future where the citizens are trained to believe they are ugly until they are 16 and they undergo a surgery to turn them into “pretties.” Tally’s new friend Shay is also about to turn 16, but Shay does not want to be pretty. When Shay disappears and Tally goes after her friend. The authorities offer Tally the choice of finding her friend Shay and turning Shay in or Tally can never turn pretty. Will Tally still want to be pretty? Will the choice change Tally forever? How would the choice change Tally and the world in which she lives?