Fight Club

Well, the first rule about fight club is, you don't talk about fight club.
This book written by Chuck Palahniuk is a book about a restless insomniac. The man attends a support group for men with cancer, as prescribed by his doctor so he could see what "real suffering" was. For some reason, listening to other's problems and doing some crying on his own, the narrator's insomnia ceases. While at these support groups, he meets a strange woman named Marla Singer. Marla calls him out for "faking", even though she is a woman at a support group for men with testicular cancer.

One day while at a bar, the narrator meets an intriguing man named Tyler Durden. They soon become friends, but not long after they meet, the narrator's apartment explodes. So the narrator asks to stay at Tyler's house, Tyler's only request was for the narrator to, "hit me in the face as hard as you can." This action spurs Fight Club, a "Club" that takes place in a bar basement, and anyone can join. The Club is basically a way for the men to get out their stress, and many men join. Without the narrator's consent, Tyler expands the Club in to an anarchy-crazed group of extremists that will go to great lengths to upset the establishment. With the Club completely out of control, the narrator is not left with many options.

1. Do you think it was hypocritical of Marla to call him a "faker"?

2. How or why do you think the narrator's apartment exploded?

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon is a story told from the first person perspective of Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen year old boy with Asperger's, who currently lives in Swindon with his father. His disorder makes it very difficult for him to relate to and understand human emotions, although he is very good with animals. This also means he is very good at logical things such as maths and sciences. He also knows all of the countries in the world, and their capitols, as well as many prime numbers. Among his peculairities is his irrational fear of being touched. Routine, order, and predictability help him get through his day to day life as well as shelter him from the outside world, until one afternoon when he finds his neighbor's dog, Wellington, impaled by a garden fork. This discovery inspires him to be like Sherlock Holmes, his idol, and solve the mystery of Wellington's true murderer, and throughout his journey, his investigation leads him down many unexpected paths.

Discussion Questions:

1. Christopher's father confesses to killing Wellington in a moment of rage at Mrs. Shears and swears to Christopher that he will not lie to him ever again. Christopher thinks, "I have to get of this house. Father has murdered Wellington. That means he could murder me, because I cannot trust him, even though he said, 'Trust me,' because he told a lie about a big thing," (122). Why is Christopher's world shattered by this realization? Is it likely that he will ever learn to trust his father again?

2. In this novel, some scenes seem comical. Why are they funny? And, are these same situations also sad or frustrating?

A Walk To Remember- Nicholas Sparks

"Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it."

What happens when the highschool stud falls for the crazy science girl? Stories like these never end well. When Landon Carter fell deeply in love with Jamie Sullivan their lives were changed forever. They grew up in the same schools. He was the rebellious boy, and she was the Jesus-freak of a girl. Her father was the church's reverand, she was the one always with her bible in her hands.

When Landon got into some trouble, he was told he had to participate in the school play. Which was ran by Jamie and her father. As he began spending more time with her, he began slowly falling in love. He was no longer embarassed of her nerdy outfits, or her bible. He learned more about her on a personal level. She was an amazing singer, really smart, an only child living with her dad, and loved each and every one of the stars. The more he learned the harder he fell for her.

Until one day, she found that she had lukemia a deadly form of cancer. She knew she had little time to live, but she did not tell Landon until she was visibly sick. She just wanted to spend all the rest of the time she had with her loving boyfriend and caring father. When Landon found how sick she really was, he was truly upset. He bought her a star and spent as much time with her as possible.

"Love is patient love is kind...."

1) What would you do if you had one day left on earth?

2) Do you think it's possible today, to fall for someone you thought you "knew" all of your life?

I am The Messenger

The protagonist in this novel is a nineteen year old cabdriver in a big city of Australia. His name is Ed Kennedy. Ed is what some may call, “your average Joe”, but he proves more than that in the story. Out of all of his siblings, Ed still lives in the town that he grew up in. Ed hasn’t quite opened his eyes to his future that he could potential have if he would just try. Ed lives a very simple life unlike his siblings who have high paying occupations. His family isn’t mentioned in great detail. His mother claims that Ed is a failure just like his dad who never accomplished anything in life, and died an alcoholic. “You’re just like him.” (Zusak, 39) is the response Ed’s mother gave him when Ed asked why she didn’t approve of him. Ed’s mother does love him, but does not love the fact that he is headed the same way in society as his father.

The beginning of the novel starts off with Ed and his friend Marv, going to the bank, but while they are at the bank a robbery is present. Ed is titled a hero in the newspaper the following day, because he stops the gunman in his tracks inadvertently when he decided to flee away. Ed is asked by the police to come to court to serve as a witness to the robbery. At the end of the trial, the gunman says this to Ed, “You’re a dead man” (Zusak, 39) Ed is quite frightened by this since the robber is only in jail for six months. Ed finally forgets about the saying until a few days later when he starts to receive playing cards in his mail. After Ed is crowned a local hero in the newspaper, his life starts to give him a range of feelings. He only receives the ace playing card in the four suites. Each card had a total of three titles, addresses or clues for Ed to help him find his recipients. He never learns who sends all the aces of each suit until the end, but each suit is symbolic to how Ed must help the people. For example, the people he met with the ace of diamonds symbolized the need to protect peole from physical or emotional harm. The order of the aces went diamonds, clubs, spades and then hearts. From the beginning to the end of the novel, Ed’s life is totally changed by the one day he thought he was just going to go to the bank.

Discussion Questions:

1.If you were chosen by a random person to deliver messages to such strangers would you be willing to do it like Ed? Why or Why not?

2.Who do you believe is sending Ed the secret messages and why?

Illusions

Illusions is a tale of Donald Shimoda and Richard Bach. They meet on one day, both flying biplanes across the country, giving people rides for a living. But Donald is different; he’s a messiah. The thing is, he never wanted to be. So, possibly out of boredom, Donald starts teaching Richard how to be a messiah himself. They keep on flying from town to town, Donald teaching Richard more and more about himself, others, and the world they live in. In all honestly, the plot of this story is more of a way of organizing Richard’s ideas about philosophy so my efforts here are limited. But the lessons in this book are likely to stay with me for the rest of my life.

1) At times, Richard had trouble believing what Donald was doing and saying; at one point, Donald walks through a wall. If someone was doing things like this, do you think you would be able to believe it?

2) One of Donald’s lessons was that “The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy.” Do you think this lesson is true?

"The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells

Time. Everybody knows of it but how much do we know? Some say their are four dimensions; length, width, depth and time. If we can manipulate length, width and depth, then why not time? This first person story views the life of a journalist who is a witness to time travel. This character meets a man known a The Time Traveler. The Time Traveler tells the narrator of his breakthrough and of his occurrences in the future. To many, the future is not how we think it would be according to Wells. Many of the other people in the book do not believe the Traveler, but the narrator hears in his voice that he is not lying and eventually witnesses this. Wells is trying to show that there is no such thing as a utopia through this book, no matter how much we long for one.
1. If you could time travel where would it be to?
2. Do you think time travel is possible?

The Choice; Nicholas Sparks

The Choice begins with Travis Parker, a carefree single man, loving and living the life. He lives on the water in North Carolina. He hangs out with his buddies and is a veternarian. One day his dog and his neighbor's dog have a run in with eachother. His neighbor, Gabby Holland, yells at him for his dog in her yard because her dog is pregnant from his. Gabby is a physician's assistant and has been in a relationship with her boyfriend, Kevin, for a long time. Gabby and Travis begin to get to know eachother and their chemistry is undeniable. Kevin isn't always around and this makes it harder for Gabby to decide what she wants. She ends up with Travis. They get married and everything is perfect. They have a child but ten years after they meet, there is a terrible accident. Travis and Gabby are driving and Travis gets into a car accident. He is fine but Gabby suffers and is in a coma. She is in the coma for months, and the doctors think she won't make it. The choice for Travis is to let his wife go or hold onto hope?

1. If you were Travis, would you keep your hope or let go?
2. How would you feel if you were responsible for causing somone else pain? Like how Travis feels guilty for getting in the car accident.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Harry Potter was orphaned at a young age when both of his parents died in a tragic car accident. He was forced to live with his atrocious aunt and uncle, leading a miserable life, outshined by his cousin Dudley. One day after mysterious letters begin coming, a giant comes to tell Harry that he is a wizard, just like his parents. To begin his wizard education, Harry goes to a magical school called Hogwarts where he meets his two best friends. Harry soon learns that he is famous in the wizard world for his scar that was left after his parents sacrificed their lives for him. Harry soon has to stop evil at Hogwarts when he discovers a powerful artifact called the sorcerers stone is about to be stolen by the man who killed his parents, Lord Voldemort. In the end Harry defeats Voldemort thwarting his plans.....for now.
1.If you discovered that you had been lied to your entire life, how would you feel and what would you do?
2. If you found out that you could be a wizard, would you? Keep in mind you would have to leave the normal world behind.

Dear John, Nicholas Sparks

Dear John is a love story by Nicholas Sparks. The main character is John Tyree, a twenty-three year old male, who is in the special forces. When John comes home to Wilmington, North Carolina he unexpectedly falls in love with a beautiful young lady named Savannah. Unfortunately, at the end of the two weeks they are forced to part and John needs to return to the service and it is time for Savannah to attend college. John's father helped her choose her field of study; she noticed that he suffers a mental disability and wanted to be able to help people like him. John and Savannah promised each other that they would write as often as they can and never stop. They stay together for John's entire term and Savannah is very excited for them to start their lives together. Little does she know that John has reenlisted due to the attack of September 11. Savannah sends John one final letter, this is one that he is not excited to receive. She tells him plainly that she has found another man and is engaged. She gives no reason or explanation to who the man may be. When John returns home for his fathers funeral he finds out who Savannah is married to and finally gets an explanation to why. The man is a shock for John; he is an older man named Tim. He has always seemed as more of an older brother to Savannah then a possible romance. When John meets with Savannah she informs him that Tim has cancer and he needed someone to raise his son. Savannah says how she never wanted to leave John and it was the hardest thing she has ever done. John and Savannah both end up living fulfilling lives but whether it is together or not you will have to read to find out.

1) If you were Savannah would you leave John to help Tim?
2) Would you wait for a loved one who is in the military knowing that you may never see them again or try to find a more stable relationship?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

In this instillation of the Harry Potter series Harry finds him self back at his Aunt's home stuck with his Uncle's fat and rude sister. Harry leaves after causing her to inflate and takes a night bus to Diagon alley only after escaping a large black dog. At Hogwarts Harry learns that a notorious man named Sirius Black who turns out to be Harry's dad's friend. Black and Proffesor Lupin discover that Ron's pet rat is really Peter Pettigrew the man that killed Harry's Parents. After defeating Pettigrew Lupin sees the full moon and turns into a werewolf, and Black turns into a dog to defend Harry, Ron, and Hermoine. The book ends with Harry time traveling backwards to save himself and Black. On his way back to his Uncle's house for the summer he receives a letter from Black explaining that he gave Harry a quiditch broom and Ron's Owl.

Would you trust Black?

What do you think of Harry's parent's murderers living with them as a rat?

Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt

The Tillerman children; Dicey, James, Maybeth, Sammy, are forced on a trek to find there Great-aunt Cilla. The Tillerman's mother took the children on a car ride to visit their great-aunt but half way through the journey there mother put the oldest Dicey in charge while she went to go run an errand. The Tillermans mother never returned. Dicey takes charge and the next day she leads the other children to find there Great-aunt Cilla on foot. The children have to live on there own, finding the cheapiest food they could get, looking for money and empty houses or anywhere to sleep. After walking through a park, meeting a runaway couple, Sammy decides to steal money and food so they must run from cops now. The kids reach the Conneticut River but they continue to run out of money so dicey has to do odd jobs to earn enough money to feed them all. On there journey they befriend two college students Stewart and Windy. They spend the night with them and Stewart takes them to there Great-aunt's the next day. There Great-aunt Cilla they find is dead and there cousin Eunice takes them in. She takes care of them and sends them to a catholic school but the kids seem to be growing apart and when Sammy is believed to be mental retarded it is the last straw for Dicey and while Eunice is considering adaopting them but sending Sammy away they leave on the hunt for there Grandma Tillerman. All the while they find out there mpother was put in a mental hospital in Boston. The kids have many adventures finding there grandma. They take buses and boats, they befriend many new characters too who protect them and they stay with a circus. They meet a man names Will who looks over them and takes them to their grandmas but he leaves them there for Dicey says they must face it alone. They find there old, mean grandma in a run down farm with a boat in the barn and she refuses to let them stay for good just for the night.Later while grandma is writing a letter to Eurnice she explains to Dicey that she really does want to keep them but she has no money, she likes the freedom she has and she doesnt want to mess them up like the mistakes she made on her own kids that drove them to run away. THe nest couple days though their grandmother seems to have forgotten and takes thme in letting them stay.

1. If your mother left you alone with your three younger siblings in a car in the middle of no where, would you do what Dicey does, would you stay in the car or would you go looking for your mother?

2. If one of your siblings were going to be sent away for mental redardation, which you dont belive she has, owuld you let it happen and seperate your family or would you run away like Dicey?

Being by Kevin Brooks

"Being" by Kevin Brooks is a story about a young boy named Robert Smith. Robert does not know his birth parents, and has been jumping from foster home to foster home his whole life. However, when he goes to the doctor for a routine examination for a stomach ulcer, things get crazy. During the procedure, he wakes up from the anesthesia. He is unable to move or speak, but he can feel pain, see, and hear everything around him. There were numerous doctors in the room and large men with pistols. They were looking into Robert's stomach with disbelief. They talked about how they have never seen such a thing before, and wondered what he was.

Once Robert finally has control of his body, he freaks out. Unaware of what they saw or who they are, he takes a gun and flees. He is not sure what is wrong with him. Throughout the book, there are stolen cars, kidnaps, and even murders as Robert flees from doctors and members of a "secret society."


1. If you were in Robert's position, would you run away from the doctors, or would you trust them to figure out who and what you were?

2. Robert never had anyone in his life who really cared for him or listened to him. How would you cope with having no one?

The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

The Da Vinci Code begins with the death of the Louvre curator, murdered by a man in search of key to the location of the Holy Grail. When the curator's body is found in the pose of the Vitruvian Man, the police call for a professor named Robert Langdon. In describing Langdon, the narrator states, "As someone who had spent his life exploring the hidden interconnectivity of disparate emblems and ideologies, Langdon viewed the world as a web of profoundly intertwined histories and events" (15). However, Langdon is not present to analyze the codes, but because the curator wrote on the museum floor to "find Robert Langdon" in his dying moments.
Sophie Neveu, a cryptographer, appears at the murder scene as well, and she secretly tells Langdon that he is a suspect. She explains that she is the granddaughter of the curator, and she knows that her grandfather meant for Langdon to decipher the code, not that he was the murderer. The two escape the police with the discovery that the keystone is in a safety deposit box. There they find a hand-held vault, locked by a combination and equipped with a vial of vinegar which will dissolve the message if the container is forced open.
Langdon and Neveu visit Langdon's friend, Sir Leigh Teabing, an expert in the Holy Grail. Teabing tells them the legend of the Holy Grail, and his belief that it is the tomb of Jesus Christ's wife rather than a cup. The three of them flee the country in Teabing's plane, in which they discover the combination to open the vault. Inside is another, along with a riddle which leads the group to Westminster Abbey. There, the identity of the man for which the curator's murderer works, the Teacher, is revealed. At gunpoint, Langdon destroys the contents of the vault in front of the Teacher, after secretly removing the message. The police arrive and the Teacher is arrested, and Sophie and Langdon are free to follow the final clues to the guardians of the Holy Grail.

At his home, Teabing tells Sophie and Langdon what he believes the Holy Grail to be, a twist to the common belief. Teabing explains the possibility in saying, "History is always written by the winners. When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books- books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe" (256).
Do you agree with this statement?
How does that change what we should believe?

A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks

Landon Carter is very popular at his school. He and some of his friends decide to pull a prank on a kid at school which puts the kid in the hospital and paralyzed him. He was punished by having to do community service and perform in the school play. He met Jamie Sullivan and asked her to help him with learning his lines for the play. They spent a lot of time together and eventually started to have feelings for each other. Jamie had a secret that she knew she had to tell Landon. She told him that she had cancer and the medicine didn't work anymore. Landon was crushed and didn't know what to do but he started spending all his time with Jamie. Eventually he asked her to marry him so they could spend the rest of their time together and that was what she really wanted. Later on she died and Landon went to medical school because Jamie wanted him to be successful in life. He still went to see Jamie's father to talk and stay in contact.

1. If you were in love and you knew the person you were in love with was dying, would you marry them even though you know they don't have much time left and know that's what they wanted?

2. Do you think it is possible for someone to change so quickly like Landon did? He went from being someone that didn't care what they did to other people to someone that loved one person and would do anything for them.

The Ghosts of Ashbury High

Amelia and Riley are two new students attending Ashbury High School. They are seniors. Their fellow charcters and notoriously rich kids emily, lydia, toby and others are in their close circle of friends. Emily and Lydia are absolutely head over heals obsessed with the new couple attending their school. Riley and Amelia are super smart and super fast swimmers. Emily becomes very spooked by the Art Rooms(which used to be dorm rooms bakc when the school was a boarding school). She is absolutely certain a ghost is living there and it is picking on her. Signs of this include : orange peels left behind by the ghost, only emily getting goose bumps, etc.
1. Do you believe in ghosts?
2. What draws the line for you between ghosts and paranormal activity? whats the difference?

Ender’s Game by Orsen Scott Card

Ender’s Game is, on the surface, the story of how one six year old boy named Ender came to win the greatest war ever fought by humankind. Ender is born into a world that is shaped by the First and Second Invasions, the times when an alien race (called “buggers” by the characters) attacked the Earth, with superior weapons and far greater numbers. Earth was only saved from destruction when a commander named Mazer Rackham used a brilliant strategy to kill a pivotal leader of theirs, and ended the war. Now humanity is preparing to end the threat posed by the buggers once and for all, by finding a commander capable of the kind of strategic thinking that allowed Rackham’s victory. They turn to the Wiggins family, where first Peter is born. Peter, they quickly learn, is mostly devoid of compassion and desires control more than anything else. Valentine, the second, is incredibly empathetic and seen as too soft. Then Ender, the third child is born. He combines the better traits of his siblings and goes to Battle School, where children are taught to fight in space and lead armies. Ender is isolated and treated differently from the first day, by the officers that purposefully make his peers dislike him. Whenever Ender finally becomes accustomed to his situations, they advance him in the army so that he must start again. Although he makes friends along the way, he is never able to depend upon the trust of others. Life in the Battle School is centered on the “games” played by the armies of children, when they face each other in mock combat. Ender, by far the youngest commander of an army, has the odds increasingly stacked against him by General Graff and Admiral Anderson, the leaders of the school. Although Ender is aware that they are purposefully pushing him to his limits, he perseveres and becomes the brilliant soldier that they were hoping for. He is then sent to Commander School, where he is worked day and night in running a “simulation game” where he controls an army of ships facing programmed buggers. His mind begins to break from the stress and work he is put through, but he still makes it through to what the adults around him call his Final Exam. He faces impossible odds- he is outnumbered a thousand to one in this simulation. Ender does manage to end the game though, by destroying the planet the enemy ships were protecting- he does this out of defiance for all of the “games” he has been forced to play in his life, as he believes that destroying a planet will not be an acceptable strategy, and he will finally fail, to be sent home. However, Graff reveals to him shortly afterwards that the “games” he has been playing through the simulation were all real- Ender himself led the Third Invasion, and obliterated the buggers and their home.

1) The novel deals heavily with the morality behind “the ends justify the means.” The leaders of the military push children to their breaking points in hopes of finding one capable of Rackham’s brilliance, and then manipulate him into killing an entire race, which rests heavily on his conscience. General Graff says, "Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something. Maybe humanity needs me—to find out what you're good for. We might both do despicable things, Ender, but if humankind survives, then we were good tools” (131), as a way of justifying his actions. It was later shown that we were at war simply because humans and buggers could not communicate, and both thought the other was hostile. Do you think that the military had the right to use children as they did?
2) Ender, throughout the novel, commits some horrible crimes. While only six and still on Earth, he was confronted by a pack of bullies who wanted to hurt him for being smarter than them. He managed to break the leader’s nose, and saw that he could have walked away then as the others tended to his nose. However, he continued attacking the boy because he knew that unless he won decisively, his torment at their hands would never end. Much the same thing happened years later, except with much older children who intended to kill Ender. It is later revealed that although Ender did not know at the time, he killed the two boys. Ender says “In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him. I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves” (204). Ender sees himself as a killer, and hates himself for it- he worries that he is like his sadistic older brother. Do you think that these actions make Ender a bad person, or do you see it as justified because he was defending himself?

Conrad's Fate ~Diana Wynne Jones

Conrad's Fate is about a young boy named Conrad, who is told by his miserly that he has bad karma. Conrad's Uncle Alfred tells him that someone at the nearby mansion, Stallery, is the reason for Conrad's bad karma. Uncle Alfred tells Conrad that he was supposed to kill this person in a previous life, so in order to have good karma again, Conrad must kill this person, thus reversing the karma. Therefore, Conrad leaves school, instead of going to upper school, to get a job at Stallery. He is told by the mayor, who has magical abilities, that once he is there, "The person he needs will say or do something...and he'll know" (38). Conrad and another boy his age, Christopher, are both given the job of Improvers. They are being trained to be butlers at Stallery, so for the time they are both staying at Stallery.
As time progresses, Conrad cannot seem to find the person he was sent to look for. Conrad confides in Christopher that he has bad karma, in hopes that Christopher will help him look for the person. Christopher dismisses Conrad's karma, saying that Conrad does not have any bad karma. He claims that he can sense no bad karma on Conrad. Although Christopher admits that there is something bad going on at Stallery, but he will not say what. Then Conrad notices Christopher sneaking out at night and catches him in the act. Conrad sneaks after Christopher to confront him, but when he catches up, something shakes the entire building. When the shaking stops, they are no longer in Stallery, they are on the roof of another decrepit building. Christopher and Conrad then devise that the shift was caused by the quaking from moments before and that the shaking was not natural. While they are trying to find their way back, Christopher explains that his friend Millie had gotten lost somewhere near Stallery and that the shift must be why he could not find her.
After the two get back, there are more shifts, but they do not get transported each time. They find that only one place in Stallery is where the shifts are the strongest, which was why they ended up somewhere else. After searching all of Stallery, they find the machine causing the shifts in the wine cellar. The shifts are being caused by Mr. Amos to shift the "probabilities" into more profitable chances.
The shifts are getting more frequent every day and Millie is nowhere to be found. At this point, Christopher is tired of waiting and wants to fake sick in order to get out of work, so he can look for Millie during the daytime. He tells Conrad, "Cover up for me...by saying I'm ill. Pretend I'm up here covered in green and yellow spots" (227). This leaves Conrad with double the work and he often gets blamed for the results of the shifts, which often move chairs or change foods. After days, Christopher has not returned at all, which leaves Conrad to wonder if Christopher got stuck in one of the other probabilities. He has to decide if he should go off to bring Christopher back, or stay at Stallery and not get into trouble.

1. If you had a friend that was lost in another world, would you go after them, even if it was very risky to yourself? Or would you leave them to find their own way back?
2. If you had the ability to change the "probabilities" of the world to your favor, would you do it?

Small Steps

The novel "Small Steps" written by Louis Sachar is the sequel to his previous novel "Holes". It tells of the life that a camp member at Camp Green Lake detention center mentioned in "Holes" named Armpit or Theodore. He lives in Texas next door to a little girl named Ginny. She has cerebral palsy. Armpit is trying to make an honest living being a landscaper when X-Ray, his friend from Camp Green Lake, shows up with a money making idea: ticket scalping of a Kaira DeLeon concert. At first he is skeptical of taking part in illegal behavior after his visit at Camp Green Lake, but he is eventually persuaded by X-Ray. Before the day of selling the tickets, Armpit decides to take Ginny to the concert because she is a big fan of Kaira. X-Ray gives them two tickets, but it turns out that they were fake copies. Armpit is arrested at the concert but he is saved by the mayor whom he did landscaping for. Kaira DeLeon invites them for a backstage experience because of the incident. From the beginning there is an immediate spark between Armpit and Kaira. His opinion of her changes from being,"Kind of sassy and playful...," to respect for her daily concerns and difficulties (15). Between them they will go through their ups and downs and even a life threatening situation. Sachar takes us on an amazing journey with the two people from two different worlds and their love for each other.

1. Do you think that one should take some small steps to reach his or her goal and take big steps when they readily become available or always take small steps or always big steps? Why?

The Last Lecture

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch is the last bit of wisdom that the engineer Pausch wants to leave for the world to see. He was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and sometimes professors would give "last lectures" and talk about what kind of wisdom they would impart upon the world if it was their last day. When Randy, father of three and faithful husband, learned he had terminal cancer, he decided he would do a real last lecture. He actually knows that his days are numbered and it makes the Last Lecture all the more intruiging. He starts with talking about childhood dreams. As a kid he said he always had very specific things he wanted to accomplish before he died. He accomplished all of the things on his list and he wanted to tell the world that people should really try to achieve their childhood dreams, because they make life all the more wonderful. He then talks a little about his life, and how living as a staunch optimist really helped him through the years. A good piece of advice he gives is that obstacles are only put in our way so we can show how much we want it. the book goes into a section about how it is as important to help others achieve their childhood dreams as is it to achieve your own, and little will feel as good. He later discusses all these tactics for living your life to the fullest and getting what you want from it. At the end he reveals that the reason he gave this lecture and went so in detail about his life was to give his kids a decent understanding of him after he passes away.
1. If you knew you only had a few months to live, what would you do?
2.What do you feel is more important, achieve your own dreams or helping others do the same?

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks

John Tyree is a staff sergeant in the Army Special Forces. While he is on leave during spring break, he meets a girl at the beach named Savannah Lynn Curtis. He is walking along the beach when he sees that Savannah dropped her bag over the edge of the dock and John ran in the water to get it for her. They meet and over the two week period while he is home, they fall in love. Savannah takes John back to her house for a barbeque where he meets her family and friends. He meets Tim Wheddon and his son Alan, who has autism. Savannah meets John's father where she finds out that they do not have a close relationship because his father is only interested in his coin collection. Savannah mentions to John that Tim may have autism like Alan. John gets upset over her assumption and they get into a fight. In the process of their fight, John accidentally punches Tim. John feels bad and apologizes. Savannah and John make up. John's leave is up so he must go back to enlist in the army. They begin to have a long-disance relationship through letters. John was planning on leaving the army but when 9-11 occured, he re-enlisted. Over the next two years, they correspond through letters. One letter John recieves informed him that Savannah has been engaged to someone else. John is deeply depressed by her news. John soon after is informed that his father has had a stroke. He returns home and goes to the hospital where he found that his father has died. He goes to visit Savannah where he finds that Savannah has married Tim and that Tim has cancer. He is informed that Tim is confined in a hospital where he is in need of an experimental drug but they can not afford it. John goes to visit Tim in the hospital where Tim tells him that Savannah is still in love him John but Tim is happy that there is someone to take care of his son, Alan. John sells his father's coin collection and puts the money toward financing Tim's drug. The generous donati0n saved Tim. John and Savannah meet again when she goes out on her farm to look at the moon to remember all the moments she has spent with John.
1. Do you think two people could fall in love in two weeks?
2. If John would have been home, do you think he could have saved his father from dying?