Little Brother by Cory Doctrow (revised version)

            I have just recently finished reading a book called little brother by Cory Doctrow. This amazing book takes place in the modern day world, and zooms into the life of an eighteen year old boy named Marcus Yallow who really loves technology, mainly computers. A massive terrorist bombing had just taken place in San Francisco, where Marcus lives. And now Marcus’ home has been turned into a police state, where every checkpoint is patrolled and where every citizen is tagged, and watched over by the department of homeland security (DHS). Marcus however, does not like this, and uses his vast knowledge of technology and computers to create a secret organization and fight back against the DHS. 

            One question that continuously comes up in this book is “when does our government stop working for us?” also, “when is it right to overthrow our government and establish a new one?” While I was reading this book, I pondered on these questions a lot. In my opinion, the government would stop working for us when the decisions they make no longer benefit us, but instead harm us. That is also when we would have to overthrow them, and establish a new government based on modern day thinking and necessities. After all, we are a democracy. I sound a lot like the character when I say that the government works for us, we don’t work for them. We pay their salaries, and we should get a better country because of it. This also kind of ties in with what is happening in Egypt. The Egyptian people don’t like their current leader, so they’re overthrowing him. They dont like the way he is runnig the country. They feel that it is their country, and they have to try and take it back from the evil dictator who is ignoring the wants of the people.

            While reading this book, i have been affected greatly. one way i have been affected is that this book has changed the way i now think of our government. Before, i used to be just an obedient little american who would've always done what the government asked of me. But now i realize why our country became a democracy. Not just because we wanted more say in our government but also because we can think of needs and wants that the president or mayor cant think of. sure the president or mayor is more educated on our sountry, and economics and stuff, but they arent perfect, and they cant think of everything. It is our job to aid them in making the decisions that will affect our nation.

           Another way that this book has affected me is that it has gotten me greatly interested in computers. And after finishing this book, i became really interested in computer language. I followed mr.doctrows advice and starteD with a basic language such as python. then i movd on to blitzbasic which is another computer language. i have made  2 programs already with blitzbasic, and am working on more.

            I am really enjoyed reading this book , and recommend it to everyone else. Not only does Cory Doctrow delve into political views, but along the way shares his vast knowledge of computers, and crypto terminology.

Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer

                I have just recently finished reading a great book called Eighth Grade Bites by Heather Brewer. It’s the first of 5 books in the series “The Chronicles of Vladimir Todd”. This book is mainly about a teenage vampire named Vladimir Todd who tries to fit in as an average everyday human. In it Vlad narrates his days at middle school and has a band of vampires after him to make him pay for the sins of his deceased vampire father. There are many other things that go on in this book but you will have to read it to see what.

                During the course of this fast paced book, there were many themes that are put in play. One of the many themes would be secrecy. This is because his aunt Nelly (who is also his caretaker) refuses to tell him of the sins his father committed against his brethren. She tries to hide from him his fathers past secrets. She tells him that some things are better not known about his father.

                I agree with his caretaker, Aunt Nelly about that. Because, she also went on to explain how she once had a dog, but her Father killed it, and now every memory she had of him is now soured by that memory. This made me realize that maybe not everyone is we think they are. Everyone has a little evil in them, but it’s better for us not to know about that evil side, because we will always dwell on it. We humans only want to know about the good in people.

Holes - by louis sachar

             I’ve recently started reading this great book called Holes by Louis Sachar. Basically what happens in this book is that a boy named Stanley yelnats (who is very poor by the way) is arrested for supposedly stealing a pair of sneakers from an orphanage. Now, Stanley is actually innocent, but the judge does not believe this and so sentences him 16 months hard Labour at camp green lake. Stanley finds camp green lake terrible, you have to dig holes every day to build character, and it’s in the middle of a hot, barren land.

            While reading this book, (even though I haven’t gotten very far yet) I started thinking about the justice system in Stanley’s world. It wasn’t very fair, Stanley told the judge the truth, but the judge just wouldn’t believe it about the justice system in our society, and wonder if it is fair or not. To me personally, Stanley was only in the wrong place at the wrong time. This eventually led me to think I guess its fair enough, you do a crime, and then you sit in a cold barred cell, thinking about what you’ve done. Not too unfair, as the saying goes... “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”.       

little brother (by cory doctrow)

              I have just recently started reading a book called little brother by Cory Doctrow. This amazing book takes place in the modern day world, and zooms into the life of an eighteen year old boy named Marcus Yallow who really loves technology, mainly computers. A massive terrorist bombing had just taken place in San Francisco, where Marcus lives. And now Marcus’ home has been turned into a police state, where every checkpoint is patrolled and where every citizen is tagged, and watched over by the department of homeland security (DHS). Marcus however, does not like this, and uses his vast knowledge of technology and computers to create a secret organization and fight back against the DHS. 

            One question that continuously comes up in this book is “when does our government stop working for us?” also, “when is it right to overthrow our government and establish a new one?” While I was reading this book, I pondered on these questions a lot. In my opinion, the government would stop working for us when the decisions they make no longer benefit us, but instead harm us. That is also when we would have to overthrow them, and establish a new government based on modern day thinking and necessities. After all, we are a democracy. I sound a lot like the character when I say that the government works for us, we don’t work for them. We pay their salaries, and we should get a better country because of it. This also kind of ties in with what is happening in Egypt. The Egyptian people don’t like their current leader, so they’re overthrowing him.

            I am really enjoying this book so far, and recommend it too everyone else. Not only does Cory Doctrow delve into political views, but along the way shares his vast knowledge of computers, and crypto terminology.