Flowers for Algernon
By Daniel Keyes

This book is about a mentally disabled man named Charlie Gordon. He has an exceptionally low IQ for a man his age. Because Charlie wanted to become smarter, he agreed to participate in a surgery that could raise his IQ. As Charlie goes through his academic incline, he learns about who he was, who he is, and who he will be. I would recommend this book to anyone to AS. There is a little comedy, situations with ones social status, and there is self discovery. As I reading this book, Max told us to looks for symbolism. There was this one object that kept occurring throughout the book. In our book group discussions, I really enjoyed hearing about different opinions on what the symbolism represented. For anyone who wants to read this book, I would highly recommend looking for the reoccurring object and think about what it means. For me, this really added to the book. Over all, I really enjoyed this book.

Freeverse Poetry

Riding on red is
like flying
over glossy water with a rippled reflection
the calming sway inside the wake
pulled apart, yet still connected
in sequence; flash, gone,
alone

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers for Algernon

This book is about a man named Charlie Gordon. He is mentally challenged, and has an IQ of 70. He is very nice and caring, and he agrees to participate in a surgery to boost his intelligence. As his intelligence increases, his emotional levels stay the same. Because Charlie had the surgery, he is being compared, and one might say he is "mirror image" to Algernon. (The most successful "lab rat" for this surgery.) As he is growing, he mentally surpasses his friends, the scientists, and people who he met at the college campus.
So far, this has been a great book. I really like how the story is being told through his progress reports, not as third person or first person. It is told through third person, but through a different perspective. There has been a lot of symbolism in this book, and it is really important. An example would be Algernon.Charlie and Algernon both had the same surgery so there for what ever happens to Algernon, happens to Charlie. I would highly recommend this book to anyone in AS who has not already read it.

13 Gifts

13 Gifts
Wendy Mass

This book has around 330 pages, and a quick read. This is one of those books that I couldn't put down. This is one of my new favorite books for many reasons. To add to the book, she wrote it in first person. Tera is part of a group and gets in trouble for stealling a goat in the principal's office, while trying to make friends. While her parents go on a trip to Madagascar, Tera is sent to live with her aunt, uncle and cousin for the summer. She meets many friends with very strange habits and personalities. While trying to earn money, Tera is sent around town collecting strange items for a strange women. She has help from friends and has to do strange things, but she has a close deadline; her birthday. This is one of my new favorite books for many reasons. Wendy Mass put friendship, adventure, family into this great book. To add to the book, she wrote it in first person.

Olive's Ocean

Olive's Ocean
Kevin Hankes

Normally it is really tragic and scaring for someone when they find out that someone they know is dead. Martha doesn't know this girl very well, but she knows that she could have. Olive didn't really have any friends, nor did she talk much. She was killed by someone in a car who drove off after the accident. When Martha goes to visit her grandmother over summer vacation, Martha learns many things about herself. This book has some suspense and action, mystery, relationships, and self discovery. I would recommend this book to anyone in AS, and it is also a quick read. it is around 218 pages, so it is definitely a one-week book. I would give this book a three or four out of five stars because the plot line was a bit confusing.