Blog 9

I have now read a few books in the Alex Rider series, but Skeleton Key, which I just finished, is my favorite. There were many reasons why I liked it. First, I enjoyed how there were two different mysteries, one at Wimbledon, and one at Skeleton Key, and it kept me thinking if the first was going play a part in the second one. Also I liked how at the end they created the illusion that Alex was killed. Anthony Horowitz had it sound like a guy shot Alex at the end of the chapter. Then, at the beginning of the next chapter, Alan Blunt, Alex's boss says, "We've lost Alex." What really happens as you find out is that the guy shot himself and the boss comment meant that Alex was tired of working for M16. I liked this part because in all of the mystery books I've read that are in a series, the main character never dies because then the series couldn't continue. Considering this I was totally taken by surprise until I realized what had happened. This book was written somewhat like Silverfin, so for those who liked that book I recommend this book. But beware, once you get to the climax, you won't be able to put it down and the climax is basically 3/4 of the book!

Blog #8

Hey, right now I'm in the middle of a book called, "To Give a Boy a Gun." It is about two boys who committed suicide. It is also about the greater issue of depression and suicide nationwide as a whole. It was interesting because in the book there were many quotes from people that had something to do with the two boys. A few of these boy's friends said they would hear the boys talk about revenge, killing, suicide, running away, saying no one would miss them, etc. I am in Health and in our book it says kids that talk about revenge, saying no one would miss them, talking about suicide, etc. are signs that this individual might have thoughts about suicide. I couldn't help but think that if one of these kids had this knowledge that they might have been able to help or even save these boys. Another interesting thing the book has is at the bottom of most of the pages there are facts. Among these are facts like, "15% of high school kids have seen a student with a gun," or "guns kept in houses for safety are 30% more likely to get someone killed than to save someone." This book was interesting because it shows that if the knowledge of this subject was more widely accepted, it might lessen the problem.