Fallen Angels

Fallen Angels is a fictional story about the Vietnam War by Walter Dean Myers. The story centers around 17 year old Richie Perry, a

high school graduate from Harlem. Richie is the narrarator and protagonist of the book. His alcoholic single mother cannot afford to send him to college and he joins the army to escape an uncertain future and is sent to Vietnam and during his year there suffers numerous harrowing combat experiences and tries to grapple with the meaning of war, heroism, good and evil. During his time in Vietnam, Richie befriends Harold “Peewee” Gates, a slightly arrogant black man also from Harlem who disguises the horrors of his experiences with comical bravado.
My favorite part of the book was when Peewee leaped out of a helicopter to save Monaco, an Italian squad mate, from certain death. I think this was very brave of Peewee, considering that the helicopter was already taking off when Peewee saved Monaco.
One part that had a huge impact on me was when Lieutenant Carrol, the leader of the squad, was performing a funeral service for Jenkins, another squad mate who had stepped on a mine while out on patrol. Carrol said that Jenkins was a fallen angel because army gets boy as young and as innocent as angels to fight wars. This phrase has stuck with me ever since.

Guadalcanal Diary

Guadalcanal Diary is the diary of Richard Tregaskis, a news correspondent landed with the Marines on the Japanese stronghold of Guadalcanal. Richard’s diary tells the story of the brave Marines who fought and died trying to capture the small but crucial island in one of the most decisive battles of WW2.
My favorite part of the book is........actually, I don’t have a favorite part. I believe that a book should be so well written that a reader’s favorite part should be the whole book. This was certainly the case with Guadalcanal Diary. One part of the book that had a tremendous impact on me was when Richard and another Marine walked up a hill and saw below them hundreds of dead Japanese and Marines. The sight was so horrifying that he threw up on the Marine. This scene really woke me up to the horrors of war.
On the Internet, I found out that Guadalcanal Diary was so well received in the U.S that it is now required reading for all USMC officer candidates because it spoke very highly of the camaraderie amongst the Marines. In 1943, Guadalcanal Diary was made into a movie of the same name.

Characterization

Star Wars: Rogue Planet Characterization
The protagonist I am characterizing from Star Wars: Rogue Planet is Anakin Skywalker because he is a very troubled boy and while reading this book I found many changes in Anakin’s personality. The author of this book is Greg Bear and I’m going to list three personality changes I found in this book. Not all of them are about Anakin.
While facing an avalanche of spikeballs, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin’s master, is rooted to the spot while Anakin takes command and says “These spikeballs aren’t going to hurt us! Whatever you do, Obi-Wan, don’t feel fear!” This shows a personality change because Anakin knows all too well that if he takes command of any situation bad things can happen.
While riding on an air gondola Obi- Wan sensed Anakin’s energy levels were too high and they were way out of his comfort zone. I was bewildered when I read this because I, like many other Star Wars fans thought that Obi-Wan was an adaptable Jedi who could adapt to any situation and in other books he does show this trait, but I had never heard of an “Obi-Wan comfort level” before.
While being chased by a bloodthirsty assassin in a trash tunnel, Anakin clears his thoughts and focuses them on defeating the assassin. This was also startling to me since Anakin’s thoughts are never clear and he relies mainly on Obi-Wan and the Force to guide him on a mission. To me the fact that Anakin got his thoughts under control is incredible considering that there is furious emotional conflict raging inside him.
I enjoy any Star Wars book but Rogue Planet was special and it’s a must read for any Star Wars fan. I find that Anakin’s personality has matured compared to the previous books in the series.

Indonesia Earthquake

This is a post about a terrible earthquake that struck Indonesia's main island of Java. Since Indonesia is smack in the Pacific Ring of Fire earthquakes are no surprise to the residents of Tasikmalaya and Jakarta, the two cities that were hit. But as the death toll continues to grow(38 was the last count), people are thinking that this could be the worst natural disaster to hit Indonesia since the 2004 Aceh tsunami. unlike Typhoon Morokat, this is much more personal since I felt the earthquake myself while waiting for my car to pick me up at school.The reading on the Richter Scale was 7.3.