Book Report: LITTLE WOMEN

This book is called, ‘LITTLE WOMEN’ written by Louisa May Alcott. It is about the lives of four girls living in poverty and how they grow up. Their names are Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy. Each with their own different personality, they lead a very hard life. Their mum (Marmie) and housekeeper (Hannah) both live with the four girls while their father is away at war. Amy is the youngest and the sassiest one, Beth is the second youngest and the quietest, Jo is the second oldest and sportiest and Meg is the oldest and most romantic. They each encounter many experiences, which better their personalities. First, Beth who is the best in music, impresses their neighbour by playing on their Grand Piano for him. Laurie’s (the neighbour) grandfather, Mr. Laurence, hears the first few notes and is impressed. Beth’s sisters urge her to play to Mr. Laurence and she finally does. From then onwards, Beth and Laurie’s grandfather are great friends. After this, Amy enters the Valley of Humiliation. She buys limes to gain attention and show off in school. She feels very proud of herself. Amy’s enemy tattles on Amy and Amy’s teacher, Mr. Davis, then humiliates Amy, makes her throw the pickled limes into the backyard and delivers many blows with a stick on Amy’s little palm. Amy is outraged and leaves her school ‘forever’ at recess. Her family take her side but Marmie tells Amy calmly that she shouldn’t be conceited. However, not everything is solved. One day, Jo gets angry with Amy for being nosy and Amy gets quite upset. The next day, Jo is looking for her manuscript which she has taken ages to write but realises that Amy has burnt it up. Jo consults Marmie about her hot-temper and takes some advice. Amy and Jo then forgive each other and move on.  Lastly, Meg is embarrassed by going to her rich friend, Anne’s, house where they try to make a fool of her because they give her their clothes and tell lies about her. Meg is in a rage when she realises that Anne’s friends only like her because they believe Anne’s lies. She goes home in embarrassment and confesses what she had experienced. Marmie and Jo tell her to think twice about luxury and not to take chase it. Just then, they get to know that their father is very ill and so Marmie has to go to support him. Later, when father and Marmie come home, all the girls are much more matured and are now, little women.

What I like about the book is:

• My favorite character was Jo because she had a strong personality and was a tomboy. Jo’s life- infact all of the sisters’ lives- consist of experiences from which lessons are learnt and they try their best to fix it. This was one of the things I really liked about the book.
• Louisa May Alcott was trying to show us how life was back in the nineteenth century. One of the main topics depicted in the book was how unfair and differently they treated men and women. Men were allowed to go outside and work but women weren’t and they had to sit at home and sew. They weren’t allowed to be boyish like Jo but they had to do all the housework like how they were expected to do. I feel quite strongly about this so when anyone nowadays is being a bit unfair towards women, I fight back to tell them that it’s not right.
• There were many different lessons I learnt while reading this book. One of the biggest lessons were: out of every bad, comes a good. Some other side lessons were: not to be conceited, which is portrayed best in Amy when she tries to show her limes off. The second one was to try and control your feelings, which is portrayed best in Jo when she consults Marmie about her hot-temper. The third one was not to be too shy because if you are, you may miss out on many opportunities in life. This is portrayed best in Beth and Mr. Laurence as Beth was shy at first but then she overcomes her shyness and builds a strong relationship with Mr. Laurence. And last but not least, you shouldn’t take anything for granted. This is portrayed best in Meg when she wants to live a luxurious life and takes it for granted but then figures out that her friends like her because of false lies.
• Finally.. FUN TIME! Read the book and answer the questions:

1. Laurie and Jo are good friends. True or False?
2. Does Meg marry at the end of the book?
3. Who does Meg marry?
4. What is a little strange about their marriage?
5. What is father’s occupation?

I WOULD RATE THIS BOOK A 9 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING LITTLE WOMEN!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $3.00!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON GUARDIAN BOOKSHOP FOR £7.37!

Book Report: HALF A CHANCE

This book is called, ‘HALF A CHANCE’, written by Cynthia Lord. It is about a girl named Lucy who loves photography. Lucy and her family move to a new house and Lucy tries to take as many pictures of her new house as she can. Her father is a photographer too who goes on many trips to take pictures. Lucy has inherited her father’s love of photography. One day, while collecting a few files for her father, she learns that he is judging a competition and really wants to join. At first, Lucy is hurt because her father didn’t tell her but, she is determined to show her father what she is capable of. There’s one problem though: since Lucy is the daughter of one of the judges, it may seem unfair for her to take pictures because if she wins, people may think it’s her father being lenient. This must have been the reason Lucy is not informed about the competition. So, Lucy takes the help of her new friend, Nate, in order to enter. She uses his name as the participant’s name (with his permission). First, Lucy is only eager to show her father what she can do and possibly win some money to spend on her friends and family. Then, Nate gives her an even bigger reason to enter for the competition: Nate’s grandma wants to hire a boat and sail on the lake once again. Ever since Lucy moved into her new house, Nate and his family have always tried to make her feel at home. Nate becomes quite special to Lucy and she becomes jealous of Nate’s other friend, Megan. In the competition, Lucy has to take many pictures under some topics stated on a paper. For example, there is a category called, ‘Not Yet’ and Lucy has to take a picture of something which she feels means, ‘Not Yet’. Together, Nate and Lucy have fun taking pictures. Their friendship grows stronger and stronger and apart from photography, the two go kayaking in the lake where adorable loons (birds) are found. They put up posters to raise awareness of the baby loons. Meanwhile, Lucy’s father is well away from the situation and thinks Nate is the participant. After finishing all the photos, Lucy’s father judges the competition and Lucy (who is acting as Nate) is a runner up! In the end, Lucy decides to tell the truth and admits that she was the photographer. Her father is quite impressed because of her work, shocked because she was so insistant and worried that Lucy’s hard work would go waste if the other judges disqualified her. However, everything goes well and Lucy and Nate finally get to take Nate’s Grandmother on a boat trip on the lake. Suddenly, Nate goes back home for a while and Lucy is alone with Megan. The two then become great friends and share Nate evenly. Click, click! Lucy the photographer shines through!

What I like about this book:

• I really like that this book is about photography because it is a very unique topic. I haven’t heard of or read many books which are mostly based on, ‘Photography’. I wonder how Cynthia Lord got the idea of this theme for the book? Perhaps, she was a photography enthusiast.
• I really like that Lucy is very passionate about photography and has  the confidence to know that she is good and she can improve although her father never tells her so.
• At the end of the book, there is a slight twist. Nate gets angry with Lucy because she uses a picture he doesn’t want her to use. When the author describes the picture earlier in the book, I felt like I was there, taking the picture and seeing Nate’s grandmother looked fearful and gripping a cup. This picture repeats itself in my brain whenever I think of photography and I hope if and when you read the book, you can picture the photo too.
• When I read the book, I learnt two very good lessons. The first one was to actually embrace people’s talents and to encourage them. I felt as if Lucy’s father was being a little disparaging towards Lucy by not taking much notice of her talent. The second lesson was to share things- such as money-generously. This is portrayed best in Lucy who is willing to use the money on Nate’s grandmother though it is her money that she has earned.
• Finally.. Fun time! Read the book and answer these questions:

1.    What is Nate’s sister’s name?

2.   What is Nate’s dad’s profession?

3.   Do Nate and Lucy ever do anything alone just together? What?

4.   What mountain do they climb?

5.   Which three places are the posters put up?

I WOULD GIVE THIS BOOK A 8 OUT OF 10 RATING!

FIND OUT WHAT I MEAN BY READING, ‘HALF A CHANCE’!

YOU CAN BUY IT HERE ON AMAZON FOR $5.85!