The book that I recently finished was Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. The book takes place during World War II in Denmark and follows a young girl named Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen. Ellen and her family are Jewish and have to escape Denmark. So the Johansen family, with a little help, take on the task of helping the Rosens escape to Sweden. Prompt: looking closely at character's actions, the setting, plot events, and/or the conflict, identify clues that are written by the author to help teach you (the reader) a message about life or human nature. The theme that is best represented throughout Number the Stars is bravery and I think that the conflict and the character's actions really help show it. This is taking place during World War II, and all of the Jewish families of Denmark are being "relocated". Ellen's family is Jewish. Annemarie and her family do as much as they can to prevent "relocation" from happening to the Rosens. One example of bravery is near the end of the book. Mr. Rosen is given a very important package that he is supposed to deliver to Annemarie's Uncle Henrik (whom they were staying with at the time). Unfortunately, Ellen's father unknowingly dropped the package on his way out the door, and it was left by the side of the house all night. Annemarie noticed the package the next morning and knew that it was extremely important, so she rushed to get it to Uncle Henrik, even though she knew that she would probably be stopped by soldiers and would have to explain everything. And that is exactly what happened. The soldiers stopped her and asked to search the basket she was carrying to try and conceal the package. She was brave and pretended to be a stupid little girl who didn't know anything about what was happening. The soldiers believed her and, after a long questioning and the destroying of Henrik's decoy lunch, she was able to get the package to her uncle. And since she was able to get the package to Henrik soon enough, Ellen and her family all got to Sweden safely. I commented on Amelia's Blog, Yazmin's Blog, and Ethan's Blog.
So far in the 40 Book Challenge, I have read six books. I am Malala by Malala Yousafzai, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis, The Underground Railroad Diary of Julia May Jackson by Karleen Bradford, Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, and Number the Stars by Luis Lowry. Through the 40 Book Challenge, I have learned that I really like Historical Fiction. I have read three historical fiction books so far: Bud, Not Buddy, The Underground Railroad Diary of Julia May Jackson, and Number the Stars. This quarter, I want to read at least seven more books, and finish one or two more categories. This quarter, I learned that there is a lot more violence in the world than I thought there was. The war in Syria, mass shootings in Oregon, Virginia, Colorado, South Carolina, Arizona, and that's just a few of them. I learned that people still think that having more guns will protect them, even after seeing all of these mass shootings. They still can't see that guns are the things that are killing people, not protecting them. This quarter, I have significantly improved on time management. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't used to having as much homework, and getting things done and turned in on time was difficult. But, over the quarter, I have learned how to manage my time wisely, so that everything gets done on time, and I still, usually, have time for fun things.
One example of bravery is near the end of the book. Mr. Rosen is given a very important package that he is supposed to deliver to Annemarie's Uncle Henrik (whom they were staying with at the time). Unfortunately, Ellen's father unknowingly dropped the package on his way out the door, and it was left by the side of the house all night. Annemarie noticed the package the next morning and knew that it was extremely important, so she rushed to get it to Uncle Henrik, even though she knew that she would probably be stopped by soldiers and would have to explain everything. And that is exactly what happened. The soldiers stopped her and asked to search the basket she was carrying to try and conceal the package. She was brave and pretended to be a stupid little girl who didn't know anything about what was happening. The soldiers believed her and, after a long questioning and the destroying of Henrik's decoy lunch, she was able to get the package to her uncle. And since she was able to get the package to Henrik soon enough, Ellen and her family all got to Sweden safely. 
