Book Review #4 Heroes Don't Run, A Novel of the Pacific War

I got this picture at: thebookdepository.com

          Heroes Don't Run, A Novel of the Pacific War, by Harry Mazer, is a novel about a boy named Adam Pelko. Adam was 14 years old when the Japanese took his father's life in Pearl Harbor. The Japanese took his father's life, and ever since then, he has wanted to join the military and avenge his father's death. Three years later, Adam goes to visit his grandfather, an injured World War I veteran, hoping that he would sign his U.S. Marines enlistment papers. At first he would not do it, but being a veteran he gave in. So off Adam went to boot camp, making friendships that continued all the way to Okinawa, which was where the battle was going to take place. There, he made other friends, and soon became a battle hardened marine. Only when an explosion killed one of his friends and left him with shrapnel in his leg, would he return to the states. There he returned to his awaiting mother back in Bakersfield, where he lived before any of this happened.
          The theme in this book is honor. This is because, the reason Adam joined the marines was because he wanted to honor his father and his death. I found that in chapter five inside his letter he wrote to his mother. Also, his grandfather signed his enlistment papers because he honored his grandson's feelings and judgement. That's why the theme in this book is honor.
          I loved this book! In history for World War II, you typically don't hear as much about the Pacific Theater as much as the European Theater, but this book really shed some light on the Pacific Theater, and how brutal it was.
          Being a war novel, I was very impressed on how much it depended on romance and friendship to keep it's readers drawn in. Having said this, I recommend this book to anyone. It was amazing.
          Later, as I was looking through the back of the book, I discorvered a list of two other books by Harry Mazer. Courious, I looked into them and found out that this one and the other two are in a series about Adam Pelko, and the war. This book is actually the third one. The first one is titled , "A Boy at War, A Novel of Pearl Harbor". Bits and peices of that book are mentioned in this one. So, if you decide to read them, start on,"A Boy at War, A Novel of Pearl Harbor".

         

This book is the first in the series

I got this picture at: http://www.paperbackswap.com/Boy-War-Harry-Mazer/book/043935207X/

Book Review #3: True Stories of the Second World War

          True Stories of the Second World War, by Paul Dowswell, is a book that has a bunch of stories from World War II. From epic naval encounters between titanic warships, to duels between lone snipers facing certain death, this book has it all. The stories in this book are not just from the allied perspective, but from the the Japanese and German perspective too. One of those is the story Adolf Eichmann and his idea for "the final solution". In each of these stories they follow a certain person, even when there's a story on a big battle.
          The theme in this book is leadership. In every story they follow a leader and tell how they helped the situation. Without leaders in these stories, events could have turned out differently. For example, in the story "Death of a sales girl", they followed Violette Szabo. She was a British spy who changed the course of the war. Without her, the was could have turned out differently. She was a leader, along with all of the people that these stories follow.
          I enjoyed this book very much. I learned so much from it. A lot of the people and events that were talked about, I had never heard of. I would recommend this book to most people. I say most people because a lot of these stories are sad and very tragic. I know some people are prone to not like those kind of stories, so I recommend this book to everybody, but them. I was very happy with this book.
          For the people who want to read this book, I have some favorites in this book. First, I enjoyed the story "...like running through the rain and not getting wet". It was impressive. It is about the Battle of Iwo Jima, 1945. Next, "Cracking Enigma", was about decoding the German Navy's secret code. Lastly, "Stalin's Female Falcons", is about the women in Soviet Air Force, and there efforts throughout the war.


I got this picture at:http://www.paperbackswap.com/True-Stories-Second-Paul-Dowswell/book/0439791278/


Another book by this author: http://www.paperbackswap.com/True-Stories-First-Paul-Dowswell/book/0439932378/


Another book by this author: http://www.paperbackswap.com/True-Stories-Heroes-Paul-Dowswell/book/0794500943/

Don't Block Out Life

          I was sitting in my living room, next to the wood stove. I was looking at my dog, whose bed is against the wall. I looked up, and saw the TV, stereo, and CD collection in the wall. My mom was in one of the two chairs and I was sitting on the couch. To my right was one of the two lamps in my living room. To my left was the kitchen and dining room, which was open jointed to the living room. I got up and went upstairs to my room, picked up my headphones and carried them like fragile eggs. I came back downstairs, sat back down on the couch and looked out the window. I turned on my ipod nano and played Led Zeppelin. They screamed out the music My mom noticed what I'd done and told me to take them off.
          "Sean take off the headphones," my mom said.
          Not being able to hear her, because of the headphones, I noticed that she said something. So, I took one ear of my headphones off and said,"Whud you say?"
          "I said take the headphones off," she said obviously looking annoyed.
          Feeling good, I decided to fight it,"Why?!"
          "Because I said so," she replied quickly. 
          "But I like listening to my headphones," I said in a ceremonious tone.
          "Sean, if you keep this up, you will lose your headphones altogether," she said, trying to lay down the law.
          "MOOOMM!! There's no reason that I need to take them off," I said sharply, and perhaps too sharply.
          "Don't use that tone with me, I don't have to have a reason, I'm your mom!" she blared out.
          "So you don't have a reason!!" I said getting really aggravated.
          "No, I do. Do you want to know it?" she replied, putting me in a trap. Because, whether or not I said yes or no, she was going to tell me. Not just tell me, but force it into my brain and imprint it in my memory
          She opened her mouth, and I knew what was comming," The reason I want you to take off your headphone, is because you only live once," she said.
          I looked up, wondering if that was it. Then, I realalized that she was going to continue.
          "You only live once, and you'll never be able to hear it, or enjoy it, if you always have those damm headphones on. You only live once, so go out and enjoy it," she said.
          I felt like I had been shocked! Normaly, she would just rant on about how she's my mother and not to defy her, but this..... this was different. This really spoke to me.
          While taking off my headphones I slowly said,"I'm sorry."
          "Don't be sorry. It's your life, I'm just here to make sure you don't screw it up while I'm raising you," she said nicely, noticing how I reacted.
          "OK, I never thought about it like that," I said.
          "Well, now you do. Now, go and finish your homework and head to bed, it's getting late and you're swimming in the morning," she said.
          "Yep, I am," I added.
          "Good night," I said, while I walked upstairs.
          "Night," she said, as she turned on the news.
          What I learned from this conversation was that maybe music is a good way to block out the noise, but what's the point if you miss the things that are fun in life? Exploring the world, having fun with your friends, and being able to enjoy it, while you got it. After that, I didn't listen to my headphones as much, and I got out a lot more. I have never forgoten what my mom taught me that day.



I got this picture at: http://head-phones.findthebest.com/l/48/Skullcandy-G-I-Series