Most Memorable Works

These are in no particular order…

The Confessions of a Shopaholic series by Sophie Kinsella

These are the type of book that I can read a hundred times and never tire of; they make me laugh.

The Princess Diaries series by Meg Cabot

One cannot help but become engrossed in the tale of a modern-day princess who, regardless of her royal status, battles strong insecurities that leave her unable to feel that she is equal to her peers. Of course, it also features a legion of humorous and embarrassing moments to laugh out loud at.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

Whenever anyone asks me what my favorite book is, this title is what I respond with. Although it may not still be my absolute favorite book, it is the last “favorite book” I remember having (this was in the fourth grade). A classic fairytale, but not really, it’s more like Cinderella with a plot twist that includes an insane fairy godmother with good intentions who gives a “gift” that’s really a curse, both an evil stepmother and an evil uncle, a talking snake, and trolls.

Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya

This realistic portrayal of today’s India, where people who have everything money can buy live across the street (literally) from people who don not know whether they will have food tomorrow is a bleak, yet realistic account that makes you think…about so many things that I cannot possibly write them all down.

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

By far my favorite school-ordained read, this novel interested me for reasons I cannot put into words. The contrast between the genius son o f a Hasidic rabbi who wants his son to succeed him as rabbi and a Jewish boy whose religious strictures at home are far more lax who actually wants to become a rabbi result in a tumultuous and fascinating relationship.

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

This story is the most emotionally touching one I have read in a long time. It is centered on a young girl whose mother was possibly murdered by her father, whose father is physically abusive, and whose best friend is her African maid. Without her father’s knowledge the girl and her maid escape to, what for them, is a refuge. What they find is that no matter where they go, no place will ever be their utopia.

The Wizard of Oz series by L. Frank Baum

I have read all fourteen of these novels at least twice because they are so dramatically captivating. Baum writing style leaves no reader behind during his many different journeys though Oz.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe series by C. S. Lewis

Like with the Wizard of Oz series, these novels are enthralling and simply must be read.

Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild

This inspiring story about three orphaned girls who are determined to “put [their] names in history books]” without having any of their credit go to men (as was common in the time, 1936), proceed to do so. When I read it as a child, it reinforced in my mind the idea that I could do and be anything I wanted to.

The Odyssey by Homer

After spending a month reading this with Dr. Allison, this epic is honestly impossible to forget.

Oedipus Rex

Truly one of the most tragic tragedies I’ve ever read.

“War is Kind” by Stephen Crane

A unique and sarcastic message from the battlefront (580)

Summer Reading 2010

The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon

Emma by Jane Austen

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Act of Treason by Vince Flynn

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

Little White Lies by Gemma Townley

The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

Twenties Girl by Sophia Kinsella

The Gatecrasher by Madeline Wickham                              

…and other novels whose titles I have embarrassingly forgotten… (77)

The Curious Case of Autism

The novel that resounded most deeply with me this summer is surely The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Although I hadn’t realized it before I began reading the text, it was about autism. Its topic made it so significant to me because I began the novel while I was in India volunteering at Sandeepani, a school primarily for autistic children. Even though I had volunteered at the institution the previous summer as well, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time gave me an in-depth voyage into the inner workings of the mind of an autistic child and allowed me to better comprehend the actions and overall behaviors of the children I taught each day. Haddon’s remarkable insight into the thought processes of an autistic mind − as they are clearly not all the same − enlightened me as to how the students in my class understood and associated with their surroundings and the education I was attempting to imbue them with. For instance, Haddon’s description of Christopher’s relegation of yellow and brown as conforms to his own and unique logic exemplifies how autistic children form likes and dislikes (83). His aside about wood (84), which goes off into a mini-tangent regarding why he believes wood is bad includes myriad random facts. I have noticed that the hoarding of facts can be significant to autistic people as many find that fact that they are facts comforting as they − in their minds −cannot be changed. Other things that many of them find reassuring are lists, plans or action, and promises. Haddon’s scrupulous research paid off as he shows Christopher’s attention to detail and his grasp of only the precise and not the implied. When Ed makes Christopher “promise about five things,” Christopher promises those and only those five things. He promises, for example, not to mention Mr. Shears’s name inside their house, and so he doesn’t; however, he does not comprehend the implied meaning, which is that he is not to go on mentioning Mr. Shears any more at all, and so he asks Mrs. Shears about him. This is very typical of autistic behavior; at the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center, I learned that when impacted children are given very precisely worded directions regarding what they must proceed to do, plans tend to go off without a hitch, however, the slightest slip of the tongue can send a completely different message to the child and proceed to cause a great deal of anxiety and frustration for the child when he or she is faced with what they did wrong according to the non-impacted mind. Haddon meticulously conveys the emotions, thought processes, and mind blocks of an autistic child with unerring accuracy in his brilliant novel. (463)