STHS Media 1_Reading

When Broken Glass Floats - Chanrithy Him When Broken Glass Floats is a true story and the recollection of events that happened during the Cambodian genocide. Chanrithy Him was only a child when the war came upon her home, and at eleven years old, she's lost most of her family to the Khemer Rouge. Her mother is in the hospital, dying, her baby brother is sick, and her three older sisters are in forced labor camps far away, risking their lives to sneak tiny amounts of food to her and her starving brother. Her father, brothers and other sister have all died, either by illness or by the hands of the Khemer Rouge. "'The Khemer Rouge threw your mom in a well... and she was alive,' sputters the girl, her sharp eyes looking into mine. Her words sink in. No! The core of my soul screams out from a deep hidden place... the pain of losing Mak comes fiercely, without respite. It lingers inside me, lodged like a root. How much will I cry when Mak dies? Now I know." Athy...

Little Women - Lousia May Alcott With the new Little Women movie coming out on December 25th, 2019, I've picked up the book again for a last read-through before I see the movie. It's a classic story, four sisters and the way they grow up and apart - but also stay close all the while. Each has her own preferences, hobbies and battles to fight, but they're closer than ever in the midst of hardship. With their father deployed to fight in the Civil War and their mother constantly worried for him, the four March girls must learn how to stay together and be humble.  On Christmas morning at the beginning of the book, Ms. March came inside to tell her four daughters that there was a poor woman - Ms. Hummel - who had a lot of children and a baby that were cold, hungry and sick. Although the girls were hungry from waiting, they offered to give their breakfast to the poor family and spent their Christmas morning helping someone else.  Throughout the book, the girls, espec...

Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë Jane is a young orphan living with her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her cousins John, Eliza and Georgiana at their home in Gateshead Hall. Jane's cousins and aunt live richly with good clothes and food, but Jane is treated less than a servant, is blamed for misfortunes around the house, and is often punished by being locked in the Red Room overnights. This punishment is especially severe for Jane as a child because the Red Room was her uncle's bedroom, and he died in the bed in the room. Jane is afraid of spending nights there as she believes that his ghost is displeased with her actions and is out to get her. Although she is afraid, Jane's strong imagination helps her turn some situations into a nicer, more fanciful situation. "...I had to cross in front of the looking-glass; my fascinated glance involuntarily explored the depth it revealed. All looked colder and darker in that visionary hollow than in reality: and the strange little figure t...