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The Golden Compass: Book Review (Uziel Beltrán)

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  Book Review      The Golden Compass (1996) by Philip Pullman tells the story of Lyra Belacqua, a brave twelve-year-old girl who tries to find her place in a magical world in which daemons are a part of people’s souls. In this journey, the young kid meets many interesting characters and finds out a secret that will change her conception of the world.      Regarding the good points of this novel, the author has managed to maintain tension throughout the plot as well as incorporate a significant number of unique characters successfully.     On the other hand, there is an aspect I consider is worth mentioning. Quite honestly, I do not think this book is very appropriated for children since it presents some tragic events such as the death of some characters but more importantly, the way in which the main characters are portrayed because, at some parts of the story, their moral is corrupted. Therefore, to my way of thinking, that is not a good message for kids.     In short, all thes
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The Witches: Book review (Lilia Araujo)

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 Book review The Witches by Roald Dahl tells the story of a boy and his grandmother, which come to discover the place where witches meet annually. Eventually, they set up a plan to get rid of the witches of that place, and later all the witches in the United Kingdom. Focusing on its good points, since it included images and a not-so-complicated vocabulary, it was easy to follow and understand. Additionally, one could somewhat relate to the character’s way of reacting and speaking, enhancing the reading experience as a whole. Regarding what I did not like that much, I would definitely mention how the story ends. Taking into consideration that it is a children’s story, and even when the genre is “dark fantasy”, I would have imagined a happier ending where the boy becomes human again instead of remaining a mouse.  Still, despite its pros and cons, I really enjoyed reading it, and I think it was a nice story that managed to catch the reader’s attention, regardless of age. Probably because
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The picture of Dorian Gray: book review (Yuli Coronado)

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 The picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890) Book review  The picture of Dorian Gray is a philosophical gothic novel written by the Irish author Oscar Wilde in 1890.  The story is set in London, England in the 19th century. Everything begins with the painter Basil Hallward introducing Dorian Gray to his aristocrat friend, Lord Henry Wotton. After that meeting, the young man comprehended why he had been envied by others, his physical beauty. Since then, he saved the manifestation of this truth, Hallward’s portrait of Gray. Later on, his love for a young actress came to an end when his arrogance provoked her death. Therefore, over time, Gray’s narcissism did not cease and when he made the decision of destroying the painting due to his harmful lifestyle, he died. His portrait became his own despicable soul.  In this novel, what is really enjoyable is Wilde’s narrative to create really authentic characters. Their conversations in each chapter are captivating and the intentions they sh
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The Golden Compass (Uziel Beltrán)

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  Reading Report 3 Lyra knows that she cannot win this battle against the Gobblers just by her own. Therefore, she manages to meet John Faa, the Lord of the Gyptians, who is also aware of the numerous kidnappings that have been taking place in that time. Additionally, the girl meets Iorek Byrnison, a very powerful polar bear, who is forced to work for the townspeople as a goldsmith. Fortunately, the bear agrees to help Lyra and the Gyptians to find the missing children only on the condition that they tell him where his armour is. Now, the young girl can see that an armour is as important for bears as a daemon is for humans. A few days later, Lyra receives a strange message from the alethiometer, which says that there is a ghost near the village. Even though the brave girl is not sure what that message means, she has a strong hunch that she must go there and find that ghost. Therefore, the young girl insists Iorek on taking her to the place this spirit is. Unfortunately, this ghost
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The picture of Dorian Gray (Yuli Coronado)

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  Reading report 3  New characters Mr. Ashton: Dorian Gray’s acquaintance. He was a merchant whose work was to create frame-markers in South Audley Street in London.  Mrs. Leaf: Dorian’s housekeeper. He had worked for his family before he was born. Summary from Chapters 8 to 13. Days passed after Sibyl’s death when Dorian was having a conversation with Hallward in his residence. They were talking about his fiancée's tragedy. He highlighted he did not experience immense suffering. As he reacted  the day he received the news of her death, he acted similarly when talking to Hallward.  However he wanted something to remember her besides the experiences he lived with Sibyl. Thus, he suggested to Basil to make a drawing of her. He accepted, but he wanted to see the portrait he had painted. Unfortunately, Dorian did want to. He was ashamed of what had happened to his portrait. Minutes later he finally decided to show the picture. Hallward was astonished. The painting had changed. Dorian’s
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The Witches (Lilia Araujo)

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Reading Report 3 Bruno and the boy managed to arrive at Grandma’s room. Though they scared her, she remained calm somehow for the first minutes. But then, she broke into tears and the boy explained to her what had happened.  Next, he remembered that The Grand High Witch was staying at room 454, which might have been right below theirs and so, he proposed entering from the balcony. They went to check and, to their surprise, it actually was below theirs! He entered the room and was about the escape with one of the mouse-maker bottles, but then the door burst open. Thankfully, by the time the other witches arrived to get their bottles, he saw a chance and escaped.  Later, while knowing that the witches were going to have supper, Grandma and he started plotting something to sprinkle the mouse-maker all over their food. So, what the boy was going to do was enter the kitchen, wait and listen to find out which pot had the witches’ soup, and all this while learning how to use his tail. Luckily
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The picture of Dorian Gray (Yuli Coronado)

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The picture of Dorian Gray (Yuli Coronado) Reading report 2.  Brief description of the new characters that have been incorporated to the novel: Sibyl Vane: Theater actress and Doria Gray's fiancée who suffers a tragedy when he realized that she had changed since she noticed how reality was. Victoria Wotton: Lord Henry's wife who is devoted to the church and has not fall in love with his husband. She stills married to him because of social and economical interests. Summary from Chapters 3 to 7: After Basil had introduced Dorian Gray to Lord Henry, Gray started to spend more time with him. Then, one day that he was waiting for the aristocrat man in his own residence, Lord Henry’s wife arrived and felt stupefied that Dorian was in her mansion. She did not overreact to his presence. She already knew who was him . Lord Henry had got several photos of him in the living room. Thus, she decided to introduce herself and, while they were discussing the art of music, her husband a
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