Prison Break

Prison Break was a TV Series that aired from 2005 to 2008 that became very popular. It consists of 4 seasons with twenty 40-minute episodes each. After eight years, Prison Break will be coming back with another season next year.

Dominic Purcell (left) and Wentworth Miller (right) in the cover of the TV show

The main character in the story is Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller), who's brother Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) is put in the Fox River prison and sentenced to death for killing the President's brother. As Lincoln claims to be innocent, Michael, who is a very smart engineer, designs a plan to take him out ouf jail. He is arrested on purpose and put in Fox River. Once he's there, he meets other prisoners and even makes some friends like his cellmate Sucre (Amaruy Nolasco) who helps him with his plan, and, of course, a couple of enemies. Things don't go according to the plan, but Michael manages to find other ways to take his brother out of prison before he is executed. Meanwhile, he falls in love with Sara (Sarah Callies), the doctor who, in the end, helps them to break out.

But that is only in the first season. Once they escape, their plan is to move to Panama, but the police goes after them and it gets very hard for them to not be caught.

Although it can seem like it is a series about chasing fugitives and running away from the police, there is much more to it. There is a very strong political background. The show criticises all the powerful people who abuse of their power and corrupt politics. Also, it shows the viewer how the Intelligence Agency works and how they secretly, without anyone knowing it, they have a lot of influence in the Government.


Michael trying to figure out how to escape

It is a very interesting TV show that I enjoyed a lot because of its constant plot twists, great characters and funny scenes. Sometimes it can be hard to follow or even boring, because it is easy to get lost with such a complicated argument, but it can also be repetitive at times. In spite of that, I watched it not that long ago, and I had a great time. I enjoyed the funny dialoges and the way Michael thinks and makes plans better than the action scenes.

To sum up, I would say that it is one of the best TV series that I have ever watched, because I had a lot of fun while watching it and it made me think a lot too.

Wonder

Summary

Wonder is a lovely book that explains the story of August, a young boy who was born with a facial deformity which makes him different from the rest of the kids his age. He has never been to schol (his mum used to teach him at home), but now his parents have offered him to give it a try. At first, he doesn't even want to think about it, because he knows that kids will look at him like if he was a monster. In spite of his negative attitude, his mom takes him to school in order to show him the building, meet the principal and some kids. After the visit, August decides to start school in September. As he expected, children can't take their eyes off him, they make fun of his face and talk behind his back. At one point he is about to give up, but somehow he ends up staying strong and feeling happy, with the help of two friends that have been by his side since the first day.

What I loved the most

The thing I loved the most about this book is that it is written from the point of view of different characters, so the reader can get into different people's minds. It starts with August and the way he sees things, then we get to know his sister Via a little more, and that way we can know what numerous characters think about August.

I also loved the way August talks about his desease; he's had to live with it since he was born, but he understands the shocked faces he sees whenever someone looks at him. Also, the fact that he makes fun of his own face at times adds up to this book.

It is very interesting how this novel reflects and, at the same time, criticises the famous quote "Don't judge a book by its cover". On one hand we have the kids that don't approach August because they are either scared or disgusted. On the other hand, the two kids that have stood by him since the first day, Jack and Summer (the boy who was told to be friends with August at first but then decided to stay by his side, and the girl who saw him sitting alone in the canteen and walked towards him to talk to him).

This book also shows the two sides of kids: they can either be very mean about someone's appearance or not care at all.


My personal opinion

I enjoyed this book, not only because it was entertaining and easy to read, but because it made me think. It made me think about how people in general, including me, prejudge other people based on their appearence, which is something we should stop doing. Books like "Wonder" help people see that we are wrong when we think we know everything about someone just by looking at them. There is no doubt society is evolving and we're making huge steps when it comes to being more tolerant and less judging, but that is something a lot of people still have to work on.

As I previously said, it is a very good book, and I would recommend it to everyone who wants to have a good time while reading but at the same time wants to think about the different issues that this book talks about.

Since You've Been Gone

"Since You've Been Gone" by Morgan Matson is a book I recently read that I really liked.



Summary

Emily's best friend Sloane disappears. At first, she's not surprised: it's not the first time Sloane and her parents leave without telling anyone. A week after, she starts worrying: she hasn't replied to any text or call. Emily finds a to-do list that Sloane has left for her full of tasks she wouldn't normally do, but thinks that completing the whole list will bring her best friend back. In this list we can find such things as dancing until the dawn, hugging a Jamie or going skinny-dipping. Emily will do anything to accomplish every task, no matter what it takes, even if (spoiler alert) she has to crash a wedding. But she won't do all of these on her own. She finds herself being friends with people she never thought she'd even talk to: Fank, Collins and Dawn. A very funny adventure with, of course, a love story in between.


The title

I think the title of this book is very important, not only because it might be the reason you buy it, but because in this case, the title (as I see it) goes deeper. "Since You've Been Gone" refers to everything that happens to Emily since Sloane leaves. But to me, that doesn't only mean the fact of crossing things off the list but everything she does a part from that. Emily doesn't only do everything her best friend asked her: she makes new friends, becomes braver, gets a job, and, after all, she has de best summer of her life. I think the author wants to tell us through the sorty that it's okay to be sorrounded by different people sometimes, which doesn't mean you can't have a good time. Matson encourages readers to not be afraid even when things go wrong, because in the end, everything will be okay.


Quotes

This book has some really interesting quotes that I really liked, so that's why I'd like to share them:

• "I was realizing that it was pretty terrible to be sitting in silence with someone who you always used to have something to say to" 
• "I don't think you have to do something so big to be brave. And it's the little things that are harder anyway" 
• "It just gets hard, being someone's second choice"
• "Real friends are the ones you can count on no matter what. The ones who go into the forest and bring you home. And real friends never have to tell you that they're your friends"

My favourite part

My favourite part of the book was the moment Emily met Frank and Collins.

Emily was ready to start crossing things off the list. She was about to go out to 55 Stanwich Avenue and ask for Mona, as the list said (which would lead to her having a job at an ice cream shop) when her brother Beckett asked if she could take him to Indoor X-treme, a place where he would climb ropes, play paintball and ride bikes. She drove him there and went in with him to make sure he was fine. She took her eyes off him for a moment and when she looked back, he had climbed a wall without a harness, which made Frank and Collins, two boys that worked there, climb the wall too to make sure he was okay. Emily knew them both but she had never talked to them. After apologising for her brother's behaviour, they left. That same night, the three casually met again at a party and, somehow, that was the beggining of a very nice friendship with them that would, with the time, become a love story with Frank.