In the book  Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick the main character Steven, an average student in middle school who loves to play the drums. He was never that popular and he didn't have many friends. He thought his life couldn't have been worse until he found out his little brother, Jeffrey was diagnosed with leukemia. In the adventures of Stevens life he become more mature and less self-centered.
    Something that showed Steven has matured is when he shaved his head so Jeffrey wasn't the only one bald. This showed his maturity  because he didn't think about what people would say about him being bald. He wasn't being self-centered the only thing that really mattered was that he was doing this for Jeffrey. He didn't shave his head with hesitation he shaved his head with dignity.
    Another way Steven shows his maturity was when he started to do his homework again. Steven has stopped doing his homework when he started to get depressed about Jeffrey's sickness. At first he was kind of being self-centered because he thought his life was miserable when his little brother was in a hospital with a huge needle in his back. Steven was being a horrible brother when he didn't do his homework it showed that he wasn't taking Jeffrey's sickness well and he thought he didn't need counseling. He had no one to talk to which made him more and more depressed and he started not to do homework and failing classes. When Steven started to do his homework again it showed that he wasn't living his dreams where Jeffry didn't have cancer and he started to take the fact that Jeffry needs him as an older brother do help him get better.
    Steven became a  better brother as he got more mature. He started to go with Jeffrey to the hospital and he was always there for him. He wasn't self-centered anymore and he became more optimistic and believed Jeffrey can become healthy again.

It's Kind of a Funny Story
By:Ned Vizzini

     Craig Gilner was an average kid until he was depressed. Before he was depressed he could eat, sleep, and do whatever he wanted. But since he is depressed he couldn't do anything, he couldn't even control himself. In the book It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini Craig has been Depressed and sick for a long time and he really wants to die. He has been doing drugs and drinking because he was really sick until he found the girl of his dreams.
     Craig was not really cool in school and he didn't really have a friend, but he did think that a kid named Aaron in school his best friend. They partied together, they smoked pot together, and they got drunk together, they were basically best friends until Craig got jealous. Aaron had a girlfriend whose name is Nia, a "bad ass" Chinese girl from school according to Aaron. Craig was jealous that Aaron was her boyfriend and he would be forever alone with no one and that would make him depressed. Jealousy was one of the big flaws of Craig.
    Craig goes through rough times during depression. Part 2 next week.

     Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third wheel 
     By: Jeff Kinney

     The new Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney is the seventh book in the Dairy of a Wimpy Kid series. The main character Greg Heffley, a kid in junior high school go's through the challenges in middle school. In this book Greg's school is holding a Valentines Day dance in the school gym. The problem is that Greg doesn't have a date for the dance and every time a girl is available Greg screws it up. Greg and his best friend decides to have a go to the dance with one of the girls in the dance committee as group of friends just chilling at the school party but everything goes wrong.
     Greg is trying to impress Abigail, the girl from the committee by making reservations at this really fancy and expensive restaurant, that has a very strict rule that males have to wear sports jackets. Greg has dirtied his in the car and had to borrow a jacket from the restaurant. The thing is that the sports jacket that was loaned to him has been worn by others and has never been washed. The odor of sour sweat filled the restaurant so Greg had to make an excuse and leave.
    Another thing that went wrong was when Abigail and Greg were having a slow dance together on the dance floor. Greg wasn't much of a dancer so it was really awkward and he didn't know if where he put his hands. That wasn't the thing that went wrong, the thing that went wrong was that Greg noticed red marks on Abigail's chin and thought it was chicken pox, so he screamed his lungs out. The reason Greg didn't see it before was because Abigail had make up on and she washed off the make up by accident and Abigail started to cry. This whole time Greg tried to win Abigail Heart but he failed by his overreaction.
     Read the new book Dairy of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel, it's compacted with humor, romance, and much much mor! 

   

     In the book Percy Jackson : the Lighting Thief, by Rick Riordan it has a whole combination of action, romance, and thriller. Percy the main character is a demigod, half human half god. He is son of one of the three brothers Poseidon, the god of the seas. In the book Percy and his two friends Annabeth Chase, also a demigod daughter of Athena, goddess of war and wisdom and his bestfriend Grover Underwood a satyr travel in a journey to the Underworld to save Percy's mother from the god of the Underworld Hades. Throughout the book their are many symbols that are really important.
     Symbols are the important objects or things that are important to the main idea or the whole story of the book. First, there is Percy's pen which turn in to a sword. The pen/sword is important because without the pen Percy will never have been alive because that is his only weapon and also the only thing his father, Poseidon left for him. The second one is the lighting bolt, weapon of the god of the sky's and all gods and goddesses Zeus. Without that lighting bolt missing there would have been no story and no story line. The third most important one is the shield that one of the counselors from camp Half Blood gave him on the journey to be safe. The shield plays an important role because the shield was the object that had a secret compartment that held the lighting bolt that the counselor tried to frame Percy for. Obviously he didn't get away with it because Percy found out. And the fourth and last important symbol in this book is Percy's mother, Sally Jackson who was attacked by one of Hades monsters that he sent to pretend that Sally was actually dead to Percy, but Percy didn't buy it. Sally is an important symbol because if she didn't get captured by Hades then Percy wouldn't have gone to the Underworld.
     Throughout the book there are many symbols but I think that these four are the most important in this book. I am very sorry if I have spoiled some parts of the book for you.