Thee Cups of Tea

The book I chose is called Three Cups of Tea. I chose this book because it is a true story about helping people in need. The main character is a man named Greg Mortenson who helps these people. The story is set in Pakistan. Greg begins to climb K2 in honor of his younger sister, Christa, who died recently. He plans to reach the summit of the mountain and place Christa's treasured necklace at the top. But when another member of his climbing group gets sick, they have to turn around. On the way back, Greg becomes lost in the mountains of Pakistan. He wanders into a poor village, and there the village chief and people take him in. He sees that the children don't even have a school, and most of the classes don't even have teachers. The kids have to find material like sticks and write their lessons in the dirt. After seeing all of this, Greg promises to return and build a school for the children. Over the next decade, Greg kept his promise to return and helped build more than sixty schools for Pakistan children. He became close especially with the chief from that village he wandered into, and with all the other children and people he met along the way. That is why the book is called Three Cups of Tea: "With the first cup of tea you are a stranger. With the second... A friend. With the third cup of tea, you are family." I loved the people Greg meets in this book because all of them are kind, warm, welcoming and especially grateful. If you want to know more about Greg's amazing journey, I guess you'll have to read this book!

Finally by Wendy Mass

This book is called Finally. It is the sequel to 11 birthdays, which was also really good. I read this book because I had just turned 12 and I wanted to see what it was like for this character to turn 12 since she has been wanting to grow up for so long. This book is about a girl named Rory Swenson who has been waiting her whole life to turn twelve. That's because every time she asks her parents for something like a cell phone, staying home alone, wearing makeup, etc. they always tell her "when you're 12, when you're 12". Her twelfth birthday is coming up, and she's got a whole list of things to do and get when she's 12 called her Finally checklist. When her twelfth birthday finally arrives, she gets a cell phone, stays home alone, and wears makeup but some of these things on her finally checklist turn out not so well. She learns that wanting to grow up so fast may not be what she thinks it should be. But don't worry, this book is definitely fun, funny and full of surprises! I loved it because it was so well-written from the beginning and leaves small cliff hangers which kept me reading. I personally like first person books more than third person books because you can really have a sense of what the main character is feeling and see their perspective. So if you are one for interesting, first person books, definitely pick up this book. It's so good!!