All We Have Left

All We Have Left, by Wendy Mills, is a story about two girls: Jesse, and Alia. However, it tells their stories 15 years apart, and their stories are connected by one person; Travis. Travis died in the 9/11 attack, but before he died he tried helping Alia, a muslim teenager, to escape. Alia was in the building to see her father. She dreamt of going to college and becoming an artist but her parents didn't support her. She got caught caught holding a joint, so they grounded her. She tried persuading her mother that it wasn't hers but she wouldn't listen. She went to talk to her father in hopes he'd listen to her.  We don't know yet if Alia ends up making it out alive or not, although we know Travis did not make it. Travis is Jesse's older brother.  Jesse struggles with her brothers death, and ever since, her home has been filled with grief and anger because of her father. I feel like her father doesn't really know how to handle the situation.  Jesse gets involved with the wrong crowd and she ends up getting in trouble for graffitiing "terrorists go home" on an islamic peace center. I was surprised when she did this. It appears Jesse is looking for someone to blame.  She has so much anger built inside her she doesn't really know what to do. So far I've found this story really interesting. There's not many novels out there where you get to see two different stories in one book. I think it's really creative how the two stories are connected as well. 

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was an interesting read. It follows two boys, Dante and Ari. Dante is more open with himself and knows what it is he wants. While Ari on the other hand is more soft spoken, and isn't sure how to feel sometimes. Ari's character really caught my attention. He's more complex than Dante, and you have a lot to learn about him throughout the book. It's more realistic the more complicated a character is. I liked how the relationship between the two came about. They found out secrets about themselves they didn't know before. Dante is open with his sexuality and Ari doesn't seem so comfortable with it at first. He doesn't stop Dante from doing anything, he just kind of lets it happen. I believe this is when he starts to realize who he really is. I feel like this story can be relatable for many people. It has many realistic factors and events that happen throughout the book, that can happen to everyday people.
When Ari saved Dante, I was really shocked that whole scene happened. It was such a selfless move on Ari's part, and it goes to show you how much Ari really does care about Dante. Although Ari doesn't want any praise from it, what he did was really brave. Dante ends up moving to Chicago, and they write letters to each other. Dante writes the majority of the letters. I can relate to this aspect of the story in the sense of having a relationship with someone who's far away. It can be hard and difficult at times. Overall I thought this novel was a good read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes a good story.