Oogy

I just started the book, Oogy, by Larry Levin. The book is about a dog who was adopted by a family after given the slimmest chance of survival. Oogy was still a puppy when his owner put him in a dog fighting ring with a pit bull. The pit bull attacked him and bit the left side of his face. Oogy, no longer has his left ear and the left side of his jaw is flat.

The book Oogy is a true story, written by his new owner. Larry Levin describes Oogy as "incredibly special animal", who can change someone's life forever. The theme is the book so far is love. A quote in the book that brings the theme out is, "He comes over to me, those large dark eyes searching for something in my face, and then clambers onto the couch...He turns and gets the goopy look on his face he shows me at such moments, and I pull back just in time to avoid a big, sloppy kiss." (Levin 12-13)

I predict, that later in the book, there will be flashbacks from when the Levin family first adopted Oogy. I think that they will wonder why the dog's previous owner had abused him and what he had done wrong to deserve the abuse. I also predict that there will be flashbacks from times where the family was having a bad day and Oogy was there to help them get through it.

I am excited to continue reading this book. I am looking forward to see if any of my predictions are correct.

Linked below is the book trailer of Oogy:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqBDvvcrZpo

My Sister's Keeper

In the book My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, Anna Fitzgerald was genetically made to save her sister's life. Anna's sister, Kate, has acute promyelocytic leukemia, or APL. When she was first diagnosed, her prognoses wasn't good; a 50% chance of living the first two years. Anna came into the picture when Kate's doctors said that the only chance was a bone marrow transplant that had a higher chance of killing her instead of helping her. Anna was genetically made, meaning she was made with the same genes as Kate. Whenever Kate needed something, Anna would supply her with it. However, when Anna turns 13, she no longer wants to be a donor for her sister. Kate, needs a kidney, but Anna doesn't want to give her something that she may need in the future. She also doesn't want to give a kidney because of the side effects and the activities she would have to give up. So, Anna files a lawsuit trying to get medical emancipation from her parents.

While I was reading the book, I wondered what the social impact of genetic engineering would be. When I finished the book, I looked up an article about the social impact. The article stated that there are many problems with genetic engineering in kids. They said that it was against nature's laws.  The problem with genetic engineering is that creating a child for your needs, is not the best way for your child to live. In the novel, Anna was created to help save her sister's life and she doesn't want to do it anymore, for the reasons above. (Attached is the article)

If I were a critic and I was reviewing and rating the book, I would rate in five stars. I would choose five stars because of the content and the way the book was written. The book, uses chapters that switch from person to person. By switching from person to person, it makes the book more interesting and it keeps the reader hooked. The content of the book is interesting because no one would expected a 13-year old girl to go to a "big-time" lawyer to sue her parents. The book had multiple setting changes and it had great dialogue between the characters. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in just a good read, and to anyone who wants to think hard and be crushed that there prediction was wrong.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/social-impact-of-genetic-engineering.html