8th Grade Summer Reading Blogs

In the book Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral it tells a love story between the main characters Gloria Fleming and Francisco Mendoza. In the book it shows how Francisco is a new student attending Willard Dunn School for boys. The book also shows how other main character Gloria who is missing is a well known pianist who travels from place to place, city to city to inspire people with her extraordinary music. With these two characters the book so far has explained where they came from, who they are, and how they begin to fall in love.

The first main character the story talks about is Gloria fleming, a very talented and gifted girl who has suddenly gone missing. Throughout the story so far they portray Gloria to be a kind-hearted girl who has gone through some times yet still finds a way to persevere. For example in the story the author says, “Her mother, Maria Torres Fleming, a wine expert…died in a motorcycle accident in 2000.” meaning she has gone through hardship, pain, and heartbreak. Though another part in the story shows a flyer that reads, “July 4th, 2007 Carnegie Hall New York City 8pm The people’s concerts Gloria Fleming…” proving after her mother had passed she was still able to move on from that terrible experience and continue performing her great music. Therefore so far the story has shown us that Gloria is a very strong, brave, and skillful girl.

The second and last main character they show us in the novel is Francisco Mendoza, a shy, timid, and  passionate young man. Francisco is a great character because as the story develops you see how mysterious he is and how much he begins to love Gloria. Although, Francisco does have a little issue as time progresses, it seem like he begins to be a little distracted due to his bad grades. For example in the novel it says, “While Frank’s improvements in English as a Second Language, Music and Choir are significant, low marks remain in several subjects...We hope Frank does better in the fall.” proving that he is getting bad grades. All in all Francisco is a shy young man whose character will hopefully develop more within the novel.