Genre: Science Fiction Setting: Outer space Number of pages: 324 MAYA SINGH

Written by: Orson Scott Card Author, critic, professor, columnist poet, and political activist. born August 24, 1951 in Richland, Washington. 3rd born of 6 kids. Grew up in Santa Clara, California. Currently lives in Greensboro, North Carolina. Writes in seven different genres, but is best known for science fiction.

Character: Ender (protagonist) Intelligent, resourceful, talented, mature, quiet. Small for his age. Ridiculed for being a “Third” (third-born with a 2-child policy). Lives with his parents and 2 siblings, Valentine and Peter. Very close to Valentine, but Peter always tormented him. At the beginning of the story he is 6 years old and has just passed entry to battle school, where he will train to fight against the invasion.

Character: Peter (antagonist) Oldest of 3 siblings. Torments both Ender and Valentine. Sadistic, manipulative, abusive, but still intelligent. Somewhat of an “evil genius” Tortures small animals. (skins them alive) Almost passed the test for battle school, but he was too impulsive and aggressive. His parents don’t realize what he’s actually like.

Character: Valentine Middle child, and the only daughter. Caring, timid, shy, intellectual, loving. Protects Ender from Peter. Also failed the test; intelligent, but too timid. Not mentally “strong” enough for war. The only person Ender cared about leaving behind for school.

SummarySummary Ender has been chosen to go to a battle school to train. His siblings are all smart and talented, but only Ender passed. He’s told that he should leave his parents for school so they don’t have to be ashamed of breaking a 2-child policy. Ender accidently kills one of his classmates, and begins wondering if he’s more like his brother than he thought. He’s promoted to command school strangely fast Although he’s unhappy, he trains. After a while, his body can’t cope and he gets sick but he recovers and continues. He has to do his final test to graduate.

Likes Dislikes Interesting plotConfusing for the first few chapters Very unique storyThe ending doesn’t explain what happens to all the characters; only some. Detailed, mostly easy to followNarration got boring sometimes; at some parts I wanted to skip pages. Suspenseful All major questions were answered Characters evolved a lot.

Vocabulary Words Apathy: Lack of interest and enthusiasm. The student showed apathy towards the project. Hegemony: The dominance/leadership of one group or nation. The family's hegemony over the town finally ended. Revere: regard with deep respect/admiration. He is revered for giving up a $3 million contract to join the army. Contempt: lack of respect, often with intense dislike/disgust. The officer was surprised by my contempt for authority.

More Vocabulary Dr. Device: The M.D. Device stands for Molecular Disruption Device (aka Dr. Device/Little Doctor). A weapon that makes it impossible for any two atoms to coexist in a molecule; it causes total destruction of the object. They all trained their Little Doctors on the enemy. Formic: A race of aliens that is attacking Earth in the book. The Formic aliens had almost won the last invasion.

ThemeTheme Sometimes lies are more dependable than the truth. Throughout the book Ender is lied to, from the doctor telling him “it won’t hurt a bit!”, to his teacher saying that he would be helping his parents if he left home. All those lies helped him make major decisions, because he thought he had nothing to lose. Age and size don’t matter. Despite Ender only being 6(and still small for his age), he is among the top at his school, and his teacher’s believe he could be the one that saves the planet.

ReviewReview I enjoyed this book a lot and I can understand why it’s gotten so many positive comments; it’s really well written and keeps your interest from start to end. Despite being a sci-fi book and sounding like it was all about end-of-the-world theories, it wasn’t at all like that. I definitely recommend you read this book. I’d give this book 4.5/5 high-fives.

Title or Ending? I would change the ending. Change it so Valentine isn’t brought back into the story so much; by the end of the book I didn’t like her. She changed for the worst and I didn’t like how happy her ending was despite her actions. I’d also change the ending so that it goes farther into what happens after everything.

Would I want to be the main character? Yes and no. Yes, because I really admire all of the things that Ender does, and also his wit. I also think it would be cool to live in the future, because there seems to be a lot of really useful technology. No, because his life seriously sucks; his home is being attacked, he constantly has people lying to him/trying to kill him, he thinks he’s a killer, and he is expected to save the world.