What I recommend?

     So I've been stuck on The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury for a while since I've been so busy the past week and to make it less boring for you, I won't talk about this book again. Instead, we can chat about some of the books I recommend. These books that I'm about to list date back to my childhood days. I remember how I didn't like reading as a child and my parents always made me read before I went to bed. I barely got any pages in before I fell asleep. These are the books that I remember reading and successfully finished reading. (The titles will be linked to the book's synopsis on Goodreads)

- One of the early big books I remember reading was Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I can clearly recall the day I watched the Inkheart movie with my family. My sister said, "You have to read the book before the movie! And the movie was nothing like the book." So, I took her advice and read the book. Actually, I don't really remember much from the book but I sort of kind of remember the plot. I really liked the concept of the book, how Meg's father could read characters out of a book and other creative ideas. A memorable character was a man named Dustfinger, who was read out of a book by accident. He was that guy who you thought would be evil, but truly isn't (like Snape from Harry Potter). But maybe you shouldn't take a recommendation from me for this book, I was only around 9 when I read Inkheart.

The trailer for the movie makes it look great, but in actuality, the movie was just okay.

-Tunnels by Roderick Gordon really creeped me out as a child. I can still remember the ending of the book, it was so...evil, I guess is the word. I planned on reading the entire series but that never happened. Some parts of the book didn't make sense to me, maybe just confusing since I was young at that time. What I enjoyed most about this book was probably the creepy pictures that appeared once in a while throughout the novel. One of the pictures was of a eyeless mouse that the characters saw as they went down the tunnel. I don't think I'll ever forget that illustration.

-The novel My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George really sparked my imagination as I child. I would pretend to be living in the woods just like Sam (the main character) and I found my self wanting to run away to the mountains and live in a hollowed out tree, but obviously I couldn't and didn't. This book is meant for kids 9 years old or so but I think this would be a great for any age (even though the reading level will be low).

*I would like to reread these books but I can't. I always become bored when rereading a book, I mean I already know what's going to happen anyways. 

What are some of your favorite childhood books?

The Martian Chronicles - Writing

     Well you're probably wondering what this book "The Martian Chronicles" is all about. Sounds interesting doesn't it? Would you be surprised if I told you I was reading another book from the author Ray Bradbury? Well it is by Ray Bradbury. And now you're probably thinking to yourself why another Bradbury book? Because my sister really likes Bradbury books (she has almost all of his novels) and she recommended this book to me. I have to say, this novel is better than Fahrenheit 451. It's more interesting and definitely isn't as confusing. Actually, some parts of this book are confusing but you eventually get that "I get it now"
moment. If you have read a couple of his books, you can tell he focuses mainly on writing horror stories. This book falls along that line. The story takes place in the future, where Earth men are sent to Mars to asses if the planet is adequate to live on. The Earth is a troubled place during this novel, from a coming nuclear war and other factors. Several colonies are created on Mars throughout the novel. What makes this book interesting is that it's made up of several short stories. Each story is follows a different person about their experience on Mars.

     Bradbury has great style and voice. His writing is definitely unique. "The fire fluttered into sleep ash. The air tremored to the distant roll of a cartwheel. Thunder. A sudden odor of water. Tonight, he thought, and put his hand out to feel for the rain. Tonight." (Bradbury 104). Here, Bradbury personifies the fire as it turned into ash and the sound of thunder in the air. The use of short fragmented sentences adds to the anticipation of the oncoming rain.
"'Good lord, what a dream that was,' sighed Thomas, his hands on the wheel, thinking of the rockets, the women, the raw whisky, the Virginia reels, the party. How strange a vision was that, thought the Martian, rushing on, thinking of the festival, the canals,, the boats, the women with golden eyes, and the songs." This quote really caught my attention. We can get into the mind of both Thomas and the Martian to see what they're thinking, both of their thoughts closely related.
"Fire exploded over summer night lawns. You saw sparkling faces of uncles and aunts. Skyrockets fell up in the brown shining eyes of cousins on the porch..." Bradbury briefly writes in a 2nd person point of view to really get the reader involved. I think this really helps with the imagery in this paragraph since he says "you" saw the sparkling faces.

     I'm really looking forward to finishing this book since it has been interesting so far. The writing is great, the plot is good, what's there not to like?

Krista Ramsey Activity -

Krista Ramsey: Preschool is a must

     In this column, Krista Ramsey talks about how preschool is essential for children. She points out all the different advantages on how preschool affects children in a positive way and also gives a real life example of this. 

     "But if it was essential for your kids – if you watched it transform their lives and wouldn't have done without it – how can it be denied to children with so few resources, children who need it so desperately?"

     This line impacts the reader by asking a question. It makes the reader want to agree with the writer that, yes, kids do need to go the preschool even though it's optional. The children do need it in order to gain valuable experience and knowledge so they can be ready for kindergarten. This line makes me feel like preschool is necessary and preschool will change their lives. She uses strong words, like desperately and essential, to influence the reader more and to get the reader to agree with what she is saying. As for the syntax, she has this added thought with the hyphens surrounding that thought: "- if you watched it transform their lives and wouldn't have done without it -". If this extra statement wasn't there, then this sentence wouldn't be as influential as it is with it.

    Ramsey's writing style is easy to understand and influencial. In Ramsey: For better vision, kids need time outdoors, she says "In the U.S. alone, the percentage of people ages 12 to 54 who are nearsighted – meaning unable to see things clearly at a distance – rose from 25 percent in the early 1970s to 42 percent now." This sentence it's simply worded so the reader can understand without thinking about it too much. It's also very alarming to the reader, this fact makes us want to do something about this "epidemic". We can also see this in Ramsey: Super Bowl QBs score points for great style. She writes, "If you’re the parents of the bride who put thousands of dollars into an elegant wedding, you might well feel a pang when people arrive in jeans with sunglasses atop their heads." This may not be a factual, but it's definitely true. Finally, in the article linked at the beginning of my post, Ramsey writes, "And numbers do matter. It's just that children matter more." Such a simple phrase, like this one, can affect a reader's opinion.

     My questions for Krista Ramsey would be:
- What made you want to become a columnist?
- Where do you find your inspiration for the columns that you write?
-When do you know that you have found a good story to write about?

Books I Haven't Read

     Today, I'm going to talk about those super popular teen novels that I haven't read. Yes, I have fallen prey to a few of the highly popular novels like Divergent by Veronica Roth, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, and a few others. But I couldn't help myself, sometimes so many people around you read that one novel that you're just like "Oh fine I'll read it just to see why it's so good". Sometimes these popular novels have lived up to my expectations, sometimes they haven't. For example, I thought I am Number Four by Pittacus Lore was going to be a good novel and many of my friends told me that it was, but it was the exact opposite. Sure the plot was okay but the characters were cliche, the writing craft was bad, and the events were so predictable. But I'm getting off topic here, here are some of the popular novels that I have not read (yet or I never will).

1. The Fault in our Stars by John Green - Somehow I have been avoiding this book. I've heard so many things about it, I don't think I need to read it. Here, I can summarize it for you: It's about a guy and a girl who have cancer. The girl falls in love with the guy and unfortunately the guy dies. The End. Do I still need to read it? 
2. The Maze Runner by James Dashner - I just feel like this book will be so much like the Hunger Games. Maybe not, but still. I'm growing tired of these dystopian novels, they're everywhere. It seems like authors who want to become popular attempt to write a dystopian novels, and then they hope that it'll become really popular among teenagers, and then hope their book will get turned into a movie. There are so many novels these days becoming movies, I'm getting tired of it. Popular books these days are either dystopian or forbidden love. There isn't much of a variety anymore. 
3. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld - I think this novel is too girly for me. From the synopsis, it seems like it's solely focused on the romance happening in the novel. Oh, and it's a popular novel because it's dystopian. I'm not surprised. 
4. Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan - One of the main reasons I probably will not try reading this book/series is that it's meant for 4th and 5th graders or should I say, it's not considered in the YA category. I've seen the movie but I've heard that it missed a lot of things from the book, but I think I have the basic idea on what the book/series is about. Some of my friends have mentioned that they cried during one of the books, I don't know what to say about that considering these books are meant for middle aged children. 
5. Matched by Ally Condie - From what I heard, it's all about love. The main character has to choose between these two guys, and just from that, I know this book isn't for me. I've also heard how uninteresting it is and how the writing isn't very good. And it's also a dystopian novel, wonderful.

Maybe you can convince me otherwise. What are your opinions on these books I listed above? Worth reading or not? Comment your opinions below. 

Looking for Alaska - Overview

Looking for Alaska is split into 2 sections, the "before" and the "after". Beware of spoilers 

     Before: I really enjoyed the rising action. Everything that happened was eventful and notable. The characters were lively and I enjoyed the "before" more than the...
   
     After: The story just drops, the whole mood of the story becomes depressing. John Green literally creates this kind of pointy mountain where the story escalates up to the climax and then instantly drops all of a sudden in the middle of the book. So for half of the book you're working hard, eager to reach the climax, and once you reach it, it's great. But then after, you have to drag yourself to the resolution. It became slightly boring after the climax (the "after" section) because the characters don't do much until the very end. Sometimes I want to yell at Miles for being so stupid, but at the same time I understand why Miles would react this way especially since he's in love with Alaska. Some people said they cried when [spoiler that's supposed to go here]. I don't see how that's possible. It wasn't that emotional and it didn't even happen in present tense during the story.

     As for the resolution, there really was something you could take out from this book. Though I'm not completely satisfied with the answer of how [spoiler that's supposed to go here], John Green ended the book very well. Miles found the "Great Perhaps" that he was searching for and we learned how he found his way out of the labyrinth. This book actually wraps up at the end and there's no need for a second book.
I can see why John Green is so popular as an author. He portrays the life and the feelings of a teenager so well. You can relate to (at least one of) the characters that Green creates. The author also adds a sense of humor throughout the entire novel which is quite appealing to many readers.

     I still have plenty of questions left. But one of the most important on is: Was Alaska's death a suicide?
Miles and his friends figured out (basically) exactly what happened to Alaska, but they still don't know if it was a suicide or not. I have to say this is definitely a thought provoking book unlike many young adult books I have read. 

Overall, I would give this book a 4 stars out of 5. I did not like some aspects of the book but the novel is written exceptionally well. I would recommend this to anyone who's interested. 

Looking for Alaska - First Impression

     After finishing the incredibly depressing last book of the Divergent trilogy, I wanted to find something short and sweet for my next read. While looking through the stack of unread novels on my bookshelf, I came across the book I recently bought: Looking for Alaska by John Green. At first I thought it was about trying to survive in the state of Alaska but after reading the synopsis on the back of the book, I knew that I was way off. I chose this book for 3 reasons: 1.) This book won the Michael L. Printz Award, an award given to the "best book written for teens, based entirely on its literary merit ". 2.) People are obsessed with John Green books these days. 3.) Many of my friends enjoyed this book and recommended it to me.

     The first thing I noticed was the days counting down every once in a while. Of course I have the question "What are the days counting down to?" If you know the answer to this question, please do not give it away. I would like no spoilers. I predict that maybe something tragic or important happens. Maybe a death of a main character or maybe the narrating character, Miles Halter, gets kicked out of the boarding school he is currently in. Another thing that stood out to me was this quote: "'How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!'" (Green, 19) Miles later responds to Alaska's quote by asking what the labyrinth is, but neither of them know the answer. I think this an important event in the book because it points out (to what seems to be) the over arcing question of the story.

     John Green has given this story fascinating, developed, and honest character. Each character is special and unforgettable in their own way. Because all the important characters are teens who are still in school, you can easily relate to them. Miles "Pudge" Halter really stands out to me because although he's the narrator of the story and the main protagonist, he is like the sidekick at the same time. You can tell he's gradually coming out of his antisocial shell thanks to his friends who are defiant and wild. One of those friends is Alaska Young, a beautiful quirky girl that Miles instantly falls in love with. Something she said that really stood out to me was this: "Y'all smoke to enjoy it. I smoke to die." (Green, 44). Why does Alaska want to kill herself at such a young age? She told Miles this with a wide grin on her face which tells me she'll be happy to die. Maybe she accepts death because of a guilt she is facing. Hopefully I'll be able to find out soon.

Let me know if you have read this book. If you have, what did you think of it? But if you haven't, would you consider reading this book and why?