Chain Letter- Why I chose this book.

      Surprise! Another book by the AMAZING Christopher Pike.

      I'm on page 89, and I got this book yesterday. When most people read this, they will be thinking- well it's Ashton, she reads a lot. It's not the books that gets you to love reading, it's the authors. You could very well so take out the author's style and craft in Thirst. The question is: what is left? Words? Yes. Sentences? Yes. A great story? No. You could twist and turn every little aspect of the story, but we all know it would never come close to something Christopher Pike could write.

    After I read the entire Thirst series, I wanted to read other things he's written (http://authors.simonandschuster.com/Christopher-Pike/1080960 for a list of books). Remember Me, which is about a girl wanting revenge that came back from the dead, was not really up my alley after reading a vampire novel. So, I took a break. This was about a year ago.

    Last week, I was standing at Meijer, making my bimonthly decision on which books I want to stock up on. I looked through the YA section about 10 times then I saw it- Chain Letter. I immediately grabbed it and flipped it over, ready for another adventure in the world of Christopher Pike that I have been long over due for. True, some of his books can get kind of graphic, but if you get past that minor flaw to the weak stomached, his books take you far and wide across the world. I'll admit this right now, everything Christopher Pike writes should have a warning label: CAUTION: THIS BOOK WILL DRAG ITSELF TO YOU, AND BE GLUED TO YOU UNTIL IT IS SATISFIED YOU HAVE READ IT FROM COVER TO COVER. GOOD LUCK. 

 

The Darkest Minds- The best (and worst) thing about my book

     Let me be straight forward.

     This book is good. Five stars good. Better than pizza.  I know I say this about every book, because I can't ever say anything mean about a book (Except Beautiful Creatures, don't get me started on that horrendous book). Basically, my job here is to tell you everything that is amazing about a novel, and why. This has been pretty easy because I love to read, and 99.95% of the book I read are AMAZING.

     This infamous book? The Darkest Minds, by Alexandra Braken.  Spoiler: It's not actually dark.

     This book is about four kids who have powers- some can conduct electricity, some are freakishly smart, some play with fire. Then there's Ruby. She's the main character, and she can control minds. All four kids- Liam, Su, Chubs and Ruby- are running from the government (I feel like in every book nowadays the kids are running from the government) and have nowhere to hide but a camp called East River. The only problem is that they actually need to find the camp, and make it there alive.

     Now that I've done my summary, I can get to the fun part. Why do I love this book?
1. It's fast paced. There's always something happening.

2. There's a love triangle! 

3. Dystopian society- I love to read these kind of books because it makes me appreciate the world we have today. But I do with I had superpowers sometimes. 

4. First person POV: it might just be me, but I love a first person point of view because I feel more like I'm with the character than watching them. 

5. Makes you think. After you finish the book, on page 500 something, you're still thinking about it. It's that good.
6. The main character, Ruby, is hilarious. She adds a great twist to the plot. 

7. You can't leave out the great Classic Rock allusions that somehow make their way into the novel.
8. Alexandra Bracken says it herself, "Black is the absence of all colors (whereas white is the presence of all colors), so it’s a largely symbolic gesture. They’re basically saying, there are no colors here except for the one we give ourselves—they’re trying to assert some independence from the system while acknowledging that they’re all equal regardless of what abilities they may have." 

    (SPOILER COMING!) After I've named all of the great things, there's nothing bad about it, right? Here's what I hate. MY FAVORITE CHARACTER DIED.
     Honestly, I'm still not over it. Sometimes I'll just stop what I'm doing, and silently mourn for that character. Yeah, I get attached to characters. Long live character-who-can't-be-named-because-I-can't-say-spoilers. They were a favorite of mine, right up there next to Jace Wayland from The Mortal Instruments, which happens to release the very last book in the series on May 27th!

Here's a link for you lazy people who decided to skip down to the bottom, hoping for me to summarize what I just wrote about. If you actually read all of this, I applaud you. Sorry making it so long.

     Alexandra Braken's The Darkest Minds Book Trailer:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3kRUt92i2PQ

Chain Letter- Most Important Line

      Page 154. Chapter 12. Paragraph Three. First Sentence. 19 words. Right here, in this moment, is the most important line, "If you are not certain they are dead, do what you know you shouldn't, and be certain. Your Caretaker."

     Believe me or not, we know what is true. Fran and Kipp have just gone missing. Everyone believes they are dead, but are they?

     This line is by far the most important line in possibly the entire book. But why? It was a spark. A tiny, minuscle spark that fuels the anger of the five remaining teenagers. From this spark, the teenagers are now divded and either:

                                                 A: Hunt down the Caretaker.
                                                 B: Keep following the orders and hoping if being good will give them their friends back.

      I personally liked the first one better, but that just may be me.

    As I discussed the division that occurs in my last blog, it is only growing more. Everyone is on this massive hunt to find Fran and Kipp, but at the same time are wondering if they are actually dead. However, Joan is not fueled, but rather bored. Could this be because she is the Caretaker? I don't think that Christopher Pike would make it this easy to figure out who it is because he is notorious for surprise endings, but more that he would use her as a Red Herring. Part of me thinks that it is Alison, because she was the character first introduced into the book, and it would be a good surprise to throw at us readers. Well done, Pike, well done.

Chain Letter- What Does The Work Tell Us How People Behave?

     Okay, let's face it. I've been reading Chain Letter for about three weeks, and I am still in the first couple hundred pages. Why? I can promise you it is not because Ive lost interest. I've been enjoying this book. A really good book only comes around once in a while, so while you have them, you must enjoy.  However, since this book is about teenagers being put in a hard situation, I want to explain how it shows people behave.

     There are the main characters:
         Alison: An actress who is pretty much just along for the ride.
         Brenda: Also an actress, but is shyer and wants to go to the police.
         Fran: A girl who does everything behind the scenes.
         Joan: A sassy, punk girl who doesn't even understand why she was with this group on that night.
        Tony: The average football player.
        Kipp: The smartest of the group, going to MIT with a full ride in the fall.
         Neil: Shy, and agrees with Brenda on going to the police.
   
     We have all heard of the basic flight or fight move when a person is put into a situation. The flyers flee, and well, the fighters fight. This happens quickly throughout out the book Once the letter start coming, Brenda and Neil want to go the police. In a sense, they are the flighters. Kipp and Fran are the fighters. They refuse to do their "duty" and (Spoiler alert!) end up getting kidnapped for fighting back. This really shows their personalities of how they behave in a difficult situation.

     Alison, Joan, and Tony, however, are a special case. They do everything they are told, nothing more, nothing less, or find a loophole in their duty. Being neutral in this flight or fight scenario, is it possible that one of them is the Caretaker?

     FYI- City of Heavenly Fire comes out on March 27th. Will I see you at Meijer at 5:30 in the morning?

Krista Ramsey Article- Reading Teacher Wants Students To Pass Test, Love Books

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/03/15/krista-ramsey-third-grade-reading-guarantee/6475723/

       In this article, Krista Ramsey talks about a 3rd grade teacher who wants her students to enjoy reading, not just be able to pass a test.

    The line that I think is best written is the line, "It has taken two years of legislating and countless hours of hammering out rules and time lines, but Ohio’s Third Grade Reading Guarantee is fully in place this year." The impact that this line has on the reader is that it is the lead of the article. This lead is used to draw the reader into the article, and must be well written to keep the reader actively reading. The best diction of the line is the use of the words, "legislating, and hammering," and abstract diction of "countless". This is a long sentence, but fully shows the idea of the new Ohio Third Grade Test. I like how it shows details first, then the subject followed. 

     Ramsey's writing style is strong, and to the point. She is also biased on what she writes. I know this because in the article, she states, "She also has a very good handle on something the state’s not measuring at all: not just if her students can read, but if they will read." This sentence is basic, and to the point. However, she cannot necessarily prove that she has a good handle- this is opinionated. 

       From the article, "Ramsey: For better vision, kids need time outdoors", the same writing style is found: "But before parents claw back the iPhones, experts say the problem may not lie in the technology itself, but the amount of time spent on it, the environment in which it's used and the activities it's replacing." From this sentence, the same style is used- short and to the point. 

       "Manning is a Southern-bred gentleman whose classic suits match up nicely with his classy manners." This quote is from the article, "Ramsey: Super Bowl QBs score points for great style". Again, the pattern of short and sweet continues throughout all of Ramsey's pieces. 

Questions :

1. Did you want to be a writer when you were young?
2. What makes you love your job?
3. What do you have to say to young authors? 

Thirst No5- Qualities of A Character

Alisa Perne is the main character of Thirst No5.  She is a vampire, who has lived for over five thousand years, until now. After dying and switching into the body of her closest living relative, Teri, who is about to die again. A secret government program, called the Cradle is trying to take her down, and unleash a poison that could kill everyone in the world. Alisa reacts to this by staying cool, calm, and collected.

     The best quality of Alisa is that she is an extremely hard worker. If she decides to do something, she will do anything to get it. On many occasions, Alisa has risked her life to save those who she loves. This is what makes her hard working, and brave.

     The worst quality of Alisa is that she is self conscious, and that she will sometimes have this trait make her not be able to do everything is capable of. When Alisa is deciding where to go in the after life, she is really holding down her "scale" with her foot. Because of this, she has to go back in time to see what she has done wrong, only to discover that it was herself all along.

My best quality is, like Alisa, my ability to work hard. My worst quality, however, is that I sometimes do not think, and will not think through everything before I perform this action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cItUWSKXR3U is a link to a video regarding the author of Thirst, Christopher Pike. Christopher Pike is the pseudonym of Kevin Christopher McFadden. He never makes public appearances, and shares little information about his life. His characters, however, also have this trait of mysteriousness. From this, I can say that Christopher Pike gives his readers information about him through his characters. 

Uglies- What does the work tell us about how the society affects the individual?

     In the world of Uglies, at the age of 16 everyone undergoes a procedure that makes them "Pretty".  Bones are stretched or shaved, skin is made completely smooth and tan, and everything about them is made pretty- except the brain. It has been reprogrammed to not be aware about the faults in society. Tally Youngblood's best friend, Shay, decides to leave the city behind and not have her operation. Tally, the main character, is then faced by Special Circumstances to find Shay or not become pretty at all.

     The Pretties in this society are unaware of everything that is going on. Instead, they party 24/7 and joke around. Uglies have a realization of the world, but once they start questioning what is happening, they are swooped up by the operation and completely forget what they are thinking.

    I personally like to think that there are two types of people in this society- a) the ones who question the society and do not want to become a Pretty and b) most of the people in the book, who want to become pretty and never question anything.

     Shay questions everything, and then later teaches Tally to do the same. Shay then escapes to a city called the Smoke, which is full of Uglies who live together away from the government. These people make their own decisions, and are free to live a life without being restrained by the government. Like Fahrenheit 451,  the peace and quiet of nature allows them to think for themselves.

     From the article, How Does Society Affect Behavior in Teens?, (http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/society-affect-behavior-teens-4728.html), people, such as teens, are highly influenced by their society and surroundings. Uglies may be a different society than ours today, but the same thing still applies. When the Uglies grow up in Uglyville, they are constantly influenced that what is going on is right. However, once Tally escapes to the Smoke and is influenced by another society, she now finds how much different everything really is.