Philosaphy in my book

          Okay Ms.Rear so i wrote a letter to skeptics but forgot to relate it to a book, lets see if this post about freedom in real life and my book. It was surprisingly harder then i thought, maybe its my book or maybe it is just the way that i was thinking about it. I hope it meets your expectations!

          In my book each chapter is told from a different point of view. But I only want to focus on one of the two main characters, Anne. In the book Anne is a girl who is focused on two things: School and surfing. Because they live all the way on the west coast pretty much everyone surfs, but their aren't that many girls who can surf as well as Anne can. After Annes mother dies her dad pays even closer attention to her and pushes her harder and makes her work even more then she already does. 

          I never thought that it was possible to help take away your own freedom but i think that is exactly what Anne is doing. She shoves her self in a corner and barely makes time for anything other than her main focuses. Ofcourse the book wouldn't be complete unless you knew that Anne is a stunning girl who can turn heads when she walks in a room. This only makes it more confusing on why she would literally take away part of her freedom by shutting herself out from anything that could potentially get in the way of her goals.

          When you think about this it isn't that strange yet the more you think about it the weirder it is (ok sorry that might have not made much sense ill rephrase it) when you just think about it off hand it does't seem that weird, ok yeah the girl has goals that she wants to accomplish, ok so what? But then when you get into it and go deeper it is actually really strange. This whole week we were talking about WHO controls your freedom but we never really came up with an answer, well i think i just figured it out for at least some cases.  

The summer of firsts and lasts: characters

          This book is interesting it has an interesting style that i haven't seen a lot and can't decide if i like it yet. Each chapter is in the point of view of different sister. There are three sisters in total, Daisy, Calla and Violet and each chapter is told from one of their perspectives. It is an interesting writing technique so that you get to know all of them in different ways. But the bad part is that it is hard to keep track of what sister is doing what, and what sisters chapter you are reading. Another problem is that their are three main characters so instead of connecting with all three sisters or all three of the main characters i only really like and connect to one out of the three sisters (actually i don't know if that is a good thing or bad).

          The story takes place at a summer camp, which is cool because it sort of reminds me of my sleep away camp. I can relate to how the characters feel, for example: how much they like the first day where you meet all of the people in your cabin, and about half way through the session they start to get a tad bit home sick. In a way it is a little creepy how i can relate on so many different levels. Even the part about sisters because i have a younger sister. This book reminds me just how much i love camp and i can definitely understand what they feel in parts of the book but for people who never go to sleep away camp this probably is no the book for you because it might be hard to understand why the characters are so in love with the camp that they go to unless you yourself have experienced the same thing. 

          One thing that i think they got wrong (or just haven't shown yet) is the fighting part of having a sister. Yes you want what you can't have so anyone who does not have a sister, or any sibling for that matter will know that it isn't all laughing and best friends. You do fight, its just part of life. But in the book these sisters seem to look up at each other with love and respect (not that this is bad or wrong and i do love my sister but it is not the only thing that happens) . They know everything about them, and always talk about times when they were laughing or having fun. But being a sister i know that it isn't like that (at least not all the time). Personally i go to camp to get a break from family but all these girls can talk about is how close they are and that they get to hang out with their sister. Im not trying to sound like a bad person and if you do have a sibling relationship like that then i truely envy you. But no one that i know is like that with their brother or sister. 

          Maybe this makes me seem like a bad person, but everyone needs a break right? I know i said i could relate to them and i CAN. Just not on family levels. I am interested to see how these perfect sisters unfold, and what will happen in the future.

Skepticism- I wonder why

Dear Skeptics,
       
          I don't even know wether Skepticism is considered a personality trait, a word we use to describe someone with a lot of questions, or even something as big as a life style people resemble.

         Skepticism and skeptics. I wonder what the point is in really questioning everything that happens in life... or doesn't... wether what is happening is really going on, if anything people say is true, you don't know what to believe and what not to believe so you choose to believe absolutely nothing at all. Why not have fun instead of questioning if what your doing is even considered fun. We have our own ideas of what is right and wrong and we all have our moral values- that for the most part we try to stick to and follow in our life. But instead of trusting no one and knowing that good enough just is not good enough we use our common sense to decide what to do and not to do and we pick and choose what we want and what we need.

         As much as i don't understand certain things you do, i do admire your creativity and your soaring imagination. When you just go with the flow of life and don't pay attention to tiny details, the farthest your imagination goes is alternate universes and the fact that there could be life on mars. But real skeptics know that miracles happen all the time. I will try to write you some smart lines and give you great examples but all real skeptics know that an extraordinary explanation is always preferred to an ordinary one. So trust me i will try my best to make you see it my way. Believe me now because who knows what your going to believe tomorrow.

         I understand how you can analyze historic events or life changing decisions, but why focus on such tiny things like why the chicken crossed the road? You actually need to focus on details for certain things because no one wants to be a doormat that you can just walk all over and who believes everything they hear. As you get older you gain knowledge and learn not to trust everything you hear, like government promises or when they tell you that your airplane will take off in just another ten minutes.

     
                                                                                                                Sincerely,
                                                                                               Sophia Gordon

The Lost Hero

How much longer can piper go on like this she is either betraying her friends, Leo and jason, or she has to let her dad die. What a choice she has to make. I am surely glad I am not in her place. The worst part is when her friends herd that her dad was in trouble they wanted to help him, but if they go to help pipers dad then they will die, but they don`t know this. Jason and Leo are so sweet it breaks my hart that they want to help piper. I am very excited to see what piper chooses to do.

In medea`s "mall" even when they were under a spell they herd that pipers dad was in trouble. Jason barley remembered a thing from the big fight because of medea`s spell but yet the words "piper let them die and your father could be with you right now" were stuck in his head. He really wants to help, but piper wont let him because she doesn't want to see him get hurt. If my friend wanted to help me but i thought he was going to get hurt i would do the same thing a Piper because i wouldn't want any of my friends to get hurt because they were trying to help ME! 

It almost reminds me of a personalized version of Sophie`s choice. Piper has to choose between her dad or her friends. Either way she knows one of them will die and one of them will survive. I can't even begin to imagine what i would do if i was given the same situation as the characters are in right now!

The Sculpture of Memory Themes

I think there are a lot of themes in this book because each of the characters are so complex and different and there are so many issues that they talk about in this book. I don't focus on themes a lot but when reading a book with so many different events going on it is easy to get distracted and i feel that writing about all the themes is a easy smart way to organize your thoughts.

One big theme in this book is trust. I think this is important because they are a group of orphans living alone with just each other. Obviously you have to trust these people if your going to go on a great adventure with them and spill a lot of your secrets. But what also comes with trust is secrets. You can have a ton of trust with someone and you can tell them everything but there will always be that one thing that is just your secret. I think everyone deserves to have their little secret no matter what, unless it is harmful in some way i think you owe it to yourself to keep some things private.

 One secret is different then many secrets which brings me to the theme of secrets. Its okay to keep one little secret but if you have your "best friends" telling you everything you should at least share something, and it should be the truth! In the book the boys Clove and Angus share a lot of their past even if it isn't always pretty. But Mary has been hiding a lot and even what they think might be true, most likely isn't. I don't want to spoil it, because this book is not actually published yet but i will say that you can't anyway believe what you hear or even worse what you remember, especially if your a character in this book.

Memories can be deceiving. You might be positive that something happened this way and then be proven completely wrong and realize what you remembered was just a figment of your imagination. for me dreams sometimes get mixed up with reality and i can't even remember if this certain even even happened to me or it was a dream. In this book the main character can control peoples memories, and make them remember stuff that isn't even close to reality. It makes me wonder if what i remember from my childhood is even true or not.

The sculpture of memory

This book is disturbing in many ways. Remember at the beginning of the year when we talked about how authors sometimes want to make you feel uncomfortable, well this author is deffinetly doing that. The book that i am reading is called The Sculpture of Memory By: John Elder Lloyd (i know the author!!) In the book the boy watched his parents get robbed and then murdered, all through a little key hole in a closet.

Later he discovers that he can control peoples memories with his mind. If he concentrates on them really hard and thinks about a certain thing they will remember it. For example, if he looked at me really hard and thought i had a sandwich for lunch. No matter the time of day or what i really had for lunch i would truly believe that that is what i ate. BUT if i tried to remember the real memory like what i really had for lunch then my head would hurt and it would not be fun. Of course he uses his powers much stronger then just what people ate for lunch.

OH! i forgot to mention, because both of his parents got murdered he now lives in an orphanage where he meets his two partners in crime, Cove and Mary. Clove has been in and out of the orphanage since he was a baby. May on the other hand is new to Avondale as well and is very sensitive when it comes to the topic of her parents. Later in the book they sneak out to an apartment to live. As hard as that sounds it is really quite simple, all you must do is make the people in charge of the orphanage THINK that a foster family has taken all three friends and you make the people who own the house think that you already gave them a check for rent every month. They are doing this to try to track down the killer (the one who murdered Angus' parents)

This book is very elaborate and Angus uses his powers in the typical way you would assume a boy would: free arcade tickets, prevent him from getting in trouble, free food, and more. But if i had these powers I think i would use them mostly for the same reasons BUT i would be very careful. They ended up on the wanted list at the police station because according to security cameras they did not pay the people at any store they went to. If i were Angus i would not use it for silly stuff like free food. You have to know who is watching because you can only change one persons memory at a time.

I think this book is a loss of innocents story. The character goes from living in a happy family, to trying to live on his own (with two friends but still hard work) and he is trying to find the murderer. This book is very suspenseful and it always has me on the edge of my seat. I can not wait to read more and see if i agree with what Angus, Mary and Clove end up doing.

Irony: Its everywhere!!!

For the past few days in class we have focused on the subject of irony. This is personally a confusing topic because it is hard to tell sometimes when it is irony or sarcasm or if you are just completely confused. The type of irony i find most easy to spot is probably dramatic irony. You don't always know that whats happening IS intact dramatic irony but now that you know what it is: Knowing something that certain characters in the play, book, movie, ect.

But after we learned about irony and what it is i can't NOT notice it!! In my book for example the boy is running away from home and is at the train station, i know this, meanwhile the dad is looking everywhere for him and has no clue where he could be. Dramatic irony is even on popular t.v. shows like Modern Family! I saw an episode the other day where they were trying to get sympathy from someone so a boy pretended to recognize a lady and talk about how great his dad is, I know that the dad gave his son a complete pep talk right before but the lady just thinks it is so sweet and that he must be a really great guy!

Dramatic irony is my favorite i think of the three. Not because it is easy to find or anything like that but because everyone likes to feel like they are a part of something and when you know something other people don't (even if they are fictional characters) you feel smart and included. If any writer or director can make you want to teleport yourself into their scene, chapter, setting, anything, they deserve a gold star!!

The Curious Incident of the dog in the Night

This book is not like anything i have ever read, which is definitely refreshing! It takes place in england and the narrator of the story is a boy with some brain disorder but because he is telling the story he doesn't quite know what it is. But you can tell its there because he throws tantrums and doesn't understand certain things.
He really makes you feel grateful that you are not like him because simple things like not liking the colors brow and yellow and refusing to eat foods that touch each other on the plate are things that we would never think twice about but he focuses serious mental energy on these little things.

Also the book does not start out with the happy lets all sing together style. In the beginning of the story i actually had to skip part of it because there is a dead dog. It is unpleasant but so are multiple parts of this book. Sometimes i just want to transport myself just so i can give this kid a hug or just explain some simple details of life to him that he just can not comprehend.

In the book he is writing a mystery story trying to track down who killed the dog that we talked about at the beginning of the story. But when his dad finds out that he has continued to investigate even after he told him not to (he only lives with his dad) and him and his dad get into a big fight and his brain kinda goes blank and when he gathers himself back together he can't find his story. So he searches all over his house everywhere except his room and is dads room. It was common sense not to hide his OWN book in his room so he decided to check his dads room even though his dad told him not to. Lets face it this is for a good cause. He was very careful not to move much around but when he was almost ready to give up he saw... THE BOX! he opened the box very carefully and looked inside, not only was his book there but so were a whole bunch of letters addressed to him! Turns out they were from his mom who is supposed to be dead...

I won't say anymore, sorry gotta wait until next week but I'm just as excited to read this book as you are to find out what happens next. This book is really good and i will recommend it to anyone who doesn't mid a little discomfort while reading and who enjoys a slight half way mystery (not quite a mystery but sorta is).

That Summer: Sarah Dessen

        This book by Sarah Dessen was not my favorite. Usually I love her books and they are really fun to read but i have to say for this book on a scale of one t ten it would be a 7. I liked it and everything and it was interesting but there wasn't any really dramatic parts in the book and that disapointed me. I like dramatic books or books with a big problem going on. This book had many little problems but not a BIG one. Instead of having a story mountain i feel like it was a highway with tiny bumps in the road.

        In the book the characters main concern is her hight. Yes that might be a problem for the character but as a reader who is not extreamly tall it was not very easy to realate to her problems, and i couldn't really see why being tall was such a problem for her.

        As we always learn in writing you have to think of the reader. The problem of being 5 foot 11 inches at age 15 is a problem that some readers might relate to but unfortunately this reader was not me and i don't think any other 8th grader readers at least at our school are going to face.

        The one other problem in the book she had was the fact that her dad cheated on the mom and ran off with the local weather girl. That was interesting but the only way she talked about it was when the main character was complaining about it which you can understand is pretty annoying. One thing I always wonder is why do writers think their readers will like to hear their character complain if normal people don't like to hear complaining. I think somethimes they need to use the complaints to get a message throught the readers mind but most of the time it is just as annoying to hear a character complain as it is to hear a human do it. 

Daisy

               Daisy is a character who is hard to understand because even people in her family and actual characters don't even understand her completely. She is interesting though because you can't always predict what will happen with her around. A lot of characters are like that though which keeps the story alive and interesting. 

               The weird thing about Daisy is that she is this great girl who isn't stupid our weird just a little bit sensitive and yet there are girls who pick on her. In most books there is an obvious reason why someone is being picked on but in this the author keeps us just as confused as Daisy is on why they make fun of her. Some girls are just mean and their isn't even a small hint of why they are. It just show how mean some girls can be to each other. 

               I like that even though camp is supposed to be this amazing place for Daisy's sisters bullies can easily ruin that for her and this glorious camp that her two older sisters talk about and love is hidden and questionable for Daisy. Who can see the fun of being somewhere when you have limited friends and people hiding your clothes throughout your cabin. She can't go to her sisters because she doesn't want to be the sister who tags along with everyone. Its very confusing to read and to deal with.

               One thing that i really like about this author is that when your characters feel confusion or frustration you kind of feel the same. When Daisy did the zip line and everyone was so proud of her i was happy to. I also like that it take place at camp because they do a lot of the same stuff that i do at camp so i can relate to the feelings and think back to how fun or not fun that activity was. For example when Daisy was about to do the zip lines and was scared to i remember feeling that exact same way and just looking around creeped me out. It feels nice to know exactly what they are talking about and be able to relate to how they feel physically and emotionally. 

The summer of firsts and lasts: Sisters

          I think this book is off to a good start. It has an interesting style that i haven't seen a lot and can't decide if i like it yet. Each chapter is in the point of view of different sister. There are three sisters in total, Daisy, Calla and Violet and each chapter is told from one of their perspectives. It is an interesting writing technique so that you get to know all of them in different ways. But the bad part is i already found my favorite sister (actually i don't know if that is a good thing or bad).

          The story takes place at a summer camp, which is cool because it sort of reminds me of my sleep away camp. I can relate to how the characters feel, for example: how much they like the first day where you meet all of the people in your cabin, and about half way through the session they start to get a tad bit home sick. In a way it is a little creepy how i can relate on so many different levels. Even the part about sisters because i have a younger sister.

          One thing that i think they got wrong (or just haven't shown yet) is the fighting part of having a sister. Yes you want what you can't have so anyone who does not have a sister, or any sibling for that matter will know that it isn't all laughing and best friends. You do fight, its just part of life. But in the book these sisters seem to look up at each other with love and respect. They know everything about them, and always talk about times when they were laughing or having fun. But being a sister i know that it isn't like that (at least not all the time). Personally i go to camp to get a break from family but all these girls can talk about is how close they are and that they get to hang out with their sister.

          Maybe this makes me seem like a bad person but everyone needs a break right? I know i said i could relate to them and i CAN. Just not on family levels. I am interested to see how these perfect sisters unfold, and what will happen in the future.

Television

In the book Bossypants Tina Fey describes the work put into making a T.V. show. All you see is the final result but you don't think about the background set up. Or if you do i don't think this is what you would imagine. They actually have to make the actors sign a contract for at least 11 episodes before they even air the pilot! When I read her book i really noticed that you don't just write something and it goes on to television you have to get a year to just come up with your idea for the show. Then you actually have to write the script. This is crazy!! I honestly never thought that it would take this much trouble. Tina Fey talks about that at first they never thought it would make it but she was optimistic.

This business is weird i never knew that the actors went through this. They have to think that if the show will do well. They can't just bail on the cast and crew. This happened once to the people at 30 rock and they had to re- write the whole thing. This is not okay!! Even more they promised that they would do the show AND then said that she wouldn't do it. Point is that if anyone reads this and does go into showbiz (highly doubtful but you never know) don't be obnoxious and cancel on people without reading the SCRIPT first (okay that was not the real point of this just wanted to get that out there)

AN INSPIRATION TO US ALL....

Tina fey writes in a way that is so fun to read! She has given me ideas of what to write about. It is actually FUN to read her books because they are so similar to the popular T.V. shows and movies she has made. It makes you think that she really does put all of HER into the writing (if you haven't noticed i am trying to do the same, hope its working well!) She puts jokes in there and she is honest about what she thinks. She does't care if someone says that it is stupid or she is wrong. So i am just going to say this now "opinions can never be wrong because it is what someone thinks and you can't have a right thought" She says what she thinks about how she looks. She knows who she is. She knows that not everyone can be loved 100% so why let the people who don't like you hold you back. (yes i can preach and say this but it is always easier said then done)

TO WRAP THIS UP...

I have found the book Bossypants to be thought provoking, inspirational, oh so very funny, and best of all you get an insight of what it is like to work in the entertainment industry! (oh gosh) I have not finished this book yet BUT i highly doubt that the ending will differ from the amazing beginning!

Faking 19

I thought best friends were supposed to be your security blanket. The things that protected you against the rest of the world. The one thing that you trust.

In this book the two apparently best friends Alex and M are not really what i think best friends are. Yes they say they are best friends but is that enough. I think the author is trying to give their readers a reality check. This is life. Their is none of this magic that connects two best friends. Or is there.....

I think that the author of this book has a different opinion of what friendship is then me. She says that these two girls are best friends yet Alex is really nice and i feel like M can be nice when she wants to be but for the most part she is well a "snobby typical california stereo type" (nothing agents california!)

Friends are supposed to be nice to each other and care about one another (i know that sounds cheesy but its true) and it seems like all M does is cares about her self and all of her problems. Yes she was born and raised in a rich house where she never had to do anything and her life was all handy dandy. Alex just came to accept that, but i really don't think that is how a friendship works. Who wants to be with someone who doesn't care about you? I don't think anyone would just come and accept that.

I don't like to complain about books because all in all the book is good BUT (and i know there is always a but) The author does get off track in her book. One moment she will be in one spot and the next they will be somewhere else. I just think that she has great plot but then starts to add in and it confuses you then when she goes back to what they were talking about before. But after a few books i think she will be really good write.

Celebraties are People too: Bossypants By: Tina Fey

       

          In the book Bossypants by Tina Fey I am amazed to notice what she goes through and went through as a kid. Even though hollywood seems all glamorous and fun there is a place before then. In Bossypants Tina Fey talks about her life as a kid before she actually became a celebrity. It is weird because you never think about how movie stars got to where they are you just know them as, Oh yah they were in that movie but they had a life before hollywood.


          In the book you get to know who Tina Fey is. She doesn't just write but she puts the same personality that makes her T.V. shows so funny. She is not just a actress but a writer too. Once you read her book you can tell. You don't think about celebrities outside of what you read in the magazines, for example Tina Fey git slashed in the face when she was little. I never knew that but once she pointed it out in her book, i can't NOT notice it. She talks about how she was working in a ticket booth selling for shows that she wasn't even in. It is hard to imagine someone so famous doing something so small.


          What i admire her for because she can be silly and honest about herself without worrying about what people will think about her. She is just a regular person, which is hard to think about knowing her popular status for so long. But she is and she has made plenty of mistakes, gone through just as much pain as us. Even if she is this funny great person, she was someone before this too.


          An issue i think she really stresses in her book is that she was this child who had her own issues and definitely was not "normal". She talks about things that i would never chair to my best friend let alone anyone who read my book! But she does it. I think she wants to illustrate that she isn't a person with a fantasy life that so many people would kill for. She is the weird one who passed out in her doctors office.


          I don't think people realize that their is a history to people before they became famous. I admire Tina Fey for showing me and probably many others that there isn't some special bubble around celebraties. They just followed what they love to do. So should we.