Book Recommendation: The Graveyard Book

               Instead of recommending a book to everyone, I would not recommend The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman to people as I would give it a 4/10. In the book, Bod is a human child being raised by dead ghosts. His parents were murdered when he was just an infant, so he is taken in by Silas, a ghost who lives in a cemetery across the street from Bod's house. Jack, the murderer of Bod's parents, is set out to kill Bod as he feels it is his mission to finish the family name by killing the last of the family, which happens to be Bod. Bod is very curious and is always meeting new human friends, but he can't leave the graveyard on any occasion. In the climax of the book, Bod's curiosity gets the best of him and he goes into the outside world only to find Jack. If this book sounds interesting to you, you will have to find out for yourself. I did not like this book because it had a dull mood throughout the story and there was barely any action throughout the first half of the book. However, this book did win the Newbery Medal, so if you are looking for an award winning book, this is an option.

This is the cover for The Graveyard Book

Word of the day: Ominous

Our word of the day is the word ominous.  It is a adjective that is defined as pretending evil or harm. You could use this word when describing a character, most likely an antagonist. It has an evil connotation therefore it could be said most antagonists could be described as ominous.

Characters: Boy21

In Boy21 by Matthew Quick, the main character, Finley, could be classified as a dynamic character. Finley is a shy boy who lives and breathes basketball. At the beginning of the book, Finley is living life to the fullest until a star point guard from California comes to town. Finley makes friends with Russ, the point guard, and we see signs of him becoming less shy. At this point in the book however, Finley thinks basketball is more important than his new friend Russ and also his best friend Erin. Finley's character affects the climax of the book because we see a sudden change in his behavior. At the climax, Erin is hit by a car and Finley is devastated. Before, he did not like to interact with others, but when Erin was injured, he realized just how important family and friends were and started to interact more with them. This sudden change in Finley shows us his development and also introduces the theme in the novel. When his actions change, it shows the lesson learned is that we should all put what's most important first and chase after it. In the end, we can see a lot of change in Finley over the course of the story and also we notice how his actions affected the plot and the theme of the story.

Link that shows the importance of Friendship. This is what Finley finds most important to him.

Theme and Summary: The Lost Hero

The theme of The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan is that teamwork will get the job done no matter how difficult it is. At the beginning of The Lost Hero, Jason wakes up in a trance with his memory wiped. His friends, Piper and Leo try to find out what is wrong with him when the 3 find out they are all the offspring of Greek gods and mortals. When they first find out they are "demigods," they are psyched about their abilities. However, early in the text, Piper's dad is kidnapped and they decide to set out and rescue him to wash away Piper's worries. Jason and crew then face a harsh journey encountering cyclops and hydras along their route to save Piper's dad. In the climax of the novel, Piper sprains her ankle and Jason is seriously injured, and just when you think they are about to give up hope, Leo convinces them otherwise. He encourages the two to continue fighting so they learn to work more as a team rather than as individuals. Therefore, this portion of the text was a major turning point for both the theme and the plot, because it started the falling action and introduced the theme to the reader. Once the group starts relying on one another, they become practically invincible, and easily find where Piper's dad was. However, standing in their way of reaching Piper's dad was a giant who was brutally strong and hard to kill, but thanks to their teamwork, they rescue Piper's dad and the story ends with a clear statement of theme. The end of the story greatly affects the message of theme because at first teamwork was just a mere idea, but after their fierce encounter, it enforces the idea of teamwork and shows just what teamwork can accomplish. I think the author notices that in society today that many people are independent, which is a good thing. However, I think his purpose in writing is to spread the idea that two is better than one and teams can accomplish more than just one individual. Judging by this, I think the author did a great job at trying to convey the message he did through the theme.

A good example of teamwork, I thought this was neat.

Teamwork Article

http://www.success.com/articles/277-the-miracle-of-teamwork

Book Recommendation: Maze Runner Trilogy

I strongly recommend the Maze Runner Trilogy to anyone who has read or seen the Hunger Games. There are 4 books in the series including The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure, and a prequel called The Kill Order. The books are about a boy named Thomas who wakes up in a trance and knows nothing of his background. He is forced to cope with the people around him who have had the same experience he has, and together they go on a quest to find out more about themselves. Personally, I like these books because there is a cliff hanger at the end of every chapter, making the book hard to put down. If you enjoy action like I do, you would like these books because there is lots of action throughout the stories and it is so intense the reader is always on the edge of their seat. The author of these books is James Dashner, and he uses a lot of imagery in his books. His writing is so advanced that I can picture every little detail of the setting and I literally feel like I am looking through the main character's eyes. If I had to rate the series on a scale of 10, I would give it a 9.9. The only bad part of the series is the characters use different language that is hard to decipher when you first begin reading. It is hard to tell what goes on at first, but once you become interested you will start to learn their language and everything will be clear. I hope you will enjoy the Maze Runner Trilogy as much as I did!

These are the 4 books in the Maze Runner Trilogy

We significantly changed the plot structure of The Interlopers by creating a new form of plot we call the U plot. This improves tension in the story because everything starts going downhill in the story fast and then at some point in the story things slowly start to look up. The plot would look like a U because everything goes really bad and then things start to turn around, which also affects the ending of The Interlopers. It also adds suspense because in the end Ulrich and Georg are at the point where they make friends but we do not know where they go from there. This plot once again is a significant change because it reverses the original plot of the story and things end up looking positive.

Scorch Trials: Reading Skills

               In Scorch Trials, there are many situations in the novel that allow the reader to connect to the main character and make inferences about the future. In the past 2 chapters I have read, Thomas and his friend Brenda are being tested by the government. Right now they are traveling underground through a dark tunnel to reach the rest of their group which they were separated from.

               Since they are in a dark tunnel, it is very suspenseful and I found myself wondering what was going to happen next. I can connect to how Thomas feels because he is frightened in the darkness and has no sense of where to go. I have felt this way once when me and my family got lost in the woods at night. I felt scared like Thomas and I had absolutely no idea where to go. I think in the next chapter Thomas and Brenda will encounter an obstacle that keeps them from traveling in the dark since the story is very suspenseful and the characters are becoming alert and insecure. One question I continue to ask myself is: Why is Thomas so insecure? Thomas has many insecurities in the story and they make him a strong introvert. I would like to see Thomas step outside the box and start expressing himself more.

               This book, Scorch Trials, is a lot like the real world since in the book they are lost in a vast area fighting for survival and this happens to many people when they get lost in an unknown area. In the real world people have to cope with their surroundings just like Thomas has to. Lots of people have attempted climbing Mt. Everest and have had to survive the wilderness like Thomas has to. This book is also a lot like the Hunger Games since like Katniss, Thomas is fighting for survival and has no escape because the government is testing him. Also like the Hunger Games, Thomas has allies to help him along the way.