Final Blogpost

     Its so sad that the year is finally coming to a close, but  i have had such a fun time doing blogs i enjoyed being able to write about the books that i enjoyed and didnt enjoy and having readers reflect and respond to the things that i had said.  In the begining i had a bit of a rocky start, because i was unsure of what to write and i really didnt enjoy writing about "charlottes web".  Through the process i learned all sorts of things about myself as a reader, i learned the books that i enjoy reading and the ones that i dont, and i also learned that instead of writing about the books i dislike i like to write about the ones that i do like.  The only problem is that i wish that i could improve on the blogs that i didnt like, because basically i wrote that i dont like this book, dont read it, and other nonsense like that.
     I think that i benefited a lot from doing blogs beacuse i feel that i have now grown as a writer and a reader, and i noticed that i try to incorperae what we learned in class into my writing.  i also dont read by skimming the book over now i really try to read inbetween the lines and try to find the symbolism that the author is trying to use and why the author is using it.  Sometimes when i have to write a blogpost at the end of the week i go back to my previous blogs to find the things that i liked in them and i try to the same thing.  But while looking through them i can see how much i have improved  over the year, in the begining my blogs were short and werent very meaningful.  And i am so grateful to be able to see how my writing was at the begining of this expirience and the outcome of it now.
     Writing online is so much more different than writing in a book because online there are other people viewing your posts and they expect something that is well delivered and proffesional.  But in my notebook i feel that i am writing for myself and i dont push myself as hard because there isnt that pressure of other people reading it on me.  i feel that being online can be liberating because you are able to write whatever you please and post the things that you want.  But on the other hand it could also be limiting because the things that you may write may not be appropriate for blogs and may offend other people that may be reading it.
     I dont believe that online we are ourselves, some people may be i dont feel thatr i am.  I do find myself creating a personality that is mature and proper and independent when i write my blogs.  But i do think that as teenagers we sometimes do abuse the freedom of not being ourselves online like on facebook.  Many people that i know have abused the power of being able to become someone that they are not, and saying things that they would never say in reality to that persons face.  Why they do it i am not quite sure but i believe that it is because they want to be able to change themselves into a person that they know that they are not.  Now doing that isnt a good thing, because you are not being honest to yourself and you are changing yourself into someone that is doing the wrong thing.
     I do see myself possibly keeping up this blog, maybe not as often but i will persue it.  In general my view of a blog is as an informer to the readers and helps educate them.  Thank- you Ms. Rear for letting us have the expirience of having an online blog :)

All Night Party

     I started to read this book because Tiffany reccomended it to me, knowing how much i like mystery and horror combined i believed that i would enjoy reading the book.  At the beginning i did, and the book managed to keep me on the edge of the seat , i was constantly overwhelmed with the series of events that kept on turning, but as i got further into the story all of the information i was given was too much.  And i was too busy trying to figure out the killler that i was rarely focusing on the book.  At last i came to the decison of checking who had commited the crime and then start the book over to see all of the clues and evidence that was given so that i could focus on the base line and the details of the story instead of worrying about the killer.
     When i found the killer i was surprised that she could do such a thing, she had such a close bond with cindy, but she just let jealously get the best of her.  But as i continued reading the revaeling of the killer, i found myself in hysterics of how badly written the end was.  It seemed as if it was out of those stupid soap operas that play on tv.  The killer was saying "she betrayed me... i had to do what i had to do... I DID IT! mwa ha ha..."  just those simple cheesy lines made me want to dispose of the book rather than keep on reading it.
     I too find it hard from my own expiriences to end stories, especially mysteries.  It confusing me on he way that i want my plot to end.  I just wish that the author could have tried someting newer than doing the obvious conclusion to the story.  Overall i dint like the book, i beleieved that it as badly written and i only reccommend it to those that want to find out who was the killer rather than reading the book for fun.

Sold blogpost #3

     Today i finished the book sold, it's such an amazing book that never stops taking you on an adventure , either on the page or outside of the book.  I feel bad for the main character, Lakshmi as well as her other young friends that have also been lied to in order to get them to work for Mumtaz.  But i haven't really thought about the way that it affects the adults in the same situations as well.  Its a poor neighborhood without much to offer, and those that need money to help support their families are left with the only choice of working for Mumtaz as a prostitute. 
     Monica, a good friend of Lakshmi has been working there for as long as she can remember to help support her child a few miles away as well as her parents.  Finally after many years her time has finally been done and the money that she owed Mumtaz is finally payed off.  And she is constantly bragging about how nice its going to be with the money she earned with her child, she talked about the way that they could start a new life and buy a new house, and pay for her father's medical bill which was the reason she had to work for Mumtaz in the first place.  Once she is gone Lakshmi and the others must go back to work.  Little did they know that Monica would be back, she would'nt be at home with her daughter because of the decision she made that would help her family.  It reminds me of philosophy and the way that even though you may do something good like Monica finding the only job to help her support her family but then all that work and money she made and horrible things that happened to her and that she wittnessed all went to waste.  Her famly were disgraced by her working as a prostitute even though that was the only thing that she could do, that they told Monica's daughter that she was dead.  so know it seems that everything that Monica had done was all wasted.  Left with no where to go she had to go back to the place where she wasted most of her life, there was the only place she had, the friends she had there were now her family and her real family was just a bunch of strangers.  Its really sad to think that although Monica was doing the right thing she was punished for doing something that could potentially help her family, and hat part really devastated me.  Think about it, you havent seen your child for a long time and then when your finally free to go home and not live all of the harshness of being a prostitute you family tells you that they told your one and only child that you were dead because you disgraced them for having the job that was the only one that she could find.  So now you can never see your child again because you 're supposed to be dead.  Just imagine the pain that Monica must've felt, just imagine the devastation, just try to imagine.

Sold Blogpost #2

     Whenever  i read sad books i always have a philosophy that everything always happens for a reason.  When i read this book i kept that philosophy in mind, but as the book went on i couldnt help but wonder what was the reason that these innocent young girls were suffering.  While a lady is profiting off selling.  I wondered who could do such an awful thing without feeling a sense of regret or sorrow.  I started to wonder whether Mumtaz (the lady selling them) had been through the same thing as a child.  But if she had why would she want other young girls just like her to face the same pain and misery that she faced as a child as well.  I wondered what she gained out of it, just the money, was that all she cared about.  Did she even care about how awful the things were that were goinbg on, did she even care that young girls were taken away from their families, did she even care that they even commited suicide. What i cold heart Mumtaz muzt have fro putting them through all of this.
     As i got further into the book although the main character Lakshmi hated even the thought of having to go back to work at night, but she did what she could do get as much money as she could to finally be able to be free.  Even if that meant begging to sleep with anyone, she didnt care.  The part that surprised me was when she siad the nice man came to her room and was warm and soft and smelt good.  It was crazy to me that she thought that he was a nice man.  He definatly wasnt nice if he was sleeping with young girls and he knew that what he was doing was wrong, and he definatly wasnt nice if he didnt do anything to help and change the issue going on.  Instead all he did was help Mumtaz make more of a profit.
     It seems that after all that time that Lakshmi spent there didnt seem to let her forget all of her memories of home that she had.  If she had forgotten she wouldnt have been able to stay strong and keep hope that she would finally be free someday and with her family once again.  She was one of the few that lost hope, and along the way of her journey she made many friendships that changed her and gave her a wider range of thought towards what the world was really like.  And i love how the author found a way to make the reader feel as if they were on a journey as well, and feeling all of the pain and sorrow that Lashmi felt.  We were in her thoughts hearing what she felt and we got to make her character up in our head based on what she said and therefore we got closer to her as the story went on.  I highly reccomend this book, it takes you on a journey through part of the world that you'll wish there never was.

SOLD

     This book was amazing, i started reading it and just couldnt put it down.  Human trafficking is an awful things and it is so sad that many young girls had to go through the pain and misery of it.  They were taken from their homes to raise a little extra cash for their families, but then end up in a whole new world that wasnt heard for.  They thought they would be doing simple jobs like cleaning and cooking but what they were told was so far off from the reality that they were to face.
     I found it awful that Mumtaz could just do that to poor  innocent little children.  It just goes to show you just how jacked up the world is.  There are some that have tons of money and live in great homes and dont have to do anything to work ofr that money.  And then there are spme that are horrible people that would use small young girls for extra cash. I dont really understand what makes a person have to do something that they know is so wrong to the people that dont deserve it.
     Lakshmi was very strong though.  Although she was lied to and cheated she always had hope and prayed ofr things to get better.  she didnt mope around like most did, she stayed strong and held her ground.  and even though she was facing the worst of times she always thought of the bright side and remembered all of the things she had done with her family.
     The book really got me to think about what is really important in life, and to be grateful for everything that we have.  i couldnt even imagine myself being in that situation, i dont even think that i would have hope that things would get better.

Sammy Keys and the wedding crashers

     ***SPOLIER ALERT***

     Whenever i read mysteries i cant help but feel bad for the victims, even if they might have been stupid and annoyingly moody they were still hurt by someone elses actions.  Mr.Vince on the other hand was someone i couldnt feel sorry for.  All he did was accuse, and lie, and bicker, and yell, and he didnt even like kids when he was the teacher.  Its no wonder that sammy had some problems with him, even heather the kiss-up queen did.  But after he was the one everyone detested and became the base of a plot to mess him up he still seemed to go on with his moody ways.
     As the book slowly came to a close i started to become more and more suspicious of Mr. Vince, and finally when i learned he had done all the crimes to himself i became stunned.  why would a man go so far to mess up his car, put a dead rat in his desk, and send death threats to himself.  Why would he have to sink that low and frame his own students just so that he could have some days off from school.  you might as well call in sick than commit crimes that will lock you up in jail.
     i get confused in childrens mysteries like this one, because the criminals are so dumb.  in reality if murderers and robbers and all other criminals were that dumb then they would all be in jail.  I wish that books actually portrayed bad people accuratly because then it makes the book more complex and more realistic.  overall the book was really good and i enjoyed reading it, and i plan on reading the next one in the series.

Sammy Keys and the wedding crasher

      Inviting Sammy Keys to a wedding... well thats just a disaster waiting to happen, and making her a bridesmaid, come on get real.  So when Sammy is having some problems with Mr.Vince it's just ready to get out of control.  And when things seem too good to be true, she automatically suspects that something fishy is going on and usually her instinct is right.
     Heather Acosta, theres one in every school.  she's the girl that pushes you around, thats popular and pretty, the one that sucks up to all the teachers so that when she strikes no one suspects that its her.  Shes the bully, the girl who always has to get what she wants, and when she wants something she'll always find a way to get it.
     When you think about bullies you think that they're just mean and crude to everyone.  And that was also my automatic response when i first met the character Heather.  But since reading the series since the third grade i always had a bad vibe from her, and i thought that there was no way that she could ever be kind, and there was no way i would have any sympathy if something happened to her.
     As i read through some of the book i noticed that most bullies have problems with their families, or making friends, or they just have trouble at school and they let their anger out on others.  And even though they may seem big and harmful, they have feelings too, just like every other normal human being.  The harder i thought about it the more i started to realize why Heather was so angry.  Her parents split up as a young girl, leaving her to watch them find new boyfriends and forget about each other.  she watched them drift apart, and now when things have finally cooled down, her father is now moving away to be with the woman in love.  Now is that something that seems easy to get over and understand.  After seeing her parents together foir so long and them watching them chase after other people and not each other, that suffering can build up.  And although we dont see her suffering, we see the way she lets it out on other people, because she doesnt know where to store all of her emotions. 
     Heather's emotions arent discussed through the book because the story doesnt revolve around her.  But sammy's best friend Marissa ios going through the same problems with her parents.  and you can see how much that tore her apart, and that must be the same way heather felt, except unlike marissa who had Sammy, hooly and dot, heather didnt have any friends that she could let it all out to. and that is a huge impact on the way heather turned out to be.

For Hayat's blog "The Lovely Bones"

I think that this could become an allstar blog, you just need to do a couple of things to improve it:
- First you have to write more details of the book and retell the story a little so that a reader that isnt familiar with the book, can get an idea of the plot and what the problems and plot is.
- I also think that you could make it much longer because all you have is the basic information and if someone who didnt know the book (like me) read it they wouldnt understand anything.  I find that blogposts are supposed to give an idea to an interested reader about a book, and it has to convince them that the book is worth reading.  So if your post was longer there would be more information to convince the reader to read the book.
- You also need to go outside the book and how it relates to the real world.  You do that a bit but its just the basics.  You need to really just put it all out there.
- Another thing you have to do is explain the effect that the book had on you, and the emotions you felt while reading it.  You also cant only write about the book, you also have to write about your opinion on the story and how the book may have changed you.
- Lastly i think that it is odd that you said that you have been thinking about the book for a long time but you didnt really explain what you were thinking about. And also write about the positive and negative about the book. 

"What I saw and how I lied" 2nd blog

*SPOILER ALERT!!!!!*
Before you read this I just want to warn you that there is a spoiler alert so dont read on if you plan on reading the book!

     I didnt think that it would be possible for me to feel any emotions towards Peter (Evies Love), after all the trouble and drama he caused, and especially after what he did to Evie, i thought that he was awful and i wanted Evie to see him the way i did and the way her parents did as well.
     What i highly doubted was that when he turned up missing i would have any sympathy.  But when i realized that although i disliked him because i knew more about him than the main character Evie had, she was in love with him.  And i wished that he could be found soon so that she didnt have to suffer anymore.  The truth is that when you dont like someone you still would feel bad if something happened to them and especially if you think about the way their loved one might feel.
     So when he turned up DEAD suspicion circled the family when they were the last ones with him.  Everyone seemed to be more carried away with whether Joe and Evies mom had committed the crime, and seemed not to care less about how much Evie had been shattered emotionally.  She felt that she knew him soo well, when all she knew were lies, and the man that she had loved she didnt know anything about.  And as if things seemed like they couldnt get anyworse Evie was devastated when she found out that her mother had actually been having an affair with Peter, when she thought that she was the only one that had a special bond with him.  It seemed like the trip was one huge mistake, everything had once seemed so picture perfect and then in a blink of a storm everything was so different.
     And this sort of thing seems to happen all the time in the real world.  When people feel like they have it all good and then in a secondnothing's good and your world id turned upside down.  And not only that but they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and if they had come and gone at different times and waitedtill later to go like the mother had told them (mothers always know best)then maybe, just maybe they wouldnt be stuck in this situation.  Nobody's hearts would be broken, no tears would be shed, no jury would be called.  It would be just like the life Evie was always used to, and when she asked for a change in her life, she probably never expected a change like this one.

"What I saw and how I lied" 1st blog

What I saw and how I lied

     Evie always wanted to be someone else, either her best friend Margie, her enemy Ruthie Kalman, or the famous Joan Crawford.  So when opportunity knocks Evie is quick to open the door.so when her step father (Joe) planned a trip to Florida to get away from work and to enjoy the rest of the summer, Evie was excited, for it had been so long since their last vacation before Joe went into the war.  During their stay Evie managed to reinvent herself into someone she knew in her heart she wasn’t but was instead someone she wanted to be.  She wanted to be the one who girls envied, and a girl that could fill out a sweater.  So when she meets a young man who seems to like her for the person she isn’t, and as time goes by the old Evie is lost and just can’t be found.  The question is will Evie take her love too far and lose her identity, or will she find herself and overcome the illegal love she has?
     The plot may seem simple at first, a girl who falls in love with an older man and forgets about herself as well as the others around her but it has a lot more meaning than that.  It’s a bit like Romeo and Juliet and the fact that Juliet’s parents don’t accept the fact that she is in love and wants to be with the love of her life Peter.  And like Juliet she ignores her parents and goes behind their backs in secrecy thinking that she knows what is right for her when she’s just a young girl who doesn’t know what she really wants and what she needs.
     Even though Evie’s decision seems stupid despite all the warnings her parents gave her to not go with Peter, she shows a lot of character development through the main symbol of the story, red lipstick.  During the beginning you hear Evie’s complaints on how she wants to wear lipstick, and how her parents believe that she is too young and undeveloped to wear it.  But toward the end she actually does wear it which shows a sign of maturity from the beginning of the book to the end of the book.  So it really signifies Evie’s character growth.

Blog Review for Wiola

     Usually when i find a genre that i really like i tend to stick to the books that fit into that genre.  so it was no wonder when i was recommended a book in the genre that i didnt really recognize, i was afraid to step out of my box.  so i decided that i wouldnt want to read it, because it would probably be boring, plus the cover looked awful.  so there i was rejecting a book based on it being unfamiliar and having a bad cover.  weeks later there i was reading the same book, which became the best book i had ever read.  the plot seemed like you already knew what would happen, but there was constantly a twist in the end making you wonder what the outcome would be in the next book.
     i like how wiola tells backround on how she ended up reading the book and what she expected and the and what really did happen in the story.  i dont really think that she really went into the book and told the reader about what was going on and how the plot was affecting the characters or even whatr was going on. maybe she could've wrote more about the story and gave us a summary instead of writing about how she got to reading it and gone inside the book instead of talking about it.  but besides that i really like how she realized that when you read books, you need to find a way to relate yourself to the character and read it with emotions and passion.


check out wiola's blog at http://shinelikemeex3.blogspot.com/
  

Sammy Keys and the cold hard cash

     wherever she is sammy keys always manages to attract trouble, just like fruits attract fruit flies.  so when she's caught in the middle of a sticky situation its a question of what she'll do next.
     although sammy keys is a mystery series you seem to notice real life issues that sammy faces, they may seem obvious but they are hidden and only when you really think about it is how you really notice it.  not only that but she is one of the few teen characters that you read about that isnt the "fake teen" that the media tries to portray.  instead of having money, fancy clothes, accesories, nice hair, and a perfect family, if you look at sammy you notice she has none of that.  she lives in her grandmothers apartment (senior highrise) which is only for the old secretly, while her mother left her for fame in hollywood, and who knows where her father could be.  she barely has enough money to buy descent shoes, let alone have lots of clothes at all, and she has a lot more to worry about than her looks.
     sammy is the kind of teen that has a very kind heart, not snobby and prissy but kind.  and although she doesnt have much, she knows that money isnt everything even if it is a neccesity.  all you needed were good friends, a great grandmother, and a smile spread across your face showing to the world what really is important.

"These boots are made for stalking" 2nd blog

     why do the good guys always have something bad happen to them?  for example claire, she lived a normal life in orlando and then was forced to move here as her fathers job moved to a new location.  now challenged to start over, she understood that things in westchester would be much more different than it was in orlando.  after a years move she finally earned her place at the top of the pyramid, well maybe not exacly on the top, there was only thing stopping her from getting that spot on the top.  and that was massie block.
     although claire struggled and changed herself to becaome someone else she learned for her mistakes and decided she would never change herself to become someone that wasnt her.  and that is not only a lesson but a life lesson, because no matter who you are never forget the real and true you.  

"These boots are made for stalking"

     This book  is one that starts with drama and ends with drama, it starts with pressure, and ends with pressure, and it starts with good and bad desicions and ends with them.  The bigest problem seems to be the one that all teens, kids, and children face in their childhood and it's the need to be or become popular.
    Many strive for the number one spot, and become the ruler of the school, with nice clothes, hair, style, and beauty.  the pressure to change yourself to become a whole other is amazing.  the neccesity to have good apperances rather than work and strive at your goals at school.  but nowadays students seem to care more at beaing at the top than they do about being at the bottom of school educational wise.
     this book is one of the few books that manages to show all of the problems that children and teens face as they go to school.  the way they care about boys and things that aren't even something you need to worry about.  we are constantly exposed to society who portrays the things that seem to be right and the things that seem to be bad.  and we dont even process things through our minds to see if they really may be true, but instead we go on ahead and do what society tells us to do.
    thne point of this book is to show what is really neccisary and what is really not, and that is what we have to take away when we read it.

GLASS

   Drugs are things that will ruin your entire life just by one shot.  It will change you into a new, terrible person that not even you can recognize.  You wont be that A student you strived to be your entire life, you wont think about what your gonna be as the years pass by, and you wont be the amazing child that your parents were glad to see.  In a blink of an eye your someone else, someone you werent meant to be.  the person with the shaded face, a slumped figure, and hooded jacket over their face, the person who cant walk straight and is in a daze and has no clue what the hell they're doing.  and that's where the story begins.
     Kristina was always the ideal daughter, she did as she was told, did great in school, and studied as much as people watched tv.  then something went wrong, she got pregnant young, got addicted to drugs which she so called the "monster" and things were never going to go back to the way they were ever again.  but with the constant struggle of needing drugs to feel alive again, she still believed she could be in power and control herself the drugs and the baby all alone.  but the truth is that things are easier said than done, and Kristina learns that soon enough.