Back To The Book

This book is kinda slow right now.

However, this book seems to be dragging along for the past couple of chapters. So, we learned that Val has been in the hospital because the audience has been in this really long flashback. After she was shot, the ambulance brought her to the hospital where she has been treated for her injuries. Brown goes onto say how Val's mom has been a mess for the past couple of days. Always crying whether it was about Val being shot by that "monster" or about how Val is the monster herself because nobody knows if she is innocent yet. Regardless, the past week or so has been very challenging on Val's entire family. Her parents have even started to question their marriage as well.

But, a new man shows up in the hospital one day to visit Val. A simple man in a plain brown suit, Val thought nothing of it until the mysterious man pulled up a chair and began to drill her with questions. He later introduces himself as Detective Panzella. He has been given this case so the town may draw a conclusion as to whether Val his guilty or innocent. He interrogates Val pretty harshly, too. Being the emotional wreck that she is, she breaks down and sometimes cannot answer all of his questions because they can be too deep and she has to take a moment to collect herself. It kind of bothers me how they put her feelings to the side. I mean for crying out loud, the girl just lost her boyfriend AND she got shot in the leg.

After a couple of weeks in the standard hospital, she is begrudgingly moved to the psych ward just a floor above her comfy room. It's a night mere situation when she walks in and sees several different patients with a large variety of problems. Multiple Personality to Bi polar to Schizophrenic patients. Even through she is very alarmed and maybe even scared, she puts on a fake smile and gives them the answers they want to hear so she can get out of the crazy house.

Shorty after she is realeased for the psych ward and starts to see her trusty psychologist, Dr. Hieler. He is a very pleasent but real individual. Val opens up to him about everything, not just Nick but what happened before and the thoughts that have been running through her brain. When she begins her first day, back at Garvin she phones Dr. Hieler for advice. Not only can he guide her along the best path, but he alwya tells her the truth. Even when Val might not want to hear it. I think that this will help her and maybe help her reach her goal of attending college after this year.

Great New App

I'm taking some time to share a new reading app.

It has been so addictive over the past couple of weeks. It is on the best sellers list of apps in the app store. However, it isn't really that popular among my age group. So many times today you will hear about teenagers and how they hate to read. I'm not like a hater of reading but it's definitely not what I would choose to spend time doing. I am on my phone a lot these days and since it's an app I use it when I am on my phone. I find that I use it on the bus in the mornings the most. Especially when it is quiet.

It's called Wattpad and was created in Canada, this year. You can read short and unpublished stories. Almost like an editor, you can highlight text and send comments to the writer. In most cases, if the story gets enough views the writers will actually try to publish. The great thing that I like is that 1. it goes with you everywhere and 2. the app gives you suggestions after you read. Just this morning, I found a spelling error and sent a comment to the writer. They can ever reply back. When you select a genre it will give you different suggestions. I have never heard of fan-fiction until this app. It is a genre that takes well known celebrities and puts them into everyday life.

I am currently reading "After" which is a fan-fiction that involves one direction and puts them into college at Washington State University. Some of the boys don't know or like each other. I don't know much about one direction or the way they are in reality. I think this helps with how I read the story because their personalities in reality don't confuse me.

I think that every age group could not only enjoy but also benefit from this great app. It is or for you if you really enjoy reading or even moderately like it.

Hate Is A Strong Word

     Val certainly uses hate for multiple situations, she hates Nick and the fact that he made a ignorant mistake. She hates that people look at her now and actually pretend like they care at all. She says how it irritates her the most when people around her "look with false caring." I would say that is her largest problem with returning back to school.
     In her third bell the second week back Brown paints a picture so vivid that it sent chills sprinting down my vertebrate. Val walks into her third and a girl who got shot in the leg was stitting and talking to one of her friends. This girl hadn't been back since the shooting for her injuries. Once she saw Val walk in and take a seat in the back row, a tsunami of shrieks and arguements flooded into the classroom. "WHAT IS SHE DOING HERE?!" Val looks up and sees a number of fingers pointed at her. The girl who was shot in the leg crutches out of the classroom with tears spilling out of her eyes. Her friends chase after her and comfort her. The rest of the classroom uproars into arguement. Brown describes kids crying and yelling.
     I would almost compare it to the Sandy Hook Shooting. The tramatic experience will haunt the people forever. The students at Val's school are trying to deal with the situation as best as teenagers know how to do. Vocally. Even though it may make Val uncomfortable, they should still be able to talk about their feelings. Perhaps not in front of the entire class but confidently in their guidance counselors. The high school had hired more counselors to help kids cope. However, they were just interested in voicing their opinions out loud.

     I just hope that Val can cope and work through this issue. I also am wondering if Brown will give us more background about what led up to the shooting. I feel like she didn't elaborate enough for the reader. 

The first step is admitting you have a problem

     As you all know from my last post. I am reading, "The Hate List" by Jennifer Brown. I started around a week ago and im nearly through the entire novel which has almost 500 pages. I am attached to this book. I have even started reading on the bus. Not only is it entetaining in the beginning, but what I also really like is that he keeps the story fast pase and it doesn't get boring. I find many times that each author I read has, at some time the story gets long and super slow.
     The story also takes breaks and goes back into flashbacks and elaborates more on the background of the story. The most recent one has taken place right after Valerie got back from her first day back at her highschool. Her mother was the first one in the front of the pick-up line. Brown says how Valerie was so concerned about how getting out of the school that she ran past her locker and left all of her homework inside. Brown adds that Valerie and her mother had shared a laughing moment and for the first time since the shotting Val's cheeks actually hurt from laughing so hard.

Then the flashback came.

     It was of her and she was back in the hospital with her family and a couple of police officers. There was live coverage of the shooting on the small tv that the officers were watching. Valerie came to and was so confused about what had happened. Her mother was taken out of the room because she was crying herself. It was just Val and her little brother, Frankie left in the hospital room. Frankie had to tell Val that her boyfriend had not only shot (and killed) many people, but also shot Val. She had trouble dealing with all of the news and only a couple days after started seeing Dr. Hieler, her trusty counselor.

     Will she be able to make it through her first trimester?

New one

I have taken a leap.

Last tri, one of my friends was reading this novel and raved about it.... Because I am still waiting for the sequel to my book to come out I thought "what the heck."

Hate List by: Jennifer Brown 

It opens with a flashback from a school shooting. There are ambulances heard in the distance and kids panicking everywhere. The gruesome image is painted with the words from the journal log. It's a newscast from a popular local station. Multiple kids shot and dozens wounded. Then, it takes a different route and brings us to present day. The killer's girlfriend, Valerie Leftman was shot as well but the police and people did not decide whether she is a killer or a hero. Nick, the killer pulled the gun on himself after killing and seriously wounding multiple students and teachers.

The whole plot is surrounded by this list that Nick ad Valerie made. It was of all the people that they hated. (mostly bullies) When the police found the list in Valerie's possession they questioned her role in the killing, but she denied it all and said she didn't know he was going to kill anybody. Later, we learn how seriously disturbed Nick was. In her thoughts, Valerie thinks back to how Nick was always trying to talk to Valerie about committing suicide and running away. Valerie never told anybody about Nick saying this to her.

When she returned back to school, the kids in most of her classes couldn't handle he being there. In her first bell, a girl who was shot in the leg and who was on the list ran out of class crying. The class then breaks into a very heated discussion about having Valerie back in class. Valerie sits through that bell with her head down not talking to anybody. She calls her life source- her counselor and tells him how hard it is to be back in school. He gives her a way out and says that if at the end of their trimester she is still miserable then she can home school.

I think that Valerie will toughen it out and start to make more friends. I can only keep reading to find out what happens next in, "Hate List" by Jennifer Brown

Review: " Fuse"

I am finally finished with this monster book.


     I actually think this is one of the best books I've ever read. The way it ended was magnificent, but I won't spoil it for you. I cannot wait for the sequel, "Burn." The best part for me was when El Capitan, Helmund and Pressia found Wilda in the woods. She was such a big help to them and without her, the plot would not have progressed and then she got the rapid cell degeneration from the enhancements and then Pressia had to leave her behind to heal with the nurses. In the third book, I really hope that Julianna Baggott elaborates on her story more. Even as the story moved forward, more and more children were returning from the Dome and coming back with the RCD (rapid cell degeneration) so that would be awesome if she took the children and made them heel then go help the mothers and Lyda fight the Dome and kill Willux.


      I would only read this book if you like apocotlyptic-dystopia-uprising-type novels. It would also be helpful if instead of buying the book right away and not looking into it. I would sit and read a couple chapters in store and then buy it if you like it. I say this because the story changes very rapidly in the beginning and I know a couple people who wouldn't like that. However, if you are into these topics then this book is just right for you. Even if you have never read a book in this genre then still try it because usually I am a Sarah Dessen type of person and I loved this novel. Definitely pick up a copy for yourself and try it out.

Still reading this giant book: Update

Either I'm too busy these days, or this book is ginormous


     I am back with an update of my book, "Fused." I'm sorry I haven't been on to do an update I have been too busy trying to do life and trying finish this thing! I have progressed a lot since we've last talked and I will quickly summarizer where I left off.


     So, once Partridge and Lyda are delivered to the basement, special forces come back to take Partridge to the Dome. Lyda quickly makes a diversion and they get away with the maps and serum. Each group is split up and they are running fast. El Capan and Pressia with Bradwell and Fignan (the talking black box) and Lyda with Partridge. There is a long journey and Lyda ends up getting pregnant and Partridge goes back to the Dome to save all of the people in the ruined city because the Dome promised that they would kill them if he did not return peacefully. The Dome sent out a hundred black mechanical spiders that lock on and blow up on people, to help convince Partridge. Lyda goes back with the mothers and rests and stays healthy ready for the new baby. While the mother's prepare for a full-out war on the Dome in which the leader (our good mother) plans to kill Partridge for making Lyda pregnant.
    On the other hand, Wilda (the little girl who was taken by the dome and made pure again) has began to get the negative side effects of the enhancements a.k.a rapid cell degeneration. The serum they are all protecting is the medicine that will fix the RCD and make Willux well again. Bradwell and Pressia have fallen in love while on the trek to get to the OSR outpost to save El Capitan who has one of the spiders stuck in his calf. When they make it there, the doctors pull out the spider and Wilda stays at the orphanage they have while Bradwell, Pressia and El Capitan find the formula to use the serum in and help save all of the people with defects.
    Partridge's old roommate from the academy in the Dome, Hastings has been forced into the Special Forces by the Dome. On their long journey they meet and he helps them. He gives them directions to an airship that will lead them to New Grange. (where the formula is) He is wounded in battle and left with some close friends while Bradwell, Pressia and El Capitan find the formula. They have also tried to decode Willuxs' mind to try and understand his actions. They find the airship and start the journey to New Grange where they THINK the formula is.
    Back in the Dome, Willux is dying and he chooses Partridge to be the next leader. But, in order to have this happen, he has to wipe all of Partridge's memories which includes ever meeting Lyda and leaving the dome. Willux has also remarried and the daughter is engaged to Partridge. Her name is Iralene and her mother, Mimi are kept in capsules to keep them looking young. Willux keeps people in these capsules who he doesn't want alive or dead.

Keeping up? Stay tuned in for more updates and very soon a review!

Blog Reflection

 

Monday, August 26, 20 3

Summer Reading 2013  (old post)

"Pure" by Julianna Baggott is an action-packed nonfiction with great settg s and a twisting plot. "Pure" is about how one man selfishlessy blew up planet Earth. The book is told by multiply views, Partridge lives in the Dome which was untouched when the detonations occured. He is not deformered or hurt at all. Partridge is also the son of Ellery Willux, the most powerful man in the dome and the one who had the idea to deonate the planet. Lyda also lives in the dome and is Partridge's sweeatheart. you might ven say that they briefly dates before he escaped the Dome. Lyda and Partridge went to a school dance that can be related to homecoming. It is here that Partridge steals the key to the Domestoicity display. ( which Lyda is in charge and in posession of) Partridge left Lyda and went to the display where he stole a knif efrom on of the sculptures. Lyda liked Prtridge so she let him steal the knife not kowing what he was going to use it for.
The book is also told in Pressia's point of view who lives with her gradfather and survived the detonations. Her fist was fused with a doll head and she now cannot use her left hand. She is courageous and one tough cookie! Pressia helps a total stranger and contributes to the uncovering the Dome and their wrong actions. El Capitan is the last point of view the book includes. His brother is fused to his back and hey have survived the detonations. They work for the O.S.R and are of a high rank. Each point of view is unique and offers a different perspective. I thouht it was creative of the author to include the thoughts and personal actions of the main characters.

 

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

 

Lets talk apples  (new post)

Apple IPhone 5S....
I decided that this week I would review what topic interests us the most. Social Media, Smart phones they have not only turned into the next revolution but also status. Apple has recently come out with it's latest model of the genius tool IPhone.
The features 3 new color and the new smart-touch finger scan home button. basically, Apple takes your fingerprint and uses it for the password into your phone. I think that this is a smart idea with some bad qualities. It's nice because nobody could break into your phone and take selfies and/or post to your Instagram account. But, on a more mature scale, now nobody could possibly break into your phone to access all sorts of information. I think in some cases it may be bad. Let's say you are at home with your 2 children. Your husband is out of town on business and it is night. You fall down on the flight of stairs bringing up some laundry to fold. Hearing the crash, your 8 year old walks downstairs to find you passed out. He knows you have to call 911 for help so he runs back upstairs. He finds your IPhone sitting in it's charging dock... How will he unlock it so you can receive help? I know that maybe this scenario is a little far-fetched but anything could happen

 

Status Change.

Now when you walk into the average high school you see white iPhones and a lot of Starbucks. These days it doesn't matter what qualities you posse rather than the items you possess. I don't mean to bash the way it was when our parents where in school because believe me, it would be so much better this way. Not only do we judge each other for what we have, but our generation also uses this tool to judge one another online. Cyber-bullying is a rising epidemic that has affected the lot of us.

This article talks about how school plays a large role in the actions we take online against others. I believe that this article is correct and that the events that are fought about online are usually rooted in school. That's where we are most of the time and that's where all of our friends and peers are. Check out this article for interesting facts and opinions.

 

Blog Reflection:

                My blog has developed tremendously from the start of the trimester to now. I have discovered the “spell- check” button and have gotten more comfortable with the way I talk and how I communicate my ideas with the people who read my blog. I have learned how to play around with my blog and how to update Good Reads and my widgets.  In my older blog post titled, “Summer Reading 2013,” I had an abundance of mechanical errors. I have highlighted them all in yellow.  It was also extremely formal. I think that in order to be a good blogger you should be able to be comfortable and use the language that your use every day when writing. This way, it makes the audience feel like they can are talking to me in person. I struggled with this before I read some of my peers’ blog posts. This skill will definitely help me in the long run. I also had been really confused with how Good Reads worked and how to update my widgets properly.  Now, my blog is running and all of my widgets are current.

               

 

 

This assignment wasn’t necessarily hard but was really tricky to figure out how to get my blog up and how to get my widgets working well. I had to ask a lot of questions in class and jot down the answers. I also reverted back to the enormous packet multiple times if I had to fix something and didn’t know how to. The biggest strength that I had was after I had looked at other’s blog posts and saw how theirs were formulated and read some of their posts. This helped my language and the way I talk sound more comfortable.  My teacher noticed this change and awarded me with being the first “blogger of the week.” It was really cool to know that people had seen the change and liked it. I am sad to say, I didn’t accomplish my reading goal. In the beginning of the Tri, I set my goal to be ten. But after life hit me in the face, I quickly realized that my goal was VERY unrealistic. With marching band and soccer and  school , my time to read dwindled fast.  I went to Good Reads and adjusted my goal to five books for the end of the first Tri. I am on my third book and hopefully I can read at least two more before we are too far into the second Tri. I really, really love Good Reads. I check almost every day and use it to get book recommendations. I love it so much that I told my sister who is in college in California about it and she got one! We sometimes use the “book chat” feature to talk. It’s nice because I have a hard time finding books that I like and it gives me perfect books.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Lets talk apples

  Apple IPhone 5S....
      I decided that this week I would review what topic interests us the most. Social Media, Smart phones they have not only turned into the next revolution but also status. Apple has recently come out with it's latest model of the genius tool IPhone.
     The features 3 new color and the new smart-touch finger scan home button. basically, Apple takes your fingerprint and uses it for the password into your phone. I think that this is a smart idea with some bad qualities. It's nice because nobody could break into your phone and take selfies and/or post to your Instagram account. But, on a more mature scale, now nobody could possibly break into your phone to access all sorts of information. I think in some cases it may be bad. Let's say you are at home with your 2 children. Your husband is out of town on buisness and it is night. You fall down on the flight of stairs bringing up some laundry to fold. Hearing the crash, your 8 year old walks downstairs to find you passed out. He knows you have to call 911 for help so he runs back upstairs. He finds your IPhone sitting in it's charging dock... How will he unlock it so you can receive help? I know that maybe this scenario is a little far-fetched but anything could happen

Status Change.
     
       Now when you walk into the average high school you see white iPhones and a lot of Starbucks. These days it doesn't matter what qualities you posse rather than the items you posses. I don't mean to bash the way it was when our parents where in school because believe me, it would be so much better this way. Not only do we judge each other for what we have, but our generation also uses this tool to judge one another online. Cyber-bullying is a rising epidemic that has affected the lot of us.

     This article talks about how school plays a large role in the actions we take online against others. I believe that this article is correct and that the events that are fought about online are usually rooted in school. That's where we are most of the time and that's where all of our friends and peers are. Check out this article for interesting facts and opinions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/opinion/teenage-cyberbullying.html?ref=cyberbullying&_r=0

What's new?

     We quickly learn that being courageous is the best virtue in the setting of my book, "Fused." Illia tells us how Ingership (her abusive husband who gave her scars) trusted her with a secret. She married him and he said that she had to be the one that lived and kept the secret. We don't know what the secret is yet, but I'm assuming it's something big. Lyda and Partridge met after three months and even shared a kiss! Quite the scandal! Illia stayed behind while the mothers delivered Partridge and Lyda to the basement of the OSR where the others are waiting. They were attacked by Dusts while they made the pilgrimage and nearly died. The mothers have not delivered them fully to the basement yet but I will read on and continue with an update later this week. 

     While Partridge was still at the camp with the mothers he took out the serum that he took from his mothers shelter and tested it on a small bug. He had to break the bugs leg in order for the serum  to work because it was full of  cell enhancement materials that would bring back the dead cells and enhancement them even more. It worked, and the bug's leg had grown twice its size in a short amount of time. This is why the special forces went to their mothers shelter trying to find the serum because Partridge's dad has a disease and it's deteriorating his cells and he needs in order to live. Partridge keeps the serum tightly wrapped around his stomach so nobody would ever be able to snatch them on this long journey to the basement. Once the serum is delivered to the OSR, the four people, Pressia, Partridge, Lyda and Bradwell will test the serum and maybe use it to lure in the Dome so they can attack it.

     I predict that in the next few chapters, the serum will be stolen by the Dome and  a fight will break out between the two sides. Illia may be also apart of the plot somehow. She may tell the secret even.

http://readingfictional.blogspot.com/2013/02/fuse-by-julianna-baggot.html?m=1 

 Check out this blog for a summary of the book so far!

"Fused" more like fantastic

     So far we have gathered more information with this novel. Pressia and El Capitan down in the OSR headquarters' basement and Partridge, Illia and Lyda with the army mothers. The mothers have kept Partridge as a guest/prisoner while he makes maps if the Dome. They have told Partridge that he will be moving to the basement with the rest of the gang with Lyda. The mothers like Illia so they want her to stay back with them and she does. 

     Illia realizes that she doesn't have to look a certain way or feel uncomfortable about her scars. She realizes that they make her unique and are a symbol of who she is. In the beginning of the first book when she was introduced as "a frail housewife with questionable morals" it made me think of a weak person not knowing how to help themself. The author really made a point across trying to show the audience that she can fight when she wants to. 

     El Capitan and Helmund have had a tough time raising an army from practically dirt. This one scene in particular showed how Pressia fuels El Capitan. He and Helmund were out in the woods trying to patrol the grounds for Special Forces sent from the Dome and El Capitan took out a sandwich, at first half of it fell on the ground so he couldn't eat it. Right as I thought that El Capitan was about to eat the whole thing, he halved it with Helmund. The author later went on to say how Pressia showed El Capitan that instead of trying to always put Helmund down and make him feel low instead, El Capitan should build Helmund up and see what they can achieve together.

New with "Fuse"

     We have walked further down the block with this book, It is getting better and better and is in close comparison to it's prequel. I haven't had much time to read this week. With homecoming preparations and marching band practices 3-6 everyday after school. But, I have managed to do so enough that I am back with an update.
     Let's get into the novel. Can I just say that if they make a movies out of these books I will be there camping outside waiting to buy tickets. I am now currently on page 23 with this new book. It has progressed with velocity. Since my last post, we had not known where Partridge ( Pressia's half-brother) was and if he had survived. He has been with the army mothers. 

     These mothers are usually fused with their children or a group of kids because during the Detonations, they grabbed as many children as possible to shield them from the bright lights. They have been guarding Patridge while he draws maps of the Dome from his memory. He isn't exactly a guest, since the person who caused the Detonations was a man . They reafer to men as "deaths" and because Paretridge is a boy, he isn't treated nicely. He, Lyda and Illia all escaped from ther special forces that threaten to kill them. Lyda and Partridge escaped from the Dome and Illia was taken from the leader of the OSR who abused her enough to the point where she sewed a thin nude-colored stocking to act as a second skin to cover her scars. 

     They are all with the mothers while Pressia and El Capitan are raising an army in the OSR headquarters. Let me clarify something that had been confusing me before. In the first book, the OSR was the enemy because they took people and trained them for bad things. But, now in this book, the Dome is what they are trying to take down. I am predicting that as we get further into the book, the Dome will send troops out to try and defeat the enemy while the Dome people will not know.