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Personally, our first 10 minutes of reading in class is my favorite. I look forward to it daily. Being able to choose my own book, allows me to grow as a reader because with each book I choose my imagination runs wild. All the possibilities and imagining and day dreaming about how the book will end. I love to choose different series to read, because when the book ends, I still have more! I love all the possibilities that the books hold. How the characters are so relatable and how there is so many different personalities. I love how the books teach anything can happen. People can be different and that’s okay. Books connect on a personal level and allow you to take it as you choose. You and your friend may read the same book, but you perceive it differently and get a different message out of it. I am not very good at challenging myself with the types of books I am reading, but I would say I definitely push myself to read as much as I can. If I am reading a really good book, then there is no getting me to put it down. My favorite book was more of a series. I fell in love with the shatter me series. I loved the characters and how the author portrayed them. I loved all the plot twists and how the author revealed that the characters had more to them than what they showed. It made me realize you can’t judge people by the cover and people hide a lot of their pain. People are a lot more complex than we know and she really wrote that well. I just loved everything about it from the characters to the metaphors.

Cant believe this is my last blog ☹ Have a great summer!

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In the book “Eve” the world has been split in 2, girls and guys. Most of the population has been wiped out by the plague. Girls were taught to fear men, guys or anything of the opposite sex. After graduation the school then send the girls to the other side of the lake where they continue their education. Or so that’s what they were told. When Eve, the valedictorian, finds out what really happens, she decides to escape. She gets across the lake and looks into the “educational” building, she sees the last things she expects. All the graduates are pretty much just being used to repopulate and for sex. While I was reading this book, I was very confused. Why would the school teach girls to fear men, when they were just going to use them for sex? With men. Wouldn’t it have been smarter to teach girls to want men? To want to reproduce? Or even that their job was to just reproduce? Because they were taught to fear men, the women fought and fought against their fate. These women were the smarter, fastest, healthiest human. They were bred to reproduce but taught to fear the one thing that allows them to reproduce. None of this really made sense to me and it doesn’t exactly add up. I feel the graduates would have allowed them to use themselves as a matter of reproduction if they were taught that. These girls could have been manipulated into anything, so why teach them the opposite of, if you cold have taught them to throw themselves at the men. Wouldn’t that have been much easier? There are many things in this book I don’t understand, but his was the biggest.

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One theme I saw in Julius Caesar was loyalty. Brutus, Antony, and many other characters show acts of loyalty throughout the play. From the beginning of the play, the audience knows that Brutus is most loyal to Rome. He respects Caesar but loves Rome more. 'Et tu, Brute! Then fall, Caesar' which means 'You too Brutus! Then I will die.' Brutus says this quote to suggests that the betrayal by Brutus is just as responsible for his death as the wounds inflicted by the swords. This is just one way Loyalty is shown throughout the play. Mark Antony was another man who possessed loyalty. With Antony, loyalty to friends and to that of his country did not conflict.

In the book Ignite me, Every character shows some kind of loyalty, whether it be to a person, a place, or even a group of people. Juliette, the main character, was loyal to her people. When she took over the whole continent of North America, she remained loyal to her people. The characters with special abilities like, Ian, Castle, Adam, Kenji and a few others, kept their loyalty to Omega Point. They always fought for what was best for Omega Point and even risked their lives. Now Warner on the other hand kind of struggled with the loyalty aspect. He kept switching from his dad to sector 45 to Juliette. Lastly, all the kids of the supreme commanders were loyal to each other at an extent. If it went against anything they liked or supported, you could count them out. They really only used the loyalty of each other for their own benefits. Loyalty is something we see everyday. Loyalty is a very important part of each day and each life. Without it the world would be mad chaos.

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Two themes in the book Restore me are friendship/relationships and power

The book focuses on relationships because of the love triangle between Juliette, Warner and Adam, but more specifically, Warner and Juliette’s problems as a couple. Warner kept secrets from her because he thought he was protecting her and now Juliette wants nothing to do with him. Warner desperately is trying to get Juliette back and will stop at nothing to do so.

Relationships:

Is it ever okay to lie/ keep things from your significant other? If so where is the line drawn?

***How far would you go to restore your relationship, if you really love that person but they won’t talk to you and are super mad? Is it worth fixing? Would you beg for them to take you back?

. It focuses on power mainly because Juliette just overthrew the supreme commander of north America, or Warner’s dad, and took over the whole sector, but with her power comes a problem. She’s not ready to lead, and she doesn’t have the experience to run a whole continent. Oh, and the rest of the world is out to destroy her.

Power:

Do you have to have experience to successfully take power over large populations? Could you learn along the way? Would you just totally fail?

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Out of all the books and series I have read, the shatter me series has been my absolute favorite. I love the way the author uses figurative language to help me, the reader, understand the book, characters feeling and surroundings better. I also like the way she made the characters. Like warner for example, she made him seem heartless and cruel, he wasn’t afraid to just shoot someone in the head and call it a day, but Juliette sees the complete opposite. The way she just always happens to be there when he is helping the innocent stray dog stay warm by wrapping him in his coat, or when Juliette catches him smiling, or even when he saves Juliette’s life. Throughout the book all of the characters change throughout the story, and you find out who they really are in times of trouble. Juliette learns to be confident, brave and not allow people to walk all over her. She grew determined and this passion hatched inside of her. Adam, who was strong, caring, protective and un-shakeable from the beginning, turns shallow and selfish. He makes everything about himself and his feelings. Warner turns from secretive, un-trusting, and introverted, to emotional, loving and kind. All of these character changes shaped the story. The story ended the way it did because all of these characters went through hardships and obstacles who created the characters they became. All of them allowed their true selves out. I think the story was deeper than the war and the love triangle, but it was about character development and becoming who you’re supposed to be. How your true self is who you are when things get rough. This is very relate-able, because I myself have been going through a lot and I have let it get the best of me and I haven’t been patient or strong and so seeing her light a fire in herself was very motivating and has encouraged me to also be determined and hopeful.

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In the book series “Shatter me” “Unravel me” and “Ignite me”, Tahere Mafi uses tons of similes, metaphors and personification to express the way all the characters are thinking. Throughout the book we can hear the main character, Juliette’s, thoughts. She uses very descriptive similes, metaphors, personification and even tons of imagery, to help us feel, hear, see and even smell. For example, when she breaks up with her “boyfriend” for the second time she is thinking “Everything I want to say and everything I have wished to say begins to take shape, falling to the floor and scrambling upright. Paragraphs and paragraphs begin building walls around me, blocking and justifying as they find ways to fit together, linking and weaving and leaving no room for space. And every single space between every unspoken words clambers up and into my open mouth, down my throat and into my chest, filling me with emptiness.” Here she used personification to show how the words spilled out of her mouth and when she was done, she felt empty. When she breaks up with him, he responds with, “… you’re acting like a stupid child who got brain washed by a psychopath.” To show how he feels about warner, the boy she now is in love with, and how he thinks that warner is psycho and that she is acting immaturely. I like that this author uses all of these writing methods to help me better understand what is happening. It creates a better story because it awaken the imagination and emotions and allows you to feel what the character is going through and helps you relate. I could use these in y writings to help more people relate. I have a bad habit of using all personal examples so others don’t relate, but I can use metaphors, similes and personification to allow others to connect with my stories. I can also use more descriptive imagery and language to create an opportunity to exercise the imagination of those reading my stories.

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In the book “Shatter Me” the biggest turning point would be when they took the leader of the reestablishment’s son, warner, hostage. Omega point has been trying to get 2 of their members back from the reestablishment, so in order to get them back they took the leaders son and asked for a trade. During this time, Juliette realizes she has feelings for Warner. Warner has been in love with Juliette since he took her hostage a while back. Juliette always thought of Warner as some heartless monster, that is until she got the chance to get to really know him. This is important because now Juliette has some big decisions to make. Does she run away with Warner? Does she stay and fight for Warner? Does she fight for Omega Point? Should she choose Adam or Warner? This has resulted in a war with her heart and her brain. So, she has to make some big choices. If she had never been in this situation with Warner, then she would have no trouble taking him hostage, because helping him has caused a lot of problems for her. She wouldn’t be as conflicted and she would be able to think clearly, plus she wouldn’t be as big of a target. Being apart of Warner’s life has put her in the middle of the war. Overall the book would change a lot, because a lot of this conflict, not only inside her, but around the world wouldn’t be happening. Warner has caused chaos searching for her, exposing her and using her as a weapon to take over the world.

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My book list is kind of random. There is a bunch of romance, mystery and science fiction. Most of the books I have read have a romance to it. I don't read a lot of short books, most of them are pretty thick and over 200 pages. I have started a series right now that I am super excited about. It is the "Shatter Me" series. As a whole I don’t think my reading list says much about me except I love mysteries and romances. I have challenged myself as a reader but at a comfortable level, and not enough to make me improve at a quicker rate. I like to take my time with books and tend to procrastinate on making myself better, because that would mean making changes. I maybe have not challenged myself as much as I can or should. I have read bigger books than normal, but I could read at higher levels and choose not to. Going forward I can maybe push myself more outside of my comfort zone genre wise. Instead of constantly reading mystery and romance, I can try non-fiction or fantasy. I can also put a limit number of pages on books I read. I can say I will only read books with a minimum of 250 pages and keep pushing myself higher and higher until I am constantly reading bigger books. The easiest way to challenge myself as a reader would be to go beyond what I usually read. Pick a genre that I have not heard of and choose subjects that make me uncomfortable. I could also choose books that make me think more, books that force me to use my imagination.

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One of the characters in my book, Nate, doesn’t have a good life. His mom abandoned him when he was only 6 and his dad is a drunken mess. His dad is never sobered, let alone awake. Nate has had to turn to some bad things in order to provide for himself and to keep the electricity on. These things that have helped him provide, have landed him probation. His house is a torn-up dump, that’s barely even livable, and an embarrassment to Nate. Nate was so ashamed of his life that he pretended his mom was dead, and that is the story he went with.  It’s a common known fact that people who don’t have a good home life tend to act out and are more distant and independent from people. In “One of us is Lying”, Nate doesn’t have any friends because he prefers to be alone. The only reason Nate knows people is because he is a drug dealer. Nate is a criminal on probation and in the story, he connects it back to his home life. How he does all these things just to provide for himself. I agree that people who have a bad home life tend to act out and grow more and more independent along the way. Some act out just to get their parents attention and some do things to help provide, like drug dealing, some just even want to take the easy way out and lose themselves. I have seen it happen and I even have friends that have gone through this. Parents dying or not being involved in their lives has a major influence on how they behave. It is not the whole reason but it’s a major one.

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This book has made me reconsider or think twice about how quickly we are to judge others. All of us are human and we all make mistakes, but we will take any and every chance we get to point out someone else’s mistakes. Maybe It is because knowing others make mistakes makes us feel better about ourselves. Pointing out other people’s mistakes make ours look and sound a little better. Or so we think. In the book “One of Us is Lying”, all the kids in the room when Simon died, were judged and blamed for what had happened. Nate got blamed just because he had a criminal record. No solid evidence against him, just a record. Then when Addy’s secret comes out about cheating on her boyfriend, all her friends shunned her. What made me really think was when Cooper, another suspect, told the girl she couldn’t judge because she had done the same thing. I think Addy’s so-called friend only pointed out Addy’s mistake because now it made herself feel better for not being the only one to do it. Calling Addy out was just to make sure everyone knew what she had done. She wanted to point the finger at someone else. Then the FBI let everyone know that Cooper, the perfect all-around guy, was gay. So, everyone at school judged him. They judged him and made it known around school that he was in fact gay. The students around him treated him harshly by making fun of him and made his life miserable by bashing him in front of people because they want everyone to know that the most perfect, best looking athlete with good grades makes mistakes just like everyone else. All of these people really just wanted to make themselves feel better. If they didn’t have insecurities then they wouldn’t judge him and they would make all these students feel welcomed and that someone has their backs. Kids these days don’t do that though. Everything is about outing each other. Even social media, which was intended to make friend, is used to bully others.

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In my book “One of us is lying” my favorite character would have to be Nate, the criminal. Nate is a drug dealer and a criminal, but what people don’t know is why. Nate's mom is gone and his dad is a drunk, so the only way he can provide for both him and his father is to deal. Nate is viewed as the dealer, the criminal and the guy who sleeps around, but he isn’t. He is protective and caring, funny and loving and so many other things. Yes, he makes mistakes, but underneath the dealing he is an amazing person. While going through the whole trial, Nate protected the other “suspect” Bronwyn, and saved her from many situations that could have gotten her in more trouble. I think the author wanted us to know the real him but also understand how outsiders view him. The book is split into the point of views of the suspects in the crime. So being able to see things from his point of view allows us to get to know Nate for who he is and not what he is perceived as. I like Nate because me and him have absolutely nothing in common personality or life style wise, but we both are seen as people we aren’t. At school people always tell me I look mean and I am very intimidating, then follow up with “once I got to know you, you were chill and nice.” Besides that, I like Nate because he is different and he isn’t afraid to be himself. Nate says what he wants, he keeps cool in pressuring situations and he is always ready and willing to help a friend in need. Nate would be a great friend to have and he makes for a very interesting character for this book.

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I am reading “One of Us Is Lying” by Karen M. McManus. In this book 4 students in detention are accused of the death of one of their fellow classmates, who was also in detention at the time of his death. Something I really like about this book is how I have absolutely no clue as to who did it. The evidence is so well hidden that I can’t imagine one of the 4 killing him. There is evidence on all 4 but because I see it through all of their eyes, I don’t think one of the four could have killed him. Although this book is a really good book, I don’t really like the way it is written in the point of view of all 4 students. The way she switches back and forth between characters and lets us in on what they are all thinking. Yes, it does help us understand what all 4 of them feel as they go through this trial, but if one of them did it then their thoughts or chapters would give it away. Another thing about it being in all P.O.V.’s, is that maybe It wasn’t one of the students who killed him. Again, if it were one of the students, it would either completely give the whole book away or we don’t get the whole perspective of that one person and everything they are thinking. I just don’t agree with the way she wrote this book, but at the same time it may help me understand things later on, that one character alone couldn’t show me. My favorite character right now is Bronwyn. She is hardworking and works for what she wants. She always chooses to see the best in people and always has a positive vibe. She can be friends with anyone and she can do anything she puts her mind to. Bronwyn is a character I can relate to because I work hard and I try to be friends with everyone, like I literally talk to everyone and I know what I want and what I have to do to get it. Overall, this book is pretty great so far and I can’t wait to continue reading.

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“Stoner and Spaz” is written in Bens point of view. This helps me understand the book because I know what Ben is thinking and the struggle of his daily life. Him having CP makes easy things hard for him. If it weren’t in his point of view then it would be hard to understand what is going on in the book and knowing what is going through his head because if it weren’t in his point of view then would view him as everyone else does. The loner kid who has CP. The whole book would be completely different if it were in Colleens point of view because she is the complete opposite, she is a stoner who doesn’t think things through and acts on an impulse. She has no filter and it is like she doesn’t care what people think about her because she is so careless. Ben thinks everything through. Maybe a bit too much. Ben and Colleen hang (or don’t hang) with different people, think different thoughts, do different things and are just 2 completely different people. This book being in bens point of view is why everything makes sense. Like why they met at the Rialto or why he helped her and let her use him. Why he did what he did. The book would also have a completely different plot line, set up and mood. Colleen is more laid back and careless. She doesn’t really think, so being in bens point of view he has so much running through his head. All of the things that happen to Ben make up the story and piece everything together. “Stoner and Spaz” would not be the same is it weren’t in Bens P.O.V.

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A book i read was Jack the Ripper. It was about a serial killer named Jack and a spy company named the Pinkertons. The Pinkertons are trying to stop Jack the Ripper. They find this boy who is willing to help and it turns out to be Jacks son but no one knows it, not even the kid himself. The book I am reading now is about a boy who falls in love with a girl, loses his dad and uses another girl to make himself feel better, or rather not feel anything. These 2 books are very different, mainly because 1 is a mystery about a real event with fiction characters and 1 is a fiction, love story. As much as they are different, both books had a character in common. Even though the 2 boys/main characters are going through 2 completely different situations, they are the same. The main character in Jack the Ripper is trying to find his dad and happens to stumble upon someone who needs help solving a mystery. Along the way he realizes this mystery may just lead him to his father. While in Wish You Were Here, the main character, Jackson is trying not to lose his dad and trying to sort out his girl problems. In both stories the boys, while going through the motions of life, are trying to find themselves and find out who they are and where they fit in. As a reader, I will read anything that looks or sounds interesting. I’m willing to give anything a try and I don’t, or try not to judge books by their covers. I like pretty much any genre that’s not non-fiction. This book doesn’t say anything about how I’ve grown as a reader except maybe the fact that my patience has grown. Normally during the slow parts of a book, I get antsy and must take a break or my mind just kind of wonders off and I don’t comprehend anything on the page, so I have to reread it. While I was reading this book, I was able to concentrate throughout most of it and really understand what’s going on. I didn’t really choose this book because it was a challenge, I don’t like choosing challenging books because they are harder to read and understand. When I’m reading, I like it to be a smooth read where I understand everything and I don’t like having to think too much about what I am reading.

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In my book "Wish You Were Here", the main conflict is when Jackson's parents get divorced and he must adjust to his new life, or lives along the way. He has a new stepdad, almost step mom, step sisters and a lot of confusion and frustration. Jackson no longer has his best friend, Brady, to get him through all the madness that comes with the separation. Although this has been very difficult for Jackson, he continues to do everything to make sure his parents stay as happy as they can be. Multiple times he mentions that the divorce alone was hard enough on his parents, so they don’t need him making things worse. It took a while but Jackson finally got his new step sisters, Kristin and Amy, to come around just enough for him to know that they don’t hate him. He has been very patient and nice to them and his new stepdad Ted. It was hard for Jackson to come around on Ted, but he realized it was best for his mom and dad if they both just moved on. He was very mature and respectful throughout the whole process and so far, it has paid off. I would love to say that I would handle the situation he is in differently, but I have never been in that situation so I don’t know how I would handle. It is a lot different when you’re saying you would be mature, but actually being in Jackson's shoes and being mature about it is a lot harder to do when faced with such struggles. Divorce is a major thing these days. Right now, the divorce rate in the United States alone is 53%. Over half of the US population is dealing with what Jackson went through. Divorce is very common these days and some of my friends have gone through it. It is a very tough thing to handle and get through.

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I chose the book “Wish You Were Here” by Barbara Shoup. I chose this book because when I read the summary it really peaked my interest. The whole book is all about a kid whose parents get divorced and he eventually falls for a girl. I’m a sucker for romances! I think this book is going to be different from other romances, because I do not think it is going to be a story where he sweeps her off of her feet. I think maybe she will be a great friend to him while he is going through the divorce of his parents and his best friend running away, and I think he is going to fall for her slowly and eventually he will give it a try. So far, this book has not been what I expected. The whole beginning of the book is about his parents’ divorce and how they have been dealing with their new significant others. The book has been a little slower than what I was expecting. I was hoping it would get to the love story a little faster, but I feel like Barbara Shoup dragged the story out a bit with a few too many details. I do not think this book has challenged me enough and I think it is below my reading level, but in a way, it is challenging my patience for this book. It is not the hardest book to read, but I don’t think it would affect me poorly either by reading it.