Book Blog #8: Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

Premise

If you saw a ghost, would you freak or would you simply say 'hi'? In Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, Anya, a Russion immigrant teenager battling life itself, makes an odd friend in an odd way only to discover that her friend isn't just odd, she's creepy.  But, this isn't just any ordinary friend we're talking about. This 'friend' is  a ghost named Emily who was found when Anya falls in a pit. As the graphic novel continues, Anya gets out and finds the perks of high school while uncovering a murder. The ghost followers her around all day happily, until one day, Anya discovers something horrifying about Emily. This book takes place in a New England school but implants some of Russia's culture. The title of the book hints at the book only having the main characters as Anya's and Emily, but another minor character who plays a role is Dima, a bullied, sadly-called nerd is a key roll, too. The conflict is person-to-person because Anya constantly is finding herself mad at someone and questioning herself. Sadly as it is, this book is not part of a series.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

The book ended in a plot twist. Everything was going fine until Anya decided to help Emily by uncovering her murder only to find out that Emily was the one who murdered a family because of jealousy. She finds this out through a secret friendship between Dima and her. As Anya discovers this, her life becomes clearer. Towards the ending, Anya becomes uncomfortable around Emily because Emily begins to change and mature. Emily begins straightening her hair and smoking only to become very controlling. She starts to threat Anya's mom and brother to get her to corporate. Soon, Anya journeys back to the pit  to end everything. Although, and destroys Emily. Because of that, she began living her life better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4AR0E1iyAs
There is a link for a summary.

This is Anya.

This is Emily when Anya first met her.



This is Emily when she changed.

 

Book Blog #7: Paige by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge

The Premise

Most of you who go to St. Anthony have probably seen this book sitting on the shelf in the front of Mrs. Severson's room, but never had the interest to pick it up. That was me up until about a week or two ago. I decided to see what it was all about because the library was closed due to testing. I am very glad I read this book because it was very clear and interesting. It showed how the main character created her thoughts and what her thoughts were. This wonderful book I've been going on about is called Page by Paige and is by the author Laura Lee Gulledge. What I like most about this book is how it's a graphic novel and creates an image to guide your imagination. This book is about a girl who moved from a small suburb to the big, flamboyant present-day New York. She loses her only friend and finds herself as the smallest ant of the new world she's been placed in. Then, she has to determine what she will make of it. The main character, Paige, is a shy wall flower who can't get the courage the bud. She meets three new friends at her new school. There is Jules, a social singer who has a secret nerd side, Longo, a not-so-secret nerd , and Gabe, a chill boy who writes poems and later becomes Paige's boyfriend who happens to be Jules' brother. The first thing in the book is a journal entry- looking page because the whole book is pretty much her journal. It says "Rule #1: No more excuses! Buy a sketchbook and draw a few pages per week. December" (Gulledge 1). Then, it shows Paige purchasing the book on the next page. In the beginning, the tone of Paige is very laid back like she is a shy girl who believes that her voice shouldn't be heard and is swayed by other peoples opinions. As the book goes on, Paige finds her voice and expresses her true feelings. The only conflict is self- to- self because Paige struggles to express herself to others. This book is not a part of a series as far as I know.

My Favorite Character

My favorite character in this story was Jules. She has dark hair and loves the attention. I would describe her as bubbly because she isn't afraid to speak up and she is always cheerful. For example, she encourages Paige to express herself and do crazy things. She also seems kind and caring. One example of this is when she was the one to suggest introducing Paige to the group. Finally, I would describe her as creative because she writes songs a lot and sings in public places.



This shows how self-protecting Paige is and also how careful she is with every move.

Book Blog #6: Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

      You see, life for us consist of school, homework, activities, and friends. We stay on the safe side of life, not needing to feel the rush of adrenaline that life has to offer. Life isn't like that for Artemis Fowl. Artemis lives for adventures. He is constantly out blackmailing people or sketching up a scheme. Besides, there is no one to stop him. His dad disappeared at sea, and his mom is going pysco in her bedroom. Nothing can keep him in school; besides, wouldn't you go out to venture off into the world if you had a custom butler/bodyguard? One that was assigned to protect you every since birth.   

The Premise     

 Artemis Fowl, a twelve-year-old criminal genius, stars in an action-packed book by Eoin Colfer called Artemis Fowl. This book is the first of a series. The whole book is about him devising a plan to restore his family's fortune. He is a prodigy, no doubt about that, but he doesn't even go to school. He bamboozles every test thrown in his path, puzzles the greatest mega minds every born, and sends many people gibbering in their own hospitals. Along with Artemis, there is Butler, Juliet, and Holly. Butler is a classily trained body guard who can kill people with one move. He has been guarding Master Artemis, which is what Butler calls him, for twelve years. Artemis is the closest thing Butler had to a friend, and Butler was the closest thing Artemis had to a father. Juliet is Butler's sister and Artemis's maid. She doesn't go along with on adventures though; she just stays at home and tends to Artemis's mother's needs. Holly is an elf/fairy who is the only female LEP officer that Artemis has abducted, and held captive. She is one of many fairies who protect the money that the LEP team, otherwise known as leprecons, carry in the money safe. She, along with the other fairies who call her Captain Short, are baffled when Artemis expresses his knowledge about secret, traditional fairy rituals. The plot of the book is Artemis Fowl kidnapping a fairy in order to achieve wealth and the other fairies trying to rescue her. I'd imagine that there is a deeper plot line to come, but since I'm only half-way through, we will have to see. The setting is in Vietnam for the first scene but later on, Artemis travels somewhere else. The conflict of the book is how Artemis is a human, known as Mud-people, and he might disrupt the link between magic and humans.

Significant Passage

"'You are right to laugh, Captain Short. For a while there, I did believe in all that under-the-rainbow crock-of-gold blarney, but now I know better. Now I know about the hostage fund.' 

Holly struggled to keep her face under control.

'What hostage fund?'

'Oh, come on now, Captain. Why bother with the charade? You told me about it yourself.' 

'I--I told you!' stammered Holly. 'Ridiculous!'

'Look at your arm.'

Holly rolled up her right sleeve. There was a small cotton pad taped to the vein.

'That's where we administrated the sodium pentathol. Commonly known as truth serum. You sang like a bird.'

Holly knew it was true. How else could he know?

'You're crazy!"

Artemis nodded indulgently. 'If I win, I'm a prodigy. If I lose, then I'm crazy. That's the way history is written.'

Of course, there had been no sodium pentathol, just a harmless prick with a sterilized needle. Artemis would not risk causing brain damage to his meal ticket, nor could he afford to reveal the Book as the source of his information. Better to let the hostage believe that she had betrayed her own people. It would lower her morale, making her more susceptible to his mind games. Still, the ruse disturbed him. It was undeniably cruel. How far was he prepared to go for this gold? He didn't know, and wouldn't until the time came." (Colfer 121)

I think that this passage is significant because it show was Holly and Artemis were thinking in a vital part of the book. It shows how Artemis has everything thought out and how Holly falls for it. It reveals about how the theme is finding new things about yourself and growing up by Artemis questioning what he was doing even though he seemed to be sure what was going on. This book is in third person point-of-view. The author reminds me a lot of Rick Riordan and J.K. Rowling. They all engage in the character and make it easy for the readers to imagine up the characters.This is Artemis Fowl.

This is the cover.

Click here  in order to direct to the official book page which contains games, pictures, and more.



Book Blog #5: Torn Thread by Anne Isaacs

The Premise

Whats your biggest fear? Is it spiders, heights, storms, what is it? In this book, Thorn Thread by Anne Isaacs, the main character, Eva, has a fear of being killed by the SS men and Hitler. In this historical fiction book, Eva has only one goal in mind, to keep her, her friends, and her sister alive. The conflict is the girls fighting illnesses, starvation, and the soldiers. Anytime they can get put into Auschwitz. The beginning of this story takes place in Bedzin in June, 1943, where Eva's house is. Later on, it shifts to a Nazi labor camp in Czechoslovakia. The main characters in this book are Eva, Rachel, Dora, and Rosie. Eva is a smart, nifty, and savvy girl. She has a quick mind but sometimes relies to much on her surroundings. She cares for her sister and is one of the camp directors favorites. Rachel is Eva's fragile, older sister who is constantly ill. She is allergic to many things and is extremely thin due to the lack of food at the camp. Dora and Rosie are strikingly beautiful cousins. They are shorter than Eva with dark complexions and green eyes fringed with long lashes. They are very similar that some people mistake them for twins. Although, they have an obvious difference in age. Rosie seems younger than fourteen and is a wonderful singer. Dora has braying hair and deep lines around her eyes which make her seem older than eighteen. In the beginning, we learn that Eva and Rachel are sisters who share a single dad. Their mom died from the influenza epidemic five years before and there is a sickness that runs through the family. The first thing that happens in the book is Rachel leaving the home to go wash her hair. The place they live in is in a Jewish getto and doesn't have all the necessities a normal home would. As Rachel is walking down the street, a Nazi soldier truck storms in and throws people into the truck, including Rachel.  They took the people, including Rachel, to various Nazi camps. For weeks Eva had been worried until her papa arranged for Eva to be sent to Rachel's labor camp. As the story continues, Eva and her friends work hard and try to make the best of everything and make it to the end.

My Favorite Character

My favorite character is a twelve-year-old, Eva Buchbinder. One way I would describe her is compassionate because she always puts her friends and family first. If she noticed that her friends were hurt, hungry, or tired, she would sacrifice for them. For example, "A new bread ration had been distributed that morning; it was meant to last three more days. Since the rations had been cut back to a half-loaf, Eva had taken over the exacting task of dividing the bread into equal daily portions for herself and Rachel. Now she broke off part of her own loaf and added it to Rachel's share, ( Isaacs 119)." She also seems savvy because she is constantly thinking ahead. Finally, I would describe this character as multi-talented because she knows how to make hundreds of types of candy, how to use a loom/sewing machine, and knows how to use her time.

This is the cover of this book. As you can see, there is a picture of Eva on it.

Book Blog #4: Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Premise

Picture this. You're in a room standing on a stage with hundreds of people watching your every move. In front of you stands five huge, metal bowls. Each one contains a substance for each faction. Factions are groups that state exactly who you are. The bowls hold gray stones for Abnegation, water for Erudite, earth for Amity, coals for Dauntless, and glass for candor. A while ago war broke out and each faction blamed a different thing which grew them even more apart. Those who blamed aggression formed Amity. Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite. The people whom blamed duplicity created Candor. From blaming cowardice, the Dauntless formed. And those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation. Everything falls silent. There is an irritating ringing sound that won't stop and it's keeping you from hearing a thing. The only other person on stage is a man and he nods to you telling you 'no pressure but you have to choose'. He hands you a knife and you accept it knowing that you have to spill your blood in one of the bowls. A few days ago you took a test that should have made this much easier. Although, the assistant told you that you were different. Divergent... that's what they called you. You still remember her tense, twisted face as she told you. She also told you that under no circumstance can you share the information. The test hadn't told you one faction, it told you three. Abnegation. Dauntless. And Erudite. The knife shakes in your palms beaded with sweat. You force yourself to stay still and grit your teeth as you drag the knife down. It stings. You walk over in-between the Dauntless bowl and the Abnegation bowl. You spot your parents in the audience and notice they are on the edge of their seats. Quickly, you thrust your hand forward and your blood sizzles on the coals creating a putrid scent.
You are cowardless. You are Dauntless.
In this dystopian book, Beatrice Prior is living in Chicago, Illinois. Although, in this time, it's in the future and the area where everybody lives is locked up. The people say it's because they are keeping things out, but really, Beatrice thinks they are keeping the people in. This book is very similar to The Hunger Games. There are five factions and every year, the sixteen-year-olds have to take a test to determine their fate. If they fail to join a faction, the teen becomes factionless for the rest of their life and they are dishonored and put to shame. Beatrice takes the test but comes up with strange and very rare results. She is divergent. Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. When the ceremony comes to present her faction, she makes a hair choice and chooses Dauntless. From there on she has to pass a fitness test, feel the adrenaline, and do crazy stunts. As Beatrice arrives at the Dauntless home, she changes her whole frame of self. She now calls herself Tris. The main characters are Tris who was originally Abnegation and is very loyal and open-minded, then there is Four who is a young, fearless, and fit coach, and also included is her best friend Christina, she is very talkative, swift, and bubbly. The conflict has not occurred yet.

Significant Passage

"…Beatrice, your results were inconclusive,” she says. “Typically, each stage of the simulation eliminates one or more of the factions, but in your case, only two have been ruled out.”
I stare at her. “Two?” I ask. My throat is so tight it’s hard to talk.
“If you had shown an automatic distaste for the knife and selected the cheese, the simulation would have led you to a different scenario that confirmed your aptitude for Amity. That didn’t happen, which is why Amity is out.” Tori scratches the back of her neck. “Normally, the simulation progresses in a linear fashion, isolating one faction by ruling out the rest. The choices you made didn’t even allow Candor, the next possibility, to be ruled out, so I had to alter the simulation to put you on the bus. And there your insistence upon dishonesty ruled out Candor.” She half smiles. “Don’t worry about that. Only the Candor tell the truth in that one.”
One of the knots in my chest loosens. Maybe I’m not an awful person.
“I suppose that’s not entirely true. People who tell the truth are the Candor…and the Abnegation,” she says. “Which gives us a problem.”My mouth falls open.
“On the one hand, you threw yourself on the dog rather than let it attack the little girl, which is an Abnegation-oriented response…but on the other, when the man told you that the truth would save him, you still refused to tell it. Not an Abnegation-oriented response.” She sighs. “Not running from the dog suggests Dauntless, but so does taking the knife, which you didn’t do.”
She clears her throat and continues. “Your intelligent response to the dog indicates strong alignment with the Erudite. I have no idea what to make of your indecision in stage one, but—”
“Wait,” I interrupt her. “So you have no idea what my aptitude is?”
“Yes and no. My conclusion,” she explains, “is that you display equal aptitude for Abnegation, Dauntless, and Erudite. People who get this kind of result are…” She looks over her shoulder like she expects someone to appear behind her. “…are called…Divergent.” She says the last word so quietly that I almost don’t hear it, and her tense, worried look returns, ( Roth 37)."

This passage is one of the most important in the book. Before this Beatrice took a test that was suppose to make what faction you were destined to clear... but it didn't. In the beginning of the test, Beatrice is transported into her school cafeteria. In front of here were to baskets containing a hunk of cheese and in the other, a dagger. She is asked to choose one, but of course, her stubbornness gets the best of her and they both disappear. The door squeaks and a violent dog comes bursting in through the door. It slows in front of her and growls. Beatrice didn't run, nor did she wrestle it. It was only logical to show the dog she wasn't a threat. She slumped to the ground and the dog's growling stopped. It worked. She closed her eyes for a spit-second and when she opened them, a little girl called to the dog, yelling "doggy". The dog began to pounce on her but Beatrice wasn't going to let that happen. She hurled her body on top of the dog, saving the little girl. The next the next thing she knew, she was in a bus with not one empty seat. A man looked at her and asked, " do you know this guy", while pointing to a murderer sign. She though she might have recognized the man but wasn't certain. Besides, she knew it would be a bad idea to tell him. "Nope, she replied. The man's jaw clenched in anger as he yelled "your lying". "Please, you can save my life", he screamed. And Beatrice just replied, " well I don't". That was the end of the faction test.
In this passage, Beatrice gets the astonishing results of the test. After her mentor leaves to get the results, her mentor  comes back startled and tells her that her results were inconclusive. She told Beatrice that hardly anybody got these result. She finds out, she's divergent. The mood for me was anxious. The mentor wouldn't say what Beatrice was until a while after which left a lot of suspense. The author had really made it clear how important that faction test were and how rare and dangerous it was to be divergent.

Here is the 2014 film trailer of Divergent