I finished reading the book "cut" and I'm now reading the book "speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. I notice that the girl in this story doesn't seem to belong to a group and isn't trying that hard to find one of her own. It reminds me of how our school has different clicks and groups and sometimes there's always someone whose left out. For instance, you have the band geeks, the choir nerds, the athletes, the brainiacs, and others, but some people just dont feel like they belong in a group. It makes me kind of sad that our school has this, we shouldn't be separated into groups, we should act as one unit, I mean yes I'm in the band geek and choir nerd department but the athletes seem to ignore us and we usually ignore them. Which I don't think is right. I hope this girl finds a group tha would be good for her.

When Zachary Beaver Came to Town by Kimberly Willis Holt

As of right now, I'm on page 139 of my independent novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. What's been happening so far is that the main character, Toby has been having some internal conflicts within himself and conflicts with the world around him.  His first conflicts is when his mother leaves to pursue a career with being a singer.  So she travels to Nashville to enter a contest to win a record deal.  She didn't win and was only a runner up.  After the contect, another publisher offered her a deal , so she decided to stay in Tennessee.  She writes a letter to Toby saying that she just isn't happy there in their home town of Antler, Texas, so she decides to leave her husband.  This external conflicts sets out one within Toby about whether or not to accept his family falling apart; so he decides to lie.  Toby doesn't have anyone to turn to so he writes a letter to his best friend's (Cal) brother who's over seas in the war.  He signs the letter as Cal. But more recently in the book, Toby and Cal join together and try getting the new "drive by town freak" to go to the drive in move theater with them.  The "freak" is a 15 year old boy who is extremely over weight.  Once the boy's gardian abandons him, Toby and Cal try keeping him company. 

For my personal opion of the book, I like it.  It's easy to read and doesn't move at a too slow of a pace so it's easily to get into it right away.  I think the main character has some issues in himself that he tries to deal with, all when his parents are taking a break from each other.  Toby isn't the only person who is having some issues I think.  The fat boy, Zachary Beaver, seems like a more complex character then the book is showing.  It seems as if he's having trouble with how over weight he is.  He acts like he doesn't care about what people think of him, but then he shows little hints that he wishes people wouldn't stare and make fun of him.

In my book, Babe in Boyland, Natalie is Dr. Aphrodite for her school newspaper. However, Dr. Aphrodite has been getting a lot of complaints, mostly from the opposite gender, about what advice she dishes out to the girls at their school. So when Natalie hears about a writing opportunity she decides to do a piece on what guys really think. She makes a plan with her two best to infiltrate the private boys academy disguised as a boy herself. I love this story so far. It's hilariously funny. However, I can't help but think Natalie's plan is going to end in disaster.

Week 3-The Gunslinger

Roland and Jake have gotten closer and closer to the man in black, and as they climb the mountains before them, they come face to face with him. He laughs at their struggle, urges them to continue, and guarantees that he will meet them on the other side. The duo make their way to a cave in the rock face that they travel through in pursuit of the man in black. There, they find things that seem to come from our Earth (as I believe the setting is a different "universe" or "dimension") such as train tracks, a subway station, and dead bodies in uniforms. When they reach the man in black, they are above a huge, and seemingly bottomless, pit. Jake slips and hangs on for dear life, but the man in black tells Roland that if he saves the boy, the gunslinger will never talk to the man in black again. Jake sacrifices himself, mentioning that there are "more worlds than this" before he drops. Roland finally talks to the man in black, who explains that The Tower, something Roland has been looking for restlessly, is a "pylon" or "conduit" for all multiple universes and worlds. Really, I'm still lost with what is happening, and I'm hoping the next (last) few pages will clear things up.

Week 3-Homecoming

As of right now, I am on page 311 of my independent novel, Homecoming, by Cynthia Voigt. Many changes have happened to the kids since I had last blogged. When I had left you, I ended up talking about how Dicey and the kids escaped from their Cousin Eunice's house in search of their possible deranged grandmother. After riding the bus for some time followed by a fair distance of walking, the kids got help from two teenage boys to cross the bay separating them from their grandma's. Once across, they found work to earn a little extra money just in case on a small farm where a strange old man needed help picking in his fields. It turned out that the man was crazy, and wanted to kidnap the children for his personal gain! If it wasn't for the circus in town and its owner, Will, the farmer might have done just that. After staying with the circus for some time, they eventually ended up at the farm of their grandma's, where Dicey decides to go in alone......

At this point, I feel very anxious to start reading again. What could happen to Dicey when she goes to see her long lost grandmother? Will she great her with open arms? Or will she throw the kids out, only to have them start walking on an endless journey to nowhere once again? Only time seems to tell for these kids. Also, I feel increasingly sorry for the Tillermans because they are truly good kids, but no one seems to really legally want them.

Some of the things I have noticed is how the author has changed her writing dialogue as they move from state to state or even from town to town. I liked how Voigt described one of the clerks at a grocery store in the town and how here words “came thick and slow, like molasses-again, something like Momma”(308). This just seems to give a reader a sense of where the Tillermans started and what their background might be. While I have been reading, I just can't seem to get the Baudelaire children from The Series of Unfortunate Events. Everything that these kids go through, whether being chased by a crazy man or even working in a circus, seems to link back to this other story. So I believe it is only fitting to think the question, Did Cynthia Voigt use the other book as a slight reference at all to her literary work, or was it just a coincidence? Perhaps this question may not even be answered. Nevertheless, I guess I'll just have to read on to see.

Week 3

I am still reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. The man and the boy keep trying to head south. On there way, they are always cold and is a problem. They try there best to keep warm, but they are still always cold. Eventually, they come across a group of men going along in a truck. One of the men tried to take the boy, but the man shot him with a pistol and ran away with the boy. They keep on heading south. Later, they come accross a house with a celler. Desperate for food, the man busts it open, only to find many hopeless people wanting help and out of the celler. The man relizes that two other men are keeping them to be eaten and the man and the boy manage to get away. After this, there is a night where they run out of food. The nights are getting colder. It all seems like they are going to die, because they can barely walk, and never sleep, because they know they will probly die if they fall asleep. Miraculousely, the man finds an old barn with clear water, and apple trees with old, rotten apples all around. He gathers some up and they eat enough to survive for a few more days. A few more days had passed, and the man and the boy come by another house. They are starving again and have no choice but to look for food. The boy is scared, because they found another celler. He doesn't want to open it, but the man is forced to because of their hunger. In the celler, they found crates of food, cots, and a lamp with oil. They are overjoyed.

The book seemed so sad the whole time. The man and the boy are always cold and hungary and looking for food. They always seem to manage though and just barely get enough food to keep on going. At the part where they found the celler with food, I was really happy. For once, they will be fed, warm, and safe inside.

Eragon

   Out of what I read this week there has been a lot more traveling and Eragon covers a great distance. I'll start with Brom, who was the man that traveled with Eragon. Brom dies in a fight against these creatures called Urgals because he cuts a deep cut in his side that Eragon can't heal. When Eragon buries Brom his dragon she touches the grave and huge gems grow out of the ground and cover it. Eragon places a tombstone on the ground and they leave. After about a week of traveling, he starts to have dreams about a girl captured in a cell. After talking about these dreams with Saphira(his dragon) another group of Urgals attacks. This time Eragon gets hit on the head and passes out. He later wakes up to find a boy not much older than him sitting by a fire. The boys' name is Murtagh and he saved Eragon. Murtagh accompanies Eragon on his journey to find the Ra'zac, but once again, they are attacked. This time Eragon wakes up in a cell and finds out he's been drugged so he decides not to eat or drink anyting the guards give him. When the effects of the drugs wear off he gets out of his cell and finds the girl that was in his dreams. It turns out she was an elf and he found her sleeping to where she wouldn't wake up. The guards find Eragon with her and he is outnumbered but right then Murtagh shows up and kills the guards. While they are trying to escape they run into someone called a Shade, which is basically a human possessed by an evil spirit. They barely escape by the time Saphira gets there to help them out.
   Murtagh and Eragon decide to cross the Hadarac Dessert to try and find the Varden. These people are against the Empire and live in a safe sanctuary the Empire can't get to. When they finally near the Varden Eragon learns that Murtagh is the son of a once very evil man who died long ago. Murtagh says he ran away though and is nothing like his father. The Varden take them in and know who Murtagh is so they keep him locked up. Eragon leaves the elf, whom he learns is named Arya, to be tended to. This is all I have read this week.