House of Hades week one 0-261

 What was going through your mind as you read?

(This was a bit of a debate because I swear a lot in my mental dialogue but whatever, most people probably do.)

These are in no order what-so-ever

First sentence of the entire book: "During the third attack, Hazel almost ate a boulder." - Well that escalated from nothing to not good in under three seconds.

"One panicked and ran face first into a tree"- monsters have the grace of 50 pound boulders....

"Frank glared at him. "Now you remember?"

Nico hung his head almost as low as a katobleps. ", uh... used to play this stupid card game when I was younger. Mythomagic. The katobleps was one of the monster cards."

Frank blinked. "I played Mythomagic. I never saw that card."

"It was on the Africanus Extreme expansion deck."

"Oh."" Incoherent fangirling that can roughly be translated to: You two are such dorks, Nico why do you have to be so adorable, why have I not found fan art of this scene yet, and, if there isn't a scene where these two play each other I am going to be highly disappointed.

*Pretty much every part with Octavian ever*- I cannot wait for you to die.

"Suddenly where Nico di Angelo had been standing was a potted plant about five feet tall, with drooping green leaves, tufts of silk, and half a dozen ripe yellow ears of corn."- *Face palm* *Sarcastic clapping* Way to go, you pissed off another god.

"No need." Reyna said, studying Rachel Dare. Do you bring weapons?"

Rachel shrugged. "I hit Kronos in the eye with this hair-brush once. Otherwise, no."- Behold, my favorite mortal character in the entire series. If she and Octavian should have an argument she will beat his but through the floor. Wait... what if Octavian is one of Gaea's pawns and he's purposfully trying to make the Romans and Greeks battle so it's easier for her to take over the world....

"And Hecate? I'm not choosing one of your paths. I'm making my own." You go girl.

I purposefully avoided some parts, Annabeth's and Percy's in particular, in case other people in this class want to read it and didn't want any major spoilers.

Howl's Moving Castle- 12-12-13 finished

What is the title of what you are reading? How does it fit the story? If you

don’t know yet how it fits the story, what is your best guess?

The Title of the book I read is Howl's Moving Castle. Howl is a magician who lives in a castle that moves.  The castle moves because he has a fire demon named Calcifer that controls it, and Howl is running from a curse that The Witch of the Wast put on him that has yet to catch up. The castle is very strange. The door has certain knobs with paint on them that when opened each go to a different building in a different town, which is how Michael and Howl help enough people to make a living. The inhabitants of the Castle are Howl, a drama queen who makes green slime when he gets upset, (Much to Sophie's dismay) Sophie, a girl who was cursed by the Witch of the Waste (She does like to curse people doesn't she?) to be an old woman of at least 90 who then walked away (she couldn't run) because how would her family recognize her like this(?), came across the castle, entered because she needed shelter; and Michael, Howl's apprentice.
Oh, and if you were wondering about the green slime it's horrid and was quite a bother for Sophie to clean up, "There were horrendous, dramatic, violent quantities of green slime- oodles of it. It covered Howl completely. It draped his head and shoulders in sticky dollops, heaping on his knees and hands, trickling in lops down his legs, and dripping of the stool in sticky strands." Luckily for pretty much everyone this only happens once in the story. I can't wait to see the movie, that scene is going to be quite a sight to see.

Giver- 12-4-13

• Quote a passage & respond to it. How did it make you feel?

"His father turned and opened the cupboard.  He took out a syringe and a small bottle. Very carefully he inserted the needle  into the bottle and began to fill the syringe with a clear liquid.

    Jonas winced sympathetically. He had forgotten that newchildren had to get shots. He hated shots himself, though he knew they were necessary. 

    To his surprise, his father began very carefully to direct the needle into the top of the newchild's forehead, puncturing the place where the fragile skin pulsed. The newborn squirmed and wailed faintly.

"Why's he-" 

"Shhh," The Giver said sharply.

    His father was talking, and Jonas realized that he was hearing the answer to the question he had started to ask. Still in the special voice, his father was saying, "I know, I know. It hurts little guy. But I have to use a vein, and the veins in your arms are still too teeny-weeny."

    He pushed the plunger very slowly, injecting the liquid into the scalp vein until the syringe was empty. "All done. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Jonas heard his father say cheerfully. He turned aside and dropped the syringe into the waste receptacle.

   Now  he cleans him up and makes him comfy, Jonas said to himself, aware that The Giver didn't want to talk during the ceremony.

   As he continued to watch, the newchild, no longer crying, moved his arms and legs in a jerking motion. Then he went limp. He head fell to the side, eyes half open. Then he was still.

  With an odd shocked feeling, Jonas recognized the gestures and posture and expression. They were familiar.

   Jonas stared at the screen, waiting for something to happen. But nothing did. The little twin lay motionless. His father was putting things away. Folding the blanket. Closing the cupboard.

    Once again, as he had on the playing field, he felt the choking sensation. Once again he saw the face of the light-haired, bloodied soldier as the life left his eyes. The memory came back."

    I've got to admit, I was crying after this part. If it wasn't 10:30 at night when I should have been in bed over half an hour ago, I would have thrown it at a pillow and stormed around the house. But it was over my bedtime, so I just read on quietly crying into SnugglePup (My stuffed animal) kept reading, and hoped my Mom couldn't hear me over the sound of the television. Luckily, she never did, otherwise I wouldn't have finished it so soon. This scene does leave you wondering what they do with the bodies though. I would assume they burn them far away somewhere, after all, Jonas never comes across a body, so they don't just dump them outside the borders. I wonder who's job it is to do that. Perhaps the Nurturers and the caretakers of the Old deal with it as part of their assignment. Perhaps I'd find out if I read the other books. I'm not sure if I'd be able to deal with any more sad parts though.... I don't like sad books. If I know it will be sad, like The Fault in Our Stars, I refuse to read it. I'm good at being stubborn like that. Unless it's for school, then I don't really have much of a choice. Arguing with teachers just isn't a good idea.

other late post- Neverwhere 193-231

So there is this monster that Richard, the main character keeps seeing someone kill in first person in his dreams in the sewer. Apparently, as they (Richard and Door) have been told by Hunter, it is the Monster of the London Underground. From it's description to me it sounds like a giant boar.
"They say it's hide bristles with the swords and spears and knives stuck in him by those who have tried and failed. His tusks are razors, and his hooves are thunderbolts. I will kill him, or I will die in the attempt."
Apparently there are monsters in all of the undergrounds. She Slain the giant Alligator 
king in the sewers of New York,  the bear that "stalked the city beneath Berlin."(Germany), and the black tiger underneath Calcutta.(in India, also spelled Kolkata) It's nice to finally know what he had been dreaming about. I'm not sure if he had pieced together the fact that she was talking about the same thing, but he'll realize it eventually. I really hope Hunter doesn't die, I like her. People need to stop dyeing in the books I read. This is why I don't plan on reading John Green's books anytime soon. I don't want to be sitting in class reading and get to a sad/emotional in general part and start crying. That would probably make Abdiel rather uncomfortable.

I am rather worried as to what the Mr. C and V's employer is planning on doing with Door. Also, who he is is also troublesome. I thought he had been De Carabas (Someone helping Door find out who killed her family and why)  because that would make since, keep your friend close and the girl who's family I am suspecting you ordered two strange guys to murder even closer, right? That was a bust though, so now I feel bad. Like when you expect something bad of someone and your wrong, fictional character version. 

Kolkata

Berlin

New York

Kolk

The Giver- Spoilers- finished

I'm not going to use a prompt because I don't think I need one for this.

So I found out what the deal is with being released, and I am not happy at all with it. I can't say i'm that surprised though, but it does leave you wondering what they do with the bodies? They obviously don't bury them, there would be a cemetery or something, but there is no reason to think they burn or don't burn them either. They clearly don't just dump them in the woods to rot away because Jonas never came across any skeletons when he was riding away. Perhaps it's just a plot hole that Lois Lowry covers up in another one of the books.

I also still wonder why they didn't want people to see colors though, I may have missed it if it was explained but still, I don't really understand why it would be of that much importance. Sure, people could see different things out of different colors, but unless they don't want people to think at all differently (though I wouldn't put it past them) I think it's just silly. Unless it's because some colors can evoke emotions, and they obviously don't want people to feeling those. Tough you'd think the pills would deal with that mostly though, so they wouldn't need to make people colorblind. The pills obviously stop sexual attraction mostly, to keep the population under control, but I think they might also stop them from loving each other. Perhaps this is why Jonas stopped taking them, because he felt that they where just wrong.

The other thing I didn't like was that the ending isn't definite. It isn't as "WHAT?! HOW DARE IT END THERE! WHAT HAPPENED??!" the way "The Lady and The Tiger" or The Mark of Athena, it just sort of a "....wait what? What happened....? Are you kidding me?!" sort of reaction. I have a bad feeling they end up dead from cold and starvation but perhaps there really was a house with lights at the bottom of the hill. Perhaps some people do live outside of the communities, other people who have escaped and made families and little villages. That would be nice.

Late blog 10/28- Neverwhere- 150-193

• List three questions you have about what you read.

Will Jessica, (the main character's former fiancee, since she doesn't remember him anymore because he fell through the cracks of London when he rescued Door, causing no one in upper London to know who he is or really notice him,) be used as a bargaining chip? That would make things complicated, because if so, what would Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar (the antagonists) want if they were to do so? Also, would Richard comply with them, or wouldn't he? As of now I think he would but that could easily change later as more stuff goes on.

Is Anesthesia dead? I've done a blog about what happened to her before, but she was taken on the night bridge and it was never clarified whether she was or was not, which annoys me because she could show up later or not and it just bothers me.

Why can't Door's bodyguard Hunter go into upper(normal) London? Is she scared? Is there something or someone that has it out for her up there that she can't risk meeting? Perhaps she has a deal with someone there to stay in lower London or something. 

I have a feeling that this will all be resolved sooner or later, after all, what is the point of having vague things about a character if your never going to reveal what is actually going on?

This is a door, because I can't find any good character art of Door the actual character. There are lots of doors she has to open in the story though so I feel it is relevant. 

Neverwhere 135-150

• Is what you are reading believable? Why or why not?

Well.... To most people I don't really think it would be, but to me it could easily be reality. Probably just because I'm still trying to cling to ideas making the world not be as boring as it seems and something interesting is happening that most people just don't know about. Or, that every story made creates another universe where it happens in, and books are just the links to them. This could be the center of a bunch of branching cluster universes. For example, if this was where the Rick Riordan series' happened (since it's cannon that their just in different parts of New York,) there wouldn't be the books about them there, there would be something like The Mysterious Benedict Society, but in the world of TMBS, the RRS's would be the books, not  TMBS. 

So pretty much the only reason it's believable to me is because I'm desperate and overly imaginative.

Neverwhere 11-8-13

• If you were the author, what would you change? Why?

I wouldn't have had Anaesthesia die on the night bridge, mostly just because I feel bad for her. Though it does set the tone a bit and let the reader know that where they are is a dangerous place, it's rather upsetting that she just disappears like that, and there really isn't a very good explanation of what happened to her at all.
'"Is there anything, really, to be scared of?"
"Only the night on the bridge."
"The kind in armor?"
"The kind that comes when day is over."
Anaesthesia's hand sought Richard's. He held it tightly, her tiny hand in his."
"The woman looked at him, almost pityingly; ad Richard realized that thee was nobody holding his hand.
"Anaesthesia?"
From the darkness at the crown of the bridge came a gentle noise, like a rustle, or a sigh. A handful of irregular quartz beads pattered down the curve of the bridge towards them. Richard picked one up. It was from the rat-girl's necklace. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Then he found his voice.
"We'd better. We have to go back. She's...."
The woman raised her flashlight, shone it across the bridge. Richard could see all the way across the bridge. It was deserted. 
"Where is she?" he asked.
"Gone." the woman said flatly. "The darkness took her."
I was rather upset when this bit rolled around. I liked Anaesthesia, she was cool, and she even had a little backstory and everything was nice! Perhaps she'll come back later or something. The darkness defiantly couldn't have taken Hunter who is the woman, because she is of more importance later, and is not as indispensable as I admit Anaesthesia was. Perhaps Hunter could have been traveling with someone, and they took her, then Richard and Anaesthesia part their ways, her having taken him where he needed to go, and then showed up again later or something. 

I am over all enjoying this book so far, it strange, the plot is interesting, and the characters are rather strange. Basically the kind of book I enjoy reading. 

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman 10-24-13

Neverwhere pages 1-96

• Describe the setting – when and where what you are reading takes place.

So I would have started blogging this sooner but it was taking a vacation in that one pocket in my backpack that I put things and then forget the pocket exists.... It's like a reverse Narnia for pockets because books can't tell time. Anyway I've been liking it so far, I'm sure it'll start to make more sense later, but I'm liking it.

So on to where it takes place! It takes place in London, England, and so far as of now it's mostly in the underground. There is a map of the underground train routs and such -I think- but what the heck is the point of a map WHEN THE LETTERS ARE TO SMALL FOR YOU TO READ?!? Thats been bugging me a bit but oh well. I am not all that familiar with London but I know that due to all of the tunnels and such Big Ben is having structural issues so there must be a lot of them.... At the beginning it was taking place on the surface of London, but due to things that happen he has no need to be there, and the girl he's looking for is going to be under so thats where he is looking for her. 

     I'll be farther into it on the next blog so I'll be able to be into more depth, it's really interesting. Personally I'm a fan of the Neil Gaiman books my parents will let me read, so I have pretty good expectations for this one. 

On The Fringe: A Letter From the Fringe 10-15-13

Describe the most important event. Give at least three reasons why you think it

is the most important event.

Pages read- 1 - all

A Letter From The Fringe Page 181-191

   So this story, one of two favorites since "Standing On The Roof Naked" (The other being "Guns For Geeks" which I didn't choose because it didn't have as strong of a message in my opinion,) is about a group of kids who sort of bond together, similarities being that their all the victims of other people. It's from the POV of Dana, who's friend Sally gets harassed in the first couple pages.

"TODAY THEY GOT SALLY.

   She wasn't doing anything. Just eating a cookie that her aunt made for her. It was a serious cookie too. She'd given me one. It was still in my mouth with the white chocolate and pecans and caramel all swirling together.

     I saw Doug Booker before she did.

     Saw his eyes get that hard glint they always get right before they say something mean. Watched him walk towards us squeezing his hands into fists, getting psyched for the match. He's a champion varsity wrestler known for overwhelming his opponents in the first round. He was joined by Charlie Bass, brute ice hockey goalie, who was smirking and laughing like the mere sight of her hurt his eyes. Get The Geeks  is a popular ritual among the jock flock at Bronley High.
    I swallowed my cookie. Felt my stomach tense. It was too late to grab Sally and walk off.
    "Fun company at four o' clock" I warned her. 
     Sally looked up to smirks. Her face went pale."

    So to summarize their encounter with the jocks Sally is called fat  (on her birthday, how rude is that!?) and Dana tries to comfort her. At the end of the story Dana contemplates writing a letter to the group that bully  all the kids she sits with at lunch, which is without doubt  the most impacting, and to me, the most important part of the story. 

"'This letter could be from the nerd with thick glasses in the computer lab. It could be from the 'zit girl' who won't look anyone in the eye because she's embarrasses about her skin. It could be from the guy with the nose ring who you call queer, or any of the kids whose sizes don't match your ideal."

 This is all a great start but later in the letter is what really stands out, which is why I'm skipping a little in order to get to it.

"I think of the butterflies in the science museum. There are hundreds of them in different cases. hundreds of different kinds. If they were all the same, it would be so boring. You can't look at the blue ones or the striped ones and say they shouldn't have been born. It seems like nature is trying to tell us something. Some trees are tall, some are short. Some places have mountains, others have deserts. Some cities are always warm, others have different seasons. Flowers are different. Animals. Why do human beings think they have the right to pick who's best-- who's acceptable and who's not."

This is something humans in general, but kids our age and a bit older really need to get a grasp of, which I why I think that schools need to read this book in all classes if they want to minimize bullying because of the fact that you hear the stories from the victims points of view. You can understand what's going through their heads. Not only should the students read it though, but the entire staff of the school should too, from the principle to the janitors, because some just need a better understanding.  Another reason this part is so important is because its the main idea of the whole story, it's in the title that there's a letter involved! The last reason the letter is important is in the story it's self. Remember how I mentioned in parentheses that it was Sally's birthday? Well Dana puts a copy of the letter in a late card and puts it in an envelope with her friends name on it to give to her as a little mood pick me up, which is what friends are for in this kind of situation. I just thought it was a cute ending.

On The Fringe: Standing On The Roof Naked 10-8-13

*Are the characters realistic (do they seem like they could be real people)? Why or why not?

So, Standing On The Roof Naked, my favorite short story in this collection so far,  is about a girl named Jeanie. She's flat chested, has short hair, and dresses like a boy.
"Supposedly there aren't any tomboys anymore. Nowadays girls can be anything we want to be.  Astronauts,  construction workers, basketball stars. Why would any self respecting girl want to act like a guy? We can be female and still do it all. So then why did the Spice girls, those so-called spokeswomen of Girl Power, wear miniskirts up to their pubic hair? Why do all the girls in my school giggle and preen whenever a cute guy walks by? And why is it that most girls spend more money on a single haircut than the average Ethiopian family spends on food for an entire year? Believe me, feminism is a long, long way from being a reality. So don't blame me when I don't want to dress like a stripper and act dumb so some loser stud can feel important. I'm no hypocrite. I'm walking the walk, not just talking the talk. Only the truth is, that's just the story I tell myself to feel better. Actually, I don't know why i wanted to be a boy until I was thirteen years old, and why, to this day, I still feel more comfortable in baggy boy clothes than in dresses. Or why I like my hair short and tangled and in my eyes instead of long and silky like some Pantene commercial. And I can't explain why I'd rather stay at home and listen to CD's than go to the school dance. Or why, at fifteen, I still haven't kissed a boy, let alone done the dirty deed. All I know is that I'm different. And in this world, let me tell you, different is not good."
This the best hook to any of the stories so far. Also, I completely agree with her view on feminists, it does have a long way to go. I can completely imagine her as a real person, or at least being based off of someone that the author knew.  A lot of trans gender teens could probably read this and really relate to her.
So, in the story her two best friends have moved away, and her dad is sick from cancer (and dies at the end). Plus, her mom doesn't seem capable of comprehending the fact that her daughter doesn't like wearing dresses. As well as the two jocks at school that think that it's humorous to call her Johnny and make fun of her. At one point shoving her into the boys bathroom to see for themselves what her real gender was, which was interrupted by Reilly, a boy that creates rap music who she was paired up with by a teacher because she writes poetry. Just for fun, and because Reilly needed lyrics. After they create a song the school dance happens. Jeanie's mom makes her go, wearing a dress. She sits alone at a table until Reilly calls her up to sing and starts the music for the song.
"Soon everyone is applauding, cheering- some sincerely, some with ironic smiles on their faces because they think it's all a big joke. And I'm standing  there in my bike shorts and undershirt, barefoot, shredded dress at my feet,  suddenly just me again- only different. because for the first time in years, in centuries, in eons, I didn't stuff my emotions down inside of me. I was standing on the roof naked, screaming my lungs out, and it felt good."
I think that this is a great story because of the view it puts on kids who feel that they should be the gender they physically aren't. It gives kids who aren't like that a better understanding through a relatable and realistic character so that they have some background info on people like them and are less likely to be bullies. It also helps shed a light on the torment kids like Jeanie face in school, and things teachers need to look out better for.

I chose this picture because it's the flag for transgender pride, and I have a feeling that she'd be trans if her mother'd let her.

Emily's "The Lady or The Tiger" ending: Two lovers, the same fate

She had known she would be asked, she had decided what she would answer, and, without the slightest hesitation, moved her hand to the right. The Youth had a feeling of what his lover had in store for him. After all, in order to love one, you must know one as well. As he unlatched the door, they both smiled, as if reading each other's minds.  He had anticipated her move,  he knew her reason,  he knew what she would do afterwards. He didn't feel any but happiness when the tiger's outstretched claws reached for him and tore him into an unrecognizable gory red stain on the ground. He knew that beyond this grimily fate he'd see his lover again.  The semi- barbaric King and his daughter watched as the handsome youth's flesh was ribboned by the monster. The Princess closed her eyes. The King smiled. The hired mourners weeped tears of falsehood, the Princess weeped none at all. She smiled as she took the knife from the small box under her bed. She smiled as her wrists were cut. The smile faded slightly, only as she swiftly died. The next hour a maid entered her chambers, wondering why no one had answered her knocking. She widened her eyes when she saw the bloodstained bed. Opened her mouth in shock when the bedsheets transitioned to a dress. She ran out screaming when she saw the body of the Princess. Many mourned that day. The King, more than any. He demanded the Arena to be burned and the people who were married be hanged. He had learned his lesson the hard way. When one meddles between true love and tries to change it's corse, only the unfortunate will happen, and you'll be worse off than if you hadn't meddled with it at all.

On The Fringe: Geeks Bearing Gifts 10-2-13

 story one: Geeks Bearing gifts *spoilers*

•  Describe your least favorite character and explain why. Describe your most

favorite character and explain why.

Pages 1-28

       So The book I am reading is a collection of stories, connected by only the common theme of being left out, or being an outsider. On the inside cover it says "These are some of the fascinating  teens found within this electrifying collection of stories about the outsider experience. Written especially for this anthology by today's most acclaimed young adult authors, the tales provide a powerful, provocative view of high-schools sharp border lines."

       The first story is about a girl named  Renee who is doing a school newspaper article on the oddballs in her school for the last scholarship entry for a journalism school she wants to go to.  She interviews some of the school moms, a few of the "Resource Room" kids (as I understand it it's like special ed or something) and some of the kids with different sexualities.  One of the Resource room kids, William, she gets along with quite well, which irks her boyfriend Bobby, who is overly protective and has a rather short leash on her. he always wants to know where she is. This is why he's my least favorite.
"Molly frowned. "Bobby's beepin' you from across the room?"
"Don't look at him."
"I'm already lookin' at him, he's got his cellphone up to his ear."
"He's got you on a short leash, girlfriend. Is he worth it?""

       My favorite character however, is William because he's pretty relatable. People think he's a drug addict because he has to take a lot of medication, but he needs it.
"I'm like a guitar that has to constantly be tuning it's self. Other wise, my strings snap!"
I think he's relatable to me or my brother because one of the prescriptions he has is Ritalin, which is a medication for ADHD, which I have (Adam has ADD) , though we both use a different medication. Also, he got Renee to realize how absurdly restricting Bobby is when he keep nagging to find out if William is trying to make a move on her, and wanter her to stop doing the article because it takes up a lot of her time and he can't see her as much.
"You know those people you keep calling freaks and losers? Well, I like some of them."
"What are you talkin' about?"
She laid the beeper right in front of him. "Don't call me for a while, ok?"
"If you go out with that retard William, I swear to god I'll kill him."
"I'm not going out with anybody ok? I'm going to read this book about outsiders. I'm going to sit in  my room to think."
A pretty good ending of that story to me.
 

My Favorite Book series' of All Time.

All great readers have a problem figuring out what their favorite book is. I, being one of them, have chosen to do my two favorite book series. Both by the same author, Rick Riordan.  They are the Kane    Chronicles, and Heroes of Olympus (this includes the Percy Jackson series).

I figure that the reason they are my favorite books mostly is because I'm so into mythology and fantasy. In fourth grade I was bored with how I couldn't find any age appropriate books that I liked as much as J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter. Then we had our school Book Fair when my Mom got me The Lightening Thief. It had lots of humor, an interesting plot, and likable characters. Also, it ended up having nine books, The Lightening Thief, Sea of Monsters, Titan's Curse, Battle of the Labyrinth, The Last Olympian, Lost Hero, Son of Neptune, Mark of Athena, and the one thats coming out, The House of Hades.

The other series, The Kane Chronicles, has only three books, but hints at being continued.
I got into the Kane Chronicles when my Mom and Dad got it for me for my birthday because it was the same author. It's different enough and really humorous as well. It's in first person perspective of the two main characters, who are siblings, that alternates every two chapters. That layout was interesting to me, as I had never seen any book that did that before. Theres lots of action, cool characters, and a romantic subplot that doesn't take away from the main plot in the books, or distract you, which is nice.