Book 3 Review

People are always wondering when they are going to die and how, but what is you really did know. In this dystopian book Wither, the first book in the Chemical Garden Trilogy, Lauren DeStefano introduces us to 16 year old Rhine Ellery who knows exactly when she is going to die, along with everyone else. Boys live to 25 and girls only till they are 20. This is a result of genetic engineering and trying to find a cure for cancer. In this society girls are valued very highly; men go for beauty over intelligence. Rhine gets taken from her home in Manhattan and is forced to marry Linden who is a house governor. Rhine is trying desperately to find a way out so she can get back to her brother. While this is happening she falls in love with a servant Gabriel.

Rhine is the main character in this story and is told from her perspective. She is chosen to be one of three of Lindens brides. Rhine is very beautiful but also very outspoken, she is not afraid to say what is on her mind. She knows how to lead people on and make people believe what she says is true. The description of all the characters in the setting are very vivid and Lauren DeStefano makes you feel like you are there in the book. In one scene when Rhine is getting ready for the wedding she is described very vividly on page 38, “My eyelids have been painted pink, but it is not the obnoxious pink of the bathroom here. It’s the color between the reds and yellows at sunset. It sparkles as though full of little stars, and recedes into light purples and soft whites. My lips are done to match, and my skin is shimmering.” Lauren uses descriptive adjectives and comparisons that help us picture what Rhine looks like.

Wither starts with a bang that keeps you captivated and wanting to keep reading. Rhine is in a truck with other girls being looked at to be a bride. It is very descriptive and you feel like you are there. Lauren DeStefano captures the emotions very well here. The horror and how scared all the girls are. “I wait. They keep us in the dark for so long that we lose sense of our eyelids. We sleep huddled together like rats, and dream of our bodies swaying. I know when one of the girls reaches a wall. She begins to pound and scream.” You can tell how scared they all are and how they have been living by all descripting Lauren DeStefano uses. Though the book starts with a bang and everything is so vividly described the book only scratches the surface and does not go in depth with the plot and the characters past. You are left confused at some parts in the book.

I agree with Lauren DeStefano when she says in an author video, “I felt like uncertainty is the main theme of the story, it’s the concept that keeps going from beginning to end.” Uncertainty is defiantly one of the themes of Wither. Throughout the book Rhine is always wondering what will happen, if she will die that day or if she will be able to escape. As the reader you are also uncertain about what will happen and are uncertain. The book has a lot of suspense you are always wondering what will happen, if something will happen, or how something will happen, and that is what keeps the reader engaged in the book.

            Overall Wither is a faced pace and very interesting book and will keep the readers hooked until they finish, but it only scratches the surface and does not go in depth. I would give Wither a four out of five stars rating.  This I is a good book, but if you want to read a dystopian book Hunger Games is better. It goes more in depth with the plot and is very descriptive and keeps the reader hooked. Although Hunger Games is better Wither is not to be over looked by readers.  

Top 5 Presentation

Blog Post #7

For a book to be considered non-fiction I believe that the whole book should be true. I know it would be hard for the author to get the dialogue in books exact, but they should try their hardest to get it close, not just make something up. The whole book has to be true because otherwise you won’t know what to believe and what not to believe. No, I don’t think that half-truths are okay because then it would not be non-fiction. A book can still be good if parts are made up or half-truths, it doesn’t mean that it will be bad, it just won’t be a non-fiction or memoir. I do not agree with David Shields, I think that we should have lines between non-fiction and fiction and the different genres. It matters because readers like to know what genres some books are, so they know what books they may like. Everyone likes different genres, and without out the genre labels people will not know what to read. I also believe that we need a line between fiction and non-fiction. Some people like to read non-fiction, memoirs, and historical books, and they want to know what it true and what really happened. Without that line between non-fiction and fiction they won’t know what to read to get the facts they want, and they won’t know what they should believe and not believe.

Blog Post #6

I think that school is a reason for killing the love of reading. All of the test and notes we have to take on books is making kids not want to read, and no one like the books that they make us read in school. I think that schools should add some genre fiction books to the curriculum, and have a 50:50 ratio of literary fiction and genre fiction books. Kids enjoy genre fiction books more, so they may actually want to read the books for school. Not just go on spark notes and look up the summaries.  Eventually kids may like to read. I think it is important that there are some of the classic books, like Romeo and Juliet, that we should read because it helps us learn about that time period and how the wrote, but every book does not have to be a classic. We should want kids to read because it will help them with writing and it will help open up their imagination and be creative. Reading also can teach kids things, like new words or a specific time period in the past. I think critics can decide what a good piece of writing is, but they cannot tell us what we should read and what we have to read. That is each individual person’s choice to decide what type of books they like and want to read, not the critics.

Blog Post #5

The Help

To make The Help into a movie you would face many challenges. For one in the book they name a lot of characters, so it would be really difficult to that many actors to play the role, and some of the characters are only mentioned once or twice. Also because there are so many characters that have different personalities it may be hard to find actors and actresses that fit the role of the character. Three things that I would not leave out of the movie that is in the book is having Skeeter finding out that Constantine was fired. I would keep this because Skeeter was really close to Constantine, and was raised by her. Another thing that is in the book that I would also keep in the movie is Skeeter writing the book in the maid’s point of view about how they are treated. I would keep this because this is what the whole book is about. A third thing I would keep in the movie that is in the book is when Minny good fired by Miss Hilly and the getting hired for Celia. I would keep this because it is a big part of the book right now, and because Celia treats Minny like a friend and not a maid and that is pretty big. Something that I would take out of the movie that was in the book is when they are talking about how one of the maids has a son that got hurt and went blind. This could be taken out of the movie because it will not affect your understanding of the movie and you would have to get another actor to play the role when it is not needed. A second thing that could be taken out of the movie that is in the book is when Aibileen goes to community concern meetings at the church after her son died. This is not needed in the movie because it also does not affect your understanding of the movie, also it will just add on time to the movie that is not needed.

Book 1 Project

In Shiver Sam writes many songs about Grace over the years. I would make a CD of all the songs that Sam writes for Grace. “I had written a thousand songs for Grace” (Stiefvater 231). Many fans of the book Shiver would probably buy this CD because they may like to hear what the songs actually sound like, and could imagine Sam singing them to Grace. This could attract other people that really like music because if they buy this CD, and like it, they may want to read the book.

 In Shiver Sam and other people turn into wolves when it is cold outside and are human when it is warm outside. “Why are you here?...Because it’s spring. Because it’s warm. Warm makes me me. Makes me Sam” (Stiefvater 67). Another way to advertise Shiver is by making action figures of all the wolves because the book does a good job of describing what they look like. You could make it so you can turn the wolf into a person to show the transformation. Fans of Shiver would like this because they could see what the characters look like, and if they are younger they would actually like to play with them. This could attract to readers because if someone likes the toy they may want to try reading the book.

These things, the CD and action figures and many other things including the book itself, would be sold in a gift shop of a book store. Not just any book store, a book store that is a replica of the one that is in the book Shiver called The Crooked Shelf. In the book Sam works at the book store and there is when he first sees Grace when he is human. They also went to the book store on one of their first dates and Sam reads Grace a poem. “I let him walk me down the stark concrete block to The Crooked Shelf, a little independent book store” (Stiefvater 198). In the book store there will also be a separate room that was not in the book that will look like the woods that Sam brought Grace to because that is one of the main settings, and fans may want to be there in real life and picture what was going on in the book. This will attract new fans and people because by going to the book store and liking it they may want to try the book Shiver.

 

This is what the CD would look like, but with some changes like the color would be blue not black, and the artist would not be Coldplay, this is just a general idea of what it may look like.

This is an idea of what the wolf action figure would look like, but there would be multiple wolfs with different fur and eye colors like the wolfs in the book Shiver. The wolf action figure would also somehow be able into turn into a human.

 

This is an idea of what the bookstore would look like, but it will have two floors instead of only one, and it will be called The Crooked Shelf. The bookstore will also have a gift shop are to buy the CD and wolf action figure.

What is a Book?

A book is like a friend. You can count on a friend to be there for you when you are feeling down or are lonely. Just like a book when you are feeling down or alone you can just pick up a book and you feel better. I agree with John Meno’s definition of a book. A book is like a place, it is a whole different world that you can go into and escape reality. I also like Nancy Jo Sales definition a book. There really isn’t s definition that I really hate, they all are pretty good. To me a hard back book is not that same thing as a kindle, iPad, or phone. I don’t really know why or what it is, but I actually like physically having the book more. I know the kindle is more convenient, but it is not a real book.   

Why I Read

I read because it is entertaining and fun. Reading gives me something to do when there is nothing else to do. I like to read because for me it is like a movie in my mind, it just takes a lot longer to get through, and is more detailed. Reading helps expand my imagination and become more creative because I like fiction, fantasy, and sci-fi books which is all imagination and creativity. When I read it helps me to relax and calm down if I had a hard and/or stressful day at school. By reading I hope it will help me improve my writing skills, which are not very good, because I will be exposed to different styles of writing. That will help me know what I want to be able to write like. Another reason I read is for school, because in english class we are required to read some books. Lastly I read at night sometimes to help me get to sleep because reading can make me tired sometimes if I read for a long enough period of time.