Summer Assignment (Honors English 2, Post #1)

For my summer reading I chose Looking For Alaska. It was written by John Green in 2005, and was also his first published book. It won the Michael L. Printz award in 2006.

 LFA is about a boy named Miles Halter, who convinces his parents to let him go to boarding school in Alabama. Shortly after arriving at Culver Creek, he meets his new roommate, the Colonel. The Colonel gives Miles the nickname "Pudge" and introduces him to another student, Alaska Young. On his first night at The Creek, Pudge gets taped together and thrown into the lake with the possessed swan by the Weekend Warriors. They are a rival group to the Colonel & Alaska. Them throwing Pudge into the lake was payback for a prank pulled on them by Alaska. I have really enjoyed John Green's other works and this one has also been interesting. I hope to find out more about Alaska as I continue reading.

This Is It, Folks. (Honors English Post #10)

I'm sad to announce that this is the last of my blog posts for Honors English 1B. This first year of high school has gone by so fast, and I am sad that it is coming to a close.Okay so now on to book stuff I guess. On January 30th, the book This Star Won't Go Out was released. On January 30th, I ordered it. What came in the mail a few days wasn't what I expected. A 500-something page hardback collection of stories, pictures, and letters is what came in the mail for me. I did some research prior to buying it about what the book was. I found out that Esther Earl's (who the book is about) parents and John Green (author of TFIOS) wrote the introduction to the book. I'm probably about 150 pages into because since there is no plot to the book, I couldn't really blog about it. I am looking forward to read it over the last few days of school and into the summer. I hope to read 5 books over this summer, as I have quite a list going. Let me know how many books/which ones you plan to read this summer!

On to the next adventure (Honors English 1B Post #9)

I have had Hollow City since March 17th. Yeah, you read that correctly. MARCH. I'm still using my "I was reading Fahrenheit in the middle and so that makes up for not reading" excuse. I think the best thing about FINALLY finishing HC is the fact that there is a note in the back that said that there is a third book in the series coming out soon. To be completely honest here, the ending wasn't thrilling. Around the end, it was the action-packed, mystical, mysterious plot that got me sucked into these books. Then when I got to the last few pages it was kind of... empty. I think it ended at a very good spot to pick back up with a third book, though. Props to Ransom Riggs. I think Riggs has grown as an author since his debut novel and the first in the series, Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children. While Peregrines left everything open at the end, HC brought everything full circle and connected everything back together so that mostly everything makes sense now. One of the biggest mysteries that gets solved is the name on the front of the book (under the book cover): Perplexus Anomalous. From a quick Google search when I first started the book I found out that he is the only male ymbryne (IM-brinn, a type of Peculiarality where they can manipulate time & turn into birds, only female ymbrynes.) Perplexus Anomalous is the name of the only male ymbryne. I found this to be perplexing. He never gets fully explained in the book. I'm hoping for a better explanation in the third book. Overall, I give these books a 9/10. I would really recommend them to anybody, as I have really enjoyed them. Let me know if you have any suggestions of a next book for me!

The Mother of all Parties (Honors English 1B Post #8)

Column: The Mother of all Parties 
Author: Dave Barry

Dave Barry is a humor columnist for the Miami Herald, retired in 2005. In The Mother of all Parties, he writes, "Like many moms, my wife believes that a child's birthday party requires as much planning as a lunar landing -- more, actually, because you have to hire a clown." In this quote you can really hear Dave's voice come through his writing. You can envision the way he moved his hands and the tone in which he said it. It puts the two of you on a first name basis. All throughout this column he uses a conversational tone which makes it fun and interesting to read. He keeps things sarcastic as he describes the minuscule details his wife puts into the party for their soon to be 4 year old. He also pulled in a facetious quote from a birthday party planning website which actually makes you laugh out loud. Dave Barry uses sarcasm and a very conversational tone with his columns that make you want to read more. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2014/03/05/dave-barry-parenting-tips/5982019/

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Wear Sunscreen. (Honors English 1B Post #7)

Advice, like youth, probably just wasted on the young: A fantastically written column by Mary Schmich of the Chicago Tribune in 1997. The column was written to the class of  '97, it was advice to them as they go out into the real world. I found this article to be great. Not only was the advice Mary gave solid, she worded it in a way that made you think. The column was written in a paragraph form, pretty typical, but then she broke up the structure by adding in one worded paragraphs. These one worded paragraphs brought your eyes straight to them, signifying their importance.
"Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself."

While this article was written for/dedicated to the class of 1997, it is still very relatable to me and really anybody. I think everyone who does read this can get something out of it. The advice is important and I would recommend it to anyone.

http://zulkey.com/2013/11/the-mary-schmich-interview.shtml#.U101eVVdWSo