A Hat Full of Sky

       In "A Hat Full of Sky" by Terry Pratchett, a 12 year old witch named Tiffany goes off to be the apprentice of an adult witch named Ms. Level.  A hiver, or an evil spirit, follows after her to possess her powerful body, although Tiffany does not know this. Terry Pratchett does an incredible job of giving characters a very distinct nature.
      For example, when the characters speak, they almost never say anything normal, like "hey!" Their convesations always reveal something interesting, and in that way, you learn more about the people in a few sentences than you could in a chapter of a different book. The language he uses is so unique I take note of it to think about how to do what he does in my writing.
     "A Hat Full of Sky' portrays a very intricate world of creatures and ideas about the world, all written very fluently and in a way that captures your attention.

Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (SPOILER)

     I finally found Go Ask Alice and finished it! It was a terribly consuming and emotional book and I was saddened to know that what was mentioned in the book really happened in real life.
      The story is based off the true diary of a 15 year old drug user and the main character, unnamed, starts off a little lonely and insecure. This is common is almost all teenagers, but her case must have been deeper than that, because the choices she ends up making seem to derive from self uncertainty.
    For example, she tries LSD for the first time at a party and has a wonderful experience. Then she feels guilty about it, but goes on to try more things like Speed and acid. Her experiences are sometimes bad, but she continues her use, even starts dealing to young kids and loses her virginity at 15. She is a teenager, but people who make those decisions aren't just adventurous, to me, it shows that they didn't have a strongest grip on their life in the first place. She gets in fights with her family and soon runs away to San Francisco with a girl a couple years older, where she lives in a ratty apartment and finds an okay job. Her friend finds a job with a woman who invites her and the main character to classy business parties, where they end up taking hard drugs and being abused by the hosts. However, they become sober and start up their own jewelry shop, but after that she goes home and pursues her chain of drugs, consequences, bullying, soberness, and back to drugs.
        My point is, I think the core of most drug users, beyond curiosity and being naive (which is also a cause) is instability, whether it is in self confidence, family, friends or relationships. It was a really good and HEARTRENDING book that will definitely tell you the pros and cons of drug use. (Mostly cons.)
     

The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost

       The setting in "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost hints that the man in the poem is middle aged, and deciding at a later point in his life between two life paths.
        The first line in the poem, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood" made me think of fall, and that the narrator was caught between a decision at mid-age. The rest of the poem describes the man taking one path and thinking about trying the other, and never getting around to it, but in the end, both roads are the same. To me, the author is trying to say that the man is stuck in a kind of minor mid-life crisis.
      In the last stanza, it says "I shall be telling this with a sigh, somewhere ages and ages hence" making it clear that he's looking back on his choice years later, and maybe feeling some regret. This isn't completely clear- but the poem clues toward the narrator being somewhere in the middle of his life.
     

Bridge To Terabithia by Katherine Paterson

      I've recently started reading "Bridge To Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson and I love the way the book opens.
       Sometimes books open EXTREMELY boringly and you have to wait till the middle of the book for it to get interesting ((((Andromeda Klein)))) but this one really showed a lot about the boy's life;  his family dynamic in a few short sentences, his town, his desire for running. I've only read a few pages and I already am interested.
      It also makes me excited to see where the book will turn, because I know something interesting is supposed to happen where him and a girl end up in woods. With that in mind, I have a much better time reading this than Andromeda Klein; (which, as it turns out, is interesting but is still too hard to understand.)

Andromeda Klein

      I have officially decided that I hate the book Andromeda Klein. Which is sad, because other than a few reasons, it could be a really interesting book.
      For one, its eXTREMELY boring. There is literally a page about wicker furniture, like no, no one needs to know that. I barely know what the storyline is-if the book is made for kids, at least make it compelling enough to enjoy.
      Second of all, the book uses hundreds of confusing terms in every sentence, and I don have time to look them up. It doesn't make it seem smart or intellectual either, it just frustrates me.
       So basically I'm never reading this again.

Elsewhere

     "Elsewhere" by Gabrielle Zevin explores the question, what happens after we die? And the idea of heaven, or somewhere like it.
      Liz Hall, a teenager, is (SPOLER) hit by a car, and dies. She awakes on a ship, and meets another girl around the same age there, telling her she is well on her way to Elsewhere. Elsewhere is the place people go after they die, and arrive at the age they died at. They don't stay there in eternal bliss however, they live there in a town, have a job, live normally, but age backward until they are newborns, and are shipped back to Earth to be reborn again.
      The thoughts of Liz Hall, especially considering the young age she passed away at, made me sad when reading the book. I couldn't imagine knowing I had died, that the people on Earth were without me, and I wasn't part of their lives anymore. That along with aging backward and having to start a "new life" in the meantime in Elsewhere would drive me insane. Liz becomes obsessed with looking at Earth and seeing what her friends and family do when she's not there. I think I would do the same thing.
      The book "Elsewhere" is an incredible book that everyone should read.

Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman

      I just started the book "Andromeda Klein" by Frank Portman. It's hard to follow in the beginning and I had to keep re reading parts I didn't understand, but basically Andromeda Klein is about an unattractive girl in high school who's life is so muddled that she turns to "occultism" and tarot card readings for salvation.
     It annoys me a little how in the beginning of the book the author makes it really obvious that she's an outcast, and that she's "different" from everyone else in her high school and town altogether. I think this isn't necessary, that the reader should be able to obtain this from reading the book. The characters I identify most with myself are characters that aren't over described, because it makes them seem fake. Harry Potter's persona isn't thrown into the reader's face right away, but by the end of all 7 books you feel like he could be a real person.
      But on the other hand I really like the world Frank Portman sets up in the first chapter, and how easily someone could get obsessed with something magical or out of the ordinary when reality becomes too hard to deal with. I'm excited to keep reading it.