Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen has been thrown into the fight of her life.  She is now the face of the rebellion against the Capitol.  Without her, the districts would not have had the courage to fight for their freedom, and District 13- thought to have been destroyed 75 years prior to the new rebellion- wouldn't have the purpose to come out of hiding and make it known they are alive and ready to fight.  Katniss's Hunger Games parter Peeta Mellark has been taken captive by the Capitol, and who else better to use against Katniss that Peeta.  With the help of other victors, all the districts, her mentor Haymitch, her camera crew, and stylists, Katniss makes her way to President Snow's mansion to end a ruler that has overstepped his power. She powers through heartbreak, death, and a deep fired vengeance for the man who threatened everything she had.

Subject:  Katniss Everdeen, now 17, is still paying for her shenanigans in her first Hunger Games.  The berries that started it all.  Since the first Hunger Games, she has participated in a Quarter Quell - her second Hunger Games.  Since she was broken out of the arena, District Thirteen has risen up and declared war on the Capitol and is not recruiting all of the Districts for support.  She needs to find a way to get Peeta back, keep her friendship with her best friend Gale strong, and take down the Capitol.
Occasion:  The book takes place in North America in the country of Panem.  Panem has twelve districts, and little does everyone know, the thirteenth district is still thriving below ground.  The districts are trying to end a reign that has been going on for over 75 years.
Audience:  The intended audience is teenagers and young adults.  The romance mixed in with the action and mystery makes for a dramatic story and questions yet to be answered.  Teens may relate to the romance Katniss is battling against through the whole series.
Purpose:  The purpose of Mockingjay is to conclude all the questions that has risen since book one of the series and finally let Katniss choose who to be with for the rest of her life.  Katniss is given closure by facing the villan that took her freedom, family, and her sanity.
Style:  The point of view comes from Katniss.  She tells how she is feeling how each and every move is thought of ahead.  How she constantly jumps to conclusions on why people are doing what they do.  With Katniss as the narrator, it is easy for me to connect and understand on a deeper level how she is feeling.
Tone:  Suzanne Collins uses very intense diction to describe powerful feelings and scenarios that happen throughout the book.  She makes Katniss seem hostile and against anyone that shows affection to her.  She wa incredibly effective in making me have this impression of her throughout all three books.

Marley & Me by John Grogan

Subject:  Marley and Me is about the relationship between Marley and his new family.  Just beginning their lives together, John and Jenny bring home the adorable yellow lab, Marley.  Marley turns out to be a rambunctious, loud, and troublesome.  He gets into the messiest situation anyone could imagine.  From slobbering everywhere, to shutting down a beach, to eating jewelry, to getting kicked out of obedience school, Marley seems like the worst mistake the Grogans could have made.  However, once their family begins to grow, Marley proves to be worth all the hardships he has put Jenny and John through.  He comes to the rescue of a seventeen year old stabbing victim and protects his family better than they could have expected.  The kids love having him around and John and Jenny are grateful they stuck with the little (big) rascal throughout everything.

Occasion:  Throughout most of his life, Marley spends his time in Palm Beach, FL.  Joining his new family around the 1990's.  John talks about his struggle with taming the fluffy beast, and even in the beast's old age, he was hardly tamed.  Marley and his family eventually move down to coast to Fort Lauderdale where Marley spends the last eventful years of his life :(

Audience:  This book is definitely one that can be read to the whole family.  It has a humorous tone with a syntax that is easy to read.  This book is meant for anyone who loves animals, loves to laugh, and wants a simple life story they can relate to.

Purpose:  The purpose of this book was to get the point across that even when times get hard, stick with those who love you because in the end, everything is worth it, and you make the best friend a man could ask for.  John Grogan was showing the world how even the most wild, boisterous, untamable dog can turn out to be a life saver, and truly mans best friend.

Style:  Grogan tells this story from his point of view, which in my opinion makes it much easier to relate to.  When a story is told in first person it is a breeze for me to be able to visualize the situation in which they are explaining with a more accurate description.

Tone:  The way John tells his story has a hint of sarcasm and a lot of comedic language.  He describes every situation as if he is genuinely amused behind the fact that he is furious with Marley for the mess he just made.  There are times when things get serious and you have to take a step back from all the fun and reassess what is really happening.  John Grogan was very good at switching from emotion to emotion and making you feel what he is feeling.

This was an incredible read, and I think anyone would enjoy it! Beware; you may regret picking the cutest, funniest, fluffiest dog out of the liter.  He might even eat your pretty necklace!  But he would sure look after your kids like they were royalty.

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wallas

Subject:  Jeanette Walls wrote this book about her childhood and how her family moved from place to place every time trouble arose.  She goes as far back as her memories from the age of three, where she was a bright young girl with much to show for it.  Her parents believed in letting their kids do whatever they wanted without rules or discipline and learning from their mistakes, such as teaching them to swim with a sink or swim system to not relying on the hospital every time they get hurt.  These kids wanted nothing more than to make their parents proud and be able to fend for themselves.  By their adult years, all of these children turn out to be successful people with homes of their own.  However, Rex Walls and Rose Mary stay homeless by choice.  Because it is the only thing they know and they love it.  Eventually though, they get an apartment of their own and turn their lives around.

Occasion:  By the time Jeanette was four years old, she had counted at least eleven places she had lived for more than a week before she lost count.  Seeing as they left their original trailer park home at the age of three, she had already been all over the country.  This story follows her throughout her teen years and jumps into her collegiate life.  Jeanette and her family never stayed in one place for too long.  Something bad always happened such as the police chasing them around, to gambling mishaps, to court summons.  Whenever authority became involved, it was time to do the "Skedaddle"and find a new home.

Audience:  This book is for more of an adult group. There are a lot of vulgar words used that would not be appropriate for anyone under the age of fifteen at the least.  It is a fantastic book and the reader needs to get the full effect of the book without getting side-tracked or offended by all the swearing and rough situations that are some times described.  The language is the main reason it puts it over the top into more of an adult category.

Purpose:  Jeanette Walls kept this story quiet for years and she finally got enough courage to get it out there and tell her story.  She displays a great amount of love and compassion for her parents even though she grew up with next to nothing.  Always moving and always facing new obstacles.  Jeanette tells a fascinating story of a difficult childhood and against all odds becoming a successful woman.  She brings hope that even in the worst circumstances, you can be triumphant and battle anything and still become a person with everything you could've wished for.

Style:  Walls keeps a very calm theme throughout her story.  She likes to use a lot of imagery and describe the places she's in and she makes me feel as if i was there and I can imagine the room that she is in.  She is very educated and she was very educated as a child with her extensive vocabulary, that of children many years older than her.

Tone:  The author expresses an immense amount of gratuity and adoration for her family.  Her parents didn't always care for her the best they could, but Jeanette wouldn't wish for any other parents.  She always believed in her father no matter what.  "I told him that I would never lose faith in him. And I promised myself I never would." (Walls 79)  Jeanette believed her father was doing every thing he could and that one day he was going to make a fortune with all of his weird inventions.  She believed in him when the rest of her family doubted him.

Favorite Songs

One of my favorite songs recently is By Your Side by an alternative band called Tenth Avenue North.  I like this song because alternative is my favorite type of music, and I like the story line that goes along with it.  This song is relating to people who were affected in by a flood or some other type of disaster, I'm not completely what type of natural disaster it was, but something major happened that made people have to leave their houses and lose most of their possessions.  The song influences the people affected because embedded in the song are interviews from people that were effected and the band is trying to restore some happiness and hope into these people's lives.  There was one man in the song that said when this band was singing, people's spirits were being lifted.  This song is a great song if you need something to cheer you up and know that someone is there for you.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J95rAr0gOFU

Pablo

This year, I have already gotten my first Christmas present.  His name is Pablo and he is a pretty blue beta fish. He's super cute and he is my best friend!!!  My favorite thing to see Pablo do is eat.  You put the food in and its like *creep creep creep* *BUBBLE* OM NOM NOM NOM.  Then he chews for like a minute and then goes back to OM NOM NOM.  In Pablo's fish tank, he has 2 bushes.  He likes to sleep in them.  He doesn't like the dark either, I think it freaks him out.  He is very cute and I love him so so so soooooo MUCH!!!

Barack Obama For A Second Term

Election day is coming up fast for Americans, and many are still undecided.  While both candidates have logical views on what is best for this country, I don't think Romney has a plan that is best suited for our country at this time.  Our economy is in major need of help, our oil crisis factors in, and education is a huge controversy in this election.  We need a President who can keep things consistent and gradually bring America up to it's potential, ad Obama is our man.  Bringing in a new person to run our country won't immediately help us like some people think.  It could actually hurt us more.  I'm positive Mitt Romney knows what is going on in our country, but he doesn't know it like the back of his own hand like Obama.  Obama will keep our country improving and slowly continue the fight against a raging debt our country has entered.

Obviously our economy sucks.  Our debt has climbed to the trillions within the last few administrations.  Part of our problem is that we insert ourselves into other countries problems which escalates into war, and we end up running the debt up even more.  Obama is planning to get our troops out of Iraq by the year 2014.  This would be a step towards putting our money into more important things and digging our way out of debt and beginning to lower our deficit.  President Obama has added more than 580,000 jobs in his last four years, and that number is continuing to rise.  Romney is claiming that he will have created 12 million newjobs by the end of his first term.  I don't believe this is a logical number because there are about 12.3 million people in America without jobs.  How is Governor Romney planning on giving almost 100% of these people jobs.  President Obama is already taking the steps toward getting more people jobs and has been continued throughout his four years in office, and I think our best chance is for him to keep working with it and continuing to create more jobs and restore our economy.

In the past several administrations, we have relied way too much on other countries resource supply, that it has added more to our debt than we could've imagined.  We need to work on become energy independent and export from OUR own country to make other countries have to rely on us, thus raising our economic status.  Our amount of operating drilling rigs is up by 23% more than before the Obama Administration.  We are already less reliant on other oil exporting coutnries, but not as much as we need to be.  Our Wind and Solar generation is up 117% than it was before Obama came into office.  "We are taking big steps down the road to energy independence, laying the groundwork for new green energy economies that can create countless well-paying jobs..." (Obama, alternativeenergy.procon.org)  If we could increase the amount of electricity produced by solar and wind power by 20% it would amount to the same improvement as it would by taking 70 million cars off of the road.  Obama has already brought that number significantly higher, and if he were to be re elected  I'm sure he could raise that percentage even higher and surpass that goal of 20%.

Next to come up in multiple discussions is education.  What are we going to do with it?  The amount of students going to college and using financial aid is incredible.  Rommey plans to reduce the amount of financial aid given to students, making it almost impossible for some students to continue their college career, or even begin it.  If students didn't have the financial aid they recieve today, then the amount of Americans without jobs would drop significantly.  We want to raise the number of citizens with jobs.  Obama is willing to double the amount of financial aid granted so future generations have the opportunity to thrive as adults and become the successful businessmen and women that they have the potential to be.  Everyone deserves an education that will propel them farther into the world of success.  That is the American Dream, isn't it?

President Obama has been gradually shaping our economy, and shifting our country on track to achieve its potential.  Under Mitt Romney, our economy may significantly drop, and our job count may go nowhere.  Obama is the best choice in order to move this country in the direction it needs to go in.  If Obama were to be re elected improvements would continue to be made along with jobs and oil production.  I don't believe Romney has the potential to bring our country where it needs to go at this point in time.  Obama offers consistancy and that is what we need for our country to even think about thriving.

The Devil in the White City

Speaker: The author is the one telling the story based off his research of the events.  Larson admires the killer in the beginning of the book because Holmes started off on the right foot as a medical student on the path to a positive future.  Larsons perspective of Holmes changes throughout the book 

Occasion: This book takes place in 1893 at the Chicago World Fair.  This was the Fair that was going to set America's place in the artistic world.

Audience: This book targets those who enjoy architectural aspects and also enjoy a good mystery.  This book would most likely appeal to an older audience. 

Purpose:  The author wrote this piece to educate people on the fair that put America above the French in artistic excellence.  Larson wrote this story to show how Dr. H. H. Holmes killings were successful by using the World Fair in Chicago to lure his victims.

Style:  I feel like back in this time period of the 1890's the people used more of a serious tone with little humor in it at all, and I think Erik Larson tried to bring that serious tone into this story.  He did use a wide variety of sentence structure with lots of different complex and compound sentences and he used big words which was very good.

Tone:  The author has a very sophisticated tone using words such as splendid, tremendous, miasma, acquisition, etc.  I feel as if he used confidence in his writing and that was important because it made me really feel like I was there and I had studied these events myself.

I really enjoyed this book because I love reading a good mystery book, and I felt connected to the story itself.  This was definitely a book that I would recommend for anyone to read.  I usually don''t get into non-fiction books but I really enjoyed this book!!!