love, read, write

It´s one of those books that just are different from the rest, that tells you you should read it.

As the title explains: overboard.

This is an awesome book, the most amazing book, the best book, so good, you HAVE TO READ IT.
a MUST. absolute MUST. read the book first.
But it's at such a high "goodness-level" that a lot of people might not like it. It has "a meaning behind the lines" that if you don't understand it, well, it's going to sound pretty boring.
I'm not even going to write about the story, the usual summary because, well if I included that, I might as well write a novel.

The characters are so carefully structured, each part of their character having a specific significance and impact on the plot of the story.
I have read so many books that take place in the future, and this one is very... interesting. There's not much detail in the parts that aren't much big-important to the plot. See, they called him a third, and made a big deal about it, how they allowed him to be born, to be a third. Does that mean there was a population law? Only allowed to have 2 children? Or is it just some joke, an insult? Another thing was that the author didn't explain much about how they made the children. Did they play with the genetics, made them geniuses?  The author didn't explain much about how they "made" the children, because they did say that they specifically made them genius, or either that, or they are naturally born geniuses. But what are the chances,  Did they play with the gene3 children in a row, geniuses?
Peter was too brutal, too mean, too self centered.
Valentine was too kind, too softhearted.
Ender was just right, how they did the "in-between" of Peter and Valentine, kind, caring, but forceful and strong at times of struggle.
Just the best commander for an army going against millions and billions of buggers. Scary. I can't imagine them. I mean, I can, but I don't want to, because... it's too creepy a thought. Disgusting... bugs? In human size? With their beady eyes.... EGHHHHHH
no. you know what? Never mind. Let's get off the subject of buggers.

The whole idea of the story is amazing. I mean this is a book that you can't write a blog post on, otherwise I'd be writing up a novel for a year... xD
SOOOO it's about saving the world, and the relationship between three very ingenious but yet different siblings. You could tell they still love each other (especially Ender and Valentine), but even between Peter and Ender, and Peter and Valentine. Peter may be violent, he may be mean, but he is still a loving person.
I think. That's how I interpreted him. But then again, I always give the characters a second chance when I'm reading about their major blunder, or their messed up personality.

The way Card writes it, you'd think that Ender was about 17 or 20 years old, and that all the other kids are about that age. Imagine that, what? divided by 3, divided by 2. He's SIX. then SEVEN. then EIGHT. There was never a scene where he was younger than... let's say, ten?
When he commands, he suddenly turns into a different person. First, he's all observant, kind. Then, commander, BOOM. He's strict, to the point, and critiques them, and says it meanly, in a way, without thinking twice. "What's wrong with you? Is Bean the only one who knows it?" and the way he makes jokes during the sessions, you'd think even more that he'd be 17 or 20 years old.
But there you go, that's a mind of a genius six year old.

The best part of the story was Battle School and the game machine thing in the Commander School. The battles in Battle School was amazing, awesome, fun to imagine in your head. The battles are so cool. Floating around and shooting each other!!!!!! (they don't die, just so you know. :) ) Especially when he's commander, how he wins, no matter what. as someone said in Ender's last battle, "Nothing's fair when you're versing Ender!" or something along those lines. Ender's endless victory is amazing.

and the ending, how Ender realizes his fate, how the bugger's peacefulness was genuine, how the buggers didn't want war... you know what? Read it for yourself. I don't want to ruin the ending. :)

No kidding, you should seriously read it. I mean, there's a lot of hard words there, but it's all worth looking up. Trust me, it is the most amazingest book in the WORLD.

So far. :)

But I'm NOT KIDDING, you should read it, especially in 7th grade. xD HAVE FUN.

That world is full of...
breaking secrets.
You live on...
betraying people.
You buy everything with...
your popularity rank.
If you're not popular...
you don't get as much.
Aya...
isn't popular.
But this is the world of trust, betrayal, and danger...
so Aya can be a kicker.
A kicker...
is when you kick stories to make your face rank higher.
And Aya...
has the best story yet.
She has found the legendary Sly Girl group...
and become part of it.
Sly Girl is fantasy..
everyone says.
Sly Girls aren't real...
they say.
But they are.

So now, Aya is going to kick some story.
She has to gain their trust, at first...
so she does what Sly Girls do...
they risk their lives.
But the story changes all at once...
and Aya realizes that if she kicks this story, she might even be in the top 1000...
and be in Nana Love's Top 1000 party..
everyone wants to go there...
because only the top 1000 people go to Nana Love's Top 1000 party...
where Nana herself is the second popular person.

And Aya, the low rank of 451,369...
isn't ready for the dangerous world of popularity.

So what is that thing that changes the story at once?
Aliens.

No, really. They're there. They're humans...
sort of.
Long body, long arms, long hands...
fingers with too much joints,
flying with hovergear,
and eyes too big, too wide apart...
hidden in a mountain.
Putting some explosive-looking gear into the mountain.
And Aya must, MUST kick this story...
without the Sly Girls knowing.

But the Sly Girls are called sly for a reason...
they decide to let her kick the story...
after they are long gone.

With Aya's hovercam...
she kicks the story. In a few minutes...
she's the seventeenth most famous person.

How? When a more popular person kicks your story, as in comments...
other people look at it, too.
Your popularity rank highers when more people look at your stories...
and when Aya organizes her comments by face rank where most famous goes on top...
she sees Nana Love's comment...
but there's one more.
on top..
Tally Youngblood.

Tally comes and takes her...
and Hiro, her brother, and Ren, Hiro's friend, and Frizz, her boyfriend (sort of)...
and takes them away,
because the alien people are chasing after her...
with needle fingernails... and (maybe) a deathly purpose.

She narrowly escapes the alien people...
and continues the journey to a spot where all the Cutters will meet...
Cutters, as in the ancient Specials that you only learn in history class...
and she finds out that ending the world wasn't the aliens purpose...
then what was it?

This is a small summary that doesn't tell the end and left out parts that are very amazing and brain-shattering.
But in order for you to know the whole story, word for word,,,
is if you read it.

Extras by Scott Westerfeld, Copyright 2007.
4th book in the Uglies series.
Check out http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/books/uglies/ now! to see the Uglies series.
Scott Westerfeld's official blog>> http://scottwesterfeld.com/blog/

As you may have noticed, I made a link to the Missing Series and Margaret Peterson Haddix in the
cOuNtDoWn FoR bOoKs! page. Because she has her own website, where you're always up to date to her books, such as the new Missing book: SABOTAGED and the other new book, The Girl with 500 Middle Names or something along those lines.
I'll give you the url. Just Shift + click (or just click, whatever you like) the following: http://www.haddixbooks.com/ 
(Don't x it out before you get to the actual site instead of the slideshow of her best series and books)

Sooo... Jonah and Katherine are where they don't belong. But Chip and Alex, who are the two main characters, do. Because they're the missing princes of... of... England and France... Chip is Edward the Fifth (Edward V), King of England, and Alex is Richard, Duke of York.
What fancy names. 

       What really scares me is that how they know their past when they weren't even in it. Well, technically, they were. They were 1 years old twice, they were 2 years old twice, 3 years old two times, and so on, until the minute they died, where Hodge and Gary swept them out of their time and took them to "the future." Which is true, but not the future that Hodge and Gary wanted.
       Which leads to what actually happens. They have to go back in time so they don't mess up history altogether. Because if things don't go the way they actually did the first time without disturbance, then the whole world may collapse. Time may be gone altogether. You see, time is a very mysterious element. When you think of time, as in a clock. Okay, it's 12:37. Time. Simple. You're not thinking deep enough. Because Time is WAY WAY more complicated than that. For example, can two people meet in time, as in from different times? Like, say Jonah was there when Gary and Hodge were about to steal Chip and Alex. But Jonah is there years later than Gary and Hodge, where they're the thirteen-years-ago Gary and Hodge who stole Chip and Alex. But Jonah is there thirteen-years-after to save Chip and Alex. Can they meet? I mean, in the book, that didn't happen, but I'm just saying, for example. And millions of others. Like a kid from 3002 can met with another kid from 2078 where they both traveled in time to the same place and same time.Can they meet? Or is there some mysterious barrier which keeps them from meeting?

        Anyway, apart from terribly confusing time theories, the story. 
This is the book that made me borrow the first book, which leads back to finishing that book which leads to here. This book again. Really interesting, because the adventure starts here. The first book was sort of the introduction. Of the whole plot. Get it? Each book is like a chapter, and the whole series is like the whole book. So the first book was like the prologue, where they explain how it leads to...
       Chip and Alex gets swept to their original time period, in the 1500's, and Jonah and Katherine grabs on along for the ride. Jonah, at the last minute, before they disappear into nothingness and back in time. The spooky thing is how they become their old selves, instantly, and the minute they go into their tracers, or their original figures of what they originally did without any time disturbances, they know everything. Their past. Chip instantly remembers how he, for the past month or year or whenever, had been training to become King, in which he already was. His father was dead. Alex, instantly, knew his mother, and was praying for her. They both, instantly, began talking in Old-English, which the Elucidator immediately translated. 
        It is truly amazing how Margaret Peterson Haddix comes up with such brilliant ideas. Where she comes up with them, and manipulates them to become part of yet another astounding story. (Wow, I really sound like the book-review peoples. How wierd, a bunch of fancy words add up to some professional-sounding report)
     It was cool. I'd wanted Chip and Alex to go back to themselves. It gave some sense of... nobility, and respect, as if we'd have to treat them like kings and queens (which they did) but I liked when they were out, back to the twentieth century selves (notice I didn't not say their real selves), where they figured out things. OH I can't explain it! But it's like watching a movie, how Chip and Alex are back to their original people. Edward the Fifth and Richard something... Maybe there he isn't Richard the third or any of that sort. Maybe he's just Richard. Maybe. phew, this is taking a lot of energy... What I'm trying to say is, I like it when he's in the tracer and when he's not. For reasons. No. Not like. It doesn't fit it. It seems right when he's in.. the tracer. Phew, too hard to explain.. taking too much.. energy.. from brain... can't.. explain.... When he's in the tracer, he's ... ARRRGHHHHH!!!!!! Read it yourself. You'll know. Please just read it yourself. And if you already did, then... you'll know what I mean.

      Moving on... It's really funny. The best (funny best, not general best, as in whole-book-best, just best of the funny stuff) part of the book is when Alex and Chip and Jonah and Katherine are sneaking their way out of the castle after (accidentally) revealing themselves to be angels sent from God, saying that he has committed great sin. Well, now that I think of it, I think the King Richard the third or someone, Chip/Edward's uncle, he's not THAT bad. I mean, he offered his crown if he had to! Maybe he wasn't all that bad. Maybe just to be king. Or maybe someone else wanted him dead.
        Same feelings as Katherine. Feel bad for him. But I thought, speaking of the "evil" Richard, when he was forgiving everything after meeting the "angels" (Jonah and Katherine). I wondered, was that man, who was (supposed to be but but ended up being) saved from being executed, was he supposed to die, in the first version? Maybe not. probably not. Because then Jonah and Katherine's whole plan will be ruined.


       I think it's funny how Katherine got Chip to get out of his tracer in the end how she says she likes Chip and all that. And he's like, "you think I'm hot?" and stuff... It's funny. I think I literally laughed out loud. loled. Luckily they found that man who was also from the future or whatnot. Which let them get back to original time and,,,,, drumroll please... JONAH AND KATHERINE SAVE THE DAY!! or save Chip and Alex, but same thing.
YAY.
You'll love the book. i can almost guarantee it. Haddix is a master at writing, let me tell you. I've fallen under her spell more than once. And you will, too.

Yes, I found the book the same day I found FOUND. (Funny. Found FOUND. ) And now that I think of it, when I first entered the library, I was in a sort-of sulky mood, and I'd muttered, "I'm not picking any books... Have enough at home anyway to read..." Yes, it was just for my brother, because he had read all of his books and wanted more. I, on the other hand, had a stack of books (that I sort of did not want to read). The books I'd read were beginning to be boring. Treasure Island, and classics. You know.
But, of course, the mysterious power of books was all over the library, and I couldn't resist looking around. And my mom suddenly whispered fiercely for us to come over. There was a summer reading section place, on the tops of the low-bookshelves, there were, organized, summer reading book for the library's town. (I live somewhere else so it does not pertain to me). But I looked there, anyway. And, long time, no see, there was... HADDIX at the spine of a book. Very appealing. VERY. Couldn't resist... I read the book-cover-flap-about-the-story thing. And I liked it. Only,,, it was the second book. Found the first. Then, I think, as I was looking in the "H" section, I saw Hiaasen. And I knew I had to borrow that, too. Just had to. And did. And guess what that book was...
The very book that I am writing about now.

Scat.

         To tell you the truth, I didn't want to read it. Why did I read it, you say? Because I knew this author was an amazing author and that you can never judge books by their cover. And I had. But I'd just forced myself to borrow that book from the library. Good thing that I did. But the cover WAS not that appealing. To me, I mean. I guess the person put random stuff irrevelant to the real plot to make it sound all exciting and funny, but really, I like summaries straight and to the point, without getting into unnecessary details such as a stuffed rat named Chelsea. That really made me not want to read it. But then, I'd remembered, in Hoot, one of the best books ever, they'd also said;"potty-trained alligators" And let me tell you the truth, those alligators were NOT POTTY TRAINED. So I thought maybe the same person wrote those two things. And I really don't think Carl Hiaasen wrote it, either. And if he did.. maybe he's just kind of bad at writing catchy side-story-abouts (or whatever you call it...)

SCAT.
This time, the word scat was mentioned in the book, quite a few times. And very relevant.

         What I noticed was that both books I've read from him, Hoot and Scat, were... well... along the same topic. So I kind of knew what would happen. It seems he has a strong liking of the environment and the preservation of it. Meaning he wants to protect Florida Wildlife. Which I totally agree to. Don't you? But then there are people who don't care a bit about wildlife and just throw their soda cans on the street...

ANYWAY
I guess the characters are pretty similar, too. Always a boy and a girl, and then there's the one person who started it, who, in both stories, don't care about getting in the media. And then there's the people who prevent it. They're always some company. Of course. Oil Drilling. And a Pancake House.  and.... drumroll... the main animal that's being protected.
         Besides the similarities,,,



         This time it's the panther. A baby panther. At first, I thought it was about a cat or something, because Scat had cat in it, and the cover had a picture of (what I thought was) a cat. An angry cat or something.
         The first chapter was so funny. But I knew, then, that Smoke would be the bad guy. (oops.) But it was so funny how he "calmly chomped the pencil in half, chewed up the graphite..." It is truly hilarious how Carl Hiaasen comes up with such queer character. Though in the end, I pity him and his father.
          Though... I wonder what grade they're in. I mean, now that I think of it, I think it might be high school, but I've always imagined them in middle school. It's easier to imagine like that. But then they said that Smoke was 16 and that he was held back two years, which makes him be with 14 year olds, and he's in the same class as Marta and Nick... so that makes Marta and Nick 14 years old. Oh, gosh.. I can't imagine them that old. I imagined them twelve or eleven.. maybe thirteen...
         
           Mrs. Starch is really... strict. When she dissapeared into the wildfire, which was actually arson (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/arson <-definition), I thought, for a chapter or two, that she was... dead. And I thought definitely, that Smoke started the fire, first of all, because he was suddenly transformed into a total human being. (If you've read the book, you know what I mean.) I thought he did that as a lousy cover story that he didn't start the fire, especially when he clenched his jaws and took a slow, tight breath before you know... apologizing to the teacher. You have to read the book to actually know what I'm talking about, by the way.
           But I began wondering, that's what Nick and Marta are suspecting; that Smoke is the one who started the fire. But it said, on the book cover-flap-story-about, (I'll call it cover-summary for short), that "... No, they figure out the class delinquent, Smoke, has something to do with her disappearance. And he does! But not in the way they think. There's a lot going on in Black Vine Swamp than any one player in this twisted tale can see..." So that means... he's not the one that started it? So that means, he's doing something else that has something to do with the fire. And I knew he did have something to do with Mrs. Starch. But not that way. I'd never imagined they would be in together to protect a baby panther and bring it to its mother.

           On the other side of the story... Drake McBride and Jimmy Lee Bayliss. McBride is the Delinko of Scat (Delinko from Hoot, a dense police officer who wants to be a detective, but isn't up to the smarts for it). And Jimmy Lee Bayliss queerly reminds me of two people from Hoot: the person who was in charge of the construction site, and Chuck Muckle, the person in charge of all Mother Paula's Pancake houses. McBride is very unintelligent to actually break the law to make more money. I'd rather just quit the job, or maybe, with some sense, try to make more money by doing something.. I don't know, I don't have an oil drilling business. But it I do have a strong disliking for oil-drilling. And you'll know, too, why I do. If you pay attention to news (coughBPcough).
            At first, I didn't know if I liked Jimmy Lee Bayliss or not. (I'd decided that Drake McBride was too much of an idiot to be much of my liking.) And anyway... At first, I didn't care. You know, I was like, okay, there's a character, and he has a fairly long name, and he works for this really not smart person, whatever. But then, when I learned how he's the one that started the fire, I immediately hated him. I realized that he was the bad guy of the story, and Drake McBride... well... he didn't know what he was doing. It was all Jimmy Lee Bayliss's doing, who started the fire, who set up Smoke as the arsonist. In which he wasn't. Almost as if Jimmy Lee Bayliss was the boss of the company. And speaking of taking a liking of characters, I kind of like Twilly person. Twilly is such a funny name. I can't help laughing every time I say it. Twilly. hehe... Anyway...
           My favorite part was when they were saving the baby panther. Nice twist, with the split personalities with Smoke, and how the "bad" guys and the good guys came together to become the good guys and that they save a little panther's life.
And great thing, how Jimmy Lee Bayliss and Drake McBride got in jail.Well, actually, McBride, being the idiot he is, ran away from the cops and is probably looking forward to a few more months in jail. At least Jimmy Lee Bayliss has some sense to just give in and go to jail and come out.
AGAIN..
save the environment!!!!!!!!!

I wrote Found in all capitals because it more fits the book. Sort of. Not found, but FOUND. And besides, the book says FOUND on the cover.

Margaret Peterson Haddix. Is one of my all time favorite authors. How could I have forgotten to put her on my list of favorite authors? (on the bottom right sidebar. scroll down to see.) She's the best Science Fiction/Spookyish story writers I've ever read. I don't mean R.L.Stein Scary. I mean, Haddix Spooky. You know? There's a difference between scary and spooky. Scary is more.. solid. I mean, scary is monsters, skeletons, huge people with teeth that bite into skin as if it were just cheese. Or... never mind. Spooky isn't monsterish things. They're ideas. Missing people, dissapearing things, moving objects, talking dolls (who look kind of spooky in a way), you know...

Her books are amazing. She's a master storyteller. Page turner. That's what they say, I think, in reviews. (I read them. Believe it or not, they tell you if the book's good. I mean, if there's the quote thing on them, that means its a good book. Boring books don't usually have that on it. I mean, other than what looks like boring information, it actually tells you that it's a good book. You know that? Try it someday.)

All of Haddix's books are amazing. Her recent series, other than this one, I mean, the one that's recent but finished, is the Shadow Children series. Even the title is spooky... go to http://www.haddixbooks.com/home.html for her official website: news for the latest books, and the Missing series, which I'm pretty sure she's writing right now.

Back to the Missing series. From the beginning, the book appealed to me. First of all, it was averagely thick. And second of all (this should be the first reason), it was Margaret Peterson Haddix's book. I hadn't read her books in a while. So I took it off the shelf of the summer reading section of the library. And, thirdly, the about-story thing on the book flaps were very exciting, appealing. And... It was the second book. So I looked for the first one. Found it. Get it! FOUND it. No, that's not funny. Anyway, I read it as soon as I got it. I think. I don't remember. I did read it within two days. You know, once I get a hold of a book I really like, I can't let go of it. I need to finish it before I look up and say, "Whah?"

I liked her idea. And the characters were good. The name Chip is funny, though. Reminds me of the book Disappearing Acts By Betsy Byars.. Meat. But anyway. The ending was kind of spoiled for me because I saw the second book first and I read the second book's story-about, which kind of told the ending of the first book. I knew more than I should.

The beginning was really cool.. spooky. I liked it. A great book, right from the beginning. Spooky and appealing.

It is so... good. The book. How first, they go to see the FBI person. Or whoever. I wonder if the FBI person even knows about the time travel thing. And then the JB person? I'll call him JB, because that's easier than, what.. Alzono Alfred Aloysius K'Tah or whatever.
And the letters. And the papers at the FBI person's office place. With the appearing and disappearing JB person.
I would want to be one of them. And I mean it. I wish I were some king on England, or an important person of history.
You see, the book, it's about these people from the future, they want to save lives from the past, horrific deaths that can go unknown as death, when actually, they've gone to the past and saved that person's life and made them back into babies and then put them in the future. But they started getting off track. I mean, they started taking royalty. Or children of explorers. Important people. And guess what! There's this other person, JB, who opposes that. They say it's going to change history too much and that everything will collapse. So JB, during one of the other people's missions, diabled the time machine thing. And so they landed in our time, and the thirty six babies were unloaded into our time, by accident. And Jonah is one of them.
Oh yes, I'd want to be one of them... Royalty, princess, or maybe... someone important.
I would want to try to call people, and see someone disappear and appear at will.

The book, in short, is awesome.
Ohhh just everything is good. Exciting. Even reading it over, I can't stop flipping the page.
And the encounter with Angela DuPure, one of the witnesses who saw the airplane (that had the babies) dissapear into thin air. Her theory with the Tachyon Travel error was pretty good. She said that some people were attempting the first of time travel, and the seats were filled with adults at first, but the time travel thing went wrong, so they turned "back in time" and became babies. But it was different. I knew beforehand, though, because thanks to me reading the about-story of the second book first.

And the cave part is very interesting, too. I mean, how they're out of time. But.. all of this time thing gets me confused. It makes me put down the book and think about it for a while before I get some theory that seems to match with the book and I start reading again. And the people. I wish I remembered who Jonah was. And who all the people are. It is kind of interesting. I would want to be like one of those people.
I won't tell you so much, but this is the greatest book yet. You HAVE to read it. PLEASE!!!!!!
Must read.
FOUND by Margaret Peterson Haddix

           I thought it would be some innocent, heartwarming book that is the kind that would win the Newberry Medal... but it's kind of different. It's on the verge of modern classic and ordinary books. I don't know how to classify it. It was in the YoungAdults section in the library though.

            Jim. I thought, not even in a million years, would a parent bear to name their son Jim. It's such an.... old name. Like naming your daughter Beatrice, or... Barbara. I would want some exotic name that sounds cool or maybe an ordinary name, not an old one. But yet, this person's name is Jim. And Byron. that name isn't bad, but anyway, Jim was kind of old.
It made me think, constantly, before I corrected myself, that the setting was in some old Kansas cottage or something in the eighteen hundreds.
           I liked the book. I mean, the idea of the book. For one thing, it was nice to think of father and son reuniting, but... not for Jim. Jim had to go... Should I say? I have a weird feeling at the bottom of my stomach that some of you readers didn't read the book yet. And remember, rule number one if you want the book not to be spoiled, read it before I get a chance to spoil the ending. But then there are people who ignore that anyway. So I'll just say that what Jim did in the end was very unexpected, him going... never mind.
            I was happy that Byron... stayed. This is a good part of the ending, so I'm just going to spoil it for you. Anyway, it's your fault that you kept reading on after the previous paragraph warning you to read the book first. (Oh and the way I say how Byron stays might give you too much of a clue to how Jim ends. So maybe you should kind of forget what I said. Yeah.)

Enough with blaming and spoiling endings.
I thought that Marietta was going to marry Jim's dad. Or something of that sort. And that the family will be remade. Not that... Jim would want Marietta .. or something of that sort... It comes to the conclusion that boys at that age, whatever age Jim may be, may think ... weird thoughts...

My favorite character is Byron. Because he's so calm and can deal with such situations. And what's even weird is that my brother is also eight years old and he is very much not so mature (at this second, he's talking to himself when he's supposed to be finishing his work). Not that he's always talking to himself; he's just in a hyper mood right now.. but not that he's calm and mature, fully mature, either...

            At first, I didn't get that Byron's mother committed suicide. At first, I thought she somehow died in the car. Though I wonder how she killed herself in the car. Choked herself? Stabbed herself? What? Ate pills she secretly bought?
Never mind, I don't want answers to such... scary questions.

There's nothing much to say, now that I think about it.
It wasn't one of my FAVORITE BOOKS, as you can see, at the bottom of the entry, it doesn't have the label "favorites",,, but it was, a good book. Not what I'd call bad.
(Remember the Bill of Rights; Freedom of Speech)

Yes, I would suggest it to people... BUT not for eight year olds and that sort... They're too young (I guess) to read about serious death.
I guess I should end here.

Such a sad book, and it reminded me so much of a long time ago classic for younger ages - Charlotte's Web by E. B. White. As it says on the cover, it's a modern classic... at least I can read it.

If Robert's age wasn't mentioned, you would think he was about sixteen years old. Because they keep saying he's going to be a man, he has to take over the farm, he has to do things for himself... but he's only thirteen! Though, maybe, thirteen is a big change or something. I don't know. Maybe.

Long ago, they must have thought religion a big part of life. Yes, in Social Studies/History class... religion was important. He was Shaker, wasn't he? Went to church every Sunday like we do, went to school, took care of the farm...
He thought strongly of sin. As bad. He'd say, "... as bad as sin..."And there was the Shaker book. The Shaker law. (I keep thinking Quaker when it's Shaker).

I'm guessing Learning with a capital "L" is the name of the town? Or something else... I don't know, actually. It sounded like the town's name, the way they would say Learning. In Learning, ... , they would say. Or something along those lines. Or maybe some kind of type of school for Shakers...?                    (I don't know... If you have any idea, please comment. I really need to know. ).

          The beginning was quite appealing. Sort of. The cow, and how he got hurt bad while he was "helping" the cow and the to-be newborn calf. It was scary, thinking of your hand in a cow (trying to save it) and it chews on your arm as if it was some especially hard stick of gum, chewing as hard as you can, running around, kicking you...
I can't even imagine it.  Nor will I ever want to. The mere reading of it makes me wince (oh no, it reminds me of a particularly gory part of the book Where the Red Fern Grows, when the Pritchers or Pritchard or the Prit-somethings... .. ... .... ... read it yourself.)
The mere reading of it makes me wince...
          It reminded me so much of Charlotte's Web that I wondered which book came first, and if one did, if the other author read the book and happened to get the idea of such story. Maybe. Not that I'm accusing anyone or anything, but it just comes to your head,,, you can't help it. Both pigs, both enter a contest, both win, both main human characters' parents work at a farm... Both have to "achieve" something to survive...

          Pinky was so cute... I could just imagine her, pink, small, moving around, following Robert around as if she were Robert's shadow... Sometimes, I wish I were Robert.
But sometimes not.
          There were many sad things in the book. For one, there was Hussy, the dog who got weaseled. That was quite a sad one. How he dies... poor Hussy. I wish he lived. And the two other deaths. ...
          The Rutland Fair was very obvious. Because first of all, Charlotte's web. And second of all, modern-classics in such format... they always win one way or another. 

There was one confusing part that I didn't get clearly. I didn't get why there was that part... kind of irrelevant to the storyline. Chapter Eight, I think. With Sebrig Hillman's dead daughter. I don't know... I didn't get it much. Don't think it was so important either. But in this book, there was so many deaths... I wonder if that has something to do with the story or maybe something to do with Robert growing up.

          Robert's misunderstandings of words was quite funny. For example, Chapter six. Aunt Matty and the Report card... funny enough how Aunt Matty spazzes out from a D in English, and funnier still when Robert mishears tutor for tooter. And how he laughs on, imagining his aunt, blowing up her cheeks, playing a tooter. And when she asks what the subject (of the sentence) is, he answers, English. And how in the end, " 'Next time,' said Aunt Matty, 'I'll teach the pig.' " Really funny.
          But, it's sad. How Pinky has to die. It was too descriptive, how Pinky dies. I wanted to skip that part, slam the book shut, imagine that Pinky wasn't dead. I'd thought that Pinky wouldn't die. Turns out, happy endings aren't always.
          And the death of his father, that was sad, too. He'd have to take care of the farm himself. Fatherless for the rest of his life.

          Reading this book makes me thankful. Thankful that my parents aren't going to... to... early. And that I have a proper education (actually my town is a very highly educated town so it's more than that...) And that I don't have to work every day in the farm (though I wouldn't mind if I had to) and that we have good doctors and ambulances and.. You get the point. I'm thankful that I have a wonderful mother and a funny dad and a brother and nice friends and that I... had a nice summer.
Aren't you?

Here, the main character is not only Janie, but also Reeve. Reeve acts as the bad character here, instead of Janie, who was in the previous book.
But when I say bad, I don't mean, killing, cruel, ugly bad. I mean, just despicable. Just hated.

The moment he began saying it on the radio, I knew he was in for some huge trouble. Janie has to find out. It has to be part of the story. And it was.

Though, I do admit, the way Reeve was saying the story on the radio, it was quite exciting. But then, giving all this inside information, as Jodie said, the part that really hurts, he told that to the world (or just Boston, but all the same). For entertainment. What would Janie say? What would the Springs say? Or rather, what would they do? Reeve's stupidity continues on until he faces... he faces Janie.
          She and Jodie says, quote: " 'We can drop in on Reeve, too.' 'Unannounced,' said Jodie, 'We'll catch him with some gorgeous college girl.' " But actually, it's worse. She's sold out to the world, her inside story she's been trying to hide and forget and start over with. On the radio, going toward Reeve's college, she hears it.

          How angry she would be. And how ignorant Reeve was. It's better having a hard time and messing up the radio than breaking someone's heart, selling someone's story to the world (actually to the city).
          And yet, he had enough spunk to go to the hotel and beg for apology. Well, sorry Reeve, apology not accepted, because how would Janie forgive him? How would Janie forgive them? How would Jodie forgive him? For what he's done? He was lucky enough that the radio station only had signal in town. If it reached New Jersey, or Connecticut, that would have been worse.
The image of the nice, funny Reeve turns into a total jerk, is a shock for Janie and her family.
          But yet, she forgives him, in the end.

          Brian's story was a small "problem" of the story. You can barely call it "problem" because first of all, it's just him changing, breaking apart from his twinniness with Brandon, who probably will remain ignorant toward family problems. Though it was nice to read about Brian and Brandon. They were almost strangers in the other two books, just younger pesky brothers who were athletic (turns out it's only Brandon).

          My favorite part was when Janie was saying good-bye to Stephen in the airport, and how her dad was going along with her, and "a huge part of her grew up." It was so satisfying, seeing the good ending, the happy ending, in which she starts the hug, rather than her father stretching his arms out to start the hug himself.
I was happy she was sisters with Jodie, real sisters, sisters who go to Boston together and are always on the same side, never against each other.
I was happy she was with her family again (not literally, but spiritually, if you know what I mean), and was a Spring when she was with them.
I was happy she called her dad Dad and her mom Mom. I was happy she went to Mrs. Spring when she was in trouble.
I was happy she became Jennie Spring.




Any comments, questions, go to the new Readers' Forum page.I won't say much, because you have to see for yourself!

There are three steps to do before reading this entry.

First, you have to know, before reading this book, that there's a first book, The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney.
Then, you read it. (Go on, to the library, Barnes and Noble, check your bookshelf...)
Then, you go to www.lovereadwrite.blogspot.com and then read the entry "Whatever happened To Janie by Caroline B. Cooney"

Done? Well, technically, you're not done, because you haven't read the whole entry yet. So...
here goes.


Here are the facts:
Janie, as you may know, (if you followed my instructions), was kidnapped. By Hannah, the girl, daughter of Frank and Miranda Jonstone (or Johnstone or Jonstohne or however you spell it). She joins the cult, a religious and very strict group in which once you join, you follow no matter what. Hannah somehow kidnaps Janie.
That brings us back to her kidnappance. Frank and Miranda Jonstone (or Johnstone or Jonstohne or however you spell it) doesn't know that. They think that Janie is Hannah's daughter. They change their name to Frank and Miranda Johnson and move to Connecticut (if they weren't already in Connecticut).

And now, this is all found out, and Janie is actually Jennie Spring, her family living in New Jersey. And now, her parents want her to come home, to where she should have been, for twelve years.
  
         I really wanted Janie and her family, her real family, to get along well, to be like a real family, to forget about the past. It was harder than I thought, "adjusting" to the new "environment." She wanted to be back with her other family. Anybody would. At first, I hadn't realized that, but what about you? What if you found out that your parents aren't your parents, they're a total stranger, and your real parents are living a whole state away, worrying about you all the time? Anyone would want their "real" parents, the one they grew up with, the one they loved, until someone told you the truth.
         I liked Jodie. She's like the "ideal sister." I don't have a sister, just a pestering brother four years younger, whom, even he would probably admit, you can't be best friends with. But then, I have a family friend, a very close family friend that we grew up together, she's just two years younger and we're practically sisters. I can call that kind of sisters, but then, a real sister would actually be different.
I'm guessing.
         Part of the reason I liked Jodie was because she was very loving. She loved her family, loved her brothers, loved Jennie -until she met her. I would have felt the very same. Angry, mad, to see my very sister, the one I was supposed to be sharing a room with, breaking my mom's heart, being selfish, mean to the family, acting like a stranger. Though I wouldn't have thrown a chair, but all the same.
        
         Every time Jodie and Janie or just Janie was acting very mean against the family, restraining herself from being Jennie Spring, I would wish, please, Janie, be Jennie, for once, make the family feel better, forget about the horrible past.
         Mr. and Mrs. Spring were very nice parents. In fact,  I would prefer them as parents rather than Mr. and Mrs. Johnson, if I had a choice between the two (though I'd much rather stay with my real parents). Mr. Spring is nice, and he's like a big teddy bear, always ready to be hugged. Mrs. Spring is kind, very nice, loves her children dearly.

         I was angry to read that she went back to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson. But then I knew, there would be the next book, and I hoped that she would go back to her real family once and for all.
Don't you?

Not once, not even once, not even in tiny little lettering, hidden in page 134, in the bottom right corner (don't be dense enough to actually check), not even, once, was hoot mentioned in the book. I think. (If you do, well... oh well.) Not that I remember. And when it comes to books, I can almost never forget. (Please note that nobody is perfect therefore I myself am not even sure if I have bookographic memory )

I was smiling almost all through the book. Never mind, not through the WHOLE book; that's a wierd image to put in your head, but anyway, do you know how good it was? I woke up, deliberately, thanks to my loyal alarm clock, to read it. At eight or eight ten or eight thirty or...  around eight. In the morning. And I finished it in two days.

Such a great book.
I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is at the level. It would make you laugh. Beatrice's unexpected loyalty, Roy's sarcastic sense of humor, Dana's stupidity, it all weaves into a funny, hilarious, but yet, a story that can wake you up.

At first, I didn't want to read it. I could have read it a long time ago, when I was looking around. The cover was appealing. Two eyes and an upside-down triangle. Hoot. But then the back cover, the one that tells part-of-the-story, it wasn't that appealing. No, it was unappealing. To me. First of all, potty trained alligators? Snakes with unusually sparkling tails, whatsoever. It sounded like some kind of educational book about the Everglades.
Turns out you can never judge a book by its cover, and that means the back cover and the flaps included.

I liked Beatrice because of her unexpected loyalty. The first impression of her bumping into Roy on the school bus and then being all mean during lunch to not go after the running boy, you'd think she'll never care about him, tell him a thing, or even, negotiate, as Roy says, like civilized people. (I'd thought Roy'd have some missing front teeth by that time, but suprisingly, Beatrice could hold her temper, maybe pour it onto her mooshed sandwich.)

I knew right on that Beatrice had something to do with the running boy. She was so... sensitive about Roy's curiosity about him. Obvious. But never, had I thought, she would be... siblings with him.
          My favorite parts were where Roy, so bravely, "negotiated" with the bullies. Beatrice and Dana. How he dealt with Beatrice in the lunch room, and Dana a few times,,, (hilarious)...Especially the first accountance with Dana at his house. When his mother found out Roy was the "little twerp who messed up his face."
         The best parts were the parts where Roy was in the story. The parts with Officer Delinko wasn't as great.
          I want to be like Roy. He's so... brave, as in daring. And righteous. He's an expert on dealing with thugs or ruffians like Dana. Though I can't believe he has that much power to mess up Dana's face.
 The story's so Random and Funny. I know why, though. I think I know why. 'Cause there's a lot of funny situations.
         The names were funny, too. Actually, only Chuck Muckle. I thought it would be a good name for a clown. If you switched the first letters. Muck Chuckle. Just saying it out loud makes you laugh.

         My favorite part was when Beatrice and Roy and Mother Paula and all the others holding hands, blocking the Chuck Muckle dude from un-digging up Mullet Fingers (Napoleon Bridger Leep). It was so... satisfying, to see them all stand up for what's right and block what's wrong.
        It kind of seemed surprising that so many kids would show up just for owls. But then, that's good, and it shows they all care.
    
I wondered, if news reporters were like that. Because on TV, they seem so... professional and unlikely to be nosy and all that. You would think they just get to the facts, don't bother you, and leave. You would think they'd get all the details right and they're always telling the truth and only the truth.
But in the books, they're always the nosy ones and the ones that make it seem as though they were NOT to blame, as much the damage they did themselves. For example, in Hoot, the news reporter, in the end, said they knew no such thing about how there were owls living in there. Obviously, they knew.
         And, there's the movie Hoot, based on the book Hoot, and it was made in 2006, and I'm having a hard time finding it. (Anyone who knows where to download it without making any usernames or that sort, please tell me!!!!) But anyway, the information is here just so you know, so if you've read the book, always try watching the movie!

         I hope people become to be more like Napoleon Bridger Leep (Mullet Fingers), Beatrice, or Roy, by caring for the environment and standing up to it no matter what the obstacles are.
For one, watching CNN will be more exciting, and for another, the environment has more people on their side, meaning less pollution and less garbage and litter.
      Hope you people out there, learn your lesson, if you did litter or do any of the ignorant things many people do (let's hope I'm wrong, that actually, not many people do this...).

Long Life The World! (and books)

          I didn't like this book. No, actually I did. I just didn't like some characters who were horribly mean to Philip. I'm not going to say who, what, or why, because that'll ruin the ending.                  
          Yes, it would. I didn't expect this kind of ending, you know... Usually, one would want a happy ending, if not, a mysterious ending. Not a saddish ending.


          Well, the ending wasn't what I'd expected. The book gets very frustrating in the middle.
          It starts out very everyday-like. You know, the usual. Go to school. Go through classes. Survive Narwin's classes (Miss Narwin is the English teacher). Ask to try out for track. Go home, etc.
Philip does just that. A normal kid, going to a normal school. Even better, he's one of those born-for-track people. He has to try out for track, even the coach says so.
          BUT.
          He fails English class. Miss Narwin thinks Philip has potential, only if he even tries to pay attention during class. Philip despises it. Tries to get some fun out of it by making some jokes when the teacher asks questions. One thing Miss Narwin hates, is not taking English seriously. Unfortunately for Philip, he does just that. 
          so, back to...
          BUT.
          He fails English class. He does have potential, if he tries. But he doesn't. So, in the exams, he fails it. 
          AND.
          SO,
          So... He doesn't really care, just says Narwin's got something against him, and gets over it. 
          BUT. 
          When he tries out for track,
he doesn't.
Can't. Because... he has to get at least passing grades.
Here's his term grades:


Math     |  A
Biology  |  B-
History  |  C
Health   |  B
English  |  D


There's the problem. Highlighted. In yellow. A D in English.
As Coach Jamison said,
"The one that really hurts is here. English. Now, if you could have gotten that up a notch. Just a bit. Even a C minus. But a D isn't -by the rules- passing. So I guess we have a problem."


          Philip blames it on Miss Narwin. Says she's got something against him. 




          Even worse. His bad grades make his homeroom teacher from the awesome Mr. Lunser to the horrible Miss Narwin.


          Every day, in the morning, on the loudspeaker, they announce the schedule and whatnot... the usual. And they play our National Anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.
          Philip hums along. What's the problem with that? Nothing. It's just a small thing, humming along. You know, when you hear a familiar song on the radio, you hum along. Nothing big. Nothing bad. What anyone would do.
Who knew such a small thing and a small misunderstanding could lead to such big things?


          As the loudspeaker turns onto the tape of "The Star-Spangled Banner," Philip hums along. Just as I'd said.
BUT.
          
          Miss Narwin is his new homeroom teacher. She thinks.. she THINKS he was singing loudly (actually humming) for disrespect to the country and to purposely disturb the class. He wasn't. Really, he wasn't, but why would a teacher believe that from a ninth grader who always makes her frustrated during class? So she says... Who's that? Philip?; I'm just humming; Just stop; Just humming; To the Assistant Principal's office!; Fine.
(please note that's not the exact words, just my words to show you how it happened)
          And now, the Assistant Principal, Dr. Palleni, says ...Its the rule. (Please know I don't like Dr. Palleni.) Because it's the rule; Against humming along?; Yes, Philip, on the memo-; is the memo the rule? Why-; Enough. Out. You broke the rule, and that's what you're here for.
(also not the exact words from the book)
          And he goes back, the next morning, he hums, again, because he sees no criminality in humming along to The Star Spangled Banner, Narwin hears, and...
Out. To Dr. Palleni.
          Back in Dr. Palleni's office.
All along, it wasn't the rule. Anyone can sing along, hum along, whistle along, to the National Anthem. But it seems Miss Narwin and Dr. Palleni (Dr. Palleni mostly) makes up these rules.
          Back in Dr. Palleni's office. For the third time. Three times sent there, you get suspended. Miss Narwin, doesn't see why he has to get suspended, she never saw improvement from suspension, but, Dr. Palleni says it's the rule. So....
          Philip is suspended. yes, for humming along to The Star Spangled Banner.


          And, then, there's the new election for the new Superintendent (I think, or some other place), and Philip's neighbor's nominated. And, Philip tells Mr. Griffen, the next door neighbor, about his Suspended-For-Humming-Along thing. And it seems, right at that time, Mr. Griffen was getting interviewed by the local newspaper reporters. Great timing, because now, his suspended-for-humming news is spreading over the town, someone reads it, it's now spreading over the city, and soon, before he knows it, he's getting telegrams from total strangers to keep singing along to the National Anthem and that Narwin should be fired, these people from other states, right across the country.
          And for some reason, he was singing along, not humming, he's in tenth grade rather than ninth, and a bunch of other things he knows that isn't true. And the whole country is mistaken for him being some huge nationality freak who sings the National Anthem for his country, not just to hum along. And, he's still suspended, he's getting all this attention...
   He's tired. He doesn't like fame, doesn't want it, but he can't help it. Can he erase millions of people's memories? no.
          The school is confused. Narwin tells the Principal that he was making a disruption during class, not humming along to the Anthem, and the Principal tells the Superintendent (before the election) that the boy wasn't singing, of course, not at all, never true, he was only making a rude disruption during class, bunches of newspaper reporters call, Narwin says he was making a disruption... 
you get how complicated it is...
And, yet, it's still not over.
His parents move him into a new school, a private school. But he doesn't
...


STOP.
I will STOP. Because I don't want to ruin your book. SO, read the book. This blog entry is not the book.




Just know,
I was really frustrated, during the book, how the millions of misunderstandings lead up to Philip's horrible fate. To him, it's horrible, I mean. I hate fame. I realized. I mean, I hate accidental fame. And misunderstandings.


Very frustrating book, but yet a good one. Just that I wish the ending was a bit less --frustrating.
I guess I'll have to think of my own ending. I'll be sure to make a happy one! What about you? Read Nothing But the Truth to see what I'm talking about!