The Odds are Forever in It's Favor

There is a forest of teen fiction stories out there. There is your typical "teen enters supernatural world and life is forever changed" and there is the "teen discovers magical powers and saves the world." From Twilight to Percy Jackson, Magic Tree House to Maximum Ride, it becomes so boring that it almost drives someone to tears. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is a mighty arrow that unleashes a firry inferno upon it's other competitors. The Hunger Games "volunteer as tribute" to risk life and death so that they might save readers from the oppressive boredom that can be easily found in other novels.

The underdog element begins as the same old mundane story. A young teenage girl named Katniss lives a miserable life in The Seam as she struggles to provide for her innocent sister Prim and her distant mother. Katniss is filled with a spite that runs incredibly deep throughout every fiber of her being. Her life is turned upside down when Prim is chosen to fight in the Hunger Games, a stunt pulled by the despicable Capitol as retribution for a rebellion. In a flurry of action, Katniss replaces her sister to guarantee her one more year of life. Where this firecracker begins to explode with creativity is with the entire story being set in a pathetic excuse of futuristic America called Panem. It is as if Collins has taken every terrible thing about our existence to ensure empathy for the tributes and complete hatred for the Capitol. Another difference is that there are both multiple heroes and villains. In the bubble of fiction, you have showdowns such as Harry vs. Voldemort and Bella & Edward vs. the Volturi. Collins puts the entire Capitol against Katniss, Peeta, and Rue.

Another arrow in the heart of what makes The Hunger Games such a hit are the unique characters. Our main heroine Katniss isn't the stereotypical girl who depends on a man to rescue her from an ivory tower. Peeta is the baker's son who "doesn't have a girl back home because she came here with him." After he gives a declaration of love, a strategy develops where the two play Romeo & Juliet in order to win sympathy in the Games. Rue is the tribute who appears for about 5 chapters and then dies a painful death. Rue is the only character from outside District 12 that the reader develops a loveable feeling for. Ellie, Haymitch, and the other tributes are completly despispicable because they seem to lack any sort of guilt over being the government's puppets and the fact that 23 people could end up dead because of their action seems to completly slip their peanut-sized brains. In the first two minutes of the Games, 11 tributes are dead in a horrible bloodbath at the Cornocopia. In addition to unusual characters, a evil dystopian background, a reader will also find some of the most controversial topics in our society sewen into every inch of the novel.

Government control, war, murder, how far you should be willing to go in order to survive, competition. Some of these words send up red flags in any mind, especially in those of parents whose young influencial teens are reading these novels. Sike! Let's be real here: not a lot of teens are going to ask their parents if it is okay for them to read a popular book that has got everyone talking. For those wierdos who might have some concern, there is not any real reason for concern. The war in this book is no different than the wars in Syria, Iran, and Egypt that we see every day! I just don't understand why everyone has so much concern! If you really want to keep someone informed about a worldwide concept, you might as well let them read it in a New York Times bestseller novel because otherwise all they have to do is open the Internet or turn on the news to find what they want. Suzanne Collins has been quoted saying "that she got the inspiration for The Hunger Games by watching a game show and then switching to a movie about a war." The bottom line is that the topics in The Hunger Games are just based around topics readers experience everyday. While they are controversial, they are topics that everyone needs to know about if they want to even have a chance of understanding the world around them.

After reading The Hunger Games, the score for this dystopian fiction novel is 4.5 mockingjays out of 5. The book does have a beginning slower than molasses but it does have importance because you meet the fearless heroine and you understand where the bitterness and utter defiance comes from. Any reader also understands the awkwardness between Katniss and Peeta. Before the novel is done, the reader is left with feelings of awe and respect for the victors of The Hunger Games, confusion over their relationship status, and a burning desire to destroy the cruel society that forces these games upon their youth.

Readicide: The Problem and The Solution

At some point in their high school career, everybody has had to read a book that they didn't like. Whether it's Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, or Of Mice and Men, some people are just not fans of the classics. Despite protest, kids are forced to read these classics for school and it dramatically lessens the love of reading. For me, my least favorite classic books were Brave New World, Catcher in the Rye, and The Great Gatsby. I was really getting sick of reading because I would have to read the novel through a specific point of view and I feel like I didn't get understand the whole story. I also feel like I didn't get the opportunity to make my own opinion of the novel because I was trying to satisfy an assignment. 


I feel like schools need to incorporate more genre fiction into the curriculum. I don't think that modern books can replace the classics because I think they still have lots of academic merit but there are places where more modern books can be worked in that will help maintain student's love of reading. An example is when students first learn how to write an essay. The students can pick any book that they want and then go through the process of building an essay using an enjoyable novel. We should want our children to be able to enjoy reading in school so that they will continue to read long after school is out. The classics are not for everyone but I think that schools can reach a happy medium to help maintain the love of reading. 

Book Trailer for The Help

Here is a trailer about the author of The Help, Kathryn Stockett.

Film Adaptation of The Help

In the mind of the reader, nothing is worse than a film adaption of their favorite book that is just terrible! Prime example for me: the 1960s version of Romeo and Juliet. Not pretty, but I digress. For anyone in the film industry, they know that this can be one of the greatest challenges they will ever face. They think this way for the exact same reason as a reader: If there are serious inconsistencies between the book and the movie, not as many people are going to see the movie and the movie probably won't get a very good response from their audience. It's not always a bad idea to turn a book into a movie. There are countless examples of fantastic film adaptations such as the Harry Potter series, the Hunger Games, The King's Speech, The Blind Side and The Help.


Today, I'll be focusing on the film adaptation of The Help by Kathryn Stockett.The movie stars Emma Stone as Skeeter, Viola Davis as Ailbileen, and Octavia Spencer as Minny. I think that the biggest challenge for the film maker was finding people who could imitate a traditional southren accent but not have the accent so strong that people couldn't understand what the actors are saying. The film maker made an excellent choice by selecting these three women as the main characters because you could easily imagine them really living in the south and being able to sass anyone in the world.


There are three specific scenes that I think needed to be included in the movie and I'm very happy to say they were. Those three scenes were:


1. Skeeter decides to write a book from the point of view of Jackson's housemaids. This sets up the main conflict in the book and it is when the story really begins. The whole point of The Help is to record the journey to accomplish this book. Although it is ironic to read a book called The Help where the story is about writing a book about black housemaids called Help, Kathryn Stockett's book is very easy to follow and this easiness translated into the film as well.


2. The second scene is when Minny confesses about the "Terrible Awful I done to Miss Hilly." The terrible awful is that after Minny is fired, she returns with a pie she made just for Miss Hilly. Miss Hilly has drafted something called The Home Health Safety Intiative which requires all white homes to have a separate bathroom for the colored help. Minny finds this insulting so when Miss Hilly is eating the pie, Minny tells her to "eat my s***." Miss Hilly is in shock and doesn't understand what's happened until she looks down at Minny's pie. I think we can all guess what happened from there... a long sprint to the bathroom! I enjoyed this part because it brought some comic relief into the novel and it helped develop Minny's character as the maid with an attitude. I would also highly recommend watching the video clip on YouTube. It will have you laughing so hard, tears will be coming out of your eyes.


3. The final scene is when people start to buy and read Skeeter's book. It justifies everything that Skeeter and the maids were working so hard for and it is one of the few truly happy, care-free moments in the book. It is a feel-good moment because Skeeter was told that the book will probably not sell and to see Skeeter's work finally come to life is very cool to see and read.


There is another side to making a movie. Film makers will often have to cut parts from books or otherwise the movie will last for 3 or 4 hours. The basic point of a movie is so someone can see an entire story in roughly two hours. There are two things that I am happy that were cut out the movie because I felt that they were unecessary to the basic story line and to the book.

1. The first part was Celia Foote's story. I don't know why they needed to go into how Celia can't have a baby and all of her family drama. I think they could have just left it at she is Minny's employer, she is kind of kooky and that she is on the outside of society.

2. The second part is the conflict between Skeeter and her mother. While I still think that the story about Constantine is important, all of the conflict about being a proper lady and looking like everybody else wasn't needed. Skeeter tells us in the beginning of the book that she's not like anyone else. Why not just leave it at that?

Overall, the film adaptation stayed true to the book and conveyed the story very well. It was a very well done film adaptation. In fact, you could say that the movie was down right magical.

Book 1 Project: Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls

Yeehaw! Hello everybody and welcome to this meeting about Half-Broke Horses by Jeannette Walls. So, everybody settle down and get ready to cowboy up because here we go. So, we all know that Half-Broke Horses is the story of Jeannette’s grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. By the time she’s age 11, she can break horses, help her siblings, and run a ranch better than almost any adult around. The current audience for this book tends to be people who enjoy life stories. In order to extend the audience of this fine book, I propose that we build a replica of the KC Ranch where Lily lived out much of her childhood and where she developed a free, tenacious attitude that lasted the rest of her life and also became apparent in granddaughter Jeannette.

Building the KC Ranch as well as other buildings from Lily’s life will attract all different kinds of people. As Lily puts it herself, “I took on the hiring and overseeing. (Walls 35). This replica would include a barn, a corral with horses, and other pieces of equipment in the barn so that people can get a better idea of what life was like for Lily. There would be other buildings that were significant to Lily’s life such as a dugout and a schoolhouse where she worked for the majority of her life. “ Red Lake had a one-room schoolhouse with an oil stove in a corner, a desk for the teacher, a row of benches for the kids, and a black slateboard (Walls 62)”. This would attract people who enjoy history because they would get the opportunity to see how people lived back in the era of the Great Depression. On the ranch replica, it would also be interesting to have actors and actresses pretend to be Lily and her family. These actors would have knowledge on their backgrounds so that visitors would be able to have conversations with the characters of the book. Polls have shown that people become more engaged with a novel or any sort of production when they can relate to the characters in some way.

Having all of these different components, while seeming to be completely jumbled together, will actually create a very popular tourist attraction because it has something for EVERYONE! There will be the historical aspect for adults and readers who enjoy non-fiction, there will be the opportunity to ride the horses for the kids and other animal enthusiasts and of course, there will be a small gift shop where our guests can pick up souvenirs that they will treasure for the rest of their life. In this gift shop, there will be a section where people can buy Jeannette Walls other works and hopefully, where we can incorporate a few book signings.

While building this replica is a risk, this is the best idea out of any that have been presented today because everyone will have something that they will like about it. When our guests see this place, they will want to ride off into the wild, Wild West for the rest of their young lives. Here’s hoping that our guests will forever go west!

What is a Book?

In my mind, a book is a way to defy reality. In books, you can see magic, travel through time, embark on unbelievable adventures, and come to know some of the most famous people in history. I think that Joe Meno is right when he discusses the idea that books can take any form that the reader wants. Just take a look at all of the different types of readers there are! Some people prefer reading biographies about historical figures while other people might prefer stories about someone being attacked by a monster that hides in a closet. 

To me, a book has to be relatable to the reader whether it's through a memory, a similar experience, or a character. A book should be like a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter's day. A book should be able to warm your soul and make you feel emotions as you read it. I also think that a book needs to have an actual hard-back cover with a picture. I really enjoy being able to look at a cover because I can see a character or figure out how the cover relates to the book. But sometimes, I just like to look at the pictures because they are pretty or interesting. A recent example is when I read Nightshade (Which I highly recommend). The cover shows the main character Calla holding a bouquet of lilies spattered with blood. The lilies are significant because Lily is Calla's nickname and they are spattered with blood because Calla is not afraid to fight someone to protect her pack. Calla also has strange yellow eyes on the cover because she can transform into a wolf (very cool)!

As I was reading the quotes from these people, I hated Victor LaValle's opinion about books vs. e-readers. I don't buy physical books just because I know that someone's spent months writing it! I buy physical books because I enjoy having something that serves as an escape from the technology that takes over a large part of my life. I find something comforting and magical about an actual book opposed to a Kindle. I really like Nancy Jo Sales's opinion because she agrees with me about how books are better than Kindles.

Why I Read...

I read because I enjoy diving into a world where anything is possible. Ever since I was a little girl, I have been obsessed with magic, mythological creatures, and the idea that anything is possible. Some of my favorite series that I've ever read are the Harry Potter Series, Maximum Ride Series, Magic Tree House Series, and the Guardians of GaHoo'le Series. All of these series deal with some kind of magic or a supernatural element combining with the real world.

Yesterday I came across an old movie called Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas. One of the songs on the soundtrack was called "Stories." In this song, Belle talks about everything that can be accomplished through books and I believe a lot of what she says. People can overcome fears, find inspiration, or learn something that they didn't know before just by picking up a book. By taking Best Sellers, I hope to rediscover my love of reading books that are fun rather than just read because I have to do an analysis for a class. I'll hopefully have my reading list up soon so until I do, I leave you with this thought: Who says adults can't believe in magic?