A Different Topic. I Digress

Dear readers, this is going to sound like the saddest thing you have ever heard, or close to it:

We are heading into April, the month known for the rain and grey skies and lack of sunshine (Think of it as a month long trip to the Northwest coast of the United States). And with all that greyness and rain, it’s a time to really reflect on what you want to do when it’s over. So, I am christening April, the month of death. Sad isn’t it? But it will be interesting blogging about deathly books for an entire month, and, I am going to give a little taste with the next few posts before April really comes.  

The book I’ve chosen is Deadline by the great Chris Crutcher. The story is of Ben Wolfe, who is starting his senior year in high school when he learns that this year is all he has left. Ben has a blood disease so advanced that aggressive treatment wouldn’t even really work. Because Ben is eighteen, he persuades Doc to not tell his parents and to pass him for his physical (the reason he came in anyway), which the Doc does.

Ben gears up for his last year by making some different choices. He decides that he wants to leave a mark in his town, so Ben joins the football team. At first, he is treated badly because of his size, but thanks to Cody, Ben brother and the star quarterback, he gets a position on the team. He also decides to be as much of a pain in his classes as he can, which includes naming a local street after Malcolm X. He also wants to help the town drunk, Rudy McCoy, get clean, which is a bit of a long shot.

The most important to Ben, though, is Dallas Suzuki. No, this is not a car dealership, but a girl that Ben has been in love with for a long time. Then Dallas asks Ben to homecoming and they start a relationship, much to the surprise of Ben. But, things are falling apart. It’s getting harder to keep his secret, but he doesn’t want to hurt the people that he loves. Especially his mentally ill mother, Dallas and Joe Henry, her little brother who adores Ben. 

RED’S ALL STAR REVIEW: 4 out of 5 stars. Chris Crutcher is a critically acclaimed author, and for goos reason. His other novels are so great, and this one continues that streak. Full of humor, anger, and the philosophy of life and death.

MASS APPEAL: Everyone needs to read this book, and the others by Crutcher. Great for any person, and good for book reports, which are a pain unless you have a great book(hint, hint).

Buy this book on Amazon. Click here!

Two For Tuesday - The Hunger Games

Ok, let’s get down to business, shall we? This is my second post about this book, so pay attention. If you have not read The Hunger Games or seen any of the trailers, do so. The Hunger Games is a wonderful book.

The only criticism that I have is one I’ve heard many times with books like Twilight and Harry Potter. The plot and storyline of the book outshines the actual writing which is not something you want, if you are an author. The writing was good, but I found myself caught up in the story, not the writing.

But, hopefully, the movie (coming out this week!) will better this with the special effects and acting abilities of the phenomenal cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Helmsworth and Josh Hutcherson. I am sure that putting this into a movie will better the series, unlike Twilight which seemed to dim with the big screen, in my opinion, due to the actors chosen. But, it has been promised that this movie will be unlike what you’ve seen before, and I am excited to see it as soon as it comes out.

Expect me to be at the midnight showing.

And if you haven't seen the trailer for this movie, watch it right here, and then go see the movie as it comes out in theatres on March 23.

Spring Break!!

I have been gone for far too long, my dear friends. A few weeks after the term endd, but all is well, i am back for spring break and i will be blogging quite a bit in the following weeks. To kick off this book blogging feat, I chose a book that I really love. The Year of Secret Assignments by Jaclyn Moriarty is told complete in diary entries, letters, emails and notes between six students from two different schools.

Emily Thompson, Cassie Aganovic and Lydia Jaackson-Oberman are three best friends who go to Ashbury School for girls. This year they are required to have penpals from the boys school, Brookfield High, and exchange letters with them on a regular basis. The girls, at first, don't want to exchange letters with guys from Brookfield because it has a reputation for having many delinquents.

Each of the girls gets a strange surprise though. Emily is assigned to Charlie Taylor, a sweet guy who is a part-time car theif and is helpless when it comes to girls, which Emily tries to help with. Lydia gets Sebastian Mantegna, a total slacker, and really nice artist who is obsessed with soccer. Cass gets a kid named Matthew Dunlop, who sends threateneing notes and is a psychopath. But, as Cass talks to him more, Emily and Lydia start to wonder if Matthew is even a real person.

As Emily teaches Charlie to date, Lydia and Seb pull favors for eachother, mainly so Seb can get out of tests, and Cass decids to meet up with Matt. But, Matt isn't who he has claimed to be in his letters to Cass. He may not have good things in mind when they meet. On top of that, Charlie starts fighting with Emily for getting him in trouble and Lydia is mad at Seb for breaking a promise, and for beating up a kid at his school. On topof that, the girls are being blamed for a string of vandalism attacks on the schools.

RED'S ALL STAR REVIEW: 3 out of 5. Sometimes, rarely, the letter format gets distracting and a little annoying, but it's usually easy to read and interesting to see the connections made there. This book has a few companion books, so check those out too!

MASS APPEAL: The experiences by these teens are similar to those in real life, with the exception of these teens go to vastly different schools and their main form of communication is letters. But, teens should like this book because of the comedy, romance, and criminal trials at the end.

Click Here! to buy this book on Amazon.