The Selection of books

Hello my friends!  The next book I am going to talk about I think you are going to love!  The Selection  by Kiera Cass.  This is a amazing book!  An awesome series actually but I will only talk about the first one right now.  If anyone has read The Huger Games, Divergent, or Matched and enjoined them you will like this book.  It is a different plot but does have a stronger female protagonist.

The protagonist is a teenager named America Singer.  She lives in the place where the United States used to be although it is called Illea.  In this new country are in castes depending on what their ancestors did and their use to society.  At the top of the castes is the Ones: the royal family, then you have the Twos: celebrities, Threes: great minds, Fours: businessmen, Five: artist and performers, Six: workers, Seven: manual workers, and Eights: untouchables.  The lower a person is on the castes the worse they are treated and the more miserable their lives are.  From Fives and below their lives are particularly difficult.  They find it very hard to make any money so it is very hard to feed their family's and warm their homes (if they have any).  They tend to have many children so they can help work.  Women can marry up the the castes and some people can buy their way up but for most people they are stuck in their castes.

America is a Five with her family so they are all artists or performers.  She gets a letter about a contest the royal family.  The prince is going to marry a common girl from his citizens.  It is a country tradition so they send out forms for possible girls to fill out to be if they are interested.  America at first is against filling out the form because she has a secret boyfriend named Aspen.  He is a six so her mother would never let her marry down but he is in love of him none the less.  They sneak secret kisses and he makes wonderful promises to her.

Her family convinces her to at least fill out the application.  She gets in!  She is one in thirty five girls who get to go live at the palace and meet the prince.  When Aspen hears about this he dumps her because he thinks that she could have much better than him.  Which is a nice thought but to America it seems cruel.

When she gets to the palace she meets the prince and he soon falls in love with her.  She is his first kiss.  While America is in the palace she begins to think that she could be get over Aspen and maybe find Maxon (the prince).  But, when Aspen appears in the castle as a guard.  Should she move on or get back together with her only love.

One of the ways to look at this book is a Cinderella story mixed with a little Bachelor.  If anyone is looking for a good book I would highly recommend this book!  I honestly cannot wait until the next one comes out in May.

Matched with a book

Hello, everyone.  In this blog I am going to talk about Matched by Ally Condie.  This is a newer series but has begun to become popular so I bet most of you have heard of it.  I would like to say that I hope my opinion on this book doesn't stop you from wanting to read it because it is a good book.

I thought that Matched's plot was a little slow.  But, I had just bought another new book and read it right afterward and it was amazing.  So, I may be biased.  Although I am still going to give Matched a second chance by finishing the series.  Anyway I will tell you about the book and if you feel differently about it leave a comment below.

Matched is about a seventeen year old girl named Cassia Reyes.  The book takes place in the future in a seemingly Utopian society.  In the society the government controls everything the citizens do.  They control where they live, where they work, who and when they marry, and even when they die.

When a child turns seventeen they are matched with another child their age to be married to.  Normally the person whom a child is matched with is from another area so they do not know each other.  The kids receive a "microcard" on their matched and get a period of courtship before they can be married at twenty one.  Also, years earlier the government thought that they world was to cluttered so they destroyed everything that had to do with culture except one hundred of everything.They government also made it so all of their citizens were equal.  Food rations based on their age and gender.

When it is Cassia's turn to be matched she finds out that her match is Xander Thomas Carrow, her best friend since she was young.  Although she is a little upset at the fact they she already knows everything about him, she is exited that he is such a great guy.

After her work (sorting) one day she decides that she is going to look at Xander's micorcard.  When she puts it into the port (a kind of computer that the government uses to watch the citizens) it stay blank for a second and then shows the face and name of another guy named Ky.  He also lives near her but she hardly ever speaks to him.

She doesn't tell anyone but a government official, after she asked Cassia about the card.  The government official says that she could also tell her grandfather.  Because her grandfather is going to be eighty in a few days he will die.  The government official claims that it was just a mistake that Cassia had Ky on her card because Ky cannot even be matched because of his parents.  His parents did something bad so their shame goes onto their child.

Cassia begins to question everything she thought was right.  Why should the government get to chooses everything about their lives?  And when she starts to fall for the mysterious and attractive Ky instead of Xander it makes her decision between what is familiar and what is different and fun even harder.

The Maze Runner

I know many of you have gone to the theaters to see or have at least heard about The Maze Runner.  The Maze Runner is an amazing book.  It is filled with suspense for all ages and genders.  It is a series of books but I will only talk about the first one just in case all you people out there have not read or seen the movie yet.  (P.S. The movie is also fantastic because it follows almost perfectly along with the book but it will not come out on DVD until December 16).

The book begins with the main character stuck inside of a moving, dark box.  He has no recollection of who he is or how he got there.  He feels sick and he has common knowledge of the world but nothing personal.  After what seems like for ever the box stops moving and is opened up.  Our protagonist finds himself surrounded boy teenage boys of all ages.  The other boys introduce themselves and try to explain to the "Greenie" what they know about where he is.

The place that the boys live in is a large area surrounded by walls called the Glade.  Outside the Glade is a maze.  Since the first boy was placed in the glade years ago the boys have been trying to figure out the maze to escape the Glade.  Every night the doors that lead into the maze from the Glade close (Seemingly by magic).  This is to protect the boys from the terrible and deadly monsters that roam the maze at night, "Grievers."

A Griever is a horrible monster that is part flesh part mechanical.  The author of the book goes into great detail for these monsters.  I cannot do it justice but they make a horrible clank and moaning sound when they walk that will give you shivers up
and down your spin.

Anyway, latter in the book the main character remembers that his name is Thomas.  In a couple days Thomas starts to get used to working in the Glade and he even eventually becomes a runner for the maze.  But, then a girl shows up in the same box Thomas came out of.  She comes with a note in her hand saying that she is the last one ever.  Not only that but she arrives unconscious.  The girl (the first one ever) suddenly wakes and yells Thomas's name and then falls asleep again.  Thomas also seems to recognize the girl but after she gets to the Glade terrible things start to happen.  Grievers are out in daylight and attacking people.  And eventually the doors to the Glade are not closing at night.

The boys of the glade are afraid and they blame Thomas because he seemed to know the girl and a few people who got their memories back blame him for putting them in the Glade.  Thomas can also speak to the girl in his head but keeps this from the others in fear that they would recent him more.  With everything going wrong in the Glade the boys must decided if it is even safe to stay any more or if they should adventure into the maze and find a way out.

This is such an amazing book!  I have read the first on and seen the movie.  Right now I am reading the second.  If you read the Hunger Games or Divergent you will enjoy this book just as well because it takes place in a post apolitical world also.

Warrior Cats: Into The Wild

Hello everyone.  I am really happy today!  Not all of you may know but, I foster animals.  Well today I just learned that I can keep the littlest of the three Himalayan kittens we are fostering!  I have never been able to own a cat because some of the people in my family are allergic but, for what ever reason these kittens do not bother their allergies.  This gave me an idea for my next blog.

So, today I am going to tell you all about one of Erin Hunter's books.  I am only going to tell you about the first book of one of her series - Warrior Cats: Into The Wild.  Many of you have probably read at least this first book but I beat not all have you read all the books because there are many of them.  I also beat that most of you don't know that Erin Hunter (the author) is actually six different women.

Well, anyway back to the book.  The first book is about Rusty, a house cat who is not satisfied with the house cat life.  He is just a kitten but he hates the dry cat food his owners feed him and even though he loves the warmth of his kitty pet home he loves the feeling of being out doors.

One day Rusty decides to jump over the fence in his backyard and into the world beyond.  When he starts to head into the woods behind his house he soon runs into a small group of wild cats.  Normally upon finding a house cat in their territory the wild cats would chase him away but they seemed to notice something different about Rusty.  They let him come back with them to their home.

When Rusty gets to the cats clan home he immediately feels at home,  more than he ever did in his kitty pet home.  The clan is not competently sure of him but their leader Bluestar tells everyone that they should let him have a chance because the clan, Thunderclan, could always use another warrior.  Being as young as Rusty was he was easily able to be placed into an apprentice group.  In fact, he gets the great honor of having Bluestar as his mentor.  As an apprentice Rusty gets the new name of Firepaw.

He soon becomes friends with other apprentices such as Graypaw and Ravenpaw.  Throughout the entire book the apprentices must prove that they are worthy of becoming warriors.  While trying to fulfill their duties young Ravenpaw finds out that his mentor kills the clans deputy in order to get the position himself.  Ravenpaw fears that his mentor, Tigerclaw, will kill him if he found out that he knew.  (Which he would).  Ravenpaw tells his two friends that what he knows and his friends help him leave the clan and go to a rouge cat territory so he can be safe of Tigerclaw.

Tigerclaw soon becomes a danger to Firepaw and Graypaw because they know what he did.  Although this seems to be only a small problem compared to the problems that Thunderclan is having with the other clans, especially the Shandowclan.  Shadowclan seems to not have any regard for the clan laws.  They are out to murder their old medicine cat, one of their own killed their leader to be in his place, they ar hunting and invading other clans territories,  and they are stealing other clans kittens to strengthen their own.  Also, the other Tunderclan warriors doubt Firepaws loyalty.  Will he ever have their respect?

Many people dream of becoming a spy; these girls go to school for it

Hello everyone on to a book that may not be as well known.  The Gallagher Girl series.  This book is based around a girl named Cammie Morgan.  She lives in, what seems on the outside, a private school for girls.  They wear uniforms and got to classes; what else could the school be?  The school is actually an all girls school for spies.  It is super exclusive and one of the only ways to get in is to have a parent whom is a spy in some way.

For Cammie this school her home and they only thing to her that is normal.  Her mother was a spy and now is the head master of the school and her father was a spy.  She goes to school there with her best friends Liz, Bex, and latter Macey.

Just to clarify something: this is a series!  I will try not to give away to many spoilers if you are just starting the series.  But just in case SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! You have now been warned.

Anyway, the first book, I'd Tell You I Love You But Then I Would Have To Kill You, is all about Cammie and her first crush/boyfriend.  She likes a boy who doesn't know that she is a spy (or training to be so).  The first book is flirty and cute.  Don't judge the whole series on the first book.  They get better as they go on.

The second, Cross My Heart And Hope To Spy, is about the school for boy assassins that the girl's academy is hosting.  Cammie becomes great friends with one of the boys but when the school top secret status gets threatened Cammie must decided if she truly does trust this boy.

Don't Judge A Girl By Her Cover, the action really picks up!  Cammie visits her friend Macey at the end of summer.  This trip was planned to be exiting because Macey's father was becoming the vice president of the U.S.  Quickly the fun time Macey and Cammie plans turn in to a disaster when a kidnapping plot occurs.  The two girls survive (barley) by using the little knowledge of spy skills they have.  When school starts again Cammie and her friends cannot forget what happened over the summer and start to investigate the kidnapping plot.

The fourth book, Only The Good Spy Young, the girls have finally figured out a little about the kidnapping plot but then one of Cammie's closest allies is a double agent the girls fear for the life they always knew.

Oh, Out Of Sight And Out of Time!  This is my second favorite book of this series after the last book.  The story begins with is Cammie waking up in a place she doesn't recognize with people she doesn't know and her memory of the whole summer missing.  Okay since this is such a good book I don't want to give away anything else in so you can figure it out on our own.

The last, United We Spy, this is the newest book.  I just read it.  Almost everything I say will give away something from the book before.  I will tell you this. . . This book is an epic finally of one of the most wonderful books I have every read.

Also, I would recommend this book to girls because of the strong female characters.

Harry Potter: Is it over done?

Hello again my minions. . . Did I say minions - I meant friends.  Today has been a great day.  Did anyone know that we get Friday off at my school?  It is pretty awesome.  Well I found out that I made it into the school play.  It is in a very large part but I get to be on stage any time the antagonist is.  Well, enough about me, how are you?

Good.  Well today we are going to talk about Harry Potter.  I know a lot of you are all going - ugh I hate Harry Potter.  It is so over done!  Well, I don't agree.  Anyone who says that have just seen the movie and never read the book.  The movie is very good at making sure that you don't feel like you are missing any
information.  But, the books are still so much better!

Things that you learn in the book that the movie fails to mention:
1.  In the last book when the Dursleys were leaving Dudley was kind to Harry.  He even went as far as saying that "He didn't think Harry was a

waste of space." Not only was this little scene omitted form the movie,
the movie portrays the Dursley leaving as cowardliness.
2.  More about Nevil and his parents, such as how Nevil's parents live in
a metal hospital.  Or that Nevil could have been the chosen one instead of Harry!
3.  Ron's brothers Bill, Charlie, and Percy.
4.  The amazingly awesome Ginny!
5.  There is so much more.  These are just some of the basics.

The book is very amazing.  When I was younger it was very hard for me to read.  My parents had to force me to read anything.  I credit almost all of
the reasons I love to read now to J.K.Rowling and her Harry Potter series!  If you want a good book that you will read over and over again, this is the book for you!  This book is one of the huge reasons I want to become a writer.  I hope to inspire people just like this book did for me.

Fault In Our Books. . .Not!

I bet many of you have seen The Fault in our Stars.  I can understand why, it is a great movie based upon an even better book by John Green.  Do many of you know of John Green?  If not please look him up.  This is his YouTube Page!  He is a fantastic author.  Although all of his books are a little sad.  I mean carry a box of tissues with you at all times when read his books.  Before he was a writer he was just a You Tuber!

One of John Green's most famous books is The Fault in our Stars.  The Fault in our Stars is about a young teenage girl named Hazel.  Hazel was diagnosed with cancer at a very young age and has been living with it for pretty much her whole life.  Because of her illness she is doesn't go to public school so she lost most of her friends.  Her parents convince her to attend a cancer support group; this is where Hazel meets Augustus (Later known as Gus).  Gus is a teenage boy who had cancer a few months previous but has since been cancer free.  Gus immediately falls in love with Hazel.  At first she thinks that he is messing with her because she does not consider herself pretty because of her condition.

Gus continues to surprise Hazel until she starts to fall for him also.  Hazel and Gus actually share there favorite books with each other so they can read them.  Now all my crazy book readers out there know that
this is a huge deal!  Books are pieces of our souls (Like Horcruxes!  We will get to that later).  Hazels favorite books is about a girl very much like herself.  She has cancer, or some other disease.  The book ends in mid sentence.  This interest Hazel because she knows that that must mean the girl died before she could finish writing but she is interested in finding out what happened to the rest of the characters.  After reading Hazels favorite book "An Imperial Affliction" Gus cannot stand the sending the ending.  He also understands it but he would like to find out what happens to the rest of the characters.  Hazel says
that it is her dream to meet the author and ask him her
questions.

After researching about the author Gus gets him to email and invite them to Amsterdam sometime.  Gus then uses his wish (the make a wish foundation) to take himself, Hazel, and her mother all to Amsterdam to meet the author.  When they get there not everything goes to plan but Hazel wouldn't have changed it.

As a warring to my readers this book is very sad!  Have a box of tissues with you when you read it.  Especially the ending!  If you have seen the movie you know what I am talking about. . . I cried.

This is a wonderfully well written book.  I am sure you will all enjoy it.  It does have a lot of little cute romantic things in it.  It is not just for girls.  John Green is one of those writers that everyone should read at least one of his books.  His books will become pop culture classics some day.  Like Harry Potter. . . but not.