The Grapes of Wrath

I am reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. I've read to page 163 (chapter 14), so I'm probably 1/4th of the way through.

So far, this book is focused mainly on the Joad family, and specifically on Tom Joad. Tom had been let out of prison early on parole and travelled back to his family. A few days later, they began their journey to California. They are traveling there, first off, because they've practically been kicked off of their land by the bank, and secondly, they're looking for a better life with more money. There are twelve people riding in the Joad's old Hudson, so the journey is very uncomfortable. Within the first day, one person (Grandpa) has died from a stroke.

The Grapes of Wrath is a very hard book to comprehend. I love the way Steinbeck writes, but he uses a very complicated style of writing. I think that it's interesting that he alternates the chapters between the actual story and descriptions of really anything. These descriptive chapters are the hardest to read, but they're still beautifully written. These chapters mainly focus on the Great Depression in general, or a deeper description of the setting of the story. I'm so far deeply enjoying this book, but I'm taking my time in really trying to understand and connect with it.

 Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath to give us an understanding of the Middle American during the Great Depression. At least, that's what I feel that this book it about; I'll be able to tell when I complete it. Particularly, I'm slightly worried to continue reading this book; I have a bad feeling that the Joad's will be faced with many hardships...mainly in hunger. I'm hoping that Steinbeck will really give  great descriptions of this (or any other hardships) so that there's a clearer picture of how they struggled with it. The big idea, so far, I believe is how it feels to be stripped of your roots. How would you feel if you were being kicked off the land that your ancestors were raised on? The Joad's (and hundreds of other families) were literally forced off of their home; they're being thrown off of the land that is rightfully theirs. I personally have no idea what this feels like, but I imagine that it hurts...a lot. Steinbeck had a quote that really made me think about what it would be like to leave your home and how they had to leave everything that matters behind..."How can we live without our lives? How will we know it's us without our past? No. Leave it. Burn it."...I can't imagine what pain and agony that these people had to go through.

Another great passage from the book..."Maybe we can start again, in the new rich land-in California, where the fruit grows. We'll start over...But you can't start. Only a baby can start. You and me-why, we're all that's been. The anger of a moment, the thousand pictures, that's us. This land, this red land, is us; and the flood years and that dust years and the drought years are us. We can't start again. The bitterness we sold to the junk man-he got it all right, bu we have it still. And when the owner men told us to go; that's us; and when the tractor hit the house, that's us until we're dead. To California or any place-every one a drum major leading a parade of hurts, marching with our bitterness. And some day-the armies of bitterness will all be going the same way. And they'll all walk together, and there'll be a dead terror from it."...This passage of the book, though long, basically states that these families will never truly leave; they'll never be able to start another life. They are the land until it's trampled over by machines or they face death.

My biggest question, and I would have to research this, is what truly motivated Steinbeck to write this book? Did he personally experience the Great Depression like the Joad's? Or did he travel to California in a cramped car with almost no food or money? How was he inspired? Why was he inspired? What pain did he experience?

Vampire Diaries part 2

            I am still reading Vampire Diaries The Return of Night Fall by L.J. Smith and a lot has happened since I last read. I am now at the middle end of the book Stefan has been kidnapped by his brother who is possessed by an evil magical creature. A ton of girls in the town are turning crazy and are trying to kill themselves. A giant Molach is attacking everyone that enters the Old Wood Forest. With Stefan gone, the girls and Matt split up. Matt and Elena go to find Damon, but he attacks them and they are both unconscious right now. Bonnie and Meredith go to see what is really wrong with the girls in their town. They immediately call the hospital to take the first two girls. The third girl however is voluntarily being possessed and is much stronger, so she attacks the girls.

           While the other books in these series were more based on romance, I think that the author wrote this book because she wanted to add action to the series. The author put in the quote "But if you mean when do you get out, its when Elena comes back." This quote is cool because it has so much irony in it. Damon is talking to the evil magical creature who killed Elena, but Elena is dead. So he is saying the evil creature in well never get out.

           I believe that the theme of the book is still friendship and my favorite charcter is now bonnie because she is so much like me. She is always eager and curious to help, but when danger comes she runs away. My only question to the author is why she made such a big deal to have Stefan gone almost the whole book?

Clarification

When you post, I want you to write in sentences and paragraphs.  Do not use bulleted or numbered lists.  Write about your book, don't just write the briefest possible answers to each question.

Vampire Diaries

Right now I am reading a book called Vampire Diaries: The Return of Night Fall by L.J. Smith. This is the 5th book of it's series. The whole series is about 2 vampire brothers fighting over a special girl named Elena. In the book I am currently reading Elena has just come back to life, after dying to save Stefan and Damon (the two brothers). She has come back as a "white" sprit with special powers.

This is just at the beginning of the book and not much has happened, but I am really liking the fact that Elena came back and her friends Bonnie, Matt, and Meredith are still a huge part of her life and the story. So far I think the main reason the author wrote this was to have a nice romantic yet action filled book with an interesting and surprising plot. I believe she wrote this book for fun or maybe to make people happy. My favorite character so far is Matt, because even though he lost Elena to a vampire he still remains her friend. Matt is rarely jealous and just wants whats best for Elena, which shows his loving and faithful personality.

 "I've never seen a more strong and independent girl," is a very important quote and good description of the main character, Elena. She has very strong personality and is never depending on others or forcing them to sacrifice for her. My only question would be how Matt deals with all of the pain and still does everything is his power to keep Elena and Stefan together even though he loves Elena. Overall I have really enjoyed the exciting beginning of this book.

Liar Society :)
I am reading Liar Society by Lisa and Laura Roecker. In the book, Kate is trying to solve the murder of her best friend Grace, while getting ghostly emails from her. She is close to figuring out what connection her friends and head master Sinclair have with the death, and also what connection Grace's death has with the death of another girl. I think the book is very good and well written, with not too much detail but the right amount. It is also mysterious, so it makes me want to read more and more. The theme of this book is finding out who you are, and overcoming fears, and not giving up. The best character in the book is Kate because she becomes herself more, has to be brave, and not give up when trying to solve her friend's murder. A cool quotation from my book is "Whoever said 'The truth hurts' wasn't kidding." This quote is important because it is a true description of what Kate feels while uncovering the case. A question I have right now is who killed Kate's best friend and what was their motivation, and can Liam be trusted?

Ty Appleget Post 1

I am reading the book Breaking Dawn. Stephenie Meyer wrote this book, she has written a series of books called the Twilight Saga. I still have quite a few pages left but I am a majority of the way through the book.    There are quite a few action scenes in the book. The most important scene in the book is they turn Bella into a vampire and they are watching their half human half vampire baby grow quicker than a human. I think it is good because there are many different creatures in it like vampires and werewolves. They are also showing Bella her struggles with family being a vampire. I think she wanted to write a book that involve different things that people don't usually write.The theme of the book a house in the woods and a cottage also in the woods. She wants us to think that they have to stay away from humans so she can't hurt them. Bella is the best character because she has become a vampire and she is finding out all her abilities and having to deal with her parents . "No. No Way" This was important because they change her to a vampire and Edward doesn't want her to do it. What are they going to do about the baby because he can't be human the volturi will kill her.

A book to read Before you Die..

I am reading Before I die by Jenny Downham. 

This book I am reading is about a girl named Tessa who has cancer and she only has a limited amount of time to live. She is trying to do everything she can before she dies and her friend Zoey is helping her out by telling her to do something and she has to say yes to what Zoey says to do. I am about half way through and I am at a point in the book where she meets a boy that lives right next to her and they hang out a lot. Tessa just had an appointment with one of the nurses that comes to her house every other week and she was really snotty to her because it was not her normal nurse. Tessa gets very frustrated when her normal nurse is not there. 

I like this book because it seems very real to everyday life right now. Because someone could actually be going through something like this right now. I think that author wanted us to think about how bad cancer can really be and how it can quickly take away a persons life and there personality. I really like the boy Tessa meets because he says to just live out her life and not try and do everything. Just be happy with who you are right now. " I know you're up to something. Cal told me about some list you've made. I need to know about it, not because I want to stop you, but because I want to keep you safe." That was a quote that Tessa's dad told her and I really like it because it shows he really cares and earlier in the book he really didn't she a lot of interest in her health problems. (Cal is Tessa's little brother) 

The one question I have is how Tessa is going to end up after she does all the stuff she wants to do. I want to know if she will be happy or if she will actually regret doing all that stuff and realize her cancer is getting better and she might not die so soon. 

Old Yeller

1. Old Yeller
2. Fred Gipson
3. I have read from chapter 1 to chapter 7
4. Old Yeller is a book about a old dog that showed up at this house in Birdsong Creek in the Texas Hill Country. Travis is going to get meat from the barn and he finds this old, yellow, and really dirty dog that has eaten all the meat off the meat pole. He runs at the dog and starts to kick it and the dog dodges his foot and falls on to the ground yelling really loud. Travis would have killed the dog if it wasn't for his little brother Arliss. Travis's family lived a rough life, there small cabin was built by his Pa. Travis wanted to be like his Pa, so he acted like the role model of the house. When his dad left Travis would do everything exactly like his Pa. He would do all the hard work including wood chopping, carrying milk, and snow plowing.
5. I think this book is pretty good so far for what I have read. I really like it because it involves dogs and dogs are my favorite pet.
6. The author probably wrote this because this might be a story of something he has seen in life. He probably wrote this because she really enjoys dogs and wanted to make a book about a dog. I think it was his motivation because he really enjoyed dogs and wanted a book to be about a dog.
7. The theme of the book is probably courage and love of dogs because the obsticals Travis has to get through in life and the courage to love Old Yeller and get through all the things Old Yeller has done.
8. The best character is Travis because he is the role model in the story and wants to end up like his dad, so he chops wood, takes care of the family, snow plows, and much more. He's grown because he starts to like Old Yeller and don't kick him anymore.
9. "He made me so mad at first that I wanted to kill him. Then, later, when I had to kill him, it was like having to shot one of my own folks. That how much i'd come to think of the big yeller dog."
10. None so far.

Ty Appleget

I am reading Breaking Dawn.

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Ms. Nielsen

If You Liked The Prince and the Pauper, The Minstrel's Tale Might Be for You

A couple weeks ago I was browsing around for soemthing to read next.  When I'm not raring to start a particular book (usually because I've forgotten what I've been wanting to read-- I need to keep that list handy), I default to one of my standard genres or subjects.  So I went looking for something medieval.  I can easily lose myself in the Middle Ages.  It's fascinated me for years.

The book I ended up with was The Minstrel's Tale by Anna Questerly.  I wanted something quick and easy, and this book fit that bill perfectly.  It's at the younger end of the young adult spectrum.  My eleven year old could easily understand it.  It's a piece of historical fiction that wonders what happened to Richard II of England on his way to his coronation.  In Questerly's story he becomes an apprentice to a minstrel traveling through north-western Europe.  It was a fun, light read.

I got the impression that Questerly is herself a fan of medieval Europe who wanted to use her imagination to transport her reader to this complicated, violent, beautiful time and place.  She did a good job.  If she had an education similar to mine, European history courses often focused on the power struggles of the times, and her book definitely speaks to those with her use of a crown prince as the central character.  However, what I like about her book is that she also shows us what it was like to be an average, working-class person at that time.  Maybe like me, she liked to image herself in this world, not as a duchess or princess, but as someone closer to our real positions.  To that purpose, Amos the minstrel narrates the story.  I love little details like the description of Amos's methods for fishing and cooking.  She shows us the moment right before he begins a performance: "This was my favorite moment as a minstrel." I fell in love with his profession.  Amos was a sympathetic, believable character.  I enjoyed spending time with him and was glad when he began to consider romance for the first time since the death of his wife and child.


The one drawback of the novel was the framing device.  We are supposedly reading Amos's memoirs, and I felt that this could have stood on its own as a complete book.  However, Questerly chose to have a modern young woman find Amos's book in her family's ancestral home in France and present it to us.  This must have been a concession to her target audience.  It wasn't enough to have the (perhaps too) young Richard.  There had to be a tried-and-true, somewhat stereotypical teenager involved.  For an actual young adult reader, maybe this frame would be important.  For me, it added nothing.  Just give me Amos and Richard exploring medieval France and England!

Although the book does explore how power can corrupt and the sad gulf between the haves and have-nots, its real charm lies in the detailed picture of the Middle Ages.  If you look for themes of class division and the misuse of authority, you'll find them.  However, if you just want to go on a fun adventure in medieval Europe, you're more likely to be satisfied by The Minstrel's Tale.