Most important line in my book

             I'm reading The Scorch Trials by James Dashner, which is the second book in The Maze Runner series. It picks up exactly where the book and movie left off. This book is a really intense book with a plethora of action. Personally I enjoy all the action that's happening in the book. I'm more motivated to read so I can find out what happens next. There's so many things happening at once and so many new characters introduced that it's hard to choose only one important line. Since I have to pick just one, the most important line in my book would probably have to be:

"Teresa Agnes. Group A, Subject A1.

The Betrayer." (Dashner 15)

 

                This line to me just sets the whole book in motion. Of course if you've read the first book your attention will immediately go to this line, but even if you haven't the bold font catches your eye almost instantaneously. The quote is towards the beginning of the book so I think its a great way to hook a reader into the book. I like that after this quote the book leaves you guessing. All you find out is this information and then you don't find what it means or why it's there until the end of the book. I really liked the fact that it was mysterious. The book moves on pretty quickly though, so you don't have much time to speculate over what it means. Honestly this line was one of the things that kept me reading. I wanted to find out what that line meant so I kept reading and by the time I found out what the line meant I couldn't stop reading because I was hooked to the book. I'm really excited they're turning it into a movie! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/21/maze-runner-sequel-premiere_n_5857998.html



Text-to-Society second memoir

John before the medication.

John after taking the medication.

               My second memoir is called Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin. In this book John is a reporter and he decides to take medication that will make his skin black. The reason for that is that he wanted to
personally experience how white people treat Negros. So he travels down south to New Orleans and Mississippi as a Negro for about a month. Along the way he experienced many hardships including walking miles just for a drink of water, not being allowed to use the restroom wherever, and giving up seats on a bus so white passengers can sit down. Throughout the book his desire to make a change gets stronger and stronger.

                What I've realized from reading my book is that while whites may have seemed really nice, when it comes to the Negros they have a nasty and sometimes abusive side. Not all whites were like this but the majority were. I think because of the negativity coming off white people, Negros return that hatred and negativity. This ends up being one big circle of hate. The cycle won't end unless the whites act like the bigger person and give the Negros the rights they deserve. Aside from skin color, they have similar virtues and priorities.

                 Still today the Negros sometimes don't get treated as first class citizens. Take the Michael Brown incident for example. A white police officer shot him because the police officer said "his hands weren't up", even though video evidence proves they were. Many people believe the police officer shot Michael because of his prejudice towards Negros. http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/10/us/ferguson-michael-brown-shooting-witnesses/index.html?iref=allsearch

Best and Worst Quailtes in James

Best Qualities in James:

 

 

 

                      James is a very caring child and adult. He is always looking out for his mother and worrying about her safety as a white lady in a black community. An example of this is on page 36:" I wanted to warn Mommy. Suppose the Black Panther wanted to kill her?" James knows Ruth is different, that she is a target for black people.  He also pretty selfless. Because he's one of the younger kids he gets teased and pushed around a lot by the older ones. I personally would have fought back or told my mom but James just lets them do whatever they want to him because he realizes the feeling of having power makes them feel good. Additionally he agreed to be one of the only blacks in a white school just to please his mom.

James McBride and his mother Ruth

 

 

 

 

Worst Qualities in James:

 

 

 

 

                    While James has a lot of good qualities he also has a few bad ones. James is insecure and follows what his friends do because he wants to fit in. Being black and having a white mom doesn't really help that, so he lets the "popular" people influence what he does. He does drugs because his friends do, "We played Kool and the Gang songs for hours, smoking weed, drinking Old English 800 malt liquor" (pg 138). These actions cause James to lose some of his good qualities like caring for his mom and being really focused on school. It really enhances how messed up his life really was.

Why I chose The Maze Runner

                    I started a new book this week called The Maze Runner by James Dashner and I'm really enjoying it. The book came out as a movie a few weeks ago and everybody was raving about it. The book had caught my eye last year but I just didn't have enough time to read it. Now that I have the time to read it I'm really glad I chose it. My friends who have read the book have told me nothing but wonderful things about the book. I'll admit it's kind of hard to adjust to the different words the boys use, for example on page 3: "You're the klunk, shuck-face."

                   The book is in third person point of view which is unusual for a best selling book. Even though it's not in Thomas' point of view I can still imagine being there in the Glade with him because it only narrates for Thomas and what he's doing. I'll admit at first the book is kind of hard to understand but after a few pages you get used to it. The book is really descriptive but it doesn't just come out and mention stuff. It's Thomas noticing the little things in the Maze, Glade, etc. which I think is a really unique and cool way to describe things.

                   I was also drawn to the mystery within the book. I like how you don't find out how to get out of the Maze until the end. It keeps you on your toes and you have to analyze every detail in order to see if it's foreshadowing or just an extra detail. The book to me resembles a crime scene where you have to examine all the evidence in order to see if there are any clues to help get out of the Maze.

The Worst Thing About my Book

              The book that I'm reading is Where She Went by Gayle Forman and it's the sequel to If I Stay. I was glad that they made a second book because I wanted to see what happened to Mia and Adam and everyone else as well as see what Mia decided to do about Julliard. As I'm reading this book I'm finding that it's not what I wanted from the second book. The book is in Adam's point of view which is kind upsetting to me because I wanted to find out what happened to Mia more than I wanted to find out what happened to Adam. It's also kind of confusing remembering it's in Adam's point of view because I'm so used to it being Mia's since the whole first book was in her point of view.

               The book would be less frustrating if Adam actually turned out to be a good person.... unfortunately he didn't. It's been three years since the accident and Adam is now a celebrity thanks to him and his band the Shooting Stars. Adam has been heartbroken since Mia left him and he now turns to drinking and anxiety pills to cope with the loss of her. He also has a movie star girlfriend named Bryn that's loves the attention of paparazzi. This is displeasing to me because I personally believe him and Mia were meant to be. Adam has adapted this closed off personality which is anything but what he was in If I Stay and uses smoking to deal with the fact that paparazzi is always around.

              Before almost every chapter there is a stanza from one of his songs off of the Shooting Stars album that he wrote after Mia left him crushed. The album is called Collateral Damage and includes these really dark song lyrics. An example is on page 176 off a song called Bridge:
"You crossed the water, left me ashore
It killed me enough, but you wanted more
You blew up the bridge, a mad terrorist
Waved from your side, threw me a kiss
I started to follow but realized too late
There was nothing but air underneath my feet"

              The lyrics just make feel really down and depressed which is good, sometimes when you're reading a book, but I don't want to feel like that every chapter I read.