Catching FIre response SPOILER ALERT FOR HUNGER GAMES AND CATCHING FIRE!!!!

In Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins Katniss has somehow survived the hunger games along with her forced lover Peeta Mellark. Them and their family now live in victors village where each occupies their time. They then have to go victory tour around the nation, before they go president snow warns Katniss not to start anything or else her and her family will die. The tour causes riots and small rebellions in different districts. Katniss then has to fight for her life in yet another Hunger games,this time in the Quarter Quell along with other victors. She manages to kill a few people and teems up with Wireress and BeeTee 2 engineering experts,Johanna(good with axes), and Finnik whose good with tridents. At one point Beetee suggests that once the periodic lightning strike occurs they put a wire down to the lake and electrocute some of the tributes. Johanna comes with her and knocks her out almost killing her. They then proceed to blow a hole in the force field using this electricity. SPOILER: This was a rebellious plan made by the gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee who proceeds to take them to the seemingly long-lost district 13 and the now gone home of Katniss,District 12.

I think that the story resolved this way because it was made to show that things aren't the way they may seem. Plutarch was a member of the Capitol seemingly, the last person whom would start a revolt. Also who knew that Haymitch, their drunken teacher was also in on the plan.When Johanna knocked out Katniss I thought that she was the traitor in the group. This was plausible because all Hunger Games alliances must end somehow.

I liked the ending to Catching Fire,actually, quite a bit more then i liked the rest of the book. I personally found the previous part of the book to be dull I was excited to read the next book and see what district 13 is like. it should bee seen as a good example of a twist ending. It's unpredictable,interesting and makes you want to read the next book. Suzanne couldn't have possibly wrote a better ending if they put a gun to her face. 

What's setting back Kristina Snow SPOILER ALERT

        The book Glass by Ellen Hopkins the protagonist Kristina Snowis battling her addiction to crystal Meth which she calls "the monster". since the last book Crank she has grown as a character. SPOILER ALERT Kristina was sexually violated and had a small boy named Hunter. Kristina really knows that she should stop getting high and take care of her son but she can't help herself. There are some things that are without a doubt keeping her from getting to a resolution.
   
          One of those things as i said is her crippling addiction to crystal meth. Unfortunately she has a seeming soul mate,Trey, who is addicted. She's afraid that if she stops then she will lose her boyfriend whom she loves with all her heart. On the other hand Meth is making her a very irresponsible mom. She sleeps for most of the day because she's buzzed at night and can't sleep so she "crashes". During one crash hunter rolls off the chair he was sleeping on and gets trapped under it. Kristina doesn't move a muscle and as a result gets kicked out of her house by her mother and if forced to stay at her friends house which leads me to another problem of her's

          Her friends she made in the last book are keeping her on the pipe. her and Trey often get high together and that keeps them together. Her father also does drugs and has done Crank with her before. He could care less about raising her away from meth because, like her, he is very impulsive. Krisina's dark side nicknamed "Bree" also doesn't help her kick the monster. This is because she makes most of her friends who also like "the monster". Bree became friends with Brendan the man who is the father of Hunter. Bree got Kristina in jail once for being caught hitchhiking by a cop.

           In conclusion there are many things setting back Kristina snow. Crystal meth being her #1 problem keeping her from having a good life and raising Hunter. One of the problems is her being very impulsive and not being able to go get help. The environment and people that she is surrounded with doesn't help either. Kristina has made friends with many other meth-heads  including her seeming soul mate. Her chances of kicking addiction are slimming    

a clash between me and Karl

      In case you hevn' seen my last post, "Tales of the madmen Underground" by John Barnes is about Karl Shoemaker who is dealing with his hippie,alcoholic mother,a crazy teacher and attempting to get out of his therapy group. In the book i notice that Karl is going through some internal and external issues. Somme of which i don't think that he is personally handling them right. Then again,i don't live in what he calls a "house that is basically a litter box"

Karl has many problems but let's start with some external problems. He is constantly getting bullied by Harris and Tierden who are not very bright. He is also dealing with his all American loving ELA teacher coach Gratz. This isn't a good position to be in. Also he's dealing with his impulsive ,alcoholic,drug addict,hippie mother who owes him about $1000,mostly spent on drugs and liquor. He is actually handling it pretty well. If my mother where to be that frustrating i would scream and should at her until i am blue in the face. He just deals with is and moves on i admire that.

Karl also has problems on the inside. For example, he is struggling to figure out whether or not to keep a relationship going with  his old friend Paul. They might not stay together for what I'm about to explain. Karl wants to do what he calls "operation be f***ing normal". This is when he attempts to act normal one day at a time. This is where me and Karl clash in ideas. I am me and any friends i make by trying to be someone else wouldn't really be my friends. Karl thinks that by being normal he will have a better life. This is not true. He wouldn't  be happy with himself which is not a good way to live. I think he should necessarily just be him.

In conclusion Karl Shoemaker has many external and internal problems,and i don't think he's handling it that well. He should just be himself and anyone who says otherwise is just being annoying. To quote Kurt Cobain "I would rather be hated for who i am, than loved for I am not" I think that Karl should act like this and he would be less miserable. Then again I don't know if it's good for him to not try to be normal.


What is your opinion on how he's handling it? Post in comments section below

Metaphors in Tales of the Madman Underground

           In the book "Tales of the Madman Underground" by John Barnes I think that there are some deep metaphors in this book. The book tells that tale of Karl Shoemaker. A boerd high school student with a dead father, an impulsive hippie mother, bullys, and a crazy melodramatic ELA teacher named Mr Gratz. He is part of a group therapy group called the Madmen Underground. He is attempting to simply be normal in what he calls "operation be f*****g normal". He meets a genus girl named Marti who says that he should be himself. He has five jobs and lives in a house that is basically a huge litter box. I think that the people around him are metaphors for what was going on at the time
         
            Let's start with his crazy mom. She could represent the danger of alcohol. She owes Karl about $2000 in I.O.U money,mostly spent on liquor. She used to be a perfectly good mother and then her husband dies of an unnamed disease. She has what she calls a "coming out party" about 4 months after her husbands death. This is the "start of booze and cats". She also represents the bad side of the hippy movement in the 70s and how people should do things that are age appropriate. Beth is muck to old to be having parties with boozing,weed and sex.
         
            I also mentioned Mr. Gratz Karl's crazy melodramatic ELA teacher. He was also a Vietnam vet. He says things like "whoever doesn't read Huckleberry Finn is not a true American". He also tears up in the national anthem, is bipolar and over exaggerates everything about literature and poetry. I think he is like the opposite of Beth. the is very careful,calculated and is a Vietnam Vet. He is the supporters of the Vietnam war in the 70's. He is the blind patriots in this country who loves everything American and doesn't care about anything that isn't American. If he were to go to other countries he would be defined as an "ugly American" or an American who disrespects the culture of the country he's in. Although, he isn't a total jerk. He offers to talk with Karl in the morning instead of him going to group therapy. He also says to his students that in the book Huckleberry Finn that there is the word n****r in it. He doesn't encourage his students saying it outside the classroom. While he's crazy he's not a crazy racist.
     
              Overall the characters in the book Tales of the madman underground show different perspectives of America in 1973. His mom is the crazy strung-out-peace-love-and-music hippie part of the country. Meanwhile Mr. Gratz is the America-loving-char-the-Vietnamese part of the country.

Feel free to post your opinion below!!!!!!
   

deady, impuslive boerdom in Glass SPOILER ALERT FOR CRANK!!!!

In Glass by Ellen Hopkins Kristina Snow/Bree is struggling to put a stop to her drug use,get a job and overall straighten out. She also has a small baby with a sex offender named Hunter to deal with. Unfortunately she is starting to get more reckless then she was a while ago. Her relationship with "the monster" is about to get,unfortunately, worse and she will get more addicted. This is foreshadowed in the book. "I'd only just begun my walk with the monster. I still had meat on my bones,the teeth still looked good. I didn't stutter yet. My mouth could still keep up with my brain."

Kristina/Bree often talks about how her motive for doing these drugs is boredom. She says" maybe a short stroll with the monster might slim me down,rev me up and offer the impetus to slip into my future,better equipped to deal with the mindless tedium that is my life". It's disappointing to see that she is going to take her semi-decent life to a living hell. Also, she can't do that kind of thing anymore. She has to care for Hunter. If she doesn't stop herself she won't resolve this problem that she has put herself in.

I think that overall Kristina/Bree will eventually spin wildly out of control and wreck her life. She also knows that she shouldn't do this. That she should "run where the monster won't look for me,hunt me down or sniff me out". She's simply impulsive and can't stop herself. Addicts need to want to go to rehab. She doesn't have that willpower which is unfortunate to say the least.

Am I Blue? response

         I found a reoccurring theme in "Am I Blue" by Bruce Coville. The story is about a boy, Vincent, whose life is changed when he meets Melvin, his gay fairy godfather. He shows him that he should be himself and that homophobia is wrong by turning all gay people in the country blue for a day so gay people can stop hiding. As he puts it " so straights would have to stop imagining they didn't know any gay people". A reoccurring theme in the story is the fact that you can't judge a book by it's cover and that things are not always so simple. This is shown through different characters in the book. For example, Vincent is watching the news and he sees a notoriously homophobic republican congressman. He is a very deep shade of blue. That is true to a certain extent in the real world. For example: Senator Larry Craig was caught with another man in an airport bathroom. He had been known for voting to refuse state's rights to recognize gay marriage.
          This can also be done in reverse. In the book there's a librarian named ms Thorndyke that everyone was convinced of being gay. As it turns out, on "BlueDay" she had no trace of blue on her. I found this to also be applicable in real life. There is a British comedian who in his act, dresses like a transvestite on stage. His name is Eddie Izzard, and he's not gay. Also, in the beginning of the story, Vince gets beaten up by a bully named Butch Carrigan who beats Vince because he thinks that Vince is gay. When BlueDay occurs, he's a very deep blue. This shows that usually people who preach homophobia are usually gay themselves. They just can't except themselves for who they are.
        I also like the idea that Melvin comes up with about homophobic words in the story. He says " my freinds called each other f****t and queer like how black folks call each other n****r--- to take the words that people use to hurt us and make them a positive thing". I like that idea of doing that, it gives the homophobes less power over people like Melv and kind of kicks sand in there faces. It makes the insults backfire which is a very clever idea. I also like that Bruce put in the reactions of the entire country.
           he said " reactions ranged from panic to hysterical denial to dancing in the streets" . This is a way of showing how indecisive the US is about gay rights. While like in NYC and San Francisco they might not care or be happy that something like BlueDay hastened. I think that in places like Texas or New Mexico. They would be very angry or sad that this kind of thing would happen. That's a pretty big  statement about what kind of opinions we as a  country have on gay rights.

Why Shiloh?

              I think that in The Drummer Boy of Shiloh, Ray Bradbury purposly used the battle of Shiloh. He could've as easily picked any other battle like Bull run or Gettysburg. Yet, Bradbury choose one specific battle. I think that this is because Shiloh was seen as one of the  most stressful or bloody battles in the war's history. This is used to portray an extra sense of stress of the situation Jobe and the general knowing that they have a very large battle ahead of them. That also helps show the smallness of the Drummer Boy
               Think about it, ther's this huge historically bloody battle about to go down and Jobe is only a drummer boy. He can't really do much but beat his drum and try and look like he's not scared even though he is. It also helps with the whole romantic dreams idea. All these ignorant soldiers think that they will survive this massive battle because they're to young to die in battle.