Love Triangles Galore in Silver Beach

       Okay, so I'm reading Summer Love by: Diane Schwemm.  I know, even the title sounds cliché.  But if you know me, you know I love reading romance novels, which just asks for a cliché title.  I got this and at least 80 other books at a half-price books $2.00 or less sale, which was amazing!!! I decided to start with this book because, I admit it, it's shorter and I wanted to have a short book to finish out the year with.  I picked it up because of the title, and the fact that it was with the 3rd book in the series (I'll find the 2nd book later).  When I read the back cover I was pleased.  It is not just a couple who start to like each other, or a girl who goes after the wrong guy, only to fall for her best guy friend, or next-door neighbor.  Summer Love is about a "colony" around Silver Beach, on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan.  The colony is a ton of cottages that are summer homes to the rich and powerful, and their teenage children.  Elli Chapman Wells, one of the main characters, describes what she loves about, "the row of elegant, century-old lakeshore cottages that composed the summer colony of Silver Beach, Michigan.  Year after year, the colony was the same, her family's routine was the same, the other families that came up for the summer were the same." (Schwemm 6).  It seems to me that this line has a little bit of foreshadowing for what's to come of the colony.

   Now,  I'll get to where the change part comes in.  Elli has a younger brother, Ethan, who has had his heart set on one girl his whole life, Charlotte Ransom.  However, Elli hates Charlotte, and Charlotte has been pretty brutal to Ethan until this summer, when she starts flirting back with him.  Yet, Charlotte doesn't really seem to like Ethan in her sections (the book switches sections between the four main characters), but rather the older and more mysterious Sam DeWitt.  And the triangle, or should I say flow chart continues.  We come to find out that Sam has a thing for Elli, "... thought Sam, fighting back a sudden, fierce urge to grab her bare arms and kiss her." (Schwemm 45-46), and she has liked him back, "Instead she dreamed about a kiss- her first real kiss, something she was still waiting for. And it was with Sam." (Schwemm 47), but they haven't told each other about their feelings in 60 pages, because that would be too easy.   Things are starting to go well for the budding couple, when Sam signs Elli up to partner with him at being a sailing instructor for the summer camp that they are both counselors for.  They also plan to race in the big regatta together towards the end of summer. 

I absolutely love all of the characterization that this book has.  Charlotte is described as having, "long honey-blonde hair...one suntanned shoulder."(Schwemm 19),   She described her cottage as, "More like a tomb than a home, with...her father rattling around inside like old, dry bones."(Schwemm 67).   Elli is described with "...straight, chin length brown hair."  (Schwemm 3).  Ethan is "...tall and rangy, lean and athletic.  And handsome.  His straight brown hair was cut long on top so that it flopped into his eyes,... he had a killer smile."  (Schwemm 5).  Sam is described by Charlotte in the first few chapters with, " His broad muscled shoulders, his already tanned chest and arms, the sweep of chestnut hair and...hazel eyes." (Schwemm 20).  I love characterization, I would give more quotes about the main characters' personalities and what other characters think about them but I feel as though I've already reached my quote quota.  So, instead I'll tell you about why I enjoy characterization and don't mind the cliché romance stories I often read.  The characters always have some new layer, whether you see it coming or not, it's there just like real people.  Even with characters you are always guessing what they are going to think about a certain situation and how they'll react, just like real people.  And just like real people, they will sometimes catch you off guard, rereading to see if you actually read that.  I like that even though I might know how it will end or a least have a very good theory, the journey for the characters is always different.   And I love how in this book, since it is in 3rd person omniscient, I can see the whole story play out as well as the dramatic irony that results from it. 


 I can't wait to finish this so far amazing book!

Kingdom Keepers The Return

   After finally having time to read again, I started with an almost absolutely fantastic book.  The 2nd Kingdom Keepers series.  So, here I'll explain the Kingdom Keepers and why I love them so much, by the way even though the storyline is fictional,  the Disney that Ridley Pearson writes about is spot-on, it pays to have a writer who knows what they're writing about. The Kingdom Keeper books are about 5 kids who become "models" for Disney and their new DHI (Disney Host Interactive) experience, the kids become Hologram guides in the park.  Although these guides are helpful and popular around the parks, the Imagineers have alterior motives for them, to help save the parks from OverTakers, the Disney Villians.  At this point, you may be thinking, that's so childish, and seems so cliché, but the books are so cool.  The teens help protect the parks as holograms inside the parks after hours, hence the name Kingdom Keepers.  So, the first series was so amazing, I pretty much read the first 4 books in a week and had to wait a year each in between the last 3 books, because I would also read those in a week.  I was absolutely heartbroken when I found out that book #7, was going to be the last one in the series. I knew he was going to make another series around Disney but wanted the same characters back again.  Apparently all of his readers wanted that so he made a new series around the same characters but from a different character's point of view.  Hence, series #2.

Sorry, had to put some kind of Disney gif in there. 

Okay, so not only is the old gang back but they are now in College and are "done" with being Kingdom Keepers, let's see how long that lasts.  So, as I said before Ridley Pearson really knows his stuff about Disney, they let him visit at night and talk to imagineers and see the archives and all kinds of crazy, cool stuff. So all the books have very, very good imagery and are able to take you into the parks with the Keepers. Also in the new book, one of the main Keepers, Finn (The only one that still wants to be a keeper), is transported to what I think is another time period. So here is some great imagery from the book, "The boys in the audience wore dress shirts with button-down collars;the girls, cardigan sweaters and pleated skirts. Most of the women wore white gloves, while the men had slicked-back hair, clean-shaven faces, ties and jackets. Not a single tattoo or piercing." (Pearson 40). Given this clue, some foreshadowing from the book in between the two series, I assumed Finn was transported through time.  

Another good piece of Imagery was this, " The decorations hadn't been changed in forty years. A colorful carpet, a pair of antique chairs,  a standing lamp, and two daybeds resplendent with needlepoint pillows. A small round table held the historic glass-domed lamp Walt Disney had once used to announce his presence in the park." (Pearson 18).

If you are a Disney fan, I strongly recommend that you read these books. 

Disney Column

We all remember how it was to be a tiny child.  Maybe watching our first movie, drinking our first Swiss Miss dark hot chocolate after a snowy day, playing our first game of Monopoly Jr.,  or even opening our first present on Christmas morning.  But everyone has had their favorite childhood moment.  Going to Walt Disney World is mine.  From the giant "Walt Disney World" sign when you first enter Lake Buena Vista to the view of Cinderella's Castle from the monorail.  Disney is my favorite place to be.  But, now that I am a teenager who isn't as into character meet and greets and shows, what keeps my family and I coming back each year?  

The service.  Or not the service, but the people who provide it.  I don't think that any Disney Cast Members, the employees, have ever been anything but polite, respectful, and helpful to anyone I know.  They always return questions, comments, and critiques with a smile and a helpful response.  To me, Disney is fantastic.  Of course, not everyone thinks this way.  To some,  the rides are boring and character meet and greets a waste of time.  To some, the thought of planning out a vacation more than a month in advance is pure torture and getting there without plans is even worse.  To some, Disney is a soul-sucking corporation that just wants to take your money.  It’s true, after   almost 60 years prices have increased by $101.50,  full price today being $105 for a day.  But, even so, I ask them, “Have you ever given it a chance?” 

When I was 3, we visited for the first time.  After my birthday there, we lost our Casio camera with all of the pictures from that day.  Now, how many places that big would be able to get back that nice camera?  We were able to get back all of those memories with the help of Disney’s staff.  It’s times like these when almost all hope is lost, that memories are made and something becomes truly special.  I think that maybe we don’t give enough credit to something that should be standard.  I believe that the world, in the most general sense, needs to be more caring, more respectful, more loving, more Disney.  There are other companies out there that are mostly this way, one that comes to mind is Carnival.  But, nowadays it is too hard to find businesses, or even people that care more about others than money. That, I believe needs to change.  So think hard about this the next time you give someone an attitude or are rude, remember the “Golden Rule” : Treat others how you want to be treated. 

Columnist packet readings

I thought that most of the readings where pretty interesting and fun.  For this blog, I'm going to state my thoughts about all columns and specifically the ones from the packet. 

I think that columns can be a pretty fun, interesting read.  I enjoy reading columns, especially ones about Disney,  and think that they can make a special connection between the reader and author in a short amount of time.  I think that sometimes columns can be more relatable than books or short stories, which may be due to the fact that columns usually state their opinions openly rather than "hide" them, which requires reading "in between the lines" something that most people don't enjoy doing.  I also like columns because I feel like they can be funny or witty and still be taken seriously or have serious topics in them.  I also feel like columns can capture emotions better than books can, and they do it in a smaller amount of time.

Of these specific columns, I liked The Mother of all Parties best.  I loved the humor that was included I thought that it was just hilarious.  One of my favorite lines was,
"For the `sky,' I used the actual sky, which was visible because I removed the ceiling and roof with a chainsaw, which is when my husband, Ed, left me, but the overall effect was well worth it.''  I thought that this hyperbole is just a great example of how serious some people take the stupidest things. 
I also liked the column about getting a dog,  I thought that it also had a lot of humor that was relatable.  My favorite line from A ruff and ready playmate was, "This is something that used to be a recognizable object -- a stuffed animal, a basketball, a Federal Express driver -- but has long since been converted, through countless hours of hard work on the dog's part, into a random wad of filth."
My friend's dog did this with everything, socks, shoes, stuffed animals, my friend's iPod, etc. So I felt like this column was very relatable. 
This picture is from http://birthdaypartyideas.com/. 

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout

Fahrenheit 451 Theme Handout

Theme: Engaging with difficult and uncomfortable thoughts and experiences is the only route to true happiness.

Sammi St. Arnold, Brian Whitney, Hannah Lea, Stephanie Schoenlein, and Evan Haas Bell 3

Events

---

1. Clarisse asks Montag if he's happy.

2. Montag realizes he's unhappy, and threatens to start reading books.

3. Montag meets Faber and realizes the power of reading/ learning

4. The firemen went to Montag's house.

5. Montag burns Beatty.  

6. Montag meets Granger.

Quotes

---

1. "He was not happy.  He was not happy.  He said the words to himself. He recognized this as the true state of affairs.  He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there wa no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back." (Bradbury 12).

2. " 'If there was no war, if there was peace in the world, I'd say fine, have fun! But, Montag, you mustn't go back to being just a fireman. All isn't well with the world.' " (Bradbury 104).

3. " 'We all made the right kind of mistakes, or else we wouldn't be here.' " (Bradbury 150).

How it Relates

---

1. This theme is important to our understanding of the story because the story is based on a society that believes in the opposite, that thoughts and uncomfortable experiences actually diminish a person’s overall happiness, and have rules against people creating their own thoughts and opinions.  

2. This connects to our society today because people are depressed and don’t realize that they have to deal with and engage in uncomfortable and difficult experiences is the only way to achieve true happiness.  It is important to study and be aware of this theme so that we can grow and be happy in our daily lives, dealing with the hardships in our modern world.  

Life on the Refrigerator Door

Dear Ms. Kuipers,

     I am writing to inform you of a teenage girl's opinion and perspective of your book, Life on the Refrigerator Door.  My first impression of it when I bought it at the bookstore was that it was going to be about a mother and daughter who might have some timing and communication problems and later on some more serious problems, thinking along the lines of boyfriend issues or normal teenage issues, because the back reads, "Claire and her mom share the same house but they live on different planets. ... It's where they leave little notes for each other.   It's how they keep in touch.  Then one day Claire comes home to a note that's different from all the others."  I started reading the book and thought it to be very mundane, even boring at first.   However, it took a very serious turn very early on in the book, "Claire, honey, ... I found a lump in my right breast." (Kuipers, 26).  I personally didn't see this coming but, it hit me very hard, I know two people who have had cancer so it struck me immediately.  I hated when Claire would skip her mom's appointments to go hang out with her friends and do other stuff, I feel like you should support your family first.  

      I also felt like Claire's story should've been more focused on her trying to cope with everything that was going on instead of her relationship and her friend, because I feel like that might've been more beneficial to girls who are going through the same thing.  Also, many of Claire's messages seemed to be begging for money or gifts and that sort of thing, "Could you leave me an extra 10 dollars?" (73). "Could you leave me 10 dollars, Mom?" (13). I really didn't like that because I feel like she should've spend more time focused on her mom instead of shopping and buying all new stuff, what was going on with her mom was way more important.  

    Lastly, I didn't like how you ended the book, not the plot itself because that happens, but the way it was written as a giant letter instead of a bunch of little notes, I think that made the whole thing worse.  

Other then those few things, I thought that it was a great book, and one that really strikes emotions.   

Narrative from Fahrenheit 451

Mrs. Phelps-

   After running out of that silly fireman's house and back to mine, I had begun to forget all of the stupid things he said, the things liars said.  But I couldn't get that poem out of my head, "Dover Beach".  Over and over it replayed..."'The Sea of Faith was once, too, at the full,...But now... Its melancholy long, withdrawing roar...naked shingles of the world.'" Between the lines another voice replayed, my grandmother's, "The world used to be great. Sure, sometimes you got the bad, but then you got the love and it was balanced, everyone saw the world for how it was, none of this hiding facts or getting rid of them. ".  At first, when she told me this, showing her hidden books, I thought she was crazy ,that she was sick and needed help.  Now I thought, actually thought, about her words now.  Was it true?  Could it really be true?

   I tried to be quiet as I entered my home, forgetting that Pete wasn't home, that he could be fighting this minute.  He wouldn't agree with my new thoughts, would want me to turn Mildred in, which I sure would've done before I remembered Grandma's wise words walking home.  I sure would've turned them in had Pete been home, but he wasn't and I realized that even our so called, "Love" was fake.  If everything got so messed up, so different why isn't anyone trying to change it?  Was this new world really so bad?  I was so confused.  Should I turn them in?   Guy did burn that truth book, he did right his wrong.

   I made up my mind and grabbed the phone, dialing. 

   "Yes?" A woman's voice answered.

    "Your husband please."

    "Yes? What do you want?" Guy Montag asked.

    "I want to help you, to bring back the books and the truthful world."

   "I don't understand, you were upset...I don't do that, like my wife said, I was to show you the silliness of it all."

   "No, well then I guess I'll just let the authorities know then."

   "Alright, I'll be in touch with what you can do. Please, don't call this number again. Goodbye." The line rung dead between us as a huge smile crept across my face.  Now, more then ever, I was important.