The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins renewed my fervor in late night/early morning reading. Let me tell you- it's been a long time since I've read anything this good. Prior to reading Hunger Games, I felt as if I was in a reading rut. Almost all of my reading selection for a couple months previous to Hunger Games consisted of material that was "so-so" and felt like nothing special. Then this little book came along and it punched my senses alive. So to kick off this summary, here goes (it may get a little confusing though, but stick with it):

The best way to describe this book is that it's a combination of these key elements: gladiators, reality tv, and Lord of the Flies (with a little love story thrown in). I know this sounds like a recipe for disaster, but Collins did an amazing job of creating a melting pot of a story. So for some back story: Katniss (yes, that is the name of a girl, and try not to let her name send thoughts of "cat piss" into your mind like it did for me) is the main character living in a world of chaos. The story is based in a futuristic version of the US with the country being separated into 12 districts each monitored by the capital (set loosely in the Rocky Mountains) with the first district being the closest to the capital, and then the second next to that, and so on. Each district specializes in a certain occupation with the first district being the most lavish and the twelfth getting the lucky job of mining coal. Katniss is one of the lucky children living within the 12th district, fighting a rough war against starvation for herself and her family.

The world is like this and set up into districts that the government could care less about because decades ago all the people tried to revolt against the capital and stage a coup that backfired and resulted in the Hunger Games that is meant to keep each district in line. Every year the hunger games take place, which consist of a boy and girl ages 12-18 from each district being selected to compete on live tv to fight for their lives. Everyone is required to watch the games, even those whose children are fighting for their lives. The winner of the games is essentially the last person standing, and that individual gets riches and wealth not only given to their family, but showered upon their district for the entire year (which includes food-the most important thing for district 12 since they have little).

Katniss ends up being selected to participate in the games and is whisked to the capital to begin "training" for tv interviews, skill appraisal, and national appearances a week prior to the games starting. Since Katniss has had to poach illegally from the capital's forest for game for her family, she's skilled with a bow and arrow which ends up marking her a higher ranking contender for when the games are to start.

I don't want to give anything else away because it would give away too much, but know that this book sucked me in with its premise and the feelings of hopelessness and the struggle for survival that the contenders have. Collins is an excellent writer and did a great job of setting up an eventful story. Though the content may seem a little "adult" with the idea of fighting to the death, the story is definitely appropriate for younger teen or tween readers. I've recommended this book to anyone I can and I hope you pick it up at your local library or book store (though you may be put on a waiting list for it because it's being endorsed by Stephenie Meyer).

Joan Bauer

Joan Bauer

Website: http://www.joanbauer.com/
Books Written: Squashed, Rules of the Road, Stand Tall, Thwonk, Peeled, Best Foot Forward, Hope Was Here, Backwater, Sticks
Notable Awards:
For Squashed: Delacorte Prize for First Young Adult Novel
For Rules of the Road: American Library Association (ALA) Top Ten Best Books for Young Adults selection
For Hope Was Here: Newbery Honor Book

Other Awards and Honors: LA Times Book Prize, Christopher Award, Golden Kite Award, Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators Honor, Michigan Thumbs-Up! Award for Children's Literature, New England Bookseller's Award, Literary Light Award, Boston Public Library Honor.
Her Niche: Bauer does a great job writing about small town rural life. She is a great teen author that shows the "prettier" side of growing up in high school and coming of age for her characters. Every time I've read one of her books I've felt as if there's much greater hope in the teen world than I think there is. Not to be taken in a bad way, but her books could be described as "cute" and leave you with "warm fuzzies".
Why I like her ( a lot) and why I think you should too: Like I said, Bauer does an excellent job of writing about the small town rural and creating a great story. Her ideas are simplistic and basic, though don’t think that her story will be boring at all- her stories are full of depth and “life lessons” and are a lesser dose of a coming of age story. Bauer does a great job of connecting her main characters with a parental figure- most times it is a parent or relative that they end up connecting with, but occasionally the connection is with a figure that becomes a mentor throughout the story. Something interesting about her that kind of tells a little background of her stories: if she wasn't a writer she would like to either own a restaurant, make independent films, or be a pastor.
Which of her books I've read: Squashed, and Peeled. Though I've only read two of her books, I do own Rules of the Road and Thwonk, and I do plan on reading them in the near future. On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being "This book was sent by the gods for us mere mortals to read" and 1 being "This book wouldn't even make good toilet paper") here's how they rate:
Squashed- 3.5
Peeled- 4.5

Authors I'm Obsessing Over

So lately I've been obsessed with young adult literature ever since I took a YA lit class at BYU. There are a couple authors that have impressed me enough to read more of their works, even if there may or may not be a sequel to the book I read. With this new blog category I wanted to kind of spotlight the author and write a little something about them, why I like them so much, and what I've read by them. I hope you enjoy!

Laurie Halse Anderson

Laurie Halse Anderson

Website: http://www.writerlady.com/
Books Written:Twisted, Prom, Catalyst, Speak, Fever 1793, Chains, Wintergirls - she also has some picture books and juvenile books

Notable Awards:
For her book Speak: The Printz Honor Award (which is the teen lit Newbery award), National Book Award Finalist, Edgar Allen Poe Award, LA Times Book Prize, as well as many others
For Fever, 1793: American Library Association (ALA) Best Book for Young Adults selection, and a Junior Library Guild selection.
For Chains: National Book Award Finalist, Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction
Books Adapted into Films: Speak, starring Kristen Stewart- the same girl who plays Bella in Twilight
Her Niche: She usually writes about high school and the teenagers who end up being left out of a stereotypical category. She does an excellent job of capturing the essence of a teenager's life and the somewhat painful and awkward experiences that come with high school. In between times of writing teenage high school lit, she's written a variety of historical fiction that is almost as popular as her teen lit.
Why I like her (a lot) and why I think you should too: My first encounter with Laurie was her award winning novel Speak. This book is on my all-time favorites list and I have re-read it countless times because it's just that good. Laurie has a way of channeling and expressing the thoughts of teens during the most awkward and, one could argue, "defining" points of their lives. Her stories have a way of bringing the characters to life; you can't help letting your thoughts drift to the situations and people she's created once you're finished reading her novels. Upon reading her books for the first time, you can see that she writes more than just about a girl or a boy in high school- she sells you their story and their pain. I don't think I've "met" any other YA author quite like her.
Which of her books I've read: Speak, Twisted, Catalyst, and Wintergirls. On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being "This book was sent by the gods for us mere mortals to read" and 1 being "This book wouldn't even make good toilet paper") here's how they rate:
Speak- 5
Twisted- 4
Catalyst- 2.5
Wintergirls- 3

The Princess of the Midnight Ball

Jessica Day George has done it again with another fairytale classic in The Princess of the Midnight Ball. Not unlike Sun and Moon Ice and Snow in the reconstruction of a classic fairytale, Midnight Ball does the same yet tells the story from the point of view from both protagonists (male and female). This is a retelling of the twelve dancing princesses with a twist that I've never read of before.

Rose is the oldest of 12 daughters (all have names of flowers) and the princess of a land that seems to be based loosely on Germany. Each night she and her sisters are forced to dance for King Under Stone to fulfill the contract that their mother made with him prior to her death. The girls are forced to dance all hours of the night, every night, driving them and their father insane. The other protagonist, Galen, is a soldier returning from war. He tries to transition from the life of a soldier to that of working as a gardener in the King's garden, and ends up falling for Rose. At this time the King has posted a reward for the prize of one of his daughter's hands, and his kingdom, to figure out the riddle of where his daughters go each night, and how they escape when he locks them into their bedroom. I won't give the rest away, but I'm sure you can predict the ending (it is a fairytale after all).

Overall I really enjoyed this book, though it was odd for the narrator to switch from Rose to Galen and back again. I think the part that really freaked me out was reading how Galen felt about Rose (don't worry- it's just puppy love). Just hearing romantic thoughts from a male perspective was just a little freaky and unusual seeing as I've never been inside the head of a boy. I did like this book a lot though but just not as much as the book I've read by her, Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow.

Random History Facts...

...that have contributed to the making of literature as we know it. I'm in a Medieval literature class as well as an Early British Literary History class (there's a lot of overlap) with the same professor- who is quite hilarious and keeps me in raptures every time she begins "lecturing". I thought it would be interesting to share my wealth of knowledge seeing as I had no idea that any of these things happened. Who knew there were so many interesting things about history? (I did- as well as many professors at BYU).

Anne Bradstreet is called the mother of American poetry, though she personally never published any of her poetry- her brother in law took her writing and published it in The Tenth Muse without her knowledge

Thomas Paine helped sell the American Revolution to the people with his pamphlets.

John Adams said there were 3 reasons why he shouldn't write the Declaration of Independence but Thomas Jefferson should: Jefferson was a better writer than himself, people didn't like him as much so they wouldn't take him as seriously, and he thought it should be written by a Virginian.

Herman Melville dedicated The White Whale or Moby Dick to fellow author Nathaniel Hawthorne.

The word "hell" and "jello" are etymologically connected. In the North (as in Scandinavia), hell is a place of freezing, not burning- it's so cold you can't move.

There is a different Christ for the Anglo-Saxon's than the suffering Mediterranean Christ.

• Anglo-Saxon Christ- heroic/king-like, wants to get the job done right now, fully clothed, and "takes it like a man"
• Mediterranean Christ- sorrowful, pitiful, emaciated, naked

The uncle-nephew relationship was more important than the father-son relationship in Anglo-Saxon times.

Richard the Lionheart was king of England for 14 years and only spent 10 months of it in England.

The word "gang" comes from the Old English word "gangr"- means a person who owns nothing; has no ownership or inheritance, which ultimately results in anger and destruction.

A monster isn't just a destructive force of nature- monsters are scary because they have consciousness that they are a monster.

During the Middle Ages, people bathed probably more than twice a week.

If you got the plague you died within 2 days.

It was the least nourished, and those that were not well exercised that were the ones who died of the plague.

Two good effects of the plague- it raised the language and status of the common people.

When people died of the plague their clothing was tossed into the street; popularity of rag paper came forth because it was so cheap. Half of Chaucer's writings were on rag paper.

Robin Hood is most likely a descendant of the Green Man/Pan.

The Dark Ages changed the climate of England from vineyards to frozen wasteland.

"Fitz" means "bastard son of..." whereas "O' " and "Mac" mean "son of..."
Examples of these are Fitzpatrick- means the illegitimate son of Patrick
MacDonald- means son of Donald
O'Brien- means son of Brien

York in England claims to be the most haunted city in the world- they have tons of ghost tours from the plague.

Jack 'o' lanters are the oldest part of Halloween- Halloween was part of Celtic samhain which is the harvest festival celebrating the death of the crops. Tricksters would steal a chicken or some farm animal if you didn't have lanterns out because you weren't paying your respects to death and how he helps bring life.

A rhyme to help you remember how Henry VIII's 6 wives died/ended up, here's a poem that the schoolchildren of England recite:

• "Divorce, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived."
• In order his wives would be: Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Kathryn Howard, and Katherine Parr

Henry hired the best French swordsman to cut off Anne's head. (so kind of him)

I hope you enjoyed learning these random facts as much as I did. I'm sure I'll post another fact blog once classes finish.

If I hadn't read Girl with a Pearl Earring when I did, I may have turned out to be a non-thinking sop.

So just a little info for this post, I had to write a personal essay for my English 251 class on a literary experience I've had. This was the first thing that came to mind, so I thought I'd write about it and change people's opinions of what could be seen as a literary experience. Here goes:

My rebellion stage never really kicked in until about my sophomore year in high school. It took me a little longer than other delinquents my age to say no to my mom's face (though I had been doing it in my head for a lot longer). I was too naive to realize that rebellion has a sweet sense of freedom that can't be obtained by following the rules. Reading had always been an outlet for me and helped me cope with the demands of my mom, but I never thought that it could aid in my fight for freedom from her tyrannical reign.
As I began to realize her expectations were ridiculous and much more rigorous than what my friends were going through, my will to become a good child began to break down quickly. With this new resolve to become an individual and no longer stay a sheep, my love of reading grew. Instead of reading after school or at breaks, I slowly began to read during class and lunch, and sometimes I would completely ignore my friends and retreat to the school library if I didn't want to sit and chat. The only problem with my school's library was that each book was considered outdated in 1970. I think there were only 2 books that I ended up checking out that I found enjoyable- one of them being Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. No book has ever aided my fight for rebellion more so than Chevalier's at that time.
I remember bringing it home and going straight to my room where I can vaguely recall reading until my mom came home, skipping out on practicing my piano (which I never did anyway, so why start now?), completely ignoring my mom's request for me to get in the kitchen to help her make dinner, again ignoring her, and even trying so much as to lock her out of my room but realizing that she would bother me more later if I didn't do what she asked right then. Up until that point I had never felt such a need to defy the rules and fall just short of saying "screw you" to her. It felt good. Even though I finally gave in and did what she wanted, I couldn't help smiling to myself with satisfaction that this was a part of my life that I could control and enjoy- not only because I had found a book that I wanted to never put down, but because I was making my mom so angry and blue in the face with rage because I had realized that I didn't have to conform.
That night, after she went to bed, I got my flashlight out and began where I had left off. Chevalier's potent imagery, deep characters, and moving storyline left me enraptured and felt as if I was being sucked into the story with each page that I turned. I have pretty slow reading skills mainly because I like to savor everything that I read and pick up on details that I would otherwise miss, so when I got to the end of the book I knew that several hours had passed. Yes. It was now 3:30. And I had seminary at 6:20. Which meant I had to be up in 2 hours or so. Great. But I felt accomplished. This was the first time that I had ever stayed up late into the night to finish reading a book because I couldn't put it down. With that one night I started a chain reaction of rebellious events that were soon to follow. My mindset has changed forever.
Today, I still stay up late into the night if I've found a book that captures me so much that I feel it's actually happening. I still continue to ignore my mom when I go back home for the holidays if I'm reading (and usually I am because it's the only way I can keep my sanity around my family), and I still feel a little flicker of rebellion each time I purposely tell her no and/or ignore her. The only thing that's changed is that I set my alarm clock before I start reading before bed so that I don't have to experience the guilt that comes with finding out what time it is. Reading Girl with a Pearl Earring saved my sanity.