why I really hate youth fiction sometimes
majority of them paint the picture of a mousy plain girl, (or so the main character thinks because she’s insecure) falling in love with this perfect, sexy, popular boy who all the girls go for and all the guys are jealous of. but of course he falls for the main character right away and thinks she’s beautiful.
I have a couple of problems with. first of all the guy you’re gonna end up with may have a killer personality but he may not be this sexy stud you imagine. and of course his personality will make him attractive. but I hate that it’s always about looks. second, the guy thats popular and attractive and perfect in the books is usually this super sweet guy. but MAJORITY of the time, in real life, those popular attractive perfect boys are complete assholes because they know what they have and they use it to do whatever the hell they want. and sometimes the guy acts like an ass in the books too at first but then turns out ot be amazing. same goes for the media, they usually have this super hot guy who’s kind of an ass who falls for this clumsy dorky girl. this does not happen in real life. but because of the media and books you have dumbass insecure teenage girls all falling for that super hot guy who turns out to be an asshole and uses them. I almost think the media and such kind of helps out the players. just my opinion. I kind of got off topic of fiction…damnit..but whatever. yeah. thats my problem with a lot of love stories that are written.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
daughterofsmokeandbone.comNational Book Award Finalist
“Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she speaks many languages - not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color.” (From the inside cover of Daughter of Smoke and Bone)
“This time, it was because she caught me watching Interview With A Vampire one afternoon on HBO. It's R rated, and I was only sixteen, but I'd read the book so who cares? In my imagine, it's much gorier than in the movie, which is pretty lame, even if it did have good costumes.”
—Debbie Harry Sings In French by Meagan Brothers
T.A.G. Book Review
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Finding your favourite book in the world is a rare occurrence. But after reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak you might have found that book! This story is of a young German girl, Liesel, who is sent to live with two strangers – Hans and Rosa Hubermann – during World War II. The key figures in her new life are Rosa, a woman who on the outside is coarse and terrifying, but on the inside hides an enormous heart: Hans, the serene painter and musician who teaches Liesel to read and becomes her new father: Rudy, a boy whose dream is to run like Jesse Owens: and Max, a Jewish man who seeks refuge in the Hubermann’s basement. It is a story about human resilience, love and the importance of words. The story, with its tragic conclusion, is wonderful in itself, but it is the way it is written that makes the book a hundred times more beautiful. In fact, the book is narrated by the darkly humoruous, wise and even compassionate Death! The Book Thief is a gem of a book that must be read.
—Reviewd by Sugee L. (TAG Member)
Chapter One
Last Saturday was a doozy. It wasn’t like most Saturdays in the country. Bee and her two brothers, Quentin and Spencer, didn’t rush though their morning chores, yank their bikes out of the garage and pedal off to the convenience store to spend their allowance on candy. They didn’t follow that weekly tradition with a sugar-induced tickle fight or game of “Gladiators” in the basement. They didn’t finish the day crowded around the tv with pizza on their laps, watching a movie together. Instead, last Saturday while Bee’s dad was at work, Bee’s mom pulled her and her brothers aside from their chores to inform them she was leaving their father. To some, this isn’t such a horrible thing. It can often be a really good thing. But to Bee and her brothers, it came as a shock. Bee had always been quite close with her brothers and up until then had enjoyed an easy life of school, play, homework and more play. She had the occasional fight with one of her brothers (I mean come on, Spencer was FIVE years younger than her and Quentin was five years older. Sandwiched between those two, who wouldn’t pick a fight now and then?) But Bee couldn’t understand why her Mom would want to move away from her Dad. Bee thought everything was fine. Her parents never fought, they hardly even spoke to one another! Oh… so maybe that could have been a small indication that the split was coming.
As Bee sat still, stone-faced trying to make sense of this news, her mom dropped another bomb on Bee’s happy existence: she was to go live with her mother, leaving her two brothers behind to live with their Dad. “After all, can you really see your father buying your tampons?” Her mother asked, patting Bee on the knee. Her mother didn’t get a reply.
Bee would have loved to say she handled the announcement like the grown up she nearly was… but in reality she tore out of the room, out of the house and into the field that bordered their country home and sobbed by some cows. Bee often hung out with cows. Very calming. Very good-natured. She had only complimentary things to say about cows.
Afterwards she packed her clothes and books as her mother instructed her to, and watched as Spencer and her Mom loaded up the small car. Quentin was nowhere to be found and Bee wished she could disappear as well as he did. She was told twice to help them but couldn’t seem to move her feet. She just watched Spencer’s feet and waited for them to stop shuffling back and forth between the trunk and the front steps of the house. It didn’t take nearly long enough for them to load up the car with all of Bee and her mom’s possessions and soon Spencer’s Reeboks came to a stop beside hers.
“Don’t make this harder than it needs to be,” their mom warned, “it’s not like you won’t see each other every weekend. We’re only moving into town.” Bee and Spencer stared blankly at one another for a few moments. What more could they do? And that was that. Bee watched the farmhouse get smaller as they pulled out of the driveway and drove down the long gravel road to the highway, then she turned back around in her seat to face the road ahead. Only she didn’t face the road ahead, she stared at her hands in her lap.
The Baby-sitters Club: Where are They Now?
thehairpin.comThis is perfect on so many levels.
