Book 4 final

How do authors start out? Some don't go through college and some spend extra time in college but they still create best selling books. How can that be? Isn't it logical to think that the more schooling you go through the better you're prepared to write a popular book. Authors don't always start that way. Some have an imagination that gains their popularity or their own life story that grabs the attention of the world. The Harry Potter series is well known around the country but how did J.K. Rowling get her success? She started as an unemployed, single mother living in London. She thought of the story Harry Potter while sitting on a train. She didn't even have a pen and paper to write the idea down but she kept it all in her head as she traveled. It's very interesting how J.K. Rowling came up such a wonderful serious that's mysterious, thrilling and magical. I didn't expect to read about wizards and witches and be so fascinated with the series. Every character is so well rounded, you learn about everything about each of them. How she came up with this series I don't understand. J. K. Rowling started the first book knowing the ending of the 7th book. She created a whole web and chart of what would mainly happen in each book and add all the little details when she started to write each one. I still don't understand how you can just sit on a train and develop this popular series that the whole world is going crazy over. I just don't understand! Her writing is fabulous and very abstract. Her imagery changes the perspective of her audiences and inspired the rest of the world. I can't wait to finish the book and the whole series. I have seen all the movies but I want to read what wasn't included in the movies.
When Rowling decided to get the book published no one thought it would be a story that the audience would love until one accepted her book. It took a year until the story became popular and everyone fell in love. Now every country in the world is infatuated with this series. This story of how J.K. Rowling started from the bottom and now is one of the richest people in the world from one series really impresses me. Anyone can start from the bottom and change their world around with one decision. Even though she decided to give most of her money to charity she still is considered one of the richest authors known because of how successful she has become. Harry Potter will forever be a world famous book and inspire the rest of the world to produce wonderful books like this series. I can't wait to read more of the series and maybe some of her other books.


http://www.biography.com/people/jk-rowling-40998

J.K. Rowlings writing of Harry Potter

It's very interesting how J.K. Rowling came up such a wonderful serious that's mysterious, thrilling and magical. I didn't expect to read about wizards and witches and be so fascinated with the series. Every character is so well rounded, you learn about everything about each of them. How she came up with this series I don't understand. I read in an article that she developed the series on a train to London. All the ideas of Harry Potter came to her mind but she didn't have a pen to write all the details down so she just kept thinking of more and more things to add to her story. J. K. Rowling started the first book knowing the ending of the 7th book. She created a whole web and chart of what would mainly happen in each book and add all the little details when she started to write each one.
Dates when Series was published:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone- 1997
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 1998
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 1999
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire 2000
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 2003
6. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince 2005
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2007 

I still don't understand how you can just sit on a train and develop this popular series that the whole world is going crazy over. I just don't understand! Her writing is fabulous and very abstract. Her imagery changes the perspective of her audiences and inspired the rest of the world. I can't wait to finish the book and the whole series. I have seen all the movies but I want to read what wasn't included in the movies.

Where'd you Go Bernadette    By: Maria Semple

If the whole book is about finding Bernadette I might as well write about why she left, right? There are so many logical reasons that only if you read the book you would understand. Bernadette has a crazy life and in these five reasons, her adventures are summed up in a few sentences.
5 reasons Bernadette left:

1. She couldn't handle the pressures of her "psychological issues"
Elgin, Bernadette's husband, decided to figure out what was going wrong with her because she was acting so distant and bizarre. Elgin decided to get the detectives, FBI and Dr. Kurtz involved in order to send Bernadette to a treatment facility to help her. Bernadette doesn't know her husband has been planning an intervention for a few weeks and when he finally decides to put the plan in action. Bernadette is startled by this quick interaction "Do what here? I don't like this. I'm leaving," (219 Semple). Bernadette is asked many questions and under a lot of pressure so she decides to take a bathroom break and escape the house.

2. She can't handle living in Seattle with the gnats
Bernadette has always hated Seattle ever since she moved there because all the mother's, whom she calls gnats, in Galer Street School are obnoxious and she just doesn't fit in. Bernadette moved from LA to Seattle because she could not longer handle the shame of her Architect failure with the Twenty Mile House. After almost running Audrey Griffin over in the school parking lot and Audrey making a big scene over it, removing blackberries from her yard and creating a mudslide destroying the Kindergarten breakfast at Audrey's home and being made fun of by the other Galer Street mom's because she doesn't volunteer at the school often. Bernadette can no longer handle these pressures either and blows up in front of Soo-Lin during the intervention, "Oh, shut up. What the hell are you doing here anyway? Will someone open a window and let the gnat out?" (221 Semple). She could not longer handle Seattle and wanted to leave.

3. All the pressure from the Twenty Mile House
Bernadette was an architect before having Bee and moving Seattle. She was one of the only women in architecture so there was pressure just in her job. After the Twenty Mile House in LA was destroyed, Bernadette could not longer handle the pressures of being an architect so she decided to move out of LA with Elgin to Seattle and start a new life. She no longer was an architect instead she took care of Bee and the home.  "Bernadette Fox never built another house. She moved to Seattle with her husband, who got a job at Microsoft. When AIA made Fox a fellow, she didn't attend the ceremony" (130).

4. She was afraid of getting sick on the way to Antarctica
At the very beginning of the story we learn that Bee wanted to go to Antarctica with her parents if she got good grades. Bernadette started putting the trip together through her assistant in India. she checked everything off her list until she learned about the Drake Passage and that many get seasick when crossing this so Bernadette decided to look for medicine that would help her on the trip "I'm really getting scared about the trip to Antarctica . And not just because I hate people, which, for the record, I still do. I just don't think I can make it across the Drake Passage" (38). She no longer feels like going on the trip and decides to let Elgin and Bee go instead.

5. She was afraid of sending Bee off to boarding school
Most parents are sad to see their children to get on the bus for their first day of Kindergarten or see their kids leave for college. Bernadette was in a similar situation but she was sending Bee to boarding School for high school. Bernadette went to a boarding school and wanted her child to try something new. like all parents though they have this feeling that they don't want their children to leave home. Bernadette expresses her feelings in an email to her assistant, Manjula, in India, "do you hear the weeping all the way in India? Bee was accepted to Choate! Truly, I blame Elgie and myself, for regaling Bee with  our boarding school adventures" (40).

I'm not going to spoil the ending but I would read and find out if they find Bernadette. She goes on crazy adventures that are hard to follow but make you laugh out loud.

Blog #5:Memoirs and non-fiction

I believe that a book must be about 95% true in order for it to be considered non-fiction because if most of the book is lies then people will misinterpret the story line and always believe what’s in the book. There are certain details that can be changed such as a character’s name, maybe where they lived or just little facts like that. When an author is changing the whole storyline in which the ending of the story is different than the real thing, there is a big issue here of whether the book is non-fiction or fiction. I know people tweak their stories to make them more interesting to their audience but drastically changing the plot doesn’t make the story non-fiction.

There should be a new genre in which authors have a creative story that they experienced in their lifetime and if they want to write about it and make a few changes, sure, they can do that but it’s not considered fiction or non-fiction anymore. A new Genre will change the perspective of readers. I, as a reader, would want to know whether the whole book was true or not because I hate being led on. When I found out A Million Little Pieces wasn’t 100% true, my heart broke. I hated the thought that someone lied to me. Now if I was told before that half the book was true I would be fine with that because I would think about “How did this actually happen to this man?” and worry about how he dealt with this situation. I would be able to set the book down and say it was a great book but I know some of the things written were made up. With a new genre created for these half-truths, I believe readers will be more understanding to these books and critics won’t be fighting over “when something is considered non-fiction?” they’re just wasting energy on the subject.

I do agree with David Shields that you don’t have to make everything true within your story. People freak out about this too much. They can’t just label a book fiction or non-fiction because people are going to change things. There are 300 pages full of mostly fiction and there may be a fact in there but why can’t the book be non-fiction, it has facts right? I think putting books into genres is only complicating the whole book world. There are so many books between two or three genre that it’s unfair to the book to place it in one. I know it’s easier to categorize a book so they can be put on certain shelves in a book store or library but not every book is just fiction or just non-fiction. It would be better to classify them by author or maybe specifics things happening with in the story.

Adapting The Book Thief

I think The book Thief should be turned into a movie (even though it all ready is a movie) because there are so many interesting parts in the book that could be great action scenes in a movie. Making the book into a movie would make it come to life. The scenes that cannot be taken out of the story plot is when Liesel first comes to Molching, when she steals the books, when she visits the Mayor's home to read from his library with his wife, when Hans Junior comes to the home, when the Nazi soldiers come to the Huberman's to inspect their basement and  the ending can't be left out.
All the little details about the laundry and soccer games don't need to be added. In the book the first 100 pages are about the soccer games and laundry. I think those scenes need to be present but not repeated  as much as in the book because it takes up time that could be used for the major parts of the book.
Certain scenes, such as the ending, when most of Liesel family dies because of a bomb should be emphasized more and be dramatic. Liesel loses the family that took care of her even when they didn't have enough money to take care of themselves. She has lost so many people in her family that tragedy is taking over her life. I don't think the movie should talk much about her moving away and having children because the movie needs to focus on the book she wrote. It needs to focus on her childhood. There can be a little excerpt explaining what happened to her after everyone she loved died.
The cast for the book thief could be Chloë Grace Moretz as Liesel because she does well in sad movies such as If I Stay. she can be very dramatic and would fit well with this role. Hans Huberman can be acted by his character in the movie that was created a few years ago because he is a great actor in the movie.
The movie shouldn't be exactly like the book because there is so much added information to story that can't be shoved into a two hour movie. This was a book that I didn't enjoy too much because the plot was very slow and not interesting but the movie captures the watcher's attention.

Paper Towns

Enjoy playing a game full of secrets and spoilers of the book Paper towns. Join Quentin and his friends on a trip to find Margo Roth Spiegelman. You can be Quentin, Radar, Lacey, or Ben. Each card gives you a new hint to where Margo may be hiding next. Why is Margo not in school? Why did Margo take Quentin to the SunTrust building in Orlando? Why did Margo leave behind clues for Quentin? Does she really want him to find her? Where is Margo heading to? All these questions and more can be answered within this game. The first to reach Algoe, New York wins!

This game describes the book with its many features. In Paper Towns, Margo Roth Spiegelman goes missing after her and Quentin vandalize many of Margo’s friend’s’ homes. Quentin believes that Margo is leaving behind clues for him to come find her. He uses these clues and travels to different parts of Orlando looking for her until he finds a clue leading to New York. Quentin has help from the gang (Lacey, Ben and Radar). They all want to find her and bring her back home where she belongs. This game relates to the story because Quentin travels all over the place to find Margo. The game has different spots where Margo could be hiding or where Quentin and the gang go to talk about where Margo could be hiding. Each of the cards give you a clue of where to move. The clues are clues that Quentin or someone from the gang has found that could reach to Margo. The first little logo on the board is an apple; the apple represents the school in which all the kids attend. It’s their senior year so they are ready to leave for college and graduation is just around the corner. The second logo is the Sun Trust building where Margo took Quentin after vandalizing houses and told him her thoughts about paper towns. The clue “The town was paper, but the memories were not,” (Green) led Quentin into thinking where Margo might be once she went missing.  The bow logo represents Margo’s house. Quentin saw a poster through Margo’s bedroom window of Woody Guthrie which led him to the song called Walt Whitman’s Niece which then led to Walt Whitman’s poem Leaves of Grass where he found highlighted lines. He noticed that the lines were clues to the where she may be so he read them over and over again. The clues lead him to an abandoned Mini Mall in Christmas, Florida where Quentin finds more clues from Margo. This place was used on the board because it’s an important landmark in the book. Many of the clues lead to abandoned Subdivisions which Quentin goes to, to find Margo. These are also big landmarks in the story. Quentin finally knew where he had to travel to find Margo. He didn’t want to leave “It is so hard to leave—until you leave. And then it is the easiest goddamned thing in the world,” (Green). On the day of Graduation he packed some things, went to graduation and told his friends he had to leave for New York and wouldn’t stay at graduation. The gang takes the 20 hour trip to New York to find Margo. When they arrive, Quentin finds her, “I didn’t need you, you idiot. I picked you. And then you picked me back.” (Green). The book ends with the two of them talking about Margo never coming back to Orlando.  

With the game being based off Candy Land the characters can travel to different parts of the story while using clues to make their way to Margo just like in Candy Land when you’re trying to be the first to the Candy Castle. Find Margo is the situation Quentin is in because he loves her so why not have you and your friends go on the same thrill-seeking adventure as Quentin. Anyone can join the gang in the search for Margo.

Examples of Cards: most of the cards will just have colors on them like Candy land b

• You found a note from Margo in your door advance to Margo's house
• Margo wasn't at any of the subdivisions move back 10 spaces

Post 2: What is a book?

A book is a dream that everyone can open up and see inside. Dreams open our imagination and expand our horizon into new discoveries about the world. Not only does a book tell you about our world today but we are able to imagine what life will be like in the future or how the past has made us who we are today. I can't imagine a life without books because we spend so much time reading them and learning about new things that you would have never thought of. Some books take us on trips around the universe or into different worlds to imagine something new.

I agree with Joe Meno when he states "There's something about the physicality of a book, the way it looks and feels and even smells--the notes written in the margins--that makes it a living breathing companion," the book is a possession that can be held by any person, technology defeats the purpose of a book. Yes we can read things online but a story isn't a story unless it's written in fine print, neatly on hundreds of pages bound together by a spin. I just love the feel of holding a book in my hand. I can feel how many pages I have read so far in my left hand and fell how many pages I have to read in my right. A book can be taken anywhere and can be read at any time. A kindle, iPad, or phone cannot be used at every moment of the day. Some say it's inappropriate to pull your phone or a kindles out during certain situations such as during class. If a book is pulled out the teacher knows you're doing something productive and not just playing on the internet or texting your friends. Stories can't be read online or on a device, I get distracted with other things. I can't focus on the story when I know someone has messaged me or there are games I can be playing on the device. Stories really come to life when you open a book. The author sucks you into the storyline and off you go into a new world.

Everyone has their own opinion on whether to read books or read from a kindle or device. I believe reading from a books involves yourself more into the story and you're able to write on the pages and interact with the characters. I have never finished a book on my kindle but I always finish hardback books.