Silver Linings Playbook

When making movies based on books, the producers usually change a lot of things. Sometimes it's for the better and sometimes for the worse. When Silver Linings Playbook was made into a movie, a lot of things changed.

One thing that changed in the movie is the main characters name. In the book his name is Pat Peoples but in the movie it is Pat Solitano. Why would you change the name? Pat Peoples even goes better than Pat Solitano so that is something that I just don't understand the reason in. So I looked it up. Mookology.com said that "People's is an unbelievable type of name, but at least replace it with something generic."

Another thing that I didn't like was the major plot change. I'm not going to give anything away but throughout the book you are trying to figure out what Pat did to end up in the mental hospital. You go through his journey and the book and find out why near the end and gives you closure. But in the movie, you find out almost right away. You watch Pat's first therapy sessions and the movie gives you a flashback showing you what Pat did.

Though a lot of things changed from the book to the movie, the book was great and the movie was great by itself too.

Abandoned Books

We all have our own reasons to abandon books. So why do authors keep on writing books like this? I don't know. I'm going to list some of the reasons I abandon books.

Slow beginnings. These kill me because of how impatient I am. When authors start off books with boring description of setting and things like that, you don't want to keep reading. I prefer beginnings with good opening lines and beginnings that are about the characters not setting.

Another reason I abandon books are because there is barely any dialogue. Books with only description and thought have no action or interaction between people. I like dialogue because you can get a feel for what the character is like. Sometimes there is too much dialogue and it is difficult to keep track of what is happening.

I also abandon books when it takes a long time to figure out what is happening. Sometimes I feel like books go on and on about random stuff and I sit there like "what is happening"? They get to confusing going into the specific details or sometimes change what they are talking about randomly.

Why else do you abandon books? Comment below.

The House of Hades: Amazing writing that will send you to the Gods itself.

The House of Hades. The Heroes of Olympus. Written by Rick Riordan. That is all there is to it. The House of Hades is part of the Heroes of Olympus series which is the sequel series to the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. For more on Riordan's books, click here. The Heroes of Olympus books contain the same main characters (Percy, Annabeth, etc.) but it also introduces new characters like Jason, Piper, Hazel, and Frank.

Rick Riordan is a one of the best young adult authors' because he is great at keeping the story alive. This is to make sure that attention-deficit teenagers like us, won't put the book down. Riordan creates suspense at the ends of every chapter so that you don't put the book down. (I like your tricky thinking). A great example of the suspense he builds up is "She began to run faster, which would have meant her death if Percy hadn't stopped her." (417). You keep reading to the next chapter to find out what happen, and then you are left with another cliffhanger, which makes you read the next chapter, and the next chapter and so on and so on. The suspense is just so exciting!

The House of Hades also has great figurative language used. An example of description is "The shards of marble gathered into a miniature tornado, spiraling to the pedestal, and reassembled into a complete bust.."(Riordan 276). Wow. That must hurt. Riordan creates this line so that you can not only see it, but feel the words too. It creates a feeling that was never there before. Much better than saying "the marble bust." Boring.

Something I love even more about this book is how sarcastic and funny it is. A great line from the book is "He imagined the Fates up in Olympus, laughing at his wishful thinking: LOL NOOB!" (Riordan 359). You don't really see that kind of sentence in any other book. I mean, just imagine: "LOL, Montag is a noob that reads books!" That just wouldn't work. Another example of a sarcastic tone is "Like all the maggot monsters crawling all over the plains of Tartarus, they should head toward the dark horizon. Percy was just brimming with enthusiasm for that" (Riordan 99). You can really get the sarcastic tone from that line. Sarcastic authors equal sarcastic books which equal relatable readers. Readers are "brimming with enthusiasm" as they enter school. I just keep loving this book even more and more and can't wait for the next one to come out!

For more, listen to Riordan talk about The House of Hades:

 

Technology in the Classroom

The technological innovation made this year are getting better and cooler. But, how does that impact your academic life? Many people have varying opinions on whether or not schools should upgrade to being technology based classes, or stick with the classic workbook.

To all of the pros and cons of technology, Concordia University addresses some of them. Some pros they said were instant answers, access to more information, and access to educational videos. The University continued to say, "...when they want to know 'why do leaves change color,' they are only a 'search' away." This shows how technology will help kids learn the why's and not only the what's.

There are also cons involved with technology in the classroom. Concordia University lists some of those too; harmful effects, inappropriate material, and cyber bullying. They continue to say how "..students may find links that have gotten through the system." This is also a big problem in our school because kids can just turn off the WiFi and get to sites that the schools have blocked.

In my opinion, technology can be good or bad depending on the way teachers use it. If a teacher relies solely on textbooks, then technology will be a good thing. This will help kids get a broader perspective and give them the 'why's' that they need. Likewise, if a teacher only uses technology, it won't give the students  a good foundation that they need. I think a good combination of both will make a great school.

"Holiday Season Summons Memories of Good Deeds" by Tara Dixon Engel

Tara Engel wrote a great column about how unselfish deeds in life can make a big impact. Engel wanted you to feel sympathetic yet wanted to guilt you into donating to the charities she listed. The way she structured her column was very smart because she gave you this heart-felt story about strangers being nice. Then, BAM! She gives you a whole list of charities that you can donate to. It sort of makes you feel sad and she does a great job of persuading you to donate all the money from under your couch.

Back to the authors message, and example of unselfish deeds is, "The attendant walked to the car. He squeezed another $2 worth of gas into the tank." This is a personal anecdote the author uses to guilt you into donating. She goes on to say how she never forgot this simple deed thirty years later. The author did a great job of sending a great message. But I also think she was very smart in the way she organized her column.

Books vs Movies

Not too long ago, the first Divergent movie came out. Based on a book. Just like a lot of other movies now a days. So let's compare the good and bad things that happened in the Divergent movie compared to the book.

Good things:

• The history of the society was well explained
•  It gave a better visual of some of the things that were hard to visual with the book

Bad things:

• Some characters aren't seen/explained
• This makes us emotionless during their deaths
• Characters are missing/some have bigger roles than in the book
• Some of the plot changes
• Lots of minor changes that I don't want to spoil

So obviously I thought the book was better than the movie. But this doesn't mean you shouldn't see the movie. The movie was great itself. It had all the action, adventure, and romance that it needed. I just didn't like it compared to the book. Overall I thought it was a good movie and a great series to read!

Book Review

So I don’t have anything to read right now so I thought I should do a book review. I wanted to do my book review on a series called the Gallagher Girl books. This series contains six books. The storyline is about how Cammie Morgan and her friends go to a secret spy school for girls. Cammie and her best friends, Bex, Liz, and Macey, uncover secrets about the school and the people after them. This is a great series that has a lot of mystery and action in it so you won’t be able to put the book down.

                One of my favorite things about this series is the authors writing style. The author, Ally Carter, has such a unique way to write. She uses a lot of syntax because it helps you understand what the character is thinking. And for a mystery like this, you will need to know what Cammie is thinking. Carter writes as if she is writing a diary but at the same time she is trying to explain something to you. There is a lot of dialogue because the characters have a lot to discuss. But there is also a lot of description and Cammie thinking in her head. I think Carter does a great job of getting inside the characters’ head because that helps you understand the novel better.

                The plot is also fast-pace and intense.  Cammie and her friends have to use every spy skill they learn in school to find out the answers. They try to get inside secret spy circles. They have to watch out for double agents and traitor. They have to try not to get killed. They have to act like high school girls even though they can kill you 17 different ways with a paper clip. This series is a real page turner because you want to uncover all the secrets and find all the clues. It also teaches pretty great spy skills.