"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.