In the book Allegiant, the characters have changed since the beginning  of the series. Beatrice was a small Abnegation girl who discovered she was Divergent- she could choose any faction to join. After choosing Dauntless, she had to toughen up and fight to survive, because she was facing people who had been in Dauntless their whole lives.

Tobias, a.k.a. Four has also changed since the beginning of the book. Four was an Abnegation child as well when he chose Dauntless. He did this to make sure he would be able to defend himself in later life, and to escape his abusive father. Four became an initiate instructor and eventually fell in love with Beatrice. This made him realize that there was more to life than fighting all the time.

Uriah was a Dauntless initiate that had come from amity, the faction of peace. Uriah always stepped down and let other people do whatever with him, but with help from his brother Zeke and his friends, Uriah learned to step up and fight for what he believes in.

Lately in Farenheit 451, Things have been getting tense, and the future looks hard for Montag. My predictions for the rest of this book are that Montag plants the books in firemen's houses, so they are burnt down, but afterwards he is caught and has to explain that he is innocent. I would rate this book an 8 out of 10 because the plotline seems interesting, but nothing really interesting happenes in the actual book. Ray Bradbury has also written "Martian Stories" and "The Illustrated Man". Ray Bradbury is best known for Farenheit 451 and his science fiction/horror stories that depict a futuristic horror scene.

Other books that are similar to this theme are "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, "Matched" by Ally Condie, and "Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. These books all depict a scary, futuristic scenario where the main character breaks free. The end is usually the government getting toppled by rebels.

In Allegiant, there is a massive setting change. Near the beginning of the book, Beatrice and her allies are in the city, trying their best to rebel against the "dictator" Evelyn. The city is a large, circular quarintined area split into five parts, one for each faction. Aquiring help from the force that is trying to restore factions in the city, the Allegiant, Beatrice, Tobias, Claire, Uriah, and few others are able to escape the city and migrate to the real world. Looking around, they see signs of rebuilding from some devestation. As the characters find civilization at a scientific compound, where the leaders of the country try to explain what had happened, they notice that many of the people living there have tensions between each other. Finding this, Tobias ventures to the fringe. The fringe is a desolate place where outcasts and rebels go to live and hide. Exploring the new and dangerous place, Tobias is made aware of a new rebel force against the government,
It is up to Beatrice and Tobias to decide weather to trust these rebels, or to side
with the government in the next part of Allegiant.

Allegiant: About the Author.

        The author of this book, Veronica Roth is famous for the Divergent series, which is popular among many teens right now. The series is about five factions of people that are trapped in a city and lead themselves to survive, but as new secrets unfold, they encounter many problems. Veronica Roth has also written Starglass, and shards of ashes. Starglass is about a girl who is in a spaceship that left Earth many years ago. After watching a crew member kill an inncoent man, the girl is pulled into an underground rebel society to overthrow the ship captain in a mutiny. Shards of Ashes is a book about different author's worlds of dystopia, sharing stories of them, and comparting them to each other.

"The world is gone, destroyed by human, ecological, or supernatural causes. Survivors dodge chemical warfare and cruel gods; they travel the reaches of space and inhabit underground caverns. Their enemies are disease, corrupt corporations, and one another; their resources are few, and their courage is tested." -Veronica's Blog, about Shards of Ashes.

        Victoria Roth is mainly relying on the last book in the divergent series, Allegiant, which I am now reading. The Divergent series is the first series of book that the author has written herself, and the only as well. Victoria Roth did an amazing job writing the Divergent series, and since this book is probably the last in the series, I hope she does the same job on another book soon!

It's a new trimester! I hope you are all doing well in your classes so far, and are getting less homework. For my new class, I picked a sequel to the books Divergent and Insurgent, this book is called Allegiant. I've only read a few pages, but so far, it looks as if the factionless are trying to clean up the world. Yet in doing so they have made another tyrant. The leader of the factionless has taken power, and is forcing the people to mix and integrate when they don't want to. The faction citizens are fighting, yet the factionless seem blind to anything but a threat to themselves. All of the main characters will have to find a way to make peace a different way than this. I predict that Tris and her old friends from Dauntless will meet up and compose a plan to overthrow the factionless leader.

The book I just finished reading: The Gift by James Patterson is a very good book that fits well with the series. I would give this book a nine out of ten because the language used is low level. Despite that, the book was written well, and (I guess) the language is appropriate for the protagonists in the books (they are teenagers who are leading a resistance movement against a controlling government) because some of them aren't adequately educated. The earlier book in the series The Witch and the Wizard, flowed well into The Gift, with a suspenseful ending and a quick pick up, I like James Patterson's rendering of the world of The Gift. 

About the author:

The author of my book series: the witch and the wizard (James Patterson) has written many other books. His other major titles include: Maximum ride, First to Die, Middle School, and many more. James Patterson's books are mostly fantasy. The books try to explain some things scientifically, but most of his works take a very wide imagination to fully enjoy. James Patterson doesn't write any nonfiction books, or historical fiction books. James' writing is also angled towards teenage to young adults, and the majority of his readers are either 14-17 or 25-32. James Patterson writes about magical mystical events, and always includes romance of some kind. He always has a wide variety of different characters included in his books

The mood of The Witch and the Wizard is very straightforward and blunt. There is little emotional appeal, and what there is is very quick, and innefective. The reader doesn't feel much emotional flux during this book. The book does have many cliches and lots of things happen that you would expect to happen in a typical book. In this quote, the characters are required to drive along subway tracks to reach their home base. "I reflexively checked my mirrors as I felt for the ignition key under the wheel. What I saw was a bright light, headed right towards us." 'Um, not so far away,' I said" (Patterson 235). This quote shows that there are expected events in the book, and as soon as the reader notices they are in a subway station, the subway train is expected to happen.

The tone of the book depends on the point of veiw the chapter is in. Whit and Wisty both take turns describing the events unfolding, because often they are separated. Whit is very intelligent, and he describes everything as it is. Wist is very sarcastic and attatched to her own feelings. While shallow and quite frusteratingly stupid at times, she is entertaining to the reader as a character.

Analysis

In the book I am reading, the Witch and the Wizard, many things happen in a small time. Where I am in the book, Whit and Wisty are in the shadowland. The shadowland is a place where the lost ones, who are the other half of ghosts (Half beings who haunt the overworld), are. These things will hunt down and devour any living being in the shadowland. "'Something broke the string,' he said, fear flickering in his brilliant eyes. From behind us, a chorus of moans added an ugly exclamation point to his statement." There are many portals here, one of which Whit, added Wisty, and some friends they made will have to use to get to their base in the overworld, where a bunch of kids set up a military base to combat the New Order. Next they will use Whit and Wisty to break into a N.O. prison and free more witches and wizards.

In my new book, the Witch and the Wizard the kid that rebel against the New Order have set up their own government, one that has one leader each week. They all vote on the new leader each week, this interests me because their policies could change every week, and the government would be very unstable. I wonder if the policy will change throughout the book, or if it will stay the same. The New Order has a  dictator who has control over a lot of magic, he uses that to stay in power. I also wonder if the people of the New Order will ever rebel, because everybody is exactly the same, and leads the same life under the New Order.

Theme  and summary.

The new book I am reading: The Witch and the Wizard is a bizarre book. The theme of the book so far is that family comes first.
throughout the text, including at the beginning when the New Order soldiers kidnap the Allgood family, the Allgood family is constantly trying to stay together. The parents are separated from the children, and the reader doesn't  know where they are yet, and the children are put in trial for being "Witches and Wizards," The children have been trying to get back to their parents ever since they were taken, and the boy has been trying to get in touch with his girlfriend, Celia.
Throughout the part of the book I have read, the Allgoods are very feared by the people of the new order, and are being sentenced to death by the N.O. for reasons that aren't very clear to the children yet. Where I am at, the children are stuck in a prison with no way out, and are being tortured(ish)
by the prison warden.

Predictions/Questions REDO
The book Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper is a good book, but I have a few questions about the characters. One such character is Mrs. V. From what Melody can see and hear, Mrs. V. is a hired tutor for Melody to help Melody communicate and move better. Where she comes from is unexplained, and so is her reason for helping Melody so much. "I studied... after school every day with Mrs. V." This quote shows that Mrs. V. is a large factor in Melody's life, but there is no explanation for why she is there.


A text to self connection is that I usually have the right answers to problems, but People don't understand me when I say it. The same is with melody, but she can't talk at all.
A text to world connection is that I see people in wheelchairs like this all the time, and I always wonder what they are thinking. Now I wonder if this book is a good representation.
A text to text connection is Cherub, a book that is totally different, but the main character has a bunch of similar problems, but they both finally find a way to overcome them.

The author of the book I am reading, Sharon Draper has several other books, and is a well established author. some of her works are Just Another Hero and Panic. the other books she has put out are more of "The Hero's Journey" plotline books, and are more traditional in style. These books have a call to action , then there is some sort of adventure or task to complete, then at the end, everything is returned to normal, or at least everything ends happy for most people.  The book I am reading, Out of my Mind is a "w" plot book, where there are several rising and falling actions, but each one is critical to the story.

Another novel Draper wrote, Panic, is a story about a fifteen year old girl who goes missing at the mall. As her friends try to figure it all out, their own stories and social lives unfold, and it all leads
to an epic conclusion. I suggest this book if you like out of my mind because they both deal with kids  and their problems that they have while developing.

Book Recommendation

My book so far includes The main character Melody. And the genre is either realistic fiction or non-fiction. You can't tell in any way because there is no proof either way. The Characterization of the other characters is full, but extremely limited because Melody is disabled. As the reader, you can't see inside anybody else's head aside from Melody's, and this makes characterization much harder to understand, because characters are only able to be characterized from what Melody sees, which is a dumbed down kiddie version of what's really happening.
I think that the book is well written, and that the author did a good job of displaying Melody and her interactions with other characters, because it's hard to show what a special needs child is thinking at all times. Melody is a very thoughtful character who has feelings and emotions, but those are never shown to the other characters at any time.
I would give this book a four out of five, the four stars are because she did such a good job of addressing the topic, the missing star is because this book is very short, and I think that's because the author leaves holes in the story where Melody's life is taking place. There are so many things that Melody experiences that the reader can't see because it is in the parts of Melody's life that the writer doesn't show.

 

I'm about halfway through my book, Out of my mind and something exciting has happened: Melody, the main character, has gotten a medi-talker. This is a machine that Melody has wanted for years and years, and was just now able to communicate her predicament to her parents. The medi-talker is an amazing machine for Melody, because it allows her to type out what she wants to say, and the machine will speak it for her. This has a dramatic impact on  her life at home, and her social life. Though she can now communicate to everybody at school much better, some people would rather not have it that way, like Claire and Molly, who make fun of the special kids on a regular basis. Once Melody brings her device to school, she is able to Counter Claire's insults, answer the teacher directly, and can ask for certain things. Melody is now the center of many kid's attentions, and is looking to join a school activity.

Predictions/questions

 

The book I am reading: Out of my Mind is a book that leaves a few questions to be asked, as it is told only from the viewpoint of the main character, Melody. Melody doesn't understand a lot about what things mean, but she does know when things happen. For example, the book does not tell much about the backgrounds of the people that are hired to help Melody, or why they are there. one example is "Mrs. V" a character that appears mysteriously in the middle of the novel, and really seems to want to help Melody. Even so, her reasons for doing so are very unclear.

 Another strange aide that helps Melody is Catherine. She goes to school each day with Melody to make sure she gets to all her classes on time. It's obvious to us, (but not to Melody) That she is employed by the school, but my question is how does the school have enough employees for each special needs child? Where do all these people come from? "From the very beginning Mrs. Valencia gave me no sympathy. Instead of sitting me in one of those special chairs my Dad bought for me, she plopped me in the middle of a quilt on the floor." I've always noticed loose ends, so it drives me insane that there are so many things in this novel I can't decipher where they came from! In that way, I can relate to Melody, but my problems don't compare to hers.

      Characterization

      The new book I am reading about: Out of my Mind, is an interesting book, and the characters are well defined, at least the ones who change. Not many characters actually change, though, except for the main character and her parents, maybe. My first example would be Rosie. She is a round character, fully explained and detailed, but she doesn't change much, she is, and would have been an all around nice person anyways. "'Relax, Rose. We have until the end of may, and I'll walk you through each segment, one step at a time. Tomorrow we'll talk about how to write our memories'. Rose seemed satisfied, but I noticed she scribbled almost a whole page in her notebook"(Draper 109).

      Melody's mom totally changes at one point in the book. When she finally gets to hear her daughter talk. Before she was grumpy and irritated, but after this one moment, she realizes how really special her daughter is. "When I think about it, I've never said any words directly to my parents. So I push a couple of buttons, and the machine speaks the words I've never been able to say. 'I love you'. Mom completely loses it. She bubbles up with tears, and grabs Dad, who might be crying himself." This is when Melody's mother changes, she becomes more empathetic towards Melody and her father, and is more willing to help around the house instead of yelling at her dad for not doing anything.

     

Theme/Story

 
 The new book I am reading, Out of my mind Is a book about a girl with special needs who can't talk, or move her limbs very well. Despite her physical limits, the girl has photographic memory, and can remember everything she sees. I would say that the theme of this book is to always keep trying, because  her difficulties all have solutions, no matter how hard. She has to discover, and overcome all her communication problems, and her social problems. "I guess I figured out I was different a little at a time. Since I never had trouble thinking or remembering, it actually sort of surprised me that I couldn't do stuff. And it made me angry" (Draper 9).
     The doctors told her mother that she could be sent to a hospital to be taken care of, or enrolled in a "Developmentally challenged schooling facility". Her mother decided to enroll her in a regular school, and there her problems increase. Many kids make fun of her, "Claire laughed as Freddy tried to talk, and pretended to fall out of her chair" (Draper 95).

Divergent Article:Out of my Mind

               Long Lankin

        The Characters of the book I am currently reading -“Long Lankin” are very complex, but only one really changes. That is Ida Eastfield, who at the beginning of the book immediately rejects the children staying at her house because their parents are away. At the time, it is unclear why, aside from mysterious side comments and thoughts, there seems to be no reason to want to keep them out. Eventually Ida has to give in, and the children, (Cora and Mimi) Stay at Ida’s house.

         To Cora, the place seems bolted down. All the windows are boarded up, the doors are locked and closed, and there are many rooms they are not allowed in. As Cora talks with Ida, she feels more and more imprisoned by Ida’s rules “… never – mustn’t – can’t – don’t… Like a flippin’ prison!”(Barraclough 46).  (Much) Later on, Cora understands the need to follow these rules, because she is in a danger that is barely understood, and hardly talked about in the little town. This quote is from Cora’s mother, when she was little. She learned the hard way why the doors are locked. There is a dormant evil at the church that cannot be angered.

         “… but I’m so sorry I opened the door that day, I was messing about on the piano when I heard something coming down the hall. I was worried you had finished in the barn without me seeing you and you’d be really cross with me for opening the door when you specially told me not to, specially because the tide was out, you said, but I didn’t know why you said that. There was this really nasty smell, like old earth and dead things, and a slithering noise, like something crawling along the floorboards. The smell got stronger and the sound got louder till it was right by the door. My mouth went watery like metal and my hands went all sticky…” (Barraclough 609).

        Cora’s mother was listening to Long Lankin creep up on her sister to take her away. Cora's mother never saw her sister again. When Cora reads this she finally knows why all these rules apply. She felt the need after that to protect her sister, and she never went down to the church (Lankin's hideout) again, for fear Mimi would be taken.

Divergent Article

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