Song writer Helps Kids Summon Courage to stop bullies By: Krista Ramsey

       The article was sharing a man, Keenan West a songwriter goes on a national tour to different schools talking about stopping bullies. He makes songs and shows kids at assemblies and also shows stories of different kids that have been bullied which inspires lots of other high schoolers to stop bullying as well.

URL to the article: Song Writer Helps Kids Summon Courage to Stop Bullies

Best written lines:

" Now the gym has become as quiet and still as an SAT testing sit. As West describes instances of cyber-bullying and intimidation, some students' heads go down, perhaps in a moment of self-examination. Other students – some seated apart from their peers – show keen interest, as if West were telling their story."

It's the best written line because, Krista creates humor in the sentences even though it's a serious topic. When she applies humor to the sentences it also creates a stronger effect and helps connect the reader to Krista's thoughts and emotions. These sentences also tell the reader to start thinking about their life and choices they've made. These words really impact the reader, it has good diction as well. The words are wisely chosen to give a better impact to the reader and carry out the message clearly.

Ramsey writes in a persuasive method, influencing the reader to support her opinions. She is a great argumentative writer. She also has great use of syntax and diction. In her article, For better vision, 
kids need time outdoors, she exclaims "But before parents claw back the iPhones, experts say that the
problem may not lie in the technology itself, but the amount of time spent on it, the environment in which it's used and the activities its replacing." This shows how well Ramsey can persuade an audience by stating an issue but also a solution or suggestion. Also, in Super Bowl QB's score points for great style, Ramsey shows that the style of words give a great meaning and can wrap it into a good present. " In fact, it's interesting how often the best turned-out  person in the room has one of the lowest salaries." In Song writer helps kids summon courage to stop bullies, Ramsey writes, "Now the gym has become as quiet and still as an SAT testing site." This shows that she also wrote in a way that makes you feel like your there, at the event.


If I were able to meet Krista Ramsey, I would ask her 3 questions:

1) How did you start your career as a columnist?

2) When did you get the passion to write?

3) What's your favorite topic to write in for an article?

We Were Liars: Part 2

               I started continued to read the book We Were Liars and the main character has it worse. After the accident, she has this brain issue where she forgets everything and asks the same question over and over again. All her loved ones think she’s crazy and stays away from her. She is isolated from everyone. She feels like she has no purpose to life. So she slowly gives each one of her belongings away until she has nothing so when she dies, she doesn't need to give anything to her family.

               I feel the desperation and loneliness of the main character. The author writes the emotions of the main character very well. You can connect to the character and feel empathy because she turns the character into a real human. The way she brings the character to life with realistic problems is amazing. That is a great way to connect with the reader. It helps the reader hook on to the book.

               The main character sees well in the world, but she thinks she doesn't belong because everyone tells her she can’t. I have attached an article showing how teenagers get lonely and how suicide is what they look on doing as their next course of action like main character in this book is deciding.

Article: http://www.nami.org/Content/ContentGroups/Helpline1/Teenage_Suicide.htm

We Were Liars

I have finished all my mandatory 3 books. For my own choice book, I read If I Stay. For my second book, a genre normally don’t read, I read The Watcher. Finally for my non-fiction, I read The Sea of Tranquility. (By far my favorite book) Now I am starting a new book called We Were Liars. I heard it was a good book and I have only read 3-4 pages in the book and I can already see lots of foreshadowing.

               It’s about a girl who doesn’t really fit in with her family. Her dad left her a year ago and before he left, he shot her right in the chest. She was always a daddy’s girl, so see her very own father shoot her in their front lawn broke her heart. She now can’t trust anyone and feels like no one loves her. When she was bleeding out in her front lawn her mother came and didn’t show any empathy. Her mother just said, Don’t cause a scene. Go inside and suck it up. Ever since then, she is lifeless.

               That’s all I have read in the book and if I were in her shoes, I would be scared. I would run away or even do worse things. I can already tell she is a very strong person because she puts a mask on her face and acts like she’s okay but in reality, she no one loves her, not even her family. She hides lots of her emotions and if a character has that trait it proves that she is strong and selfless. It’s so sad to read through her struggles and hopefully it gets better for her in the end.

Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5yMYlVM7Vk

The Best of Me

This week I read The Best of Me By: Nicholas Sparks. I actually finished this book in a week as well. It’s about a couple, Dawson Cole and Amanda Collier. They both went through hard paths in high school. They fall madly in love and promise each other they would never leave each other. Well, they were wrong. The time came, senior year, the hardest decision of their life came. The ended up splitting up and separating the paths. Many years later, when they both are middle aged, (45) a very close friend of theirs Tuck, died. His last request was for both of them to come back. When they came back the memories come flooding back and they “re-fall” in love again within a matter of days. 

Before they came back home, Dawson never fell in love with another women after Amanda. He became alone. While Amanda fell in love again in College with a man named Frank and had 4 kids, 1 died at the age of 3 from Leukemia. Coming back, both Amanda and Dawson share what they have done in 20 years they’ve seen each other. After confessing there love again, Amanda sees that she has a family and falling in love with Dawson is a problem. She decided to leave Dawson and go back to her family.

To find out more (the ending) and more specific details, I highly suggest you pick this book up and start reading it! It’s the cutest book you will ever read.

               The Best of Me, taught me a valuable lesson. Everyone has second chances in life. You get a second chance in life, not just love. I think that’s very important to understand. You shouldn’t give up just because it didn’t work the first time, brush it off, and try again

.

“The truth is, the world isn't easy for any of us. It never has been and it never will be.” 
― Nicholas Sparks, The Best of Me

               Stepping up and trying to make the best of things is another lesson I learned from this book. There are so many hidden lessons weaved into the book that you need to notice in close detail. My favorite part of the book was when, meeting each other 20 years later. The amount of detail Dawson and Amanda remember of each other is amazing. It shows how special their connection is and showcases that they have true love.

Trailer to the Movie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0a_EF5PMYc

The One: The Selection

I started to read the book The One: The Selection Series and actually finished the book in less than a week. Do you know when you read a book and no matter what you can’t stop reading it? Well this book did that to me. I read the book till 2 in the morning every day until I finished it and was satisfied. The book and series had a good ending and I felt like it was well written and didn’t “rip me off” like other authors have done to their series that I have read. I was content and left with mixed emotions like every author should.

This book/ series where there was a system to pick a queen. It is similar to the bachelor. Funny huh? A 17 year old prince that has never been in love, or had a crush has to pick 1 girl out of 17 beautiful ones to be his wife and rule the country. America happened to be one of those girls. She was form a lower class but once the prince laid his eyes on her, he knew he was in love. In this book she was one of the final girls to be nominated to be queen. While the Selection was going on, lots of violence/ politics from northern and southern rebels kept the prince on his feet. From the selection, to the countless deaths happening in society the prince must juggle everything and find the next queen. A lot happens in this book and I don’t want to spoil it. :)

I recommend this book to people who enjoy romance and like watching the bachelor/bachelorette. It’s intense and has many plot twists, like a guy from America’s past and the threats from the king. That might sound confusing, but if want to know more, read the book! The series is a great and the talent of the writer dragging the reader in tends to amaze me. Cass has been able to use people’s emotions and write the books very well.

Official Book Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVDfV7gCCFE

Walk to Remember: Part 2

I am still reading A Walk to Remember and so far I am enjoying it. After watching the trailer, I can predict lots of the characters personalities. There are not some characters that are developed. But all the characters develop in their own way. (Especially the main characters) I understand the character's thought and a little of there past.

After some time the book started to slow down and get in every small detail. That style of writing is not what I can read. All of Nicholas Sparks Book’s, are very detailed. This book however, was very different from the rest. It was structured in only one of the characters perspective for multiple chapters in a row. Usually Sparks alternates so you can understand both sides. Being a in guy’s perspective for so long was very boring and blunt. He portrayed the guy checking out girls’ majority of the time and describing there “body structure”. I understand that, some guys think like that but I don’t think Sparks should write in that perspective/ topic for a long time.

Even though, I didn’t really enjoy the book, I really want to see the movie. Like I said before [in blog post 8], I watched the trailer and hope to enjoy the movie better. I went onto YouTube, and found lots of scenes people enjoyed in the movie. I particularly love the scene where he stands up for Jamie and is not afraid to be seen with her in public. That was when they’re connection sparked.

The scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dso2Tfye2q4

A Walk to Remember

      I stopped reading Delirium and switched to A Walk to Remember By: Nicholas Sparks. The reason I “dropped” the book Delirium was because it was going very slowly. I might pick it up again when I have time. It was a good book but dragged on for a long time.

      But A Walk to Remember is about this boy, Landon Carter who was a senior class of 1958. He didn't care about his future. He dated a few girls and told that he was in love. But he didn't expect it to be Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the church’s minister.

"Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it." 
— Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)

     Never expecting it to be the girl who was shy, quiet, kind and a girl who didn't care about clothes and makeup, because she wasn't his "type". But, he finds his way to fall in love with her anyway. Funny huh? Love comes to you in weird ways.

     I just started reading the book and I know I will love it. I love how Nicholas Sparks writes. He writes with emotions he’s experienced before; like pain, empathy, and affection. Writing your experiences is the best writing a reader can read, because we can connect to it and understand what the author/ characters go through.

"Without suffering, there'd be no compassion." 
— Nicholas Sparks (A Walk to Remember)

As I continue to read A Walk to Remember, I can’t wait to see what Nicholas Sparks has for me to read this time! 

Here is the Trailer to the Movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3b19svqbls