The Next Book

    The book that I have decided to read next is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy because it has been said to be a really good book and is often suggested to me by my friends who have read it. I have also been interested in the fantasy and scientific fiction genres of books for a significant amount of time. The perpetual thought process of Douglass Adams throughout this book, from what I have heard, is astounding and I am willing to give the book a try.
    When I checked Goodreads, before I decided to read this book, I wanted to see what other people were thinking about the structure of the book and how the plot unravels in the novel and I wanted to check what the rating on the book was. The overall rating of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was 4.38 which I consider to be a very excellent rating for a book. The majority of comments said they were glad they decided to pick this book up and that they couldn't wait to get onto the next book in the series. Although a few of the comments said that a few of the chapters were "laborious to get through" they had also stated that other chapters made the book well worth reading and that they couldn't put the book down.

Recommendation

I think people should read the House of Night series because it has action for boys but it also has romance for girls.

The war between Nafaret (the headmaster of the House of Night) and sort is well worth reading about because it has action since Nafaret has an army that she made from fledglings that did not survive the change. There is also romance between Zoey and her friend Erik that every girl would love. Since Zoey begins to date the ex boyfriend of Aphrodite, leader of the Dark DAughters, this begins a fued between them. Zoey begins to be annoyed by everything that Aphrodite does and doesnt want anything to do with her. But when she joins the Dark Daughters, everything changes. She is forced to spend a emense amount of time with Aphrodite, much to her dismay. When Zoey and Aphrodite are around each other they cant help but be awful to one another and although it doesnt state it directly in the book, we can tell that Zoey and Aphrodite talk to each other in a sarcastic way. Since Zoey joined the Dark Daughters, Aphrodite wants her to sit at the "popular table" but Zoey refuses and sits with her friends still. I enjoyed how she didnt let the "popular" group and status destroy who she was. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romance and action together.


(This is Aphrodite)

Predictions

In the first House of Night novel, I predict that one of the characters is going to betray the school because there are suspicious things going on in the school and the only people that have access to the school are the fledglings and vampyres.

In a club called the Dark Daughters, they have been using fledglings as their "refrigerators" during their meetings which means that the Dark Daughters suck the blood out of the fledglings and they put it into a chalice and mix it with wine. This wasn't the first time that this has occurred but Zoey does find it to be very weird. When her best friend, Stevie Rae is used as one of these people, Zoey can't handle it anymore. She confronts the leader, and it just so happens that the leader doesnt like her which was one of the main reseasons her friend was used, and she tells her that what she is doing is not okay and she should do something else. Which gave the leader, Aphrodite the idea to force Zoey to join the Dark Daughters. Zoey is unsure about this but she decides to join anyways. I have stopped here in my reading but I'm intrigued to know what will happen next.

Column- Krista Ramsey

    In this column by Krista Ramsey she explains what it feels like from a parent's perspective on what it is like to send a child away to college and their life after that.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/opinion/columnists/krista-ramsey/2014/03/06/krista-ramsey-young-adults/6144909/

    "But we smile and wave until they turn the very last corner and head to their gate. Then we return to our car, fold ourselves across the steering wheel and sob."
    I chose these two sentences because I believe that this shows how strong someone can be to get through a situation like this. It represents the ability to overcome hard obstacles in our life. This also helps the reader prepare for when their own child goes off to college or moves away from their own household, and Ramsey helps the reader understand that they aren't alone with this feeling because there are others around them that might be suffering from the same thing. I noticed that throughout this little excerpt, Ramsey decided to use words that aren't elevated because she was saying that even something as simple as this can be very hard for some people.

    I can tell that Ramsey likes to be straight to the point but also adds in details to help support her viewpoint. In the "Super Bowl QBs score points for great style", Ramsey crafts the story so that anyone can relate to what she is saying. Like in the seventh paragraph where she says "If you're the parents of the bride who put thousands of dollars into an elegant wedding, you might well feel a pang when people arrive in jeans with sunglasses atop their heads. The sight of sports jerseys and sweat pants at a carefully planned memorial service can be hurtful." She also gives the reader a view from the person that is being effected. In "For better vision, kids need time outdoors", Ramsey gives her viewpoint as a parent trying to protect her children from having terrible eyes. Ramsey explains that it's not the device itself that is effecting the child, it's the amount of time spent on the device. "But before parents claw back the iPhones, experts say 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 it's replacing." Ramsey thinks that there are a few activities that she wants her children to be doing in reality rather than the activity itself being replaced by technology. In "We're raising out kids to go out and explore the world. But what happens when they do?", Ramsey gives the viewpoint of a parent again but this time the concern is not with technology, but with a child going away for college."And they're gone. And they'd just gotten here." Ramsey shows that being a parent is very tough, but getting through all of those had times, such as having a child go away to college, can be worth it in the end and the rewards for the reader's child are endless.

    Why did Krista Ramsey chose to write about children going off to college? Are her's going away this year?

    How does she structure her sentences so that it leaves the reader to think? Is it through the way she words her sentences or is it the length of the sentences?

    When Ramsey was talking about how the parent gets to their car and cries after the child leaves, did she begin to talk about her own experiences or were those other people's experiences with the same situation?

Summary

    I had recently started reading the House of Night series by P.C Cast and Kristin Cast.
The House of Night series is based around the world of Zoey Redbird (originally Montgomery but later changed to Redbird when she enters the House of Night). In this world, everyone is aware of the exsistance of vampyres due to symbolic marks placed on their forehead by their goddess Nyx. As Zoey enters the school, she relizes that she is different from the other students. Her mark is already filled in making her a unique student. She also learns that vampyres are people that have survived the Change (not everyone does) but for right now she is just known as a fledgling.
    Not long after she arrives, Zoey meets her new roomate, Stevie Rae. Stevie Rae is a country girl from a small town in Oklahoma who helps her deal with her everyday problems and eventually becomes her best friend. Even though some accept fledglings, most still disrespect them. Including Zoey's mother and stepfather and most of the kids at Zoey's old school. On top of all the challenges that Zoey must face while staying at this school, her most challenging is surviving the Change. The Change is when a fledgling becomes an actual vampyre that depends upon blood for survival which is supplied to the school by donors. I am very interested in this book and I am looking forward to reading on.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30183.Marked?from_search=true