Thoughts: friendship

I haven't posted a while lot of thoughts, so I decided to start. Today's post is on friendship. Friends are some of the mist confusing people you will ever meet. Everybody as their own pack of 'besties' and are kinda expected to hang out with them. Of course the world doesn't work out like that. Sometimes you need to get away from the people you care then most about and just make new friends, build new bridges. That's the beauty of true friends, they won't ever stop caring about you even when you stop hanging out. Once a friend, your always a friend. I hate it when people have huge fights, and I truly believe that people never truly loose friends, they might just push them away. You'll always have those memories together.

Mary, Bloody mary

In the classic story of King Henry VIII and his many wives one person who often gets looked over is Mary. She was the 1st daughter of the king, and by far the oldest. She was a catholic, and daughter of a Spanish princess. During her reign as queen England had a very dark period of slaughter and religious persecution. This book delves into mary's life as she sees her father change from a good king to a tyranny. She is forbidden to see her mother and deemed illegitament, her title taken away. She is personally humiliated by Anne bolyen, the woman who changed her father, and the eventual threat of execution. Mary's life is full of danger, deceit, change, and chaos. From a princess to a lowly maid Mary is a very compelling character often forgotten by history. Personally I loved this book and found it very interesting and great historical fiction.

Fall reading

I can't believe it's already october, were heading into fall. I have some reviews that could go along with Halloween, Fall, and spookiness. Check back each week for a new review :)

Kathryn

Updates, Gordon Korman,

Sorry i haven't posted in a REALLY long time, but I've been pretty busy. There are a bunch of new books I've read, but unfortunately I cannot do a review on all of them. Below is the list of my recent readings:
Deep and Dark and Dangerous- Ghost story that was sorta spooky but really good
Wings- A Fairy Tale- Interesting plot line, but a very fantastic book. It's about fairies.
Eleven- Pretty good, about a 11 year old girls' life.
Twelve- The continuation of the girl's life when she's twelve.
Thirteen- The same series, about the girl when she's thirteen.
Access Denied[and other eight grade error messages]- Drama that goes on in 8th grade
The Fifth Of March- Good, interesting historical fiction about the Boston Massacre.
Tuck Everlasting- Interesting plot line, sorta, but pretty boring and short.
Witch & Wizard- Very good series about magic in the real world. I may do a post as the rest come out and I am able to read them.
The Book Thief- Great Historical Fiction book. Set in Germany during WWII and narrated by death. I would highly recommend it, unless you hate great loss.
Breathe, A Ghost Story- Kinda strange and creepy. Don't read if you're the type who freaks out.

Gordon Korman
He is a really great author and I wanted to point out two books of interest that just came out by him. The first is The Medusa Plot. It is the first book in the continuation of 39 clues series, and it's really good. I'll put my review on the 39 Clues tab so it'll be there, long with he rest of the new series

The next new read from Gordon Korman is the TITANIC Trilogy. In order to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's horrific sinking he wrote this new trilogy. It follows four kids who end up on the Titanic's maiden voyage. Trouble seems to follow them on board the ship, and that's before the events of the fateful crash bring us to the legendary events of April 15th. It's well written and interesting once you get past the beginning. I would recommend it, especially if you're interested in the Titanic.
:) kkuhar

Hey!

I know I haven't posted in a really long time, so here's a bunch of updates.

1.This summer I went to Turkey for vacation. It is such an amazing place, with so much ancient history there. I was lucky enough to go to an ancient marble quarry, and gothic churches. It was a really interesting trip, so I would suggest Turkey to anyone.

2. Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2 came out as I'm sure many of you know. I have to say it was a great end to such an amazing series. I personally love Harry Potter, the books and the movies. I was really happy with the way they finished it, even though it was different from the books. I'm sure I'm not the only one who's disappointing by the fact it's over, but it's a great movie.

3.39 Clues update! The first book in the new part of the series, "The Medusa Plot" comes out August 31st. http://www.the39clues.com/part2 You can read a bit about it at the link before. It sounds interesting so I'll be sure to add a review when that comes out. You can also check out the prologue at http://cdn.static.the39clues.com/pdf/medusa_prologue.pdf.SInce tragically Borders is closing I'm also going to try and find new places to buy books

Alphas

Shira Brazielle has everything, billions of dollars, merchandise, and fans. Her teams, inventing all kinds of amazing gadgets, and a school. The super exclusive Alpha Academy, on Alpha Island. There, the 100 most talented girls on the planet are assembled. The best dancers, writers, musicians, and inventors, all girls. But of the 100 there can only be one Alpha left to win the worldwide fame.

This series follows Skye, Charlie, Allie A., Allie J., and Triple. They live together in Jackie O's house and quickly become friends, and enemies. Everyone seems to have a secret they're hiding, and everyone seems to have set their sights on the forbidden fruits, Shira's sons. Soon a network of lying, cheating, destroying and backstabbing is wound through the girls weak friendship. Only one can win, and what will each do to stay at the school?

I liked these books a lot. They were intresting and I'm waiting for the next few to come out. I would suggest these books for anyone who likes adventure, romance, fighting evil, and fun.

I Like Him, He Like's Her

Alice McKinley is starting high school. She has everything she could possibly want, a great boyfriend, two best friends, a friendly older brother, and a father about to get married to her 7th grade English teacher; what more could she want? Then her boyfriend Patrick finds his lucky penny. Alice's world starts to turn upside down and everything seems to spiral out of control. She joins clubs, which only leads to more problems. Suddenly the drama of high school is completely surrounding her. Her friend's parent problems, her brother's girl friend problems, her heart broken father. Her first year in high school is a huge change. It's nothing she thought it would be. I like this book because it's realistic, funny, and sad. All of the stuff in her life changes, and things you don't expect to happen happen. You really get to see all sides of the characters, and it's really funny. I would recommend this book to people 12/13 and above.

The Airhead Trilogy

Hundred's of girls say they would die to be Nikki Howard. Nikki is the face of Stark Industries, her face is plastered everywhere you can buy Stark merchandise, which is just about everywhere. Emerson Watts likes playing video games and laughing about the stupidity of fashion, models, and of course, Nikki Howard. Emerson hates everything that her sister Frida values. Stark's newest megastore, just blocks from their New York apartment is the biggest thing happening. Stark's cheaper prices and superstores were putting tons of local business out of business. Why would Emerson want anything to do with that? Frida loves it, she's crazy about one of the performers at the opening, Gabriel Luna. Then the world goes upside down. How is it that Emerson's the chosen one? The Phoenix? Why is it that she's able to live the rest of her life? Why is it that Emerson Watts becomes the most known model in New York? Stark Industries is not all that it seems, and it's CEO, Robert Stark is at the head of it all. How can Nikki Howard, and Emerson Watts expose the truth about what Stark Industries is really doing?

High society, celebrities, black mailing, love, brain surgeons, and runways all go into this great trilogy by Meg Cabot. I would like to thank my friend Maria for lending these to me. This summer I'll try to get a lot of posts out:)

Kathryn

The Gallangher Girls

On the outside The Gallangher Academy For Exceptional Young Women may seem like a snobby rich girls boarding school, that's what it's suppose to be. But look inside the door, the bulletproof windows, and you see an all girl spy school. Yep, as in learning about bombs, poisons, tailing, covert operations. For the headmistress' daughter Cammie things begin to turn into a real mission in her sophomore year. A new Covert Operations teacher comes, along with a senator's daughter. Well, and then Cammie gets a secret boyfriend in the nearby town and has to sneak out of school. Cammie and her friends have to use all their spy training to try and make it work. Then operation Blackthorne starts, and a whole new chapter opens in Cammie's life, along with reopening of her father's death on a mission. Bugs, laundry chutes, and secret passages later their real mission begins. Kidnapping attempts, double agents, and top secret come into play as they learn of a new threat, a real threat, one that will stop at nothing to get their unknown prize.Their lives in danger, and confusion on friends and enemies lead to unreeling plot, and the fact that the group will kill. In a world where espionage, lying and spying is normal, how will Cammie figure out how to be a normal girl, or at least pretend to be one. Plus, for a girl who knows fourteen languages, will she ever figure out the language of boys?

A Great and Terrible Beauty

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've been reading a lot. "A Great and Terrible Beauty," by Libba Bray just goes to show that you should never judge a book by it's cover. Looking at the title you think of some high society rich girl drama with love and stuff like that. Although there is some of that throughout the book, this story is much more interesting. There is intrigue, magic, fights, confusion, and friendship. After some unfortunate and unclear events in India, Gemma Doyle is sent to London, to go to an elite private boarding school, The Spencer Academy. But something else is new to Gemma, other than her new home. She can see into the realms, magical places beyond our world. The only mention of anything like Gemma's gift is The Order, a secret group of women who had magic to travel to the realms. They have long been gone, and forgotten. With a group of friends, Gemma begins to realize the power she has, and it's importance. She also realizes the danger it poses to the world. What will she do to save her world?

I really liked this because it is more than what meets the eye. You find this heroin confused in this odd world. The beginning of the book you find the people you want to hate, but then you end up loving them. It shows how friends can be the most important thing ever, and you never do know who your friends will be. There is just enough magic that's mixed in with the drama of school and pressure to be proper noblewomen to make it good. I really enjoyed this book, and you can also check out the rest of the trilogy:)

The Hunger Games

Hey, I just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I really truly loved the books. I've been meaning to read them for a while, but they were nothing like I expected. It's set sometime in the future in the area once known as North America. There is a capitol and 12 districts. Every year, to show their power, Capitol requires one girl and one boy from each district to participate in a televised fight to the death. They are called the hunger games.

The main character, Katniss Everdeen lives in district 12. She's 16 years old, a hunter, and the leader of her family. District 12 in incredibly poor with coal mines being the main export. Katniss' father was killed, and all she has left is her mother and 12 year old sister, Prim. When it's time to chose the tributes for the year's games Prim's name is called. Katniss, desperate to save her sister volunteers for her. She practically signed her death certificate. The other tribute is Peeta Mallark, the bakers son. Katniss and Peeta head to Capitol for the games and soon become friends. Then, Peeta changes their relationship drastically, and the games start. Katniss and Peeta start of a spark so powerful that it can't stop. The 74th annual Hunger Games may be the most important in the nation's history, all because of a girl from Distict 12. Nothing is ever the same in their world.

I really loved these books. In the beginning you think it is all just about the games but it becomes so much bigger. You realize how important Katniss and Peeta are. I also love the way that their is so much romance twisted in, but yet not to the point that it takes away from the story. Collins kills of characters expertly. Everyone who dies dies for a reason, to show you something. They're sad but the books are fast moving enough that you don't wallow in the sadness. My favorite one is Catching Fire, and my least favorite is Mockingjay. The ending seemed rushed and I didn't like some of the ways things happened at the end. I also thought the way she showed society was very good. Overall, these are great books. Also, the movies are going to be made, and I may have a project with this series coming up, up be sure to check that out. Lastly, I'd like to thank my friend Maria for letting me borrow these books. You can check out her blog and thought at the link below.

http://bookspoetrymusic.blogspot.com/

kkuhar

Google Library

I know I've posted this before, but we've had some now followers, so be sure to check put my google library. Google library allows you to post books you've read, liked, reviewed, want and other categories. Be sure to make your own and post the link in the comments so we can see what books you've been reading. The link to mine is below.

http://books.google.com/books?op=library&hl=en

Messenger

In Messenger, we follow Matty( Matt from the previous book) and Seer (Christopher from the previous book). They live in a peaceful, democratic village where many people seek refuge from their past. Matty begins to discover that he has a power, he can heal things. First a frog, then two dogs. Leader (Jonas from The Giver) can sense it.Then people begin to become rude, mean to others. Matty finds out that people are trading away their souls at the 'Trade Mart" for materialistic things. Then Mentor, a ind and loving man, starts a petition to close village. Seer is afraid that Kira will never be able to come, so he sends Matty to get her. Matty travels through Forest spreading the message that village is being closed. He realizes Forest is beginning to darken. Then he gets to his old village, where Kira awaits him. She can sometimes weave and see the future, and saw him coming. She refuses to let him heal her twisted leg. They head into the forest, but Matty senses it is not the same. Then vines attack them, the path disappears, poison attacks Matty's arms. A foul stench seems to be coming from the center of Forest. They continue on through the forest, but they are continually attacked. Leader tries to go in to rescue them, but he is also repeatedly attacked. It gets to the point where they can't go any longer, and they think that they'll die in there. I don't want to put the very end because it's the biggest surprise, and I don't like it very much.

Gathering Blue

NOTICE- THIS IS A SUMMARY> DO NOT READ IT IF YOU PLAN ON READING THIS BOOK.

The next book, Gathering Blue is set is a village where there is much violence, and unrest. Kira, now a young orphan with a twisted leg, is a afraid for her life. She is brought to the Council Of Guardians of their village, where they give her a job. She is to repair the ancient singer's robe, which tells the history of the world. Her mother was a weaver, and so Kira was to be too. Her only friends in her new world are Thomas, who has an amazing talent for woodcraft and Jamison who is one of the Guardians. Kira's friend Matt, a young dirty, but reliable boy always wants to help them. Thomas, Kira, and Matt find a very young girl, Jo who can sing amazingly locked in another room. The kids realize that they all have special gifts, Kira with weaving, Thomas with woodworking, and Jo with singing. They also realize that their gifts are trying to be harnessed by the council, they must listen to every command they are told. They cannot use their gift as it was meant, but the help complete the village "song" celebration. Then Matt disappears into the forest, where Kira's father was supposedly killed by beasts. When the annual Song comes along Kira notices a metal noise, then she sees the singer has cuffs and metal chains around his feet. Jo is to be the next singer. Kira realizes that she is a prisoner, and that is her future, all of their futures. Just then, she sees Matt. Matt brings her a visitor, a blind man. His name is Christopher, he's Kira's father. He was attacked and left for dead by Jamison on the hunt, not killed by beasts. He lives in a village of many other broken people, and Matt brings her a gift, blue. Blue was the only color Kira never had. Christopher and Matt leave to this other village and Kira promises to follow after she changes the village.

TheGiver

I read the Giver trilogy by Lois Lowry recently. It contains three books, The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger. I will ba posting about them one at a time over the next week, My favorite from the trilogy is The Giver. It follows a boy who lives in a supposedly Utopian society. When he is given his job at the age of 12, Jonas is afraid. His job will to be The Receiver Of Memories. It is not a normal job, and the last girl who was chosen ended up mysteriously dead. He soon learns that it means he can see the world. Set sometimes in the future, people have no memory of what happened to society They don't know what it's like to be independent, to feel, to see color, and other similar things. Jonas is given memories of the past, color, music, love. Then Jonas realizes that even his own family lies, and does whatever they are told to do, including covering up deaths. He knows he has to leave, and return all the memories to the people, so he sneaks out with a little boy marked for death the next morning, and travels through the countryside. It ends with him thinking he sees people. This is a intersting series, so I would suggest reading it. The Giver won the 1994 Newberry Medal. It's a very popular book. Check it out:)

Music, "Who Says"

Also, a music update. Selena Gomez's new single, "Who Says," just came out, and it's really good. "Who Says," is a song about being perfect because you are yourself. It's an empowering song all about how you shouldn't care about what others thing of you, with lyrics like: You've got every right to a beautiful life, or, I'm sure you've got some things you'd like to change about yourself, but when it comes to me, I wouldn't wanna be anybody else. The music video is also out, and I highly recommend you watch it,( you can find the link at the bottom.) This song is really unlike any of Selena's previous songs, and I really liked it. Let me know what you think in the comment section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzE1mX4Px0I

Shadow Children series

Hey everyone, I found another new series! The Shadow Children series has seven books in it, and is written by Margret Petterson Haddix. They are set in a futuristic world where the government controls everything. Due to a population law, families can only have two children, or are a least only suppose to have two. Different books come from different kids perspectives, but all of them are third children. Third children, or "Shadow Children", live their life in hiding, horrified the Population police will kill them. The only way to survive is to get a fake I.D.

Luke Garner is a third child, who lives on a farm with his family. When the government builds a housing development behind Luke's house, he is forced to hide. During his days of hiding Luke meets another shadow child, Jen. She is planning a rally for freedom, and her father is a part of the population police. He is a double agent, secretly helping shadow children get I.D.s. Jen's rally goes wrong, but Luke begins to believe in freedom, and the reality that he may be free one day. He gets a fake I.D. and is sent to a boarding school. He meets other shadow children there, and helps his friends come out of hiding. Captures, imprisonments, and the ever impending threat of death hang over Luke and his friends. The government gets worse, and the kids and their allies must begin taking action against them. With the reward of freedom, scared, hidden children, become heroes and may change the world.

I like this series, it's really interesting. These kids start out as pretty much nothing, and end up fighting, sometimes behind enemy lines, for freedom. I would recommend this series.

Sent

"Sent" is the second book in The Missing series by Margaret Peterson Haddix. It starts off where the last book ends. Jonah, Katherine, Chip, and Alex are hurtled back into 15th century England. They learn that Chip and Alex are the sons of Edward IV. The king had died and so Chip( alias Edward V) is suppose to be king of England. But from the night they arrive in London, an assassination attempt on the boys' lives is made. Afraid that they may drastically change history, the turn invisible. When Chip and Alex merge with a holder, called a tracer, they become their true self and are able to think as they would've in England. Confused and afraid, they leave their room. The rest of the city is getting ready for a party. The coronation is happening that very day, but Chip/Edward is suppose to be dead already. How could he be crowned if he didn't know about it. Once the get on a barge, they begin to feel the atmosphere of the people. Then they begin hearing shouts of "Long live the King!" The only problem, King Richard is getting crowned, not a King Edward.

My Stories

I had to do a project for school so I wrote these essays. They're from one Harry Potter character to another. A lot of people liked them so I'm posting them on here:)

Professor Umbridge to Hermione in The Order Of the Phoenix

How dare you little girl! Helping to terrify students with lies! Breaking school rules! I shall have 200 pints from Gryffindor. Lying, disobedience, and defiance! I should say you lady, have you ever learned any manners? This school is worse than I could ever possibly imagine. I will get an education decree on manners tomorrow.

To say a certain Dark Lord is rising, is, is perpostuas! Just because you believe your lying little friend Harry Potter and your precious Dumbledore. Let me tell you something young lady. Potter is a lair, and Dumbledore is a fool.There is nothing that would want to hurt you like they say. You seemed like a smart girl, but obviously I was wrong Ms. Granger. There is no Dark Lord who is trying to kill you. There is no Dark Lord at all!

Now, if we have that taken care of, which I'm sure we do, I will not have to do this again. May I remind you that I am a very important person at this school. Lying will be a very dangerous crime here. I hope, you have learned your lesson now, or next time you will be punished, severely.


From Ron Weasly to Hermione

You are so annoying sometimes. I know you like to be prepared to anything but, our tests are in June, it's January! Harry and I are going to fail if you can't help us. Mom will go ballistic! Oh, and did you forget that someone is trying to kill Harry? I sure didn't. Do you really think the best thing to do now is study?

I know school is the most important thing for you, but life has bigger problems. We can all pass the test if we try, but why would it matter if we're dead before we graduate? You've already read these books like a hundred times! It's mad, absolutely mad I tell you. You're reading Defense Against Dark Arts, For Beginners! Harry taught us more stuff than if is in that book the first day! Did I mention the fact that we could be tortured, even killed at anytime. Hermione, don't you think that's more important than studying for tests you'll surely pass?

The bottom line is that the world has gone mad! You just sit there and study, and we can all die. By knowing about what, Goblin Wars, we are surely gonna survive. Yeah right! You are a very smart person, as we all know, so why don't you help us instead of studying?

Read the rest at- http://kkuharsbookblog.blogspot.com/p/harry-potter.html

Harry Potter Update

Harry Potter announcement:) I have finished the entire Harry Potter series, and I just loved it. The entire plot is so well written, and I love all the messages. The Deathly Hollows was a really good ending, but I was really sad for it to end. If you have not read this series, I kinda feel sorry for you, I really recommend this. Also, I would highly recommend reading the books and then watching the movies, because you can understand a lot more of the story in the books. The movies are definitely nice to see, and really add a great aspect to visualizing the story, but especially for the long books, they cut out a lot of really good story line. Well, I am really hoping to get everything up on the Harry Potter tab soon, I may have gone a bit over board, but I was bored. This is probably one of my favorite series ever, so be sure to check it out.

Found

Okay, I started at a new school and so my posts have been pretty slow lately, but I'm back:) I just finished reading "Found", by Margret Peterson Hadddix. It's a really interesting story about a group of adopted kids in the present day. Really odd things start to happen, and friends Chip and Jonah begin to search for answers about where they came from. Jonah enlists the help of his sister Katherine, and soon they are in a FBI office. Odd appearances and disappearances begin to terrify the kids. Then they learn that there was a plane full of 36 babies that magically appeared thirteen years before, and all of the kids are now in the same area of Ohio. Unknown attackers and saviors appear, and complicate everything more. Then, a simple hike in the woods sets everything into place. thirty-six ids, four adults hurtling through time and space, with no way to get back to the time that they call home. I would highly recommend this book and the rest of the series. It's very interesting and it's written really interestingly.

The Thief Lord

Happy 2011 everybody!!!!!! I have my first post of the year now:)

"The Thief Lord" by Cornelia Funk, is a book that I have heard of for a long time. It was always one of those things I wanted to read, so I was thrilled when I actually had the book in my hands. I had no idea what the book was about, but it was from the author of "Inkheart", which I loved. Pretty much the book was great. It's about two brothers, Bo and Prosper, and their friends. They are living under a boy called "The Thief Lord"'s care. They all live in an abandoned movie theater and steal to survive. In the midst of a great loss they stumble upon a lost magical merry-go -round. The events of that night change all of their lives forever. All the kids find a new life, and are able to live in a much happier way. I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it. It's not really action, but the story really drags you in. This book was also adapted into a movie in 2006, so check it out.