In Darkness Summer Entry #4

I liked the title of this book. It just grabbed my attention at the first moment I read the title to myself. I love books that make u predict something every other line in the book and I like books about horrific things that happen to people and they survive after the event has happened. Plus this book was the first book I saw on the list, and actually looked at. The personal connections to the novel are completely different because I have been growing up in a great town, Mason, and our main character has been growing up in bad place with a lot of crime, deaths, and kidnapping. I have never even touched or shot a real gun in my life, but our main character has killed a man with a gun when he was twelve. I would recommend this book to people who like books about mystical creatures, and for people who like horror movies/books like Carrie. In my family I think my mom would love to read this book because she always reads horror books and books about people who have a tough life like the main character in my book.

In Darkness Summer Entry #3

“I have no name. There are no names in the darkness cos there is no one else, only me, and I already know who I am (I am the voice in the dark, calling out for help), and I have no questions for myself and no need to call upon myself for anything, except to remember. I am alone. I am dying” (Lake 1-2). This section on the text “hooks” the reader because you want to read on to find out the things or ideas he is calling upon to remember, and you want to read on to find out his name. Throughout the whole first and second page you don’t learn his name and at the point in the book I am right now I still haven’t come across the name of our character, but keep in mind that I haven’t finished the book yet so I probably will not know his name until the end of his book.

In Darkness Summer Entry #2

Our main character, we still have not figured his name out, wants to have his sister back and want his savior to come and rescue him before it is too late and he dies. One of our minors characters Marguerite is our main characters sister who died from being shot. When she was still alive she just wanted to help her family and trying to give them everything she could. Her family actually believed her when she said, “Yes. See those big houses on the hill, for the rich? I’ll have one of those one day. I’ll have a swimming pool and a car, and you’ll all be living with me.” My book starts off with a chapter or our character talking about the most important sections of his life. Then the next chapter goes to before our characters parents were even born, when all the crime and terribleness started. The paragraphs switch off every other one so far in the book.

In Darkness Summer Entry #1

The main character in the book In Darkness, by Nick Lake, is a boy that is some age over 12 years old because this like from the book tell us that, “I first shot a man when I was twelve years old” (Lake 1). Who is that man? The author at the start of the book never gave his name to us and I’m guessing that at the end of the book we will be surprised by his name or as we go throughout the book we will get clues of his name. The setting of the book is a hospital that was bombed down with people inside it. Our character, I, was the only survivor that we know of and is giving us pieces of his life that tell us what his life has been like and what other people thought about him. The conflict that is emerging in the book is that our character has this huge hunger starting to come in his bell, for food, and he is so desperate for water that he has to like up his own, almost dried, blood to even get a little bit of his thirst quenched. Why was he put into the hospital in the first place? What happened to his family? The connection I found with this book is to another book/movie, Carrie. I know that is a long stretch but I think the connection between my book and Carrie is that it is super dark and almost a horror book like Carrie.

Text-to-Self

The book Cirque Du Freak connects to my life because I am like Steve. Very adventurous, gets in trouble a lot but not huge trouble, and always wants to know what is going on. In the book Steve plays soccer during his school recess and I also play soccer, but I play competitively on an actual squad. The thing is that I am also like Darren even tho I'm not non-talkative like he is and I am not pale, only during winters, like he is throughout the year. I connect to him because I am smart, very bright, good at soccer, and the love for things that are out of this world or very rare. I connect to the book title because my mommy always calls me a freak of nature. My dad connects to this book in many ways because he is a cheese ball and is always doing these weird things. But I still love them for who they are.

Character Summarization

In the book Cirque Du Freak the characters are very, very different. We have Darren who is super pale and never gets in trouble with anyone or anything and then his best friend Steve always gets in trouble and is very adventurous. Darren and Steve had been best friends since kindergarten and have gotten used to each other. People in the book always wonder and question why they are even friends themselves, but Darren and Steve have always been together and that will stay like that for ever...maybe.

Mr. Crepsley is another character that is an actual VAMPIRE! When Steve and Darren were at the freak-show Steve talked to Mr. Crepsley and wanted his to turn Steve into a vampire. Mr. Crepsley said no because he could see the evil inside Steve and thought Steve was not a good fit. This does not change Steve's character because out of all of the characters, Steve would be the most expected to do that. But after the show and for the next three to four weeks Steve's character does actually change into this obnoxious guy to this quiet, non-talkative guy who doesn't get in trouble and isn't adventurous at all.

New Book!

I have started a new book called Cirque Du Freak and i think im going to like it! This book is about vampires and mythological creatures like that and I've been reading these types of books constantly since 5th grade. I read the summary on the back and I was already hooked onto this book and I never want to put it down. The author Darren Shan actually has a whole series about what further goes on in the adventures of Darren, the main character and I expect to read the whole series even if the books get repetitive and don't have good ending anymore, but I expect that they will be fantastic! The summary also tells me that something disturbing goes on with his friend, Steve, when they go to this 'Freak Show'.

Final Blogging Assesment Post

In the very, very fantastic book, Cirque Du Freak, there are a ton of evil and good characters. I really love how Darren Shan, the author, mixes the characters up. For example at the start of the book the main character Darren is a normal teenager who likes sports, goes to school, and is annoyed by his younger sister. Darren also has a huge fond of comic books and is really intrested in vampires, warewolfs, things like that. Darren's best friend Steve, gets tickets to this 'Freak Show' and Darren is chosen to come with him. To inform you Freak Shows are not legal and you can be in a lot of trouble, going to jail, for being at them or participating in them. But this show wasn't like normal ones where there are people who can put swords in their mouth and can breath fire, no this show was different entirely! There are meant to be real warewolfs, dancing spiders, and a boy with snake skin! I don't know what happens yet becuase I haven't gotten to that part yet. But man, I can't wait to read on and see what actually happens during the show and if Darren or Steve get to actually talk to one of the performers!

The authors voice is very like himself becuase he actually has himself as the main character! The diction in this book is very smooth at one point and then gets rough meaning that he has different voices at different parts in the book. In this quote,"Little did I know that Alan's mysterious piece of paper was to change my life forever. For the worse!" (Shan 10) the author uses this quote to hook the reader on with a smooth starting and them a high, rough ending to the sentence. The syntax of the book is very different like his voice. Darren uses very long sentences with not that much detail in them and then the next sentence will be very short and might have the most important line in the chapter.

Krista Ramsey Post

Great Column!

That great column is about Legos. To go more into detail the column is about how parents need to let kids play with legos and not get in the way of them. Legos actually help the cildren learn becuase the children are using their mind to build amazing structures like castles, skyscrapers, or planes.

"Like sparklers and hugs, Legos are things a child can never have enough of. Wise parents not only understand this, but support their child's Lego habit, sometimes to the tune of hundreds or thousands of dollars over the course of a childhood."

Krista's writing style is just like everyone else, short paragraphs with not a lot of detail. She doesn't have any quotes in her Lego column. I think that columnists don't really use quotes becuase then the columnist could be biased toward someone or something else.

If i would get the opportunity to ask Krista some questions I would first ask when did she think of herself as a writer? I would also ask howe many times does she restart a certain column or even does she ever give up on writing that certain column? One last question i would ask is why did she want to become a columnist?

Text-to-World Connection

A text-to-world connection is that there is always a war or dispute happening in the world. In my book, Into The Wild, the cats from other clans always want more of something. For example sometimes there is not enough food in the forest, or there is a drought, or something that messes up the lifestyle of the clans.

The connection is that our world always has a dispute going on, even if your country is all happiness. Like right now America is just ending a war with Afghanistan and America is bringing most of their troops home. I said most because the United States government still doesn't trust Afghanistan. There will probably always be troops being deployed and troops coming home.

The Cats are also like this because if there isn't something going on between the clans there is a mysterious disease or there isn't anymore animals to kill in the forest. But maybe sometimes people, or cats, get that one or two seconds of peace to not go ballistic and blow up.

The Best Thing About My Book Is...

There are a lot of great things about my book! It is so hard to choose if I should tell you about one thing or another thing! Well the best BEST thing about my book is the fact it has different characters. The diversity of characters is amazing becuase there are different points of view and i get to know different sides of a story. Plus I might change my opinion becuase I think that the other side has a better story or idea. My favorite character is Firestar becuase he has courage, strength, a great leader, and confident. Firestar also is like me! He likes to hear different sides of a story and then make his decision based on evidence and just simple thinking. He is also a pretty cool cat!