WAKE

      

 

    

           Jamie Hannagan is an seventeen year old girl who lives in Fieldridge Michigan. Her mom stays drunk  all the time so Jamie primarily takes care of herself. She buys her own clothes and food. She is not popular with the girls at Fieldridge High. She has been made fun of, by one girl named Malinda. When Jamie was young she did not have nice clothes. Now that she works at Heather Nursing Home she wares better clothes. Jamie has a best friend named Carrie who lives next door to her. They are really close but Jamie has a secret that she can not even tell her best friend or anyone else. 

         Jamie's secret is that she enters peoples dreams, she has no control over  entering  there dreams. When she is pulled into a dream, Jamie mind enters there dream. She can talk to the person who is dreaming and see herself walk around in there dreams. Peoples dreams that she enters rarely remember her in there dreams. If she would to tell someone what she could do they would not believe her or even worse they would think that she is a freak. The most common dreams are, falling dreams, naked but nobody notice dreams, and sex crazy dreams. One day after she leaves work at Heather Nursing Home, Jamie enters a dream while she is driving her car. She enters the dream and tries to stop her car with no success. Entering the most disturbing dream she has ever had. A young monster-man with knives for fingers approaches her in the dream. Her car goes into a ditch and she slowly comes back into her own mind in her car.

          When I first began reading the novel I thought I was not going to enjoy it., I felt that the author  kept repeating herself at the beginning of the book. I finally got sucked into the story  30 pages in and could not put the book down until I was finished.. I like Jamie's character, she is strong and she is very determined. She  does not let her home life or her secret stop her for getting what she wants in life. The novel is written in modern times , so I found it very easy to read. I look forward to reading Lisa McMann's  next two books: FADE and GONE.

PREVIEW TO WAKE

Last Night I Sang to the Monster

Zach is an eighteen year old senior who lives in a dysfunctional home. His mom is a manic depressant who hits him for no reason. A father that is an alcoholic who never spends time with him and a brother that beats on him when ever he sees him. Zack wakes up one morning in rehab. He can not remember how he got there and he can not remember his past. Zack does not want to remember because to remember is to feel and to feel hurts.

                When Zack wakes up his roommate is a fifty –three year old man named Rafael. Zack and Rafael become real good friends. Rafael tries to help Zack face is monster. Rafael has a theory, if he could help Zack remember it would help Zack face his monsters and in turn would help him face his monsters.  Zack does not believe that he will ever be happy. Zack had a theory also. His theory was that everyone was born with a blank heart and God writes what you are on your heart. On Zack’s heart God wrote sad. He feels it very hard to feel alive.

                Benjamin Alire Sanenz had my attention from beginning to end. I even cried and felt joy at different parts of the novel. Saenz takes us in the past and present of Zack’ life, dealing with being addicted to alcoholic and cocaine. This novel lets you into the mind of an addict and how Zack is coping to try and recover from his addiction.

Catching Fire

This story takes place in a destroyed North America but now know as Panem. Pamem is made up of 13 districts, and a Capital. Every year in Panem they have this game called the Hunger Games. In these games they take a boy and a girl for each district. The kids are forced to fight to the death. The winner wins a life time of luxury. After a few months the winner is required to attend a Victory Tours w,ere the winner goes form district to district including the capital. These games are done to remind the people that they can not over power the capital.

This story is about a girl named Katness who has just defined the Capital by making not one winner but two winners of the Hunger Games. Katness feels she needs to protect many people in her life form the Capital. Her mother and sister, Gale and his family, Peeta, and Hychman; Katness mother and her sister Prim live in Katness winnings, a big house outside the town in district 12. Gale, Katness friend has been distance himself form her. There relationship is not as strong as it used to be. Peeta the second winner who lives behind Katness in his big house; confessed his love for Katness is now also pulling himself away from her also. Hychman a previous winner of the Hunger Games is always drowned in alcohol to keep himself form the real world. Katmess and Peeta try and help Hychman out as much as possible.

Catching Fire I really enjoyed this book the second book of the Hunger Games Trilogy. In this book Katness and Peeta have to probe that they are still in love so that they do not start a rebellion. Katness has more ordeals and betrayals that she will go though. I find this book just as in lighting as the first book. The author Suzanne Collins keeps the story going strong all the way to the end of the book. At the end of this book it is making you wanting more. The third book to the Trilogy will be out in August. I am looking forward to reading the last book or Suzanne Collins Trilogy.

The Giver

I have to say this book was so well written. I can see why it got the  Newberry Award. This is a futuristic story about a boy named Jonas who lives in a world were everything is controlled. How they talk, were they work, what they see, and who they marry. When Jonas turns 12 he is assigned the most important job in the community, Receiver of Memory.” His teacher the Giver, open his eyes up to the world he actually lives in.

Louis Lawry does a magnificent job at writing this story. The way she describes the memories, makes you think. I have not read a book like this before. I would have to say it is in my top ten much read books. This book is not a fast past book but it holds your attention. The whole concept of this book is what makes it out standing. There is talk that in 2011 there will be a movie out on this story.

Eclipse

I enjoyed this book a lot. It was my favorite book of the saga and my favorite movie so far. This book and movie had a lot of action and was a complete story. There is a love triangle between Edward, Bella and Jacob. All the carters are in this book the humans, vampires and werewolves. In this story Bella and Edward are back together but Jacob is in love with Bella. Jacob is trying to convince Bella that he is better for her and not Edward. There is also a vampire after Bella trying to kill her. So everyone gets together to fight agents the evil coming to town. The movie follows the book very well. When I watched the movie I was so amazed at how much of the book they had in the movie. This is a stand alone book and movie. I would say that both the book and the movie are a must read and must see.

New Moon

I was not much of a fan of New Moon. It was kind of long and drawn out to me. Stephenie Meyers was very wordy in the book. In New Moon the book as well as the movie, they can not stand on there own.  Basically the story is about a girl named Bella, the love of her life Edward the Vampire leaves her and she gets a stronger relationship with a guy named Jacob (who is a werewolf). I was board through out this whole book and I did not really care for the movie either.  Bella mopes through out the whole story, because the love of her life is gone (Edward Cullen). I enjoyed the end of the book as well as the end of the movie. Maybe I am just a fan of the vampires. I feel that is book and movie is just a filler of the saga.

Twilight

 I enjoyed this book a lot. This book was about a girl who falls in love with a vampire, putting her life in danger. I have to say that I watched this movie before I red the book. I liked the movie so much that I had my daughter watched the movie. She liked the movie so much that she got the book. When I read the book I liked Twilight even more. Of course the movie did not have everything that was in the book. And some of the scenes were changed in the movie. I remember seeing the scene were they were jumping from tree to tree to tree and see the beautiful land scape. I wanted to see how Stephenie Myers the author was going to write that scene but it was not in the book. When I read the book I had a whole new picture of Twilight. The book was so much better than the movie that seeing the movie first did not really hurt the book.

Perfect Chemistry

Perfect Chemistry is a story about, bad boy falls for good girl. The bad boy is not really bad as he is though out to be. We have seen and read this story a thousand times. The way Simone Elkeles, the author writes this story it so appealing. The author puts a modern twist on the story to keep you reading.

The story changes from Alejandro's (Alex) to Brittany's point of view. They have always heard of each other and of course they are from different walks of life. Alex is from the city and Brittany is from the suburbs. Alex father died when he was six and lives in a small apartment with his mom and two brothers. He has joined a gang to protect his family from harm. Brittany is the most popular girl at school, dates the captain of the football team. She feels she has to be perfect for everyone at school and her family. At home her life is not so perfect. Alex and Brittany first have there first encounter in the school parking lot where she almost hits Alex with her car. Then they find out they are in the same chemistry class together and the teacher pairs them up as partners.

This is an exciting story. Simone Elkeles the author has you laughing, crying, and wondering what is going to happen next. The story has an excellent flow all the way till the end, except for the epilogue. I felt it to be a little cheesy. This book age range is fourteen to adult. With all the sexual content I would think sixteen and up.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games is a book set in the future, when North America has been destroyed and is now known as Panem. Panem is broken up into 12 districts and 1 capital. In Panem, they have a yearly game known as the Hunger Games. This game consists of 24 kids between the ages of 12-18, a boy and a girl from each district called Tributes. The kids are forced to fight to the death, while all of Panem watches.

This story takes place in District 12, about a girl named Katniss, who is 16 years old. She is a very strong individual because she has been taking care of her family since the age of 11 when her father died. She risks her life going out hunting in the woods every day to find food for her sister Prim and her mother who has given up on life since Katniss' father died. When her sister Prim is picked to be a tribute in the Hunger Games, Katniss decides to step in and take her sister's place. When Katniss becomes a tribute, she's thrown into a life using the skills she has acquired at home to survive.

I found The Hunger Games really enjoyable. Around the fourth chapter, the action never stops, which kept me from wanting to put the book down. This book ranges from age 12 to adult. I have also heard the possibility of this book being turned into a movie in 2011.