Blog Post #22: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Macker- Book Review

I finally finished The Future of Us!!! I honestly loved the book and wish there can be a sequel. After I read this book, it made me think about my future. It made me think about the choices I make and how every little thing like eating lasagna instead of mac & cheese, can affect my future. Even maybe choosing to write this post can affect my future, maybe this post can be the one thing that lets me pass middle school. It's probably not true, but it can somewhat affect my life. 

In this book I really liked that we saw the story through the eyes of both of the main character. So we kinda saw 2 personalities and 2 point of view of the same situation. Emma is the kind of character that just does without thinking, and takes matters into her own hands. She is a very stubborn and complicated type of person, but at the end of the day, she always has her friends' backs and knows wrong from right. For example, every time she goes on Facebook, she mostly has a status about her being sad about her marriage or doing something she doesn't like, if the Emma that is a teen right now doesn't like it, she will do something to change it like saying she will never go to Tampa State so she won't marry Jordan Jones Jr. so she won't have an unhappy life. 

Josh is the type of person who isn't always in a rush, he thinks things out, and always looks out for his best friends. Whenever Emma does something stupid or wrong in general, he tries to talk her out of it, it doesn't really matter to her most of the time but the important thing is that he is trying. Emma is addicted to Facebook and she constantly checks it, she can't control herself anymore, she looks at it, finds something she hates about her future, then tries to change it. But Josh knows how to control himself, every time something big happens to him, he wants to check out Facebook because it can affect his life, but he knows trying to change his future can just make it worse.

Before I read the book, I always thought looking at my future would be a good thing. I thought taking a peek at my future can give me a chance to change it so I can have the future I want. But after seeing how a little thing Emma does to change a part of her future changes her entire future, it makes me sorta afraid to even think about my future. So after I read this book, it makes me think about my life, what I want to make of it, and I really don't wanna see my future anymore, I just wanna take one step at a time, anyways, there's no rush! 

Blog Post #21: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler- Cross Book Inquiry

This book, The Future of Us, is similar to the book, Thirteen Reasons Why, by the same author. The book Thirteen Reasons Why (just to recap) is about a boy named Clay Jensen who receives a box of tapes by his friend/crush Hannah Baker, who has recently commited suicide. On the tapes there are 13 people on them and Hannah explains why each and everyone of them were somehow responsible for her death. 

These 2 books are similar because the way it creates suspense, is using the same technique. The element of the unknown. A lesson I learned in ELA class was that sometimes when you don't know what is happening, your mind creates all these out of this world scenarios so you believe that something bad is going to happening to you, even though everything is fine. What scares you the least, will eventually scare you the most. 

In The Future of Us, what scares Emma is that she doesn't know how to make her future a happy one. When she changes her future on purpose, it always ends up badly. But then whenever she goes back on Facebook, she gets afraid her husband is the reason why her life is ruined, or maybe she isn't happy in the future because of things going on in her life in the present. She doesn't know how to work this Facebook situation so she gets scared and thinks that if she doesn't change her future, she will never be happy. But she is probably making it all worse.

Also in The Future of Us, the character Josh is scared because he isn't checking Facebook. He kinda wants to be left out in it but at the same time he is afraid his future isn't looking so great. For example, he keeps on wondering if his future with Sydney Mills (the girl he likes in the present) will be a good one, or if he will end up hating it. Will his friendship with Emma ever happen again? He is to stubborn to check Facebook and just look at his future, so he thinks everything can be the worst it can be, but he will never know, so he should just stop thinking about it.

In, Thirteen Reasons Why, Clay Jensen goes through the same state of mind. When Clay receives the tapes Hannah sent out, he had no idea what he ever done to Hannah, so he creates all these situations in his head about what he might have ever done to Hannah. And when he starts listening to all the other tapes to get to his tape, he keeps on thinking of even worse situations because of what everyone else did to her. What he didn't know really creeped him out and the fact that he never knew when it would be his turn to hear his story, it created even more suspense and finally she got to his part of the story. And turns out, he wasn't exactly responsible for her death, but if he tried harder to help her, she might have not died. 

These two books are written by Jay Asher, which is probably why they use the same technique of suspense and they both have other things in common as well! But these things are really important because this is what makes the story interesting!

Blog Post #20: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler- Setting

In this story The Future of Us, the two main characters Emma and Josh find a new website fifteen years in the future, and the website is Facebook. It's 1996 at the time so when they log onto their futures, they can see all their pictures, friends, status updates, and more. They soon try to change it and sometimes it turns out good, and bad. The two most important supporting characters are Kellan and Tyson, Kellan is Emma's best friend and Tyson is Josh's best friend. They don't know about the whole Facebook thing but are a really important part of the story, if they find out about it then they would be an even BIGGER part of the story! 

I think the setting really symbolizes what life should be. Before there was internet or Facebook or any other type of advanced technology people would actually call other people and talk to them instead of texting. And people would actually get up and go outside to hang out with their friends rather than video calling or chatting. I think the thing that makes this book so engaging is that they find things that we find so normal and simple today, for people back then to find so incredibly awesome and interesting. It makes you think, oh wow this is what they find so awesome? But back then it was incredible, like maybe in the future a machine that allows you to teleport from place to place is going to be invented, and maybe people in the future use it so often that it's no big deal, but if that was invented right now everyone would be so amazed at this technology. This setting is also in a way symbolizing life because it shows what life is supposed to be like, what life is here for. The reason why you live is to experience new things, new people, everything life has to offer, but you can't get all that from a computer which is why in a way this book is a way for us to realize we need to go out into the real world and do something with our lives! Log off any websites you're on and go have fun!

I think this setting is very significant to the story because it makes the story unique and different. This setting is very different from where most books are written today. In most books today the time periods are around the present or last few years or so, but this is one of the first books where it is in the modern sorta past. The setting and story together makes this book so engaging it is a book where the present meets the past and people learn about new things that are a daily thing for us today so it makes us think about how people back in the old days lived and what they did in their lives and what they would do for fun. 

In conclusion, I really like this book because the setting really makes you think  about what you have today. What if you didn't have email? Facebook? Twitter? Skype? What would you do then? Read a book? Go outside to hang out with your friends? This is what life should be and once was but now it's all about the internet and technology. This book makes you want to think to yourself, what would you do without all these things. Go do something with your life.

Blog Post #19: The Future of Us by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler- Conflict

***SPOILER ALERT***

In the book, The Future of Us by Jay Asher, the two main characters Josh and Emma find their facebook pages fifteen years into the future. It is 1996 at the time so facebook hasn't been invented yet. It started out when Emma made an AOL and when she logged in, she logged into facebook but she has no idea how. At first they think it is all a prank but one picture on Emma's page changes it all. When they both agree it is a real website from the future, they take a look at their future lives and how they turn out.

When they first out found what was going on, Emma was thinking this probably isn't a prank, but it took a lot to get Josh to believe it. I think Josh is the kind of character who isn't fooled easily, he has a skeptical mind and is very clever. Josh's character really helps me understand the conflict and what is going on in the story. In a story, it isn't always clear about the problems going on, but the way Josh questions everything kinda makes you understand the plot, the setting, and why Josh and Emma are wondering about their lives.

The conflict basically is that whatever happens in the present, affects their future in ways they don't know how to control. They find out everything that happens, but whatever they do somehow affects their future. For example, when Emma was in a bad mood and didn't feel like eating mac and cheese, her status changed from eating mac and cheese, to eating lasagna, since she didn't like mac and cheese at the moment. I think this conflict really makes us realize that whatever you do in your life can affect your future in big ways! Not only does it affect your appetite, but it can affect your marriage too! Josh ends up marrying Sydney Hills in the future, the girl every guy crushes on at school, but since he never talked to Sydney before, he has to change that so he remains married to her.

I think the message in this book is to really think about your actions. Don't mess up your whole life with one little mistake you make along the way. In the book since Josh and Emma get to look at their future all the time, they know what they need to change, but since that doesn't happen in real life, I think you have to make the right choices and go down the right path. When a person is young, they don't really think about what they are doing so they don't know that is can change their whole life, so I think this book is trying to get across that you have one life, don't mess it up by ruining it with one mistake.

Blog Post #18: The Slayer Chronicles First Kill by Heather Brewer- Book Review

***SPOILER ALERT***

I finally finished "The First Kill" by Heather Brewer. I am going to write a retell/appreciation. The end of this book was actually pretty bad to me. It ended with a really boring cliff hanger. In the book the main character Joss is training to be a vampire slayer, and in the end he obviously becomes one and moves on to really start to rid the world of these, so they say, "blood sucking creatures." But most of the time at the end of the book, you except a big bang and something that you never seemed coming happens, right? Wrong! It does end with somewhat a suprising ending, but it still seems a bit too dull.

This book leaves the reader with a cliff hanger. Towards the end of the book, Joss's slayer friend/mentor Sirus turns out to be a vampire. Joss felt as if he'd been an idiot for trusting him the whole time, and soon the vampire hive eventually gets blown up. I predicted this the whole time, the character who seems innocent eventually becomes the enemy. I predicted this towards the middle of the book so it wasn't a big shocker to me. After that happened, Joss started to really begin his slayer days by being sent to Bathory to complete a mission, a mission to kill the Pravus, which is a vampire who will make the lives of vampires so much better and easier by getting rid of mankind and anything else besides themselves.

I thought this ending was pretty dull because there was no big event that made the reader rethink the plot, and think about everything that happened before in the book. Yes, there was apparently a twist, but it wasn't a big enough twist to get the reader completely shocked and wonder about maybe the next book, if there is going to be a sequel. The ending made me think about the last series, because in the last series, it was told from the point of view of Vlad, the Pravus Joss was sent to kill. I thought maybe the reason why I found the book very dull and boring because I was already told this story, kind of. This is basically the same story just told in a different point of view, but I thought the middle of the book was a bit interesting. When Joss was nearly killed several times, I started thinking about what was going to happen in the end of the book. Will he keep training or will he give up? Will he tell Kat about everything since she is so worried? Or will he die? I also thought about how Joss was framed several times for killing fellow slayers, I wanted to know who was the killer so bad. I thought a lot about these things, and when I got to the ending, I was a bit dissapointed because it wasn't as dramatic as I expected it to be.

In conclusion, the book was pretty dissapointed, the book wasn't all that bad, but, it wouldn't be the first book I would recommend to a friend. The middle was very shocking and interesting, but the ending was not anything you would expect, and I am not saying this in a good way.

Blog Post #17: The Slayer Chronicles First Kill by Heather Brewer- Conflict

In "The First Kill," the conflict is very unique because it is between 2 people you would never expect to have major problems. The conflict in this story is obviously Slayers vs. Vampies, but in Joss's situation specificly, I think there is more to the story.

In the story, the only reason why Joss is spending the summer with his uncle Abraham is because he wants to get revenge on the vampire who killed his little sister. So basically, Joss is here because of vampires, and that is the main problem! But the conflict that is just about Joss is his uncle. Joss always tries to impress his uncle by doing everything he tells him to, and he even tried to kill a vampire with barely any training!!! Joss is only 13 years old, Abraham acts like he is an 18 year old. In one part of the book, Abraham trains Joss by making him take down Abraham and 2 other slayers at once, and when Joss completes that task, Abraham walks away without a word, like he is dissapointed! Joss never understood his uncle, and this trip to him isn't making him like his uncle any more. I think Joss works way to hard to impress his uncle. He is willing to run 10 laps on the long trail on a hill, and it will take you almost an hour just to run 1 lap! But even after Joss does everything Abraham wants him to, Joss still didn't earn his respect.

I think one of the reasons why Joss is still even there training with his uncle is because if he leaves, then he can be killed since he knows to much information about the Slayer Society, and the second reason is because he wants to get revenge for his sister and since Sirus is there, it isn't all bad. Sirus is Joss's friend, mentor, and father like figure. He looks out for Joss and protects him. Without Sirus there for Joss, he would probably dead right now! Abraham is Joss's uncle, but that is just a name, he does not treat Joss like a nephew, he barely treats him like a living thing! Abraham acts like Joss is a machine or robot, and whatever he tells him to do, he will do it! Abraham creates the tension most of the time, he thinks being hard on Joss will make him a better slayer, but in the end, yes Joss will become a better slayer, but Joss will end up remembering Abraham as the man who tortured him for months just so they can kill creatures.

The conflict in this story, isn't easy to spot, but focusing on the main characters, it will eventually come to you. This book can be confusing sometimes because of all the things that happen, but the thing the reader should be focused on the most, is the journey Joss takes to be a slayer, and what happens to him along the way and the people who go along with him.

Blog Post #16: The Slayer Chronicles First Kill by Heather Brewer- Cross book Inquiry

In this book, The First Kill, the plot is a 13 year old boy named Joss, who is training in Rhinecliff, NY in the summer with his uncle, to become a slayer. This story has many similar aspects like for example the personality of the characters, the themes, the setting, etc. as the book, The Power of Six, by Pittacus Lore.

In The First Kill, the setting is in Rhinecliff, and in The Power of Six there are many settings, but to me the main setting is in the old abandon house the characters stay in throughout most of the book. Both these settings are similar, but also very unique. The setting in the first kill is a place in New York not really known by many people, and it is unique because it is a place that is mysterious and the perfect place to use as a setting in a book like this one where the main character is trying to become a vampire slayer. It is in upstate New York where they use trains to get in and out of that area, which gives the book even more of that old fashion vampire stereotype movies setting. In The Power of Six, the setting is also similar because it is in the middle of nowhere, and it is someplace that no one would ever try to look for ailens in. Both these settings are sort of a hide out thing, where it is the last place someone would look for vampire slayers or ailens/FBI's most wanted.

Another thing that is similar between these 2 books is the main characters and supporting characters. The main character of The First Kill is Joss, and he has 2 supporting characters that are kind of his closest friends, as well as in the book The Power of Six where John is the main character also with 2 close friends. In The First Kill, Joss's mentor is Sirus. Sirus is much like Number Six in The Power of Six, they both teach some knowledge to the main character. Sirus sort of shows Joss the way throughout his training, he teaches him how to defend for himself against Abraham, and he looked out for him. Number Six taught John all the knowledge she had about Lorien and things like their chests and the animals on their planet. Number Six faught for him sometimes, she trained him to fight like how Sirus trained Joss, just not for physical fights. Sam in The Power of Six is kind of like Kat in The First Kill. In the beginning these to characters are sort of clueless (for now Kat still is) and they are just that friend that is your one and only. But I predict sooner or later Kat will learn about the Slayer Society and act like a sidekick like Sam does.

Lastly, the themes in this 2 books are very similar. The plot is for the main character to learn about killing their enemy. Joss is learning how to become a slayer to kill their enemy which are vampires. And John is learning how to fight against their enemies, which are the Mogadorians. In the beginning these main characters are still the newbies, but sooner or later they get the hang of how everything is done in the position they are in.

These 2 books are very similiar. They connect in a very special way, and are 2 very good books to read. But writing a cross book inquiry kind of makes you wonder if one book was inspired by the other because of the ways they are similar.