Sorry for such a long absence! I just got really busy with school and writing (yeah, yeah, I know, more excuses! :P). But I'll be posting the review for Small Medium At Large in a few days- I just can't get it right now, as there's something wonky with my computer. -_-
First off, I'd like to apologize for my very long MIA stint. I've been busy writing some stories, and this blog slipped my mind for a little while.
Also, I'd like to announce that I'm working on another book review. It's for Joanne Levy's book Small Medium At Large. I don't want to spoil anything for you, but if you want to read an excerpt from the book, you can read it here.
Hopefully, I'll have it done sometime this weekend, because I'm meeting the author at a book signing at the local Chapters.
I'll post the review here as soon as it's out, promise!
BOOK REVIEW FOR 'BETWEEN THE LINES' BY JODI PICOULT AND SAMANTHA VAN LEER
Once upon a time, there was a young boy named Oliver who was born without courage. His love—Seraphima—had
been stolen away and locked in a distant castle, and Oliver must go on a
quest to save her. After an arduous journey across the kingdom, Oliver
finds his true love and rescues her from the evil villain, and they live
happily ever after.
If only life were that easy. Oliver lives in a twisted fairytale world, where he can talk to anyone and do anything—unless the book is opened.
As soon as a reader cracks openBetween the Lines, the characters have to act out the story. Day, after day, after day.
Nothing is as it seems. Oliver doesn't really love Seraphima, and Rapscillio—the evil villain—is actually a kind-hearted man who enjoys collecting butterflies.
Oliver is the only one who tires of acting out the story time after
time. Everyone else is happy to do it, but all Oliver wants to do is
live. He wants to explore the real world. He wants to live his own life,
not act out a role that was created for him.
Then one day, the book is opened again, but something is different
this time. This Reader notices more than anyone else ever has, and
Oliver's enraptured by her. Her name is Delilah and somehow, some way,
she and Oliver begin to talk and find solace in one another.
But Oliver soon tires of just talking to her. He wants to escape
the book, live real life, and be a normal teenager. He tries and tries
and tries some more to escape out of his life, but nothing works. He’s
stuck in his fairytale world, and there’s nothing he can do about it.
Or is there?
Between The Lines, a
suspenseful tale of love, adventure, and hope, is sure to have you
reading with your hands clenched around the pages. Told from three
different points of view, this story is easily one of the best things I
have read all year, and is (in my opinion) an essential for everyone’s
bookshelf.
As some people may know, Mental Health Week just finished, it is only one week long but people do deal with it on a daily basis; I've decided to join the anti-bullying campaign bandwagon. I may only be 13 years old, but I've seen enough bullying to know that this needs to stop.
Bullying can kill. Even if all you do is taunt someone, your words can kill. Bullying-related suicides have become so common over the past few years that we now have a word for it- bullycide.
Did you know that every 40 seconds someone commits suicide, and that over half of all suicides as bullying related? That adds up to someone trying to take their own life because they can't deal with it anymore every one and a third minutes.
Bullying isn't just the stereotypical physical punching and kicking; no, it's often way more than that. There's cyberbullying, emotional bullying, and verbal bullying as well. And that all includes a wide spectrum of things; bullying can be anything from calling someone ugly to shunning them or to hitting them.
I've had my own experiences with bullying, and I think it's time to talk about them.
I guess the first incident started when I was 10, and my father was going through cancer treatment. My best friend suddenly turned against me, and for weeks and weeks she punched me, kicked me, and told me I was worthless, fat, ugly, and stupid. I began to think she was telling the truth, and my self image took a real hit.
This went on for weeks and weeks and I started to hate my body, hate what I looked like. I didn't even snap out of it until she started bringing my family and friends into the equation, and that's when I finally got enough gumption to tell my parents.
We stopped being friends, but to this day she's still there, trying to do things to annoy me and make me mad. It used to bug me, but now I know who she really is, and she doesn't bug me anymore.
I'm going to be honest with both you and me and just say it: sometimes I get depressed because of many things. It's not extreme bipolar-ness or anything, it's just that all this stuff in my life adds up and I fall into that trap of depression, we all do.
But I always get out of it after a little while, because I know somewhere deep down that it isn't worth all the tears and the heartbreak. I know now All those fairweather friends who suddenly shun me for no discernible reason, and all those people who badmouth me when they think I'm not listening- they're not worth it.
And if you're being bullied, remember this: they're not worth it. They're just petty, selfish human beings who hate themselves so much that they have to take it out on others. And anyone who does that to you isn't worth the pain.
As most people probably already know, a 19 year old girl by the name of Olivia Penpraze attempted suicide on the 29th of March, and for close to a month she was left brain-dead and on life support. Recently, she was taken off and is now dead.
Olivia was bullied for years and years before this happened. She was called worthless, stupid, and told that she should die. She has pychsosis, and hears voices and sees people that try to hurt her. Because of this, Olivia started hurting herself in Grade 10 and since 2008, she has attempted suicide on every single May 1st.
And this time, she succeeded.
The thing that angers me the most about this is that this could have been prevented. She could have been saved, if someone, anyone had been there for her. But no one was.
This is the video she posted on youtube:
Olivia also had a tumblr account, now deleted, under the name 'bulimickittens'. She posted 900 over posts, over 900 cries for help, and no one cared. Some of them did, probably, and left her supportive messages, but the majority didn't.
She got messages telling her to kill herself, and messages calling her a multitude of names. People egged her on, people egged her on.
It's things like this that lead me to lose faith in the human race. There were probably dozens of people heartless enough to post things like that, and for what reason? Did they get a kick out of it? Did they think that it was fun?
This is what her dad posted on her tumblr before deleting it:
"To all of my daughter’s followers, this is to let you all know that on Thursday, 29th March, Olivia attempted suicide, as a result she is on life support and this will be terminated shortly due to her being brain dead. So, to all of the people who posted support of this outcome on this blog, you can be real proud of yourselves. As a father who witnessed her first breath of life and now to witness her last, I thank you for your utmost disregard for life. If this sort of activity gets you off, you are nothing. To those of you who offered her support to refrain from killing herself, thanks. You should all try to make contact with family even if it is against your wishes. At least leave a contact somewhere on your blog in times of need. I know that you all need somewhere you can vent your anger and feelings and that these blogs can help, but in reality family must always come first…"
I agree with him totally. The parents of a suicidal person need to be notified in such cases like this. I have things, on my own tumblr, set up if anyone needs to talk. I have the numbers for the suicide hotline, the depression hotline, the sexuality support hotline, and many others, and I shall re-post them all hereif anyone needs them.
Hey, everybody! I've started writing a book review for Jodi Picoult's new book, Between the Lines. It's a really really good book, and she wrote it with her daughter (who's in high school, by the way!), Samantha Van Leer.
I'll probably finish it in a few weeks, as I have a few MASSIVE projects for school that are due in about a week or so, and I won't have any time to write anything until then.
So, I saw The Hunger Games today! It was really really really amazingly
awesome (I used three reallys just to show you how amazing it is). I
still have to say that the book is better, but this is a really close
second. All the emotions that were in the book were conveyed in the
movie; the intensity of it was very well captured without it seeming
Capitol-ized. The movie was actually surprisingly true to the book, even though some of my favourite lines were taken out . But the characters were all really well cast (Jennifer Lawrence (aka Katniss) is perfect for her role especially), and the male leads (Peeta, Gale and yes, even Cato) were nice looking enough that all of the (other) girls were like:
…And, moving on. I really liked how the
movie showed showed scenes from the Gamemaker’s lab, and district 11 in
that one scene (which, by the way, was totally heartbreakingly
touching and sad). The mutts, and the arena and almost everything was
really well done. Especially Rue, who’s definitely one of my favourite
characters in the books. I really really liked what they did with her
character; I liked how they gave her time to shine and made her
mischievous. All in all, the movie is really really good, and definitely worth spending some money for a ticket on. And now, movie commentary from me!
The fact that the “Well, don’t step on me, sweetheart,” line was taken out:
“I can still cook you, you know.”
“Well, win. And when you come home, she can’t refuse!”
“Thanks, but that’s not going to work in my case.”
“Why not?”
“Because she came here with me.”
“That’s mahogany!”
“I keep wishing I could think of a way to show them them they don’t own me. That I’m more then just a piece in their Games.”
“Katniss… sing to me.”
“You call that a kiss?”
“You know that day when you came to school
in a red plaid dress, and your hair was in two braids instead of one?
The music teacher asked who knew the valley song, and you… you put your
hand up. *laughs* And everyday after that, I watched you walk home.”
. But the characters were all really well cast (Jennifer Lawrence (aka Katniss) is perfect for her role especially), and the male leads (Peeta, Gale and yes, even Cato) were nice looking enough that all of the (other) girls were like:
