Hahn,+Randi

=Blog #9 December 4, 2011 FINAL BLOG= Can you think of a time when you were upset and didn't show it, or when you wanted to talk to your parents about something important but felt like you couldn't? I know I can. //The Truth About Forever// by Sarah Dessen has situations like this scattered all over it. I really enjoy books written by Sarah Dessen so it was no surprise that really liked this book. In this blog I hope to explain to you why I find this book so appealing, and also to try to convince you that you would enjoy this book too!

In this book there is one main character named Macy Queen. Macy is no ordinary girl; she's not your typical teenager. She's very studious, always keeps to herself, and very emotional all at the same time. Also in the beginning of the book Macy's dad dies. He goes on a run early in the morning but goes into cardiac arrest and isn't able to pull through. Macy feels deep levels of guilt because she feels that she was responsible for her father's death. Macy lives with her mother, and her sister is moved out and married. Macy and her mother deal with the death of her father in the same way; they both grieve silently. Macy tries to find things that will get her father's death off her mind, and in the process ends up trying new things she wouldn't normally try. One of the things she tries is working for a hectic catering company called Wish. During her job at Wish, Macy meets quiet and artistic Wes. The story follows the typical "boy meets girl" story lines; Macy and Wes end up falling in love in the end of the book. In this process, Macy gains many different pieces of advice that help her overcome the death of her father. Throughout the book Macy discovers herself, overcomes the guilt she feels, and finally connects with her mom like she never has before, A perfect ending to a story like this.

One thing I particularly liked in this book was the story line. I'm sure other authors could have written story lines similar to this one, but the way that Sarah Dessen writes gives a whole new understanding to the "boy meets girl" storyline. The author is very creative with the way she uses her words, because she can make the high school girl meets high school boy storyline, seem much more intriguing. She adds a whole new depth to the characters by giving them flaws instead of making them perfect. Macy sure isn't perfect; she's struggling with grief and really doesn't know who she is on the inside. Wes isn't perfect either; his mother passed away, and he has certain things that he's holding onto in his life. I really love the way she added to the storyline to make it seem more realistic. She gets rid of the "high school teenager" sterotype and replaces it with pragmatic, and problematic situations in which these teenagers react with realistic reactions. Sarah adds so much depth to this storyline, and it makes it so much more enjoyable to read because it's different than many other books. The storyline of this book is very interesting, and the way that Sarah writes makes this book stand out amongst many other young adult books I've read!

If I had to rate this book, I would rate it a 9.5; 1 being a horrible book and 10 being the best book I ever read. This book is one of those books where you just have to keep reading until you're finished! This book has so many different emotions in it, that when you read it, you feel part of the emotions the characters feel, and that is what I think makes a good book. If you love any young adult love book, or anything by Sarah Dessen, go get this book right now and tell me how you liked it. (:

=Blog #8 November 19, 2011= This week I've finished the book __The Wedding!__ This book was extremely good! I've found out some more sweet things that Wilson has done, and they continue to amaze me. In the book you find out something unexpected; the Jane's parents are Allie and Noah Calhoun. They are from Nicholas Spark's previous book, __The Notebook.__ Throughout the course of the book Wilson goes to talk to Jane's father, Noah, and asks him questions about Jane and how to get her love back. Noah answers with some wise things, and tells Wilson how he has kept his and Allie's love going all this time. Wilson remembers things that Noah has told him and uses them to win Jane's love back. In the end of the book, Jane and Wilson daughter, Anna is getting married. On the day of the wedding, Jane expects her daughter to be getting married but really finds out that it's herself that's getting married; remarried to Wilson! WIlson has successfully gained Jane's love back, and had a second wedding to show how devoted he was to her. They all lived happily ever after! Of course stories like this don't happen all the time in real life, but when they do it's something really special, and something to be cherished. I really think Nicholas Sparks brings a reality to this book that not many authors do. He showed real world problems that people are facing and made them come to life in his book. He didn't just show all the good things about people in his book, but also the faults that people have. I think this book is an inspiration to many people because he shows people that sometimes the things that seem impossible are eventually after all, possible. I would definitely and highly recommend this book to any one who loves a good story! =Blog #7 November 12, 2011= This week I've read more in //The Wedding.// I've read up to page 232. As I said before, in the book Wilson does really sweet things to get Jane's love back. One of the things that he did that I read this week, was he made a very romantic night for her. After a long day of work, Jane came home to find a note on her bed telling her to get dressed for a magical evening, after she had a jacuzzi bath. Wilson had purchased a pretty black dress and matching shoes for her to wear that evening, that he worked so hard to find. Jane got all dressed up and Wilson had a small limo come and pick her up and take her to the romantic restaurant. This was one of the many sweet things he did for her. I really enjoy this book! When I read I feel that there really are people who genuinely care out there. Through this book the author really portrays Jane's emotions well, and how through all the different things that Wilson does, you can really see her "start to soften" and begin to love him again. This book makes me so happy when I read it, because it's a classic love story with a different kind of twist. I hope as I finish the book, I can really see Jane and Wilson's emotions interact together!

=Blog #6 November 5, 2011= __Caleb and Kate__ was such a good book! There is so many small details that are important to the story line that it would be near impossible to list them all. All's I'm going to say is that something surprising happens that you wouldn't expect, so I suggest you read the book to find out what happens, because I don't want to spoil it for you! I only had a few pages left in __Caleb and Kate__, so after I finished it, I started __The Wedding__ by Nicholas Sparks. I'd never read any books by Nicholas Sparks before so I wasn't sure how I was going to like it. I was really surprised at how much I liked this book. In the book there Jane and Wilson Lewis are married, but Jane has fallen out of love with Wilson because of his carelessness in their relationship. Jane explains how she feels to Wilson and suggests that she spend sometime without Wilson to think about how she feels about him. Wilson is truly surprised. He didn't realize that what he was doing was affecting Jane negatively. Wilson is scared that his marriage is going to fall apart. I'm about halfway done with the book, and throughout it, you see what things Wilson does to gain Jane's love back. Since I'm only halfway done, I'm not exactly sure how it's going to turn out, but I bet in the end Wilson will finally gain Jane's love back. This book really shows how much some people care about each other, and I really like that. I really find it interesting the different things that Wilson does, it really shows how much he cares. I hope as I finish the rest of the book I'll find out more sweet things that Wilson does for Jane, and if Jane will eventually love Wilson again!

--- =Blog #5! October 29, 2011= This week I've read more in the book __Caleb and Kate__. I can't tell many details about what's happened so far, because I'll give away major things that happen in the book that I want you to find out for yourself. What I can tell you is that Caleb and Kate's relationship really intrigues me. In their relationship, they try to have it be God centered, which I think is really neat because not many books advertise that type of relationship. This book really makes me feel that the author isn't just trying to tell you what's happening in the book, but that you'll be able to feel some of the emotion the characters are feeling as well. We aren't just told that the characters are happy, but that they feel happiness when a certain emotional experience happens. I really like the fact that this book does have God referenced in it; it makes me feel that he's not totally unnoticed. I have really enjoyed this book so far, and I hope as I keep reading I'll be able to enjoy it just as much!

=Blog #4! October 22, 2011= This week I've started a new book called __Caleb and Kate__ by Cindy Martinusen-Coloma. I haven't gotten very far in this book, because it's kind of a hard book to get into. I've read up to page 71, but the book is finally starting to get interesting. From what I've read so far, this story reminds me of a modernized Romeo and Juliet. There are two characters, Caleb and Kate, that have family ties that go way back in time. Right now Kate isn't sure why their families were feuding in the past, all she knows is that she's supposed to "get to know" Caleb. I feel that this book is going to show some real deep emotion, between the feuding families and the relationship that I think is going to grow between Caleb and Kate. One quote I found interesting isn't even one the author wrote. At the beginning of each chapter there is a different quote, and the one I took interest in is by William Shakespeare. He said, "The miserable have no other medicine but only hope." I really like this quote because I find it so true in the world today. It really stuck out to me because it applies to me at sometimes in my life, for example when I'm down in the dumps, hoping for something good usually makes my day better! I also thing this quote is setting the stage for possible romance to happen between Caleb and Kate.

=Blog #3! October 15, 2011= This past week I've read a ton! I finished this book and also the second and third one. You could say I was on a roll! The other two books in the series were, __It's Not Summer Without You__ and __We'll Always Have Summer.__ This series of books was a trilogy and I can honestly say it was the best series of books I've ever read. In the course of the books you find out so many new things about Belly and the Fisher boys, it's so fascinating! When I pick up one of these books to read, I seriously can't put it down until I'm finished. These books really show emotion, and by the way she writes it makes me feel like I'm there on the sidelines of the story watching it! In the books Belly has found herself, found out who she is, and who she wants to spend her life with! If you want to find out what I mean, read the books yourself; you'll love them!

=Blog #2! October 8, 2011= I'm still reading the same book as before and it's really good! Right now I have read up to page 133. In the book so far, the author has done a good job of explaining and portraying all of the main characters, and what they're like. As I said before Belly and her family go down to Cousin's beach every summer to meet up with Susannah's family. In the book the main character is Belly, who is about sixteen years old. The book is written from her point of view and how she sees things. She also has flashbacks about memories when she was little that explain more about the character's lives. This particular summer Belly discovers some interesting things. For instance, her brother is leaving for college soon, Conrad had been acting very different lately, and Jeremiah began to like Belly a lot, but she didn't realize it. All of these things confuse Belly, but she manages well enough. In the middle of her confusing summer, she meets a guy at a party named Cam. She finds out that she actually had met Cam before at a Latin convention in eighth grade. Cam and Belly start hanging out and talking on the phone for a long time. Conrad and Jeremiah start acting different around Belly, and this confuses her even more because she still has big feelings for Conrad, and little ones for Jeremiah. I've only gotten this far in the book and can't wait to figure out who she ends up with! I really enjoy this book because it keeps me interested and wanting to read more. The author really keeps your attention because she writes so that you really wonder what will happen next. I'm really excited to finish the book to see how everything gets worked out with Belly and her soulmate.

=Blog #1! October 1, 2011=



This is Randi, and I am reading __The Summer I Turned Pretty__ by Jenny Han. While shopping for a book at Borders, I picked up this one because it had an interesting cover and looked like a good book to read. I purchased the book, but didn't begin to read it until a couple days ago. The book is about a young, teenage girl name Belly who lives with her mom and brother. Every summer they travel down to Cousin's Beach to spend time with Belly's mothers best friend and her two sons. Belly's mother's name is Laurel and her brother's name is Steven. Laurel's best friend is named Susannah and her son's names are Jeremiah and Conrad. Every summer that Belly and her family have known has been spent at Cousin's Beach. Belly spends the summer hanging out with all the boys because they are around her age. During all the years that she has spent at the beach, her relationship with Jeremiah and Conrad has grown into something special. She has a 'thing' for Conrad, but he doesn't return the feelings. In the course of this book you see the growth between Belly and the boys, and how the relationships flourish. I haven't finished this book yet, but I can almost guarantee that something big will happen in the end and that Belly will end up with either Jeremiah or Conrad. I have really enjoyed this book so far! While reading, I noticed a level of emotion that the author writes with that really intrigues me. In other books I've read, this one has the most emotion portrayed. The author fully explains that story line of the book very well, making sure that she doesn't leave out any important details or add unnecessary things. Every sentence in this book captures my attention and leaves me wanting to find out what happens next. She writes with much depth and feeling, that really explains what the characters are going through and how they feel. I can't wait to finish the book and find out what happens next! I think that through the process of decisions and mistakes, Belly will discover her identity. I thinks she will also find out who her soul mate is, and how to be the person she wants to be. I'm not very far in the book but I'm excited to find out how her life plays out.