A boy from the world above By Luca Zepeda

 Gregor the Overlander was written by Suzanne Collins and published in 2003. Gregor the Overlander tells the story of an 11-year-old boy named Gregor who embarks on a quest to find his long lost father. This story contains all the elements of a good fantasy novel, with personified animals and mystical worlds underneath the city of New York. Some people might consider this book to be more suitable for younger audiences but I was truly captivated by what Gregor experiences in this story, and in my opinion, this can be a book for all ages.

In Gregor the Overlander Gregor and his sister fall through an old air duct grate in their apartment building's basement. To their surprise, it leads to a world miles under New York City. This world is inhabited by humans with almost transparent skin, and the people co-exist with rats, bats, and cockroaches the size of humans. Gregor and his sister find themselves in a city that is on the brink of war, and the rats are trying to overtake the realm. The Regalian council believes Gregor to be this warrior, and they try to convince him to undertake the quest mentioned in the "Prophecy of Gray". This prophecy states that an Overland "warrior" will stop any attempt by the rats to take over the underground realm once and for all. 

   

 Character development is prevalent in the story, as Gregor learns how to live in this new world he has fallen into. However, I would like to focus on something that I enjoy from the book. In Gregor the Overlander there are two distinct settings: New York City and the Underland. Most of the story takes place in the Underland. Collins has done a remarkable job of creating a fantastical world that resembles a city that exists in the real world, or the Overland, and modifies it to fit the fantastical setting of the Underland. In the book, there are all sorts of customs and rituals that are unique to the Underland and have been created by the author to give the world an outlandish feeling. 

Another thing that I find interesting is the theme of this story. I believe the theme is "strength in differences." The Prophecy of Gray is about all races being equal. There must be two bats, two spinners (spiders), two crawlers, (cockroaches), two Overlanders, two Underlanders, etc. Although the city is at war and two species, humans and rats, are fighting to annihilate one another, in this quest, all species are equal, and that equality of being is the only hope of survival. This is clearly a message from the author about finding strength in the species’ differences, which can only be performed through equal treatment. I think this also speaks to issues that are going along in the real world regarding racial equality. 

All in all, this is a very interesting and admirable book. Everything about it is likable and the characters, the plot, the setting, etc. are all unique and splendid in their own way. I highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to read a fantastical story. 

I Need A Cure After Reading This A-MAZE-ing Book - Savindi

Warning #1: The Death Cure is the third and final book in The Maze Runner series. Therefore, this blog post will contain multiple spoilers for the two preceding books in the series. Also, there will be major spoilers for The Death Cure because I will talk about how the characters have changed throughout the series and also a major piece of information revealed in the book. I will also talk about my thoughts on the book's ending in this blog post because I think it is worth mentioning.   

        The third and final installment of The Maze Runner series is The Death Cure by James Dashner, and it seems fitting to make my third and final blog post for this semester about The Death Cure. Just like its predecessors, The Death Cure does not fail to keep you on your toes. The plot twists and turns, making you think hard about what is happening throughout the book. Many parts of the book make you think that you are getting answers, but at the same time, you still do not know anything. As I read the book, I kept second-guessing myself because I was not sure what information and what characters to trust. With the action combined with the amazing development, it truly is a thrilling read.      

Although the book was action-packed, I didn’t particularly like how the book was extremely violent and morbid in some scenes since it makes the story kind of hard to read. The book does not sugarcoat anything, so if you do not like very graphic books, I would not recommend this book to you. Another complaint I have about the plot is that it was slow in the beginning. Similar to The Scorch Trials, some parts of this book felt like the plot was just dragging along. However, the suspenseful and dramatic scenes near the end of the book made up for it. In fact, I liked the plot of The Death Cure much more than The Scorch Trials. 

Another aspect of The Death Cure that I like is the setting, which I used to dislike in The Scorch Trials. While The Maze Runner is set in the Maze (an elaborate, terrifying, and mysterious maze where the Gladers were trapped), The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure are both set in the world outside of the Maze. In The Scorch Trials, I really disliked the setting because it was very gruesome and violent. However, as more information was revealed about the setting, I began to appreciate how detailed and developed the setting is. 

Warning #2: In these next two paragraphs, there will be some spoilers about the setting that are not revealed until the end of The Death Cure. 

To elaborate more about the setting, The Maze Runner series is set in the future after the Sun Flares. The Sun Flares occurred years before The Maze Runner takes place. However, this event drives the story forward. Because of the Sun Flares, much of the world was destroyed, and the government concluded that only a portion of the surviving population could survive with the few resources left. Soon after, a man-made disease called the Flare was released, and it began killing many people. This Flare virus specifically attacks the brain, eating it until the victims, commonly called Cranks, lose themselves and become cannibalistic and savage. The reason for the release of the Flare is later revealed in the Epilogue of The Death Cure. In a journal entry, the leader of an organization called WICKED wrote, “Though I am fully aware that it was an act of desperation after the sun flares, releasing the Flare virus as a means of population control was an abhorrent and irreversible crime” (Dashner 725). This quote reveals that the Flare virus was released as a means of controlling the population in order for humans to survive. Later on, the leader of WICKED states that WICKED’s goal as an organization was to find the cure for the Flare in hopes they would “right that wrong” (Dashner 725). 

These pieces of information about the setting and WICKED really made me appreciate them. James Dashner put a lot of thought into the setting and WICKED, only revealing little by little how the setting and WICKED came to be, what WICKED’s goals were, and how the Gladers are tied to WICKED. This kind of development and storytelling is why I really love The Maze Runner series. It is honestly sad that I only began to love this aspect of the series after reading The Death Cure.

Warning #3: These next two paragraphs will have major spoilers about Newt, one of the main characters in The Maze Runner series, as well as a huge plot point in The Death Cure. Also, trigger warning, there is mention of suicide. 

Another thing I love about The Death Cure is the development of one of the main characters, Newt. The Maze Runner series is told through the perspective of Thomas, and one of his closest friends is a fellow Glader called Newt. When we first meet Newt in The Maze Runner, we see a guy who is kind, caring, and almost a motherly character. However, in The Death Cure, he gets the infamous Flare virus, which begins to eat his brain as the story progresses. He starts to become more irritable, and it is apparent that he is starting to lose his mind. This drastic change in Newt’s personality makes The Death Cure really interesting to read but also painful to read because Newt is my favorite character. 

In addition, we also see a huge side of Newt that we don’t see in The Maze Runner or The Scorch Trials, and that is his inner struggle. A notable characteristic of Newt is his limp, but in the previous books, he almost always avoided talking about it. Newt rarely talks about his struggles, but near the end of the book, he finally tells the truth to Thomas. He reveals the reason for his limp to Thomas, saying, “I tried to kill myself in the Maze. Climbed halfway up one of those bloody walls and jumped right off. Alby found me and dragged me back to the Glade right before the Doors closed. I hated the place, Tommy. I hated every second of every day” (Dashner 748). What Newt reveals in his last moments shows an inner struggle that he never showed in The Maze Runner or The Scorch Trials. It makes you empathize with the character, and, in my case, want to give them a hug. This scene is so heartbreaking, and it is probably one of the reasons why I love this series so much. The characters feel like real people, and they are so well written.        

Warning #4: I will now begin talking about my thoughts on the ending of The Death Cure, so there will be major spoilers.   

Another part I really liked near the end of The Death Cure was how it tied back to the first book, The Maze Runner. I was almost going to complain, saying that the Maze was almost never brought up again and seemed forgotten, but I was proven wrong. Near the end of the book, the Gladers find out that they have to go back to the Maze in order to save many people called Immunes due to the fact that they are immune to the Flare. In addition, the way the Gladers saved the Immunes and escaped the Maze for a second time was very similar to how they escaped the Maze in the first book. Although these last few chapters were extremely morbid and terrifying, I really like how James Dashner ended the series with what he started with. It connects well with what happened in the past books, and it ends the book and the series nicely.   

Not Warning #5: This section about my final thoughts is spoiler-free. I Promise.

        Overall, I loved The Death Cure and The Maze Runner trilogy though I'm not sure if I would recommend it. I would not recommend it if you don't like morbid or violent books. However, if you like to read books with an amazing plot, setting, and character development,  I would definitely recommend The Maze Runner series. The development, the plot, and the setting in the series are written incredibly well, and specifically in The Death Cure, the events feel so real and almost make you emotional. You know a book is amazing when you feel strong emotions because of it.    

Works Cited

Dashner, James. The Death Cure. Overdrive ed., Random House Children's Books, 2011. 3 vols. 

I Am Number Four, but that doesn't mean I'm the fourth book

     I Am Number Four is a book by the author Pittacus Lore, and is about a group of aliens, the Loric, who hail from the planet Lorien. It is also the first book of the series Lorien Legacies. IANF follows the life of John Smith, a Loric, as he struggles to blend in and hide from his enemies, the Mogadorians. I personally think this is a great series of books, and I am going to tell you all about them.

    John Smith is a seemingly average boy until we find out he is actually an alien  from the planet Lorien. When he was a child he was shipped off to Earth from the remains of his planet, along with eight other children. After Lorien was destroyed by another race of aliens, the Mogadorians, the children were chosen to save their planet. A charm was placed over the nine children so that they could only be killed in order. John is Number Four. His name is not actually John, but that is the name we are given throughout the book. John is in danger though. Numbers One through Three are dead, and he is Four. He is the next to die.

    John and his Cêpan, or guardian, Henri head to Paradise, Ohio to try to live life peacefully. There John makes friends with a nerdy boy, Sam, and gets a girlfriend, Sarah. Henri warns him to not get too attached to anyone in Paradise, because they might have to leave at a moment's notice, but John disregards that and proceeds to make friends anyways. In Paradise John learns to work with his special skills, called legacies, that act akin to superpowers. John develops telekinesis, heat resistance, and hand flashlights. John has to hone his legacies in order to use them in combat, and unfortunately Paradise is not always a paradise.

    This book was really good, and hard to put down. Since there's a good sized series of these books, I have been reading through them lately. I would recommend I Am Number Four to anyone who likes Sci-Fi, as well as people who like a good fiction novel/series. There is never a dull moment in the books, and they will get you hooked. I highly encourage giving IANF a try.

Of Mice and Men: Short but not so sweet

   

Eleanor Kraatz

 I decided to read Of Mice and Men because it was very short and I had it at my house. However, in its meer 100 pages it was incredibly eye-opening and sad. The book tells the story of two migrant workers; a small, smart man named George and his strong but mentally disabled friend Lennie. The book does not mention specifically what Lennie's problem is, but he has a terrible memory, poor social skills, and although he is kind, he panics when he is confused. This often gets him in trouble. For example, he becomes fascinated with a women's soft dress and wants to touch it, when he touches the dress the women screams which frightens Lennie. Instead of letting go he grips onto the dress much tighter which eventually leads to the woman telling others she has been raped, and Lennie and George must leave the town. He also is schizophrenic and tends to fixate on very specific things. Because of his issues he travels with George wherever he goes which is not normal for many migrant workers. 

    Although George and Lennie have each other one of the most prominent themes in the book is loneliness. In the story George, Candy (a worker on the ranch), Crooks (a black man working on the ranch), and Curley's wife (the wife of a worker on the ranch)  all admit to how lonely they are. The story also shows that even when people are isolated and long for companionship they still try to tear each other down. It was sad to see the characters, even at their weakest, still tried to crush others dreams and ambitions. 

    "Guys like us, that work on ranches, are the loneliest guys in the world. They got no family. They don't belong no place...They ain't got nothing to look ahead to." This is said by George in the very beginning of the book and is shown by many of the supporting characters. One of those character is Crooks, an old, black stable-hand. Because Crooks is black, he sleeps away from all the other workers and spends most of his time alone. The following are quotes from the book from when characters explain their loneliness to each other 

 "S'pose you didn't have nobody. S'pose you couldn't go into the bunk house and play rummy 'cause you was black...A guy needs somebody-to be near him. A guy goes nuts if he ain't got nobody. Don't make no difference who the guy is, long's he's with you." -Crooks

"I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely" -Curley's Wife 

Despite knowing about each other's loneliness the characters don't provide each other with companionship. Instead they try and make them feel worse about themselves by telling each their dreams are impossible. It was sad to read because you would think that the characters would realise they do not need to be lonely when they are surrounded by other people. However, the characters allow fear and jealousy to make each other more miserable. 

The Scorch Trials: A Trial Testing My Patience But Worth It In The End - Savindi

Warning: The Scorch Trials is the second book in The Maze Runner series, so this blog post will definitely contain spoilers about The Maze Runner, which is the first book in the series. This blog post may contain minor spoilers about The Scorch Trials as well. 

    The Scorch Trials by James Dashner is the sequel to The Maze Runner. Last we saw the Gladers in The Maze Runner, they had finally escaped the maze, thinking they had finally found a safe place to escape to. However, in The Scorch Trials, the Gladers find out that they had escaped only to discover that they are part of a test filled with trials. Now, they are going to be thrown into another trial, hence the name, The Scorch Trials. With twists and turns, betrayals and alliances, and many mysteries, The Scorch Trials really proves to be an amazing and thrilling read.

    Like The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials never lets you rest. If you think you figured out the mysteries in the story, you will most likely be proven wrong. As the events unfold, facts turn into lies, and what seemed to be lies turn into facts. Situations are often turned upside down in crazy and unexpected ways. For example, throughout the book, characters who the protagonist, Thomas, thought he could trust suddenly turn against Thomas. It's hard to tell whether these characters are Thomas's allies or foes, and this huge uncertainty creates a very exciting and thrilling experience for the reader. Each event reveals something about either the characters or the plot, and most of the time, these events are incredibly surprising. 

    Not only do Thomas's relationships with other characters create a mysterious ambiance, but the plot twists and turns like a rollercoaster. You never know what is going to come next, which adds to the excitement of reading the book. It's thrilling to always be on your toes, wondering what is going to happen next. The unpredictable plot stimulates many different emotions such as excitement, anger, shock, sorrow, and many other emotions. Reading the book truly is an emotional roller-coaster.  

    My only complaint about the book is that in the middle, the plot tends to progress quite slowly. It really tested my patience because I am the kind of person who likes to read fast-paced books. However, this slow progress can be justified. (Minor spoiler alert.) During this part of the story, Thomas was separated from the Gladers, forcing him to tread onward with one other character, Brenda. The slow pacing of this part matches how slow the journey felt to Thomas. This part also creates some suspense, making you wonder more and more about what will happen next. Will they find the Gladers again? Will they find a way out of this treacherous trial? Will they survive? 

    In addition, the ending makes reading this slow-paced part of the book worth it. The suspense finally leads to the exhilarating climax and ending that leaves you hanging upside down and wanting to read the next book. It brings up many questions to the reader that will only be explained in the next and final installment of the series. It brings up problems that the reader will surely want to know how they are resolved in the next book. The ending is jam-packed with action, much like the battle scenes against the monsters called Grievers in The Maze Runner. The author writes these action-packed scenes in such great detail that it makes it easy to visualize what is going on. This makes reading the story like watching a movie.   

    Overall, I think The Scorch Trials and The Maze Runner series itself are amazing books. If you have already read The Maze Runner and liked it, but you didn't feel motivated to pick up The Scorch Trials, then I highly recommend you pick it up. The book truly breaks the commonly known stereotype that sequels are usually worse than the original. The Scorch Trials lives up to the expectations set by The Maze Runner. If you love books that provide an emotional rollercoaster, have action-packed scenes that make reading the book like watching a movie, and leave you wanting to learn more, then The Maze Runner series is the perfect series for you.   

Bones: Spooky but Memorable

    Doll Bones sounds like the name of a horror story, but in reality, it's more of a story about coming to realize where you belong in life. Written by Holly Black in 2014, the story follows the adventures of Zach, Alice, and Poppy, who play fantasy adventure games together. The ruler of their fantasy lands is always "The Queen," a doll locked away in Poppy's house made of bone china, and she plays a key part in this tale.

    The three friends play their adventure games almost every day after school, and while they all love playing it, Zach is pressured by society to stop playing it because he is a boy. Zach continues to play while doing other things, like basketball, to appease the other students as well as his own father. Sadly, that isn't enough for his dad. Zach's father takes all of the figures Zach uses for the game and throws them away, never to be seen again. Zach feels as if his heart broke, but doesn't want to tell Alice and Poppy because he thinks it will be too hard to tell them, so instead he stays silent. The friends start to grow farther apart until one night Poppy is awoken by a mysterious girl that reveals herself to be the spirit of a girl named Eleanor, the real girl that was made into the doll none other than "The Queen."

    Poppy instantly goes to her friends about this, but Alice isn't sure what to think and Zach is still trying to distance himself. Poppy puts up enough of an argument and the two start to believe her. Poppy convinces them they need to leave town and head to East Liverpool, Ohio, to bury the doll and free her spirit, and they head out that night. The children make their way through the state, with the doll and the characters around them getting ever more creepy.

    Doll Bones is all about not having to be what people try to make you be. Throughout the story we see Zach fight between two different realities, one where he gets to play with his friends and the other where he is forced to be the man his father wants him to be. Even the other characters go through a bit of change. In the end Alice isn't so nervous about her dominating grandmother, and Poppy is willing to break her mother's rules in order to save Eleanor. 

    I really enjoyed Doll Bones, and it helped me realize that you can shape the world you want to live in, and become who you want to be. I would recommend this book to any people that feel like society is pressuring them to do something they don't want to be, as well as anyone who likes creepy stories. I hope you check out Doll Bones, as I'm sure you will enjoy it.

"Beautiful and Cruel"

    "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros is a coming of age novel through the eyes of a young writer in a Latino neighborhood. Esperanza is a Mexican American middle school girl with dreams of becoming a writer. The story begins with Esperanza and her family moving into their first "real" house. Esperanza's expectations are high from dreams her parents shared with her of a white house, with three washrooms, real stairs, and a big front yard. However, their house on mango street is not like that. The house was small, with crumbling bricks, tiny windows and only one washroom. Esperanza refuses to believe this will be a permanent settlement and longs for when she can move out and buy a house of her own. 

    The disappointment Esperanza endures while moving happens many other times throughout the story. "In the movies there is always one with red lips who is beautiful and cruel. She is the one who drives the men crazy and laughs them all away. Her power is her own. She will not give it away". This is a powerful quote from Esperanza after observing the women around her and in films. She starts to understand the one of the only powers women have over men was sexuality. She longs to be like the fierce women she sees in movies and to be "beautiful and cruel". She wants to be admired by men but not taken advantaged of like many of the women she sees around her. However, she is sexually assaulted by an old man and her hope of being "beautiful and cruel" diminishes.  

    She is once again let down when previous ideas she has about what her life will be like do not come true. Esperanza realizes how hard it is for a woman to be "beautiful and cruel" in a male-dominated society. She does not understand why one of her friends, Sally, lets boys bully her as a way of flirting. Sally's keys are stolen by a group of boys who only give them back to her after she kisses all of them. Sally blatantly ignores the injustice of the situation and says it is "just a kiss". This infuriates Esperanza and just further shows her the sexism that so many women endure but choose to ignore to please men.  

    Esperanza's soon realizes she does not want her future to be determined by a man like so many of the other women in her neighborhood. The following passage is one of my favorite quotes in this book "My mother says when I get older my dusty hair will settle and my blouse will learn to stay clean, but I have decided not to grow up tame like the other who lay their necks on the threshold waiting for the ball and chain." I particularly like this passage from Esperanza because it is when she first realizes that her future and identity do not depend on a husband. She realizes that although many other girls do, she did not need constant praise from men to feel successful in life. I also like how she mentions that she will not change herself, or her ambitions 

    I highly recommend this book. It is a short but powerful book. Esperanza's journey throughout the book is very inspirational and rewarding as a reader. The book highlights some of the key issues in male-dominated societies and how different women's response to these issues can be. It also shows how films and media ignore these issues meaning young girls do not learn about these issues until they see them firsthand. Because of its lack of portrayal there is little to no discussion about things like assault and difficulties women face in a male-dominated society.