Non Fiction Blog Post

http://www.nytimes.com/1989/08/02/business/cosmetics-companies-quietly-ending-animal-tests.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

Animal testing. In my opinion one of the cruelest ways to help the american nation. Sure, testing animals gives us research, helps us learn about products but the way they find this information out isn't ethical. Hurting animals who are helpless and innocent is not the way to help out society. Injeccting them with chemicals and rubbing products into their eyes and nose is awful. Imagine is that was you.

In this article I think the author wants us to raise awareness about animal testing and how it is stopping throughout some of the brand name cosmetics like "Cover Girl" and "Avon." But in the past they would rub chemicals into their fur, shave their fur, rub chemicals into their eyes and inject them with all sorts of gross products.

I think the author wants us to feel relieved that animal testing is lightening up around the world and that lots of animal rights groups are standing up for them.

In conclusion this article really made me feel assured that animal testing is getting better and that I know people all over the world have the same thoughts and feeling about this topic just like me!

"So Inn Love"

So I told you I would write one final blog post about this extremely stereotypical book "So Inn Love" by Catherine Clark, which I regret reading and think was a complete waste of my time. So instead of praising how great this book was I will name several ways the author could have made it much better. Fortunately I won't have to go through this trauma of reading a dense, and slow book.

One way I think the author could have made this book a lot better was if the main character had more of an actual personality. It seemed like the author couldn't decide what kind of impression the girl made on other people. By the end I felt like I didn't know the character well at all. For a book to be good, usually there are ways to relate to a character's actions or emotions. However, in this book, the girl (Elizabeth) didn't seem real at all--instead, I felt like I was watching a TV show with awful actors. She wasn't believable.

Adding on to that I felt like I was watching an awful TV show, Elizabeth the protagonist was constantly being "checked out" by the boy she liked. For example during the scene where they had the same job as a lifeguard on the beach when she went to go get some supplies from the shed she noticed him putting on his binoculars and looking at her in her bikini. Oh God, can it get anymore like a bad sitcom? I wonder why this author chose this to be the main focus of the book. I think she could've instead made a slightly more entertaining conflict and add the boy drama as a smaller conflict.

Overall I definitely wasn't too impressed but the book did teach me many girls in the world would actually read and enjoy the book; otherwise, it wouldn't be published. I guess I'll steer away from the author in the future.

"So Inn Love"

I am currently reading "So inn love" by Catherine Clark. Even though I just started it, it has already proven to be in one word stereotypical. There are the "populars," the "loosers," the "jocks", and more and since she is just a newbie she is one of the "loosers" just like all of the other teenage dramas but my question is: What am I holding back on or what does my mind not want me to read? This book in my opinion will probably have a fairy tale ending and will have some extreme romantic action going on. Hopefully my opinion will not be correct and it will prove to be something more.

It takes place with a young girl named Liza just graduating high school and has scored a job at the inn where all of the cool kids hang out. Her request is to "get through this without being heartbroken" and my mind has already blocked some things out. Stupid talk about boys and more. What else do we seriously want to hear. My mind has already held back the parts of the book where she gets into fights, spills a drink on her new shirt, and has a hopeless crush who is the most popular boy around. Yeah, that kind of stuff. There are also the good parts of the book where I can actually see that that the author tried to make an effort not to make it all stupid and stereotypical. One part is where she and her new friend are talking about what they are going to do that summer and for a little while I can actually see where the story is going. My mind almost doesn't want to read the stereotypical stuff and just skips over and I move to a new page.

In conclusion hopefully this book will end up being good so I don't have to waste so much time reading it. I am holding back on everything that is stereotypical.

"11 Birthdays"

I am currently reading the book "11 Birthdays" by Wendy Mass. This book is already showing interesting aspects of possible supernatural powers and maybe even prophecies! This book is really fun and captivating and always leaves me wanting more. Some character relationships are stronger then others though. Mothers to daughters, sister to sister, and father to daughter. All of these relationships make the book even stronger and allow you to zoom in on the really interesting parts.

I think that the relationship between the protagonist Amanda and her sister Kylie have a bipolar relationship there are some times in the book where they will constantly fight and just not talk, and then there are other times in the book where they will complement each other and talk. I think that having a rocky relationship between them makes the book more real and not like a fairy tale. I also think that having a older and prettier sister makes the book a little stereotypical. I mean aren't a lot of books about younger sisters and their older prettier sisters that can sometimes be mean to them? Overall I would like to keep focusing in on this relationship.

In conclusion even though I have just started the book it is already really good with lots of different plot twists and I would like to keep thinking about the relationship between older and younger sisters.

"I was a Teenage Fairy"

Right now I am currently reading the book "I was a teenage fairy" by Francessca Lia Block. This book even though I have just started reading it has already got me very engaged in the setting and surrounding. The book so far has taken place in suburbia Beverly Hills and is about a girl whose name is Barbie and may look like one too buts thats not how she feels on the inside. Her mother forces and pushes her around like she's plastic and that is not how she wants to be known. Her mother, it feels, just cares about her model career and not the way she really feels.

To me it seems like Barbie does not have a strong relationship to or mom, or her dad. Her mother only cares about her modeling career and her father doesn't care about anything but her work. Her mother forces her to go take head shots for her portfolio and go to fancy schools and all Barbie wants is to be like every other kid. Normal. In the book while the agent is fussing over how she looks Barbies eyes immediately go to the plant sitting in the corner. She wants nothing to do with them and everything to do with the plant. She studies it and notices every crevice instead of applying make up and hair spray. I think Barbies life would be a lot easier if her mother would just be a little on Barbies side and just follow along.

Then there is another whole side from the story. Aside from the whole model career there is Mab. Mab is a fairy. Yes, I said it a fairy. When Barbie hear something from the back yard she went to check an it ended up being a fairy. In the book it states that she doesn't know if Mab is real. She seems pretty real to me. I think Mab symbolizes the one side of her that is obsessed with beauty but then again I could be wrong. I just started the book. Mab loves herself, she is constantly calling herself beautiful and from the way the author describes her she might be on the outside but on the inside she seems like a snob. I look forward to learning more about this relationship.

In conclusion, I can't wait to learn more about this fairy and more relationships between fairies and her family and modeling career.

The final blog post for "The Lovely Bones"

For the final blog post on "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold Susie faces her self in a strange but sweet situation and ending. I very much enjoyed reading this book and I think I can add it to my list of favorites. The language is very detailed and tough but that's what gives the book a little more liveliness and edge.

The part of the book which was veering towards the end really made me emotional. Susies friend named Ruth on earth faces a near death experience and soars up towards heaven, but on the other hand as Susie watches her, she gets a little to close and falls and tumbles down into Ruthes body. I think this is a very interesting choice the author made because Susies boyfriend just so happens to be having lunch with Ruth. Her boyfriend immediately notices a change then discovers it's Susie. I was very happy at this point because throughout the book Susie longs to be with her boyfriend and when she finally gets the chance it was very moving for the two of them. 

Can you imagine somebody from the dead going into another persons body. This part in the book was definitely a highlight for me. All throughout the book: When will they meet? Will they meet? How will they meet? These questions were answered at this point.

In conclusion, I enjoyed this book a lot and hopefully others will agree with me about the flaws and highlights

"The Lovely Bones" #3

I am currently reading "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. Don't judge, I am a slow reader! Right now in the book everybody is making decisions. Some of the decisions may be bad and some of the decisions may be good. But the main theme is the growing and shrinking love inside the family with or without their daughter and how it endures and changes over time.

One of the main issues of the book right now is how each member of the family is slowly drifting apart and resorting to having affairs. The mother is resorting to having adultery with a family friend. And how the father is slowly losing himself in depression. Lindsay, Susie's sister is growing farther and farther apart with her boyfriend and resorting to alcohol and growing up. The whole entire family is gravitating away from each other and Susie. Just like I predicted after long periods of time death is in the path and there is just nothing you can do about it.

In conclusion, I have got to say that I look forward to anyting happy in the book because at the point the family is molding into depression. More to come!