Matched

Most of you may know that I have known the author of this book for a long time, first grade maybe?  I found out she had this book coming out several months ago and was absolutely delighted.  The advanced anticipation for this book has been growing for several months, people are just clamoring to get their hands on it.  Then, through a series of conversations, Ally asked if I wanted the opportunity to read this book before it was released. 

Um, yes!

This is the story about Cassia, a 17 year old girl who has just attended her matching banquet, a night she has been waiting with for her whole life.  Her best friend,Xander,  shows up on the screen that night, her companion for life and someone she actually knows.  But when she pulls up the file provided to her by the Society, she sees another face, of another boy she knows, Ky. It is a mistake that the Society shouldn't have made.  Now Cassia is faced with an issue - keep doing whatever the Society has told her she must do, or follow her feelings, curiousities and follow her own desires.

What a great book.  There is a reason it is getting the hype - Ally's writing ability to capture the characterization of Cassia is superb.  The Society is captured in a way that makes readers recall the reading experiences of other distopian books, but is absolutely unique in the depiciton.  I felt like I could understand this society very well, how they acted, protocols, etc.  In short, this book is delightful, a great story, fantastic characters who I love and I can't wait for the next one. 

WFMAD

Laurie Halse Anderson is one of the most inspiring people to me.  She balances a decent amount of acreage, raises chickens, plants beautiful gardens and writes compelling books.  This year, like every August for the past two years, she is doing a program of Write Fifteen Minutes A Day.  The last two years, I declined participation, convinced I was too busy or didn't really have something to write.

That has changed this year.

My master's is done, my classroom is trashed (CHS remodel/renovation project) and I'm busy, but I've recently made a commitment to keep my sanity, which means doing things I like for me. 

Will I ever have people clamoring for my work like Ally?  

Who knows.  

Will I ever write as fast as Stephenie? 

Probably not. 

Will I ever have a writing cottage like Laurie?

Um...no. 

But I get a kick out of writing, creating characters and seeing what happens to them.

So, for the month of August I will write fifteen minutes a day.  I didn't know about it on Sunday, but I put it off yesterday and didn't get it done before I went to bed.  I was woken up three separate times by characters I've been thinking about but haven't written yet. I won't procrastinate anymore.  And I've had a few new ideas that I'm excited about.  I figure it will be good to develop the habit and gear me up for a successful year with NaNoWriMo. 

Since I know not everyone want to write, I am highly recommending you do something this month, for 15 minutes every single day, that makes you happy, may lead to some personal development and find some way for it to happen without any distractions (a girl can dream, right?)  Get husbands on board - I think most would be willing to pitch in for 15 minutes to have a happier wife. 

I would love to know what you decide...

Freshman for President

I started this book two weekends ago - just before school started again - both of them. I have been working my little tail off these last two week - reading only for about 5 minutes before settling down for some deep studying of the back of my eyelids until today. I'm actually a little ahead, and treated myself to enjoying the rest of Freshman for President.

This is Condie's fourth book - first that wasn't in the Yearbook trilogy or LDS based and it was an absolute joy to read. I really like Milo and related very well to the students in the book. I laugh all the time because I hear mom's about my age with kids about my age who say life gets easier when the kids get older; this book disproves that very well.

This is about a teen, Milo, who is annoyed with what is happening concerning the student body elections at his school, and has a brilliant friend, Eden, who talks him into running as a write-in candidate in the presidential election. They take the city, then state, then US by storm through the methods best for teens - internet. Milo has to really grow up - sometimes it is nice and slow - other times it's in the course of a conversation, but that is reality.

I like that the dreams thought up by these teens are a little big - something abnormally ambitious. I like that the conflicts weren't written to be the conflicts everyone assumes teens have but surely are being over-exaggerated - that Ally wrote them how teens feel them without being cutesy or trite.

This was a very fun read - one that was perfect for the brief "I'm escaping my life" read and I really can't wait for her next book, whatever it may be.

Thanks Ally.

Reunion

(If you have been following this blog at all, you will realize that I just had a five day break from school, therefore I have had lots of time to get lots of reading in... YEAH!!!)

This is the final book by Ally Condie.  I found them to be fun, when I wasn't reading them I was wondering what was going to happen to the characters, who would end up with whom, would Sam really go on his mission, what was going to happen to Cate (incidently I love the girl names starting with a C - reminds me of my Catie), would Addie warm up to people in general and not turn into a hate the world teenager, etc.

I am glad that I bought these books (even though I didn't get them all signed when Ally was here and I saw her at two different points over one weekend - definitely going to have to catch her next time she's down) because I know these are going to be great to go back to and read again sometime in the future, but I also have great confidence that my girls are going to love reading them.  Will may too, but probably not.  They are a little more chick-ish, but then again, so are the Twilight books, and I know men who get into them.  We will have to see on that one.

The characters stay true and are still real.  I do wish that I could have seen more about Mikey and her growth and development because I really like her.  I liked the difficulty the characters went through in making their decisions, and LOVED the last two pages.  That is hands down the best reunion ever.  

First Day

This is the second book in Condie's trilogy, and it continues to follow Andrea and Ethan Beckett primarily, with the added individuals who impact their lives. It is definitely a romance type book, which isn't what I typically read, but I found myself enjoying my time reading and wondering what was going to happen to the characters.

I liked the coming of age process Ethan went through, not just baptizing millions (I just had an image of that scene in Saturday's Warrior when whoever that character is talks about the way he is going to change the world because he is going to baptize something like a whole new stake's worth of people, but then struggles - similar to Ethan but different struggle...kindof), struggling with the language, wanting to be the best, but just trying to understand the people and how to connect, etc.

I find myself relating in many, many ways to Andrea. Having had the title of Ice Queen among a few people in college, because I didn't take the time to sit and visit - I had things to do. It still comes out in me, and that is probably why I find her so endearing. Things don't work out for her according to her very well considered plans. Some of the changes are natural, a simple part of college and the realization of who and what she is, and others hurt because they are unexpected and impossible to expect.

This book definitely had a more romantic element to it than Yearbook but it was fun to see that Condie is still letting her characters go through the universal experiences, even the ones that aren't always the best, so they can grow up and maintain the realism. Again, they are fun reads and help with some little trips down memory lane.

Yearbook

This is the first of five books now published by my friend Ally. I bought a couple of them a few weeks ago when I saw that she had been published during one of my "I'm not going to buy anything in Deseret Book trip" (I'm about 50% by the way) and was both thrilled and a bit envious that she has accomplished this. Then I found out that it was about high school students and figured it would be a fun trip down memory lane. What I ended up finding out though was that this was a really great book to read.

This is the story of a handful of high school students, some of the LDS faith, others not, a couple teachers and a principal and how all their lives tie in together and lessons learned along the way. I found the characters to be very real without being "Molly Mormon" or the obvious lost soul who just needs to be baptized to turn his/her life around. I liked the telling from the different character's points of view. I liked that I saw a few of my friends in the characters - but I think that is part of the appeal because everyone has someone from high school who was just the way that one of these characters is portrayed. I see it in every grade that I teach - the girls who are Mikey's, the boys who are Dave's. They are universal, which is what I think makes the book so much fun to read and the plot so believeable.

I have her next book in the trilogy, First Day, and plan on reading it soon. I may have to drop some not so subtle hints to get Reunion for Christmas or something.

If you are interested in a fun and uplifting book, especially enjoyable after a bad/long day, this is the book for you.