Rondeau

I picked the People of Sparks for two reasons. Before I choose this book I had read the first one of the series, The City of Ember. I wanted to read this one so I can finish the series. I also choose it because the first book is a sci-fi doomsday kind of book and that type of book interested me. They interest me because they are action packed and rarely boring. These are my reasons for choosing this book.

 So far the book has met my expectations. The last book left of with Doon and Lena (the two main characters) finding a way out of the dying underground city Ember. I expected it to start with the rest of the city coming up and somehow finding civilization. After a 3-day walk the Emberties found the Village of Sparks. The book is also very good up to this point and has captivated me. There is already plenty of conflict between the Emberties and the people of Sparks. Right now the book has easily met my expectations and been quite entertaining.

My character that I’m going to write about is called Tick. Tick is slightly older then 12-year-old Doon. I think Tick’s goal is to make Sparks a better home for them or at least be able to live successfully when they move out. He seems to think that the Emberties are a lot smarter then the people of Sparks. He shows this by his attitude of superiority even though he is the one working for them. Tick feel hopeful and strong when it comes to his goal that he shows by the way he talks to the other people who are trying to improve Sparks with him. He wants to improve it with a piping system and is also pushing Emberties to ask more of the people of Sparks. His motivation for acting like this may be because he wants a better life for his friends and family and the fact that he wants them to be in power. I think that Ticks character is very interesting.

 QUESTION 4. I think I would like to be Lena. She is very adventurous and also has a personality like mine. She likes to be busy but would rather be going on adventures or hanging with friends then doing household chores. Lena really enjoys exploring and hops into the back of a car that one of the roamers, Casper, is driving. Roamers explore dead cities and villages of resources like paper and sunglasses. I would enjoy doing that because it would be interesting to have a chance to search for stuff and help your village a lot. The only thing about Lena I would change is how she doesn’t speak up. If she would tell her guardian, Mrs.Murdo, that she doesn’t want to live with the doctors anymore she would probably let her more to pioneer hotel where the rest of the Emberties. The only reason they live with the doctor is because Poppy, Lena’s baby sister, was sick but now she has recovered. I still thoroughly enjoy Lena’s character and although I think her life is hard it would be interesting to live in her shoes for a couple of days.

QUESTION 9 I have two favorite lines/quotes right now. In the book Casper, the roamer, is trying to find an ancient treasure buried under one of the great cities. He thinks he can find it based on instructions he decrypted from an old poem. The poem goes "Remember the city, the city remember, where treasure is hidden under the ground, the city, the city, always remember, that's where the treasure will be found." This poem caught my attention because it is very cryptic but after Lena offers her ideas and tells Maddy what she thinks it is it becomes much clearer. Instead of " the city remember" Lena believes it says "the city of Ember." That explains how the Emberties are the treasure suppose to continue the human race after they come up from the city-cave. The other quote that caught my eye was " If you ask me, making friends is better defense then making enemies." I liked this quote because it is very true. If you don't make people angry then they won't cause a problem in the first place. So far these quotes have been my favorites.

QUESTION 2 I think that The People of Sparks made me feel angry,suspenseful, happy and excited. When the people of Sparks told the Emberties they had to leave angry it frustrated me. I was frustrated because at first they had given them 6 months to adapt and prepare and now they decided to send them out 2 months early in to the harsh winter. I felt suspense throughout the last couple of chapters because in the beginning of these chapters Lena was about to see the exciting ghost city destroyed in the "disaster". The suspense was heightened when the village of Sparks was adventuring into war against the Emberties. My suspense was turned to joy when Lena found out that the secret treasure of the city was actually Ember. Also after Doon and Lena saved the village from the explosion the "weapon" made. I finished this book jubilant and excited because the Emberties were now welcomed into Sparks, with permission to live there forever. These are the emotions the last chapters of this book have made me feel.

Question 13

During The People of Sparks the two different groups learned to get along. When they first met and started to mingle there were mild tensions but nothing compared to the end of the book. Food shortages and signs of anger made the tensions rise. The first sign of dislike was hatred filled words written in mud on town square. The Emberties already felt like outsiders and this didn't help. Brasher actions, like piles of garbage on the Emberties doorsteps, made Lena and her community feel rather unwelcome. Tick, a very outspoken, quick acting, member of Ember got his people rallied up and ready to take action. When the demands he suggested weren't met,the people of Ember proceeded to attack. The people of Sparks, in an attempt to defend themselves, pulled out a terrible weapon that lit Sparks on fire. Lena, knowing two wrongs don't make a right, did the right thing and helped the villagers put out the fire. Once she helped others began to forget there differences and work together. Later on, Doon convicted Tick of the acts of hate seen by the Emberties. After solving the problems Sparks invited Ember to become part of there community. Finally, everyone was at peace.

Question 7 I am slightly confused about the language used in the book Feed. Set about 200 years into the future, the words are all very technological. M-chat and feed net are just some of the words used. All of the foreign words have something to do with the feed, a microchip in there head that is like a personal brain without the need to actually learn. Some words have different meanings like null and units. It was harder for me to understand it so that was a reason for why I haven't enjoyed the book to much. Liaisons, which are kind of like sores, would just suddenly appear so I have no idea why they are there. So far the book has been quite difficult but emotion filled and funny.

Question 11 I think people who enjoy suspenseful and action packed short novels should read A Night in Terror Tower. Every chapter is full of adventure and slightly frightening. The tower in the book is obviously based on the legendary Tower of London and the two missing kids are based on the chilling story of the Princes of the Tower, two young kids who mysteriously disappeared from there cells in the late 1400's. I think that my friend Mikayla and my mom would enjoy this book because they both like to read historical fiction. I don't think you should read this book if you find suspense or action annoying and prefer a tear jerker. Also if you dislike fast moving books. A Night in Terror Tower is a good thriller and I would recommend it to basically anyone.

Question 12

I would love to read more books written by L.J. Smith. I've already read the first book in this series and enjoyed immensely, just like the one I'm reading now. I want to read more books because first of all, this series is about vampires, which I enjoy reading about. The other reason is that it is totally engrossing and amazingly suspenseful. Throughout the book, Elena. the main character struggles with many different things. I find her struggle in loving Stephan, a vampire, very emotional and the fact that her love for him is deemed wrong by her peers and they all begin to ignore her. I really hope that the rest of The Vampire Diaries is just as good.

CURRENT EVENTS!!!!!!!!

Toyota Boss Apologizes for Mass Recall http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/02/05/toyota-apology.html

This friday, the boss of Toyota had to apologize for mass recalls because of faulty gas pedals. 4.5 million vehicles had to be sent in to Toyota. Eight models were affected by this recalls and nearly 800$ million dollars have already been lost in sales. Another issue has come up because the highly popular 200 Toyota Prius's have already reported faulty brake pedals after driving uneven surfaces. Toyota's popularity is now sufficiently decreasing.

I believe that this effects my friends and family who drive Toyota's or work for this company. Sale rates are going down which means that people may need to be fired or have the pay cheque decreased. Also if they happen to be driving a Toyota that has the default then there life could be endangered or they may be without a car for a while. This is what I think will effect my close ones.

THE GIVER

1. After analyzing the books appearance, what clues does it give you? 2. The tone of the book after listening to the first page? 3. What do you think this book is about? Predict.

I think this book is about a young boy name Jonas who is chosen for a special position in his community. The back of the book suggests he is chosen to be some kind of memory holder. After looking at the book I think the man on the cover is going to be his mentor because he looks old and wise. During the first page he suggests there community is isolated and don't use a lot of technology because planes are not even permitted to fly over it. So far I have a feeling that Jonas is being trained to be some sort of shaman. I felt excited and I got a sense of confusion from the first page. This is what I have interpreted from the book up to this point.