Spirits

In the book Distant Waves, by Suzanne Weyns, there is a lot of talk of spirits. The five sisters mother can supposedly communicate with the spirit world. The girls live with her in the town of Spirit Vale with other spiritualists. Through out the book the main character Jane struggles with her belief in the supernatural. She is torn between loyalty to her mother, and her logical thoughts. I don't know if I believe in spirits. I used to watch the show Scariest Places on Earth, and at times I would think "that is completely fake" but other times in the show I would be seriously scared and believe one hundred percent that a ghost had been present. I still am uncertain about whether I believe in the supernatural. I will have to further investigate on the matter.

Titanic

I just started reading a book about a family of five girls and their mother. They live in Spirit Vale where their mother talks to the spirits of people who have passed on. The inside cover of the book says their fates come together on the Titanic. I love the story of the Titanic. The movie is one of my top three, and I own several books on the Titanic. I think it is an interesting story which also has a good lesson behind it, anything can happen. There is an exhibit coming to the science museum that I am very excited to see. I hope it will be as amazing as I imagine, and I can't wait to go see it!

Marlena

Marlena is my favorite character in "Water For Elephants". I can't exactly figure her out. She married august when she was really young. She left her family, and her home, and never looked back. August is a lot older then her. He charmed her, was nice, handsome and funny. They were married and by the time you meet them in the book have been for 10 years. Sometimes they are happy, but other times(mostly when August is in a bad mood) you see a different side. I feel bad for Marlena. She has to put up with a lot, but I think she knows that with out August, where would she go? She can't go back home, and she didn't finish school so how is she supposed to work? I'm interested to find out how the character of Marlena develops.

Into The Wild

In Into The Wild, Chris McCandless leaves his home, family, and possessions behind. He travels across the country and changes his name to Alex Supertramp. He aspires to live in the wilderness of Alaska. I would never have the courage and determination to do what Chris did. Although I do think it would be an amazing adventure, I would keep in touch with my family and friends. Unlike Chris I would also bring propper equipment into the wild, and also would probably go with a friend. Chris was much more ambitious then I am, and had he survived would have been able to tell the most amazing stories.

Circus

Im now reading the book Water For Elephants, by Sara Gruen. It is a good book, very interesting. I am not far but like it a lot. The main character has just lost his parents in a terrible car accident and he runs away from his college and ends up joining a circus. This reminds me of when I went to the circus at the State Fair when I was little. I had wanted to go ever since I saw the animated movie Pipi Longstocking. It looked so fun! My sisters and I finally convinced our dad to take us. It was so exciting! We got peanuts and cotton candy and settled in. There were clowns, and acrobats, lions, horses, monkeys, and my favorite elephants. The show was amazing, I had never seen anything like it! At the end of the show they were giving out elephant rides, and my dad surprised us by saying we could go get one! It was so much fun being up so high! My first circus was amazing and I will never forget it.

Mystery Books

I am reading The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie. She is a well know author of mystery novels, which I enjoy to read. I think mystery books are interesting because it mixes action with the element of surprise. You can follow along with the detective and read about the clues and piece together the mystery. In The A.B.C. Murders Hercule Poirot is the detective. Mr. Poirot is very smart, he reminds me of Sherlock Holmes. He is very observant, and somewhat quiet. He is very patient, and never rushes to figure out the mystery. I think that Hercule Poirot is a little creepy though, because he is older and is always making comments about how beautiful young women are. In the book Mr. Poirot hasn't really come up with an answer to the murders but i suspect he will soon.

Blog 15

In the movie Forest Gump, the main character Forest overcomes many odds. When Forest is a young kid he is given braces for his legs. He has to wear them all the time, and is made fun of and stared at a lot. On top of being made fun of for this, Forest is made fun of because he is slower then the other children. His whole life Forest struggles to get past his challenges. He graduates high school, and goes on to college where he plays football. After he goes into the army and because he follows directions very well excels. He goes on to own a shrimping boat and making lots of money. Forest has a child with his childhood friend and sweetheart Jenny. After Jenny passes away Forest takes on the difficult task of raising their son alone. His life is a miraculous journey that shows that if you believe and try really hard you will succeed. Forest's odds remind me of Rukmani's struggles in Nectar in a Sieve.  Rukmani has to try and raise her children during a time where food and money is scarce. Rukmani, just like Forest, overcomes many challenges that seemed to not be possible. They managed to save their land once, and when they couldn't a second time traveled very far to another village only to find they were stranded. Ruku and Nathan then managed to save enough money to make their way back. Both Ruku and Forest overcome difficult situations.