Second Book Completed!

     Today, while the rest of my family took an after-school nap, I finally finished Troy by Adèle Geras. First, I must clarify by saying that it has nothing to do with the 2004 film--it's another story completely, so wipe Brad Pitt out of your mind for just a little bit. When I started reading the book, we were studying Edith Hamilton's Mythology in English class, and the weekend before the big test I figured the best way to study was to read a somewhat-related novel.
     Well, that was last spring, and until today I hadn't been able to finish it. It's a tough pill to swallow. The "dramastic" nature of the book wore me out. I had to put it down and take a break. A long break. For a while, I contemplated if I even wanted to finish it. But, since I decided to buckle down and start reading more, I figured I might as well finish some of the one's I'd already started. Now that I've gotten it over with, I can fill you in.
     The occasional appearance of a god and the legendary setting mask a run-of-the-mill teen drama. Amidst all the incredible things Geras could have done with the story of Troy, she chose to make it merely the picture frame of the real story about silly, lovesick teenagers. "Susie likes Billy who likes Shauna who likes Chad who's sleeping with Shauna's sister Carla. Oh yeah, and Hector and Achilles are out fighting or something. But ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Chad's so beautiful!!" It should have been called Trojan Degrassi.
     As for the writing, purple prose make it sound fancy while dumbed-down modern English (I'm officially sick of the contraction "d'you") create the dialouge. They conflict with each other without either one of them sounding good. I got bored while reading any descriptions and rolled my eyes throughout most of the speaking. It simply wasn't enjoyable.
     The most unsettling part came at the end. It was as if the train had run out of track and skidded to a stop in the dirt. There was no resolution to some of the major conflicts, and there was hardly a dénouement to speek of. Geras just stopped, quit, gave up, leaving you with that unsettled feeling you get when you miss the last ten minutes of a movie. After the last line, I thumbed through the blank pages in the back of the book looking for an epilogue, but there was none. We'd screeched to a halt and now Conducter Geras was pushing me off the train.
     Needless to say, I was disappointed. Personally, I think Geras should have just written some washed-up high school romance instead of baiting and switching those of us who wanted a good read on Greek mythology. I appreciate her concept of how the lives of normal kids were affected by the famous events around them, but the characters made little to no impact on what was actually happening. Instead, they flailed around and played house with each other while the reader itches for some word of the real story that comes once every chapter or so.
     If you're looking for a good interpretation of Greek mythology, steer clear. You're going to be dissapointed to find an ancient installment of High School Musical. But, if you like all the teen drama with a little historical/mythological twist, you might just like it, and I hope you'll enjoy it more than I did.
  

First Book Finished!

     Today, I took advantage of our silly snow day and chugged down the last half of Numbers by Rachel Ward. That's one down on my list, fourteen more to go. I figured since I'll be going through a lot of books, I might as well take some time to review them when I'm done.

     What an all around good read. The writing was great, and the fact that it's from the UK wasn't a problem, other than there were a few British terms I wasn't familiar with. The first person narrative was well-crafted, yet still sounds like it's coming from the mouth of the character, just the way it should be. The character developement was great, completely three-dimensional across the board. I admit, upon first description of the male protagonist, I thought of a horrific combination of two guys I can't stand, and spent the first part of the book detatched from him. However, through Ward was able to create a new image in my mind as the book went on, and by the time the plot picked up, I had connected with him. Ward does a great job of showing the evolution of the heroine's character in a sublte yet tangible way. The plot was engaging and pretty suspenseful--I could only put the book down once or twice for a breather. It wasn't hard to follow, either, though it had just enough complexity to keep you thinking.

     I'm in a hate-love relationship with the ending, which, of course, I'm not going to tell you. I thought parts of it were clichéd, and part of it was a copout, but it all tied together in the end, and that last sentence gave me one of those "OMG" buzzes. That big, fat bow on the story made the rest of the ending forgivable. Numbers will be placed among the "best reads" on the top of my bookshelf, where it will live happily ever after with some of my favorite books...

     ...Or not. Earlier, I went online and found out that Numbers is actually one in a trilogy, which I find completely unnecessary. There were no loose ends to Book 1. It's one of those things where an author thinks she can keep a story going just because the first book ends on an ominous note. My policy's the opposite--end on an ominous note, and keep the reader guessing. All the exploring of the story I was going to do on my own stopped stopped as soon as I saw the words "Numbers 2." Now, instead of imagining for myself, I can only sit back and wait for Ward to spoon feed me exactly what happens next. It's a bit of a let down. Still, the first book was great, so I'm going to go ahead and read the second one, which is already out. Hopefully, it will live up the the first one, as will the third one, which comes out this summer.

     The next book on my list is Troy, and no, it has nothing to do with the movie. I started reading it last spring and never finished (I'll explain why later.) Still, I'm almost all the way through it, so you can expect another review in no time. Until then.

Books, Books, Books!!

     One of the few positives about being stuck at my grandparents' house is that they always take us to this discount story with mountains upon mountains of nice, hardcover books as cheap as 80 cents. I got seven hardcovers and two paper backs for less than $15. Add those on top of the books I got from the last time we went to that store, I officially have a traffic jam of books I have to read. I've got them all in a list now, and I'm going to put the list on my mirror or something to motivate me. Hopefully, I won't have to wait until summer to get through most of them.

Here's the list in the order I want to read them. There in no specefic order other than the one towards the bottom I'm the least enthusiastic about*:
  1) Numbers
  2) Troy
  3) Sunshine
  4) Prince Across Water
  5) Tamar
  6) The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff
  7) One Night
  8) The Heretic's Daughter
  9) Prince of Thieves
10) Singer in the Snow
11) The Dust Roads of Monferrato
12) Peppermint-Filled Piñatas
13) Nightscape
14) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
15) Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch
* This summer, a book called So Silver Bright is scheduled to hit the shelves. Should the book come out before this list is done, it immediately moves to the front of the line, as it is of the utmost importance. ;)

     Not only do I have these, but I've had three or four books recommended to me, plus there are several books that I want to buy from a couple of specific authors. My birthday is next month, so I should expect another influx of books that will most likely affect the ordering of my list.
     I feel like part of this sudden deluge is the fact that I got a bookshelf for Christmas. My parents will be pleased to know that it's filling in quite nicely.

Reach

My day usually goes something like this: wake up, get ready, go straight to school, speak little to anyone outside of my closest friends, go straight home, do my homework, chat online with only my closest friends, then go to bed (of course there’s a lot of procrastination peppered in there, but you get the gist). On Wednesday nights, I volunteer in the toddler class at my church, but I walk straight to the toddler room with only a few hellos to whoever’s greeting at the doors, then straight back to my car after class. I spend my Saturdays at home on the computer or dreaming up stories, and sometimes I’ll hang out with one of my closest friends. I can count these “closest friends” on one hand, with fingers to spare. Other than them and my family, I have little interaction with people around me.

This past summer was the complete opposite of my normal routine. I went on a missions trip in Montana, I went to the National Student Leadership Conference, and I volunteered for a week at the community arts center. For over half the summer, I was outside my room, meeting amazing people, ministering to kids, and learning a lot about myself. Maybe I didn’t get to read all the books that I wanted, but it no longer mattered as much as it did before I’d booked all these trips. I would have taken any one of those them a second time over sitting at home and chugging through my 400 page copy of Les Mis.

The best part was meeting new people at NSLC. Imagine a hundred high school students who had never met before, from all parts of the country and even around the world, coming together for two weeks with no cliques, no pre-conceived notions, and an insatiable desire to learn. When I immersed myself in these new faces, I found I wasn’t nearly as shy as I am at home. Sure, I was still quiet and a little timid (I couldn’t bring myself to flash dance with the rest of the group), but I no longer worried about what they thought of me. I was free to be myself, and it was the first time sheltered little me had been in a secular environment. No washed out Jesus talk, no Christian etiquette—I got to see other people’s perspectives and opinions, which challenged my own and made me stop and think about what I believe and why I believe it. The only downside was that I wasn’t there long enough to minister to anyone.

Now, I feel like I’m being called to get back out there, called to join some sort of secular group or club that meets regularly and builds relationships. Before this last summer, the thought would have terrified me. But now, I’m craving it. I want to have more than a handful of friends. And I want those friends to come from different walks of life, who have different opinions and beliefs that will challenge my own. Also, I want to minister to them. I don’t want to sit in church and sit idly by as pastors plead with us to witness any longer. I’m not charging out to convert anyone one. I just want to sit down with people and listen to them and be a good friend. And if I see that they are seeking that “something more,” then I’ll share what I’ve got. I want to do it Jesus-style.

Unfortunately, book clubs at the local library aren’t exactly the teen scene. I Googled to find any book, writing, or art clubs/groups in my area, and none of them meet on a regular basis. I want to be in a group that meets once every week, twice a week at the least. It doesn’t seem that anyone else does. So, I don’t know where to go from here. I have this desire, but with no obvious ways to fulfill it. Yes, I’ve been praying about it, but I want to be more proactive than that. My parents or on a trip this weekend, and when they get back I’ll tell my dad about what I’ve been thinking, and maybe he’ll be able to dig something up. I’ll keep you posted.

If you know of any artsy/bookish/nerdy clubs in the Raleigh/Wake Forest area, please leave a comment! Thanks for all your help!

Time

Time. Where does the time go? There is so much to do—school, homework, chores, showers, meals, relationships, devotionals. When I’m finally finished with everything you have to do, it’s ten o’clock on a school night. The weekend comes, and I’m so exhausted from the week that by the time I’m recuperated, it’s Sunday afternoon and time to start on homework.

There’s a list of things I want to do, and a stack of books I want to read, and as the week goes by, it’s not getting any shorter. I spent all of Thanksgiving break on NaNoWriMo, and Christmas break was a tired blur. Now it’s third quarter, which means there’s not a break in sight. I spend all day on Pre-Calculus and Chemistry. When there’s nothing better to do, it’s not such a big deal, but when suddenly you have amazing short story ideas and interesting books to read, it’s torture.

Sometimes, I wish I had a study hall, but not to work on homework. I wish I had a set time each day devoted simply to writing, reading, drawing, and creatively exercising my mind. If we could make room for recess and nap time in elementary school, why can’t we make time for relaxation and rejuvenation in high school? Maybe it’s because “the real world doesn’t work that way.” Doesn’t it? My dad doesn’t have homework. Once he’s home, he’s free. He has time to watch sports, and help my mom with her business, and hang out with my sister and I. If that’s real life, then I want to be there now.

I only ask for an hour a day. Get rid of one class, one class I’m never going to need (like Chemistry) in order to have some time to myself. I know it’s not possible, but I can dream, can’t I? There, that’s my spiel. Have a nice day.

Chem High

As I sat in Chemistry class, watching some science movie that none of us understood, and idea struck me: What if there was a show in which all of the elements were students at a high school, and each episode explained a different facet of chemistry. Different elements “date” by covalent bonding, and the popular kids are the eight noble gases, because they’re perfect with their eight electrons. Social groups are divided by the different types of elements, and so on. It probably sounds cheesy, but if it was pulled off right, it could be really funny and help a lot of kids make sense out of a complicated subject. I’m not sure who the main characters would be, but I know Hydrogen and Oxygen, and then Sodium and Chloride are each long-standing couples. 

It’s just an idea that would be good for Youtube or something. If I knew how to animate, I might just go for it. It would definitely help me make Chemistry at least a little more interesting.

Like the Old Times...

     This was the first Christmas we spent as a ruptured family. I'm not going to spill my parents' dirt over the internet, but something came up over the summer that created a tear between my mom and dad. It feels like we've been living with this problem for years now, but it's only been a little more than six months.
     There's a rift now between what was and what is. Like the Roman calendar centered around the birth of Christ, the calendar of my family's life is now centered around this summer event. Instead of BC, there is BT--Before Truth. And this was our first holiday season After Truth.
     This Christmas felt hollow. I know that every passing year, as we grow older, and there are less presents or cookies and no more Santa, the season dissolves into more of a shadow of those magical memories. But this year, we live with having all of those memories completely invalidated by the Truth we haven't seen until now. So, we only see pain in the memories, and long for those blissful times of ignorance that we'd lived in Before Truth. Christmas morning, after we'd opened presents and charged up our gadgets and played a round of monopoly, we all floated our separate ways. At the end of the night, we came together for a couple of hours and watched some plastic Christmas movies before drifting off to bed. A couple days later, my mom told me that this first AT Christmas had been "hard."
     For half a year now, I've buried my emotions about the situation. But with Christmas and all the family traditions I strive to preserve, my feelings have started bubbling to the surface. It hurts. I want to go back to ignorance. Ignorance felt loving at safe. Ignorance felt like a family. Ignorance felt like Christmas...
     ...But Jesus came on this earth to bring truth. He is Truth, and he values truth. He died for the Truth, and I suppose my family and I will now be crucified with him upon the truth. It's torture now, but I can only look to Christ's example and see that he did rise again. That is my prayer for my family--that we will arise as a stronger, closer, more God-glorifying family, and that a new time period can be added to our calendar--After Restoration.