"Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly" by Gail Carson Levine

Writing. For those of us who enjoy doing it, writing can be magical. We can create our own little worlds on paper and fill them with characters from our own imaginations.  

When our hands touch the keyboard or our pen touches the paper, anything becomes possible.

But sometimes we get stuck. We don’t know what to write. Our characters don’t feel real. We get bored with the story.

In Writing Magic: Creating Stories That Fly award winning author Gail Carson Levine shares tips and techniques she’s learned in her career. She admits that she often gets stuck or bored or completely frustrated with her characters.

With fun examples and ideas, she gives you advice on how to get over these humps and discusses what stories are made of. From this book I learned what a good beginning to a story often looks like, tips on how to wrap up a story, and the best way to write a conversation.

But the thing that impressed me most about this book was that it wasn’t boring. It didn’t feel like a typical how-to book. It was actually extremely fun and enjoyable to read.

Really, though, I shouldn’t have been surprised. Levine’s always been able to grab my attention with her writing.

Through this book you might just learn how to grab your reader’s attention too.

Note:

Some of what Levine shares is just her opinion. Whenever you are listening to advice about writing, try to keep in mind that quite a bit of it is probably just opinion. Don’t discard the advice, however: listen and consider it.

Just know that writing is not like math. There is no exact formula, no “one” answer to a problem. Everyone has his or her own unique writing style.

With math, two plus two always equals four and if you dispute this people will think you’re crazy.

With writing, one person will tell you one thing and someone else will tell you something entirely different. Who’s in the right?

They might both be in the right. Their advice might be equally viable. In the end, you have to decide what your own unique style will look like.

Will you use the first person’s advice or the second person’s advice?

You decide. You’re the writer.     

Should your sentences by long or short?  

You decide. You’re the writer.

Should you use first-person point of view or third-person? Which is better?
You decide. You’re the writer.

Book Review of "The Wave" by Todd Strasser

The students in Mr. Ross’ high school history class have asked him some questions he’s not sure how to answer: why did anyone follow Hitler? Why did people join the Nazi party? How come the Germans denied any knowledge of Hitler’s death camps?
At last, Mr. Ross comes up with an idea. Without telling his students what he’s up to, he organizes a movement structured after Nazi ideals and invites students to join it. He calls it “The Wave.” Their slogan is, “Strength Through Discipline, Strength Through Community, Strength Through Action!” He hopes that this movement will give them some sort of an idea of how it was like to live in Nazi Germany.

To most people, The Wave seems harmless enough. In less than a week, nearly every student in the high school has joined it. Slowly but steadily however, things start to get out of hand. What began as a simple classroom experiment has grown and taken on a life of its own, leaving in its wake brainwashed students…and a teacher who discovers that power is more seductive than he thought.

This book is closely based on a true event that occurred in a high-school in 1969.

When I researched what actually happened in the course of the real-life experiment, I discovered that the major points of the experiment were identical to what is portrayed in “The Wave.” In a only a few days, a fascist movement took over an entire high-school.

To me this book is a chilling reminder that brainwashing and the desire for power can take hold of anyone: even people born in the freedom-loving United States.

To find out how the experiment ended and what came of it, I encourage you to read “The Wave.”

Note to Parents: Due to some mild language and the book’s serious content, I would not recommend it for children.

"Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows", by J.K. Rowling

 Have you ever read a series that reeled you in from book one and did not release you until you had read the very last word of the final book?

This is what I experienced with the Harry Potter series.

Avidly, I read my way through books one, two, three, four, five, and six. The books seemed to grow with the character. As Harry became older and discovered more of the often dangerous world around him, the books became darker and more intense.

Each one pulled back a layer of the many mysteries surrounding the person of Harry Potter, and in each one I got to know Harry better and like him even more. 

At last, partly reluctant, mostly excited, I started book seven, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

I was reluctant because I did not want the series to end. I did not want to finish the book and realize that no more would follow it.

I was excited because yet another chapter in the life of Harry Potter was unfolding. I sensed the imminent climax, the feeling that everything I had read in the other 6 books, everything that had occurred in the life of Harry Potter heretofore, was about to culminate in something big…

But even these premonitions could not have prepared me for the rising action and climactic end of the Harry Potter series.

To tell you even a little of what happened would give away too much.

The book made me laugh. It made me cry. It made me bite my knuckles in barely containable excitement.

All in all, “Harry Potter” is a series that I know I will be re-reading many times in the future.

Admittedly, it’s not for everyone. (After all, if we all liked the same books the world would be a pretty boring place.)

But if you are a fantasy fan who is looking for an engrossing, magical series with colorful characters that you can relate to and who become real to you, “Harry Potter” might just be for you.

"The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins

Katniss Everdeen is a 16-year-old girl, and the sole provider for her family. She lives in what might once have been America; now it is merely a country divided into 12 poverty-stricken provinces and presided over by the evil Capitol. To remind the people who populate the provinces of their subjugated state, the capitol holds a yearly event called “The Hunger Games.” A boy and a girl from 12 to 18 years of age is chosen from each district. After a short training period, the tributes are thrown into an arena and forced to fight each other to the death. The event is televised and everyone, including the contestants’ parents, are forced to watch it.

This year, Katniss is the tribute who must fight in the arena for the warped entertainment of the capitol. 

Quite frankly, I had a hard time reading this book. It wasn’t that the writing was bad. (In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed Suzanne Collin’s style.) It wasn’t even the violence. It was because Suzanne Collins writes so vividly that I felt like I was Katniss. It was as if I was the one who was in that arena, killing and waiting to be killed. I was the one with the hopeless feeling in my chest, and the raw determination to somehow survive. I was the one watching children being slaughtered. Sometimes I became so involved in Katniss’ emotions that I had to put the book aside. At the end I was left with the depressed feeling in my heart that is ultimately what Katniss feels at the end of the book. 

Over-all, Suzanne Collins does an excellent job of subtly yet openly infusing her views and opinions into the pages of the book. I did not agree with all of those views, but I still had to admire how she was able to express what she believes through a science-fiction novel.

In conclusion, I’d have to say that this book is very well-written and will provide you with an exciting, heart-throbbing adventure, but if you dislike books with dark, heavy content or get very emotionally involved with the characters, “The Hunger Games” might not be for you.

Note to Parents: This book is not for younger readers.

Book Review of "The School Story" by Andrew Clements

Natalie Nelson is a normal 6^th grader…and she intends to stay that way, even though she has just written a novel that her best friend Zoe insists should be published. At last Natalie gives in a little and lets her English teacher read it. Her English teacher loves it almost more than Zoe. The next step is getting published. Natalie’s mom is an editor for a publishing company and the obvious thing to do would be to give it to her. But Natalie knows that if her mom’s boss once found out that Natalie wrote the book, she would never let it get published. That is when Zoe comes up with a harebrained scheme. Natalie can turn the book in using a pen name and Zoe can pose as her agent. Their English teacher promises to help.  The only question that now remains is will it work?

This book has been a favorite of mine ever since I  read it several years ago. I was about Natalie’s age and, like Natalie, a writer who deeply desired to have a book published. This book reminded me that my young age does not have to be a barrier to this dream. Andrew Clements writes in a compelling style that makes it very hard to put the book down. When you do finish the book, rest assured that you will someday want to pick it up and read it again!    

Inspirations 4 Writing

One of the best pieces of encouragement an author can give is that you are never too young to become a writer or even a published author. “The School Story” inspired me in this way, and I hope it inspires other young writers as well!

Book Review of "Snow Treasure" by Marie McSwigan

Peter Lundstrom and his friends are ordinary Norwegian children living in 1940. They enjoy excitement of any kind and love to sled, build snowmen, and have snowball fights. Peter could never have foreseen that these innocent pastimes would become the tools for a daring mission…but that is exactly what happens when the Nazis invade Peter’s small town. Peter and his friends must now use their sleds to smuggle millions of dollars worth of gold under the very noses of the Nazis. If their country’s gold fell into enemy hands it would spell disaster for Norway.

Often in literature, unassuming heroes are the ones that endear themselves to the reader. These are exactly the sort of heroes that Peter and his friends are. They did not want to be heroes. They never planned to risk their lives for their country. But when circumstances call for immediate action they choose to do whatever it takes, even self-sacrifice. A story of courage, danger, and loyalty, this book is a must-read!

Inspirations 4 Writing

If you were faced with a life and death situation, what would you do? Write a story using an autobiographical character and place this character in just such a situation. How does this character choose to act? 

Book Review of "Shadow of a Bull" by Maia Wojciechowska

This is the enthralling story of Manolo, a boy who is expected to live up to his family legacy and become a Spanish bullfighter, like his father, the famous bullfighter Juan Oliver. But all Manolo has inherited from his deceased father is his looks; his heart lacks the same love and passion for bullfighting that his father once possessed, and almost his entire village possesses. In fact he is quite terrified of facing a bull. Manolo confronts two choices: to live up to the expectations of the on-looking village of Arcangel and become a bull-fighter, or to pursue what he actually desires.

I think this story, though short, goes quite deep. Should one do something because everyone else expects you to do it and because it is tradition? Should you give into what is popularly called peer pressure? It takes much more effort and bravery to go the opposite way of a culture or popular fad then it would to just go with the stream. I think that all who read this book will relate to Manalo in his search for courage and will watch breathlessly as he finds himself on the precipice of choosing his future and his destiny. 

Story Prompters

• Write a story about someone who is struggling with the choices of either going along with everyone else or going against the mainstream. Make sure that what the character is facing is worth standing up for; do not have him or her protest for the sake of being contrary.
• Delve into the emotions of your character and describe them in a realistic manner.  

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

The Mysterious Benedict Society, by Trenton Lee Stewart

From chapter one, this book had me hooked! I finished the entire 485 page novel in three days. The book starts by introducing you to one of the main characters, Reynard Muldoon, (otherwise known as Reynie.) Reynie is an extraordinarily gifted eleven-year-old orphan, a true genius. He feels out-of-place at the orphanage where he is teased relentlessly by the other kids. 

A chain of curious events leads him to meet a brilliant man named Mr. Benedict. Mr. Benedict has discovered that an evil scientist has figured out how to manipulate the minds of people through television and radio waves and to make them believe anything he wants them to. Only the minds of extremely truth-loving people like Reynie have the gumption to resist. Reynie and three other amazingly talented kids who meet through Mr. Benedict gang up together to put a stop to the evil scientist's schemes. They call themselves, "The Mysterious Benedict Society." 

What the four kids of The Mysterious Benedict Society discover is a situation much too enormous for any one of them to defeat individually. The theme of the book is that only by banding together will they be strong enough to defeat the evil scientist and his equally evil plans. Where one kid's talents are lacking, another member of the society is able to contribute his own. All together, they make quite a remarkable group of kids who have personalities that are described so vividly it makes you forget they are merely fictional characters and causes you to half-believe they are real people. 

Story Starters

• Make up a story in which a group of people have to band together to face a problem. Illutstrate the truth of the old saying, "Two heads are better then one."
• Make the characters of any story you write so very life-like in their personalities and other traits that your readers become almost as attached to them as if they were real people.