My first blog post EVER!!
Audrey, Wait! by Robin Benway was a cute read even though I couldn't particularly relate to Audrey. The language (conversations, IMs, text messages) all seemed very real. I think the topic of fame is an interesting one. It seems that with all the various reality shows, social networking sites, and YouTube that almost everyone wants to be famous and that fame is something to strive for even if you have to embarrass yourself. This book shows the fun perks of being famous--backstage passes and parties--and the flipside of not being able to do anything normal like go on a first date or go to the record store.
As far as developmental assets go, Audrey seems like a very realistic and strong character. Her family was very supportive of her and wanted her to be strong and handle the events occuring in a responsible and mature manner. Audrey also seems to have high self-esteem. She also exhibits "peaceful conflict resolution."
Anyway, on to Twilight. Oh Twilight! I have mixed feelings about this book: on one hand the main character Bella seems underdeveloped in some ways...she doesn't seem to have many friends or really want to make any friends and she wants to give up EVERYTHING for ol' Edward but I think my main issue with this is the writing. I think it's rather sloppy and weak but for this class that's neither here nor there. So, on the other hand the book is highly entertaining. It is over-the-top romantic. It's the ultimate teen crush/romance. I think it captures that first intense crush where you just think the guy is SO beautiful and perfect and this is so much better than real life because he is crushing right back on her. And even though I think Bella could be a stronger female character in some ways, there are things that I really appreciated about her. The scene in biology class where she's able to identify all the samples under the microscope...I liked that she didn't play dumb for Edward. I like that she reads too. I also think that she's a relatable character for a lot of teen girls: she's shy, she feels insecure and like she doesn't quite fit in.
As for my reading habits, I read a lot of fiction and quite a few YA novels but I'm all over the place with books. Recently, I've read a lot of war memoirs. I follow a lot of recommendations too. I recently read the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz which is like a vampire version of Gossip Girl.
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I recently read the Blue Bloods series by Melissa de la Cruz which is like a vampire version of Gossip Girl.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell if I'm interested by that concept or truly horrified. What'd you think of it?
I totally agree about with waht you said about Audrey, although it was too long.
ReplyDeleteYes I've heard that weak writing comment about Twilight. Didn't see the big deal about young 300 year teenage vampires.
If ya'll think Twilight was bad writing, you should check out some of the REALLY awful teen books out there! Seriously, I agree that it's not the best--but then again neither is Judith Krantz, Danielle Steel, Dean Koontz, James Patterson--but there's a hook in there that teens love...I think you hit on it in your blog.
ReplyDeleteAnd again remember--it's not really important that you love the books. You can actually tell kids that you don't like those books, but then you can that you understand why they like them, and that you can talk to them about it. Who knows? Maybe you'll change each other's opinions, right?
On that note, though, I totally love em both. A