NaNoWriMo-cool things & write-in?

Are you stumped? Can’t force yourself to write, or perhaps you want to meet up with some like minded people? Look no further, I have a few words of wisdom for those brave people that are taking down the dragon called National Novel Writing Month.

National Novel Writing Month

Yes, it’s national novel writing month. The month of November is reserved for this epic adventure of writing a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days. Many writers get together to collaborate and write during this month. The goal for each day averages around 1,700 words.

Movie Review: The Proposal

The Proposal: Movie Review

Basic Information

Director: Anne Fletcher (director of 27 Dresses and Step Up)

Writer: Pete Chiarelli

Rated PG-13

Length: 108 minutes

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Released: June 19, 2009

Nominations: ALMA Award (for Oscar Nuñez), Teen Choice Award (Choice Summer Movie Star: Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds)

Awards: Teen Choice Award (Choice Summer Movie: Romance)

Actors/Actresses (Main): Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O’Hare

Plot

Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) works for Colden Books, a book publishing company. She is the executive editor-in-chief there, and Andrew Paxton (Ryan Reynolds) is her assistant (basically, her slave). But all of it falls apart when Margaret is told that her visa expired and she is to be deported back to Canada…unless she can get Andrew to marry her (and after that, a “quicky” divorce). She blackmails him into marrying with a threat that she can ruin his chances of getting a promotion. So they go to the USCIS and say that they want to get married. However, one of the agents, Mr. Gilbertson (Denis O’Hare) is suspicious of fraud, and so warns them that if it is a fraud, then Margaret will be immediately deported to Canada and Andrew will be fined and sent to jail for five years.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

So I realize I haven’t posted anything in a while: I have been UBER busy with my first year of high school. Who knew that one actually had to study every night to get good grades? I also joined a lot of clubs, which keeps me even more packed then usual. In all of this, I am sad to say, that I completely forgot about this blog. And I apologize. So now I will review a book. Let’s see, the last book I read was Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins…

**WARNING: SPOILERS FOR BOTH BOOKS (Hunger Games and Catching Fire)

Album Review: Atreyu-Congregation of the Damned

After hearing that Atreyu produced a new CD, I checked it out on youtube and ran out to buy it. This CD is great! If you don’t mind some screaming and like alternative rock, you might enjoy this band.

Necropolis: Book Review

Necropolis By Anthony Horowitz

Click here to reserve this book at your Wake County Public Library!

It’s out. Book four of The Gatekeepers series has finally been released this year (and I finally got a hold of it). Yeah, reading in October is kind of late, considering that it was printed in April, but I’m still glad. And I had to start this review out with “it’s out”. It sounds cool.

Anyways, don’t read this book until you’ve read all the others. The first three books (in order) are Raven’s Gate, Evil Star, and Nightrise. And if you’ve read the Alex Rider series and liked it, you’re going to like this series even more.

Basic Overview (Again, No Ending)

Matt, Pedro, Jamie, and Scott have been looking for Scar, the last Gatekeeper. But they’re not the only ones who have been looking for her.

Book Review: Forest of Hands and Teeth

Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan

Summary: Mary never questioned the Sisterhood or Guardians that kept her town safe from the Unconsecrated–those that used to be people, but now gnaw at the gates of the village for blood. Until now. When Mary is forced to join the sisterhood because no one offers to marry her, she comes across things she never imagined–particularly a woman from the Outside, named Gabrielle.

But that was before Mary’s village was attacked by the Unconsecrated, and before exploring things like this meant death.

Review: In a word, creepy.

Eyes Like Stars: Book Review

Click here to request the book from your Wake County Public Library.

Eyes Like Stars By Lisa Mantchev

Information:

ISBN: 978-0-312-38096-0

Published June 2009

Characters:

Beatrice Shakespeare Smith: Otherwise known as Bertie, is a seventeen-year old girl who lives at the theater, but isn’t actually an actor. She doesn’t know who her parents are, and she weaves fantastic stories about how she got to be in the theater and who her parents could possibly be. She adores dying her hair different colors (like Cobalt Blue), wearing black clothes, smoking, drinking, and cursing.

Nate: He is a Player,

Halloween Party at Cameron Village Library

Review: Alt Ed (audio)

Did you ever see the movie The Breakfast Club? Alt Ed is a lot like the movie, but even better! Alt Ed is actually the last chance counseling class before getting kicked out of school. The six students who are forced to attend the class represent all of the cliques in school. The issues of social status, homophobia, ugly rumors, sexism, and intolerance create incredible tension. You will definitely be able to identify some people you know in this story. If you like realistic fiction and want something that takes place in a high school, this might be the book for you!

2009 Teens Top Ten

You voted and the results are in!

More than 11,000 teen voters chose Paper Towns as their favorite book in the 2009 Teens’ Top Ten! The online poll took place from Aug. 24 through Sept. 18, with the winners announced during Teen Read Week by WWE Divas Brie Bella and Nikki Bella, with a special appearance by John Green. See the video.

And the winners are…with links to the authors’ blogs for your reading pleasure!

• Paper Towns by John Green
• Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
• Identical by Ellen Hopkins
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Wake by Lisa McMann
• Untamed by P.C. and Kristin Cast (House of Night series)
• The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart
• Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Check out the cool stuff happening at readergirlz.com for Teen Read Week – live author chats with nominated authors and more!

Find out what the buzz is all about. Request a copy of the books now!

Review: Peak

After the recent mishaps of the boy in the silver balloon, you might want to give Peak a chance. Climbing tall buildings probably isn’t a good idea as 14 year old Peak quickly finds out. To keep him out of trouble, Peak ventures to Mount Everest with plans to be the youngest person to climb the top of the world.

Review: Down the Rabbit Hole (audio)

Looking for a good audio book and a suspenseful mystery too? Try out Down the Rabbit Hole by Peter Abrahams. In the sleepy town of Echo Falls, Ingrid gets involved in a local theatre production of Alice in Wonderland. Well, the stories of the town’s rich history begin to emerge in some creepy ways. Ingrid is determined to uncover the truth.

Belly Dancing

Recently I’ve had the awesome experience of watching and learning how to do some tribal belly dancing.

Book Review: Savvy

by Ingrid Law

Click here to request this book from your nearest Wake County Library.

Summary: The Beaumonts have always been special–it’s in their blood. It’s like this: whenever a member of the family turns 13, that person gets their “savvy”. The savvy can be humane (i.e. perfection) or terribly dangerous (i.e. moving mountains).
Now it is Mib’s 13th birthday, and she knows her savvy is going to be great. Especially since one of her brothers creates hurricanes and the other controls electricity. But Mibs wakes up to find her father in a coma, no savvy in sight, and no ride to the hospital. Well, no ride until the bus comes along.
And then the bus heads in the wrong direction–away from the hospital.

Review: A delicious mixture of innocence, fun, and creativity, Savvy was to me a book like no other.

Writer Alert!

Teen author Beth Kephart is the Author-in-Residence on readergirlz.com, so she is doing some cool writing exercises for teen authors. Click here to check out her writing exercise (and contest!). It’s great inspiration!

National Novel Writing Month is coming soon…write 50,000 word novel to celebrate and express your creativity! Quantity, not quality is the goal. Here’s  a little more:

“It is a fun, seat-of-your-pants novel writing event where the challenge is to write an entire novel in just 30 days. That means participants begin writing November 1 and must finish by midnight, November 30. The word-count goal for our adult program is 50,000 words, but our Young Writers Program allows participants who are 17 years old and younger to set reasonable, yet challenging, word-count goals.”

Giveaway! Audiobook

Okay, FTS Readers!  We are going to try our first ever giveaway on the blog.  I just listened to the best audiobook, and I want to pass along the wealth.  One lucky winner will get to own this audiobook.  You can play it on a CD player or copy onto an MP3.  Do you listen to audiobooks?  They are supposed to be great for literacy and can really bring a book to life.  The audiobook I listened to is Feed By M.T. Anderson.  Now, the book is already fantastic, but the audiobook is something else.  I have never listened to an audiobook like this before.  Let me explain.

Axis Powers Hetalia Season 1 Review

Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh. I can’t believe I just realized I should do a review of Axis Powers Hetalia. In fact it totally slipped my mind, until I was on the bus yesterday thinking “Hey, I should do a new blog post! What have I been watching lately?”

DING DING DING HETALIA DUH?

So I guess I’ll start off by telling you what it is about, and before you laugh, let me tell you it’s adorable and brilliant and just wonderful.

Obama on School in America

I know politics are boring, but this could affect everybody. And I just have to butt in a word or too about this issue.

Obama claims that children in America are “behind” other students in other countries. His plan? To shorten summer and make school days longer.

There’s a few problems I have with this plan.

Book Review: Lock and Key by Sarah Desssen

I carried this book around my school as I read it. When they saw the front cover, people gave me interesting comments. “That’s a really good book!” or “I’ve met Sarah Dessen. Do you know she actually lives in North Carolina?” I had heard so much praise for this book, and I had really high expectations for it, but when I read it, I admit, I wasn’t that impressed.