The Last Song Entry Four

Ronnie and her father's relationship seems to develop into a friendly one. After Ronnie decides that she does not want to hang out with Blaze and her group, she begins to then try and spend time with her father. That night, Ronnie decides to sleep outside and watch over a nest of a rare species of turtles that are on the beach. The reader may seem surprised that Ronnie has such a deep affection for animals, since it seems as if Ronnie really does not seem to have much care for anyone or anything. Ronnie clearly seems to not want to make friends with anybody else in town. This is demonstrated by Will, who is the volleyball player that hit volleyball at her, which caused another person's drink to spill all over her clothes. Will seems interested in trying to be friends with Ronnie because he constantly thinks about her and he is intrigued by the way she is always assertive. Ronnie truly though has no intention of being friends with him...she didn't even him her name when he asked! Ronnie seems to be the type of girl who really does not want to be friends with anybody and she simply just wants to go through life on her own. Ronnie seems to have a difficult time expressing the type of person she is throughout the book, which I wonder if that is due to all the problems she had with her father......

Nicholas Sparks really does a excellent job at showing how a family is coping with a divorce. I really though would love to see what is going through the mother's mind as her children are with their father. I think that this would make the novel very interesting because the reader could then have another insight added to the book. Also, I would like to see more of Will's personality developed deeper because I find it confusing to get to know him and see what type of person he is. Other than that, Sparks does a overall fantastic job at developing Ronnie, Steven and Jason. The reader can clearly see throughout the novel that Steven is truly upset that he has not been there for his children. I find it interesting how Ronnie and Steven were unable to get along for most of the novel even though they both share a common interest in playing the piano. Ronnie had quit playing the piano, and Steven seems to play on the piano every time that Ronnie and him get into a fight. Symbolically, I think that Steven represents everything that Ronnie lost once he left, such as her love for life and others and her passion for playing the piano. Could Steven be the one that brings Ronnie back and will allow her to see that her real talent lies in playing the piano??

The pacing of book seems to be holding my interest well. However, sometimes I find that there is too much description added when it is not needed. For the most part, I think this book is very touching and should be recommended to readers who enjoy a heart warming stories. The topics that Nicholas Sparks explores in this novel is so widely discussed today that so many people will be able to relate to the book.

The Last Song Entry Three

The way that the main character, Ronnie, develops throughout the novel is quite remarkable. Ronnie's insight that she sees on the people she is hanging out with is so mature and unexpected from a girl who is rebellious to her parents. Quite often we see in today's society that teens are rebellious teens are angry and rude to their parents for various reasons. However, we also find that teens usually are not wiling to use human intellect and reason to decide that their friends are influencing them into behavior that is dangerous and will have a negative impact on their future.

However, Ronnie uses judgment in order to see that Blaze and her group of friends are ones that will negatively impact her. For example, when Ronnie sees that Blaze and her friends are drunk, she refuses to have a drink and then decides to go home to her dad. Ronnie also left Bower's point because Marcus, who was a friend of Blaze, decided to ask Ronnie to go on a walk to the beach with him and Ronnie felt uncomfortable with him because Ronnie really does not trust him and believes that "acting normal was simply a game he played so he could manipulate people."

Nicholas Sparks' writing style is very profound and I like how he contrasts the characters of Ronnie and her brother Jason. Throughout the book, Jason and Steven, their father, are constantly spending time together. Jason is always eager to do something with his dad, from going to the festival to walking along the beach looking at crabs and kite flying. I think that Sparks purposely made the relationship between Ronnie and Steven more distant and complex then Jason and Steven's relationship because I think he is trying to show the difference between teenagers and younger children, and how as children grow up, they rely less and less on their parents for guidance and look at themselves for intellect and reason. However, because Jason is still a young child, it is showing that he still needs intellect, reason and guidance to support him, which is why he wants to spend time with his dad. This occurring theme of maturity and growing up is one that is found in many novels, and if you are a reader that enjoys these type of profound meanings in literature, then you will definitely enjoy reading this book....

The Last Song Entry Two

Nicholas Sparks' change of narrator in each character really makes the novel very insightful and enjoyable for the reader. It is interesting to see the different perspectives that each character has. I am so impressed with the way that Nicholas had developed Ronnie so well and how he makes the reader feel as if we could all relate to a person who is in Ronnie's situation. The problem that Nicholas Sparks explores in this novel is divorce, which I think is a good topic for fiction writers to explore because it is a topic that affects many families today and it is one that does cause a lot of damage and hard feelings to the children affected by the divorce.

So far, Ronnie is unable to enjoy herself at Wrightsville Beach because she finds that there is nothing to do on the island. After escaping spending time wih her dad and her brother, Ronnie decides to go to the carnival and spend time at a booth that gives money to animals that need a home. After going around the carnival, Ronnie decides to go over where a volleyball tournament is being held. Automatically, Ronnie notices that the two guys on the one team "remind her of the spoiled private school types she sometimes ran into at clubs...she'd seen enough of the so-called privileged crowd to recognize a member when she saw one" Sparks provides such an interesting insight into Ronnie when we read this because now the reader is able to see that Ronnie is a person who tries to be true and honest and that she does not like people who pretend to be something they are not. Ronnie also seems to be happy to make a friend when she meets Blaze, who is so impressed by Ronnie's description of what New York looks like. Blaze then shows Ronnie a group of three boys who put on a show using fireballs. Ronnie is impressed by the talent she has, but immediatly freezes when the police show up to tell the three guys that they can not throw the fireballs on the street. Instantly, Blaze and the three boys run off, which leaves Ronnie with no chocie but to follow them as well. Has Ronnie finally found friends on the beach, or willl she soon go back to being depressed and reserved, constantly wishing she was back in New York??

I would definitly recommend this book to readers who enjoy stories about the life of teenagers. So far, I have been reading this book at a steady pace because I find that the book is so good I can not keep it down!!!

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

I never read a Nicholas Sparks novel before this one, but from reviews that I have read about him, I can tell that he is a well respected author. I had seen a couple of movies that were based on his books, such as Nights in Rodanthe and The Notebook, and I thought that the movies were excellent. Since I enjoyed the movies, I thought I would enjoy the books as well. So far, Sparks has a very unique and interesting writing style and he has such an interesting way of getting into the main character's head and really demonstrating to readers what it is like to be a teenager in modern day and how children and teenagers often handle the common problem in families--divorce. I picked this Nicholas Sparks book to read because the plot of this book seemed to grab my attention when I read the jacket of the cover and also the plot seemed different from the other book he has written.

Seventeen year old Ronnie Miller is very dissipointed about the summer plans that her mom has arranged for her. She is going to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina with her brother in order to spend time with her dad. Ronnie is upset that she will be spending time with her dad because she is hurt by the fact that it will be for the entire summer, which means that she will not have any time to spend with her friends. Throughout the car ride there she complains to her mom, and her mom keeps explaining to her that her dad is a good person and that it is good that she is spending time with him since the last time she saw him was three years ago. Ever since the divorce, Ronnie has been upset with her dad for leaving her. Her mom reminds her that her dad has visited and called a couple of times, but every time that happened Ronnie would be hanging out with friends. At this point, the reader may become curious to wonder if there is something more that occured between Ronnie and her father, but Nicholas Sparks has not revealed that to the reader yet. Could Ronnie and her father's relationship ever be saved??

So far, I am enjoying the book and I enjoy how engaging Nicholas Sparks writes and how he goes very deep into the character's thoughts.

Stay tuned for more!!!

My Blogging Observations & Goals For The Second Quarter

After examining my blogs from the last couple of weeks, I notice that my blogging style has a consistent pattern and structure that I use in each entry. I notice that in the beginning of my blogs I tend to discuss the author's writing style and the literary techniques the author uses in order to describe the character. Then in the second paragraph of my blogs I go into a summary of what happened in the book and what certain scenes in the novel show about the main characters. Third, I then mention certain passages that struck my attention as I was reading. I write the quote and then analyze what the passage is saying. After I examine a particular passage, I mention the reading process and discuss whether or not I read the book quickly slowly or if it was easy or hard to understand. After the reading process, I write about which people would be the most interested in reading the novel. I believe that this is a good way to end blog entries on books because then the reader is left knowing if the book I was blogging about is one that they would read or not. Not only due I notice the structure of my blogs are similar, but I also notice that I tend to focus mainly on author's style of writing and how the author portrayed the main character. The reason why I tend to mention this throughout most of my blog is because when choosing a book for independent reading, I tend to read the back of the book or the jacket focus on the quotes (if any) mentioned and try to figure out what the overall mood, feel and tone of the novel will be. I then try to see if the writing style will interest me. This is probably why I mention the author's writing style a lot in my blogs since I want the readers of my blog to choose a book from my blog that they like not only for the plot but also for the writing style and for the deeper meaning that the author is trying to explain throughout the novel. Don't get me wrong being interested in the plot is important-but you must also make sure the writing style of the author is one you can relate to and enjoy as well.

One goal that I have for blogging in the second quarter is trying to expand more on my sentences and trying not to reiterate the same point multiple times. Often times, I find that in my writing I tend to over repeat an idea that I have made previously, and often times this proves to be very boring and uninteresting for the reader because they understood the point I was making in the first place, so then they don't find any reason to keep reading what I have to say. When I write, I tend to become unaware that I am making the same point numerous times, and it is often times after the fact that I realize I have repeated the same idea and not expanded my knowledge of the text nor have I given a lot of insight to the reader as well. I would also like to improve the style of writing that I use in my blogs because I feel that I tend to write in only one style which could be boring to the reader at times. When rereading the blog entries that I have already written, I notice that many of my entries must be seen as boring to the reader because I tend to also start off my blogs in a similar way as well. Whenever I am about to start my blog, I always struggle with what my opening sentence will be. I hope that next quarter I can improve the opening clincher of my blog and learn to give the reader more of an insight to the novel.

Hopefully, in the second quarter, I am able to reach these goals and learn how to grow as a newly appointed independent reading blogger!!!

Beautiful Boy Entry Two

David Sheff continues to take readers on the hard and long journey of what life is like for his teenage son Nic. The way that Sheff describes Nic's teenage I found particularly interesting because the reader would find it enjoyable since Sheff tends to write the experiences that Nic has went though with drugs, and even if you had not had to deal with an experience with drugs, you were still able to understand the point that David was trying to make. David's message that he is trying to send to teenagers throughout describing Nic's teenage years is to try to realize that you should not always participate in activities that all of your friends are doing that you as an individual need to make the conscience decision of whether you want drugs to be apart of your life or not, and you need to decide if you will constantly associate with people who will hinder the amount of peer pressure or if you leave those friends behind and try to find a group that will support you no matter who you are.

Not only is the way that David Sheff uses his own son's experience with drugs a way that he tries to connect with the readers in the book, but also David tries to relate back to the parents of the teenagers who are experiencing drug addiction as well. How Sheff does this is he explains the internal conflict he experiences when he finds that his son was experiencing marijuna at the age of twelve. What causes Sheff to experience an intenral conflict is because he is torn about having to make the decision of whether or not to tell his son about his own drug addiction and how it had effected his life. He even goes as far as to question whether or not he should have moved to America explaining "I have never fantasized that any American suberb or exurb or country town, no matter how remote, is far enough away to be untouched by the perils most often associated with inner cities, but I thought that towns like Inverness must be safter than the Tenderloin." When explaining how he is confused of whether or not to tell his son about his own drug addiction, he says "I blame my hypocrisy. It makes we wince. How can I tell him not to use drugs when he knows thst I have? 'Do as I say I say and not as I did.' I tell him that I wish I hadn't used them. I tell him about friends whose lives were ruined by them. And meanwhile, in my mind, as always I blame the divorce. I tell myself that many children of divorce do all right and many children in inact families don't. Regardless, there is no way to undo what I know would be the most traumatic event of Nic's life." It now becomes evident through David's words that clearly he wants Nic to not experience this hardship, but there is nothing he can't do because he is unable to control all aspects of his life.

Stay tuned for more!!!

Beautiful Boy by David Sheff

As soon as I completed the introduction of the novel, I developed the sense that David Sheff has a very unique writing style. The way in which this memoir is written I find very interesting because usually in memoirs authors tend to sometimes leave out how other people in the world can learn from their life experiences until the end or towards the middle when the author tends to summarize the last thoughts of what they want to leave the reader. By Sheff including certain statistics of drug addiction, it is able for readers to fully grasp the reality of what it takes to try to battle an addiction, whether it be with drugs, alcohol or any other form of addiction. Immediately his writing style grabbed my attention and made we want to learn more about what is son, Nic, had to go through in order to control his addiction with methamphetamine. Another thing I find interesting is how David Sheff described the process by which he had created this book and how many people were so deeply moved by his story because other parents from all over were able to relate to what Sheff had to deal with. This indicates to the reader that this is a book that discusses a problem that is worldwide and it may be for you to read if you enjoy relating well to the novel you are reading.

Nic has just come back home from college for summer vacation. The whole family is so excited to see him, and it seems as if Nic is having a good time, until he begins to ask to borrow the car. Nic's parents have placed a curfew on him, and he seems to be follwing the rules until one day Nic tells his father that he is going out for a drug rehab meeting. His father allows him to go out for the meeting, but then ends up worrying sick about where Nic is when he ends up not being home by 11:30. He keeps trying to tell himself that his son can't possibly taking drugs again after he began to make so much progress in recovery from his addiction. However, Nic ends up not coming back home until 1 in the morning. When discussing the reason fo why he was out so late, Nic becomes very defensive and simply states that many group members in the rehab meeting went to a girl's house in order to socialize and watch a movie. He keeps denying to his father that he is high until his father asks him to come and take a drug test. Once the father had said this, Nic immediatly left the house and admitted he was high since the beginning of his semester at college.

David Sheff seems to be going through a period of time where he seems helpless and confused. He seems to only want to be comforted by listening to other people's problems and mentions that "people are relieved to learn that they are not alone in their suffering, that they are apart of something larger, in this case, a societal plague- an epidemic of children, an epidemic of families." Thus, Sheff is trying to say that by hearing how other parents were dealing with their own children's drug addictions, it gave him the hope that he could find the strength inside himself to help Nic get to a full recovery.

The process of reading this book has been a little slow for me due to the fact that sometimes the sentences are written very long and descriptive, so it takes me awhile to process sometimes the full meaning of what Sheff is trying to say. However, I would definitly recommend this book to anyone who is struggling with a drug addiction or if you know someone battling addiction. This book may just be what it takes for someone you care about to have a full recovery.