Student Letter to Author Wendy Wunder

Dear Wendy Wunder,

I hate you.

Way to open a polite letter to a complete stranger, you may be saying to yourself. And, believe me, I’m kind of second guessing whether or not I will get a phone call home and an automatic F for such a boldly rude statement. But please, do me a favor and hear me out, okay?

Hello. My name is Arianna, and I’m a fourteen year old bookworm who absolutely despises feelings. Growing up, I was never one to cry and throw a tantrum over literal spilled milk. While other girls lost it over a Barbie they couldn't have or a kindergarten boyfriend who refused to give them a hug until after nap time, I was the kid who sat in the corner with a chicken leg in one hand and Go Dogs, Go! in the other, rolling her eyes at all the pointless drama. And over the past few years, it's safe to say that I haven’t changed much. I still read religiously, roll my eyes even more religiously, and chuckle when my friends go on and on and on about pointless boy trouble. I still don't cry at The Notebook or dive in a pool full of tears when girls decide to be jerks to me. Instead, I do the thing I do best and do not care.

I guess having my feelings be so null and void can have it's downsides. People thinking you’re insensitive or self absorbed or full of yourself is so common that you learn to even disconnect yourself from that. For some reason, I’d much rather be stone hearted and not bat an eyelash at tear jerkingly horrid things than to be overly emotional, because showing sadness or talking something out with someone else is something to be avoided. I totally disengage from the girl talks and heart to hearts and sad novels about death and last loves. That is, until I came across your book, The Probability of Miracles. And if we're being completely honest,  I half expected it to be one of those I-hate-boys-because-im-dying-of-an-incurable-disease-and-love-is-pointless-but-also-hey-you're-really-cute type of sob story. But, much to my surprise, it wasn’t.

Not. At. All.

Picking up the book, I thought it was going to be one of those that would barely be able to hold my attention longer than past the first chapter. I so desperately yearned for something that would give me a new feel, a new taste. I had no idea that this I-hate-boys-because-im-dying-of-an-incurable-disease-and-love-is-pointless-but-also-hey-you're-really-cute type book was going to give me what I needed.

Boy, was I wrong.

Campbell, a wonderfully sarcastic teenager who has already accepted her doomed fate, was so far beyond such a well-written character that I truly cannot even begin to describe how much my head was churning post novel. Let’s just sum up how “Stone Heart Arianna” was feeling up in her heart regions:

• Crushed
• Confused
• ANGRY
• Confused again, because WHAT IN THE HECK are these feelings?
• Borderline depressed
• Hungry (I’m sorry. You can  make me emotional, but don’t even attempt removing my love for my dang drumsticks. That’s just plain cruel.)

I especially loved it when you progressed the love story between Asher and her so that it seemed impossible that you would actually kill her off. But yes. You did. It's safe to say that I was not exactly happy with that. Campbell was such a pessimist and wasn’t about that “love lasts forever” life. When she was lying on her deathbed and you wrote, “Cam felt her entire soul become imbued with love. How about that Cam thought. Death did not mean being without love,” part, I seriously had to put the book down and recuperate. Cam, one of my newly added ultimate favorite characters was being killed off? That was to expected. But not soon after, I was just grateful I could go on such a journey with her. 

Finishing the book, needless to say, I felt as though you came and ripped my heart out. I felt like I wouldn’t ever feel happy and my normal self again. I was so very confused and astonished that I was even capable of feeling so heartbroken. I mean, I barely get upset about anything. The last thing that I would guess could chew me up and spit me out was a silly old fiction story.I loved the last moments she had with Asher, to them night swimming with dolphins to telling each other sweet nothings on the beach and down to even their last fight. It hurts my soul having to reflect on the sweet smiles painted across my face when I read through them. But, if a book doesn’t make you feel emotion, it's not truly a good enough book. The hundreds of novels I’ve read over the past 14 years were all great stories, but they lacked what yours doesn’t: the capability to make people like me feel as though the end was near.

So now do you see, Ms. Wunder? Do you understand why I chose to open this letter up by stating something very out of the ordinary? And, just in case you haven’t noticed, I don't actually hate you. If anything, I’m extremely grateful that you could single handedly provide me with not only one of the first times I’ve shed tears over something my head knows isn't real, but made me realize it isn't all that terrible to have a few pesky bouts of sadness now and then.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Arianna P.(unofficially named “Stone Cold Heart or something like that”)

Open Letter to Victoria Scott

Dear Victoria Scott,

Your books, Fire and Flood, and Salt and Stone, have impacted me tremendously. Ever since I attended your meet and greet at Woodstown Middle School, I loved your books, especially your first, Fire and Flood which reminded me to not to be a follower, but to be a leader. When I began to read Salt and Stone, I realized this issues continued, and it would be one of the main points of conflict. It stabbed me right in the heart when the ocean portion of the race began! This book series has influenced me the most of any books I’ve read. The lessons you weave into the words on the page fascinate me! 

Then, a few weeks ago,Violet Grenade, was released. I was dying to read it ever since you came to our school and gave us a sneak peek of it. I got the bookmark, and listened to every reading you did of the book until finally, it came out. I called it first in our ELA classroom, and I think I had everyone hating me until I finished it three days later. Everything about this book was astounding. From cover to cover, I was never able to set it down. I read for hours at home, and every free chance in classes I’d take it out. The characters were flawless in every way: Domino, Cain, Madam Karina and Wilson.

Overall, my favorite thing about the story itself were the characters. Normally, in a young adult novel, with a female protagonist, you think it would be the ordinary. Skinny, somewhat rebellious, has a boyfriend, everything like that. However, in Violet Grenade, you make the main character someone readers wouldn’t picture being in a book. Right on the first page, you can see she’s different from all other female protagonists. Right in the first sentence, she’s picking out a wig! Well, maybe you’d think she doesn’t have hair, but nope, she does. Now does she seem weird? Then, a little later in the book, Domino begins hooking and unhooking her piercings. No. Not just ear piercings. Ear, lip, gauges, eyebrows. All of that. Just how you make your main character a “freakish” character like Domino, you grab readers right from the first word. Most importantly, thank you for showing the cruelty of bullying and abuse in one book. Since Domino is different, she gets bullied. This is a shame, and it shouldn’t happen. Without a doubt, Violet Grenade, will keep readers on the edge of your seat 24/7.

Usually in YA novels with a feminine protagonist, you’d expect some girly girl. Then Tella and Domino come along. It hits you right on the first page of both books that these girls are not like other girls. In the end, all of your books have impacted me greatly.

From, 
Tara T.

New to Our Shelves!

#Famous

Jilly Gagnon

    An innocent joke between a girl and her best friend is the one thing that sends her life into the hands of millions. Rachel, a curly headed antisocial, has had the biggest crush on Kyle: a lacrosse playing, burger flipping, wonderfully wonderful teenager. As a cute like pickup joke, Rachel sneaks a picture of him at his Burger Barn job and sends it to her friend; who then reflits it online for the world to see. Unbeknownst to them both, this simple action is what sends Kyle and Rachel head-on into the scrutiny of millions of other eyes.

    #Famous is single-handedly one of the most cutest/gut wrenchingly powerful books I’ve ever had the luxury to read. Set in a modern day teen life, Rachel is put through so many things that are both relatable and prominent in this day and age. She is constantly being bullied and pushed through terrible social situations due to the mere fact that, horrendously enough, she has a crush! People deface her property, make her the butt of every joke, and poke fun at her hair and curvy body. She felt as though everyone hated her guts just for trying to lighten up and joke around with her best friend. When she finally decided not to let the haters get to her, I couldn’t put the book down. Kyle, the very reason why she had millions of people tell her to kill herself, was the one person who treated her the best. He made her know that she was a funny and good looking girl who didn't deserve to be put down for a simple joke. The message was beautiful and inspiring.

5/5 stars.

Reviewed by Arianna P.

Open Student Letter to Paige Rawl

Dear Paige Rawl, 

Bullying is a very hard thing to overcome. I've heard plenty of stories of kids not being able to overcome this situation; however, plenty of people have been able to put bullying aside and keep going through life. They say that every person will be bullied at least once in their lifetime, but what you don’t hear is that almost everyone will bully or hurt someone in their life, even if it’s indirectly. You don’t hear a lot about how bullying affects those people. Most teenagers who get bullied is through your ‘typical’ stereotypes and exclusion, which is probably what a teenager would think of as the worst thing in the world. As a teenager myself, it can be awful, but reading your memoir Positive has changed my point of view. I realize that there are many different ways to be bullied. Now I know that exclusion and other types of bullying, although they hurt, only hurt as long as you want them to. As you almost went to the all-time low and thought about something as horrible as taking your own life, you eventually made your way back to the top. You couldn’t of done that if you didn’t want to. In the end, it’s your mindset that decides if you let the bullying hurt you or not. As you say in your book, “If we can let ourselves, all of us, be united by the simple fact of having a difference, we will be bigger and stronger and more powerful than anyone who might otherwise make us feel small.” We can only control ourselves, not anybody else. In the long run, I believe that we pick and choose who hurts and makes us feel better. We just have to have the strength to do it and it takes a long time to get that mindset.

Positive has taught me three very valuable lessons, among others. The first one is to always be nice to people, to be friendly, and to stand up for people. When your friend stood up for you and helped you clean the drink that someone dumped on you off of your clothes, it really showed how important this lesson is. The second one is to dwell on happiness, not sadness. If I am in a bad mood or upset, I will do something to lift my spirits rather than to sit in my room and think about what went wrong today. When reading your book, you tried to hang out with your supportive friends, or listen to music, and compete in pageants. All of these things would distract you from the pain, but also you chose to do them to make yourself happy. The third is to always to remain positive. Throughout your experience I always saw little bits of positivity and hope within you. When I first started reading your book I always thought the title Positive came from being HIV positive, but I realized that either you or the people around you, influenced you in one way or another, to be positive and to have hope. Though your middle school experience left you miserable and depressed, you always hoped that the next day would be better. The joy that you found in other activities, like pageants and cheerleading, helped you not to dwell on the pain and to remain positive. 

Needless to say, this book has really changed my view on the world. You never know what people are going through and you should not judge someone by what they look like or because of others point of views. Just because it may be ‘uncool’ to hang out with someone or do something, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t hang out with that person or do what you enjoy. It has touched my heart, because I believe that people can overcome different obstacles and your words have helped me overcome some of my own. I, too, abide by the lessons (and plenty more) I’ve learned. Even though you went through something worse than me, and other people are going through different levels of pain from bullying like me and you, the pain and exclusion still hurts. Sometimes, I need to remind myself, but now I know that I’m not the only one feeling hurt from people hurting my feelings. Even though it will take me a long time to reach the mindset of not letting people hurt me, I know that I will eventually get there, because of you and I thank you for that.

Mia B.

Open Letter to Author J.K. Rowling

Dear J.K. Rowling,

  So much of my work can be credited to you...whatever the subject, whatever it's about. Your books were a turning point in my life. I first read the Harry Potter series in 6th grade, only two years ago, and I fell in love. I remember as a 4th/5th grader. I thought everyone was crazy for loving those “nerdy” books about magic, but I honestly had nothing to judge it about. My friends were the biggest motivation for me to start reading the books and I tried reading your first book of the series, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. At first I sped through it, trying to prove my friends wrong to show that I still didn't like them. I didn't understand it or take the time to try. So... I quit reading the series. One of the biggest mistakes of my life. Again, in 6th grade, I made my own decision to read the series again. I don't know what type of mystical force possessed me to, but I have to say that I'm grateful it did. Now I know to not question magic.

 Initially, the first book (the second time around) got me emotional. The story of a little boy being so mistreated was heartbreaking. That was the first exposure I'd had to that kind of tragedy. I'd always been stuck in that sort of safe bubble of innocence, but even though the story was fiction, I realized that was actually something that happened in different variations around the world. One of the biggest things, however that your books did for me was give strength. Each book showed a group of friends progressing together and getting stronger, also helping me realize the kind of relationships that were real in my own life. Friends fight and make up, but the biggest thing is that when they realize their mistakes, they grow stronger together. The whole idea of giving strength that I've proposed is not blown out of proportion as you may think. Young kids, no matter how fictional, can make a stand against whatever they choose, whether the evil in the world, or little conflicts around them. Sneakiness, breaking the rules, being “snitches”, and other shenanigans aren't a great lessons to learn, but overall help teach others the consequences that follow those actions along with all the other lessons.

 Next, I want to take a moment and remind you of a quote that you wrote in your book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, “Of course it's happening inside your head Harry, but why on earth should that mean it is not real?” This quotes sums up my love for your books with no question and that's why it's my favorite. To dream about something, there's always an aspect of reality that triggers it. It can happen both inside and outside your head, even if you may not really experience it yourself in reality. Strength and this type of friendship we as readers read in your book, may not necessarily happen to us, but we think and dream about it. It also is happening to others around us, and we should applaud them for tuning into that force inside them instead of degrading them and becoming jealous. That's why I had to reflect on one simple line that your mind imagined and made reality.

 Lastly, there is one final aspect of your books that shaped my childhood and still now as I grow older, and that is Magic. Such a wonderful and fantastic quality found even in the “muggle” world. Imagination brings great joy to people's lives and even though many say it is just part of your imagination, I say magic is real. There's a great deal of people behind me that I can guarantee would say the same exact thing, and if you asked them where they got that idea, they'd say your books. If I was to go about and define magic, there's a couple things I would say. Magic is the pure existence of hope, laughter, and a force that makes these things happen. Magic is something that makes out of the ordinary actions happen. Magic is Harry Potter. Your books have given me magic and so many others as well. We read the books to initially experience it, we watch the movies to experience it further, and we go to universal and to “Harry Potter World” to experience it even more, and that's the difference you've made.

 In conclusion, my only words are strength, hope, magic, happiness. I have become a more positive, optimistic, and caring person since reading the series, and that's made others around me happier too. With every one person that reads your books, 5 others at least experience the gifts of the books. I honestly from the bottom of my heart, from the love in all of my horcruxes, from the robe and wand in my room, my playing cards and games, my socks, and all of my Harry Potter merchandise, thank you for everything.

Thanks,

Sophia B.

New Release!

The Edge of Everything 

by Jeff Giles

Some say that they’d do anything for love which Zoe, a small town Montana girl, never thought she’d have to prove. The recently published novel, The Edge of Everything, by Jeff Giles is compassionately strange, exuberantly witty, and unabashedly romantic. In its first few moments of the novel, a possibly deadly blizzard approaches Zoe’s hometown. As her mother runs out on an errand, Zoe takes care of her kid brother, Jonah. Her first mistake was letting him out in the cold before the storm to play with the dogs. In a turn of events, Zoe is thrown into panic to find her brother. What comes next was drastic. A criminal who killed two family friends is back, and the one thing keeping them safe is a young man, whom Zoe names X. By the time the next sunrise breaks the horizon, Zoe has quite a story to tell. That agent is X, a man who committed no crime, yet lives his life out in underworld servitude. When Zoe stops him from reaping her attacker, it sets off a chain of events that leads to first love, terrible peril, and maybe X’s salvation—though it won’t come easy.

I had been in a reading slump for a couple weeks, so when I saw The Edge of Everything on the release list, I knew I had finally found something that interesting. I had never heard of Jeff Giles before, but I was pleasantly surprised. His extremely descriptive settings and amazing use of “show not tell” with characters left me with a clear image in my head. There was also constantly something going on. That being said, this was the perfect thing to get me out of my reading slump. My favorite character is X. X was very selfless and defensive. He would do anything for Zoe or her family. In fact, even when he was healing from a past incident in the beginning of the novel, he watched over Zoe’s family. He never gave up on her. 

As a fluent reader, I thought it was a very entertaining book. It was serious, action packed, and had a bit of romance. I never was bored and never wanted to put the book down!

In all, I highly recommend The Edge of Everything by Jeff Giles.

Review by Laney J.

Summer Book Clubs

Summer Book Clubs at WMS!

This week, students, parents, and teachers flooded our quiet school hallways to chat about my favorite topic: books! It was thrilling to see SO many middle school students leaving the beaches and their swimming pools to join us for an hour or two in July!! We are always looking for new ideas to have fun with reading, so I was so excited when our principal wanted to bring summer book clubs to our school.  Thankfully, we had teachers from ALL subject areas volunteering their time to allow a wide-range of book club choices for our students!

Getting Started...

May: Participating teachers selected one or two books to share over the summer. This task was not an easy one for me.  I have so many books that I love to share with students.  Only choosing two?? Impossible!

June: Students were given the option to use our traditional method of discussing their books online in our forum OR they could try something new and join one of the book clubs.  Two sessions were created (one in July and one in August) to allow for more choices and flexibility.  They could attend both or just one!

Ready, Set, READ....

July: Our first session was held!  Each book was assigned a classroom for the students and teachers to discuss their reading and participate in activities.  In both July and August, I created a bonus session to allow more options for the students AND to allow me the chance to do two books on each date.

July Bonus Session: Students came in early to discuss Truthwitch by Susan Dennard. (Also check out Dennard's first trilogy Something Strange and Deadly.  Newly released covers are now available here!)

Step One: 

As students entered the room, they found their favorite Truthwitch quote to add to our quote banner.

Step Two:

We sat and discussed our reading. Some students had even already read the sequel Windwitch!

Step Three:

Not much time left! We quickly designed cookies to match one of the elements found in the Witchlands.  

  

Step Four:

On the way to their next session, students grabbed some bookworms and Truthwitch coloring page to create their own covers.  Visit Life Writings of a Reader Blog page to find a copy of the coloring page and for more Truthwitch and Windwitch reviews.  Thanks, Adriyanna!

Click here to buy Truthwitch and Windwitch.  Look for her upcoming Bloodwitch!  You can also find a short fractured Sherlock Holmes tale by Susan (and more authors and booktubers!) in the newly released Because You Love to Hate Me: 13 Tales of Villainy.  

July Regular Session: We followed a similar session as above with the newly released Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson.  (Also check out her first trilogy Defy!)

Step One: 

Added our favorite quotes!

Step Two:

Lots of chatting and discussing Dark Breaks the Dawn (and Swan Lake!)

Step Three:

Checking out the goodie table!

With Light vs Dark Draiolon Cookies...

Dark Breaks the Dawn brownie cake... 

(I haven't designed in a while, so I was pretty proud of myself!!)

AND of course... Bookworms!!

Click here to buy your copy of Dark Breaks the Dawn.  Look for the sequel Bright Burns the Night coming next year! Also available is her first trilogy Defy!

Coming Up...

I can't wait until our next book club date!! On August 17th I'll get to meet up with more students to discuss The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken (to prepare ourselves for the incredible upcoming movie release) AND When We Were the Greatest by Jason Reynolds (to get ready to meet the award-winning author via Skype in October)!