This week, I started a book called Fire. It is written by the same person who wrote Graceling. The main character is a girl named Fire. Her mother named her for her strange hair color. She has grown up in a place called the Dells. Unlike Monsea (from Graceling), the Dells doesn't have graced children. Instead, they have monsters. The monsters can come in any form. All have bright coloring that makes them beautiful. These "monsters" are feared for their ability to control minds. The last human monster is Fire. Her father, who was named Cansrel, was a cruel and manipulative man.

As the King Nax's advisor, he was able to control the king (being a "monster" is hereditary). He used his power to crush others until he and the king died. Now an orphan, Fire has been raised by a noble named Brocker. He is unlike her real father in nearly every way. Brocker was once King Nax's military commander until he lost the favor of the lawless king. The king shattered his legs and sent him home half dead. As further "punishment", a criminal was sent to rape his wife Aliss. Aliss gave birth to a boy named Archer before dying. Brocker raised this baby boy as his son.

I believe that Fire will probably have an unhappy ending. It seems that Fire has a lot of enemies and very few friends. Archer seems to love her, but she keeps her distance from him. Is this because of her relationship with her father? Perhaps she believes that family causes more pain than it is worth. I like her character though. She fights for herself, and tries to do what's right. I think that the plot, though similar to Graceling, is still pretty original. Also, I think that she might end up in Monsea before the story ends. Either way, it's a pretty interesting book so far.

This week, I read the first Maximum Ride book. The main character is a girl named Max. She lives with five other kids who she escaped from "the school." The characters are supposed to have been genetically altered (wings) and experimented on. When Max was about eleven years old, a scientist named Jeb helped her and the other kids escape. A few years after, Jeb went missing. At the beginning of the story, the six children are living somewhere in the mountains. Somehow, the scientists were able to figure out where they had gone. The youngest child, a six year old girl named Angel, was kidnapped, but the others escaped. They are trying to figure out how to get her back.

Although the story does have a strange story line, it's funny. Max is an interesting character. She is trying to be the leader, but is still incredibly young. She can't really even take care of herself. Also, her age (14 years old) gives her an interest in ordinary things as well. I think that the overall plot makes sense, even if the smaller details don't. The author overlooked things such how kids living by themselves on a mountain would be able to buy food. Besides this, I think that it is a pretty good book.

This week, I read a book called Fallen. The main character was a girl name Luce. She ends up at a reform school called Sword and Cross. At the school, she meets a boy named Daniel. Luce is "drawn to him", but he acts like he hates her from the time that they first meet. In the end, it turned out that he was a fallen angel(????), and that every 17 years they meet, generally ending accidentally in her death and rebirth(??).

I think that the book was interesting, even though it had a strang plot concept. Luce can fend for herself, and is portrayed strongly. Also, I liked the writer's style. It was quick, but didn't reveal anything too soon. The one thing that I didn't like though was the whole fallen angel reincarnation idea. I really didn't see how this effected the plot. Overall though, this was a pretty good book.

This week, I read a book called Need. Basically, it was about a girl named Zara whose stepfather had just died. She becomes depressed, so her mother sends her to live with her stepfathers mom in Maine. She is stalk by pixies(?????), who turn out to be related to her. in the end she captures them all in a large circle made of iron.

I believe that this book was really bad. The Zara is described as strong, and yet when her stepdad dies, she no longer wants to do anything. Also, the back of this book was totally irrelevant. It made the book sound like a ghost story, when it wasn't. Besides this, the main character is totally hypocritical. It turns out that her boyfriend is a werewolf(??????), so she kisses him, says its alright, and then has a freak out and starts sobbing when she finds out that her grandmother is too. Also, she is pretty mean throughout the book. She continues to yell or cry, no matter how it will make those around her feel. Finally, I think that the character was either suicidal or just dumb. She wants to see who is stalking her, so she goes out in the forest by herself at night. If you know you are being followed by something you think is dangerous, then why would you WANT them to find you.

I started the third Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants book yesterday. So far, Carmen has found out that she is going to have a baby sibling. She has always wanted one, but thinks that the baby will replace her since it will be born the month she does off to college. Besides this, Lena's parents have decided not to pay for her to go to RISD (my parents went here). Also, Tibby's sister Katherine jumed out of a windowto get an apple fracturin her skull. The final friend, Bee has gone to a soccer camp as a coach, just to meet up with her old boyfriend Eric, who has a new girlfriend.

Although I liked the first two books in this series, I think that this one is overdramatic, and portrays the girls as helpless. I mean, not only do most of the characters fall for almost every guy they meet, someone's sister had to jump out of a window. It's like a sopa opera. In the first two books, the charaters fend for themselves and adapt, but now, they just give up and cry. I really did like the other two stories, so I might try to finish the series to see if it gets better, put so far, I just don't like the way this book was written.

I just started the second book in the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. So far, Bridget has decided to go meet her grandmother. She hasn't seen her since eight years before due to her mother's depression and death. Also, Lena has broken up with Kostos, a guy who she met in Greece. She seem to have forgotten him though. Another character, name Carman, has gone on a date with a boy named Porter as well. He wasn't in the first book, so I don't know much about him yet. The last friend, Tibby, has left for the summer. She is at a film pre-college.

I think that this book is actually pretty good. The idea of "magic pants" seems silly, but it was carried through well. Also, I believe that Lena will end up in Greece again with Kostos before the end of the book. Besides this, I think that Carman's step family will end up in D.C. at some point as well. In the first book she went to visit them, but they have never actually visited her before. Overall, it is written in a realistic way.

I started a book called Wicked this week. The main character is named Elphaba, and was born in Munchkinland. Her "father" Frex is a minister, and her mother is the beautiful Melena (once a rich Gillikin courtier). Her mother tends to sleep around, so no one really knows if Elphaba's green skin is hereditary. By the end of the first section of the book, you find out that Melena is going to have another girl.

I think that the perspective of this story is pretty cool. It takes the plot of the Wizard of Oz, and makes it more realistic. Instead of the flat characters in the Wizard of Oz, both the villain (Elphaba) and Dorothea are shown on an even playing field. The book shows the Wicked Witch of the West as a persecuted child, who has grown up in poverty. Galinda is still show as just a pretty face. I think that she will develop more character throughout the rest of the story though.