Blog Post #6 : About the Author (Gayle Forman)

In the second novel of "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman titled "Where She Went", the plot is based on the first book and goes on to explain Mia's encounters after the incident. The best-selling novel has led Forman to a successful writer and author, considering the fact she bombed her SAT's. Gayle started her writing career by writing articles for various popular magazines, such as "Details Magazine", "Jane Magazine", "Glamour Magazine", as well as "Cosmopolitan Magazine". Her interesting articles led to her growing popularity throughout the beginning of her career. The magazine articles were written among a wide variety of topics, which displayed a unique and different writing style for each article. Since she lives in Brooklyn, New York, it is obviously difficult to have fame when you're competing with so many other talented individuals, but that didn't stop Gayle from pursuing her dream. Her and her husband Nick decided to take a trip around the world, and ended up visiting 62 countries. With this experience and knowledge, Gayle published her first book, "You Can't Get There from Here: A Year on the Fingers of a Shrinking World". It was written with the knowledge from the various countries she visited, creating an interesting yet informational novel. It was 2005 when it was officially published, and many of Gayle's fans read the book as compared to her magazine articles. In 2009, Forman releases her best-selling novel "If I Stay", which is about a 17-year old girl, Mia, who gets in a devastating car accident. She is in a coma, where she must decide if she will hang on or let go, since she is fully aware of what is going on around her in the hospital room. This novel is created into a movie 5 years after it won the 2009 NAIBA Book of the Year Award. Gayle received attention from her new fans, who were either fond of the novel, film, or both. "If I Stay" was the novel that jump-started Gayle's career and boosted her popularity. Then, in 2013, Gayle released the first book of her new series, titled "Just One Day." The plot focuses on a teenage girl, Allyson Healy, as she meets and falls in love with Willem, whom she meets on her trip to Europe. This novel is followed by "Just One Year", as this novel goes on to explain the further events of Allyson and Willem's relationship. The sequel is concluded with the last novel, "Just One Night". As Forman's popularity grew, she received numerous awards for her novels. She is the outcome of hard-work and determination, considering she wasn't raised with a great education system and resources. She succeeded by herself, and is now a well-known author across America. Links: Gayle Forman Official Site: http://gayleforman.com/ "If I Stay": http://gayleforman.com/books/if-i-stay/ More Information on Gayle Forman: http://gayleforman.com/bio/ "If I Stay" Cover Photo: http://www.brockpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/If-I-Stay-cover.jpg

Blog #5

The most important line in Janet Evanovich's novel, One for the Money, is the very first sentence in the book. It reads,"There are some men who enter a woman's life and screw it up forever. Joseph Morelli did this to me- not forever, but periodically." The rest of the plot thickens rapidly after this sentence. First, the author goes into depth about how Stephanie Plum and Joseph Morelli don't know much about each other, if anything at all. Stephanie's curosity takes the best of her when her parents and other parents warn her about Joseph Morelli, telling her never to go near him. They tell her brief moments and stories of girls getting taken advantage of when Morelli is alone with them. A little further into the book, Evanovich shows the experiences in which Plum gets taken advantage of twice, by Morelli. The plot thickens even more when Plum goes through many examples of how she is in major debt. She quit her old, low-paying job and went to her parents' house in her only car to reunite and share dinner. Once she's on the road, she spots an old friend from high school (one she is not very fond of), who is also her car dealer. He stops her to let her know she still needs to pay for her car funds, in which she says she will pay the next day, and also states she is in a rush to get to her parents' house. He lets her go, only to find her car is towed and out of her driveway the next morning. During dinner, Stephanie's mom offers a job from her cousin Vinnie, as a filing agent. She also borrows money from her parnets to get a temporary car, and heads to her cousin Vinnie's business the next day. As soon as she arrives, Vinnie's secretary starts her on the job. She realizes it's not that much different from her old job- money wise. She consults Vinnie as soon as he gets back into his office and asks for another job opportunity. He replies that he only has jobs as a bounty hunter, which he wuld not let Stephanie get herself into, as he highly doubts the job choice for her. She threatens to black mail him if she doesn't get the job, which has a $10,000 reward if she captures this man. His name is Joseph Morelli. Stephanie Plum begins her journey as a bounty hunter after speaking to many more experienced bounty hunters, and learns some tips and tricks while also gaining some equiptment to aid her along the way. She is determined to seek revenge on Morelli, because of what he did to her once innocent childhood memories. http://www.evanovich.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/01Chapter1.pdf

Blog Post #3

Engaging with difficult, uncomfortable thoughts and experiences is the only route to true happiness. Lydia Meredith, Lindsey Learned, Alex Gao, Natalee Jobert, Mariana Vinseiro: Bell 7 Timeline of the Development of Theme: Montag Montag Montag’s house Granger tells The group meets witnesses a is burned due Montag his leaves to Clarisse woman die to the books plan for society rebuild society Montag and Montag begins Montag meets Montag and the Mildred grow to secretly read Granger and a men watch the distant group of men city blow up Three Quotes: Beginning: Montag’s unhappy Middle: Montag engages in difficult thoughts End: Montag is more happy Montag is living in a society full of censorship, hardship, and tragedy. Montag doesn’t question society and enjoys his job to burn houses. When a girl name Clarisse questions his marriage, job and life in general he realizes he’s unhappy. We chose this quote to show how Clarisse had effected Montag, and how Montag wasn’t happy. Montag begins to question society and wants to change the rules regarding books. Montag doesn’t wants to be a fireman and doesn’t want to burn books. This is an example of Montag beginning to go against society. This is the main conflict throughout the book. We chose this quote to show how Montag is beginning to think that books are important and he wants other people to know. Montag joins a group of men who enjoy reading and want to change society. Montag and the group watch the destruction of the city. They plan to memorize books and eventually when society is rebuilt they will rewrite the books. We chose this quote because it shows how Montag is doing better and is already beginning to move on from the evil society. “He wore his happiness like a mask and the girl had run off across the lawn with the mask and there was no way of going to knock on her door and ask for it back.” (Bradbury 9) “This afternoon I thought that if it turned out that books were worthwhile, we might get a press and print some extra copies” (Bradbury 81) “Perhaps later in the morning, when the sun was up and had warmed them they would begin to talk, or just say things they remembered, to be sure they were there, to be absolutely certain things were safe in them.”(Bradbury 157) The Theme is important to understanding the story because the theme shows how Montage has been able to change from being sad to happy by going against society. It is important to understand the theme because it shows that you need to confront your fears/concerns in order to be happy.

About the Author: Janet Evanovich

Janet Evanovich, the author of the current novel I'm reading, titled "One for the Money". This is the first book in the Stephanie Plum series. Janet Evanovich (formally Janet Schneider) was born on April 22nd, 1943. Her Stephanie Plum novels are her most best selling novers, and have made it on the New York Times and also the Amazon bestseller lists. She was also the first in her family to attend college; where she decided to attend Douglass College. When she first started her career, she went straight into writing romance novels, where she went under the pseudonym "Steffie Hall". Her first Stephanie Plum novel "One for the Money" was released as a movie starring Katherine Heigl in January 2012. Janet has 2 kids, a son and a daughter. They are both grown and work at their mother's business- "Evanovich, Inc.". Her daughter work the web and the technological sites, while her son works the financial side of the business. Her online business consists of contact information as well as fan merchandise, ranging from hats and t-shirts to survival packs created from and based on her Stephanie Plum novels. Her fanbase is focused on her most popular Stephanie Plum novels, which are myterey genre novels, about Plum going from a small town lingerie seller to a bounty hunter when she reaches rock bottom. Despite her lack of money, she meets many amazing and helpful people along the way, including the target of her occupation- Joe Morelli. Joe was her neighbor growing up, and was also the danger of the neighborhood: adults always telling Stephanie to stay away from him, and never get one-to-one with him. Yet Stephanie was very curious as to why every adult would tell her to stay away from Morelli. She had a few incidents where her curiosity got the best of her and he took advantage of her, and also periodically screwed up her life while permanently altering her perspective of society. Now, as a bounty hunter, she is more determined than ever to get her revenge on Morelli. "One for the Money" pdf (Chapter 1)- www.evanovich.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/01Chapter1.pdf Evanovich, Inc.- www.evanovich.com One of Evanovich's Interviews- http://www.cbsnews.com/news/janet-evanovich-talks-the-heist-teaming-up-with-tv-writer-lee-goldberg/