Archive for April, 2009

What do you like to read on a beautiful, sunny day?

I usually return to the classics: Pride and Prejudice, maybe an old school-required reading like To Kill a Mockingbird. Other sunny-day reading favorites of mine are light, fluffy romances, like much of Meg Cabot’s work, or even Janet Evanovich. I’m currently still working my way through Jellicoe Road, so I think that will be today’s outdoor read, but once I finish that, I think I’ll pick up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (close enough, right?).

I’m a little late on this one, but so absolutely glad I finally finished The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I have to admit, I began this book several months ago, and had to actually stop reading because I found the book so disturbing. Here’s the basics:

This novel takes place in a dystopian world of the future, where North America has been split into 12 districts. The lives of the citizens of this new society are run by the Capital and it’s many rules. The narrator of the story is Katniss, a teenager living in the poorer district, the 12th. Every year the Capital holds the Hunger Games, their extremely sick and twisted way of forcing the districts’ citizens into submission. Two teenagers are selected by lottery from each district to participate in a fight to the death, all broadcast on live TV, while the nation’s citizens are forced to watch. The novel follows Katniss and her eventual entrance into the Hunger Games and the alliances, enemies, and challenges she faces there.

To start with, the book is difficult to read. The concept behind the Hunger Games was so awfully horrible, I couldn’t help but grip the book in intense anxiety. And then you realize the story is so amazingly gripping that you can’t put it down. I read through the book, once picking it up again, very swiftly, absorbing the words until I was oblivious to the world around me. Suzanne Collins has a way with writing the suspense of the story so that you feel it deep down inside you, and you can’t let go until you’ve finished.

I’d recommend this book for anyone looking for something a little darker than your normal “fluff,” or looking for something with loads of action. The book reads like a great suspense thriller-type movie. I’m anxiously awaiting the arrival of it’s sequel, Catching Fire, and also waiting for more information on the film, as it was recently optioned.

One thing to think on: Could our society be heading towards this future, or a similar one? Sometimes I think our reality TV shows are not that far behind this…

Six years ago, a 13-year-old girl was strip-searched at her school based on the accusation of another student. This student claimed that Savana Redding was giving prescription-strength ibuprofen medicine to other students. The school found nothing, and later, Savana took the school to court, stating the strip-search was unconstitutional and humiliating. After two courts ruled in the school’s favor, and then a higher court ruled in favor of Savana, the case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where it sits now.

At issue here is this: should a school be allowed to strip-search a student based on accusations or suspicions that the student has illegal drugs (or even weapons) on their person? We all know that schools are allowed to search students’ lockers, even backpacks, based on suspicion, but is this going too far? On one hand, you have the 4th amendment, which protects us against “unreasonable” searches, but then on the other hand, you have the safety and security of a whole student body. Many would call the strip-searching of a young girl very unreasonable, especially when the item under suspicion was prescription ibuprofen, but then others may take it further, citing stories of teen drug-pushers, hiding drugs, prescription or illegal, under their clothing to pass to their classmates.

My opinion? Based on the little information given in the case, I lean on the side of Savana Redding. I believe all people, any age, deserve the rights of the constitution, and also the basic right of respect. Many news sources are saying that Savana was made to “shake out” her underwear, and that also her parents were not present: to me, these are the things that take this case too far, and I think that many people may share my same view.

I’m interested in seeing how this court case ends up, as it will have a very large effect on the future of teen rights in this country.

For More: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/19/scotus.strip.search/

Hey world! This blog is due for a revitalization and updates! I will be blogging here again, with a much more purposeful focus: writing about the latest teen book releases (and the classics), plus topics that are important to teens worldwide. I’ve been a fan of teen literature ever since, well, I’ve been a teen!

I’m looking forward to putting my small mark on the world through this blog. I’ve been writing for years, on and off the Internet. My interests span far and wide, but essentially, I’m a kid at heart.

I’m also looking forward to hearing from my readers as well, so feel free to hit me back with a comment!

Watch out the rest of this week for my take on the US Supreme Court and the case of the 13-year-old that was strip searched, Melina Marchetta’s Printz-award winning novel, Jellicoe Road, and I’ll be discussing all the buzz surrounding the upcoming movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Till later!