The Maze Runner by James Dashner

     This is my 2nd blog on the Maze Runner. This book is getting more and more interesting every time I pick it up to read it. Throughout this book you can really see the development of all the characters and how they react in certain situations. After finishing this book I am excited to see what James Dashner has to offer in the rest of his series.
          The point in the book where I last stopped was when there was a new girl that came in the box (if confused read previous blog of Maze Runner first). The book has gone a long way since then. The main character Thomas, along with two other characters gets trapped in the maze. Who got him stuck in it? Does Thomas survive? Do the others survive? Or do they all die from the grievers? The grievers are these scary creatures that come out mostly in the night time in the maze and no one has ever survived being trapped in there with them through the whole night. This book is  post apocalyptic meaning it's like a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of human civilization. So basically something terrible has occurred in human society and hundreds of boys have ended there in "The Glade." And now since the main character has arrived things are changing. The first girl has arrived, the Grievers are dying. Read the book to find out why all of this is happening.

Text-to-Society Blog

                       The memoir that I am reading right now is Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman. A brief summary of this book is basically this women in her late thirties gets caught for a crime she committed involving drugs 15 years before she went to jail and this book follows her around during that 1 year of her life in prison. You have probably heard of the NETFLIX original series Orange is the New Black which is based off the book and is an extreme exaggeration of everything that really happens. 
                     The central idea of this memoir is don't be  deceived by your feelings. This idea is very prominent in the beginning of the book but then towards the middle it fades then is brought up again toward the end. Basically this girl Nora gets Piper (her girlfriend at time) involved in a crime that later she rats out Piper for. "No matter how badly things had turned out between us, I never dreamed Nora would turn me in to try and save her own skin." (Kerman 22).  She thought she could trust her and I am almost positive if she was in Nora's place she would never rat out someone and ruin their life unless there was an actual reason other then saving her butt. This central idea also occurs in our life.
                     Looking at the picture I added below of the book cover you can see that before reading it you  know its about a women's year in prison. I also attached a link to an article with the highlights of the interview with Piper Kerman word for word.

Link to website with Piper Kerman's interview



Original book cover.

The Color of Water by James McBride

            The color of water  by James McBride is a great book about the hardships of people during the time of segregation and things like the Ku Klux Klan. Like the title said it is a Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. Ruth , James's mom was a Jewish raised women who later converted to Christianity which got her through her day to day life. Ruth was a good mom who always made time to go to each of 12 kids meetings, open houses etc. She married a black man and throughout the book she is telling James about his father that passed. 
            This book is James McBrides's journey to see how he really fits into the world. He is in search of his identity. He has questions about his race and many other things he just doesn't seem to understand until he uncovers his mom's story. 

           When I started reading the book I wondered why the book was called The Color of Water . The author later explains it in his book. "...I asked whether god was black or white...'Does he like white or black people better? ' 'He loves all people he's a spirit.'... 'What color is God's spirit?' 'It doesn't have a color,' she said. 'God is the color of water. Water doesn't have a color." (51 McBride). This one part in the book James doesn't understand until he is older and is more connected to himself. The books title is referring to god as not a specific color but instead the color of water.

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

              The Maze Runner ,so far is a great book filled with suspense it really makes  you think. I have to admit the reason I decided to pick up and read it is the movie came out and I personally like reading the book before watching the movie so here I am completely sucked in. The author of this book is James Dashner he is a creative and brilliant author who also wrote the Mortality Doctrine series as well as the 13th Reality series and two books in the Infinity Ring series. The books title and the cover of the book straight up shows the book will involve a maze. 

            The story is about the main character who wakes up in an elevator with no recollection of his family, friends or where he came from. All he remembers is his name. The elevator open and there are hundreds of boys who greet him and welcome him to "the glade". Once a month a guy is sent to the glade in this elevator no one knows who but it happens. The day after Thomas comes a girl is sent up through the elevator to "the glade". The first girl ever. What is even more surprising is the news she carries with her. There is also an unsolvable, crazy, jumbled maze that Thomas feels connected to in some way. Thomas and the Gladers want more then ever to figure out the maze , the crazy unsolvable maze.

                                                             

In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard

             This book doesn't let you put it down from the very first sentence which is  "We can't believe the house is on fire." In Zanesville is about a fourteen year old girl who is the main character and  narrator.  The author of this book is Jo Ann Beard, her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, Best American Essays, and other magazines. She received a Whiting Foundation Award and nonfiction fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She teaches nonfiction writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

       

            The main character has a best friend whom she shares all of her daily adventures. This book takes place in the 1970's and the author does a great job of describing what living in that time period was like. IN Zanesville  is rated 4/5 stars. I think the age range for this book should be 13 and up. I feel the people that will like this the most are people who like realistic fiction located in the past.

 

  What others thought of this book: 

"Starred Review. Beard is a faultless chronicler of the young and hopeful; readers couldn't ask for a better guide for a trip through the wilds of adolescence." - Publishers Weekly

"An engaging read for those who recall the 1970s and for anyone who remembers the borderlands between childhood and young adulthood." - Library Journal

"Moving.... Beard travels the well-worn road of budding young womanhood with surprising freshness." - Booklist

 "Jo Ann Beard has written a mesmerizing account of a time in a girl's life when every moment, every action, is laden with enormous importance. It is so beautifully written, so perfect in its pitch, that I couldn't put it down." - Ann Patchett, author of Run

"In Zanesville is told by a narrator attuned to the humor and tragedy around her, battling it with her own desperate logics. This novel is an amazing demonstration of friendship, the most necessary and slippery thing we can possess." - Peter Rock, author of My Abandonment

"Beard is a writer of immense talents. In Zanesville is far more than a coming-of-age novel. Our offbeat narrator is spellbinding in her bold vivacity and honesty, an unforgettable character quickly embraced and beloved at the center of our lives." - Howard Norman, author of What Is Left the Daughter