The Cellar "About the Author"

The Cellar  By: Natasha Preston

So I just started reading this book called The Cellar and its pretty real and disturbing if you ask me. Its about this girl who gets kidnapped and is forced to live in this guys basement with 3 other girls that he calls is his "family". All of the girls are told to forget their old lives and even change their own names to the names of certain flowers such as; Poppy, Rose, Violet and the main character Lily. This book is about Summer's (AKA Lily) experience along with the other 3 girls as they battle to survive this man and their journey to freedom from him. 

Now that you know just a little bit about the book I would like to inform you on the author, Natasha. Natasha was born in a small town of England and is now married with 1 son. She stumbled across writing in a not so normal way. She claims that she found her passion through an app called Wattpad. She was inspired by the writing that she read on the app and decided to try and write some stories for the app. She mentions that this app gave her the "self-confidence" in herself that she had been lacking and has been writing ever since. 

Natasha has also written other books called Silence, Covert, Second Chance, and Broken Silence (sequel to Silence). When I read the descriptions to some of these books I can tell what genres she leans towards and what her writing style is. Most of her books have to deal with the aspect of horror (Covert and The Cellar) if not horror then human hardship (Silence and Second Chance). The books that contain more human hardship still contain parts of horrendous actions. If you want to find out more on Natasha Preston click on the picture below. 

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/natasha-preston

Examples of Satire

This is an example of juvenalian satire because the attitude of the writer is very attacking and bitter and shows anger in the topic throughout the cartoon. This is cartoon is hard to pin point a specific use of satire, but I am leaning towards invective satire because the cartoon doesn't necessarily use words or have an abusive speech, but it portray an abusive expression about our country. The abusiveness comes from the fact that we all no 1+1=2, but just because a higher authority person is saying it is equal to 5 and the bad, stumpy looking guy says the right answer everyone is to believe the more respected one. Now since I have explained this more I also realize that this satire might involve stereotypes as well. Not only because of the higher authority and such, but also because everyone in society is a product of there own community. This piece can be shown as society is forced to believe everything they are told from someone in a higher position, but I believe that people aren't forced they choose because that's how we were taught and automatically our brains (well the majority of our brains) go, judge and bias our opinions based on the outside before we even here a point.

Krista Ramsey : The Columnist

Jail Program Needs Volunteers Willing to Listen 

In the article above, Krista talks about how she has tried to avoid anything thing that had to do with inmates or a prison. Soon to realize that she would have to cover a story on the topic and when she does she comes to learn that these people may have done some terrible things, but they are still people and they shouldn't have to be cooped up. She then finds out about the program where volunteers come in and talk with these inmates for a good 20 minutes about anything from Bengals games to their rough childhood. (Click on the link above to find out more). 

"He who enters here leaves not hope behind"
This quote is important to this article because it shows that even though they are in prison for a crime and that they may or may not be proud of they should still carry hope and never leave it. There is syntax present in this sentence. The order of words is not sound like a normal English sentence. The author uses this syntax to make the sentence pop and stand out to the reader so it draws attention and shows a stronger importance.

Krista has a certain writing style like much of other columnists but hers portrays something different. It makes you feel connected to the world. Krista uses not big news highlights but tiny things that are happening around the community. In her article about the over use of electronics she states, " The kid who used to walk home from school looking at houses and trees now rides home staring at a screen not much bigger than his hand...". Also she uses syntax and diction to draw the reader in. In some of her other columns such as the one about QB's scoring great points for style she uses diction to make the sentence more dramatic, " That's why Russell is very adamant about taking a shower..." Words such as the one that is bold above are what make the column more interesting. Though in some of Krista's articles syntax is the key to interest. You can find evidence of syntax in her article about the inmates, "...  I’d written the statistics a hundred times, but the obscene cost of trying to contain and restrain thousands of inmates – some for decades, some for lifetimes – finally hit me" The way the sentence was stuctured adds a different level of  understanding about the topic and not only makes the reader want to finish but to understand the column. 

3 Questions For The Author

• What inspires you to write? Is it a family member or is it just what you love to do?
• What college did you attend? What was your major?
• Do you purposefully add diction or syntax or does your writing craft just come naturally?

Heaven Is For Real Review

SUMMARY: 

**SPOILER ALERT**

This story starts off with a family in a rough spot and they are just struggling to make it by but as long as the have the lord on there side they will always make it by. The dad Todd Burpo works many jobs and raises two kids with the help of his wife. Along there journey there son has a amazing experience that the family will never forget. His son Colton visited Heaven and came back to tell his story. At first it took a while for people to believe this story but slowly it gained publicity and was known nation wide within a few short months.
*Read Heaven Is For Real to find out what happens next*

RATING: 
I give this book a 9. I loved this book and every lesson that came along with it. I also love how well it was written it made me feel like I was a part of the story. I would recommend this book to everyone and anyone who would like to read about a mind blowing event. The reason I didn't give this book a 10 was because it didn't challenge me to have to really think and comprehend while I was reading. Other than that I was thrilled with this book.

Review:
" A beautifully written glimpse into heaven that will encourage those who doubt and thrill those who believe" 

~Ron Hall

"Heaven Is For Real is a wonderful book. It reaffirms how important faith is in our lives-for children as well as adults"

~Timothy P. O'Holleran, MD 

   

Why I chose Heaven is for Real

This book so far has inspired me and has allowed me to improve my faith. Before I started to read this book I had already heard so many great things about it such as it would make you view the world differently and give you the ability to believe in miracles again. The way this book is written is just another reason to why it is so good. I am not super far into the book but I am far enough to the point where I know what is happening and what is going to happen.

I am inspired. The way Colton, the main character, deals with all his traumatic experiences at such a young age shows that he has a great sense of life already. Also the dad has to persuade people to believe Colton’s journey. The story the dad is willing to tell about what Colton tells him is unbelievable and that is the main reason why people in the book have trouble believing the story.

My faith has been strengthened. The things that are described in this book are not only mind blowing but if you chose to believe them (which I did) they can be life changing. When Colton leaves the hospital bed he has experienced something like no other. He claims to have encountered God. He also describes some events that he could only know if what he is saying is true. This book so far has allowed me to believe that anything is possible as long as you have God in your life.      

Heaven Is For Real

Author Background: 

The author of, Heaven Is For Real, is Todd Burpo. 

"Todd Burpo is the pastor of Crossroads Wesleyan Church in Imperial, Nebraska where his sermons are broadcast locally every Sunday via the local radio station. He volunteers at Chase County Public Schools as wrestling coach for Junior high school students, as well as serving as a member of the school board. In emergencies Todd can be found working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Imperial Volunteer Fire Department as a fire fighter. He is also the chaplain for the Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighter's Association. To support his family, Todd also operates a company called Overhead Door Specialists. Todd graduated from Oklahoma Wesleyan University in 1991" 

Todd Burpo Article  

Todd Burpo is a very successful man. Along with this he has a very unique family. He later in his life writes a book about his son's trip to heaven (Heaven Is For Real) and in this book it describes his son's experience, the family's experience and the affect that all of this had on the people around them.  

My Thoughts:

Even though I have not read this book yet I have heard great reviews and I am very interested in the topic. I do also have an understanding of what happens in the book because of my research on it. I am very excited to read this and hopefully it is as good as I am expecting. 

  

Review of Lovely Bones

Summary: 
              *SPOILER ALERT* 
   Murdered by her next door neighbor Mr. Walker at the age of 12, Susie Salmon finds herself in a beautiful land, not quite Heaven, where she can observe and comment on the lives of her family and friends. Her body is never discovered and her parents suffer an unimaginable pain. The strain is far too much and her mother leaves. Her father continues to investigate and over many years maintains contact with the police officer in charge of the investigation. Susie also gets to watch Walker and learns of his long list of victims. She also sees him prepare for his next victim, her younger sister Lindsey. To find out what happens next read Lovely Bones. 
Rating:
   I rate this book a 8. This book shows great word placement/ diction and this also helps the reader understand if the chapter is taking place in the in-between or on Earth. I also enjoy the descriptions in the book. The setting of the in-between is a somewhat fantasy place that would take a lot of detail to get the reader to be able to picture this place in their mind but Alice does a great job of filling peoples minds with a sense of joyful bitterness about this place and creates an everlasting image that allows you to visually picture the scene. The only thing I didn't really enjoy about this book was that Alice dragged on some non-important events that could be described in a couple of chapters.  

Review: 
"Mesmerizing" - New York Times Book Review

"Don't start The Lovely Bones unless you can finish it. The book begins with more horror than you could imagine, but closes with more beauty than you could hope for" -Christian Science Monitor

"Savagely beautiful" - San Francisco Chronicle

"Haunting." - Seattle Post-Intelligencer