Should We Give Up A Dream Or Love?

            When The Stars Go Blue by Caridad Ferrer is about Soledad Reyes. All her life al she has thought about is dance, dance is Soledad Reyes’s life. She's in her senior year at Miami’s Biscayne High School for the Performing Arts and plans to spend the summer teaching a dance studio, saving up money to audition for dance companies. However, Jonathan Crandall, a musician at Biscayne High School for the Performing Arts, proposes Soledad with the opportunity to play the role of Carmen. Also, part of his proposal is to spend more time with Jonathan, who makes her feel her something no boy ever has before. But when she thinks things couldn't have gotten any better she meets Taz, a boy who plays for a Spanish soccer team. Soon they start flirting with each other which leads to an explosive encounter which Johnathan witnesses. Then at the show that night Johnathan does something unbelievable which breaks her leg and threatens her career as a dancer.
            Soledad had her life pretty much planned out, after she graduated she was raise up money to go to New York City and audition for dance companies.  Ever since she put on ballet slippers she realized she wanted to be a dancer, that is until Johnathan stepped into her life. She started to feel things a girl does when she's with her crush but at the time she didn't know that. Apparently no guy ever in her life had made her feel like that. Johnathan even started to make her rethink her decisions about New York. Soledad even got offered to work with a dance company but she rejected it only to end up with no legs to dance with anymore.  I don't know what I would do if a doctor told me I could never dance again. I would probably commit suicide! My life would be over!
            I think that Soledad had to make a really tough decision on whether to follow her heart or her head. Well, actually, her heart was telling her to dance and to be with Johnathan. So I guess she had to make the tough decision of whether to follow love or her dream. Honestly I would have chosen my dream, especially knowing that I'm with a guy that has past issues. It would be better to just leave him and it alone before things got complicated. Then again, I don't know what's like to love a guy with such intensity so I can't really be giving my opinion. But what it comes down to is if we should follow our dreams or our love.    
          

Dancing

            Dancing is all little Marie van Goethem, a fourteen-year-old ballet dancer in the famed Paris Opéra, can think about in the book Marie, Dancing by Carolyn Meyer. It is the only thing in her life that brings her joy. Unfortunately, she has lived a life of poverty. Along the way having to deal with hunger, her mother's drinking, and her selfish older sister. Then when things could have gone worse she finds an artist, Edgar Degas. He demands Marie's presence in his studio where it appears that her life will change in a big way. He is willing to pay her to pose for his new idea for a sculpture and he promises her to make her a star.
              I can relate so much to this story because I know what it's like to love dancing but not have the money to pay for the classes needed. The difference between me and her is that I'm not a model for a very famous sculpture. Marie van Goethem is the model for the sculpture, Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer. This year for the dance concert since the theme was artwork, the sculpture was used as one of the artworks. The thing about this dance was that it was open to anybody for a solo. I love to dance and I think she is very lucky to find an artist that was willing to pay her for modeling. What surprised me is what Marie van Goethem planned on doing with the money. Instead of paying for more advanced private lessons, she used the money to pay her family through poverty.  
              I would have used the money for selfish reasons, especially since my mother was a drunk my sister was a selfish meanie that made me go through hunger for days and starve me. After that, I wouldn't have given them a single cent of my money. Luckily for Marie's family she still had a big kind heart and must have been raised with somebody wise. Then again I love dancing and would do anything to dance just like Marie van Goethem.    

Dreams

             Nevermore, written by Kelly Creagh is one of those books that just has you wanting to read more and more. I just started this book on Monday and I'm already done with it. Nevermore is about a cheerleader, Isobel Lanley, and the school's weirdo, Varen Nethers. They cross each others path when they are partnered for an English project. At first they are disgusted to work with each other. But then they end up falling in love. The thing is that Isobel doesn't know about Varen's secret dreams. His dream world that he has created through the pages of his notebook, a world where the stories of Edgar Allan Poe come to life. That's when she does literally anything to save his life. 
                
            This book has a lot of scenes that make me wonder what the author was trying to make the reader think and feel in this moment. In the book, Varen has this whole fantasy world where Edgar Allan Poe is his best friend and they write deep, dark poems. One really creepy part of his dream world is this demon that follows him everywhere and tells him what to do. When Isobel finds out about the demon she tries to help but ends up messing everything up. In this part I could really feel the author trying to make us think and feel what lead him to this point in life. Is he an only child? Were his parents ignorant to the fact that he was their son throughout his childhood? Those questions were racing through my mind when I read that part. Also, I felt sympathy for him. Something must have really gone wrong for him to have ended up like that.      

            Some people think that dreams are visions of the future or messages. Some people think that dreams are just dreams and they don't mean anything. I'm one of those people that believe dreams are just dreams and nothing more. This has made me question what I believe about dreams. This book shows how dreams can actually change a person for worse or for the better. Especially with scenes so vividly detailed it's hard to not see it as a movie.  

Breaking Dawn: Wedding Scene

          In the book, Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer I'm up to the part where Edward and Bella are about to get married. In detail, Stephenie Meyer says that Bella is "...beautiful and never looked better..." according to Edward, on the day of the wedding. And to Bella, Edward looked, "...handsome..." and "...I couldn't believe he is about to be legally mine.." Bella is wearing a white, elegant dress with a train. It's nothing too fancy because Bella is the type of character that doesn't like to attract to much attention. Edward was wearing the normal monkey suit, which apparently made him look like the sexiest man on the planet.
          This scene in the book is like any other fairytale wedding. The difference is that it is a little toned down because of Bella's issue with attention. But it has the white christmas lights that are hung all over the place and the fancy white flowers, the seat coverings, and it's all happening in Edward's humongous backyard. I loved the way Stephenie Meyer described the wedding, "...the profusion of white blossoms that hung in garlands from everything in the room that wasn't alive, dripping with long lines of white gossamer ribbons...the bowery canopy... rows of satined-draped chairs..." (pg. 48) The detail and the elaboration and the language just gives the place a magical feeling, other than the fact that she's marrying a vampire.
          All in all, Stephenie Meyer could have just written that the setting was beautiful. Instead she elaborated and used language that made it seem like the wedding that she probably dreamed of having or had. This is another reason why I love Stephenie Meyer.                            

Breaking Dawn Movie and Book

            Breaking Dawn is the last book to Stephenie Meyers amazing and addicting Twilight Saga. I have seen all the movies and have read all the books and have fell in love with each one. I have already read this book, in 6th grade. But I am rereading it to refresh my memory on the book. Also I'm pretty sure that you are wide aware that Breaking Dawn is coming out in movie theaters in a few weeks. I as a huge fan am super excited.
            Anyways, when I go see the movie I want to be thinking of the book and comparing what the scenes looked like in my head and what the film directors interpretation of the scenes. Additionally, I like to anticipate what is going to happen next. Along with that, in Breaking Dawn Stephenie Meyers makes Bella, Edward, and Jacob all narrate the story unlike the other three books where Bella does all of the narrating. I wonder since the movie is splitting the book up into two parts, will there be two narrators or maybe squish in three or will there only be one?
            What me and many other Twilight fans love about these books is that it has this plot which a lot of girls fantasize about. For example, I would love to have a sexy werewolf and an incredibly attractive vampire who would do anything for me, to be fighting over my love. Another thing about these books is that it has these moments where you find yourself expressing what you feel out loud. I know that when I was reading the book there were moments where my jaw dropped and I was saying, "Oh my gosh!"
             All in all, I can't wait until the movie comes out and I really hope that somewhere Stephenie Meyer is creating another jaw dropping series somewhere.

Ellen Hopkins

              I am personally a huge fan of Ellen Hopkins. Ever since I read Crank, I made it my goal to read all of her books. So far I have read all of her books except for Identical, which I'm reading right now. In this book there are only two characters, Kaeleigh and Raeanne.They are twin sisters who have everything. Everything except the love from their parents they crave for. They used to be a happy family that is until their father started drinking. One day they went out for a drive when they got into a car accident. That's when their mother stopped loving him and the twins. Then the family separated and they barely talk to each other now.
             I think that Ellen Hopkins is a genius. Her books are all about teenagers making huge mistakes. For example, most of her books have to do with drugs, smoking, and sex. When I read her books they have me on the edge of my seat. It's like I'm addicted to them like her characters are addicted to whatever drug they're doing. What I think is very interesting is that she writes her books in poem vignettes. Also with the poems she makes these cool designs that have to do with the book or the specific part of the book.
             Anyways, Ellen Hopkins is an amazing author and I recommend her books to anyone and everyone. I don't think that her books are specifically made for any gender. But they are made for pre- adolescents and teenagers.                

Coolness, Popularity

            Currently I am reading the book So Yesterday by Scott Westerfield. It is about a boy named Hunter and his firend Jen. They are both part of the "cool pyramid". Jen is an Innovator, she is at the top of the pyramid always creating the new fashion when the recent one starts to fade away. Hunter is a trend setter, he is at the second slot available in the pyramid. His job is to spot what's in trend by taking pictures with his always one step ahead cellphone. This book is a mystery but it has made me think, What is cool?
            Merriam Wester's Dictionary's definition of cool is "...to not be friendly...". My definition of cool would be the people who are themselves and live life the way they want to. Nowadays in the 21st century, the cool people are the ones who can get their hands on some of the drugs or the ones who hang out with the jocks and cheerleaders. Some people think of being cool or popular as a must. Jen and Hunter see it as a job and as a way to be one step ahead of everybody else.            
            Truth is this book reminds me of school and its social pyramid. There are the people at the top that are super popular and get invited to all these parties and know people all over New York City. A typical stereotype includes all of the jocks and cheerleaders which isn't always true. Then are the people that are usually running for student council and the people who win class president are usually the leaders of this group. Next on the list are the class clowns and the ones who want the spotlight on them 24/7. After that are the wanna-bes. These are the people who try to hard to get everybody to like them. They have no friends and if they do then they're not their real friends because usually they're talking behind each others backs. After that are the ones who are video game addicts and the ones who simly don't care where they are or who they are seen with.

Me, I'm not popular but I'm also not a video game addict. I have all the friends I need to leave school this year with great friendships.