Pencils Cont.

Hey Guys,

Thanks to Carter's brilliant idea of looking up names, (I do realize that some of you out there thought of that too, so you as well as Carter are pretty smart, unlike me) I found some really fun ones. So here they are:

Quinn: sporty, musical, crazy, tomboy, and nature-lover

Instead of Quinn, she'll be Jinx short for ???

Marisol: girly, rich kid, snobby, and shopaholic

Instead of Marisol, she'll be Sapphira.

Grace: nerdy, book-lover, super genius, and shy

Instead of Grace, she'll be Leyna.

Scarlet: wild-child, art geek, artist, and outdoorsy.

Instead of Scarlet, she'll be Nadia.

What do you think? Good? Bad? In between? Perfect? I think they're almost perfect, here's why:

Jinx is kinda unique, crazy name and her character is crazy as well. Also have you ever heard someone say something like You'll jinx it if you do that? Well, she's kinda a klutz too, so I think it's good. 

Sapphira is kinda like sapphire and since she's a girly-girl she's gotta like gems, right?

Leyna is a name that sounds like it belongs to a calm person and she is calm and shy. (BTW- it's pronounced like Laina, I think.)

Nadia's character is a wild-child, outdoorsy artist. Nadia is the name of water nymph, so I thought it worked.

So, that's why I like those names. Again tell me what you think. Also, I'm gonna have Jinx as a nickname so I need something for it to be short for. I was thinking Jeniveve, but I don't know if I like that. I would like some ideas.

I think that's all for today. One last thing though. The Olympics start tomorrow! Yes! I absolutely love watching them, it's so cool. What are your favorite sports to watch in the Summer Olympics? I like the swimming, gymnastics, diving, beach volleyball, and well, lots of the other sports too.

Bye-bye.
Love and Olympics,
~AJ

Books and Pencils

Hey Guys,

AJ here. Sorry, no book review today. I haven't read any books worthy of doing a review lately. Meaning I haven't had much time to read. Though I am reading a book called Monstromologists, though I may not finish it because it kinda turns my stomach. Not that it's bad, I just don't know if it's for me, you know?

So, I have this huge list of books that I want to read sitting on my desk in my bedroom. It's about 8-10 pages, I think; so not quite long enough. I need book ideas from all y'all. What should I read? I honestly don't care what kind of book it is at all. I'll try to read just about anything, but if it's too slow I just can't keep reading.

Now that I said that you're probably wondering, "How do you want us to tell you about these awesome book ideas?" Right? Okay, maybe not, but I'll tell you anyway. You can post it in a comment (so I should see a billion comments popping up about books) tell me what it's called, who it's by, and if possible, what it's about. You guys, can also tell me about books you would like me to read and review or read so you can know if it's good. Just, please..... BOOK IDEAS. Thank you.

Now onto the Pencils part of this post. I'm writing this story about these four unlikely friends at camp who start out making this annoying guy's ghost stories come true, but then the ghost stories actually come true and they have to figure out what's happening before it ruins the camp. I think I'll call it True Story. I know kinda tacky, but I like it. So, here's my dilemma: I need four unique and fun girl names. I also want the names to kinda fit with their characters. Here's what I have so far:

Quinn: sporty, musical, crazy, tomboy, and nature-lover
Marisol: girly, rich kid, snobby, and shopaholic
Grace: nerdy, super genius, book-lover and shy
Scarlet: wild-child, art geek, artist, and outdoorsy

Though I do like those names, I want something else. So, ideas for that would be awesome. For the names though send an email to bookseverywhere787@gmail.com and put AJ or True Story in the subject line. Thanks, again.

Love and writers,

~AJ

P.S. Watch the 2012 London Summer Olympics starting July 27th. I can't wait!

Divergent

Hello People of Earth and Citizens of Mars,

Your favorite AJ here. Well, maybe not your favorite, but do tell me truthfully, how many AJ's do you really know? Hmm? Not many? Didn't think so. Anywho, back to what I was talking about. Book review #? I don't count them. Today I'm doing a book review on a AWESOME book called (drum roll please) Divergent, by Veronica Roth.

Here's my review to your reading pleasure:

Front Cover

To sum it all up: There are five different factions in the city: Candor (the honest), Erudite (the smart and intelligent), Amity (the peaceful), Abnegation (the selfless), and Dauntless (the brave and daring). When a person turns 16 they go through the choosing ceremony, where they pick which faction they want to be apart of. They take aptitude tests to see which faction they would fit in with the best, but that doesn't have to affect their choice.

Beatrice Prior is from Abnegation, but she never quite felt like she fit in with them. She takes the aptitude test and is told that she is Divergent, meaning she fits into more than one faction. The thing is, the leaders don't like Divergents, they want them dead. She has to hide that fact from everybody or it'll mean her life.

She has to choose what faction she wants to join. Stay in her own or change? She makes her choice and changes her name to Tris. Meeting Four, Christina, Al, Will, Peter, and many others, she fights to find out where she belongs.

What I thought: I absolutely loved it. I couldn't put it down. I was done with it in a day and a half. I wanted to know what was going to happen to Tris, I wanted to see if I was right about who Four really was, I wanted Peter kicked out, I wanted to know where Tris decided she fit in, and I wanted to find out if the government and leaders would hunt down the Divergents and kill them. I also NEED to get the second book.

Genre: Dystopian (futuristic)

Setting: Chicago, but it's no longer called that. It's pretty much an abandoned city that was taken over by the people. Lake Michigan is the marsh/swamp that they talk about, which kinda made me sad that it wasn't a lake anymore. Navy Pier is a broken down, cleaned out, place. The John Hancock building is crumbling, but the twin lights on top of what used to be called the Sears tower still blink/shine, but now that building is called the Hub. 

Number of pages: 487

Who's it for: Middle School

Warnings: It's a tad violent, not much worse than the Hunger Games I don't think.

My Star Rating: 5 stars


Well, that's all for today. Just so you know, it's part of a trilogy.
Bye bye.
Love and zip-lining, (read the book to find out)
~AJ

Song: No More by Beckah Shae

Happy Independence Day!

Hey Guys and Gals,

Just wanted to say "Happy 4th of July!" I thinking the majority of our viewers are from the USA, so I made this post. Now to celebrate our nation's independence, we will sing the national anthem or maybe just read it. ;) Now, please stand and face the flag for the singing of our national anthem.

The Flag.

"Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?"

(Everybody claps and cheers) Alright there you go. Did any of y'all know it by heart? Because I think I do, but I'm not quite sure how I know it. 

Way cool fireworks.

On another note. Are any of you guys planning to go watch fireworks somewhere or even light them off with friends? I think my family might try to go watch them and maybe we'll do sparklers tonight when it gets dark. Those are always fun. Did you know: that you can make light picture with sparklers? You swirl them around in the air and then take a picture while the sparkler is moving. It can look pretty cool.

 Well, I think that's just about it for me today. No book reviews today, sorry. Umm.... I feel like I'm missing something...... Hmm..... Weird.

Before I go I will say, I can't wait to watch the Olympics this year in London. My favorite events to watch in the Summer Olympics are the diving, synchronized diving, gymnastics, beach volleyball, swimming, and well, most everything else. What do you guys like to watch?

 That's all for me today.

 Love and Fireworks,

 ~AJ

Song to listen to: Monster by Skillet

The Westing Game

Hi, Josh here. I hope you all are having a good summer so far. The book I am going to review today is The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

It starts out with 16 cheracters move in to one apartment. Someone brings them all to one building were Sam W. Westing whose life was taken away by one of the 16 people. The will is read, and it explains that they have to figure out who the murderer was, are split into groups of two, and given clues. 

The book was fast paced and I could barely put the book down. It was also a bit confusing because there were 16 different characters.

Genre: Mystery

Rating: It is a really good book and I would rate it a 4 out of 5.

Pages: About 200