City of Bones- Cassandra Clare

 The song I chose to represent this book is Iris by Goo Goo Dolls. I chose this song because I believe it does a great job of describing the characters and their relationships. City of Bones is all about a race of half human- half angels so I think that when the song says,"You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be," it describes it perfectly. The main character, Jace Wayland, is very mysterious and you don't really know his story at first but when he meets the other main character of the book, Clary Fray, his character starts to open up more. One of the things that makes Jace such an interesting character throughout this book and the rest of the series is the fact that he doesn't " want the world to see " him because he doesn't " think that they'd understand". This definitely drew me into the book because I wanted to know why he felt the need to close himself off from everyone who loved him. I loved that he opened up to Clary because he "wanted her to know who he was". It showed his past and secrets in a romantic and different way. Overall I believe this song is the perfect fit for this book and that City of Bones is a definite
                                                      must- read!

Blog Post - Andy

The Mark of Athena.

 I chose this poem to go with the book The Mark of Athena by author Rick Riordan because I felt that they both had a similar mood to them. In the novel, it shows the audience  how "sometimes things aren't always as they seem" and how sometimes things "aren't meant to be seen" (Kristin). This is shown throughout the novel as mortals are not able to see through the mist that hides monsters. If they were able however they would likely be in more danger, this protects them. The novel also shows how "sometimes life just isn't fair", the protagonists throughout the story have horrible luck but have to deal with it if they want to continue living (Kristin). 

The protagonists in the story must recover an ancient lost treasure against all odds with people they have just met. Things often "get out of hand" and they find themselves in dangerous situations constantly (Kristin). These characters have extraordinary powers and abilities but this doesn't seem to be enough in most situations, they need to start relying on others to achieve their goal. The story ends in a cliff hanger which makes the reader wanting more, it makes the audience wonder if they will end up accomplishing what they all  want.

Sometimes

Kristin
Sometimes we see things that aren't meant to be seen.
Sometimes things aren't always as they seem.
Sometimes we need someone to call our own,
Especially when we’re alone.
Sometimes people just can’t understand,
Why things get out of hand.
Sometimes life just isn't fair,
Especially when people just don’t care.
And sometimes it's hard to say,
Why things have to be this way.
Sometimes it’s all you can do to get by,
Especially when dreams continue to die.
Sometimes it’s nice to sit in the rain.
Even to just relieve the pain.
And when we've had a really bad days,
Sometimes we just need to get away.
We never know what’s wrong with out pain.
Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same.
And sometimes when people get hurt,
Even the strongest ones may need comfort.

Source: http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/sometimes-life-is-hard#ixzz2BMv5djIZ  

http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/sometimes-life-is-hard

The Hobbit by: J.R.R Tolkien

                                             The Hobbit by: J.R.R Tolkien

To go along with the hobbit, I selected a song from the book the Hobbit. The song works well with the book because it foreshadows and it also matches the books theme and adventurous mood. In The Hobbit the main character Bilbo Baggins is asked to join in an adventure with thirteen dwarves to retake their "long forgotten gold" (Tolkien) and their dwarven homeland which is inhabited by the evil dragon Smaug, so the dwarves and hobbit set out "to win [their] harps and gold from him" (Tolkien).

The Firm by John Grisham

The Firm by John Grisham

        I choose the song Somebody that I used to know by Gotye because in the story the main character Mitchell Y. McDeere got a new job at the Bendini Building in Memphis, Tennessee. In his first week of his first job he worked more than one hundred hours and his wife thinks it is going to become a habit. His wife had never had a problem when he was in law school because he called every time he was going be late but now with his new job, he doesn't call and spends the night at the office. 

[Gotye:]
Now and then I think of when we were together
Like when you said you felt so happy you could die
Told myself that you were right for me
But felt so lonely in your company
But that was love and it's an ache I still remember

You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness
Like resignation to the end, always the end
So when we found that we could not make sense
Well you said that we would still be friends
But I'll admit that I was glad it was over

But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

Now you're just somebody that I used to know
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

[Kimbra:]
Now and then I think of all the times you screwed me over
But had me believing it was always something that I'd done
But I don't wanna live that way
Reading into every word you say
You said that you could let it go
And I wouldn't catch you hung up on somebody that you used to know

[Gotye:]
But you didn't have to cut me off
Make out like it never happened and that we were nothing
And I don't even need your love
But you treat me like a stranger and that feels so rough
No you didn't have to stoop so low
Have your friends collect your records and then change your number
I guess that I don't need that though
Now you're just somebody that I used to know

[x2]
Somebody
(I used to know)
Somebody
(Now you're just somebody that I used to know)

(I used to know)
(That I used to know)
(I used to know)
Somebody

Slumdog Millionaire By: Vikas Swarup

Slumdog Millionaire by: Vikas Swarup

Slumdog Millionaire is about Ram Mohammed a boy who grew up in poverty in the slums of india and he became an orphan at birth. It tells his story of him growing up and all the hardships he had to deal with. But once he finally grew up he had a bit of luck and got to participate in ‘Who wants to win a billion?’( the indian version of who wants to be a millionaire). He ends up winning the billion rupees but no one believed him because he grew up in the slums.

I chose this song because its about poverty and racism and thats what this movie is about. The main character grew up without a family and that is how some people are brought into poverty. People in poverty have “too much work and too little to eat”, they work all day but don’t even get enough to fill their stomachs. In the Slumdog Millionaire Ram worked his whole life to get to where he was and he is being accused of cheating. That is why i picked this song.  

 





Poverty Hill By:Kingston Trio

They come in their summery dress and jackets so fine
Rich folks who measure success with a big dollar sign
They gaze with delight at the rocks and the scraggly pine
They come in the spring and they stay til the fall
On Paradise Mountain, away from it all

Stubble and stone make a hard row to hoe
What little will grow the drought will kill
The summer folks call it Paradise Mountain
We call it Poverty Hill

They say we have beautiful faces as grainy as wood
Yeah, they'd like to live here, of all places,
if only they could
Well we don't get these wood grainy faces from living too good

Its the rocks and the dust and the sun and the heat
Its too much work and too little to eat
They pack and they say what a pity that they have to go
They say that Old Smoky's so pretty all covered with snow
But how we get thru the winter they never will know

No lard for the pantry, no grist for the mill
And winter's are hard over Poverty Hill

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore

I chose the poem "Desert Places" by Robert Frost because the lyrics fit with the story line. In the novel the main character moved to earth from a distant planet. He was one of the 7 people left of the lorien legacy which gives him special characteristics. But since he is number 4 he knows he will be the next one killed by so he must stay on the run. Since he is always on the move "the loneliness" Is starting to get to him. As he stays moving he looks out is window into forests or "a field" thinking about if he will ever get to stop and have a life.  But of course he could not or he would be killed just as the others were.

John and Henri have to leave their life because the third person was killed. They move to a small town called Paradise where they find a house with "the woods around it" to not be noticed. He still goes to school but must be discrete about being noticed. He must show "no expression" but show enough so he doesnt stick out like a sore thumb.

John must learn and mast his legacy to be able to survive. He must learn to fit in and accept that earth is now "home".

Desert places

Snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast
In a field I looked into going past,
And the ground almost covered smooth in snow,
But a few weeds and stubble showing last.

The woods around it have it - it is theirs.
All animals are smothered in their lairs.
I am too absent-spirited to count;
The loneliness includes me unawares.

And lonely as it is, that loneliness
Will be more lonely ere it will be less -
A blanker whiteness of benighted snow
WIth no expression, nothing to express.

They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars - on stars where no human race is.
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places. 

Robert Frost

The Girl Who Played With Fire

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
BY STIEG LARSSON


Poem: "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by A Nobody's Life

I chose this poem as it fits well with the character Salander in the novel "The Girl Who Played With Fire" written by Stieg Larsson. Salander is a very misunderstood girl with obvious social limitations, but in no sense is she mentally incapable. In the novel, Salander is on the run from the cops for the accused killing of three people, DNA evidence links her to the scene of the murders, and she was spotted in the areas of the killings around the approximated times of death. With strong evidence against her, she must try to prove her innocence and uncover the conspiracy surrounding her and her mysterious past.