I Swear, This is the Fourth Book in a Row I Have Read That is About Mental Challenges and Grammatical Errors That Enhance the Story

          In the book the only alien on the planet by Kristen D. Randle (which by the way, very distinctly had a lower-cased title, and yet again I would love to discuss the symbolism and meaning behind that, but again, moving on), fear is a clearly defined theme that surges through the chapters of the story.
          The plot is, to say the least, co plicated. Ginny starts her senior year and its all fun until she meets the lurking, lonesome boy in her class. His name is Smitty Tibbs (sort of), and he is a genius. He has never spoken one word in his life. Ginny crosses lines that really, shouldn't have been crossed and ends up tip-toeing through the unknown.
          Ginny is afraid when she first sees Michael. Michael is terrified of his brother. Ginny is scared of what could happen to Michael. Caulder is sort of terrified of everything. I start to think about all the levels of fear, and if you can truly compare them because, with all honestly, everyone has their own fears for their own reasons. Some fear make sense to us like the dark or ghosts (both of which scare me). Others are, well... like I said, Everyone has their own reasons.
          But then there is the actually question of what is fear. I define fear as the unknown. Simple and plain. The dictionary definition: Fear is a distressing emotion aroused by a perceived threat. Close enough. They both deal with uncertainty.
          Ginny is uncertain about everything. College, school, life, her brothers, her friends. Then there is her math. Oh her math, the one thing that she could handle. She took her last problem to Michael because she knew he could show her how simple it was to fix. She knew he could settle at least some of the concerns she always had. She was quite selfish really.
          Everyone is able to deal with fear in their own way. They have techniques they use to trick them selves that its OK. They understand their fear.
          If you want to here something interesting, when I hear the word 'fear' I sort of picture a fluffy mass beside each person. This Fluffy mass varies from people, and is sort of like a pet. It stays close to you, but you are unaware of it until it jumps in your lap. I guess its hard to follow, but emotions can be like that sometimes.

Transformation Always Requires Huge Amounts of Effort - Mockingjay

          Now I am not going to pretend that I am writing about some book I haven't read, and write about prediction or whatever, because the truth is, I have read Mockingjay 30 times, along with the rest of The Hunger Games series. I would love to write about how the paragraphs are shaped and about what that means. However, I talked about writing structure in my last post. Moving on.

         Actually, there is one thing that bothers me: how intensely the characters change. I hadn't really come to terms with that. One of my favorite characters, Finnick, goes from to seductive, brave, and witty, to paranoid, frustrated, and unhinged. 

         Yet, I have to remind myself that the only Finnick that the readers know, is the one for the cameras. This is the first time we encounter him when his personality is not being spread around the country. Maybe Finnick is only able to pull himself together for small amounts of time. He puts all his energy into being calm for the camera. Maybe this unreasonable person, is the way he is. 

          As a matter of fact, my cousin works on a lot of movie sets, and she has quite a few "Oh that actress is crazy" stories, which I would never get from camera. There is this world, behind the camera where these people, these icons we see on television, and read about, are just that. People.

          We think we know what these people are like, and who they are. When I started this post, I was intending to talk about how people change so drastically because of trauma. I never considered that just because this was the way I had first seen the character, that it wasn't their true personality. Particularly due to that fact that these people are supposed to be perceived a certain way.

         As a matter of fact, I think the personality Finnick shows in the last book, makes a lot more sense then in the second book. Factor in all the slightly horrifying things he has been through, and his brave witty self, scares me more then his unhinged self. 

England Trends

          I'm reading The Dead Fathers Club, and I haven't gotten very far. However, I have noticed a trend going through my reading material. In this book, and the one I read before it, there hasn't been traditional punctuation. When people speak, There aren't "" marks. The dialog looks more like: She said Do you want to go home?
          It made me think about why both books did that. There are two similar things in each story: one, they are both set in England and two, the main characters are mentally challenged. Ruling out England just has bad grammar, I figured that there was a theme running through each book. The theme of reality.
          It is impossible to understand or know what is happening inside the heads of people who have autism, or some other disability. Both authors seem to agree that what happens to these children is very real. What I mean by that, is despite the lack of communication and understanding, they are still humans, and they still have emotions and feeling that all of us have.
         Portraying a mentally challenged person, is a very hard undertaking. You have to learn to be respectful, but to be truthful. We learned that in drama class. We don't even know how many people have autism. That is how much people scurry away from mental diseases.
          The lack of "" makes what your read, something you can almost hear in your own head. When you are having a conversation, you might not process what someone has said immediately, and sometimes you have to go back. That's the way this book works, sometimes I do have to reread to try and understand what has been said. This is even more amplified for the two main characters, because they are autistic. There is the lack of defining where someone speaks and where the rest of the world comes into play. That doesn't even make sense to me.

You Are No Hero

          There is, of course, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. Then there is the movie adaptation. I have heard so much about how terrible the movie is compared to the book. I am not doubting this. However, there are different concepts behind each one.
          In the book, there is this overall theme of growing up. The kids start out young, and grow not only in age but awareness of the world. The book is more of a coming of age, and justice story. The movie is more about living in a modern world and how to adapt.
          I guess what both the movie and the book have in common is that there is the struggle and pull of old and new. Traditional and modern have this really dangerous balance and anything can tip that scale. The whole issue in the plot, is that some people want to destroy the old and start from scratch and some want to build on top of the old. 
         I guess what you have to try and figure out, is if the history and lessons of the past would help the future, or if the mistakes and damage would hold the future back. I personally think that the knowledge of the past is much more valuable. 
         We have to learn from our mistakes and gather information for the future. If you just wipe the slate clean, live to forget, what do you learn? Nothing. Each generation holds the power to continue, or eliminate. That is why I think the name of the book is Lightning Thief. Lightning stands for strength and power. This generation, this new age of heros, is stealing the power from the last.