Who To Listen To; And I'm back!

So, I have disspaered from Blogger for the majority of July and August, but now I'm back. In truth, I have had many, many blog topics that I wanted to write, but I never got around to writing them. But I truly have something that I want to talk about today, to whomever is reading this.

Anyhow, recently on my Figment.com account (Go there, search 'Jonnah Z. Kennedy' in users) I got a new review for some of my work. This is work that I haven't worked on in nearly a whole year, and pretty much forgot about up until this point. One of them is called Radio the other is one that I do want to finish working on, but procrastination is a writers best friend while writing--another post I'm going to write up this week. Anyhow, apparently, the guy who reviewed my work really did like my writing style, and at first I was thankful that he had reviewed it. But then he reviewed, Heart of the Hearth. Now, what bothered me about his review was the fact that he blantantly scolded it without remorse, that that is a bad thing--if you're a new writer, know that you're going to be scolded. A lot, so build up that self-esteem now, otherwise you're going to be working at Starbucks, dreaming about being that one guy who comes in and dosen't even order coffee, but is a New York Times bestselling author, so you get him a free coffee instead. But I digress--but what he did was kind of bad.

He told me what I had messed up on and how bad my grammar was, yet he didn't really help me. He just told me that he skimmed it because of all the errors and how my story didn't seem to be going anywhere. Now, I don't recomment trying to email this guy who does this--saying your story is going nowhere--because he dosen't know your plan yet, and he dosen't seem to know your writing style. Not many people will. There are tons of writer who don't get to the point of their book until halfway through, and most of the stuff before it was either fluff and buildup, either way, you know the story better than they do. Anyhow, he told me he didn't really know what the point of the story was in the first chapter--who does? I don't mean to sound prestigious or anything, but who knows the point of a book within the first few lines? Some Stephen King books I don't know the point of them at all, much less why the heck he wrote it aside from him having an idea. If he was talking about the plot, then again, who knows the plot within the first few lines of a book?

Another novella I'm writing--by the way, Heart of the Hearth is going to be a novella--called The Farm, about slaughterhouses in a dystopian futre (I know that dosen't sound very plausible, since it's the future, but it's my fiction, okay?) and for most of the first two chapters, I don't really show you what I'm trying to do, most if it is just building up to the climax of the book--which is also the end of the book and kind of drives it--and in all honesty, if you didn't know that I was trying to get across a point of morality with slaughterhouses, prior to reading it, you think it was just an overglorified gore fest that was going to get me arrested by PETA. I think I'm getting a little off topic of HotH though.

Anyhow, he goes on for less than three paragraphs about how he could barely get rhough it, and how in chapter two my family in the book wasn't medieval enough--though, I can understand that, still I think for the most part the story was very close to the era I was trying to portray--and then goes on to say that my story is missing the two things that make a book good: What does the protagonist want, and what is he willing to do to get it. This goes back to my earlier point, I know the story, he dosen't. And I get the feeling that he didn't read the synopsis, which clearly states what I'm building up to, I just happen to have other things to write before I get to that point. I'm sorry if I don't just start my fantasy like the Hobbit, and dive straight into the adventure, and I want to build up my world a little first. Sheesh.

The point that I'm trying to make, though, is know who to listen to when they review your work. A good review of your work should consist of what exactly you need to change, meaning excerpts from your work, and specifics, not just this broad overview of how much you didn't like it. Know a good review from a bad review. A good review isn't short, a good review is as long as many of my posts on this blog. A good review will be like a mini version of your book with comparisons and constructivism. Also, if your work has been cleared on grammatical errors numerous times by plenty of other reviewers, don't listen to that one guy who seems to just be trying to stick you with a thorn in the ribs. You're fine.

On Character Voice

This is going to be a short one, I promise.

Today, I wanted to take a moment to talk about character voice. We all know about finding our Voice, but sometimes even when we find that, it is hard to find your characters voice. For those of you who are probably confused about there, here is what I mean. When you are writing, you have a Voice. This is how you tell your story that is unique to anyone else who writes. There is no way in the world that your voice is going to be the exact same voice for any other writer. Everyone has their way of putting things, and as similar as one's voice might be to another's, their Voice is all their own. The only time a Voice will be the same is if you are literally rewriting--in the very sense that is copying--someone else's words. Now, let us move on to Character Voice. Character Voice is just characterization. What I mean by this is that, each character is a unique individual, not much unlike ourselves in the real world.

Now, Character Voice and Voice in general can conflict. Depending on your Voice, how you write, your Character Voice may be lacking. Characters should be believable, and not forced. They become forced when you write how you talk. This is what you should avoid. There is a way to write and there is a way to talk. When you write, you should pretty much because a whole other person. For instance, I sometimes write under the pseudonym Jonnah Z. Kennedy. What I have found is that, I seem to write better when I am writing as Jonnah and not myself. I seem to come up with better figurative language, and my voice ultimately changes because of it. This goes on to the point we have begun with. When you are talking, you do not use figurative language, you do not express things in a detailed and complex way, and when you are talking you certainly don't take into account what Point of View you are 'talking' in. You simply, talk. You use slang, you say things in a simple way, and you rarely use any words above 7 letters if necessary.

In writing, however, you will use FL, you are going to be detailed, complex, and striking. It's hard for me to write how I talk, because it's been so many years since I wrote in such a sense, and it has been so long since I wrote without consideration, but I will do my best:

Writing how you talk: "Donald ran across the road, and he almost got hit by a car. When he got to the other side of the road, he bumped into a lady walking her dog. The dog started barking, and Donald jumped when the dog started barking."

The writing is simple, it's not very interesting, and it's too 'this happened, this happened, Donald reacted. It's written like someone was literally telling you this story while on the phone, or something of the sort. Here is how it should be written:

"Donald sprinted across the road, and in the midst of this, he was nearly hit by a car. The car screeched to a stop, and he waved his hands out in front of it as to say 'sorry', of course the woman behind the wheel put on her best snarl to stare at him. Once across the road, he collided with a woman, and her dog began to yap at him in it's tiny, but vicious bark. It snapped at him, and he jumped at the snarling sound."

That one was written with Voice, with feeling. It's not written how you would tell someone on the street the story. If it was, we might actually be a seemingly smarter society because of the way we spoke.

Now, let us get into Character's speaking. Give each character a personality of his or her own. No character should even seem the same, they should all be interesting in their own way. Don't doubt, there will always been similarities between the characters, but each character needs to have a likable aspect about them, one that appelas to their personality. And going back to what I said earlier, do not force their Voice. Their Voice should come from their condition, the situation, who they are, and their personality.

If they are badly bruised, worked up on some kind of medical drug, or dying, take those things into account. Think about how the character would say it, humorously or sorrowfully. Then take into account some kind of real life aspect to this. Even though a character is funny, make their humor genuine and sweet. Don't make it 'You have to laugh or else'. Allow it to come naturally, make sure that the character is reacting naturally. If they do not react and speak naturally, then the flow is going to break. If you have a very serious flow, and now a character is dying, lighten the situation with a good smooth joke, that breaks back down quickly into seriousness. Have the joke be mildly interrupted by them coughing, bleeding, or groaning in pain. And then, remember to use descriptive phrases other than 'she said/he said/she replied/he replied'. In fact, sometimes go away from those things and start a whole new sentence, like this:

'"Do you remember that day, on the beach, when them seagulls was trapped in a plastic bag?" Eddie's eyes studied me, and I nodded. He licked his lips and went on. "And you remember-cough-how, even when we saved em', they still pecked the shit out of us?" He breathed a short laughed, and my face broke into a weary smile. Tears still streamed down the sides of my face, and Eddie's eyes were still dark with death.'

Do you kind of get it? make their words meaningful, make their words stand out, and make sure that the words that come after their words are extensions of them their characters. Sometimes in writing, it is true that action speaks louder than words. Let their actions coexist and improve upon their words. Allow their voice to be enhanced with the mood, and allow their Voice to coexist and imrpove upon your own Voice.

So, that was my little tidbit about Character Voice, and I hope that you are able to take something from this, and I hope that you enjoyed this little post. If I helped you, spread the word and link others to this blog, share it on Facebook and twitter, and follow me on Google+

See you guys!

Everything Eventual

The world is full of annoyances. Long lines at the supermarket, workers who don't take their job seriously, people who text and drive, cars not allowing you to cross the street while you are riding a bike in 103 degree heat, Rick Riordan trolling us. Yes, there are many things that piss us off. But I think that most important thing that we all can realize is that, we can't do anything about it.

Think about it, really. Can you help that there are practically a billion cars in your city, and you're only one out of thousands who ride bikes on a day-to-day basis? Can we really help that everyone buys things in bulk when they go to the store, whereas you only have one item--for me, that would be a book--and can we really help that Rick Riordan always manages to leave us with a cliffhanger of some kind? Well, maybe, we could always go down the Misery route and break his feet...but I am getting off topic.

The thing that I want to talk about today is patience. If you don't have it, then you are going to fail in life. I'm serious. Even though we live in an always moving world that is going the speed of light, we're still going as slow as that old lady in your lane who can't see through her headlight sized spectacles. The reason I chose this topic today, is because recently I have been sending off several emails to self-published book bloggers, and bloggers who review books in general. I have been trying advertise and promote my book which is nearing 3,000,000 on the Amazon sellers listing. I know that 2,600,000 isn't that great either, but I have been keeping in the 2,000,000 and up range for nearly a month now, so that has to mean something. In fact, one time I was as high up as the low hundred thousands, so that really has to mean something. But, I don't think I have done enough to build an audience outside of my family members, who are pretty much obligated to come no matter what.

Anyhow, because I have been sending off all these emails, they always tell you that they will get back to you in a matter of a week because of all the other billion emails they receive. Then on the advertising, you never knew who or when someone is going to see that advertisement, so only Apollo knows when you're going to get your book going off, like, really going off. Basically, if you're self-publishing, unless you have some really good connections with real publishers and some all-stars--which begs the question of why are you self-publishing in the first place--chances are, your book won't be the next Harry Potter, Eragon, The Hunger Games, or Divergent. And speaking of Divergent, it has come to my attention that a lot more young authors are publishing books, which is actually adding to the competition in the world of Self-Publishing. 1 in 100 people are probably going to actually get a nice fat royalty check from their book, 1 in 1,000 are going to see their book get some media attention, 1 in 1,000,000 of us will be the next Veronica Roth, making a steady enough paycheck to pay off student loans, rent, and still have enough to vaycay in Romania. So, just be prepared to keep that job you got at the corner store, the mall, and that internship at your parents job.

The only way your book is going to become known and popular is through the classic advice. You better work hard, sometimes you have to put off a whole host of other things including friends, other hobbies, and that Galaga game you were playing. If you actually care about this book, you are going to be willing to receive a few bad paychecks, and you are going to be willing to face the horrid music of the one star review. You are going to have be prepared to read other peoples books, who may be better than yours, spend a hefty amount of money, and you'd better be ready to get carpel tunnel syndrome. Because you're going to be writing more words than your whole book combined. I'm actually pretty lucky I don't have any friends to pester me, pets to love--bad as I wish I did--any real responsibility or pressure to write the next book, and I don't have a whole pack of summer homework. I have a book to read, and that's pretty much it.

No one is asking me to do this blog.
No one is asking me to write the sequel to this book.
No one is asking me to spend hours at a time trying to promote it.
No one is asking me to do any of this.
I'm doing it because I want my book to go somewhere. I'm doing this because I have a passion, and I want my story to be read. I'm doing this because this is what I was born to do, this is what I have to do. It's not optional for me, this is what I gotta do if I ever want to go anywhere, if I ever want to fulfill my dreams, I have to be willing to spend x amount of nights laboring over my computer blasting emails, working on my seemingly endless tome of fiction, and being the only kid in the store consulting grammar and writing books. If you're not willing to do those things without being asked or told, you aren't meant to be a writer. Plain and simple. But if you are, if you are willing to give up reality, spend several months--years even--without a good check, good reviews, or be the odd one out, then I applaud you, welcome you to the family of writers all around you, and I say--you keep on going on.

The last thing I want to say, though, is that, nothing is going to come fast. Nothing is just going to come to you unless you've just got it like that, which 90% of us don't. You'd better be ready to wait week after week for an email to be returned, or for that phone call to come. Don't expect a reply in a few minutes, it will come eventually. Everything eventual. Everything eventual, my friends. Because in the end, when all that time that it seems like you wasted is over, it's going to pay off. And it's going to pay off big time. Just make good use of that time, every second counts. Life is only so short.

The Maze Games Trailer

On Book Banning (On #2)

A/N: I wrote this almost two years ago, so it's not as fabulous as my most recent posts, but it will do.

"A story only lives if someone want's to listen." J.K. Rowling, Author of Harry Potter Series

Well you know what? I want to listen. For many years, for as long as anyone can remember, and for as long as we can trace back, Books have been banned. Book Banning is the banning of books for certain reasons-sometimes very idiotic reasons-and banning them from certain places or people as a matter of fact. Writers all over the world-including us-spend hours and hours working hard on that one book that's been nestled in the back of their mind forever now, and then when they finish they are immensely happy. They send it off and its published. They do a few interviews, people start to read it, and then Little John decides he wants to read the book to see what all the hypes about, and so does Miss Little John. When Little John finally gets around to reading the book, she screams her little head off because of the word damn. Mind you the book is a innocent children's book that's suggested for children Little John's age, but Miss Little John doesn't give two craps what its suggested for, she doesn't want other kids seeing this word, she doesn't want them saying that, she doesn't want to see this book. So she goes right ahead and gets a great flock of people like her, and bans the book. Now, Jason-who's been dying to read this book at last-can't read it because its not in the library, its out of print, its done. All barbecue Miss Little John read the word damn.

This is what happens when a book is banned. Books are banned for reasons, yes I understand that, but sometimes book banning isn't necessary. As most of you know I am a very descriptive, graphic, and raw author, and I like it that way. Some people believe my writing is a bit to harsh for some readers-The Maze Games for example, which needs to be toned down a bit-and that some people shouldn't be reading it, moreover I shouldn't be writing it in fact. Some people, on the other hand, believe my book is wonderful and they have no problem with my raw and real style. Now, mind you that most of the time I write books for teenagers or 12 and up because of the raw material in my books. No, I don't think a seven year old should be reading The Maze Games, No I don't think that a parent would very much recommend The Maze Games to a seven year old. But that's just because the book wasn't made for a seven year old. This is why some books get banned, because parent hounds it down and decides that no one should be reading this kind of stuff. This is where I bring in another novel that was Banned for obvious reasons, compare the two as I do. Rage is a novel by Stephen King under the pen name Richard Bachman. King/Bachman wrote Rage as the first Bachman book. Rage is a physiological Thriller about a teenager who kills his teacher and holds his class hostage. About a year after Rage was released a string of events based on the novel Rage appeared, with teenagers across the country doing just as the book did, reading it like an instruction manual on how to get revenge on your enemies. King and Libraries banned the book because what happened in the book happened in reality and had the book been still in print today, then there would have been a lot more killings. King says he regrets ever writing the book as well, but to my point. The Maze Game is a book that, quite frankly, you can't replicate at all or try and get people to do stuff, The Maze Games is when they get powers and have to escape a Maze while the Main Character battles with a dark creature as well as his own mind(you'll see what I mean when The Maze Games is published- nothing there for people to actually do something bad with. But Rage was a book that had to be banned, because people were copying the actions in the book. This is why I do not agree with book Banning because there is a certain degree until you just have to ban it.

Harry Potter-believe it or not-is actually a banned book in some states and some countries. Parents whose children read Harry Potter were afraid that their children would start doing witchcraft, or that JKR was influencing witchcraft through her books, as well as why her books were so popular. Harry Potter is the story of an orphaned boy who finds out that he is a wizard, goes to a school called Hogwarts, School for witchcraft and Wizardry. He also must battle Voldemort who wants to not only destroy Harry Potter but also anyone who comes in his way of getting what he wants, Harry being the only one who can stop him. The first thing that Harry Potter was banned about was the promotion of Witchcraft in children. This reason is not understandable by any means to me. Harry Potter is much like Lord of the Rings, Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Frankenstein, etc., etc.. It is, moreover, an innocent Fantasy story made for the entertainment of people around the world. Harry Potter in fact is a Once upon a time story, that you can read a child to bed at night. There have been no such reports that children began to actually do magic, that they went on a secret satanic train to a school called Hogwarts, or did something similar. It is just a Fantasy and nothing else. The next thing is that Parents believed that the tales of Harry Potter were much darker with years 4-7. Yes, I do agree with that. But, this is nothing to fret over. I've seen some of the last Lord of the Rings movie, and that was pretty dark itself, but has anyone complained over that? No, still hundreds of fans continue on and on with LOR. Years 4-7 of Harry Potter follow Harry beginning the battle with Voldemort, meaning that bad things will happen, also Harry was getting older in those years. Subjects would of course become darker. Matters would get worse. And there would be more deaths. This may well be the only thing that I have to say Harry Potter wouldn't be recommended for kids on. The Dementors would possibly give kids Nightmares, Voldemort and Snakes would probably cause parents to think of Satan, and the deaths of good people would make children very...puzzled? But, Harry Potter should not be banned because overall they are a children's story, and they have brought much joy to kids around the world for years now, the Potter books deserve a seat on the shelves of libraries everywhere. Potter is a children's tale, children's tales should not be banned.

Parents who buy their children books have the right to dictate what books they do and do not read, and I respect this. But these parents should not go on a book ban because they saw it not fit for their child. Just because a book is not suited for you does not mean it will not be suited for everyone. Not many people like Stephen King's rawness, but maybe the next person does. There is no reason you should ban a book because you don't like it. Yes you have the decision to not read the book, but not the decision to not let everyone else read the book. Most books that are banned shouldn't have been banned, and that's why only a few have been taken off the banned reading list such as-Of Mice and Men and To Kill a Mockingbird. Every writer who writes a book like our writer Henry, who wrote the book with damn in it has the right to write that book and keep that book on the shelf. No writer should have to be guilty of writing a book that's been banned over stupid or immature reasons. I'm not saying that writers should protest to have their books to be put back on shelves, but I'm saying that they should have never come off the shelf at all. A book is a book. No one's ever made a huge deal over a bad movie, no ones ever made a big deal over the 'Internet Video's' that show stuff that should not be seen, no one has ever made a say in certain comic books, but they have the audacity to ban a perfectly good book that deserves it's seat on the shelves of libraries of the world?

Again.

"A story only lives if someone want's to listen."

And Little John want's to listen.

On Summer Reading Lists

INTRODUCTION

I have always enjoyed reading, and I have always done it out of enjoyment. Most teachers and parents have to force their children to read, but the issue has never been a problem in my household. I go to Half-Price Books every week and spend almost my whole 25 dollar allowance on it. I even write books, and I plan to have a career as a writer one day. So reading isn't something I object to. What I do object to, though, are Summer Reading lists.

For years, long before I was even thought of, children and teens have had to read something for summer as an effort to get children to read. Of course, it hasn't helped much for the simple reason of Wikipedia and Google. Anyhow, each year, I and everyone in my school has always been given the annual Summer Reading List. At my old school-before I moved to Rockwall-we had three options each year. I distinctly remember two options I chose in fifth and sixth grade: Hush by Jacqueline Woodson and The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. I vaguely remember Hush, and I had already read the entire Percy Jackson series long before I was given the assignment to read it over the summer. But, what I found degrading about Summer Reading Lists is the lack of choice or option. Even here at my new school in Rockwall, the choices are limited and uninteresting. There are maybe four choices which I will deem interesting: Ripper, Cinder, Shadow and Bone, and Legend. The others are far from interesting, and most of them are coming of age stories that are boring and too homey in my opinion.

I was unable to get Cinder because it actually sounded interesting, and I had been wanting to read it for a while--what boy doesn't want to read about cyborgs?-and Ripper I also wanted to read, but I am wary now because I am so intent on reading Cinder. Also, for all of you about to comment on how I can just check them out from a library, well I hate libraries. I hate them with a passion. I have no problems with used books, but I have never been well accustomed to libraries, I p to buy the book if I want to keep in my collection, also I have so many books that I have yet to get to, but I will soon-if I were to check them out from a library, I would be limited to when I could get it since someone might have checked it out. Also, these books we have to annotate, and you can't write in library books or you get fined, as you know.

Anyhow, that's one of the big things about Reading Lists. They give you so little options, and such obscure options, that you will either never find the book, or never get the book. Also there is a lack of relative novels on Reading Lists. To Kill a Mockingbird has been a song sung to many times for the past few generations, and I'm getting sick of hearing about it. I want to read the classics, I do, but some classics I have little interest in and when I learned that I would have to read TKAM in 9th Grade, I wept on my keyboard. For once, I might actually be unenthusiastic about reading a book, and I have never been unenthusiastic about going to another place and another time. But, it's just the overuse of classics that are no longer relevant that makes me weep.

This brings me to my current predicament. I always thought that Summer Reading would be easy for me because I read all the time, and I could blow through a book nice and fast if I want to get to more interesting ones. But, the fact that I have to choose from a list angers me. Too many books and too little time. If I could choose my own books for Summer, then I might get an A++(literally!). Not to say I don't get A's every year when I turn it in.

Currently I am reading some books that are bigger than some of my classmates have ever since, some have even asked me am I reading the Bible because the books were so enormous. And a lot of these Biblical sized books are way better than these boring ol' books on the short, un-optional reading lists. In my last post, I told you all I was taking on the epic novel Dhalgren which is probably going to be the greatest reading challenge I ever face. How come I can't annotate and read that for summer? Hmm? I will admit, it's not a book you should read in school—with F*ck, n*pple, and sexy descriptions within the first few pages—it's still a literary landmark, a masterpiece I've been told. I think that's a good enough reason to read it! Schools censor too much, and so do parents. Thankfully my parents don't care what I read, and I think because of this, it has made ma better person. I know what I want to read, and what I shouldn't read. Such as erotica. I hate erotica and I will never read it. Even Stephen King's very descriptive books--namely 11/22/63--that have sex in them aren't as bad as erotic fiction, in fact he keeps his scenes very short and to the point. There are a lot of parents who aren't like me, but there are still a lot who are.

So, to counter this, I have come up with this:

THE LIBERATED SUMMER READING LIST PROGRAM
GUIDELINES

• The book must be at least 120 pages unless it is one of the following classics:
  Frankenstein by Mary Shelly, Unabridged Dover Thrift Edition 160p.
  Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Unabridged Dover Thrift Edition, 91p.
  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Lewis Stevenson, Dover Thrift Edition 64p.
  *Those are three I can think of, but you get the point. 
• Books must be chapter books or novellas (i.e. Anthem by Ayn Rand, Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain, and At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft) and it must contain the original text without changes.
  *The reason for this is because of the recent change in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by changing the 'n' word to robots and other nonsense like such.
• Books containing explicit materials (i.e. sex, swearing, and other such things) are allowed, but limited only to the parents’ judgment of the book. 
• All fiction except Erotica for anyone not in High School is not accepted. 
• If students choose to read a book containing explicit material, and the parents chooses not to allow them to read this, parents must write their own review of the book for the teacher's judgment to possibly ban the book from the Liberated Reading List. 
• Picture books (i.e. Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Dork Diaries) are not accepted for anyone in Secondary School. 
• Secondary School students must follow bullet point #1, Primary School Students are allowed to read anything that is at least 60 pages long with pictures. 
• Audiobooks are not allowed either.
• If students decide to read Poetry books (i.e. Edgar Allen Poe, Ellen Hopkins, Shel Silverstein) they must annotate and break down each poem, or depending on the number of poems within a book, they must at least annotate 15 of the poems in the book. That said, the book must contain at least 15 pieces of poetry unless it is one contentious poem. 
• With the annotation of poetry books, other books must also be annotated. Special cases spoken upon in the next bullet point. 
• If Students decide to read an Epic (i.e. The Stand, A Game of Thrones, Inheritance, Lord of the Rings, any book over 800 pages) they have two options for annotation. 
• Students may buy a Spark notes edition of the book (also covered in another bullet point) find the key points in the book, and annotate those. Teachers will be equipped with Sparknotes editions to determine if any information was copied from the actual Sparknotes, as well as free reign to research Wikipedia and any other sources of cheating. While annotating key points, Students who choose this method will have to write 1 page summaries of each key event, as well as connecting them to the main story arch. 
• If Students do not choose method one, they may annotate at least 250 pages of the book as well as adding 2 extra pages to their synopsis of the book due at the beginning of the school year.  
• Biographies are allowed, but not other forms of Nonfiction books in which there is only informational purposes in the writing of the book. We are strongly encouraging students to read fiction books over the summer and finding meaning in them. 
• Short Story collections are allowed, but students must annotate at least 4 stories in the short story book, and the short stories in the book must be more than 1 page long. 
• If the book has a movie adaptation, we do encourage students to watch the movie as well, and for extra credit, we encourage them to write a report on the comparisons of the two. We are also allowing for scripts to be annotated. 
• Sources of cheating(i.e. Sparknotes, *movies, Wikipedia, etc.) will cause for students to redo the project with an assigned book deemed 'boring' and students will not get credit for their Summer Reading. Teachers will be equipped with articles from across the web, Wikipedia, and they will be armed with Sparknotes copies for corresponding books. 
• E-books are strongly discouraged to enthuse for more physical books, as well as to get students into bookstores to possibly find other books they may enjoy. E-books are also harder to annotate, and no one wants to hand over their iPad!
• Book groups are encouraged, but all students must annotate in their own way and do whatever project they decide on by themselves. 
• We encourage censored books! We encourage students to read books that have been censored or banned if possible! The Liberated Summer Reading List shuns almost no book! 
• In the special case of a student having written a book, other students are allowed to read that book and annotated. The author of such book is not allowed to annotate or write notes on their own book or provide excess information to readers of their book. 
• Manga and comic books are excepted, but by a few limitations:
• If it is a manga, students will have to note if it is a series Manga. If it is a series Manga, students must read 1) If all of the series is out, or a greater number than 20, students must read at least 10 books of manga and write about their story and their art. 2) If is still being released,  students may choose to do more than one series and write 1-2 paragraph reports on each book from the different Manga series'. For comic book readers, we encourage you to read at least 30 and analyze and write about them and their art.
  *Allowing for students to read comic books and manga with certain limitations is probably better than restricting it sense, believe it or not parents who are reading this, some comic books to show very good values, and are just a good a medium as books. 
• Comic book/Manga readers must also read one of three classics as well:
  Frankenstein
  Fahrenheit 451
  The Great Gatsby 
• Students are allowed to read more than one book over the summer, in some cases we encourage them to read entire series' if possible!  
• Though hardcover books are nice, we would like them to stay nice by getting paperback books instead, there are several reasons why you should get a paperback as well.
• Hardcovers are less expendable or durable as Paperbacks.
• Hardcovers are much more expensive than paperbacks(some are even 50 dollars)
• Paperback books come in many more sizes, sizes that take up a lot less space than the one sized hardcovers.
• Paperbacks are easier to annotate as the pages are much more adjustable.
• Hardcovers are often special editions, collectors editions, and limited edition, and they are also only on shelves for a limited time, whereas paperbacks are seemingly forever, and are once again, more expendable.
• Paperback paper is more so made to be written on, over a hardcover book which is more so meant to be read.
• It is easier to handle and carry a paperback book because of their lightweight, their lack of a cover jacket, and once more, their size.
• Students are asked not to share one book, everyone should have their own individual book.

What is the purpose of the Liberated Summer Reading List?

Every summer, students are asked to at least read one book from a limited, and un-optional reading list. Students are asked to read classics, and books that are quite frankly, boring. Though many will tell you how important morals and themes of these books are, I will agree, at the same time, it is time for a change in reading. Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, To Kill A Mockingbird, and many other ‘classics’ are ancient, and no one relates to them as much as they once did. I wept the first time I learned I would have to read To Kill a Mockingbird after having seen the movie in Journalism class. Half of the kids in the class were utterly bored, and few of us actually paid any attention, and I am not afraid to say I, as a regular reader of books, did not enjoy it. Ever sense then, I have not been looking forward to reading it. I even traded it back in to Half-Price Books after only being able to read the first few pages.
            Summer Reading Lists are degrading and redundant. Many of the book on the list are not interesting, and many students would rather just read the Wikipedia page or watch the movie is there is one. Another problem with current Summer Readily Lists is the limitation to get what you want. Many of the books on these lists are in limited numbers at libraries and bookstores ad this causes for many students to begin their projects or reading late in summer, if at all. Many of these books also do not increase enthusiasm in reading, rather they shrink the want to read.
            For many summers, I have always dreamt of being able to read my Stephen King books, George RR Martin books, or something by the masterful Ayn Rand, but because it was not on the reading list, I had to put my books aside in favor for the list book I would not finish for ages and ages to come, finding myself more and more reluctant to read it each time, and I dreaded the knowing thought of having to read the book. And all through my school years, I fear I will always have to face these dreadful lists created by the state and schools everywhere.
            This is why I would propose the Liberated Summer Reading List, the only summer reading list where books are unlimited as long as they follow the given guidelines. Finally I would be able to do reports and read King, Tolkien, and Delany. I would finally be able to actually enjoy reading for school again. I feel that censoring, banning, and limiting what students are allowed to read kills their want to read. You can sprinkle the four or five enjoyable books on the list—I’ll try not to sound biased about this since opinion is a matter of who you are—that are actually enjoyable such as Cinder, Insigna, Legend or another mainstream book, but even that is not enough. It’s too limited. Sure, I understand that you might be trying to open us up to other authors, but I feel like that is up to the reader to decide whether or not they like an author or want to try an author.
            I write books myself, and I am working on four right now—one is the sequel to a book I published recently, the others are totally new books—and I have a sympathetic side to reading and authors as well as a passionate side. That being said, I believe freedom of the reader is the most important thing for summer reading or reading at all. Too often parents and schools tryand censor books, limit children to ‘oh this is okay’ and ‘oh no, I don’t want my poor baby Danny to be corrupt by the awesome power of the word damn!’
            Those are the kinds of people I hate. So what if a book has a swear word in it, or if the tones are dark. Who whoopdy-doo! That’s life in fiction! J.R.R. Tolkien wrote a beautiful world where good and evil battle it out, and he does it in a strangely dark way, yet it’s understandable and sure a little child might not understand it as well as Harry Potter, but it’s the same message all the same. Too many people concentrate on how the story is told, and what’s in the story, and not the story itself. It’s like how we decide on a book based on its cover. I’m sure that if you stripped the cover of every book out there—or better yet, if you saw a book in its manuscript form, before you get the nice fancy fonts and the gorgeous cover, half the people who read some of the best books today would have never picked them up. I have learned something from researching publishing and publishers for a long time. The only way a book gets published if by its story and how it’s written. If the book is well enough, then it will be published. If a book is bad, it gets rejected for a reason.
            I believe that’s how you should judge what is right for your child, only in such a way that goes beyond just the exterior words, but actually the interior story. Stop being sensitive and start thickening your skin. Stephen King and George RR Martin are thick skinned authors: Martin slaughters characters without remorse; King gives it to you how it is. And they have been deemed masters for it. Why? Because people don’t care what the words on the page are they care about what they words say.
            The Liberated Summer Reading List would add variety, spunk—yeah I just said spunk—and fun to summer and summer reading. It would be the answer to get kids reading again, by letting them choose what they want to read. I wish I could read and analyze Dhalgren for my Summer Reading, because it’s a challenge and I like challenges. I wish everyone could be able to analyze something they enjoy. There are too many books out there that want to be read by reluctant readers and readers alike, but they are past up too many times by either parents of kids who say, ‘Mom, can we get this one?’ and at one glass at the strange and miraculous cover of the kraken swallowing up a whole ship of men, the mother shakes her head, and the kid goes home with some wimpy book about a boy whose afraid to tell his mom he’s gay, or something like that. Not to say that book wouldn't be interesting, but that depends on the writing and a lot of other things.
            The point is, liberate reading, liberate summer reading, and liberate all the books that have been cast into the Crags of Banned Bookdom. That’s what the Liberated Summer Reading List is.

Dhalgren: So it Begins

So, you may have already inferred from the title of this post, but it's going to be about Samuel R. Delany's Dhalgren, supposedly one of the more complicated books to read. Which is precisely why I have decided to read it. I have just gotten past the first scene of Chapter 1, and I am now on scene 2(if you don't know what I mean, think about a Stephen King book where he pits the numbers for the scene breaks). I understand it at least 95% so far, but that was the with the aid of me writing notes and breaking things down, even elaborating on certain things. Yes, it is a little confusing, but the average reader could probably consume it with the same kind of aid I am giving myself. What's confusing about Dhalgren is just the poetic sense that is is written in, and the way that Delany describes things almost deliberately confusingly. This one line is strange by itself: "Beyond a leafy arras, reflected moonlight flittered". I had to reread that line a few times to understand it. Also, if you do not know what an arras is, then you really shouldn't be reading this book in the first place. 

Anyhow, Delany just describes things in a less common sense, also in some ways, more descriptive than most writers-and trust me, i am one of those descriptive writers, just you wait until I publish this book I'm writing now...

Delany also makes this book a little confusing to read-or at least the first few pages-because the first few pages are just a really long but interesting poem, believe it or not.And to make things even more intriguing, the first line is the last line. Grammar Nazis beware of this book, for the first word is not capitalized, but after examining the book and reading the last line-as I so often do-I learned that the first line of this book was just the continuation of the last, which brings me to question whether or not this book is just a paradox of itself, bring itself in a circle round and round. Some people have said that this book is a riddle never meant to be solved, and maybe it is. Or maybe it is more simple than any one person could ever imagine. 

We'll just have to see! 

In the next post, I rant about something that has to do with this very topic(kind of)