12 Rules For Life an Antidote to the Chaos

Jordan Peterson's latest novel entitled 12 Rules For Life An Antidote to the Chaos gives readers 12 rules or more seemingly tips that you could use to enhance your place within society or completely change the mentality you have when it comes to dealing with life's problems. My favorite idea by Jordan Peterson is his sixth rule," Set Your House in Perfect Order Before You Criticize the World"(Peterson 147.) Within this chapter, Peterson discusses the value of human existence and quotes Leo Tolstoy when Peterson explains Tolstoy's paths to escape the meaninglessness of life, explains the 4th path the only true method of escape, quotes Tolstoy saying, "It consists of destroying life, once one has realized that life is evil and meaningless. Only unusually strong and logically consistent people act in this manner. Having realized all the stupidity of the joke that is being played on us and see that the blessings of the dead are greater than those on the living and that it is better not to exist, they act and put an end to this stupid joke; and they use any means of doing it: a rope around the neck, water, a knife in the heart, a train."(Peterson 150.) However, Peterson argues that Tolstoy's twisted view of life is sprung from Tolstoy's own existence where life seemed to be naturally evil and twisted. Instead, he brings German philosopher Nietzsche's idea that life's twisted and evil experiences shape you but it is up to you what changes positive or negative it will bring and any evil can bring a "variety of interpretations."(Peterson 153.) Peterson then evolves these ideas further to simplify them into his overarching idea that the focus on such trivial questions such as the meaning of life or the purpose of your existence is pointless if your own life is wrought with flaws that would bring about the questioning the use of your own existence. He instead argues to, "use your own standards of judgment," (Peterson 158.) to prevent events that will cause the questioning of your existence from occurring again. Peterson then believes that after changing yourself with such beliefs that you will begin to see humanity less like a miserable existence but instead as something of genuine good. Then with this mindset of positivity and self-worth, Peterson believes you can begin to question existence and the world.

Every Last Word

In the book, Every Last Word, by Tamara Ireland Stone, there were numerous characters that I could have easily chosen to be my favorite. However, Caroline Madsen's role in the novel stood out to me the most and here's why...Caroline becomes friends with Sam within the first week of school, coming back from summer break. Caroline has the traits of a shy outsider and is seen as a geek. She is the complete opposite of any of the popular kids. However, Sam is one of those popular girls in her junior class. But who would have known that Sam suffered from her OCD and is always doubting herself, drowning in her own dark thoughts. The only people Sam feels comfortable to talk to about her OCD is with Caroline and her psychiatrist. When Sam meets Caroline, it is like a breath of fresh air. Caroline has a great sense of humor, has no style, compared to Sam, and is very sarcastic. Caroline introduces this hidden room to Sam called Poet's Corner, a place to get away from school. Anyways, Sam feels more "normal" than she ever has been with her new friends in Poet's Corner. But, the crazy part of the whole book was discovering that Caroline was not even real. Caroline was a student there at the school, but has been dead for years, and somehow she helped Sam through her darkest thoughts and worries and made her feel "normal" for the first time ever. Her friendship with Caroline was going through her mind the entire time. But to be more specific, Caroline stood out to me the most because of her kindness, support, and guidance for Sam, especially since she wasn't actually present.

Once And For All

For my second quarter ssr novel I read Once And For All by Sarah Dessen.  I would categorize this novel as a typical love story, following the main character Louna Barrett in her journey of falling in love.  To give a little background of the book, Louna's mother owns a high demand wedding planning business that of course helps couples remember this milestone in their relationship.  However, it is ironic that they run this type of business yet they both do not believe in love.
My favorite character in the book has to be Ambrose, Louna's love interest.  We are introduced to him as this douchebag of a brother that doesn't care for his sister's wedding.  However, as Louna spends more time with him, he is not seen this way anymore.  One of my favorite attributes he has is his patience.  He is very patient with Louna, even though she tends to give him the cold shoulder.   In a way, Ambrose is also very disrespectful and respectful at the same time.  I find it interesting that a guy like him does not get into other people's problems, and respects other's choices.  He uses people for rides and a place to sleep, but will respect your personal life.  Louna sees him as the opposite of herself, but I believe because of his differences it makes Louna more intrigued to get to know him.  Overall, Ambrose isn't just the typical pretty boy that gets into trouble, but a down to earth, caring guy.

The Evolution of Mara Dyer: 3rd volume to the Mara Dyer Trilogy

         In The Evolution of Mara Dyer, the character that grabbed my attention the most was no doubt the main protagonist, Mara. Throughout the trilogy, I learned to appreciate her character but it wasn't until this novel that I really understood her character for who she really was and whom she was becoming. At the beginning of the novel, we see how Mara is beginning to discover who she really is and what is happening to her. Mara became a strong and brave girl who was ready to do anything to protect those she loved from the evil that tried to approach her, she never thought twice when it came to doing things that would put her life in danger in order to save her family and friends. I also liked the fact that as well as bravery, she showed fear, as any human would. Of course, she was scared when new things arose but she fought through it and dominated her fear. Mara was definitely a dynamic character, that is very clear. She started as a wilted flower with nothing but fear and blossomed into a strong evergreen tree with the strength of multiple. I would say that the development of character shaped the novel into an even more epic story with much more excitement and thrill. I feel like I connected easily with this character because she truly is very relatable throughout the book. It is understandable that she was somewhat forced to change due to all the events that happened in her life and I admire how she handled things on her part. The events that should have knocked her down and stopped her life made her stronger and more farce, traits that I would like to have when faced with those types of life-changing events. Aside from Mara, another character that I really enjoyed learning more about as I advanced into the novel was Noah Shaw, Mara's boyfriend. He is the typical teenage boy who tries to hide his true feelings with a straight face. Noah was the one who managed to make Mara smile in the hardest times. He is a very complex character that I now understand a bit more after reading the following volume of the trilogy: The Retribution of Mara Dyer. In general, this novel was better than extraordinary as well as the novel before and the novel after, I would defiantly recommend it to anyone!

Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception

In the book I read, Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception, there were many characters that interested me, but one stood out to me.  This character was Opal Koboi, a genius fairy criminal.  She is a devious criminal (although she appears as just a cute fairy) that is devoted to exposing the fairy world to the human world.  The fairies live under the Earth's crust, so Opal appears as a human and hypnotizes a powerful company owner in Europe to control him so that she could use his company to dig into the Earth's crust, thus discovering the fairy world.  Opal, in order to expose the fairy world, had to first escape a mental hospital which she was placed into after she was captured in the first book by fairy police. At first she was put into a prison, but she put herself into a self-induced coma so she could be placed into the mental hospital and she convinced the janitors to help her escape.  Opal's high IQ is the main reason that I like this character so much.  She is a great at devising strategies and smart in every situation presented to her.  She takes into account every single possible flaw in any plan she has and does all she can to prevent it from happening.  She is also very cocky because she knows how smart she is, making her an even more interesting character.  She holds herself to a high standard and is so full of herself that she makes her helpers bow when talking to her and they aren't even allowed to look in her eyes.  Her determination to carry out all of her plans, even if it gets close or dangerous, makes her an appealing character to read about.

When You Reach Me

In the riveting novel entitled, When You Reach Me, by author Rebecca Stead, there were a substantial amount of characters that appealed to me. However, while lacking a dominating role in the plot, the character named Richard was by far my favorite. Known to readers as the boyfriend of Miranda's (the narrator) mother, Richard was characterized by his gentle and charismatic demeanor; a source of security throughout the novel. He consistently provided comfort and kindness, confiding words of wisdom and advice to Miranda, and thereby reinforced how paternal he was towards Miranda. I liked how his calm persona was always there to console Miranda, filling the void that was Miranda's father. While substituting as a father, Richard provided another blanket of trust on top, as he had another dimension to his character, one that was comparable to an inquisitive and thoughtful friend. I appreciated how he maintained himself as an individual Miranda could fully trust with her secrets. That pacifying ability of his remained static throughout the novel, as Richard's overarching persona remained consistent regardless of what havoc was thrown at the family. His rationality kept Miranda grounded. Despite any tumultuous events that occurred in the novel, such as discussions about time travel or about the family's home being broken into, Richard was always there to envelop Miranda, her mother, and even the reader with a sense of security, bringing everyone who he interacted with back to Earth. I appreciated his practicality and sensibility, being that it was a stark contrast to the often aloof and disorganized one of Miranda's mother. Richard's humility overcame any sense of arrogance that he could've otherwise felt, as his good looks and good personality garnered him the nickname "Mr. Perfect." The sheer simplicity of his character was appealing, that of which brought the plot line to a far more realistic and stable level, since all he ever truly wanted was to be fully accepted into Miranda's family.

[KC]: SSR Quarter 2 Blog Post

Hi kids,
Here's your Quarter 2 SSR assignment (I know, it's just a tad bit late):

Step 1: Create a new POST in which you reflect on your favorite character from one of the SSR books that you read during the 2nd Quarter. Title your post with your BOOK TITLE.
- Feel free to use these questions to help guide you, but don't feel tied to simply answering them: What type of traits did this character have? Was the character dynamic or static? Did that hurt or help the story? How was the development of this character across the novel? Why did you connect with this character? Were there any cool interactions between this character and any of the others?

Step 2: Once other classmates have posted their reviews, COMMENT on two other reviews. (Be sure to read the comments on your review as well and engage in conversations as necessary.)

POST Due: Thursday 1/31/19 by 11:36 pm

COMMENTS Due: Friday 2/1/19 by 11:18 pm

CONVERSE! EXPLORE! BLOG AUTHENTICALLY!