Narrator Reflection

My favorite narrator has to be Lemony Snicket. I love how he was always there to witness everything the Baudelaires went through while not actually being there. But there was one point where he actually appears physically in the story; The Penultimate Peril. In this book we see Lemony attempt to save the Baudelaires by convincing them to come with him rather than stay at the Denumont Hotel where they would eventually be kidnapped by Count Olaf, witness the murder of Dewie Denumont, and end up stranded on an island with Count Olaf, and a deadly poison known as Medusoid Mycelium. This is one of my favorite books in the series because it brings back all of the previous V.F.D members we meet throughout the series, whether they're on the good or bad side of the schism. Lemony shows us each of the Baudelaire siblings and how they're attempts to learn more about the mysterious meeting being held about V.F.D that was called by J.S. This was a questionable name because they know so many people with the initials J.S, such as Jerome Squalor, Jacob Snicket, Julio Sham, Jacques Snicket, and Justice Strauss. I love the way he narrated the story and the sequence of events leading up to what starts off the final book in the series.

Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore Book Review

 *SPOILERS AHEAD*  

  

In this story we follow the character Clay Jannon as he begins working at Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. We soon find out that this isn't a normal bookstore, as Clay works night shifts and encounters a few very strange customers. The main plot is about Clay unearthing the secrets of this bookstore and its history. He soon discovers the cult called The Unbroken Spine, which has several devout members, all working toward one goal: decoding a book that allegedly contains the secret to immortality. Along the way we see Clay bring in allies from all different aspects of his life, such as old friends like Neel, or his roommates Mat and Ashley, or a possible love interest; Kat, who works for Google. The fun adventures, interesting mysteries, exhilarating plot and romance in this novel have won Robin Sloan the Alex Award and placed this book as a finalist in Los Angeles Time Book Prize for Fiction. 

   The Author does an amazing job of connecting each character and their purpose to Clay. One of the many great examples of this are Aldus Manutius and Clark Moffat, he was an author who passed away many years before the story takes place. As Clay realizes, “it’s not just Penumbra’s scheme anymore. This has gotten much bigger than that (Sloan 227)” we get closer to finding out what Google is able to decode from Manutius’ codex vitae.  Between Manutius’ codex vitae and the hidden messages left behind in Moffat’s book, we see an interesting use of the same character in multiple different places that ultimately come back to our main character. The overall usage of the characters Aldus Manutius and Clark Moffat are instrumental in Clay's journey, as both of their stories or novels were incredibly helpful to Clay. Clay's love for Clark’s books also played a big part in solving the story's big mystery of immortality. Because of his knowledge of Moffat’s books he was able to spot subtle details that led to the decoding of the codex vitae. Almost every character in this novel has or creates ties to the main character that come into play in various ways. 

  The mystery in this novel is arguably one of the best parts. You’ll always be asking yourself questions about what’s going on. Even when you think you’ve just solved one mystery, 3 more questions stem from that one. We learn that there are several bookstores and “No two are alike, but their function is the same, and Corvina oversees them all (Sloan 47)”, which only adds to the mystery. You wonder if Penumbra is somehow connected to all of these other locations. Once you figure out what's really going on in the store, you immediately start asking questions like “why are they doing this?”, “who all is a part of it?”, “How long has the operation been going on?”. You will never get bored with this novel. There’s always a question to be pondering, whether it’s about Penumbra, The Unbroken Spine, Kat and Clay’s relationship, or any of the other juicy subplots. 

  Personally, I think this novel is an amazing book for anyone, especially if you like stories with mysteries. But even for people who don’t like reading, this is still an interesting book that anyone would enjoy reading. The plot is easy to understand, and the writing is objectively good. I’m the kind of person who doesn’t like to read and only does it when it's for an assignment, but I loved the book, it sparked my interest in reading again. The only small complaint I have (BIG SPOILER HERE) is that the secret to immortality doesn’t actually exist. But I will admit it was nice that they didn’t just go with friendship being the key to immortality. However, each person who writes a codex vitae does get to “live forever” through their codex vitae, as they are published once the author dies. Overall, I truly enjoyed this novel, and I would fully recommend it to anyone who is interested in getting back into reading.

Literacy Project Reflection

 

About a week ago I was assigned a project by my teacher. The assignment was to create some type of advertisement to encourage teenage boys or just men in general to read more. I chose to create a video for this project, specifically one that grabs the attention of these boys, something they could relate to that won't bore them. I find it easier to get the attention of teenage boys through video rather than by poster or social media post, because it gives them something to look at and listen to, and it keeps them engaged. In my video I decided to relay my message through a bit of a rap. I used lyrics that rhyme to hopefully create a catchy tune. I also chose to use celebrities that have a big influence on many teenage boys of recent years, because this helps to show them that even some of their role models like to read and they shouldn't be afraid of being judged for doing it.

 Instead of just saying these celebrities names and what books they like, I used images of each celebrity and their favorite books. I used one silly image/meme of each celebrity to grab the attention in the beginning, and then I use a normal more professional image paired a long with images of the previously stated books for each celebrity. Some of the choices I had to make for this video were the formatting. I originally wanted to use calm music for my video, but I soon realized that would only bore them and possibly encourage them to fall asleep. This is why I instead chose to create a rap for my video. 

I think my video turned out really well. It may not be seen as the most professional video in most adults eyes, but it reaches the ultimate goal of inspiring teenage boys to read more and not be embarrassed by it. I do however wish I could've made a longer video for it. If I had not duration limit I would've preferred to make a skit and include even more familiar faces. I would've also had a more well put together script for the video. I believe that the level of effectiveness will change overtime as these celebrities become "ancient" in the hall of fame .
 

Literacy Project Video

 https://youtu.be/Gus-iDIvZrA?si=idrJaIl2yev4K6eW