4E1 English Blog

A Walk to Remember. Does the title ring a bell?
Yes, a movie had been produced quite some time ago from this book and it is a wonderful movie.
The book and movie is a classic.
Many have read the book and watched the movie, and many were moved.
Sadly I was one of those people who watched the movie before i read the book so I already knew the story line.
However the way it was so well written still touched me deeply.
I was teary-eyed by the end.

It tells the story of Landon Carter, a popular rich kid who flies through
school on his looks, charm and popular connections.
Jamie Sulliven is everything he laughed at with his friends.
She carried a Bible everywhere, she worked at the orphanage and of course
she was famous for her 'stylish' brown sweater.
They were the two people that no one saw getting together in the real world.
But this beautiful story throws these two unlikely people together and tells
a story far beyond anything you could have hoped for from the cover.

Jamie turns Landon from a naive, aimless boy to a strong and caring man.
The way the story was written, would break your heart in the process, and could leave even the most unmoved and unaffected reader to tears.

This book warns you from the start that it will make you cry and it certainly will.
Same thing with the movie.
Both the book and movie made me laugh, smile, cry and above all it touched me so much that it gave me hope about the presence of true love.

And if you aren't in the mood to read, or you haven’t seen this wonderful film yet,
i suggest that you go online and watch it.
The movie is equally as amazing.

I summarise this story as an innocent and beautiful read that really inspires and gives you hope that true love can still exist.
I love this book.

As teenagers, sometimes we fall in and out of love too many a time.
Sometimes, we break our hearts before we're even ready to.
And each time we’re heartbroken, it hurts just like it did the very first time.
When we feel like we can’t cry a single tear anymore,
reading can help a great deal.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is a collection of four short stories all about
the angered, pained, and revenge-seeking broken-hearted.

First up is Burnham's story about Toby,
who is always trying to please everyone else.
But when he puts his foot down with his girlfriend, things don't quite work out.
His girlfriend only wanted one thing from him. His virginity.
Weird as that sounds, (since it’s supposed to be the other way round)
that’s the way the story went.
Toby tries to please her, but soon realises that he is not ready.

The second author, Terri Clark, talks about a girl called Dee
who thinks she scored the social lottery when her goth self hooks up
with a major jock.
But when the two get into a car accident, Dee starts hearing people's thoughts
and realizes her boyfriend is one great actor and liar!
She is incredibly hurt by this, but she stands strong
and even seeks revenge for his actions! Will she succeed?

Next, we have Ellen Hopkins, who wrote a short story in a form of poetry
about a girl named Lisa who feels that she's just plain.
But when she scores her first real boyfriend, she was over the moon!
The trouble is, he is not who she thinks he is and she would
soon find herself falling into a deep hole.

The last author, Sandoval delivers a great story of Mia,
a gay girl who falls in love with a straight girl, Paige.
They are in love all summer long when school is out.
But when the holidays start to come to an end, and Paige realises that her relationship with Mia would have to “go public” soon,
she starts having second thoughts.
Just before school starts, Paige blows the whole thing out of proportion
in a public way.
How will a very hurt and confused Mia face her peers, let alone Paige?

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do is a truly meaningful book to read.
Even though you know from the start that all the stories would
end up with a break up, they still left much to be surprised by.

This book would have you agreeing in sadness, but in the end,
you would be cheering with victory!
If you are really going through a break up and you happened to
have just finished reading this book,
i suggest you get dressed, grab your cash, and head out with your
friends to have a night of fun!

I borrowed this book from a friend of mine, whom sadly,
i’ve now lost contact with.
Anyway, I wasn't sure what to expect from this book but my friend Adelyn,
recommended it to me.
I decided to pick it up, since the movie seems to be a blockbuster favourite as well.
I thought it would be a boring story but i was wrong.
It is nothing boring.
It is a heart-breaking novel that had me in tears on quite a few occasions.

The story tells of a girl, Kate being diagnosed with leukaemia at age 2.
Her parents decide to have a 'designer' baby, Anna,
whom they hope will save Kate from the certain death.
Within hours of being born, Anna has donated stem cells from her umbilical cord.
This was the first of many procedures.
Thirteen years later, Anna’s body is still being used to keep her
sister, Kate, alive.
This is when suddenly, Anna decides to fight for the right to
have control of her own body.

The ending has a sudden twist which will leave you teary.
All in all, it is a thought-provoking novel that is truly heart-wrenching.
I don’t think this book has been made available in libraries yet, but you can purchase it at any bookstore island-wide.

This is my first Melissa Hill novel and i admit that when,
after having looked through a list of her novels and due to some of the covers,
I did expect a typical chick lit kind of book.

However, i realised that i was wrong!
This is an exceptionally wonderful novel to read.
After an accident, the main character, Abby is seriously injured and looses part of her memory. She experiences blackouts and forgets things happening to her.
Trying to accept her new situation, Abby starts writing a diary.
She also collects photographs and other memories, in order to hold on to her life before.

But trying to build a new life and preserve new memories before she forgets,
proves to cause both Abby, her family and friends a lot more problems
than they thought would come.

Written with intelligence, tenderness and understanding, the author,
Melissa Hill, knows exactly how to both entertain and present the realities of the situation. "Before I forget" is an intoxicating novel of facts and dreams,
all sealed in a nice package for us readers.

If you’re interested, i suggest that you check out all the other novels written by Melissa Hill.
You won’t regret it. I didn’t!

This is the second book that i’ve read from Melissa Hill.
The reason why i picked this book up is partly because of the cover page.
I know it isn’t right to judge a book by its cover but let’s all admit it.
We do that all the time don’t we?

Anyway, this book entitled Something You Should Know,
focuses around Jenny and how a nasty man from her past, Roan Williams,
could threaten her present relationship with her present boyfriend, Mike.
This seems like a typical storyline, but the difference with this novel is that the author's style of writing is totally entertaining and original.

Something happens in every single chapter and the story
moves forward at a cracking pace.
It reminds me almost of a thriller/mystery type story because you are simply dying to know what happens next.
Then, just when you think you've figured out where the story's going, the author leads you off in another direction and blows the whole thing out of the water.

This book is like a rollercoaster ride.
It is brilliantly written, so much so that i reread the book again and again after the first time, to indulge in Melissa Hill’s brilliance of “decepting” the reader.

This novel has the whole package.
The plot is page-turning, and you’ll be promised a lot of laughs.
There is also a lot of emotions and feelings written in a clever writing style that made shivers run up my spine.
This book was one of the books that made me stay up all night to finish too!
Highly recommended!