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19 October 2014

Bullying in YA


Hey Everyone!

Today I wanted to talk about the use of bullying in Young Adult Literature. I feel that this is an extremely important topic because two of the books I have read this semester deal with this. Those books are on the side, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina and Wonder by R.J. Palacio.

Bullying in Yaqui Delgado is more prevalent than in Wonder. In the first of the two mentioned books, it is the entire plot. This girl, Yaqui Delgado, wants to literally kick Piddy's ass. I feel like books today are bringing up topics that we rarely saw ten to fifteen years ago. Seeing books like these today is something I absolutely adore. Though I admit I didn't feel a real connection with Medina's book because I personally haven't had to deal with bullying. The idea that writers like Meg Medina and R.J. Palacio are making people aware of the fact that kids are getting bullied and people aren't doing a whole lot to help them out.

In Wonder bullying was more of a side-effect to the situation as a whole. It's more of "you have a facial deformity, therefore you are expected to be bullied Auggie." This is where I felt the bullying was kind of pushed off as nothing. Auggie isn't made of steel, guys. He let some of the "bullying" incidents just slide and I didn't feel like it was as realistic as Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass. This one it was more of, I can make friends despite my deformity. The other one was a girl truly struggling with her life.

The two books are hard to compare because they are so different, but these are also the only books with bullying that I have read. I feel like it still is exceptionally rare to see books like these. Bullying is a big thing in a lot of kids lives. Most people are the bullied or the bully. Most kids, not all. Making people more aware of the problem may help people know what to do.

What do you think of books on bullying? Do you think they are still rare to find? Is it doing more harm than good? Give me your opinions!



Until Next Time,

12 October 2014

The Mortal Instruments Back from the Dead?

Hey Everyone!

So I heard some news about one of my favorite book series, The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare.

As you know, the first book was made into a film starring Jamie Campbell Bower and Lily Collins. Well, the film flopped. I watched the film and I thought it was a decent representation. I thought they could have done better, but I loved the casting. Magnus Bane is something else, but I liked the casting otherwise.

Well, good news fellow TMI fans! IT IS BEING MADE INTO A TELEVISION SERIES! 

I am so excited about this! I really hope that they at least keep Jamie. Jamie is one of my favorite actors and he deserves some nice recognition for his acting skills. I feel he is worthy of a role in the new TV Series. I don't know what company or channel this will be through, but as I hear more, I will update you!

Until Next Time

11 October 2014

Hello Again!

Instagram: @mandajeanbooks
Hey Everyone!

Wow... its been three months since I posted on this blog! I am extremely sorry! I have been so busy because of school and writing. I will begin taking priorities in this once more. Reading is basically my life!

I better talk about some book things, right? Well, here goes.

I have been slowly reading this year. My reading goal on goodreads is 52 books and currently, I am behind. By 6 books, it's not a lot, but I am still behind.

I haven't gotten a lot of books in the past few months, but here is a list of every book I got from 24 July to today (going from newest to oldest):


  1. Asylum by Madeleine Roux
  2. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
  3. Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick ****
  4. Who We Are by One Direction (Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson)
  5. Popular: Vintage Wisdom for the Modern Geek by Maya Van Wagenen 
  6. Birthmarked by Caragh M. O'Brien
  7. The Douche Journals by Schmidt (from New Girl)
  8. Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
  9. Lux: Beginnings by Jennifer L. Armentrout
  10. Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass by Meg Medina
  11. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
  12. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
  13. If I Stay by Gayle Forman 
  14. The Giver Quartet (4 books) by Lois Lowry
**** BOOKSPLOSION BOOK OF THE MONTH: SEE HERE

17 books in total over 3 months. That is about 6 books per month. Some of them were gifts from my brother, too because I had my birthday in August. But in all seriousness, I have been buying more books than I have been reading. This is a bad thing since I decided that I want to take a trip over to the beautiful country of Scotland. So I am going to do something where I am going to read five books and then buy one book.

These are the books I will be buying when I read five books (one book per five):
  1. Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
  2. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
  3. Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare
  4. Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins
  5. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
  6. Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
  7. Winger by Andrew Smith
  8. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
  9. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
  10. Half Bad by Sally Green
  11. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
  12. Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 
  13. Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes
  14. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater 
  15. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
So since I am back, I will be trying my best to update this blog as often as I can. I admit, I am not exactly the best person at keeping on top of things, but keeping up on this blog is something I hope to do. So I will do my best!

Until Next Time,