Book review for The Child Thief

'Peter glanced up at the stars and a wicked smile lit his face. "Time to play," he whispered to the stars and winked. And the stars winked back, for Peter's smile is a most contagious thing.'

This phrase sums up a lot about Peter. Charismatic, not even meaning for people to follow him, but knowing exactly what he is doing. Wanting to play, but not many people survive playing with him. In Brom's The Child Thief, the classic story of Peter Pan and Neverland is turned on its head and given a dark makeover. This book retains several elements of the original story of Peter Pan, but I can almost guarantee that you will never look at it the same way again.

One part of the book that really captivated me was the setting. Peter's Neverland is replaced in the book with Avallach, a land of magic, populated by elves, trolls, and all manner of fairy tale creatures. The only difference between the two lands is the fact that Avallach is slowly dying and the magic is fading away. The author paints a disturbing picture of how the land is slowly losing its magic, and his descriptions are vivid and realistic. From the barren forests to the stormy coast and back, a mental picture is painted to show the land of Avallach.

The story was what really pushed me over the top on my opinion of this book. The author took the story of Peter Pan and changed it enough to put his own spin on it, but still have readers recognize the story. The story starts out by introducing two characters who will be important later on in the story, Nick and Cricket, before switching to Peter's point of view. Peter helps both of them to escape from their abusive situations and takes them to Avallach to join his small band of soldiers, the Devils. In Avallach, Peter and his group of fighters join forces with a group of renegade elves to combat the Flesh-eaters, led by the evil Captain. If you are not able to get that reference, then you probably need to leave the blog now and go watch Peter Pan. The story takes surprising twists and turns that startle the reader and add to the mystery of the story. The story of how Peter became the leader of the Devils and how he ended up in Avallach is also explained and creates a new mystique for Peter as a person.

All in all, I would recommend The Child Thief to anyone who enjoys the story of Peter Pan or a good book. Just be warned that you probably will never be able to watch the Disney movie again without thinking about this book. So, if that doesn't bother you, I say go for it.

476 pages

Persuasion

This blog post is supposed to be about persuasion, to tie into the literature unit we are going through now. Persuasion is everywhere, all over TV (many people usually watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials), magazines, the Internet, and even in movies (those carefully displayed but still hidden advertisements always seemed out of place to me). It is just impossible to avoid.

Persuasion is not really a technique I use very often. Often when I want something, I'll either buy it with money I have or I will wait until my birthday or Christmas. Most of the items that I receive, like my Stratocaster, my PS3, and my iPod, are rewards for good grades or Christmas. I don't do a lot of persuading to get things. I'm not a very persuasive person anyway, so it's probably better if I don't try. Everything works out better that way anyway.

Persuasion doesn't affect my life too much. I go with the flow of things usually, unless I think something isn't right. I'm also not one of those people who are watching TV at night and have to get up to go order some useless junk that I will not ever use. Not that there is anything wrong with people who do that, I'm just not an impulse buyer and don't see the point.

Well, there's my little opinion about persuasion. If you're reading this and don't agree that I am a persuasive person, please come and persuade me I am wrong.

Olympic Commitment

This blog post has to do a little with the Olympic games and a little with myself. The athletes who compete in the Olympics have a drive and an ability that takes years of practice, determination, and commitment that is matched by very few people in the world. This post has to do with the task that makes me want to commit to and to give my all to succeed in. The task that makes me want to do that is becoming a doctor.

To become a doctor, you have to put in nearly as much, or possibly more time, than the Olympians in their training. This makes sense though, because how many people want a doctor who put in the minimum time and effort to be their doctor? The same goes for the athletes. My uncle is a doctor, and has told me many times to do as much as I can now, and that may help to lessen my load in school slightly. Between college and med school, my uncle really didn't have time for much else. It may be hard at first, but eventually the rewards make up for the work.

Doctors are also thought of as the elite of society, usually, and the same is thought of the Olympic athletes. The glory of winning your event or of finally getting your diplomas are probably the best feelings in the world. Proving to yourself that you can do it can make anything worthwhile.

This is my commitment. Hopefully, just like all of the athletes wanting to compete, maybe my dream can come true and I can experience the fruits of my commitment.