Plot Letters November 20, 2008

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
Dear Book Club,
I have currently finished reading Twilight. It is 498 pages long and the author is Stephanie Meyer. Twilight is about a seventeen year old girl named Bella Swan who moves to live with her dad in a small rainy town called Forks. It is much different than her previous home in Sunny Phoenix. During her first week of high school she becomes fascinated by the beautiful Cullen family, especially the youngest brother, Edward. She soon realizes that he is not like most boys. In fact he is nothing like them because he is a vampire. Ignoring her natural instincts to be afraid, she finds herself actually falling in love with him. It is hard at first because Edward is so tempted by the smell of her blood but as time goes on he gets used it. Luckily Edward does not drink human blood and is considered a vegetarian in the vampire world. One evening while Bella is watching the Cullen’s play a family baseball game, Edwards’s sister Alice warns them that a group of vampires is coming to ask if they can join them in a quick game. They decide that the best thing to do would to pretend that Bella is a vampire like the rest of them. One of the vampires named James that is the non-vegetarian, smells Bella’s scent and is immediately drawn to it. The Cullen’s know that James is a tracker and will do whatever he can to attack Bella. They decide to hide her in her old town; While James is on the hunt for her.
The protagonists of Twilight are Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Bella has pale skin, big brown eyes and long reddish-brown hair, while Edward has distinct features, Such as his Topaz eyes and white as snow skin. The Antagonist is James who is the tracker vampire. The setting takes place in the rainy town of Forks, Washington. The Rising Action is Bella finding out that Edward is a vampire and falling in love with him. The Climax is when Bella is with the Cullen’s at the baseball game and meets James who is drawn to her human smell and decides to hunt her. The Climax is when James tricks her into coming to her old ballet studio in Phoenix, and fights her while she is left to defend herself. Fortunately for Bella, Edward finds out where she has gone and goes to fight James. Bella survives but has a few injuries; While James outcome was not so fortunate. I am happy with the ending of the book because now that Bella is safe from James, she can finally be with Edward.

Jourdan Tappeiner


Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
Dear Book Club
I have currently just read “eclipse” by Stephenie Meyer. It was 629 pages long and is the third book in its series. “eclipse” is about a girl named Bella who is Dating Edward who happens to be a vampire. Just as everything was getting back in to place, she finds out that her best friend Jacob Black is a werewolf. She is confused why Jacob and Edward can not get along. She is forced to choose between them. And try her very best to not hurt any one in the process.
The main characters in this book are Bella who is a protagonist and is in love with Edward who also is a protagonist. And then Jacob who is Bella’s best friend and an antagonist in this book often causes conflict for Bella and Edward. Edwards’s family are protagonists and always try’s there best to get Bella out of trouble. Bella’s dad is an antagonist sometimes and also a protagonist depending on how much he knows about the situation. Victoria is an antagonist in this story because she try’s to kill Bella several different times. The main setting in this story is in forks where Bella and Edward live. The main events in this story are when Bella finds out that Jacob is a werewolf. And when she learns that deaths in Seattle were not caused by a gang but by new vampires witch happen to be training to come kill her. Another main event is when Bella graduates from high school and gets engaged to Edward. The main conflict in this book is when Bella finds out that Victoria is a bad vampire and is leading new born vampires to come and attack Forks and also when Edwards’s family is fighting them so that they can not get to Bella and the town of Forks. The resolution is when Edwards’s family kills all the young vampires and when Edward kills Victoria. Bella does not have to worry about Victoria or any other bad vampires for the moment. Now all she needs to do in focus on her engagement with Edward and Find a way to tell her dad that she is engaged.
Overall I am very satisfied with ending of my book and am very excited to start the next one. This book was not predictable and very exciting. I would recommend this book to someone who likes romance adventure and mythical creatures.

Kori Gibson

The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle
Dear Book Club,
The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Arthur Conan Doyle is a short mystery where Sherlock Holmes tries to find out how a young woman died in her completely sealed bedroom. The protagonist in this story is Helen, a fearful young woman, whose sister was murdered. The antagonist is a crime that was committed by Helen’s stepfather. Another main character is the detective himself, Sherlock Holmes. The primary setting takes place in the late 1800’s in Helen’s bedroom which is in a manor in London.
The rising action begins when Helen wakes up Sherlock Holmes, the famous detective in the early hours of the morning. She urgently demands an appointment with him. She tells him that she thinks her sister was murdered. It continues when Helen’s stepfather, Dr. Roylott, visits Holmes and angrily says that Helen is lying and that it is none of Holmes’ business.
The climax takes place in the bedroom at Helen’s house where Holmes and his partner, Dr. Watson, stay up all night waiting for anything suspicious to happen. They hear the stepfather turn on and off his light from the other side of a vent and then see a snake slither out between the bars of the same vent. Watson turns on the light, which frightens the snake back into the Dr. Roylott’s room.
The resolution is when morning arrives and Holmes finds the stepfather dead, having been bitten by the snake which he put out the night before intending to kill Helen. It is obvious at this point that the sister was killed by the same snake. Helen is finally freed from her stepfather’s dominance and abuse and inherits her fortune which was rightfully hers. The plot and its strange circumstances finally make sense with the discovery of the snake.
I was definitely satisfied with the ending of the book because it tied together all the loose ends of the story. It solved the mystery and dealt with the murderer, bringing justice. With the ending I understood the meaning of the title, The Adventure of the Speckled Band, as it was a speckled banded snake that caused Helen’s sister’s death. The entire tale built up suspense and curiosity which was completely resolved with Doyle’s ending.
I predict that Helen will have a good life and that Holmes will keep solving cases with his detective work. Watson will remain partners with Sherlock, and continue to document their work. Sherlock will continue to be the most famous detective in London. As far as mysteries go, this book is a good start as it is short and easy to follow as well as being one of the most famous Sherlock Holmes tales. The story was interesting and intriguing with good character development, making it a good choice.

Cheers,
Cody Leeds


To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Dear Book Club,
I am reading "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. This book is about three kids named Jean, Jem, and Dill. Jean is the main character although the plot centers around an old man named Boo Radley. He is mysterious and never comes out of his house. Jem, Jean and Dill try to make Boo Radley come from his house but it never works. They start to think Boo is not real so they ask Atticus if he is and Atticus said he is real. Jean and Jem think that Boo Radley only comes out at night.
The rising action in this book is when their neighbor's house catches on fire and Jean's house doesn't. Fire fighters come and put out the fire, they also spray water on Jean's house. I am not sure how it ends, I predict that Boo Radley will come out of his house and something big will happen.

Brandon White