Thursday, April 27, 2017

Alcatraz #1259 written by William G. Baker

   

                                                                               


          You know that infamous prison, Alcatraz, right? Where the worst of the worst men were sentenced to jail on an island right across from the San Francisco Bay.  Ever wondered what really happened inside that prison? What if I told you that an actual prisoner wrote about his life living inside of Alcatraz’s jail cells for four years?
         William G. Baker (Bill) wrote a book called Alcatraz #1259 which is about his life as a prisoner entering Alcatraz at the age of twenty-three. Before going to Alcatraz, Bill was sentenced to the Oregon State Penitentiary for auto theft for four years. While Bill was at the Oregon State Penitentiary he tried to escape several times until he was sent to Alcatraz and was given the number 1259-AZ (hence the title of the book).
         In the book Bill writes about his life growing up during the Great Depression. His grandparents raised him because his mother didn’t have enough money to take care of him and his little brother and his father ran off.  Bill’s grandmother passed away so his grandfather sent a letter to his mother demanding that she comes back and gets him. Next, Bill’s mother remarried and life with his new stepfather was anything but paradise. Now living on his stepfather’s farm in Kentucky, Bill didn’t like his new life with his mother and stepfather so he started cutting school and being a disobedient kid. Between the ages of ten or eleven, Bill ran away from home and ended up getting caught by the police. After that his mother and stepdad sent him to a reform school in Kentucky where he learned how fight and smoke cigarettes.  At the age of sixteen, Bill’s stepfather didn’t want anything to do with him so he kicked Bill out of the house.         
         Also in his book, Bill writes about all of his experiences as a prisoner in all of the prisons he spent time in, but the prison he talks about the most is Alcatraz. From 1957-1960 Bill had to eat, work, and sleep behind the bars of the most infamous prison. Bill describes about his time running into trouble with the prison guards, learning how to play the card game, Bridge, from an inmate. He also witnessed several inmates who attempted to escape the Alcatraz but failed, and he learned how to forge checks. Finally, Bill does describe his life after he was freed from Alcatraz in 1960. Sadly, he ended up living in and out of other prisons again for counter fitting. At the end he met his wife and is living happily out of prison.
         In concluding, if you have had a fascination for Alcatraz and want to know how life was like living on an island behind bars I would recommend reading Alcatraz #1259. William G. Baker does a great job writing his own memoir about life living in prison and making people think what the life is actually like living behind bars.
Side note: the picture on the cover of his book is Bill’s mug shot at Alcatraz and yes I did meet him on Easter Sunday when my husband and I went to visit Alcatraz (my first visit and my husband’s second visit).
         Trivia Questions:
1) One of Bill’s inmates, Benny Rayburn, got his sentenced reduced at Alcatraz, how?
2) Why did Bill go back to Alcatraz in 2013 to spend the night in his cell?
 Baker, William G. Alcatraz #1259. N.p.: William G. Baker , 2012. Print.



Wednesday, April 19, 2017

The Future Of Us written by Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler

                                                           


         Remember during the years in the 1990s when American Online (AOL) was a popular website provider before Wi-Fi came into the picture? Smart phones were not invented yet so landlines were the only way to call someone. Does anyone remember life before social networks were invented?
         Written by the same author of Thirteen Reasons, Jay Asher collaborated with Carolyn Mackler to create a story about two teenagers living in the year of 1996. Josh and Emma, best friends living next door to each other. One day Josh gave Emma an AOL CD-ROM to download onto her new desktop computer. After Emma downloaded AOL something strange happened, a website called Facebook popped up on her computer.  It’s 1996 and Facebook hasn’t been invented yet, so of course Emma and Josh are confused why Facebook popped up on Emma’s computer screen and not AOL. But it gets stranger, Emma’s Facebook profile claimed that she graduated from high school, college, married to someone who she wants to divorce, and has children. Josh’s profile claimed that he married the high school’s most popular girl, Sydney, and is a rich man and happy man.
Throughout the book, Emma tries to change her future through Facebook since she has been reading her posts and comments about how unhappy she has been after college. Why? Emma just thought that of she changed her way in the present time then she would change her life through her comments and posts on Facebook. Josh on the other hand thinks Facebook is a hoax but he still tries to win Sydney’s heart since he knew that they eventually end up getting married and living a rich and happy life in a huge mansion.  What high school boy doesn’t want to marry the most popular girl?
         In concluding, since I have read Thirteen Reasons written by Jay Asher, I wanted to read the Future Of Us just to compare the two books. I personally thought that Jay Asher and Carolyn Mackler did an excellent job writing a story with a setting that happened in my generation before the explosion of today’s technology and social networks. I would recommend this book to the people who grew up in the 90s and the millennial kids for two reasons. First, for those who remember the 1990s would remember having dialup as their Internet with limited websites to search and also would remember installing computer programs through a CD-ROM. Second, to those who were born after the 1990s do not know what the term dialup is or what life was like before technology that we have today. Therefore, I do think The Future Of Us would be great for everyone to read because the setting is a blast from the past with a love story twist.

Trivia Questions:
How did Josh get Sydney’s number?
According to Emma’s Facebook profile, how many times did she get married?

Three Things I remember growing up in the 1990s
     1) I don’t remember using the Internet much at my house (just playing computer games by using a CD-ROM), but I do remember walking (without my parent’s supervision but of course with their permission) to my next-door neighbor’s house and she would plug the phone cable into the computer. Now I don’t remember what websites that I liked back then but I do remember that the Internet was limited on websites and online shopping didn’t exist. When my next-door neighbor’s mother wanted to use the phone, off the computer we go and figure out what to play next so we don’t bother her mother while she is talking on the phone.
      2)   In the middle of the 1990s, I remember having an AOL screen name (well maybe several of them), I remember the Internet was getting better and I never had dialup (read number one if you don’t know what dialup is). Anyways, whenever I met someone around my age that I want to become friends with, I would give them my home number, screen name, and email address. I didn’t get my first cell phone until 2003 so using an email, home phone, and AOL screen name was all I had for communication, talk about a lot of things to keep up with just to try to get a hold of someone.
 3) My favorite game to play by myself was School. I would grab all of my dolls and stuffed animals and pretended that I’m the teacher and they are my students. I didn’t have iPads or iPhones to play with so I had to improvise what I had, which was toys.

Asher, Jay, and Carolyn Mackler. The Future Of Us. New York: Razorbill, 2012. Print.



Saturday, April 8, 2017

Comparing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone written by J.K. Rowling









Before you scroll through this post thinking I’m doing a review on the Harry Potter series that is written by J.K. Rowling. Have you read the English version of Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone? I am guessing you haven’t since the original publishing company, Bloomsbury, does not exist in the United States (US).  The American version of Harry Potter was published by Scholastic in 1998, a year after it was published in the United Kingdom (UK).         
With that being said, I am sure you are now wondering if there is a difference between the two versions. The answer is...not as terribly different as I thought it would be.  Before I read both versions of Harry Potter I thought the entire story would be different since the UK and the US pronounce and spell their words differently. Besides changing the words around, the fonts were completely different for number of reasons. First, the spacing is bigger in the US version than the UK version, which is why Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone is a smaller book than Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Second, in Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, there are pictures at the beginning of each chapter unlike Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone where there are none. Third, the font is also different when it comes to the characters receiving letters, the UK font does not stand out clearly unlike the US version that looks like the letter either has been handwritten or a formal letter. An example of this is Harry’s acceptance letter to Hogwarts. Finally, notice in the pictures that I took of the fist chapter, notice how there is not a period after “Mrs.” and “Mr.” Dursley and there isn’t a period after “Mr” in Harry’s acceptence letter to Hogwarts. Weird!
        

         
Here is a list of the differences between Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:
-There is no Table of Contents in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone but there is one in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
Chapter 1: The Boy Who Lived
Scene: Aunt Petunia was talking to Uncle Vernon about her sister, Lilly Potter and her witch/wizard crowd…
UK –  Her lot
US – Her crowd
Scene: Dudley learned a new word that day!
UK- shan’t
US- won’t
Chapter 3: The Letters from No One
Just the font of Harry’s acceptence letter to Hogwarts is different


Chapter 11: Quidditch
Scene: After Professor Snape took away Harry’s library book (along with five points from Gryffindor), Harry was looking for Snape to get his book back when he saw Professor Snape talking to Professor Quill.  Harry suspected that Professor Snape was after the stone so he told Ron and Hermione. Ron says the word Halloween differently.  
UK- Hallowe’en
US-Halloween
Chapter 12: The Mirror of Erised
Scene: Harry and Ron stayed at Hogwarts for Christmas, early Christmas morning they say two different ways for “merry”
UK- Happy Christmas
US- Merry Christmas
 In concluding, the Harry Potter series that was created by J.K. Rowling originally published in the United Kingdom as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and then in the United States a year later as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Over all, both versions basically tell the same story just some grammar and the fonts have changed. If you have read the Harry Potter series until you have memorized it all, then perhaps consider reading another version that is not sold in America.

Side note: If you want to know why the Harry Potter titles are different, here is a link that explains it. Also, it really does bug me that a lot of Americans do mispronounce J.K. Rowling’s last name, so here is a link to a video on how to say her last name correctly. Enjoy and please pronounce her last name right for the love of Pete!

(reason why this Harry Potter book titles are different)

 (how to pronounce J.K. Rowling's last name correctly) 
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. London: Bloomsbury, 1997. Print.
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York : Scholastic , 1998. Print.
The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, n.d. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.
 Theguardian.com. "JK Rowling on how to pronounce her name - video." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 27 Sept. 2012. Web. 08 Apr. 2017.