He's a Quadrupal Agent

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling: "But through all these years, [Dumbledore] has never stopped trusting Severus Snape, and therein lies my great value in the Dark Lord" (Rowling 31).
Snape, we find in the second chapter of the fifth book, remains a Death Eater. We discover in this section why Snape is cruel and prejudiced against Harry. Snape also admits that Dumbledore is a great wizard and we also discover that Narssica, Bellatrix and Snape are planning something for Malfoy that they aren't sure he can do successfully. This chapter lays out the whole premisice of the fifth book and sets the stage for future events.

Epiphany

The Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen: "'It's the same thing,' I told her.
'What is?'
'Being afraid and being alive.'
'No,' she spoke slowly.... 'Macy, no. It's not.'
It's not, I repeated in my head, and looking back later, it seemed to me that was the moment everything really changed. When I said these words, not even aloud, and in doing so made my own wish: that for me this could somehow, someday, really be true." (Dessen 137).

I absolutely loved this book. It's a romance, but whatever it is still the bomb. Macy, the main character telling the story, experiences one of those epiphany moments that everyone has to face once in their lifetime when she realizes she doesn't need to be afraid anymore. What she was afraid of was showing her joy, or showing her anger. Her boyfriend, Jason, the smartest kid in the world, is a bad influence over her because he doesn't encourage affection; he barely touches her let alone kiss her, and she begins to think that showing any signs of affection or contempt is bad. That's why, when she meets Wes and his catering crew, everything changes.

The Strength of Women

Page by Tamora Pierce: "'Joren of Stone Mountain, I will have a two-page essay on good manners by Sunday evening,' he said.... 'Keladry of Mindelan, for your lateness, you will labor in the pages' armory for on bell of time on Sunday afternoon.'" (Pierce 16)
Keladry of Mindelan is the only girl in Lord Wyldon's academy made to train and create Knights. Page is the second book in the trilogy. Kel, as the others begin to call her, goes through the ringer; literally. Because the academy is originally meant for boys only, the work and training classes have no sympathy for girls. Kel, however, is very strong; stronger than some of the boys in her same year. Fierce hatred is shown between her and Joren of Stone Mountain and they get into many fights with each other. Kel always defends the new squires while Joren "disciplines" them and she always gets angry and fights for the little squire. Joren and her always get punished for their jostling. Maybe that's why he hates her so; she gets him punished for things that used to be okay to get away with.

Inner Courage

The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray: "Why should we girls not have the same privileges as men? Why do we police ourselves so stringently-whittling each other down with cutting remarks or holding ourselves back from greatness with a harness woven of fear and shame and longing? If we don not deem ourselves worthy first, how shall we ever ask for more?"
I read The Sweet Far Thing over the summer and fell madly in love with it (not as much as Twilight, but close). The series tells the adventure of an English school girl, Gemma, who discovers powers in herself. The quote above is one of the last paragraphs in the book (spoiler alert!) and I think it's one of the best lines in the series. Gemma tells Mrs. Nightwing to teach the girls in her academy more and teach them to speak for themselves and not hold back. It's funny because Gemma finds this inner courage in the place that frowns upon opinions of women and disobedience. Maybe it's not funny, however, because it's what's inside that prevails above all others, not what's on the outside, or the influence of others.

Fabulous and Intoxicating

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: "Well, I knew they were something. Something outside the possibility of rational justification was taking place in front of my incredulous eyes. Whether it be Jacob's cold ones or my own superhero theory, Edward Cullen was not... human. He was something more." (Meyer 138)
As much of a nerd I am, I decided to read Twilight again (for the fifth time) and refresh my memory and ready my brain to make minute comparisons while watching the movie. The particular quote I picked is when Bella is trying to figure out what Edward and his family is. She went to the beach with Mike and that's when she meets Jacob who tells her all the legends and stories of these cold ones. It freaks her out and she doesn't believe it's true; that Edward is a vampire. dum dum dummm

Isn't that Sweet

In the most recent ELLE Magazine, Alexa Brazilian travels to Sierra Leon to learn about the culture and about a new diamond company aimed to give back to a country "ripped apart by its most precious resource." Ruff&Cut founder Wade Watson says, "If it piques interest in the DNA of the diamond and the culture of the diamond, we could not only succeed as a business but change the world, too." Sierra Leon had a civil war between 1991 and 2002 where the Sierra Leonean government and the rebel Revolutionary United Front killed about 50,000 lives propelled by the very "culture of consumption and luxury we have come to worship." The diamond company Ruff&Cut's goal is to make a better country and a better culture out of Sierra Leon and out of the United States.
Brazilian, Alexa. "Hope Diamonds." Elle Magazine. 15 November 2008.

Devotion and Insanity?

The Eight by Catherine Neville: "Glancing over her shoulder, she saw Valentine pinned to the ground by two burly men who'd removed their coats and rolled up the sleeves of their shirts. There was not a moment to lose. 'Release her!' [Mireille] cried.
'I will,' said the man, 'but only if you tell me what your cousin refused to reveal. Tell me where the Montglane Service is hidden.'" (Neville 182)
The Montglane Service is a chess set. It may seem odd how men are willing to kill over such a silly trinket but in the 1700s, the Montglane Service was not a silly trinket. It was anything but, in fact. The Montglane Service is said to have powers. It is deadly if one has all the pieces together and that is why Valentine and Mireille have to keep the pieces in secret and apart from eachother. Many men are after the set, as demonstrated in the quote above, and will do whatever they can to get their hands on it. These type of men are the ones Valentine and Mireille must keep away from; for their lives and their responsibility. Since they are only teenagers, a little over eighteen, their responsibility is questionable and doubted among the abbey who housed these two trouble makers. But, Valentine and Mireille demonstrate their devotion and their honor when Valentine willingly dies for this chess set. She is killed because she reveals nothing to the men. She is a trouble maker, true, but has devoted herself to protecting the Montglane Service.