Devils Pass Book Report Part 2: The Scene

  Devil's Pass

By Sigmund Brouwer

Part 2: The Scene

  The scenes in Devil's Pass are all within North America. From balmy Phoenix Arizona to the Canol trail in the Northwest Territories Webb's quest takes him everywhere. Sometimes the author describes the scene very blandly so it is hard to picture where he is. For example something that could be described in much more detail would be called a hill with a river below it making it so it could be a multitude of things. I think the author could have described the scenery in much more detail.

(A Ben Woodward Blog Post)

Devil's Pass Book Report Part 1: What's It About?

Devil's Pass

By Sigmund Brouwer

Part 1: What's It About?

 Devils Pass is a book, yes its a book. This book is about a teenage boy named Jim Webb. Webb as he calls himself has been given a task by his grandfather David Mclean in David's will. He has to hike the Canol trail in the Northwest Territories. Surrounded by some of the most pristine land on Earth it's not all fun and games with twists and turns and someone with a grudge against him deep enough for him to attempt to kill him. Though Webb believes what does not kill him makes him stronger!

 (A Ben Woodward Blog Post)

Between Heaven and Earth (part 5, the characters)

            The characters in Between Heaven and Earth are very important, major or not because they all help create the plot. The whole story surrounds DJ so he has to be the main character. The characters change throughout the story, including the minor characters. DJ is a guy who is very stubborn and believes that rushing stuff makes everything better. But those weaknesses are put to the test when DJ climbs Mount Kilimanjaro. There is no room for stubbornness and you must go polepole (slowly) to defeat the mountain. DJ is an athlete who believes he can reach the top with his strength but he learns that he must use a lot of his willpower and bravery to defeat the mountain. The next character I want to talk about is Sarah. Sarah is native to the land of the mountain, but no woman has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. When she joins DJ, she becomes the first native woman to ever climb the mountain. Sarah becomes a porter, a person who carries stuff for the climbers. Only 15 years old, she is required to carry the most stuff out of her group. Sarah is determined to win in a world where people are sexually biased. Sarah's determination is an important factor in the story because DJ actually learns a lot from her and her determination empowers DJ on his mission.

            Another character is Doris. Doris is an old lady who wants to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. Doris shows a lot of courage when she faces the mountain. She is looked upon as a frail lady by the rest of the group, but later, when she shows no sign of struggle, DJ then thinks of Doris as a strong lady who faces impossibly large enemies and still has faith in their defeat. Her courage empowers DJ to go on further in his journey. The other characters are minor, but the Finnish trio are the victims of the mountain, while the guide, Elijah guides the characters and gives them important advice. The background hikers could be interpreted as DJ's "obstacles." There is really no protagonists or antagonists in this book, but I suppose the group could be protagonists and the mountain is the book's antagonist. The author did not use a lot of characters and so there were more main characters than minor ones. I would advise the author to add more characters so that the number of major characters is smaller than that of the minor characters.

Between Heaven and Earth (part 4, the murderous plot)

              Plot

           The plot in "Between Heaven and Earth" was good and it was pieced together nicely in my opinion. The characters in the story helped create the structure of the plot because the author used their beliefs and strengths to combine a better understanding of the characters. The author changes the way the main characters think by the end of the book and I think using that strategy is good because if someone wrote a book and at the end, the character does not achieve anything, then nobody is going to read it because the reader can predict what the character will do next, and repeating something usually bores a person. If, in a book, a person goes on a quest and 300 pages later, slays a dragon and the way the character thinks still is the same, then nobody will like it because the character travels across *example* distant lands, destroys an evil tower and drops a ring of doom into lava and learns completely nothing in the process; it is impossible.

            The author changes the way the characters think by using other "tool characters" to utilize this process. Tool characters are minor characters that are used by the author to help create the plot. Doris is one of these tool characters. Doris is an old frail lady who believes that she can climb Mount Kilimanjaro, despite her age. The main character, DJ, first looks at her as a stupid lady. But after many hikes, Doris shows no defeat and DJ then looks at Doris as a figure of courage. After that, DJ starts to think differently, using Doris as an example to stay hiking, even when he wants to give up. The whole plot was based on this strategy and I think it is a good one. DJ also looked at Sarah's determination, and used her example to carry on.

Between Heaven and Earth (part 3, death by mountain sickness)

          Last time on joshposts....
In Between Heaven and Earth.....

          "Moderate Mountain sickness involves a headache that does not respond to medication. Shortness of breath continues even when sitting or lying down. Nausea becomes vomiting, and fatigue causes the hiker to feel as if he can no longer move forward."
           
          -Elijah, the guide   

          THIS is the Dreaded Mountain Sickness. Many a man has spoken of this sickness, but every year about 15 people die because of the Mountain Sickness. DJ thinks this is crazy talk but he will soon learn....
DJ, an old lady named Doris, a trio of Finnish people, Sarah and Elijah, the guide begins their journeys. When Elijah says that their next destination is in twenty minutes, the mini- trip takes hours (hello, ever heard of a watch? It measures time! *gasp*). Nothing good happens after that, except when Sarah kisses DJ...

           On the cheek. Then DJ, Doris and Sarah start to fall behind on the trip and they learn many things about each other. After that there is a lot of climbing. The group climbs the breakfast wall, a giant wall that can easily exhaust a person and make them lose their breakfast (and I thought the breakfast wall was a wall made out of pancakes and eggs!). The book describes the climbing very well, but I will skip those details so you don't die of boredom. During the hike, DJ helps Doris climb the mountain and at the same time, DJ learns more about himself and he creates a perfect picture of himself by looking at Sarah's courage, Doris's bravery, Elijah's determination and heads straight to the mountain, carrying that perfect man to the top.

Between Heaven and Earth (part 2, the wrath of the mountain)

         Today I read another part from "Between Heaven and Earth." Last time, DJ was getting robbed from little kids and DJ starts chasing them with bare feet. He forgets to change his sandals, so he loses a battle against the kiddies. Kiddies 1, Barefoot Foreigner 0. Then he meets this girl named Sarah who helps DJ get the clothes back (I personally think there is going to be some 'chemistry' *cough, mushy stuff* between them). But Sarah makes DJ promise that he will ask her father(the guide) to bring her along as a porter. DJ reluctantly agrees. But on the day of the hike, DJ learns that Sarah is going to be the first native woman who will climb the mountain and people don't like firsts, especially if they're girls(sexist). DJ is surprised and he gets angry at Sarah because if he didn't invite Sarah to the hike, he probably wouldn't get those nasty I-hate-you-because-I- hate-native-girls looks from the other hikers (sexist again and a bit racist). His reputation falls every time he gets a sexist look from a random hiker. His group doesn't mind except the guide, the old lady and the Finnish trio(oh, wait, that's everyone).

          Instead of three easy peasy lemon squeasy days, DJ learns that he has to climb for about 7 days and 7  nights (the guide tells him to go "polepole" which means "go slowly"). DJ learns of the "DREADED MOUNTAIN DISEASE. This is all I have to post for today. I will do a 5 elements post and stuff after I finish the book.

       

Small Medium at Large

Small Medium at Large

Characters

   Small medium at large is based on a girl named Lilah Bloom who is able to hear dead people(ghosts)after she was struck by lightning at her Mom's wedding. Her grandmother, who is a ghost set out a request with her to find a suitable girlfriend for her dad. The fashion designer who is also a ghost helps Lilah to save a fashion show from destruction. Dolly, the mean girl is in need of help when Lilah helped out and Andrew Finkle, is Lilah's crush.

   The character is mostly humans. I feel these characters all seem to have a painful memory and talking to their deceased/alive family/friend help them regain a part of their true self.The clown and Rufus is also ghost who seek attention because how often they are ignore and forgotten.  

I feel the characters chosen all have special meanings. Like Lilah , is to be kind to everyone, her grandmother is a symbol of caring, Rufus is about how you should remember those who died......

Plot

The plot of Small Medium at Large started when Lilah got hit by lightning and is been given the gift of able to talk to ghost. Her long dead Bubby appeared pleading Lilah to help her find a suitable wife/girlfriend for her divorced father. While setting her dad up with different date, Lilah also have to teach her dad on the proper way to behave on a date! Even though Lilah is an expert on helping her dad, she have to face her own problem about her crush, Andrew Finkle and help save the school fundraiser by helping the mean girl, Dolly by making clothes for the fashion show. Add bra shopping trips with her dad and a pesky little boy, Rufus who keeps ruin the fashion show by tripping over the models!

Setting

The setting first takes place at Lilah mom's wedding. The setting was not described too well for this book and the author seems to focus more on the character and dialogues than the actual setting. The main setting of the book is the school and Lilah's house. Both places does not give reader a visual of how the school or Lilah's house looks like. The readers will always have to assume what the school is like which makes most part of the book really confusing.

Voice

The voice used for Small medium at large is in a first person perspective. I think the author choose the voice very well because it described her frustration and the reader are able to hear the ghosts talking because Lilah's gift. If it wasn't written in a first person perspective, the reader will not be able to hear the ghost and will be very confuse at different events.

Theme

I felt the theme for Small medium at large is in the category of teen fiction. The theme is mostly about her crush on Andrew and a plot twist is the fact Lilah is able to hear ghost. This book is not simply teen fiction I feel there is something the author want us to realize about communication mixed in the book. What makes Small medium at large different from others is the ways she helps others with her sudden found power. The key of the book how Lilah communicated with everyone. I will have to also add the theme spiritual in there because how Lilah communicate with everybody with the ghost is somewhat spiritual to the person with dead love ones. So, I think the theme of the book should be spiritual and teen fiction

                                                                                     My rating out of 10/4