youth are awesome.com

I do quite enjoy acronyms, heh. But hey, do you remember WFW? Alice and I’s Warm Fuzzy Websites (short) saga? ; ) Awesome, now keep remembering…does GMH ring a bell? GivesMeHope was the first of four websites we introduced!

Anyways, I have exciting news to pass along. This fall, you can physically hold some of the GivesMeHope stories in your hands.

Mmhmm, that’s right, GMH is releasing a book!!! I am so excited. ♥ It will be published by Ulysses Press some time in late fall of this year.

“GivesMeHope: The 127 Most Inspiring Bite-Sized Stories” is a combination of old favorites from the website and brand new, never-before-seen stories – all told artfully through the use of powerful, full-color imagery.”

Curious about this imagery? Check out some samples of them on the photos tab on their Facebook page.

Want something more interesting? You can get printed! If you write on their wall the name of the person who gives you hope, they will print your name along with their name in the book!

But just to make it clear, you’re asked to limit the name to 20 characters. Both your partial names (first name and first letter of last name, if included) will be printed. =]

Now what are you waiting for? Go and let the world know who deserves some recognition! =]

Often, the authors of youth novels write stories that are relatively depressing and lacking in any conclusion. This is done to add a realistic edge to their story. They often do this by exploring the ugly side of people and society; this results in a de-motivational but realistic story. It is rare to find a non-depressing yet realistic youth novel. That is why I am in luck.

In “I am the Messenger” the author explores the beauty of humanity and society. This is a story about the difference that one person can make and multiple lives just by caring.

The story follow the protagonist Ed Kennedy a 19 year old cab driver whose life is changed after a bank robbery. Soon, he begins to receive tasks to deliver no physical messages. Right away he beings to question who is sending him these tasks, but it did not take long for him to realize that refusing to deliver a message is not an option. For Ed, figuring out what the message he must deliver is, may be a more difficult task than delivering the actual message.

Markus Zusak is a phenomenal author and I am the messenger may become one of my favorite novels of all time. This is a highly motivational novel that remains realistic, though it does have very suspenseful parts. This is one of those stories that just makes you feel good afterwards. I recommend this novel to anyone 14 and over.

When I was looking for a new book to read, I came across one with relatively high review. Despite its strange title, I decided to give it a try. So this time, I’m reviewing “under the wolf, under the dog”

This story starts off in Burnstone Grove, a facility for severely troubled youths. There, the teens are divided into groups. Red grouper (drug addicts), blue grouper (suicidal kids), and grey grouper (none of the above). The story follows a grey grouper named Steve Nugent. He is a highly intelligent sixteen year old who has experiences highly unfortunate events. Steven also tends to make a lot of bad decisions, which doesn’t help.

This is a heart braking story that causes to reader to feel sorry for the protagonist. But I do not believe that this story is depressing or melodramatic, just very serious 90% of the time. Despite its heavy themes, this story also contains just the right amount of light and hopeful moments.

Over all, this is a pretty good story, but in my opinion, this is not the best book of it’s genre. I still found it quite enjoyable and it did keep me up late at night, so I recommend this to readers ages 15 and above. I give this book a 4/5.

Often, the authors of youth novels write stories that are relatively depressing and lacking in any conclusion. This is done to add a realistic edge to their story. They often do this by exploring the ugly side of people and society; this results in a de-motivational but realistic story. It is rare to find a non-depressing yet realistic youth novel. That is why I am in luck.

In “I am the Messenger” the author explores the beauty of humanity and society. This is a story about the difference that one person can make and multiple lives just by caring.

The story follow the protagonist Ed Kennedy a 19 year old cab driver whose life is changed after a bank robbery. Soon, he begins to receive tasks to deliver no physical messages. Right away he beings to question who is sending him these tasks, but it did not take long for him to realize that refusing to deliver a message is not an option. For Ed, figuring out what the message he must deliver is, may be a more difficult task than delivering the actual message.

Markus Zusak is a phenomenal author and I am the messenger may become one of my favorite novels of all time. This is a highly motivational novel that remains realistic, though it does have very suspenseful parts. This is one of those stories that just makes you feel good afterwards. I recommend this novel to anyone 14 and above, it is definitely a 5/5

This week I’m reviewing a novel for a younger audience. Here’s a novel that raises an interesting question. Is it possible to create a perfect society and what should be sacrificed if this was to be accomplished?

The story follows a protagonist named Jonas he lives in a world of sameness and obliviousness, a world with minimal suffering, where everything is controlled. But on one fateful day, Jonas is selected as the receiver of memories and is ripped away from his world of comfort. He is given the truth and the ability to feel and to question. Now he is face with the decision of whether to stay in his oblivious yet safe society or to risk it all for freedom and the life of a significant other.

The story explores an extreme side to communism and also deals with the significance of memories

This novel is about as depressing as child novels get, yet it is greatly written novel. I really enjoyed this novel for the most part but I’m a little disappointed about the ending (it was sort of anticlimactic). But all in all, this was a great novel that I would recommend to readers 12 and above. I give the giver a 4/5

Nonono, I am not talking about EU the European union, eU is my new acronym — Not exactly an acronym, but close enough =) for extraordinary Youth. What do I mean by extraordinary youth? Simply put, they are groups of people who have achieved something greater than what most adult would, for instance, young artists and prodigies are two that comes to mine mind at the time, but believe me, there are lot more others. In this series of blog, I will introduce you to a list of eUs I know and found. Hope they can inspire you and motivate you to achieve something great in your life too, or at least, be a little jealous of them, and pay a little of admiration and respect.

The eU of the week is Adora Lily Svitak, born October 15, 1997 and a child prodigy in writing. While most of people are discovered as a writer or an author at age of around 20s, most of whom graduated from a proper post-secondary school, have a heavy background knowledge on history and humanity, and is equipped with solid understanding of the English language, Adora is discovered at the age of 6 for her writing ability. And just a year later, she appeared with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America, not long before her book Flying Fingers was published. After age of 7, she began to write blogs and online journals, commenting on subjects of international significance. Since 2005, she has being promoting literacy and lectured in both United States and United Kingdom. As of 2009, she appeared on Channel 4 documentary The World’s Cleverest Child and Me, and had finished her second book, Dancing Fingers, and is completing her first full-length novel, Yang in Disguise.

Recently, at one of the 2010 TEDtalk, Adora has spoken about the subject of “What adults can learn from kids”.  To learn more about Adora, watch her TEDtalk below and her videos on YOUTUBE: