Its that time again...Animoto time that is!

http://animoto.com/play/7Op3y3RSi09modSE1YDnMA
Animoto for you created by yours truly.

Dear Diary,

For the next blog I wanted to do something a little different than what I did last quarter, so I came up with the idea of a journal entry. I will write the entry from the point of view of the main character as she struggles with the obstacles in her life. The main character of Please Ignore Vera Dietz is Vera and here is "her" diary entry.

        Dear Diary,

Charlie won't leave me long! And he's dead, how is that even possible? I know I need to go to the police with the information I have, but I can't, at least not yet. I'm still mad at him, I'm not ready to face it. I'm still mad at my dad. I can't believe how controlling he's being. I understand he doesn't want me to turn out like him, but I know what I'm doing. I don't want his future, but sometimes I need to let out some steam. I will admit that my drinking has gotten me into some difficult situations, but I'm completely stressed out! That doesn't make me an alcoholic, at least not in my eyes. The christmas party was a disaster and I now know I need to cut back, but the pain is still there. My best friend died for gosh sake, what am I suppose to do?! Charlie keeps "haunting" me. I'm in the car with James and bam! 5000 Charlies. Why? Why can't you let me do this on my own time? I'm working on getting to the point of being able to face what has happened. I'm still mad at him for ignoring me, treating me like crap, and sending me to the pet store so I could witness the terror. Honestly the list could go on and on. I know I need to face the facts and set Charlie free. I could really like James, James is a good guy, who cares about age? Why can't my dad see that? He hasn't even met him, he just assumes he's bad for me because of the age difference. I mean do we even need to talk about his love life? Mom left us and he still loves her. He won't let go and he won't face the fact that she's gone. Her clothes are still in the closet... His advice for my boy problems is to work more. Dad, I don't think thats going to help. Oh, and he got my work schedule changed so that James and I don't work together anymore. James is a good guy, honestly. On a more honest note, even after everything Charlie put me through and even after how horribly he treated me after meeting the "detention heads", I still love him. I imagine a part of me always will and thats something that is hard to face. I know I should make it right but there's so many secrets...so many questions...so many memories. I almost forgot about my vocab words, so here is me using covenant in a sentence. Charlie and I are not in covenant about when or even if I will tell the truth about that terrible night. I'm not even sure if thats right, but the sentence is true. Well it's time to shower and go to bed, I had a full day of delivering pizzas. Goodnight diary.
--Vera

Here I Am Again...To Vlog!

http://youtu.be/z0fkbPOOspc

Here is a link to view the vlog I did with Melinda Cox...I'm sorry its so cropped.

"Letters About Literature"

Dear Ms. King,

Hello, I’m a junior at Carbondale Community High School. I recently read your book, Please Ignore Vera Dietz, and let me start by saying how much I truly enjoyed the book. It was humorous yet very real and sad at the same time. As I was starting to get to know Vera better throughout the book and her relationship with Charlie, I kept wanting him to be alive. You could see that actually he was a good guy that just simply got mixed up with the wrong crowd. Obviously from the beginning you know Charlie is dead but whenever there was a flash back, I was wishing he was still alive. I wanted him and Vera to have a chance to truly be together, especially after he said, “I love you, Vera. I always will”. Now I know that it defeats the purpose of the story if he were to still be alive, but I still hoped. I liked the way the story was told. I liked that the chapters skipped back and forth between present day and memories. You got to see what triggered her memories and why certain events had the effect they did. I haven’t read many stories that are written in that form and I thought it was very creative.

I felt that Vera was a very easy character to relate with. While I can’t exactly compare events in my life to events in Vera’s life, she was very real. She was the underdog that you wanted to cheer for. I truly wanted Vera to find her happiness. I wanted her to find a way to release Charlie’s secret. I’ll be honest and say that the book started off a little slow for me, but it was a constant page-turner as it began to pick up. My absolute favorite part was the connection Vera and her father have at the end. They have both been to counseling and they have realized that the main problem is Vera’s mom leaving. I feel Ken, Vera’s dad, has never left go of Vera’s mom to be able to move on. I thought it was really interesting when Vera and Ken make the signs to wear that have something written about them on the sign. Then while they are driving in the car on their road trip, Ken’s sign flies off. Its very symbolic of him letting go therefore the label no longer fits. I really did love that part. Vera and her father found a new connection at the end of the book that I feel they did not have at the beginning. The story wasn’t just about Vera finding her way through her guilt; it was also about Ken finding a way to accept the truth of Vera’s mother leaving. It was a powerful story that I would read again and again. And in the end I’m glad Vera and her father were able to find peace. Once again, I truly enjoyed the book.

Reading Helps Us Learn...

http://alcoholism.about.com/cs/genetics/a/aa990517.htm
Throughout the book Vera's dad is constantly worrying that Vera will become an alcoholic, because at a early age he became an alcoholic as well as his father. He is aware of how being an alcoholic ruined his life and he doesn't want that for Vera. This website talks about if alcoholism can be inherited from your parents.

http://www.saveadog.org/
Vera loves animals and its her dream to work at the local pet store in town, but she's too young, so she has to volunteer first. Her dad doesn't exactly approve of her volunteering, but she loves it. Exploring this website can give you an idea of why Vera loved it so much. There are pictures of animals that are in shelters and success stories of animals who were mistreated. I think Vera would love this website.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1c4d5kSX6c
This website is a video trailer for the book, Please Ignore Vera Dietz. It allows you to get a summary but it doesn't give away the ending. This trailer can really hook you on the book.

http://helpguide.org/mental/grief_loss.htm
This website is advice with how to cope with grief and loss. Vera has lost her best friend Charlie and even though she doesn't want to accept it yet, she's having a hard time dealing with it. I think this website would be very helpful for Vera and the reader.

http://www.as-king.com/html/vera.php
Here is a website about the book and author. It gives you a preview to what the book is about and information on the author.

http://www.thefrisky.com/2011-05-02/girl-talk-growing-up-without-a-mother/
Vera's mother leaves her at a very young age and for most of her life she has had to grow up without a mom. Her mom hasn't been in communication with Vera basically at all, its just been Vera and her dad. This article is about a girl who, like Vera, was without a mom at the age of 13. You can relate the real live experience of the article to Vera's experience in the book to understand why Vera feels a certain way.

http://www.cbn.com/family/youth/why-teens-seek-wrong-crowd-gregston.aspx
This website explains why teenagers with fall into the wrong crowds, like Charlie did. The website breaks it down to the deeper reason of why children go looking for trouble.

http://www.as-king.info/
This is A.S. King's blogspot. The blog is very interesting and gives you a perspective of who she is and a little more about the book.

http://www.goodreads.com/videos/show/12091-please-ignore-vera-dietz-book-trailer
This is a video trailer for the book that I really enjoyed. If you aren't hooked before watching this, you will be after.

http://askpari.wordpress.com/page/6/
If you scroll down just a little bit on this website you will find a picture and a description of a pagoda. The town that Vera lives in has a pagoda not to far from Vera's house that she visits a lot. A lot of main conflicts happen at the pagoda, and before I looked up a picture, I was unsure of what a pagoda looked like. Having a picture in my head helped a lot with picturing the story.

http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/teacozy/2011/02/17/review-vera-dietz/
I would recommend reading this review after reading the book. I know the point of these websites are to read before, but I think this is better read after. I really like the way this reviewer talks about the way the book is set up and the story line. It was something I had never thought of.

http://www.helium.com/items/1218216-self-deception
Vera's father is having a hard time facing the facts of what has happened to their family. He doesn't want to accept that Vera's mom left and that he deep down still loves her. Its something that bothers Vera throughout the book, and this site explains maybe why he acts the way he does.

http://kidshealth.org/teen/your_mind/emotions/someone_died.html
This website gives information on teens who may be dealing with a close one dying and the grief they may feel. I feel this is very important to understand to even begin to understand what Vera is going through.

http://www.medicinenet.com/alcohol_and_teens/article.htm
This is information about teen alcohol abuse. Vera's father was an alcoholic by the time he was a teenager and he is scared that Vera will become one too. Vera is drinking only because of stress and this website gives information as to why.

http://www.firsteagle.com/tdd.htm
Vera repeatedly drives after drinking thinking that it is ok. Vera's father is scared for her and is completely against this. This website gives information and teens drinking and driving.