Time's Path

Summary

Andrew Baltos is sent to a hospital and Prenna and Ethan head home. They talk to the community counselors and tell them that if they promise to send Katherine home and let people be free (as long as they don’t change time negatively), then Prenna and Ethan won’t tell the police, Child Services, and other organizations about the crimes the counselors have done. Everything begins to go well: Katherine is sent home, new leaders are elected (Prenna one of them), investigation in the plague is started, people have freedom, and everyone promises that they will not alter the future anymore; time has to go in its normal path because it has been changed many, many times. Only one thing isn’t going well for Prenna, she can’t be with Ethan for safety reason. She has to let him go although she loves him deeply.

Quote 1

“And that means we have to be careful and disciplined all the time. We can’t live like regular people. We can’t choose our relationship like regular people. We can’t start families like regular people. We can’t risk starting new pandemics just as we’re trying to bring this one under control. We have to be the solution, not the problem.” (p. 233)

It is here when Prenna has to mature and take the hardest decision a human being can take: letting go; she must let go of Ethan. It’s the only way the future won’t collapse again. I know it’s hard for her because I also done this many times. But sometimes, when we don’t let go of the things won’t work, we end up hurting ourselves more than we ever expected.

 

 

Quote 2

“No matter how our hearts break, we bend toward life, don’t we? We bend toward hope.” (p. 241)

It’s true. When our hearts break, we rely on hope. We try to hold on to the feeling that everything will be okay in the end even though, sometimes, deep down, we know it won’t. Hope keeps us going. Hope is something that never abandons you unless you cease to believe.

 

 

 

Conclusion

I would definitely recommend this book especially for girls 12 years and up. “The Here and Now” by Ann Brashares, is a novel full with suspense, love, action, and many more that I have really enjoyed and related to. There are several strong messages that come with this book. One of them is that we can’t change time, we have to live with it; time travel can be very dangerous. We can’t wait for someone to correct our mistakes, we must act and create a solution. A perfect society doesn’t exist. But most important of all, we have to let go of what we love in order to cause a positive change.

It’s a Small World

Summary

On their way to Teaneck, Prenna and Ethan stop at a school near Prenna’s home back in her real life and stay there for the day. She answers many of Ethan’s questions there and tells her the story of Traveler One, the first time-traveler who everyone in the future considered as a myth because he was never seen again. The next and highly anticipated day, May 17, 2014, around 7:10 pm, Prenna enters Mona Ghali’s office pretending to be one of her little sister’s friend who comes with a birthday gift from her. She stays with Mona until Andrew Baltos arrives; Prenna finds him very familiar and realizes that he was the one who killed the old man. Suddenly, Andrew takes out a gun and tells Mona and Prenna to sit near a wall while he searches through Mona’s computer and file cabinets. Mid through Andrew’s frustration, Ethan appears and takes the gun from his hands discovering that Andrew is a time-traveler, Traveler One. During a moment of confusion, Andrew Baltos manages to recover his gun, shoot and kill Mona Ghali, and escape to the parking lot when later Ethan shoots him in the leg so he can explain why he killed Mona Ghali. 

 

 

Quote 1

“And they missed a very big thing, which was freedom. We had secrets to keep and scripts to follow, but no freedom at all. I don’t think Benjamin Franklin would have approved of that.” (p. 167)

I wanted to share this quote because I think it’s very funny and a big coincidence that I talked about the lack of freedom Prenna and her community has in my previous blog and the author also mentioned it in the story. It was very hard for Prenna to stay quiet for so long, that’s why now she asking and responding to all the unmade questions with great joy.

Quote 2

“I am racked with sympathy for people like my mother who don’t want to take any risks or fix the future, bust just want to live another day. Maybe it isn’t corruption or greed that makes you cowardly. Maybe it’s not weakness, suffering, or even fear. Maybe it is love.” (p. 181)

I think that what Prenna is saying here is very true. Sometimes we don’t say or do something because of weakness or fear, we don’t do it because we know that hurting someone we love is worse than any other thing we can do. We do the things we know are right even though it’s hard. That takes a lot of courage.

Conclusion

I’m reaching the end of the book and I wanted to say that I have really enjoyed it and it’s very interesting. It connects to modern day reality in many different ways and talks about problems such as global warming, plagues, and the unreachable utopian society. I believe that in the last couple of chapters, the community counselors will find Ethan and Prenna and they are going to have a fight. It’s possible that Prenna and Ethan will have to continue Mona Ghali’s work or at least find someone who can in order to save the world. Finally, I think that Prenna will have to let go of Ethan to prevent the future of ending in chaos. Don’t miss my next blog to discover the grand finale!

New Discoveries

Summary

As I predicted in the last blog, Ethan saves Prenna and together they escape. After a day traveling, they reach a place in Bronx where the old man wanted Prenna and Ethan to go before his death. Once inside a building in Bronx, they find a room full with documents and things that belonged to Prenna in her past life. Prenna and Ethan search through the documents and discover who will be murdered, where the murder will take place, and the killer; the victim is a scientist named Mona Ghali that Ethan knows a lot about, the place is a lab in Teaneck, and the killer is a man that pretends to be called Andrew Baltos. Mona Ghali's research is very important and Andrew wants to steal it, at least that what Ethan and Prenna think. Prenna and Ethan take all the documents and money they need from the room and head to New Jersey where they create a logic plan to avoid the murder.


Quote #1

"I've wanted to ask him about those pants so many times but shield away. When you ask someone a question, it's an invitation for them to ask you a question, and I could never afford that. It was one question of thousands I hadn't let myself ask." (p. 136)


Before Prenna knew about the counselors controlling her actions, she wasn't allowed to say anything that might reveal she's from the future. I realized that many of her rights such as liberty were taken away. Freedom of speech was taken away from her, and this is a very important right everyone must have. Now she feels free to do and says what she wants. Besides, what's the point of life if we can’t do the things we enjoy and say the things we think?

Quote #2

"I come from an awful place and you come from this lovely one. I am so scared of what I brought from there putting you in danger. We've already done too much." (p. 147)


I think that Prenna is very in love with Ethan and she doesn't want to hurt him in any way. Despite this, I think the community counselors have created a big pressure in Prenna and therefore she feels uncertain when doing some things. On the other hand, Ethan says he doesn't care about the diseases Prenna can carry and he wants to be with her anyway. This also puts Prenna in a difficult situation because if something happens to Ethan, she could feel guilty even though she warned him.


Conclusion

I predict that in the next chapters Prenna and Ethan will have to go to the lab in Teaneck in order to warn Mona Ghali of what is going to happen. Maybe they'll meet Andrew Baltos in the way and have a big discussion with him. Something I'm almost one hundred percent sure about is that the community counselors will find Prenna and Ethan and stop them from avoiding the murder. Be sure to read my next blog to find out what's really going to happen next!

How to Change

Summary

Prenna discovers that all her actions and conversations are controlled by the community counselors through a pair of special glasses that all the community members have. The community counselors don’t want to better the world as they promised, they’re only hiding from the future’s chaos. One day, while Prenna is heading to meet the old man, Ethan appears and tells her that he knows her secret and that they have to believe in everything the old man says to avoid humanities destruction. Prenna leaves quickly to stay away from Ethan and goes to a parking lot where she finds the old man lying on the floor almost dead, the killer gone. Ethan arrives shortly and escapes with Prenna; she wants to go home first, even though it’s risky because the community members don’t want them to avoid the upcoming murder. When they reach Prenna’s house, she is taken by the counselors to a place far away, a place where it’s almost impossible to escape.


Quote 1

“And as he drones on about the deep importance of trust, I sit there gazing at the jelly beans and finally coming to terms with a deep and basic conflict: How can you fix anything if you can’t change anything?" (p. 67)

I think that what Prenna is saying here is very true. How can we fix anything if we can’t change anything? I believe it’s a matter of wisdom. If, to fix something, we can’t change it, then we can’t really do anything. But what we can do is try to not make the same mistake twice.


Quote 2

“And here, I realize, is a thing you can’t undo. When you open yourself to somebody, when you feel these things that you feel, well, what can you do? You can try to ignore it, maybe you can try to forget about it, but you can’t undo it and you can’t give it back.” (p. 75)

What Prenna means in this quote is that she is falling in love with Ethan even though she isn’t supposed to; the community counselors would never accept it because Prenna is from the future and Ethan is not. I think this quote is connected with the other. She fell in love with him and there’s nothing she can do to change her feelings so quickly. Prenna must, for the safety of the people, keep it to herself.


Conclusion

I think that in the next chapters, Ethan will free Prenna and together, they will try to avoid the murder. I believe that they will be persecuted by the community counselors while they are trying to find the man who will be killed or the murder. Finally, I don’t know if Prenna and Ethan will be able to save the world. I once heard in a movie that we can’t change the past, we can only learn from it, so I don’t know if the author agrees with this and incorporates it in her book. Maybe the characters will not save the world, but they can learn how to make it better in the future. Something I really like about this book is that it connects with real life in many aspects. For example, in modern day, Zika is a virus which is killing many people and spreading very quickly. In the story, one of the main reasons why the people from the future escape from the future is because of a Zika epidemic.

Holding on and Letting go

Hi! During this next week I will be blogging about the book "The Here and Now" by Ann Brashares.
 

Summary
 
Prenna James comes from a world where everything has gone wrong. She, along with other people, were able to escape, but now she has to live in a community dominated by rules. There she meets a boy named Ethan Jarves, who knows that she is different, and creates a strong friendship with him. But what Ethan must never discover is that Prenna comes from another time, the future. Strangely, an old, homeless man knows her secrete and tells Prenna that the only way to save the world from the tragedy they both know will happen, she must help him avoid a murder that will take place in three weeks.  


Quote 1
 
"I put my feet flat on the floor as the projector hums to action at the back of the hall, cutting a beam through the dark air and slowly illuminating the first face on the wide screen that hangs behind the old altar. It takes a moment for the shadows and shapes to become a person, to become someone I know or don't know." (p.8)

This quote caught my attention because it has a lot of imagery. The author writes in a way that includes many of our senses. For example, she incorporates sight and hearing when she describes the picture being displayed by the projector, showing how the images begin to evolve and the sound the projector makes. This is a good technique because it makes the reader feel that he or she is part of the scene.
 

Quote 2
 
"Sometimes I only hear what we don't say. I only think the things I shouldn't think and I remember what I should forget." (p.19)
 
I would like to connect this quote to something that's going on in my life right. I try to let go and forget something but it's very hard. But I've learned that it's extremely important to let go of the things that, even though they once made us happy, now causes us great pain. We can't move on until we let go. We can't keep expecting that something will happen because maybe, it never will. This is how we miss all the other beautiful things in life.
 

Conclusion

I think that in the next chapters, Prenna will need to tell Ethan her secrete so he can help her avoid the murder. I believe that Prenna and Ethan will fall in love and, because it's against the rules, something bad will happen. I also predict that Prenna is going to discover why her father didn't escape with her and her mother. I'm really enjoying this book so far and it's very interesting; hopefully, you find my bogs interesting and entertaining as well. Don't forget to read my next posts to find out what will happen next! 

The Power of Love

Summary
After finishing reading the story to Allie, Noah and Allie go for a walk and get to know each other, since Allie has forgotten many things. Noah has to lie about somethings, like his and her name, so she won’t feel sad about forgetting people and events that were so important for her. For a moment during dinner, Allie remembers Noah, but instants later her disease affects her and she forgets again. Despite this Noah doesn’t give up; one night, he goes back to Allie’s room, she wakes up and remembers him! All the acts Noah did to revive their love finally gave result.

Quote 1

“Dusk I realized then, is just an illusion, because the sun is either above the horizon or below it. And that means that day and night are linked in a way that few things are; there cannot be one without the other, yet they cannot exist at the same time. How would it feel, I remember wondering, to be always together, yet forever apart?” (p. 176)


From this quote, I would like to recognize the poetic way it was written in. The author uses a simile to compare the characters life at this moment with the relationship between day and night. What Noah tries to say is that he is close to Allie, they live together in the same retirement house and spend some time together, but yet they aren't connected anymore because of Allie's sickness. 


Quote 2

"That life is simply a collection of little lives, each loved one at a time. " (p. 182)


I think that behind this quote there is a beautiful message. Each day we learn new things, we share our thoughts and stories, but most importantly we create new experiences and memories. Every day we have to live it without regrets, seeing the positive side of the life that's been given to us. 


Conclusion
I would definitely recommend this book, especially to teenage girls. It shows that true love does exist and never disappears, even if 60 years pass. Throughout the book, the author used many forms of writing that makes the book more enjoyable. There are metaphors, similes, techniques such as imagery and parts of poems. It’s I book you can’t miss reading. I hope you enjoyed my blogs about “The Notebook” by Nicholas Sparks as much as I enjoyed the book.

Bad News on the Way

Summary

The day after the big storm, Noah and Allie are visited by Allie’s mom, who tells them that Lon is in his way to New Bern. Allie feels very confused and doesn’t know what to do; she loves Noah and wants to stay with him, but if she does, she will hurt many people. Allie decides to leave Noah and talk to Lon. Noah, 80 years old, finishes telling the story to Allie, who doesn’t know that the story is about her nor knows who the man reading to her is. She has Alzheimer.

Quote 1

“If not for my diaries, I would swear I had lived only half as long as I have. Long periods of my life seem to have vanished. And even now I read the passages and wonder who I was when I wrote them, for I cannot remember the events of my life. There are times I sit and wonder where it all has gone.” (p. 163)

My first though after reading this quote was that we have to enjoy life and live in the moment, because once that moment is gone, we it can´t be recovered. The only way to re-live it is with our memories.

Quote 2

“No drowning man can know which drop of water his last breath did stop; … A wise poet’s words, yet they brought me no comfort. I don’t know what they meant or why I thought of them.” (p. 168)

When the doctors told Noah that his wife had Alzheimer, he thought about this quote but didn’t know why or its meaning. I think that it means that a person who know that’s dying doesn’t know what they’ll really die from in the end.

Conlcusion

I think that Noah doesn’t tell Allie who the girl in the story ends marrying because he wants to see if she remembers him or their past. I believe that in the end, Allie will remember Noah. The book is about to end and I must say that it’s one of the most beautiful loves stories I’ve read.  It’s written in a very wonderful way, it has some poetry and it’s highly entertaining. Don’t forget to read the last blogpost for this book!