The Knife of Never Letting Go (BR #14)

By Patrick Ness

Setting

The Knife of Never Letting Go takes place in the colonial town of Prentisstown on the planet called New World. On New World, there is an alien race known as the Spackle. The Spackle went to war with the human colonists, and though they were wiped out, the Spackle released a germ that allowed animals to talk and another that allowed everybody to read everybody else's mind. These thoughts that people can hear is call 'The Noise.' The Noise was responsible for killing all of the women in Prentisstown. Prentisstown is now a slowly-decaying town so loud with Noise that it is almost unbearable.

Summary

Todd Hewitt is a boy in Prentisstown whose parents died. He lives with Cillian and Ben, both friends of his parents. Todd is the youngest kid in Prentisstown and was born shortly before all the women in the town died. When Todd and his dog Manchee find a spot without Noise in the swamp outside the town, his life changes. After he tells Ben and Cillian about the Silence, Todd has to go on the run, being chased by the men of Prentisstown. As he runs, Todd finds something he never expected: a girl. Together the girl, named Viola, Manchee, and Todd run for their lives from the men of Prentisstown, and Todd begins to realize that the life he has known has all been a lie.

Characters

Todd Hewitt

Todd is a boy from Prentisstown. In one month, he will become a man at the age of 13. Todd is an interesting character because of his ideas of becoming a man. Throughout the story, Todd tries to come to terms with the new truths in his life and tries to find out how this changes his definition of manhood.

Viola Eade

Viola is a girl from a crashed scout ship for a fleet of colonists who are coming to New World. She is very shy with Todd at first, but the two later make a good team and she keeps Todd from doing stupid decisions throughout the book. She is a very interesting character and I think she has the most realistic personality out of all the characters.

Aaron

Aaron is the crazy religious leader of Prentisstown. For some reason, he held Viola hostage at the beginning of the book and later chases both Viola and Todd through the New World. Throughout the book, you think he is just a madman, but you find out about his reason, even if they are still completely insane.

Manchee

Manchee is Todd's talking dog. He doesn't say much, but he is one of the most likable characters in the entire book.

Ben Moore

Ben is one of Todd's adopted parents. He is probably Todd's favorite person in the entire world and he helps to save Todd's life multiple times in the book.

Conclusion

The book is very interesting and keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time. The ending was so good, though I hated it so much. This book deserves to be read by everyone. 9.8 out of 11 waffles.

Mortal Engines (BR #13)

By Philip Reeve

Setting

Mortal Engines takes place on Earth several hundred years in the future. The world was destroyed in a nuclear holocaust known as the Sixty Minute War. This war led to a loss of technology along with several types of natural disasters, so traction cities, or cities on wheels, were made to escape these natural disasters. These cities would eat smaller cities. The idea of Municipal Darwinism came about, stating that large cities should eat smaller cities, and smaller cities should eat towns, and towns should eat stationary settlements. The main opposition to the traction cities and to Municipal Darwinism is the Anti-Traction League, which protects itself from the large traction cities with a mixture of natural and man-made barriers. In this world, archaeologists dig up pieces of Old Tech, or technology from before the Sixty Minute War, which they sell to cities for historical or technological purposes. The book takes place when traction cities are running out and cities are looking for new sources of prey.

Summary

In the book, the narrator follows Tom Natsworthy, a teenage boy from the city of London. He is an apprentice in the Guild of Historians in London (There are four guilds in London: Navigators, Engineers, Historians, and Merchants). His life is pretty normal until he tries to stop a girl, Hester Shaw, from killing Thaddeus Valentine, the head of the Guild of Historians. After Hester Shaw falls off of London, Valentine pushes Tom out of the city as well. As Tom and Hester try to make their way back to London, Katherine, Valentine's daughter, works with a young engineer named Bevis Pod to uncover the mysteries surrounding London, Valentine, and the Lord Mayor of London, Magnus Crome.

Characters

Tom Natsworthy

Tom was an orphaned child from London working as an apprentice for the Guild of Historians. He dreamed of adventure until he found his way into one when he is pushed out of London by Thaddeus Valentine. In the world outside of London, Tom is very inexperienced and just wants to get back home, but overall, Tom is a very interesting character who's life and attitude changes over the course of the book.

Hester Shaw

Hester Shaw is a girl who witnessed Thaddeus Valentine kill her parents over a piece of Old Tech. Valentine also cut Shaw's face, disfiguring it horribly, before Shaw was able to escape. She is completely bent on taking her revenge on Valentine. Shaw is also very interesting and is easy to relate too.

Katherine Valentine

Katherine is the daughter of Thaddeus Valentine, and she completely adores her father, but when Tom 'fell' out of London after saving Thaddeus from Hester Shaw, she begins to get suspicious of her father and of Magnus Crome, the Lord Mayor of London. She takes it upon herself to investigate what really is happening in London.

Thaddeus Valentine

Valentine is one of the most powerful men in London. He used to be an archaeologist, but something that he gave to Lord Mayor Crome led to his promotion to the Head of the Guild of Historians. Valentine's past is mysterious and he does whatever Crome asks of him. He acts as one of the main antagonists of the story.

Anne Fang

Anne Fang is an aviatrix, or pilot. Though airplanes are lost technology, pilots still fly blimps and balloons. Fang is also a spy for the Anti-Traction League. She, like Katherine, is trying to understand the mysteries of London. She is a likable character, but is not very dynamic within the book.

Bevis Pod

Bevis is an apprentice engineer in London. He knows some of the terrible things that are going on beneath the surface in London. He tries to help Katherine to find out what is happening in London, and later on, he helps her to stop what London is about to do.

Magnus Crome

Magnus Crome is the main antagonist of the story. He is the Lord Mayor of London as well as the head of the Guild of Engineers. He has plans to make London greater than any other traction city on Earth, though much of his plan is shrouded in mystery.

Shrike (Grike)

Shrike (or Grike in North America) is a stalker. Stalkers are metal men with human brains who were made before the Sixty Minute War. They cannot die unless killed. Shrike helped to raise Hester Shaw after her parents were killed, and later, under the orders of Magnus Crome, goes after her and Tom to kill them.

Conclusion

The book is very well written and develops its main characters well. The ending of the book is completely unpredictable and makes you sad, happy, and shocked all at the same time. I truly enjoyed this book. 9.5 waffles our of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #9

We Bought A Zoo

Setting

The story mainly takes place in a city and in the zoo some ways outside of said city. This movie takes place in the present day.

Summary

Benjamin Mee, the father of two children and who's wife recently died, decides to move from his old house. The house he thinks is perfect turns out to be a zoo. Benjamin and his two children, Dylan and Rosie, come to the rundown zoo, hoping to repair it. With the help of the small zoo staff and his children, Benjamin Mee works to fix the zoo and find a way to pay for it before the zoo's opening day. In the process, Benjamin learns more about himself, his kids, and learns to move on from his wife.

Characters

Benjamin Mee

Benjamin is the main character of the story. He is the father who decides to buy the zoo. Throughout the story, he struggles with his relationship with his son. Mee also struggles to make ends meet while trying to fix up the zoo. His feeling are really made clear by all the emotional highs and lows Benjamin has.

Kelly Foster

Kelly Foster is the lead zookeeper. She is also one of the most devoted to getting the zoo back into its previous glory. She is the staff member who trusts that Benjamin will make it through the most. She also serves as a love interest for Benjamin.

Dylan Mee

Dylan is the oldest child of Benjamin. He is still saddened by the death of his mom, and his relationship with his father has grown more and more tense, especially after Dylan was expelled from school. He hates that his family moved to the zoo and that none of his friends came to visit him. He also is so wrapped up in trying to get back home that he is completely oblivious to that fact that his longing for his old home is breaking up his friendship with Lily.

Rosie Mee

Rosie Mee is the youngest child of Benjamin and is also the one who convinced him to buy the zoo. She does not play much else in terms of plot significance other than a constant source of comic relief.

Duncan Mee

Duncan is Benjamin's older brother. Duncan serves as Benjamin's call back down to Earth. He tries to get Benjamin to get over his wife and later to get over the zoo. Benjamin ignores both of those bits of advice, but Duncan plays the ever important voice of reality.

Lily Miska

Lily is Kelly's 13-year old sister who is home-schooled and works at the zoo. She does not play a major role in the film other than having a few key lines and as a love interest for Dylan.

Walter Ferris

Walter Ferris is the closest thing to an antagonist in the film. He is the zoo inspector who is very arrogant and strict. The zoo must meet Ferris's standards if they want to get the zoo opened at all.

Peter MacCreedy

Peter is the zoo's carpenter who created many innovative ideas for the enclosures in the zoo. He believes that many of his ideas were stolen by Walter Ferris. The first time Walter comes to inspect the zoo, Peter says he will kill Ferris and is locked in the bathroom to keep him under control. The second time Ferris comes, MacCreedy gets himself drunk in order to get the zoo passed the inspection. This is a great addition to the movie, and it shows how dedicated these people are to the zoo.

Conclusion

The movie was a feel good movie, and it was good at it. The movie made me all warm and fuzzy, even if some of the scenes were a bit annoying. I rate this movie 8.5 out of 11 penguins.h

Brain Spill Book Review #12

The Gatekeepers

By Jacques Steinberg

Setting

The Gatekeepers is a nonfiction book that takes place in the late 20th Century and the early 21st Century. The story is focused around the Wesleyan University.

Summary

The book follows Ralph Figueroa, an admissions officer at Wesleyan, as he advertises Wesleyan and as he decides whether or not to admit certain applicants or not.

Characters

Ralph Figueroa

Ralph was an admissions officer at Wesleyan at the time when the book took place. Ralph comes from a Hispanic family from southern California, and he feels connected to the students from bad backgrounds that apply to Wesleyan.

Julianna Bentes

Julianna is a prospective Wesleyan student who attended Harvard-Westlake school on scholarship. Being that she is ethnically Brazilian, African, and Caucasian, she dances, and she has good grades, she is one of the top students in the United States. 

Migizi Pensoneau

Migizi is a Native American attending a prep school. Although he had below-average grades before attending the prep school, Migizi's ethnicity and SAT scores make him attractive to quite a few schools, including Wesleyan.

Jordan Goldman

Jordan is a student from Staten Island who is an aspiring writer. Although told not to, Jordan wants to send samples of his writing with is application. He also  is best friends with Devin, a boy who cannot stand on his own. His friendship with Devin is what he writes about in one of his college essays.

Becca Jannol

Becca is the president of  Harvard-Westlake. She has average grades and SAT scores and she once accepted a marijuana-laced brownie. When the student who brought the brownies to school was caught, Becca was the only student to admit that she accepted a brownie. After Becca decides to write about this in her admissions essay, the reactions from colleges vary, though Ralph wants to get Becca into Wesleyan.

Aggie Ramirez

Aggie is from a Hispanic background. She attends a private school and is school president. She, unfortunately, has low SAT and senior year grades. The rest of her grades are fine, though. She also says that her bad senior grades are due to her overload of extracurricular activities. She is, though, a prospective student at Wesleyan.

Tiffany Wang

Tiffany is a northern Californian Asian-American. Tiffany had average grades and was active in extracurricular activities, but she fails to expand on them in her essay. She does have a chance at getting accepted at Wesleyan, though.

Conclusion

The book was very interesting and really gets the reader connected with the characters. The book does go off on several rabbit trails, though, but I liked it. 7 waffles out of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #8

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

Setting

Journey 2 takes place in the modern world sometime after Journey to the Center of the Earth took place. In this universe, the works of Jules Verne were actually true. There actually was a way to the center of the Earth and a Mysterious Island. Those who believe that the works of Verne are true are known as Vernians. 

Summary

After Sean Anderson, a Vernian who was present in The Journey to the Center of the Earth, has received a radio message in code from a Vernian, Sean and his stepfather, Hank Parsons, decipher the code, which gives the location of the Mysterious Island. Sean believes the message was sent by his grandfather, who has been missing, so Hank and Sean, along with their helicopter pilot, Gabato, and his daughter, Kailani, travel to the Mysterious Island, where they crash land on the beach. They soon meet Alexander Anderson, Sean's grandfather, but they also discover that the island will sink within the next few days, so the five of them read through Verne's book to discover how to survive and escape the Mysterious Island.

Characters

Sean Anderson

Sean Anderson is the only connecting character from the first movie. His father died while trying to discover the passage to the Center of the Earth. He relationship with his stepfather, Hank, is very tense because of the fact that some many people have deserted Sean in the past. Sean is also the main expert on the works of Verne and other authors brought up throughout the book.

Hank Parsons

Hank Parsons is Sean's stepfather. He, throughout the movie, is trying to build a solid relationship with Sean. He does have a rather tense relationship with Alexander Anderson, who is constantly making fun of Hank. Hank seems to be from retired military, and he is probably the strongest person on the team from the Mysterious Island.

Kailani

Kailani is Gabato's daughter. She helps him with his helicopter tour company, but she really wants to go to college. The only reason Kailani and Gabato agree to transport Hank and Sean is to get money for Kailani's college. Her main purpose, though, is to serve as a love interest for Sean. 

Alexander Anderson

Alexander Anderson is a Vernian and Sean's grandfather. Alexander is the one with knowledge of the Mysterious Island and knows how to navigate and survive the island, because he's been living there for about two years. He has a strained relationship with Sean because he has never really been there for Sean, even when Sean's father died.

Gabato

Gabato is Kailani's father and the owner of a helicopter tour company. His only real purpose in the film is as a source of comic relief throughout the film. In the story, he sort of has a real goal, which is to get his daughter to college, but even this just leads to more comedy. 

Conclusion

The movie is funny, fun, and interesting. It develops all its main characters fairly well and has a consistent pace. It makes good connections to the Verne books it references, but sometimes they stretch the examples a bit too far, like with Stevenson's Treasure Island or with Swift's Gulliver's Travels. The movie was , overall very fun. 6.55 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Book Review #11

As I Lay Dying

By William Faulkner

Setting

This book takes place near Jefferson, Missouri before or during 1930.

Summary

Addie Bundren, the mother of the Bundren family, dies, but her final wish was to be buried over the river in the city of Jefferson. Her family builds her a coffin and starts to transport her to Jefferson, but along the way, they run into many difficulties, including broken bridges, broken legs, burning barns, and dead mules.

Characters

Darl

Darl is the second child of Addie and Anse Bundren. He is also, in my opinion, the main narrator of the book, though there are fifteen. People talk about him because he is a bit different, but he seems to be more level headed than most. He does do some strange things, though. For example, he set a barn on fire.

Anse Bundren

Anse is the father of the Bundren family. He is known for trying to find the way to finish a job with the least amount of work, but he promised Addie that he would bury her in Jefferson, so he won't accept any alternative plan. He tends to mumble to himself a lot and doesn't accept help from anybody when he is in need of some.

Jewel

Jewel is the third son of Anse and Addie. He has a horse that he worked to get and is so obsessed with the horse that Darl says that Jewel's mother was a horse. He likes to yell and cuss at people and is one of the more annoying characters.

Cash

Cash is the oldest son of the Bundrens. He is a good carpenter, but like his father, Cash tries to do things the easy way. He does, however, work hard on his mother's coffin. His role is as the narrator when other people  are doing things more important.

Dewey Dell

Dewey Dell is the daughter of Anse and Addie. She is a caring sister. A bit too caring, though. By the end of the book, it becomes obvious that she is pregnant, but then the book ends, and nobody important knows she is pregnant and nothing happens about that.

Vernon Tull

Tull is the neighbor of the Bundrens, and tries to help them all the time, but every time he does, Anse turns him away.

Vardaman

Vardaman is the youngest Bundren brother. His is a bit crazy and thinks that his mother is not the dead lady in the coffin, but the fish he caught and cut up earlier that day. He doesn't really do anything else in the book than say that his mother is a fish.

Addie Bundren

She is a dead person, but for some reason, she is still able to narrate part of the book.

Conlusion

Very little happens in the book and what does happen is not interesting. All the characters are annoying and make stupid decisions. 3 out of 11 waffles.

Brain Spill Movie Review #7

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Setting

Earth. Modern Times. Nothing unusual.

Summary

Dr. Alfred Jones is a man who works for the British government as an expert on salmon fisheries. He is contacted by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, a representative for Sheikh Muhammed, a wealthy Yemeni who is fond of salmon fishing in Scotland. Sheikh wants to bring salmon and salmon fishing to Yemen. Though he thinks it is impossible to bring salmon fishing to Yemen, Jones is forced to work exclusively on this project because Patricia Maxwell, the prime minister's press adviser believes this could bring better Anglo-Yemeni relations. The plot revolves around Jones, Harriet, and Muhammed trying to make this dream a reality despite opposition from both the British and the Yemeni.

Characters

Dr. Alfred "Fred" Jones

Fred Jones is a man who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, which leads to difficulties in social interaction and to a repetitive and restricted life style. In Jones's case, this lifestyle includes going to his government job every day and doing little to nothing. This is what makes the Yemeni salmon fishing project even more difficult for Jones. Jones changes over the course of the film. His lifestyle, beliefs, and attitude all change over the course of the film.

Harriet Chetwode-Talbot

Chetwode-Talbot is the representative who comes and contacts Jones about the project. She also helps to contact certain people about the project, including the engineers of the Three Gorges Dam. She has a boyfriend in the army who goes missing in action early in the film, whom she mourns for a good deal of the film. Her outlook on life and her attitude towards Jones both change as the film plays its course.

Sheikh Muhammed

Sheikh Muhammed is a wealthy Yemeni who initiated and sponsored the salmon fishing project. He is a devoted fly-fisher and also a devote Muslim. He believes that fishing is much like religion and brings out many of the virtues in a man.

Patricia Maxwell

Maxwell is the press adviser of the prime minister of Great Britain. She is the one who gets Jones on the fishing project in the first place. She will try to find solutions for problems in the fishing project, but she just as easily drop government support of the project if it doesn't go the way she wants it to. 

Conclusion

The movie was very nice and had a good plot. I didn't really like the whole love part of the story, but the movie was overall very nice. 8.25 out of 11 penguins.