The Hole We're In

Last week, I started to read a new book called The Hole We're In. I found this book because it is by the same author (Gabrielle Zevin) as another book I recently read named Elsewhere. It caught my eye because of that. I noticed since I have been reading this book, that the author is not writing in the same way as she did in Elsewhere. In Elsewhere, the main character is talking and explaining and we only know what is happening from her point of view. In The Hole We're In, there are two main characters and the author writes in both of their voices. As a result, we know both character's points of view.

At the beginning of The Hole We're In, one of the main characters, Roger, is at his second son's high school graduation. Roger was the Vice Principal of the high school is son went to. During the graduation, Roger is thinking that if he got a PhD he would be more successful and make more money. So, he goes to school to get a PhD and he and his wife move but since he is not working anymore, the wife Georgia has to work as well. Even with her job, however, they are still not making that much money. The timing could not have been worse because it is their daughter's wedding soon. The daughter keeps nagging Georgia about getting wedding invations and other things that are very expensive. Georgia is very worried about how to support her family. Meanwhile, Roger gets a promotion to write a book with a very famous author. He is not sure if he should take it because it will require a lot of work and he will only get half of the money. His family needs money. He decides to take the job. He is very excited to write the book and also worried.

In this book, the characters are very interesting and they seem very alive like they are real people. The book is ok, but I am not sure if I am going to like it because the subject matter seems a little boring. I have a feeling it will get more interesting.

Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall

I recently started reading the book "Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall." I found this book when I looked on the back and it seemed a lot like the book I just read, "Elsewhere." In both of these books, there is a girl and she is dead. She is trying to figure out where she is in both books. In "Elsewhere," a girl named Liz is on a boat and ends up in a place called Elsewhere. But in "Heaven Looks a Lot like the Mall," the girl Tessa is in her hometown mall. Tessa realizes right away that she is dead because she remembers that she was playing dodgeball and she didn't duck before ball hit her and snapped her neck. But in "Elsewhere," it takes a long time to figure out Liz is dead because she was hit by a car and her death came fast. In "Heaven Looks a Lot Like the Mall," Tessa is wondering why she is in the mall by her house. She realizes that nobody is there, but she goes to the hot dog stand and a hot is right there, waiting for her with her name on it. Then she wonders if the mall is heaven for her because both of her parents work there on earth and she loves it. But then her dad's heaven would be a bowling alley because he loves bowling. But then she goes to bed and wakes up laying in a hospital, and then a couple seconds later she is in the mall again. She keeps getting visions that she is in the hospital. Then when she is in the mall, she goes out to look for somebody. She finds a boy and asks if she is half-dead because she is healthy and normal in the mall, but hospitalized on earth. So she thinks she is half-dead because she is in heaven but still sick on earth.

The book Heaven looks a lot like the mall is by Wendy Mass. I think this book will get very good and can't wait to finish it