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Dead is just a Review

Dead is Just a Rumor By Marlene Perez.  Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010
                                                                                 Genre: Young Adult, Paranormal, fiction


        Daisy Giordano is a senior in Nightshade high school who has paranormal powers like her sisters. She works at a diner called Slim's, and is friends with the worker there named Flo and the invisible man himself, Slim. Daisy Giordano and her family finally have their father back, after he'd been taken by the Anti-Supernatural Society known as the Scourge. After her mother's long investigation in Italy, they're all happy to have him back. Sort of. He's been missing for six years, and still thinks of Daisy as his little 12 year old girl. He watches over her, disapproves of her ware wolf boyfriend Ryan and worries about her way too much. It can be super overwhelming. The 200th anniversary of Nightshade is near and to celebrate, the party is being held at Mrs.Wilder's huge mansion. Daisy entered a contest for a trip for two to the Bahamas but has come in second place, winning cooking lessons with a famous chef Circe Silvertonge. Circe has lived in Nightshade growing up and has returned to publish her new cookbook. Daisy soon realized something weird about her. She puts a special powder in all of her dishes and has a pet pig who gets yelled at constantly. Envelopes with red wax on them have been showing up in town, and no one who has received one wants to talk about them or they contain. The 200th birthday party of this paranormal town caused another mystery for Daisy to solve. As Daisy focused on her dress in the mirror of the mansion, Mrs. Wilder said :Lily! Where have you been? Daisy quickly corrected her and wondered why she would say that. It turns out that Lily was Mrs. Wilder's sister that disappeared at a similar ball years ago, along with her boyfriend, Bam. No one knew what happened to them and neither of them were ever found. Later at Slim's diner, Circe wants to buy Lil the jukebox, who is Daisy's dead grandmother communicating to her through songs. She wants it but for no reason. Lil keeps playing songs like "Bad Woman" every time Circe walks in. Finally, the contents of the letters are revealed. They are blackmail letters, and someone seems to know that the people in town are supernatural creatures. But who is sending them? Daisy works with her mom, sisters, friends, and boyfriend to try to find out all of these mysteries. Whats in the powder of Circe's dishes, Where Lily and Bam are, and who is sending the letters?                                                                                                                         

      ""Dead is" books are like reconnecting with an old friend and hearing how they have been doing since then. Excellent and fun to read. Highly recommended." Dead is Just a Rumor Online Review by Deep Thoughts blog. 
 
        The writing style in all of the "Dead is..." books are mainly Daisy thoughts, words and actions. The words are mainly what is happening in Daisy's head. She thinks about all of the mysteries and all of the clues and things she needs to solve them. Marlene Perez makes a lot of cliffhangers and makes the series really interesting for a young adult's perspective.

      " I nodded. "he says he doesn't want to talk about it." My dad had been through a traumatic experience. Most of Nightshade had thought he'd run of with another woman..." (page 6)  


        After reading the first 3 books in the series i have grown to become mental friends with the characters. I feel like I really know them and picture what they're going through. I like the theme of paranormal and out of this world. I want to read the next book to see what other mysteries Daisy has to solve. I liked that there were more than 1 mystery because it was cool to watch Daisy get through them all. I wish I could have her powers to move things with my mind and read other people's minds. It seems really interesting to me how these books get better and better. I love Lil the jukebox because its neat how she can communicate to Daisy through song. I wish i could have something like that to tell me things or to warn me about certain people or events. Over all I love these books the second i started reading them and i hope she makes more.

                      I gave Dead is Just a Rumor 4 paws- Pounce on it.









                 
       

English essay-

characters:

Katniss from catching fire

Allie from Everlost

essay:

Its been a few years since Allie got into a car crash with Nick. The complete strangers are now best friends. As they were going through the so called "tunnel of light" they bumped into each other and didn't fully die. Instead they are stuck in a world called Everlost. They came across enemies and  defeated them. They also freed some kids that were trapped in a tower repeating the same activities. Now that there's no enemies, Allie and Nick can now do anything they want. They're half-dead so they can't eat or touch anything that's in the living world. They could hang out with their friend, Leaf, or make some other friends. They are recent afterlights (what people of Everlost call themselves) so they could explore different parts of Everlost if they wanted too. Nick decided to look for other friends while Allie went exploring on the coast. No one knows what Everlost is or how its even existing. No one knows how to escape Everlost to get back to the living world, or how to fully die. The half-dead souls of this unknown world don't need food or sleep, instead they need company. Company is their source of energy and health and everything really. There is one main concern of Everlost though. Its water. If an afterlight goes in any water source for example, the ocean, they immediately sink to the bottom and they are never to be seen again. No one dares to go find them though.

Allie is a little different from the other afterlights. She has rare skills like very few of Everlost's people. She can pick up living objects and control people's bodies. Also known as skinjacking. Allie has long blonde hair and was only 12 when she got in a car crash with Nick and half-died, so she is very strong and brave. Allie continued her walk along the coast and was skimming rocks along the shimmering water. She looked out at the sea and glanced at the boardwalk with broken-down rides. The carousel was all rusty and the horses were missing parts. Some of the gold long spiral poles that went from their heads to the top of the carousel were broken in half too.  You could hear carnival music playing softly, if you stood close enough. Allie was relieved at the thought that there was no more enemies to defeat. The only worry she had was understanding Everlost and what it is. She is now safe and calm and free to do whatever she wants. Of course this seems too good to be true, so that's when things went wrong. Before Allie could even blink she could feel herself tremble into the water. All she felt was the salt water swishing through her transparent body, and hitting the ground with such force that knocked her out for a while.

Allie blinked a few times before she regained consciousness The sun was really bright and for the first time since Allie entered Everlost, she could feel things. She felt pain in her body and she also felt the damp clothes rubbing against her skin. The grass flowing through her soft fingers. Allie felt her heart pounding as loud and strong as possible. She felt her lungs fill with air and then slowly empty. She was alive. Her brain was full of so much confusion, exhaustion and concern. She laid on the green grass for a while with the powerful sun blaring on her clear skin. Allie didn't care to acknowledge her surroundings until she was spoken to by a soft girls voice.

"Hello? Are you ok?" said the girl.

Allie sat up with her body still aching. She looked at the girl. She was tall and looked around 16 or 17. She had long, brown hair tied back in a braid. She wore a black T-Shirt, long pants, boots, and a jacket with pockets. She reached her hand out to Allie. Allie, trusting the girl, grasped her hand and stood up. She almost fell over due to the gravity she hasn't felt in a long time.

"Hi, I'm Katniss. Are you ok?" she asked again.

Allie finally spoke, "Hi, I'm Allie and yeah im ok i guess."

Allie glanced around the area.

"Where am I?"

"You're in district 12." Katniss stated.

Allie was confused. "what's district 12?"

"District 12. You know, the smallest of the 12 districts. We specialize in coal and mining. The Capitol chooses people to become tributes for the Hunger Games, like me." Katniss says.

Allie was speechless. She has no clue what's going on. Allie asks the question,

"The hunger games? What's that?"

Katniss sighs briefly "You're not from here are you. Come. I'll show you around."

Allie doesn't have much options so she just follows Katniss. They walk around the district and Allie is introduced to people and is brought into buildings.

"This district isn't the wealthiest as you can see but we're strong and have good hearts."

Allie just smiles. "Whats that?"

Allie asked pointing to a huge fence.

"Oh yeah, that. That’s an electrical fence that surrounds the district so no one can get in or out. But I go over it anyway. I love it in the woods."

"Oh." says Allie.

There is a short pause.

"How did u get in here?" Katniss adds.

"I honestly don't know. All i remember is waking up to your voice." Allie said. "Oh that's not good..." says Katniss.

 They walk to the fence and find a tree that's near it.

"Do you want me to show you around the woods?" asked Katniss.

"Sure. How do we get over?" asked Allie.

Katniss looks up at the tree grabs a sturdy branch. She pulls herself up and manages to grab Allies hand and pull her up too. They both climb opposite of the tree and hop down, getting over the fence easily. They give each other a high-five and smile.

"I've never climbed a tree before haha" says Allie.

"You haven't!" Says Katniss shocked. "I've been climbing trees ever since I was a little girl. My dad taught me actually..." Katniss continues to talk about her dad and how he died in a coal mining accident. Katniss brings Allie to the little house that use to be her dads. Its beat up but cozy and warm. It has a fireplace and a table and chairs. It has a faint musty smell but they both don't mind at all. Katniss takes some bread out of her bag and splits it with Allie. Allie eats the bread and feels it go down her throat and into her stomach. Tasting food felt so new and good to Allie. She realizes that she can eat now. Allie grins at the thought. Katniss starts a small fire and then they talk about many things. About themselves, about life, even the hunger games were described. Allie was shocked by that. She thought it was cruel what they do. The house is next to a lake but Allie says she doesn't swim. Shes just afraid that if she goes in she might die ,sink again and return to everlost, or something like that. The house has a hook which holds a bow and arrows. Katniss catches Allie looking at them so she offers to show her some hunting tips. She goes outside with Allie following her.

"Watch this!" she says  with confidence.

Allie focuses on Katniss's hands and concentration. She takes a deep breath and pulls back the arrow with the bow. She whistles and a flock of birds just arose from the ground like something was attacking them. Katniss aims and releases the arrow into the sky. The sight was amazing. The green vibrant trees with the sunlight reflecting off the moist leaves. The smell of woods and birds chirping Allie was amazed when she saw that the arrow hit not one, but two birds.

Katniss smiled and said "You wanna' try?"

"Sure" said Allie.

There was a target close by, nailed to a tree. Katniss guided Allie and helped her aim.

"Whenever you're ready." said Katniss.

Allie let the arrow go and it flew through the sky and landed right in the center if the target.

Allie was so excited she screamed, "WHOO HOO!!!"

They both laughed and went back inside the small house. Katniss put the arrows and bow back and grabbed her bag. They walked out of the woods and got over the fence again.

"That was fun" said Allie.

"It was. I'm usually all alone in there or with my friend Gale, but now I have you." said Katniss.

Katniss walked to her house and introduced Allie to her mom and little sister Prim. They were both glad to meet Allie, who looks very similar to Prim. They talked all night in the living room. Prim french braided Allie's hair and gave her clean clothes. Katniss helped her mom prepare dinner and they ate at the table. When night appeared, they were all exhausted. Allie was offered a bed with clean sheets and a flower designed comforter.

Allie hugged Katniss and said "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. now get to bed." Katniss replied smiling, turning off her light off, and shutting her and door.

When it was morning Allie felt amazing. She's never slept in a long time, being half-dead and all, but now that she's alive she can rest and dream. The sunlight shone through her window and warmed Allie's skin. She got up and used the bathroom. There's a lot of things Allie can do now that shes alive. "Good morning Allie!" says Prim.

"Good morning Prim." They smile and go downstairs still in their pajamas. Katniss is in the kitchen making them breakfast.

"Good Morning Ladies, how would you like your eggs?" says Katniss

"Over easy thank you," says Allie.

"Ok, and Prim, the usual?" asks Katniss.

"Yup" says Prim.

Katniss puts two over easy eggs and juice in front of Allie and two sunny side up eggs and milk in front off prim. Katniss eats toast and juice. They all take showers and they get changed and walk to some food stalls and shops. They go back to the house and just talk and become really close. It's now night. Allie wants to tell them about Everlost, even though they probably won't believe her. Allie waited for a good time to break the news. There is a long pause and then laughter.

"HAHAHA!"

Allie laughs too and says "I'm serious though!"

"Sure." says Prim. Katniss and Prim still laughing.

Allie just gives up realizing no one would ever in a million years believe her. They eat again and go to bed. A year later Allie is basically living there and considered Katniss and Prim her sisters. She loved it there. Allie still wonders about her parents who she hasn't seen since the car accident before any of this happened. She also wonders about Nick, if he is ok, and if he will ever find her. But thats too much to think about all the time. Instead Allie faces the reality shes living in right now and accepts herself and new home. Allie has a new life to live.

      The End