Michael Vey - Why this book?

I chose to read Michael Vey because I have heard a lot about the books from my family, and from reading the summaries I thought that it would be a book that would interest me. After reading this this book, I could make some connections to the main character. He is a teenage boy in high school-with many of the problems that most teenage boys deal with. Of course, he does deal with many more problems that average teenage boys do not have to deal with, but there is still the connection there. An example of a problem that he deals with is deciding who are his real friends, and who are not. I have seen myself dealing with this problem in the past year or so as well.

I would recommend these books for others to read, simply because it is a great book. I would recommend this book especially to youth in between the age of 11-18 years of age. I think that is the age group that would enjoy the book the most because most of the characters are around that age as well, but of course I think that other people-younger or older-would enjoy these books as well.

Michael Vey- Third post

""Have you found the last two?" The voice on the phone was angry and coarse, like the sound of car tires over broken glass. "Not yet," the well-dressed man on the other end of the phone replied. "Not yet. But we believe we're close-and they still don't know that we're hunting them.” "You believe you're close?" “They’re two children among a billion-finding them is like finding a lost chopstick in China.”“Is that what you want me to tell the board?” “Remind the board that I’ve already found fifteen of the seventeen children. I’ve put out a million-dollar bounty on the last two, we’ve got spiders crawling the Web, and we have a whole team of investigators scanning global records for their whereabouts. It’s just a matter of time before we find them-or they step into one of our traps.”“Time isn’t on our side,” the voice returned sharply. “Those kids are already too old. You know how difficult they are to turn at this age.”“I know better than anyone,” the well-dressed man said, tapping his ruby-capped pen on his desk. “But I have my ways. And if they don’t turn, there’s always Cell 25.”There was a long pause, then the voice on the phone replied darkly, “Yes. There’s always Cell 25.""  

This quote is from pages 3-4 from the first book of the Michael Vey trilogy by Richard Paul Evans. In this quote, the well-dressed man is Dr.Hatch, who I have described in my previous posts. In this quote, he is explaining the results of his efforts to find the last two electric children-Michael and Taylor. By explaining what is doing to try and find Michael and Taylor, he shows that he is ruthless and willing to do anything to find all of the electric children. When he says, "And if they don't always turn...", the word turn in this phrase is describing the condition of their loyalty to Dr.Hatch. So if they do turn, then they will become loyal to him. But if they don't turn, then they will face Cell 25, which is basically a torture chamber that Dr.Hatch developed for rebellious children that makes them turn. 

Michael Vey - Characterization and more

As the book progresses, we see more of the electrical children joining Michael's cause. New characters include: Zeus, Grace, Ian, Abigail, Makenna, Jack, and Wade. They have even made a name for their club/resistance- The Electroclan. The Electroclan is becoming a considerable force to be reckoned with. As Michael and Taylor spend more and more time together, they become very close. There is a feeling of love and affection between them. Taylor makes it clear that no matter where he goes, she will go with him. She wants to follow Michael every step of the way and do everything she can to help him save his mother.

The other members of the Electroclan also want to help Michael save his mother, but they also have other goals in mind. They president of the secret organization that is hunting them- Dr.Hatch- has tried to kill every member of the Electroclan, especially characters like Zeus, Ian, Abigail, and Makenna who left Dr.Hatch to join the Electroclan. They all hate Dr.Hatch a lot.

Zeus was captured by Dr.Hatch when he was just a small child, and was corrupted by him. But he changed his ways and he is now a member of the Electroclan. He wants to help Michael, and has made considerable sacrifices that shows that he is loyal and does not want to go back to Dr.Hatch. He is able to shoot powerful lightning bolts out of his hands. Ian was also captured by Dr.Hatch when he was young, but he has been a rebel for a very long time. He never did any of Dr.Hatch's evil commands, and so joining Michael and his cause was easy for him. He is also blind, but that does not stop him from seeing. His electrical power is being able to see things around him through electrolocation. He can see through walls and can see much more than someone who is not blind. He sees things by detecting the small changes in the electrical field that all objects create.

Makenna and Abigail were both captured by Dr.Hatch when they were young. But just as Ian was, they were rebels. They never did any of Dr.Hatch's evil commands, and so they were punished for it. They have more reason than most to hate Dr.Hatch. Makenna is able to create light and heat, and she can heat hereself to almost 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Grace is also an electric child, but her powers are very limited. She is able to extract and store information from a computer.Grace helps Michael once, and then disappears from the books. Jake and Wade are also very important characters in the book, but they are not electric.They are intent on helping Michael save his mother and destroying Dr.Hatch's organization.

A theme that I see appearing in this book is friendship. Friendship is a very powerful thing, and this book shows it a lot. Inside, people have emotions and feelings that are difficult to explain, and friends are there so that we can express them. Because otherwise, those emotions and feelings would just keep building up, and they would never get out. Friendship is something that each one of us needs in our lives, and this book shows that very well.

Michael Vey-First post

In the book Michael Vey  by Richard Paul Evans, a certain boy named Michael Vey, hence the name of the book, has had electrical powers for his entire life. He learned of his unusual powers very young because of accidents that occurred. His mother told him to never tell anybody about his powers, because she fears that his peers would reject him because of it. He never uses his powers around other people. But when he uses his powers on 2 school bullies that are being especially mean to him one day, they discover his powers, as well as another girl who was watching. To make sure that no one else finds out about his powers, he tells the girl, Taylor, to never tell anybody. But really, she is relieved, because she has electrical powers as well. Michael Vey is not alone in his world. Michael also tells his best friend, Ostin. Ostin is not electric, but he is extremely intelligent. He is intrigued by Michael's powers, because he is very smart and is interested in how it is possible that Michael and Taylor have their powers. He helps Michael in his missions.

As Michael and his new friends learn about their powers, they discover that they are being hunted by a secret organization who know about their powers, and wants to use them for immoral purposes. In an effort to capture Michael, those hunting Michael and his friends kidnap Michael's mother, but fail to capture Michael or Taylor. Michael and his friends must use their abilities to save his mother, and meanwhile learn that there are many more children than just themselves that have electrical powers. They learn that when they were born, they were the sole survivors of a freak accident caused by as new piece of experimental technology used to scan newborn babies for health problems. 17 babies survived-the electrical children-but most of the babies exposed to the technology were not so lucky.

If Michael and his friends continue on their current route and continue their search for Michael's mother, I think that they will eventually find their answer, except it will not be easy. I think that they will be met with extreme hostility and danger. The secret organization committed to capturing all of the electrical children has shown in the past that they are willing to do anything in order to accomplish their goal, and so I think that Michael and his friends will suffer hardships and trials in order to save Michael's mother I wonder if any lives will be lost in the cause to save Michael's mother and destroy the secret organization. I wonder if any of the other electrical children will join Michael in his mission.

While reading this book, I noticed that the powers that Michael have are very similar to a character in a video game called Infamous. In the game Infamous, the main character-Coal- gained electrical powers very similar to Michael Vey in a freak accident, just like in Michael Vey.

Divergent- Conflict

Tris and her big Dauntless friend, Al have a relationship. Except it's one way. And it's really awkward. Al has a crush on Tris, and he tells her. But she doesn't have a crush on him. In fact, there's more that Al tells her. He tells her how he wants to protect people, and how his parents wanted him to join Dauntless. Al is from Candor, which are the people who strive to be honest. So it is normal with Al to share all of his heart with others, because he is very honest. But he can also tell when people are bluffing. So can Tris's other Candor friend, Christina. So when Tris and her Candor friends are talking about their aptitude tests, she tries to lie about her results, but remember? Candor can tell.

Four reveals the rankings for the first round. And Tris scores 6 out of 9. Average. She listened to her mother. Peter comes in 2nd, and Molly (an enemy of Tris) scored 5th. Later that night, the #1 ranked initiate (Edward) gets stabbed in the eye, which ruins his ability to fight. And coincidentally, Peter and his little friend Drew, aren't around. Hmmmm. Sabotoge? Tris later learns that Edward and his girlfriend Myra both dropped out. They're factionless now. That means that Peter is #1. Oh joy.

Divergent- Visiting day

It is Visiting day. Visiting day is when the parents of the new transfers have the opportunity to come and see their child. Tris honestly isn't expecting to see Mom or Dad, but to her surprise, her mom does arrive. In fact, Tris's mom is actually pretty comfortable with the whole new "Dauntless" thing, and we find out that her mom was actually born in Dauntless. Surprise, surprise! She is pretty comfortable with the tattoos, the Pit, and all of the injuries. And somehow, Tris's mom also knows that Tris is divergent somehow.

Tris's mom gives Tris some good advice. To hide who Tris really is, she tells her to not rank exceptionally high. She advises her to score average, as to not give any clues that she might be something special (hint hint: that Tris is divergent). Tris's mom gives her one final piece of advice. She tells her to find her brother in the Erudite compound. She tells Tris to ask him to research the simulation serum. She tells her to do this because what the Erudite people strive to do is to be intelligent. So this would be a perfect thing to ask of her brother, because he is an Erudite transfer. Visiting day, is a big day.

Divergent- Field trips

The day after Tris gets knocked unconscious by some fighting with Peter (the mean bully guy) in the boxing ring, she finds out that they all of the initiates get to take a field trip to the fence around Chicago. They take the train to fence, and meanwhile, Tris stares Four's muscles the whole ride there. Since this book is in first person, we get a lot of feelings and emotions from the main character, or Tris. She has a crush on Four, but she doesn't want to admit it.

The fence around Chicago is guarded by Dauntless with guns, but no one really knows what they're defending them from. As they continue to take a look at the fence around Chicago, a truck full of Amity farmers comes through. There is someone on the bus, Robert. Robert was an Abnegation neighbor of the old Beatrice. Robert seems sad by the fact that there are so many Dauntless jerks around Tris. He tells her to be happy. But Tris says that happiness isn't her goal. After that, Four gives Tris some advice about fighting. He says to attack first. This sounds like a normal typical field trip, right?

Two days later, the initiates have to wake up to go to another field trip. This time, they'll be playing paintball. Extreme paintball, with capture the flag. There are two teams, and Tris is on Fours' team. Tris enjoys this. During this game of paintball, it's nighttime in Chicago, which is just perfect. Four has the great idea to turn on the famous Ferris wheel, except it's not what it used to be. It's old and rusty, REALLY rusty. They climb the Ferris wheel to get a look at where the other team hid their flag, and to get down, Four turns on the Ferris wheel. Simple, and flattering. 

After Tris gets to safety, she tells her team where the other team's flag is, and they get to work. Tris comes up with a plan to capture the flag, and in short, they win. There is a little dispute about who gets to grab the flag, and Christina (one of Tris's team members) grabs the flag, and they win. Tris is gaining friends, because of her success in being so, Dauntless.