e-Lit

The Curse of the Four Sisters

by Nurdiana Binte Rosidi

Family ties forgotten
In pursuit of one
Who stole the hearts of all
Led to the escape of the green-eyed monster.

Four sisters fought for the love of one
Devious, scheming, ruthless
Unknowingly, all sought for the Wicked Witch
To attain a magical wish, to capture his heart.

Who ever told them to trust that fiendish Witch
She was the most cunning of all
For she was already a thousand years old
With these four, she could envision a thousand more.

Procure the locks of your sisters
Leave the rest to me
For I will grant that wish
To be with one you need

Envy
Late night came
Snip
Snip
Snip
Snip

Family ties forgotten for the pursuit of one
Unknowingly, the wish came with a price
The Witch has her youth back
In the arms of her handsome lover.

They have a favourite haunt now
At the beach
Where they can view the beautiful sunset
And laugh at the dim-witted sisters.

For those you have signed for a goodreads.com account, you would have received their monthly newsletter. Incidentally, my favourite author of all time is featured. He is none other than Neil Gaiman.

Best known for his Sandman graphic novels, he tells goodreads.com that he is really proud of it and it really did take 10 years of his life.

I started reading his Sandman graphic novels in junior college when a classmate of mine circulated all 10 parts of the complete series. These original publications are out of print. Instead, they can be bought in 2 volumes. Neil Gaiman says, ‘It’s collected in The Absolute Sandmans, which together weigh about 30 pounds, and if you drop them on somebody you will do serious damage. It definitely didn’t leave me thinking, “I need to write more giant things.”‘

I have the first volume. In a matter of time, I’ll acquire the remaining volume.

Another of his books that I’ve read is Good Omens – a hilarious collaboration with Terry Pratchett

I’m really glad that I can access Neil Gaiman’s virtual bookshelf on goodreads.com to see what books inspires him.

Read Neil Gaiman’s full interview here.

Miss Wynnie Kwok

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
As much as we do not want to judge people by the colour of the skin, we are deeply entrenched in the stereotypical world. We cannot help but to categorise people in groups. That is how our brain works! However, it takes the heart to make us see that we are all the same.

This book hits a nerve as the protagonist, Scout faces her biggest challenge. Her worldly knowledge of the recluse, Boo Radley, is shaped by the opinions of others. These include stories about how Boo is a ‘monster’. However, it all changes when she is rescued by Boo in a struggle during Halloween. Amidst this, her father, Atticus, did all he could to defend a black man who is accused of raping a young white woman.

All these notions of colour and how skewed the justice system prove to shake Scout’s foundation of truth.

It is a difficult read to some of us who are unfamiliar with the US history of lynching. Read about the historical background first and you can appreciate ‘To kill a Mockingbird’ better.

View all my reviews.

Hi Pioneers,

We would like to pose a challenge for you. Inspiration comes in different shapes and sizes.

Since most of you have your fancy camera handphones, I want you to take a photo of something that catches your attention. Then, feel free to pen down a 4-line poem about the subject of your photo.

You can either submit your entry by posting directly to e-Lit or sending the entry through Pioneer Place E-Message. Entitle your post/entry as “2008 Poetry Challenge.”

This challenge is open till the EIGHTH week of Term 4 (Friday). The winner will be determined by Miss Wynnie Kwok and Miss Diana. The prize of this challenge will be a voucher of $20 from a bookstore of your choice – Kinokuniya, Borders, Times or Popular. Game on!

Hands

by Nurdiana Rosidi

As the saying goes, “You will never walk alone”

A truth that I hold so dear

I find my love I could call my own

No longer do I need to live in fear

If you have not done so, go create a goodreads.com account and add some books and book reviews on your virtual shelf. When you share a book with us from goodreads.com in e-Lit, use this subject format: BOOK RECOMMENDATION – <insert name of book>.

Be sure to copy and paste the code generated from goodreads.com to the HTML view when writing your post.

CODE GENERATED FROM GOODREADS.COM 

HTML VIEW 

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I first read this book when I was in secondary school. I loved it. I read it again 8 years later. I loved it even more.

The story unfolds from the point of view of Charlie in the form of a journal. Charlie is a mentally slow adult. An experiment was conducted to make him smart, which he did.

However, he and others realised that being smart and famous did not turn out to be what they bargained for.

The unique aspect of this book is that as Charlie’s mental capability increases (and later regresses) the language he uses also follows accordingly in the journal. This strategy makes the book even more convincing and life like.

I strongly recommend this book to anyone. An excerpt of a few journal entries is available online in the form of Charlie’s blog. However, you need to find the original post and read from the earliest post to the more recent one. Still, there is nothing like flipping pages of a hard back book.

View all my reviews.

My review

Give it a try!

Is the internet evil and full of junk? I say boo! to that. While there is junk and floatsam drfiting around the net (littered by distasteful people), there is also a whole lot of wholesome material that is enriching.

Just today I stumbled upon goodreads.com. It is an online reading log that allows you to keep track of what you (and your friends) have read, review them and best of all – generate a code for easy embedding into your blog. The books you list also links to the authors, comparative reads and the online community who have read the books you add to your virtual shelf.

Wondering what book to read next? Check out what your friends are recommending! Create an account and do what you kids do best these days – “add me as friend.”

Embedded below is an example of a code generated from the book review I did online in just 5 minutes.

The Fire-Eaters by David Almond

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Everyone has their own battles to fight.

The story is set in the UK in 1962. While Robert (Bobby Burns) and his teenage friends are not too concerned with the tension increasing at the onset of the Cuban Missle Crisis, they experience their own conflicts at their their new Secondary School.

Similarly, while teenage students of today might not connect with the political and historical background of the story, they will still be able to engage with the challenge that Bobby faces in submitting to unreasonable school authority.

Bobby and his classmate Daniel decide to take things into their own hands and stage a subversive act. Would you have the courage to do the same? Or should you?

View all my reviews.

My review