Blog #1

Hello world! My name is Sarah Chapman and this is my blog all about children's literature (duh). I can't wait to begin the process of exploring this insanely interesting genre in this class.

So to start off I am going to talk about one of my favorite books from when I was younger: The Merchant of Death by DJ MacHale. I picked this book up from my school library in 7th grade because my friend Katie had read it and she really enjoyed it. Katie was not a reader by any means so if she liked the book it must have been pretty good. So I read it and instantly fell in love. It is the story of this 14 year old boy named Bobby Pendragon who, for some reason, was chosen to save the entire universe. And when I say the entire universe, in the book it is explained as every person, every time, every place that has ever and will ever exist and they call it "Halla". Well in his first adventure in this book, Bobby has to go to a territory (basically like an alternate universe) called Denduron and stop the Milago people who are poor miners, from blowing up the oppressing tribe called the Bedoowan. After I read this one, I checked out all the other ones from the series that our library had and bought the rest, there are 10 in all. The last book came out when I was 16 and I still loved the series as much then, and I still love it as much now, as the day I first read them.

This book resonated with me because of the tone it was written in. Bobby narrates the whole story because he is writing it all down in journals and sending them back to his friends on earth. Thus, you feel like you are actually a part of the action. It also helps that Bobby is 14 in this book and I was 12 when I read it so I understood his mental state. As I get older and reread the series (because why not?) I have realized that the writing is a little childish and sloppy, but then again the novels are marketed toward ages 10-15. However, MacHale's use of imagery creates such a detailed world in each book, since each book is a new territory that Bobby has to help out of some catastrophe. I get such vivid pictures in my head when I read them that it is like watching a movie. I have wanted this series to become a film series because of this great imagery, but also because of the relatability of all these characters. Even though they are from different universes, they are so well written that you can sympathize with their triumphs and defeats. And because I imagined Morgan Freeman as one of the characters and I am convinced that they need to make these books into films before he dies.