Heir Apparent, by Vivian Vande Velde, is a book about a girl fighting to stay alive in a virtual reality game. The book starts out with Giannine Bellisario going to the gaming center to redeem the gift card that her dad gave her for her birthday. The gaming center has protesters blocking the doorway, but she goes in anyway. She chooses to play the game Heir Apparent. After she starts the game she gets a message from the owner of the gaming center that says the protesters broke in and destroyed the game. The only way she can get out is to win the game. If she doesn't she will die. She is quickly killed in the game because she made the wrong decision. She restarts the game and gets a magic ring and she finally breaks through level one. She tries to befriend the guards and when she goes to get them some money they are due she is captured by barbarians who want a crown that the old king stole from them. She is killed again and restarts the game. She meets three wizards who tell her where a dragon is that has the barbarian crown. She finds the dragon, gets the crown, and the book ends with her getting out of the game unharmed.I think that the theme of this story is to spend more time with your kids or they might make wrong decisions. My first example is when Giannine is surprised that her dad actually remembered to get her a birthday gift and she wants to use it, leading her to cross picketers just to try and connect with her father. "Once I got in front of the building, I sprinted for the doorway weaving through picketers" (6). My second example is when she leaves her mother without saying goodbye to her father who has what she needs to win, because she considers it a waste of her time. "I was eager to get the game moving.That-and the last time I'd said goodbye to a father-had me frantic not to wait around" (20). My third example is when she refuses to say goodbye to her father again because she doesn't trust him when he really had the ring that would help her win. "'Of course I have no ring,' my mother told me as I blacked out. 'It's your father who took the ring'" (69). These three examples led me to the conclusion that neglecting children's needs has bad consequences on their future.
I would not recommend this book to other 7th graders. I found the story line to be quite dull. I also thought that Giannine was really incompetent and that was really not enjoyable for me. Lastly, I was really expecting a better ending, but I got a total letdown. That is what I thought of the book Heir Apparent.
Honey Water Recipe
Giannine Bellisaro drank some honey water in the last chapter of the book Heir Apparent, I decided to make some honey water to see what it is like. Here is the recipe:
INGREDIENTS
> 1 cup warm water
> 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
> 2 tsp. honey
> lemon (optional)
DIRECTIONS
> Pour water into cup and add the cinnamon and honey and lemon
> Stir together
> Enjoy!
cover picture: cover https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Heir_Apparent_Cover
.png
