Heir Apparent Book Review

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
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Practice Book Review:The Veldt

  The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury,  is a short story about a modern familythat becomes too dependent on technology and face disastrous consequences for their actions. They are especially dependant on their virtual reality room that is their nursery. The book starts out with Lydia Hadley telling her husband to check the nursery because something is wrong with it. George Hadley goes to check it and they find themselves in an African veldt with lions chasing them and a screaming sound. Lydia is very afraid and she wants to shut the house down because she feels that her and George are beginning to feel useless and the room is beginning to feel too real.  George wants to check the room again and when he does the room wont respond. It stays the hot veldt. When the two children Peter and Wendy come home from the carnival they deny that the room is the dangerous veldt and when George walks in its no longer the veldt but a wonderful jungle. He then finds his own bloody wallet hidden in the bushes. He decides to lock the nursery and when he goes to bed he hears screaming that sounds very familiar. In the morning he forbids Peter and Wendy to go in the nursery ever again and Peter begins to threaten him. George calls the psychologist to check out the nursery and when he gets there he tells George that the room is very dangerous and he should shut down the house and take a trip while its resetting. When George and Lydia tell Peter and Wendy they throw a fit and Peter tells George he wishes he was dead. They both plead to go into the nursery one last time before its shut off for good. George relents and lets Peter and Wendy go into the nursery just one more time. Peter locks the door and tells the room to kill Lydia and George. The book ends with Mr. and Mrs. Hadley dying and the children take over the house and kill the psychiatrist.

  I think that one of the main themes in the book is spoiling your children never ends well. My first example is when George Hadley says "Nothing is too good for our children"(pg.1) when he is  describing the crazy amount of money spent on them. Also on page 18 Lydia says "They're insufferable-lets admit it. They come and go when they like; they treat us as if we were offspring. They're spoiled and were spoiled."  My second example is when David McClean comes to the nursery to check it out he says "I sensed only that you had spoiled your children more than most. And now your letting them down in some way." (pg 22)

I would definitely recommend this book to other 7th graders. First of all it has some really cool technology mentioned in it that I wish was real. Also it has a really good surprise ending. I love when a book has a total plot twist and this book had a great one.  Another reason why is because it has great moral to the story. It really teaches you and makes you think about your own behavior. That is why I recommend the book.