Discuss the way the author built suspense in the book.  Was it effective?

I am reading The Eye Of The Minds, and it has a lot of suspense. There is a lot of action scenes and you are always wondering what is going to happen next. There are random people and situations that pop out in the story. This makes it interesting and unpredictable in such a strange environment. There are a few specific scenes that really showed suspense such as the scene where Michael and his friends are continuing their mission through The Path. A strange man appears. As soon as the man is mentioned, there is suspense because you don't know who this man is. The quote that introduces this man is, "And standing next to the beginning of the trail, under the boughs of a huge oak, was a pale man dressed in a red cloak, the hood pulled over his head." The description of the man is creepy and suspicious so the reader is left wondering why this creepy man is suddenly in the scene.

I think suspenseful stories are my favorite because they persuade me to keep reading. I get hooked and want to find out what is going to happen, so I keep reading. I personally feel that books without suspense are not as fun to read because you are not reading to discover what you have been wanting to know. You are reading a story event after event, but you might be able to predict what is going to happen. Suspenseful books can be unpredictable and I think they can even make you shocked when something happens. I think it is more interesting and entertaining to read a book that is unpredictable because the story could go anywhere. In The Eye Of The Minds, I think the suspense is very effective because I like reading suspenseful books. The suspense sucks you in to read more. A book full of suspense is a book that is hard to put down.

I like to relate it to math. If you have easy math problems, it gets boring to do them. If you have hard math problems, they are hard to figure out and you have to work harder. You are learning with the hard problems and it feels good to gain knowledge. It is just like books with and without suspense. A book without suspense is easy to predict. A book with suspense is unpredictable and sometimes hard to figure out what is going to happen next. It is fun to read a book where you don't know what is happening. Books are boring if you already know what is going to happen.

My second memoir is "I Am Malala." I am relating this book to an article called "Texas Cheerleaders Going to Court Over God's Word?" The central idea of both is to stand up for your beliefs.
Link to article:
http://m.cbn.com/cbnnews/US/2013/March/Texas-Cheerleaders-Fight-to-Promote-the-Gods-word

In "I Am Malala," Malala is fighting for her right to go to school in Pakistan. She never gives up because she really wants to go to school and have equal rights for girls. When Malala is forced to move away from her home, she is very upset and wants to stay so she can get an education. When she returns she is happy to find her books and school supplies. In the book, Malala states, "To my joy I found my school bag still packed with my books, and I gave thanks that that my prayers had been answered and that they were safe. I took out my books one by one and just stared at them. Math, physics, Urdu, English, Pashto, chemistry, biology, Islamiyat, Pakistan studies. Finally I would be able to return to school without fear." Malala was so happy to get back to her old life of being able to go to school. She doesn't let anyone stop her from going to school because she loves going to school so much. She believes that she should be able to go to school, so she does.


The article "Texas Cheerleaders Going to Court Over God's Word?" shows how cheerleaders stand up for their belief: God. They put bible verses on signs at the football games because they felt they were encouraging to the players. When they stood up for their faith, they were told that they could not share these bible verses. The girls said that this was a violation of free speech and they filed a counter suit when they were told to take their bible verses down. They won't give up. "They're good kids, they've been raised right. They know what they believe and they weren't afraid to stand up and say what they believe and to take whatever came with it," Mama Jack, a local restaurant owner, said.


Both Malala and the cheerleaders showed courage because they both strongly believe in something. Although people disapprove of their beliefs, they still continue to do what they want. Malala continues to go to school because she loves school. She can't go to school, but she still does. The cheerleaders are Christians and they want to have bible verses at the football games. Even though they were told not to, they were later able to do this because they stood up for themselves. Malala and the cheerleaders are inspirational and confident. They strongly commit to what they believe in and they don't let anyone get in their way.