The two books that I read this summer are: "California Blue" by David Klass, and

"Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen.

"There are three rules for writing a good book. Unfortunately no one knows what

they are". That quote was said by W. Somerset Maugham. Every Author has their own

three rules. I came up with my own. The three rules that I think are the most important.

The first rule that I think every book should have is a good opening sentence, and

the whole structure of the beginning has to be good. In the first sentence the Author has

to grab the reader, so that the reader will want to keep on reading. In the first book that I

read "Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen, the Author started out with this sentence "Francis

Alphonse Tucket came back to life slowly". This is a good starting sentence because it

makes the reader wonder what had happened before. What happened that made Francis

unconscious, or maybe he was dead, and was brought back to life using smoked of a Alien

device. At this point no one knows. You have to read on to find out, and before you notice

it you are half way into the book. However in the second book that I read by David Klass

"California Blue" the Author took a whole different approach. He started with this sentence

"I don't know why running through a redwood forest always made me think of death". In

this case the Author started in the middle of the book. This is the first time when I read a

book that started like that. It was kind of confusing because I didn't know what was going

on, until the Author started going back and telling what happened to the character that

made him run through the woods, and than he continued on with the book. It makes the

reader want to keep on reading to find out what is going on. To find out why is the

character running through the woods, is somebody chasing him? Both of these books

make the reader wonder what is going to happen next, they grab the reader and make

him read on. Books with good opening sentences are the ones that get read in one sitting.

The second rule that I think is very important is a good subject. The subject has to

be interesting, so that the reader would be interested in reading the book. The author has

to pick a subject that would interest the reader. Every reader likes something different.

Personally I like books that I can either relate to or books that have action in them. The

book "Mr. Tucket" by Gary Paulsen, is about cowboys and Indians. They shoot guns all the

time. Mr. Tucket is a 14 year old boy who is kidnapped by Pawnee Indians, he gets

rescued my Mr. Grimes. Mr. Grimes teaches him how to survive in the wild. While doing

that they get chased by Indians, almost killed by a bear, Mr. Grimes gets shot, and so on.

This book is like an action ride from beginning to end. However the second book that I

read is way different. It is more spiritual. "California Blue" by David Klass is about a young

boy who gets cough up in lives problems. As a teenager he is interested in running the

track, and butterflies. Neither of there pursuit are understood by his family. He likes

running the track, while his dad and brother always play football. They expect him to like

football too. This book is the kind of a book that I can relate too. My family never

understands what I like and what I want to do. My parents always expect me to be

someone that I'm not. That is why I picked this book to read, I could relate to it. Picking a

subject for a book isn't always easy. Whatever the Author chooses is never going to satisfy

everyone.

The last rule that is also important is the theme, or moral. Theme is what you get out

of the book, what you learn from it. Reading a book and not getting anything out of it

would be pointless. Every book has a lesson to learn from it. Reading "California Blue"

tough me allot. It thought me how to deal with lives problems, and to always go for what

you think is right, not for that what everyone else thinks. For example: John Rogers, main

character, had to choose between saving a butterfly which turns out to be an unknown

species, or between the lumber mill. Which would have to be closed in order to save the

butterfly. Every man in the town worked in that mill. Everyone in town expected him to

forget about the butterfly and keep things the way they were before, but he didn't listen

to them, he did what he thought was right, and he saved the butterfly. The second book

"Mr. Tucket" though me not judge people by the way they look. For example: Mr. Tucket

wanted to have a shooting contest with Mr. Grimes. He bet money that he could win, he

thought that he could win because Mr. Grimes had only one arm. Well he lost, it turns out

that Mr. Grimes is twice as fast as Mr. Tucket. Mr. Tucket judged his opponent by what he

looked like, not by his skill. Some books have hidden themes, that you have to look deep

for, while others have open themes, that may mean different things to different people.

Those are my three rules for good writing. When ever I write I try to follow them.