How the author introduces the reader to the setting in a book is often overlooked, but it is one of the most important ways to draw the reader into a story. If the setting is not believable or integral to the story, the reader often loses interest or does not relate to the character as well. How does the author in the book you are currently reading introduce and describe the setting? Is it explained to you in detail from the character's perspective, gleaned from the character's observations or actions, presented to you by a narrator, or something completely different? Remember the setting includes not only the place, time, and surroundings, but also the emotional climate as well. Be specific and include your book title.
Sugar and Spice by: Lauren Conrad
ReplyDeleteIn this book the author introduces the setting through casually explaining different details about the places and times in the book. She uses creative and informal words to give nice descriptions.
The House of the Scorpion King by: Nancy Farmer
ReplyDeleteNancy explains the dry roads, huge poppy plantations, the big house, and numerous flower gardens. She describes this the town as run down. The houses are old and fragile, but she explains the Big House as remarkable, big, and colorful. Living in the Big House is such a site because it's green and lively compared to the dusty dirt roads outside of the house.
Armageddon Summer: by Jane Yolen and Bruce Coville
ReplyDeleteIn this book there are two distinct settings, because the story starts out with each chapter alternating between the characters Marina and Jed who later on meet up with each other. The author introduces the setting of Marina in a harsh way when Marina’s parents are arguing over whether or not to home school their kids because Reverend Beelson, their highly passionate priest, says that public schools are becoming corrupt and unsafe.
The author introduces the setting of Jed in a more troublesome way. Jed is explaining how his family is torn apart because his mom left on a romantic spree and never came back and now it’s just him and his dad
I am reading Liar, Liar.
ReplyDeleteThe settings are his home, school, and outside. He discribes them all good but keeps me interested because they make me laugh or relate to me. For example he relates to school in the book as a boring day to mess around.
A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
ReplyDeleteIn the book I am reading the auther presents the character as some whiny 16 year old who gets upset over everything and everything in the book starts out as being seen from her perspective.
whitetail nation by Pete Bodo
ReplyDeleteThe book startes off in the wood and this hunter is look at this huge buck that they call pecked fence. The buck walked right by him and he wants to shoot it but he is hoping the buck will go by him so he can get a shot on him. It is real cold out the character say that he is just freezing.
Timeline by Michael Crichton. My book introduces the setting by describing it in detail. At every new location, the landscape is described in detail. It is described from the point of the view of the character.
ReplyDeleteShadow Kiss
ReplyDeleteBy: Rachelle Mead
Ashley G.
This book is explained from the character Rose's perception. She is vampire and is guarding a Moroi named Christian. A boy named Jesse Zeklos always gets on her nerves. This book got my interest through the beginning. The way Demetri the guardian tells the student, Rose that she cant always have what she wants all her life. Like guarding Christian over his girlfriend Lissa. This book is exciting and I love it! Rose really makes it seem like her life is dull but I love how it is presented on the pages.
A Season on the Mat- Nolan Zavoral
ReplyDeleteFor many people that are not interested in wrestling, this would be a bad book because the entire book is on wrestling, and they open the setting up in a wrestling room, and the main characters are all wrestlers from Iowa. The book is told from a narrator, Nolan Zavoral, who spent time with Dan Gable and the other wrestlers. I got interested in the book right away because i like this kind of stuff, and it caught me and stuck.
Saving Private Ryan
ReplyDeleteMax Allan Collins
In my book, Sergeant Miller draws the scene in every town they go to. The author did a very good job with the descriptions Miller gives.
Buried by Robin Merrow MacCready. The author introduced the garden setting by starting the book off with a poem about gardens and flowers. It goes into fairly deep detail about what the garden looks like and the feelings it evokes.
ReplyDeleteWhat Hearts by Brooks,Bruce
ReplyDeleteThe author in this book explain the setting very well and what is happening during this time.The author is a very descriptive writer wich makes everything so much easier to picture and under stand. When the author talks about the storie it makes you ask question and you have to read to find out your answer. This book is a very good book and I would recommend it to anyone.
Squires Tale by Gerald Morris
ReplyDeleteHe makes the setting known by stating directly that the time is around King Arthurs court. He also states that the knights joust and sword fight a lot of the time.
Silverfin
ReplyDeleteCharlie Higson
It is sort of over looked dosent explain the main character all that well. Gives a few main details and goes on with the story. I wish it would give more details but now the deeper i get the more things i find out about the main character.
I am reading First Time by Meg Tilly.
ReplyDeleteIn this book, the setting is explained in detail by the main character. She describes everything she sees, including her long driveway and what her house looks like. She also does a good job of describing the time of day and what the weather is like outside. I know the time period because of the kind of clothes she wears and they way she talks to her friends and family. I was able to find out all of the setting details from her perspective.
Danse Macabre
ReplyDeleteLaurell K. Hamilton
The setting is described from Anita Blake's point of view. She is supposed to go to the ballet with Jean-Claud and the visiting vampire Masters of the City from Cape Cod and Chicago. Anita is in an elegant room where she plays hostess to the visiting masters while anxiously awaiting Jean-Claude's return from helping Asher restrain Meng-Die.
Anne Frank and the Children of the Holocaust by Carol Lee.
ReplyDeleteThis book is presented by the narrator. He/She is explaining the life of Anne Frank and how children, particularly Jewish, grew up in the time of the Holocaust. It starts out explaining her parents' life and then goes on to talk about when she was born and all the rules and restrictions they had to live by just because they were Jewish.
The Assist by Neil Swidey
ReplyDeleteThe beginning of the book didn't seem to interest me but as i read on, it got better. It starts with narration. Coach O'Brian is picking up two high school basketball players in a van nicknamed Spot and Hood for college visits. It was confusing for me in the beginning because I had no idead who these people were.
Stiff By:Mary Roach
ReplyDeleteIn the book I currently finished, Cloaked by Alex Finn, the setting was introduced in the very beginning like a fairy tale. It was explained from the main character’s point of view. The author described the hotel where Jack worked through Jacks eyes. It described the shoe store and then what Jack saw when he looked out. He first saw a fountain with geese and then the café where his best friend worked. The author was extremely specific which made me feel like I was actually at the fancy hotel.
Gym Candy
ReplyDeleteCarl Deuker
The author describes the setting very well. The character gives every detail about every new place he goes.
Another Faust by Daniel and Dina Nayeri
ReplyDeleteThe perspective in the book changes from one character to another. The scene is sometime being explained by the narrator or the character. The explanation of the scene isn't very good though. Sometimes I can't picture it very well.
I'm reading Divergent by Veronica Roth. Veronica Roth describes the setting using the main character's perspective and her observations. Along with Tris's viewpoint, the author helps readers visualize the setting with dialogue from other characters. Tris describes what she sees on her tour through the Dauntless Compound and what she hears the other initiates say. By using several voices to describe the setting the reader cannot only picture the setting, but the different personalities.
ReplyDeleteThe Son of Neptune By Rick Riordan
ReplyDeleteThe author in my book does an excellent job of describing the setting with detail. He talks about how the main character, Percy sees the world around him from his point of view. He also compares his current setting to a previous one. Percy used to live with the Greeks, but now he is living on the Roman camp. The setting is fictional, but takes place in the "real world" as well.
The Sacred Acre by Mark Tabb
ReplyDeleteThe author introduces me to the story by telling me where it happened and where it is happening and so on. It is pretty detailed about what is going on and where the characters are and what they are doing. Most of the details are told directly from the character not the author.
Tell No One
ReplyDeleteHarlan Coben
The settings in this book are usually described by the characters. Coben has the characters describe each setting very detailed so that the reader can picture is exactly. The settings are almost always everyday places so that it is easy to imagine what is happening.
Their Finest Hour by Winston Churchill
ReplyDeleteWinston never really describes the setting, just saying that he is in Pairs, or at a meeting. My book is not heavy in the story, but in the history of what happened.
Danger Zone by David Klass
ReplyDeleteThe Author of my book introduces the setting through the main character. The main character tells about the town he lives in and about the gym that he plays in most of his time. The author does a good job describing it through the main character because I could picture it in my mind.
The Last Thing I Remember by: Andrew Klavan
ReplyDeleteThe setting is described in this book by the way he sees it as he drives the truck. The kid in the story talks about how the trees fly by and the dust rolls up as he is speeding down the road. The detail is fuzzy because the kid is driving so fast but the detail is good enough to get a good picture of the scene and make it believable.
The Pact by: Jodi Picoult
ReplyDeleteIn The Pact, the setting is described by the narrator of the story. The story is told by the actions and observations that each of the characters do in the story. They narrator explains in details what each of the characters are feeling about certain situations.
Hatchet
ReplyDeleteby: Gary Paulsen
Yes, the author gives every detail about the setting in this book. i would describe it but there is far more than i can say.
Revelation by Drew Karpyshyn
ReplyDeleteThe setting is described mostly by the characters observations, thoughts, and dialog. The character usually thinks something about the setting and makes a comment or two about it.
Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children
ReplyDeleteBy: Ransom Riggs
The beginning of this book is set in an everyday Florida town. The main character-Jacob-simply explains what he is seeing. But the setting for the rest of the book is completely different. We first learn about the island through Jacob's grandfather who once lived there. He doesn't explain the scenery so much as he does the feeling it gives off, and what the people are like. Later, when Jacob visits he describes what he sees in great detail. If I close my eyes, I can picture Miss Peregrine's home.
Countdown by Deborah Wiles
ReplyDeleteThe introduction to the book I am currently reading is different than anything I have ever read before. It starts out with pages of posters or facts about the war vs. the Soviet Union. This is the current time of the book. These pages are interwoven throughout the actual story. In the story, the character and setting is revealed through the main character's observations and actions. This book is told from the point of view of Franny Chapman, the main character.
Moneyball by Michael Lewis
ReplyDeleteI just started Moneyball so the whole setting has not been totally described, but one of the fields they are playing at was described. The field is described by a narrator. It is described in a good amount of detail. The author points out things about the field such as former players who played at it. He also tells about the metal outfield wall and the soft outfield. It was a good description of the field.
Haunted Sister
ReplyDeleteLael Littke
In my book, the main character, Janine, describes the setting. The first sentence explains that it was a raining the day she died. She describes that she is in school with her boyfriend, and they want to skip it and go to a beach on the dark, rainy day. Janine tells how it was 1:30 on an average day and she couldn't wait to go hang out on the rainy beach.
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle
ReplyDeleteAvi
The setting of this book is on a boat at sea. Charlotte is the only woman and the only child on said boat. The author introduces the dark gloomy cabins of the ship and the raunchy smell. This made me feel bad for Charlotte for the next month she will have to endure. Charlotte talks about how she cannot even lay down in the room because it is 4 by 6 feet. She has a board for a bed and a sheet for a mattress. She tries not to breath through her nose to avoid the smell of rotting everything.
Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
ReplyDeleteThe setting is introduced in detail from the characters' perspective. The setting is described through the characters' thoughts, feelings, and observations. Each character tells what's going on and what their surroundings are. This makes it easier to visualize and understand where and what the characters are doing.
Brian's Winter by: Gary Paulsen
ReplyDeleteThe setting is introduced by Brian the main character when he observes his surroundings. He goes into detail when describing what he is seeing, hearing, and feeling.
Club Dead by Charliane Harris
ReplyDeleteThe author in this book describes the setting by either explaining it in detail, or in small bits based on what the character is doing. The author describes the setting by basing it more on the atmosphere of the place, rather than specific details, but when the character describes a place she uses a more literal description, talking about specific things and where they are located.
Night of The Living Dummy 2: R.L. Stine
ReplyDeleteThe setting of my book is introduced from the perspective of the main character. They describe themselves and the setting is then based on the characters personality.
After Ever After by: JOrdan Sonnenblick
ReplyDeleteThe setting of my book is mostly in school. Jefferey meets a new girl Lindsey who becomes his girl friend and his best friend is Tad. Jefferey had cancer and doesn't get good grades so most of the story is about how he lacks in school and people make fun of him but Lindsey still likes him how he is.
Streams of Babel
ReplyDeleteBy: Carol Plum-Ucci
The author uses the characters reactions, and very detailed descriptive words to make the setting. The character shows disgust towards a place and make it seem unlivable, and unclean. There is also two point of views that compare the settings of both places.
Eagle Strike By: Anthony Horowitz
ReplyDeleteThe author goes through details of what Alex Rider sees, what his emotions are, and what he is thinking of.for example, Alex expresses his friendship with the girl next to him, the sees a enemy out of the corner of his eye. he then goes on to expreses why he didn't like this man, and wanted to kill him.
The Land That Time Forgot by Edgar Rice Burroughs
ReplyDeleteThe setting in The Land That Time Forgot is described by a narrator who is the main character. The setting is described in great detail is it is a new land that has many new things. While the plot is the main idea in the story, the gradual progression of new things discovered in the setting adds to the rising action. The main character is always discovering new fascinating landscapes, animals, and lifestyles. The main character also does a good job of describing the emotional setting, however, there tends to be too much foreshadowing that is too strong. He often gives things away to easily and too quickly.
Change of Heart by: Jodi Picoult
ReplyDeleteIn my book, two of the main characters June and Michael both describe what happened to help the reader understand why Shay Bourne is on trial and how it was connected to them. The characters talk about their actions and observations about the trial. The introduction helps the readers to get a mental picture of the setting and what is happening.
Dreamland
ReplyDeleteBy: Sarah Dessen
In this book the main charactier describes each every little detail about her house, her sisters bedroom and all the things she left behind when she ran away from home. She describes her neighbors personalities and how it relates to the detail of there home.
The Sacred Acre By: Mark Tabb
ReplyDeleteIn The Sacred Acre Tony Dungy starts off the book by telling how his relationship with Ed Thomas and how he was such a great guy. A character in the story starts off giving details and then it changes to the narrator.
Extras by Scott Westerfeld
ReplyDeleteThe setting in the book is described in detail from the characters perspective. She describes everything she sees and feels throughout the entire book. Although the setting and time is unfamiliar and unrealistic to me because it's in the future, the author still make me believe that it is a real place. For instance, she describes Moggle-Aya's hovercam-so well I can picture it and I've obviously never seen a hovercam before.
He sets it up as a mystery. Yes the story bounces back and forth from his child hood life to his now everyday life.
ReplyDelete