Somewhere, I forgot...

Maybe it wasn't that I forgot, it was more like I did the one thing that I would ask my students (and even my previous classmates) not to do...procrastinate.  But I did it anyway and I'm still shaking my head at why.

So, I didn't write individual blogs about each book on this year's list and I kinda of feel bad about it. Yes, I did say kind of feel bad.  It isn't that the books weren't great, in fact right now I am reading a sequel to one of the books on the list (I'll get to that later).  So what will today's post be about, if not about the Truman's?  I guess I will play a little catch up and discuss the books that I have read in the past two weeks.

While I was reading the 2013 Truman list, I kept picking up another Young Adult book by the name of Divergent.  I'm not sure why I wanted it to be on the list so badly, but I guess my mind was saying that I needed it to be on my list, and so I finally picked it up for good.

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Divergent, by Veronica Roth, is another story, in what is quickly becoming my favorite genre - dystopian.  Here we have a girl by the name of Beatrice, with her sixteenth birthday approaching, has a big decision to make - where will she spend the rest of her life.  Currently, Beatrice lives with her parents and brother with a group called the Abnegation, a group of people who believe that to be selfless is what is best for society.  She wears plain clothes, gets to see herself in a mirror once every three months, and puts others needs ahead of her own.  But, Beatrice doesn't feel content in her roll and so when it is time to be tested to see which "faction" (what the different groups are called), she knows that she will probably be placed in a different group.  But what she doesn't expect is that she is different from those in her faction, in fact she is Divergent...

By now, you know that I won't go into detail about what happens in the book because that just isn't how I roll, so instead, I want to talk about these factions.

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• Abnegation - The Selfless
• Defined as "having, exhibiting, or motivated by having no concern for oneself; unselfish" - thefreedictionary.com
• Dress in plain, grey clothing and neat hair
• Chosen leaders of the city council, as the - y put others above themselves
• Amity - The Peaceful
• Defined as "friendly relationsons between nations" - http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/amity
• Dress in the colors red and yellow
• Oversees the farms
• Votes by consensus - meaning that everyone has an equal vote and in Amity, there is no one single leader
• Candor - The Honest
• Defined as "frankness or sincerity of expression, openness" - thefreedictionary.com
• Dress in black and white, tend to dress in formal business attire
• Believe that lies and deceit are the types of human behavior that leads to war, thus, they only answer honestly and are subject to truth seriums and lie detector tests
• Dauntless - The Brave
• Defined as "incapable of being intimidated or discouraged, fearless" - thefreedictionary.com
• Dress in black, most have at least one or more tattoos on their bodies
• Known to jump on and off of moving trains, they have an initiation process where only a certain percentage are guaranteed to pass
• Defenders of the city
• Erudite - The Intelligent
• Defined as "having or showing extensive scholarship; learned" - thefreedictionary.com
• Dress in at least one piece of blue clothing and wear black glasses
• Spend their days studying and learning, while developing serums to for different scenarios
• Have recently released several reports that shine negative lights on the leaders of the Abnegation
• Divergent - 
• Defined as "drawing apart from a common point, diverging" - thefreedictionary.com
• Those people who have multiple traits, usually showing traits from two different factions
• This group hides the fact that they are different for their own self-preservation

Based on the descriptions listed above, if I had to chose one to spend the rest of my life in, I am not sure what I would chose.  Each of the factions has pluses and minuses.   I know that I can sometimes lean towards being selfless (but not always) and to be completely honest (not likely).  I also know that I could never be an Erudite, because science and math have always been a struggle, and you probably never see me willingly jump off a building.  So I guess, I will have to take a little from Abnegation and a little from Candor.

But, could one person be completely honest or selfless or happy?  Or is it in our human nature to be divergent?

What do you think?  Could you fall into one group or what groups would you fall into?

Oh, and by the way this is a three part series:

Divergent (2012)

Insurgent (2013)

Allegiant (October 2013)

As I have read the first two, I must call on every bit of patience I possess until the third book comes out this fall...

http://divergent.wikia.com/wiki/Divergent_Wiki