Saturday, August 18, 2012

LET'S PLAY A GAME: FIRST LINES TO BOOKS

I stopped by a random blog the other day and found that they like to play games. The game that day was matching a list of quotes to their books, only the titles were not provided. I was supposed to actually recognize these quotes. Yeah, right. I didn't know a single one.

But I like games, so I decided to play one here. Below is a list of ten first lines from some famous YA and children's books (all found on my personal bookshelf.) Your job is to match the first lines to the correct book. Just post your winning combination in the comments section (ie.  1A, 2B, 3C, etc.) And just to make this extra fun, if you get all ten correct, your name will included in a drawing for a

$5 AMAZON.COM GIFT CERTIFICATE!!!

But here's the catch...

This contest will only stay open until 10pm Pacific Time TODAY! (Saturday 8/18) That means your comment must be posted BEFORE 9pm (if you're in New York, you have until midnight, but you probably saw this a lot later in your day, so it's still fair.)

Also, please include your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Finally, I will increase the prize to $6 - yes a whopping dollar more! - if you include your favorite first line AND what book it's from in your comment.

Okay. Got all that?????

Ready?  Here we go!

FIRST LINES:

1.  That fool of a fairy Lucinda did not intend to lay a curse on me.

2.  The house stood on a slight rise just on the edge of the village.

3.  I've watched through his eyes, I've listened through his ears, and I tell you he's the one.

4.  First the colors. Then the humans. That's usually how I see things. Or at least, how I try.

5.  "Did Mama sing every day?" asked Caleb.

6.  Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain.

7.  It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened.

8.  We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.

9.  There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.

10.  When I was little, my uncle Pete had a necktie with a porcupine painted on it.


TITLES:

A.  Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card

B.  Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

C.  The Giver by Lois Lowry

D.  Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

E.  Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan

F.  Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

G.  The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

H.  The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman


I.  Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

J.  Feed by M.T. Anderson

8 comments:

  1. Wow this looks so fun! okay, I've read a few of these so I'll know those... the rest I'll have to make an educated guess on what I've heard about them lol!

    1. I
    2.B.
    3. A
    4. G (one of my greatest favorites!)
    5. E.
    6. F.
    7. C :)
    8. J (using process of elimination?)
    9. H
    10. D

    Oh goodness! I feel like I just took a test! lol :) Okay, now a first line from a favorite book:
    "Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy." -The Odyssey by Homer

    Another first line I love, from a book that's not necessarily my favorite, "It was a bright and cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen." from 1984 because it oddly sets the ominous tone for the book. (it wasn't until after I read the book for a second time that I really noticed the first sentence.) I hope this wasn't too long! OH and hey if first lines are awesome, just think of how amazing those thought provoking last lines are! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have only read a few of these. So I'm crossing my fingers that I get at least more than one right.
    A9
    B8
    C7
    D3
    E5
    F6
    G4
    H2
    I1
    J10

    My quote is "Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin,I had nothing to distract me from my memories." The Poison Study By Maria V. Snyder. That first line pulled me right in for the rest of the book.
    kelli_call@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Okay, here we go
    1. I
    2. B
    3. A
    4. G
    5. E
    6. F
    7. C
    8. J
    9. H
    10. D

    Wow! I haven't read all of these so a few are guesses :)

    My favorite first quote is, "It is a truth universally acknowledge, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. This quote is amazing and a bit startling in itself, and so many people have done takeoffs (clever and otherwise) of it that it's pretty much everywhere.
    csunshine17lovesbooks(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And that's supposed to be *acknowledged :)

      Delete
  4. Oooh fun! I've read almost all of these, so I'll give it a go!

    1. I
    2. B
    3. A
    4. G
    5. E
    6. F
    7. C
    8. J
    9. H
    10. D

    My favorite is from The Catcher in the Rye: "If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth." Holden Caulfield telling it like it is.

    c.j.allison AT hotmail DOT com

    ReplyDelete
  5. 1. I
    2. B
    3. A
    4. G
    5. E
    6. F
    7. C
    8. J
    9. H
    10. D

    My favorite first line:
    “The best day of my life happened when I was five and almost died at Disney World”
    from Going Bovine, by Libba Bray

    bethwade1@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete