PAYBACK TIME BOOK REVIEW

PAYBACK TIME BY CARL DEUKER

   This book is primarily about sports but not fully. This book is also about uncovering a secret and making a great story out of that secret. The main character in this book Daniel (Mitch) True is getting ready to go college and plans on uncovering the biggest story of his life in his senior year of high school. This book PAYBACK TIME received a one star review from Booklist that said “ Definitely one for the top shelf ”. The book PAYBACK TIME received A JUNIOR LIBRARY GUILD SELECTION.      


The book PAYBACK TIME is a book about a high school journalist named Daniel (Mitch) True who wants to be the editor of his school newspaper and he wants go to Columbia University to study journalism. An important character in the book is Kimi Yon. She is the sports photographer for the school newspaper and is Mitch's newspaper partner. Mitch and Kimi worked on the sports section of the newspaper together throughout the school year. Another important character in this book is Angel Marchial. Angel is a football player who is a new kid at Lincoln High school and new to the football team at the school. The conflict in this story is Mitch and Kimi are trying to uncover a secret about Angel Marchial who transferred from a different high school. My favorite character in this book is Daniel (Mitch) True. The reason being is Mitch grew throughout the book. Mitch did not have things go his way all of the time but that did not stop him from continuing to try to uncover this story. Furthermore Mitch had a weight problem and throughout the book he lost a lot of weight because he did not give up or let anyone stop him. I believe that readers should take self motivation away from this book. I believe that this book gives good examples about self motivation. Furthermore readers should take away hope from this book. The reason being is that Mitch did not always have the answer to all of the questions that he had about Angel but he knew that at the end of the football season he would have some information to write a story.


I could relate to Angel Marichal. One reason is I have been in his situation about starting on the bench and eventually starting in the starting lineup. The second way I could relate to Angel is because of his quiet leadership. I understand at first why he did not want to be one that talked a lot. Furthermore I can relate to Angel being the one to sit at the end of the bench and not be getting into the game. The mindset that Angel had was remarkable because he played well but he only played a little and would not be warmed up when he was put into the game. This gave him a disadvantage because he was not warmed up and was not prepared to be in the games.  


I did like the book. The book was great and had very interesting themes. One strength of the book was the imagery. When I was reading the book I could imagine the football field and I could imagine the energy from the sports fans in the stadium. Another strength from the book was the action in the book. This book had a lot of football play by play detail and kept the reader interested throughout the book. One weakness from this book was the ending. The ending did not close the book properly. The ending could have been better. Another weakness in this book was the detail of certain places in the book. For example where Mitch had gone running was not described well and was hard to imagine what it would look like in real life. I would change the ending of the book. The reason being is the ending was not what I expected and could have closed the book better. The author left it up to the readers imagination but I would have liked to have a clear ending at the end of the book.



  I would recommend this book to other people. I believe that this book is 


for everyone and that probably could take something away from this book. I  


definitely recommend this book to sports fans. This book has great play by


play detail and really makes the reader feel like they are at the game. Another


thing that this book has is a theme about self motivation. In this book the main 


character Daniel (Mitch) True deals with a weight problem and he tells 


himself that he must get into better shape so he could be healthy. At first 


Mitch was losing weight to impress Kimi Yon but at the end he realizes that 


he was doing it for himself.        



Click here to view my video about my book. 
  

    


 

Revised Performance Schedule for SLA's Rainy Hidden City

Here is a revised schedule for Friday afternoon performances, due to the weather:

1:15: RECESS-- Croskey Street (North of Arch between 22nd and 23rd)  

1:25: HIDEOUT-- Appletree Street (north of Arch, enter next to Aya's, go next to playground)

1:35: PEBBLES-- Shack on 20th Street between Arch and JFK

1:45: UNDERBRIDGE-- Cobblestone Alley under RR across 22nd from SLA  


2:05: CLANK: Under RR bridge in parking lot @ 22nd Street & Arch

2:15: ANIMATRONIC SOLDIERS-- Van Pelt  (bet. 21st & 22nd, bet. Cherry & Race)

2:25: ESCAPE-- Stand on Walden street below Stairwells on side of SLA building

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Treasure Island - Independent Reading Book Project

"Treasure Island Book Review"

Treasure Island is a novel published in 1883 by Robert Louis Stevenson. The book was meant to just be stories that he told to his stepson, and ended up being published into a great story that has been famous and told for generations. The movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” was based off of the well-known novel, and for that I have based my creative portion of the individual reading book project on the movie’s ‘theme song.’ “He’s a Pirate” was composed by Hans Zimmer and Klaus Badelt and is used in the movie as the background and occasional ambient music. I think it goes perfectly with the book beccause I couldn’t help but imagine that music playing while I was reading. The song has an epic feel, and for that I decided to play it on piano and use it as my creative piece.

Billy Bones leaves a chest at the Admiral Benbow for safekeeping, and stays there along with it. He dies from a fatal stroke. Jim Hawkins, the protagonist, finds a treasure map in the chest, and with the help of characters that were introduced earlier in the novel, he goes in search of Treasure Island with the crew. The treasure is from the already deceased Captain Flint. Will the treasure be found? Read the rest to figure out what happens in the rest of the gripping story.

The main character is Jim Hawkins, the narrator, and son of the owner of the Admiral Benbow. Jim tells about his adventures with the pirate crew, and his experience in his “coming of age.” He uses his feelings and emotions to portray the story in his own way, explaining everything that happens in good detail.

The main conflict is getting along with Captain Flint’s old crew, and getting to Treasure Island. It isn’t until they get there that they all realize something has happened, which could change the entire story from the expected outcome.

My favorite character is Jim Hawkins. I think this because first of all, his name is pretty darn epic and awesome. Also, he has a sort of mysterious nature. It’s hard to explain, but when he explains the story from the narration point of view, he tells it in his own way, unlike any other books that I have read previously. He also has a sense of adventure, and I like his personality. It really fits the story.

I think the reader should take away the fact that even if the book is old and a little challenging, it can still be a treasureable story. The words and lingo used are a little more traditional, and adding the fact that it contains a lot of vocabulary that I’m not used to, it was a challenge to read. There were words like “dubloons” that I have never really heard as part of a story before. It was interesting to see how pirates would have talked, too. I think one huge theme is how when you “come of age” you can prove how heroic or gallant you can be.


I don’t think I can relate to anyone in the book, considering the setting was in the eighteenth century, and most of the characters were pirates, but I still enjoyed the book either way. I don’t think books need to cater to the reader and have to be relatable to be enjoyable. Adding to this, I haven’t had any similar experiences to the characters in the book either, because, well... The characters are fantastical pirates from the eighteenth century that go on adventures in search of treasure!

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much because it was a challenge to read and comprehend, and I’m not usually a fan of old fiction. I think it’s something that I wouldn’t pick up first if I were given a pile of books to choose from, but I’m very happy that I did pick it up to read, because it’s a very enthralling novel.

I think a major strength of the book is the ability for the writer to change perspectives. It was very interesting to read when Jim Hawkins traded in telling the story with Doctor Livesey, who had a more accurate version of the story, while Jim included what he felt like. Also, the reader is painted a picture of exactly what every staggering detail is. Without the visualization in a fiction book, the book easily becomes boring, and it’s not as fun to imagine or think about the plot.

I don’t think I would change such a classic book, but if I had to, I would change the beginning. I find it very confusing on how the events take place, and I had to reread a lot of parts, just to understand what was going on. Once I did understand it, it was really worth it, and I was glad that I had gone through again to read it. 


I think I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys suspense and adventure. I often times found myself wondering where something that had happened in the beginning of the book would come back. It made me wonder if it was foreshadowing, or if it was going to eventually tie into the later plot.

I enjoyed the book, and am proud of my creative portion that I have created. I don’t think I would change a single thing about it. Please watch my video of me playing “He’s a Pirate” on piano. 



Click this link.




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Desert Revelations

This is the product of studying science fiction. I have been working on this novel/short story since about last year, but this year I really began to develop it. After the 3rd quarter benchmark, I decided that I would revisit this story and revise is as much as possible. This also included creating some rough sketches for scenery and characters; to further develop the novel. The story is still a work in progress, constantly evolving. Hope you enjoy it!
Desert Revelations

Independent Reading Project (Catching Fire)

If you ask me, this book is absolutely breathtaking. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is a book that constantly has you wanting for more. The author may sound familiar because she is also the author for The Hunger Games. Catching Fire is the second book of the Hunger Games trilogy. You don’t ever want to put it down. This is being made into a movie coming out November 22, 2013. It was also in the “Top 10 books of 2009” in the Times magazine. The trilogy has earned various of achievements and publicity ever since it’s beginning in 2008.

It’s hard to give a book review without giving away any spoilers to people that haven’t read it yet. I’ll just list the important events. So, the first book ended with Katniss and Peeta winning the Hunger Games. Book two starts right where the first one left off. Katniss and Peeta are on their victory tour and President Snow does not like the fact that Katniss is the “leader” of a rebellion soon to rise, even though she doesn’t know it herself. President Snow threatens Katniss that he will erase everyone she loves if she doesn’t calm the rebellion down or show the people that the only reason why she used the berries in the arena before was because she was madly in love with Peeta, not because she was being rebellious against the Capitol. You would think nothing worse could happen after that, right? Nope. It’s the complete opposite actually.

As you work your way through the story you find that Katniss, Peeta, and 22 other victors from different districts are put back into the arena. This was the 75th Hunger Games. Every 25 years there is something called a Quarter Quell which is a Hunger Game with a twist. This Quarter Quell two victors, a boy and a girl, would be pulled from each district from the existing pool of victors. Since Katniss is the only girl in her district that has been crowned victor, she has no choice but to go back in, but this time it’s not the same. This time she is not fighting to save herself, but to save Peeta.

Haymitch, their mentor, was in no condition to be the other male tribute so Peeta, without a doubt, took his place. Peeta has the mindset that he would be the one protecting Katniss, but like I said earlier, that isn’t the plan. Once their in the arena it’s basically the same as the first Hunger Games. There’s alliances are made, tons of blood spilled, friends die, the usual for any regular Hunger Games. However, the games isn’t completed this time around. Katniss’s ally “Volts” explains to her that there is always a “chink” in the armour that the Capitol wears. Katniss knows very well that the arena is just an illusion, it is all the Capitol’s doing and that it isn’t an actual island. She looks around the arena and then at the sky. There. She finds what seems to be a space where the air looks distorted. She shoots an arrow through it. Next thing you know the illusion is dispersed and reality has set back in.

The Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee, rescues Katniss, Volts, and Finnick before the Capitol could reach them. At first Katniss is confused because she doesn’t understand why Plutarch would save her and she’s also angry because he didn’t save the others. That means Peeta and the others are in the hands of the Capitol. Plutarch begins to explain to Katniss that he, himself is going to aid in the rebellion and that she will be the leader. Haymitch knew about this all along and they were just waiting for the right time.

Gale, Katniss’s dear friend, visits her while she’s resting. He comes in to break horrible news. He tells her that her family is safe, but there is no longer a District 12. There has been a devastating bombing at District 12 that has wiped out basically everything.

The main characters throughout this book is Katniss, Peeta, Haymitch, Finnick, and Plutarch Heavensbee. What did they do? Well Katniss, Peeta, and Finnick were all participants in the Hunger Games and they basically defy the Capitol. Katniss destroys the arena and Peeta is siding with Katniss. Finnick is in the rebellion as well once he is picked up by Plutarch. Haymitch is Katniss and Peeta’s mentor throughout the Hunger Games and supplied necessities. Plutarch, Head Gamemaker, rescues everyone that he can when the arena is destroyed and is helping with the rebellion. These characters played a major role through the book, without them the book would be changed dramatically.

I believe the conflict in the story is person vs. person. The reason I say this is because there is one man who is continuing the Hunger Games. That man would be President Snow. I say it’s only one man because as I’ve read the book I got the feeling that nobody else in the Capitol likes the idea of the Hunger Games. Especially, when Katniss was invited to the feast at the Capitol. Everyone there sent their regards to her and how it was such a shame or how unfair it was to put her back into the games. Once he is stopped surely, the Hunger Games itself would stop too. If I were to put names in this, it would be Katniss vs. President Snow. That feels more fitting.  

My favorite character is Haymitch. This may be controversial to many because he can seem like a drunk lunatic in the book, but he is a great guy. He’s just really cool. Sure, he gets drunk and lives his life poorly, but when it’s time to be serious, you better believe he’s serious. He’s one of those guys that prefer to fool around and take life easily, but can also get straight into business if needed.

I think readers should take away the idea that one person can make a difference. That person can be you too. I mean take Katniss for example. Katniss was just an ordinary girl living in District 12 doing all that she can to support her family. You can say she was a little bit more than ordinary since she knew how to hunt, which is a skill that a lot of people, especially in District 12, didn’t know how to do. She was the spark to an uprising against the Capitol from many Districts and she didn’t even know till later. Whether she wanted to or not, Katniss and her mockingjay pin are the symbol of freedom. She rose through the “ranks” and is now an iconic figure for everyone. Yes, this book is indeed fiction, but why does that matter? The ideas that it teaches are real and attainable for anyone.

Personally, I don’t think I can relate to any of the characters in the story or the story at all. The reason I say this is because this story is set in the distant future, where many things are different from how I live today. We’re not separated into twelve districts, not forced to send children to death battles, and there is not one group who rules over all. So, I don’t know how I can relate to someone that has gone through this when I’ve never had to experience any of it. The problems that the characters encountered in the story has also never came to me. I haven’t had my home or family taken away from me and I haven’t had my friends die in front of my own eyes. These are the reason why I can’t relate to the characters in the book.

I do like this book a lot. I swear I did not want to stop reading this book. Every time I put the book down to go do something else, I ended back in my chair reading it again. Every chapter is essential and so meaningful. How could I put a book like this down?

There is a fair amount of strengths and weaknesses in the book. For example, the strengths to the book is the “cliffhangers” at the end of each chapter. A cliffhanger is basically the last couple of sentences to a chapter or the last few minutes of a show that’ll make you come back wanting for more. For example, a cliffhanger could go like this: “Then Gerald said something to me I would never forget.”. You’d want to know what Gerald said, right? Well you would never know unless you read the next chapter or watched the next episode.

I find this to be a strength because it keeps bringing the reader back for more. They’re need for more would be insatiable.

One of the weaknesses to this book is the way it’s laid out. I think the book was rushed because I felt like the actual Hunger Games only lasted for a few chapters. I thought it was much longer in the first book than in this one. Then again, the Hunger Games in the second book didn’t finish to its entirety because of Katniss. So, I do understand a little bit about why it would be shorter, but I still feel as if the whole book itself was rushed.

If I could change something in the book it would be how certain parts of the book was worded. For example, when Katniss is in the actual Hunger Games I found some of the visuals hard to imagine because the wording was tricky. It could be thought in many ways, but it seemed as if Suzanne Collins wanted us, the readers, to see the same thing she was seeing. That’s not all though. In the part where Katniss was in charge of planting an electrical wire into the sea to carry out a plan, I was confused. The reason I was confused is because a lot of events occurred at the same time. I knew what happened in a general sense, but if you asked me about specific details I couldn’t tell you because I’m unsure myself.

I would, without a doubt, recommend this book to someone else. The reason I say this is because Catching Fire is truly a marvelous book as a whole. Sure, it has it’s weaknesses, but it has just as many strengths to back it up. The plot and concept is absolutely astonishing. It can’t even compare to any of the previous books I’ve read. If you haven’t read the Hunger Games yet, I highly recommend that you do. You are missing such a great piece of modern literature. There’s a reason why this book is famous. Do you want to know what the craze is about? Why don’t you find out yourself!


Creative Piece: Alternate Ending

I shot my arrow through the space and then everything went black. Suddenly, I was blinded by a bright light. As soon as I was able to look around me, I saw the island, the arena...disappearing bit by bit. I blacked out soon after due to my wounds. Next time I awoke, I was greeted by Plutarch Heavensbee. The rage built up inside of me rapidly. All I wanted to do was scream and kill this man. The man that has put me through this sick game. I just want to destroy him, but my body isn’t responding.

Wait...What’s going on? I’m in a bed and who’s that? It’s...It’s...It’s Haymitch! What’s he doing here? I have so many things going through my head right now I can’t even think straight. I manage to sit up and I’m prepared to have a long talk. “Looks like you’re finally awake there.” Haymitch says “Yeah...” I respond. “We have a few things to talk about.” “Why’s Plutarch here?” “Don’t worry Katniss. He’s on our side.” Normally, I wouldn’t believe what people said, but something about Haymitch’s tone makes me trust him. “Let’s get straight to business then.” I reply. “First things first. You realize what you’ve done right?” “Do you mean the arena?” “Precisely.” I’m prepared to hear the worst and turn my head, but I didn’t expect what he said next. “That’s my girl.” I turn back to him confused. Surely I would get a scolding or yelled at for doing such a thing because we all know that I’m already in trouble. I could be executed at any time and I’ve probably just made things worse for everyone around me.

“Katniss, Plutarch is the one who saved you when the arena exploded.” Haymitch said “Oh...Thanks” I responded. Plutarch gave me a little smile and a nod. “Plutarch and I have been waiting for a moment like this for a while. We are going to overthrow the Capitol.” I thought I was hearing things for a second, but then reality set back in. “That’s all we can tell you at the moment because we’ve got to work out other plans. We’ll leave you to think about it for a bit because it is quite the amount of information.” Haymitch said. Then the two leave the room without another word.

I lay there staring at the white ceiling, thinking...just thinking. I don’t know what to say or do honestly. Is this seriously happening? Yes. Yes, it is. I start to drift off to sleep again and I let it happen. I need to be separated from the world right now.

Then I hear a chair screech next to me. I slowly open my eyes to find someone familiar sitting next to me. This smell...I know this scent. I start to remember the smell of the woods, coal mines, and dust... This is Gale! I immediately sit upright and this startles him. “Gale!” I scream out. “Hey there, Katnip.” he says with a smirk. I embrace him, but he doesn’t seem to like it very much. He slowly pulls me away. “What’s wrong, Gale?” I say puzzled and concerned. “Look, Katniss...I’ve got something to tell you.” he says “What is it?” I respond. “It’s about Peeta...” he said. “Gale, it’s a misunderstanding! I didn’t really love him, it was all an act for the Capitol to save the others-” then he cuts me off. “Katniss, that’s not what here to tell you. I’m here to tell you that Peeta...is no longer with us.” He looks at me with such serious eyes I’m confused. “ What do you mean?” I say. Then he says the two words I dreaded the most. “He’s dead.”

End


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Element Print


Reflection (two sentences on each core value relating to such project):

Inquiry:
How does this project reflect our intuitive knowledge in both art class and bio-chem?

This project can lead to us exploring new possibilities and questions in cooperative acts in other projects.

Research:
There was substantial research in this project especially listening to Ms. Hull to know how everything is done.
We all had to go online to research our element to have an equilibrium of everything we could use it in during art class. 

Collaboration:
I found myself asking for help and working together with many other classmates.

If someone had a good idea for a different element than their own they would go and tell that person who had the element. 

Presentation: 
Although not an assignment I saw a lot of kids in the hallway and at lunch using this project to practice their presenting skills.
This project gave us a good idea how presenting works because if you have a bad eject then you will have a bad presentation. 

Reflection:
Some of my classmates and I all sat down at lunch and thought on what we learned from this project due to the fact that if we don't understand what the point of everything was then we wouldn't be able to take anything from it. 

I incorporated this project in life lessons like to push yourself harder and surprisingly in reflective thought I came up with many that could help us in the tough journey that lies ahead. 



Photo on 6-7-13 at 8.54 AM
Photo on 6-7-13 at 8.54 AM

Negative Space

A. Negative space is the area around and between objects. It uses the space around something to show it, without inner detail.

B. In my drawing, I found negative space by replacing the outer portions of the drawing with a mirror of the inner, so that they both reflected the outside of the object.

C. It helps an artist to see in negative space because that makes them aware of the surrounding area of an object, even if they aren't shown. It also helps them display objects without relying on inner details.

D. Seeing in negative space does not enhance drawings, it just is a different way of drawing, a different style.

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Capstone - Natalee Schiavoni

Science Leadership Academy - Senior Capstone 2013

Student Name: Natalee Schiavoni

In school Mentor: Ms. Dunn

Link to my Capstone website:

http://716596935655210608.weebly.com/


Cover Page -

The goal of this project was to create an artistic portfolio of my most recent sketching and drawings to show my understanding for the techniques artist use to produce successful artwork. I want to mold together an artistic view point and practical techniques to create functional blog/website to help others find great resources.

Abstract -

My sketch portfolio is a collection of my best and most recent artwork that highlights my love for art and shows my experience throughout the year. It is a visual archive of my artistic accomplishments that demonstrates my ability and potential as an artist.  My finished portfolio documents additional work that demonstrates an awareness of formal visual organizational principles and experience with a variety of tools, media, styles, and approaches. You will be viewing still life, landscape, figure drawings, portrait, perspective, and diagrammatic drawings.

Wynn Geary Q4 Art

​Intro:

This quarter in art I focused on a range of things both digital and physical including my website and a ceiling tile tie painting. 


Website:

Having essentially finished building my website, I was able to sit down ad take a look at how people used my site. I noticed that a few changes had to made to the prioritization of different sections of art. I also realized that A new homepage could make the site significantly easier to navigate. After re-designing the homepage, I made minor tweaks to the site that made the visual experience both easier to use and more pealing. 
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​Painting/physical art:

I often work with a lot of my art on the computer and when I get a change to actually work with my hands I love it. A really popular project this quarter for our class was painting a drop-down ceiling tile. I took a cartoon-like image of a cat that I doodled in my journal and drew it out on a ceiling tile. I used white paint and india ink. 
Another project that I worked on this past quarter was a mason jar light. Ever since my family has started bee keeping, we've needed a lot of mason jars (to feed the bees sugar water with). After we stopped feeding the bees, we had an excess of jars, we've been drinking out of them and even making lighting. I essentially just cut a hole in the to of the jar lid and pulled the light bulb socket through and hung it from the ceiling. 

Blubber Island

I am Lindsey Jones and I’m going to take you through a thorough and thoughtful review of the dark comedy, philosophical thriller, Blubber Island. Blubber Island is written by Ismael Galvan. An author known for encrypting his stories with characters that are at the bottom of the social food chain and putting them in the oddest situations and eventually letting them flourish. Galvan, currently resides in Japan with wife an English teacher. He most famous work is in fact Blubber Island and writes in a Gutter Surrealist style.    


Elis, a social outcast sits in his small hut by a fire drinking tea. He is then abruptly affronted by a man in a business suit who tells him that he has torn a hole in his head. Elis is taken back by this and asks what exactly does he mean by this. The businessman continues on and Elis defensively drives to attack him with a spear when all of a sudden his world is turned inside out. Zombies come from nowhere and begin eating Elis. As his flesh was being torn apart, Elis is eventually saved by a tribe of gorillas summoned by an old man. Elis meets the old man, who tells him the zombie virus is spreading rapidly throughout his body. They both begin to argue, ending in the old man's home being caught afire. The old man urges for Elis to go inside the fire and rescue the antidote, or else he will become a zombie. Elis opposes to this, and expresses that he'd rather be a zombie than deal with such a nasty world. The both suddenly wind up in a forest, meeting an old samurai, and man named Casper. Casper takes Elis to a ballroom filled with awfully cheerful souls. The party is ambushed by a group of ninjas and gorillas. Everyone begins to oddly want Elis to dance with them. At random moments, the people begin shooting themselves. A man named Suit tries to keep Elis hostage as the chaos resumes and zombies appear. Elis is able to free himself and escapes the party with Casper. They both end up falling down a dark tunnel.

    A homeless girl named Jamie attends a prestigious university with her best friend, Green boy. They blend in with the students, who are the same age. However, they are different from them. Jamie expresses her dislike towards the students that come from affluent families and could pay their way through anything. Green boy, her ambitious best friend, convinces Jamie to help him break into an experiment laboratory within the university’s boundaries. Green boy attacks the scientists inside and runs off campus with Jamie. They are almost caught by security but stow away in a van and drive to a local pharmacy. Green boy holds the pharmacy at gun point. The victims inside begin fussing with Green boy, some even attempt to escape from through the front doors only to get gunned down police. The boy and girl somehow are able to avoid the police and leave with the upper hand down into the sewers. Inside the sewer realm, Jamie and Green boy accidentally meet an aggressive homeless man. The man scolds Jamie for dropping a bottle on him, but also tells about him getting tricked into selling his drugs. He needed the drugs to communicate with “aliens”. The homeless man tells Jamie the story of a suited man coming into the sewers offering the homeless food. The people that ate the food would quickly fall asleep and were pulled into the shadows the man. Later, they would turn up with their eyelids missing. The people then tried to the homeless man to cut his eyelids off as well. The strange conversation continues until Jamie and Green boy tire and descend back into their resting place.

    Jake, a man imprisoned sits in his cell. Blank. His failed attempts at suicide were told, and he ends up giving up. He is then approached by a small cockroach that quietly invaded his cell. Jake is blithe at this notion and attempts to claim the cockroach as his own. He was afraid of the roach leaving, and him being alone and abandoned. Jake begins to fantasize about falling in love with the roach and the endless literature that he would write on his/her behalf. When Jake attempts to befriend the roach, a toxic smoke enters the room. Jake refuses to give up the insect and shouts in despair. The room overfilled with smoke until a woman in a green suit is presented strapped to the ground. Jake realizes in order to save his roach friend and leave the room, the woman must be the key. Jake brutally rapes the woman until her true face is revealed, Jamie. The doors of the prison cell open and Jake and his roach are able to escape.

    The continues as the initial main characters are introduced. Each scenario revolving around Jake, Elis, Green boy and Jamie connecting another to piece to the puzzle. Green boy and Jamie realize their worth in the world and attempt to make another tear in the universe similar to that of Elis'. They do so, but the tear is not large enough for them to escape entirely. During this journey, they come of up with an idea to do a “take-over show”. This show involving gathering mass amounts of people in hopes of helping them stretch the tear so they can escape. They call this plan, Blubber Island. After Jake's escape from the hospital, he stops in the middle of nowhere on a highway. He captures of group of Indians and is invited to join their activities. Jake comes in the middle of a ceremony for an infant that had died early. The tribe was mourning the child's death and attempts to explain the meaning of the celebration to Jake. The death of the baby was compared to that of a bird's death by tourists and it's children starving. Jake gets high with the Indians and eventually leaves them.

    Elis is reunited with the old man at random. Elis tells the old man that he had forgotten who he was, but then realized it was the same man from dream. The old man tells him the reason for him invading his dream was because of the danger humanity was in. Elis still doesn't understand what he means. The man explains that the evolution of the universe is now conscious of it's existence, therefore defying the law of physics. The mind is merely a building block and is now attempting to evolve into something else. He tells Elis of the tear that is slowly altering and ripping apart the reality around him. Elis interrupts the old man and tells him he has lost the dream. The old man is bewildered and attacks Elis for dooming the entire existence of the human race.

    Once their intense battle subsided with a rainstorm, the old man tells Elis of “collective unconscious”. A psychic universe in which human experience connects everyone. A place that he prefers to call, Blubber Island. The old man longs to go there, as the mind is in it's most fragile state and highly unpredictable. A spiritual realm that has its own demons as well. A place that also interacts with the real world. If violence occurs in the real world, the event manifests itself in Blubber Island. This is the same for Blubber Island as well. The positive and negative things that happen there, also come to light in reality. The old man had found Elis' tear, as it was so big it made his own journey unnatural. The tear grew larger and larger until the old man had to interfere. The tear had become so big that corrupt creatures not only exist in Elis' mind, but his reality as well.

    Jamie and Green boy began their take-over show. A large band began player, accompanied by hoards of punks and other bystanders. The music suddenly turned angry and sour. Jamie was confused. The audience began going mad. Stomping to death those who accidentally were pushed into the crowd. People smashing into each other. Punching, kicking. All out chaos ensued. Mounds of blubber globs arose and began being thrown around the crowd. Everything and everyone was being destroyed. The police attempted to handle the event, but were pummeled to death. Jesus appears and tells the audience of how he has given up and wants time for himself. He then leaves, and random pedestrians attempt to claim the title of the All Mighty. Suit appears and summons a horde of zombies on the crowd. Chaos continues until of Green boy, Jamie and Elis all meet face to face. Elis attempts to let a bomb off in order to “fix” everything, but is stopped by Green boy. Jamie realizes that Green boy was drunk with a sense of invincible power and gives the bomb back to Elis. As Elis is about to set the bomb, he is eaten whole by a giant. Suit captures Green boy and attempts to eat him as well, but is stopped by Casper who appears at random. Suit tells Jamie he will give her back Green boy if she gives him the dream. She refuses and shoots Suit whilst receiving Green boy. Suit begins laughing maniacally as he slowly dies. Casper is in distraught. Green boy is bleeding through his neck. Jamie is left in shock of what she has done. This triggers the end of the world.

    Blubber Island has a wide variety of characters whose own stories are told every few chapters. Somehow, these stories are all connected. Each of the characters come from different backgrounds, but all have a similar goal. The reader is unable to tell which character knows who, or if they know each other at all. In the beginning of the book, it can be assumed that the stories are completely different between chapters, but as the book carries on, the connections between each character is known. These links are either made known between dialogue or through hints until the very last chapter.

    The initial main character is Elis. A science professor at a university who seems to be unsure of himself. He maintains a cocky attitude on the outside while having endless reflection in Blubber Island. Elis is the root of Blubber Island. His decisions in life affect the realm, and could possibly doom of all humanity. The book centers around his own selfish needs and how he takes to being the most important piece to the complex world of Blubber Island. Upon his supposed death, his importance his highlighted.

    Green boy could be seen as a younger, reckless version of Elis. He acts on his own terms, not thinking about the consequences of his actions. Green boy is another player in the game Blubber Island hosts. The boy gets thrills from the harmful chaos his tear in the universe causes and doesn't seem to mind it. The bigger his tear gets, the madder he becomes. His sociopathic ways are seen upon the uprising of the take-over-show.

    Jamie is the only relevant female character of the cast and seems to be the most sane despite her condition. Her origin is of an abusive home on the countryside. Jamie ran away from home after becoming fed up with her drunkard father and nonchalant mother. She was able to fend on the streets for herself, creating new names and stories for her upon each meeting. She meets Green boy and is instantly attached. They become two halves of a whole.

    Jake, an oddly written character with an indefinite background. His reasons for jail time are unknown. But his disparity for human contact give hint that he was a resident in prison for a long time.When he escapes from prison, his personality is seemingly normal. However, he is the most absent character out of the main quad. This could be because of his need to establish himself from once a mentally insane prison occupant, to a normal acceptable man.

The main conflict in this story is person vs. self. The four main characters are constantly in battle with their need for self pleasure. They take drugs in order to enter Blubber Island in an escape from the real world. This is shows the character's true selfishnesses. As they continually sin in the real world, they are affecting Blubber Island. The tears they created only get bigger and bigger, causing humanity to become potentially extinct. The characters do not seem to care how their actions affect a mass majority and do as they please.



    Green boy seems to be my favored of the vast majority. Despite being a very selfish and arrogant person, his actions are what really drew me into this book. Green boy always had a goal and would stop at nothing to reach it. He was unbreakable and stubborn at most. The plans and ideas he came up with most likely would have not worked in the real world, but it was nice being able to use my imagination through Green boy's. Green boy isn't a perfect character. He has nooks and crannies and open wounds that would usually make a reader look in the other direction. But his annoying imperfections are what makes him a roughly lovable character.

    Readers should definitely feel a sense of entertainment and a “thirst for more” after reading Blubber Island. Yes, this book isn't perfect, but if an author is able to make me reread a paragraph and go “What exactly did I just read?”, then the book was written right. For future writers, Blubber Island is a great introduction into figuratively writing gore and physiological scenes.

    A theme that isn't major, but is surely relevant is friendship. Jamie and Green boy stick together through thick and thin. They treat each other as family despite having contrasting personalities. Towards the end of the book, when Jamie realizes the trouble Green boy has caused, she still sacrifices the entire planet for the sake of him. Friendship isn't a big topic isn't this book, but is surely alive in between the lines and in small parts of the story. Between the gunshots and gore, there is still affection and love between the characters.

     The characters in this story weren't exactly the most relatable human beings. But they did have moments, even if they were split seconds, that I could connect with. In the very beginning of the book, within Elis' dream, he says “I'm sick of humanity. This is why I came here-to get away from everyone...”. After finishing this book and seeing the type of person Elis can be, I was able to spot a contrast in this quote and his further demeanor. Elis is in a extremely fragile state with in dream. He expresses not his hatred of humanity, but of his dislikes towards the people who wronged him. It clearly angers him, but at the same time, saddens him. Throughout the entire story, there is not a moment when Elis is emotional except at this point. I never like to be seen in a vulnerable state, like Elis. Our true personalities are completely different than what we portray to the rest of the world. However, when we get in a comfortable state within ourselves or someone else, our true thoughts come pouring out.

    On another spectrum, it was rather difficult to relate to anyone else in this book. The situations and characters were so goofy that it was hard to try and create a true connection with any of them. One of the main genres in this book is comedy and action, and these aspects outshined the rest of the characters. The small moments in the book are what when the components of reality come in and the reader is able to make a true connection.

     In all honesty this book was breathtaking. It had it's weird moments, events that even made me question what the author was thinking about when writing. But overall, it was a book that really made me question myself. Sure, it definitely wasn't what I was expecting when originally reading the summary on the back. But I guess that's what made me appreciate the book much more after all. However, this wasn't a perfect book. Yes, it is one of my favorites, but there are small aspects that left me confused.

    The main weakness that this book has is character development in my opinion. The characters weren't terrible, but it seemed as though the author mainly focused on writing a face paced, action-packed, psychological thriller that kept the audience engaged. The character's weren't given much depth or background for the reader to feel connected or interested in how they should be perceived. Jamie was the only credible character that was given a background story, despite being a second main character. The rest of the character's seemed to be almost identical in personality’s and how they dealt with their lives. In my opinion, characters should have dimension. Within each chapter of a story, the layers of their being should be unfolded. With Blubber Island, I never felt that.

    I wouldn't change much about this book. But I would definitely change the way in which the rest of the characters are gradually developed. This book would have been just as good, or even better, if characters like Elis and Green Boy were seen not just as faces for each situation they are in, but individually. Also, it seemed that there was a ridiculous amount of bloodshed and detailed gore. This aspect was fine at first, but became repulsive as the story progressed. Most situations, in reality, wouldn't have required loads of blood to seem as gruesome as in Blubber Island.

I do not recommend this book to those who prefer books with deep meanings, long journeys, and characters that have a deep past and connectable personalities. This book is more targeted towards readers that have a wide imagination and a little bit of immaturity to them. Blubber Island is a fun book with entertaining characters and doesn't really have to make an effort to impress the reader. It makes one raise an eyebrow just by existing and being included in a genre of books that most don't necessarily run to read. Discovering this book was a challenge, it was that far down the food-chain of book types that most would look over in a heartbeat. I wanted a specific type of book that was out of my element and could possibly introduce me to a new genre I had not previously explored. This book did exactly that. Every scene and moment was unexpected and kept me engaged. I devoured this book and wanted more after reading. Blubber Island is a great book for those wanting to start out reading a “different” genre of books.


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​For the creative portion of this project, I decided to illustrate my own depiction of the four main characters. (From left to right) Jamie, Green boy, Elis and Jake all sit in Blubber Island. A place where they finally feel at ease from the stresses and pressures of the real world. Their escape and use for selfishness. The same place that brought about their doom.

Rburenstein Process Paper

Capstone Process Paper

Ruben Burenstein

 

 

For my senior capstone I worked privately with students in the Spanish 2 class I assistant teach as well as research teaching techniques. At the end of the first quarter Don Marcos and I sat down to choose students that I would help. We chose the students that seemed to be struggling in the class. During the warm ups of class I would take the designated students out of class and give them a worksheet to complete, or an activity. The worksheets would cover things like conjugations of different tenses, and the activities would be based on conversation and practical uses of what they’re learning in class. The second part of my capstone was researching teaching material to help me look back on my experience teaching these kids, and seeing what I did right or wrong.

I chose this project mainly because of my history with teaching. My dad used to teach classes at Drexel so I was first introduced to teaching at a very young age. I didn’t really want to be a teacher until 8th grade. In 8th grade I had an amazing Spanish teacher that made me love the language and the class. It was from this moment until half way through junior year that wanted to be a Spanish teacher. In the middle of junior year I had a crisis where I completely lost my faith in teaching and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. This is what inspired me to do my capstone. I found out that I would be SAT’ing Don Marcos’ Spanish 2 class, so I thought that this would be a great opportunity to see if I enjoyed teaching as much as I thought for three and a half years. I used my capstone to see if education was something that I could envision myself doing in the future.

My capstone addresses the “Inquiry” core value because I had to ask myself what I already knew about teaching. I also had to ask what kinds of different teaching methods are useful for different situations, like does a language require a different style than math? The research I had to do mostly revolved around these questions, and then occasionally refreshing myself on the material that I would prepare for an activity or worksheet. I collaborated with my peers and teachers during this project. I had to collaborate with the kids that I was teaching because there would be on capstone without them. I also had to collaborate with Don Marcos and Mr. Sanchez. Don Marcos helped me organize my capstone, as well as being there as a mentor and support throughout the process. Mr. Sanchez helped me when I needed a book to help me analyze my work, providing several that were exactly what I needed. For the presentation core value, I had to present activities and worksheets to the kids, as well as do the capstone presentation during the last week of school. For the reflection part of capstone I read a book The First Days of School by Harry and Rosemary Wong in order to see what I did correctly, and what I could have improve on. I compared the techniques discussed in the book to ones that I had used in order to see how I could improve as an educator.

To complete my capstone I first did some preliminary research on basic education techniques. I then made a timeline to make sure that I actually planned worksheets or activities. Next I started creating or planning the work that the students would complete. This sometimes required me refreshing myself on the material they were learning in class incase I had forgotten since I took Spanish 2. I didn’t take the kids out every day, and stopped creating worksheets and activities around the middle of April. At this point I got a book to read so that I could learn more about teaching techniques and compare them to what I did.

The main obstacles that I encountered were complications with planning and lack of motivation. The second problem seemed to stem from the first problem. There were many days where I had something planned, and then the kids didn’t have a warm up in class. If they had to work on a project I didn’t feel that it was fair of me to take them away from something that was significant to the real class and replace it with practice. There wasn’t really a way for me to overcome this because I just had to accept that there were days they definitely couldn’t come with me, and that I would have to find other days. This caused the lack of motivation because sometimes I would make a worksheet and then the students wouldn’t have a warm up for a week. After this week was up there was usually a new topic introduced so all of the things that I planned kind of seemed outdated. This made me feel like the work I was doing wasn’t being useful so I would get demotivated and stop creating ideas for a while. I overcame this at several points by realizing that I had to continue working, but it continued to be a problem throughout the process.

The main resources I used were my teachers and father. Don Marcos helped a lot in identifying the students that I needed to work with being a large reason that I wanted to teach Spanish. He also provides his Spanish 2 students with links to help them improve Spanish on their own time, which are the websites that I mostly used to refresh my memory on topics. Another teacher that was extremely helpful was Mr. Sanchez. He was there to help me as an advisor whenever I was stuck on something, and also provided me with the book that I used to reflect along with several other useful books. Getting information from Mr. Sanchez and Don Marcos was much more useful than information from a library because they have been teachers for several years instead of a book that could be inaccurate.

The thing that I’m most proud of in this capstone isn’t my final result, but little moments that happened along the way. Whenever a student I was helping said “oh I understand that now” because of something I showed them it made me feel really good. I also liked seeing their progress after they said this to see if they actually understood it, and if they did I was very proud. I also liked seeing the kids that I was helping perform in class and do better than they were before whether it was on tests or simply their accent.

From this process I learned a lot about how to interact with other kids as a teacher. I realized that it’s hard a lot harder for a teacher that is close in age to the students because they are taken less seriously. I learned the most about teaching techniques and ways to be a more effective teacher. The book that Mr. Sanchez gave me clearly talked about several problems that first time teachers could have and I could see myself having them if I continued in the style that I had been. This project helped me realize that even if I feel something might not be used, I have to do it anyway for my own self-improvement.

If I could do my capstone all over again I would first write down every mistake that I made this time and try to fix them. I think that if I fixed all of the mistakes that I made in teaching this time and work prepared for the students more often, then I could have made a greater impact on their Spanish speaking skills. I also think that I could then look back at that process and see what I was still doing wrong. I would also try to thoroughly document the process of the kids that I was helping in the class to see if my lessons were helping. I think looking at their grades starting from when my lessons began and looking again every week would be interesting to see, as well as provide information on how I could be more effective.  I would also try to make a larger variety of lessons, or make sure that all of my lessons were as effective as possible.

My capstone made SLA a better place because of the people that I helped. Although the kids that I helped didn’t completely change around their act and start doing great in Spanish, they did improve a little. I could see when they started to understand something because of my lesson, and then use it without my help in class. I also helped because I will now be able to share my information of teaching methods to other people. I can tell them the basics of how to progress a students learning, instead of just giving them busywork. SLA is better because I helped students learn material that they didn’t understand, while improving my knowledge of teaching.

 

Bread And Roses


El propósito de este proyecta fue a ver una película y prestar atención a todos los derecho que fue roto. También fue importante aprender algo información sobre la luchas y historia de personas que ven a este país y tener problemas con sus derechos y sus habilidades a vivir. En general la película es sobre una lucha por igualdad. 

En la película una mujer con la llama, Maya va a los Estados Unidos a ser con su hermana, Rosa y conseguir un trabajo. El años es 1999. Cuando ella se hace el trabaja, ella trabaja duro y construye un relaccion con sus colegas. Cuando cosas comienza a ser rutina, acontecimientos extraño comienza a suceder. Ella reúne un hombre con la llama Sam quien da ella sobre los injusticios en su trabajo. Ella y el intentan a hacer los trabajadores de el trabajo de ella a protestar en contra de el trabajo. La problema es que mucho de ellos son ilegales entonces no pueden tomar el riesgo a ser deportados. Ellos quieren derechos pero no pienso que pueden luchar por los. Con persistencia, palabras con potencia, y acontecimientos emocionales, los trabajadores tomar acciones en contra de el trabajo. Ellos protestan mucho por teniendo mítines, discursos públicos, y por acosando las personas con la potencia a cambiar sus situaciones. 

En la primera escena, Maya viene a los Estados Unidos pero su hermana no tiene todos el dinero que ella necesitaba por los hombres quien traído ella encima entonces ellos intentado a raptar Maya. Este fue un violación de su derecho a ser tratado con dignidad. Ellos la trataba ellos como una cosa. Un otro parte en la pelicula que fue un acontecimiento emocional a los trabajadores fue como una mujer viejo fue despedido porque ella fue viejo y porque el jefe de su trabaja estaba mal humor . Este fue un violacíon de su derecho a ser tratado equal y tener la seguridad que ella no lo perderá su trabaja. El mayor articulo que fue violado fue el derecho a expresion y el derecho a ser reconocidos como un persona con un mente y derechos. En la pelicula el jefe de su trabaja no queria los trabajadores a protestar porque el no los vio ellos como personas con derechos. 

De este pelicula, apredia que muchas personas no saben tus derechos y no saben cuando ellos son experimentado un injusticio. El razon que ellos no saben es porque ellos pueden hablar la idioma de la pais. 



Independent Reading Book Review

Sattera Mark

Book Review

Orange Stream

6/7/13


In Mrs. Dunn’s freshman class everyone is required to do an independent book review. The book can be could be anyone’s reasonable choice. I decided that I wanted to read “The Absolutely true Diary of a Part Time Indian”. I made my choice based off some of my classmates’ comments. One of my classmates told me that the book was hilarious and they enjoyed reading it. You don’t really hear teens saying this about books. That’s why I knew I just had to read it.  


The book was about a fourteen year old Indian boy named Junior. Junior had many complications growing up. He was born a hydrocephalic, meaning that he had extra water in his brain and had multiple seizures until the age of seven. He also had an odd appearance. He was slim, had forty-two teeth, big feet, and was slim. On top that, he was poor and lived on a reservation. At school he is picked on hurt, even by his friends. Junior wants better for himself and his family so he transfers schools. At the new school he join the basketball team. Through basketball Junior copes with his lost of loved ones and reconnects with his old friend Rowdy.


I loved this book. It’s by far my favorite book. The pictures in the book were interesting and gave me a visual of what the author was describing. I learned many life lessons from this book. One of those is that anything is possible and not to let your situation define you. Junior is a prime example of this. He could have said he was handicapped but instead, he played basketball despite of his health conditions. He furthered his education to new heights and took risks. He did what he had to do even though his friends and community didn’t completely agree.


This book is perfect for mature teens. It’s funny, inspirational,  and keep me on the tip of my seat. I wouldn’t recommend this book for kids 13 and younger. The book talks about some things that younger kids can’t handle. I think that their should be an edited version of this book that’s suitable for elementary kids. Overall the book is still great.



Poem Get Up

In this world there is so much pain.

Some people think in dieng they might gain.

By taking the easy rode out they might be released of their sorrows,

Not caring that tears will be in the eyes of their loved ones tomorrow.

The ups and downs the rises the fall

lead to a tragic downfall.

And us stuck in stubbornness can’t hear the cries and calls

of those people.

Those people who need help and support love and care.

So will you come to the rescue of someone who’s hurting out there?



So if you’re one of those people, please don’t give up.

You are amazing and your time isn’t up.

You may be in a tough place.

Thinking that you can’t win this race.

But just keep a good pace.

Don’t go too fast but not too slow.

Life is a process, you’ll learn as you go.

Once you come out everyone will see your glow

You just got to know.

Keep you to the sky.

and maybe one day you’ll fly

soaring like an eagle accomplishing your goals.

If you’re listening please let these words infortrate your soul.

Your more that than your past mistakes

and your future awaits

new beginnings and new doors.

it’s just up to you to get up and explore.


Monisha's Q4 artwork

This quater I did artworks from Drawspace, again. This time it was focused more on details and dogs. With that I also did a outside art project, which is a collage about "Hero". I picked music as my hero and made a collage based on that.
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I finished my Collage a few days ago but unfortunately I don't have a picture of it yet because I had to hand it in for a contest. I'll try to get the picture later on. ​
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The Fault in Our Stars Review

For my independent book I choose to read the critically acclaimed The Fault in Our Stars. This fantastic piece of literature was written by John Green. John Green has won the Michael L. Printz Award, has had a book make it onto Top 10 Best Book for Young Adults, and has written five books and counting. The Fault in Our Stars is currently being made into a movie. This particular book was #1 on New York Times bestseller list.

This book tells the journey of Hazel Grace and Augustus. While it is a story of young love, it is not your typical love story. The reason these two teens meet is because of a cancer support group that Hazel attends weekly. One time she happens to meet Augustus and their relationship blossoms from there. An Imperial Affliction is a peculiar book that Hazel Grace re-reads constantly and feels that she can relate to completely. She considers the author her third best friend, yet she has never met him, but she has many unanswered questions about the book. Hazel Grace and Augustus bond over this book and it ultimately brings them even closer. The two main characters of this book are Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters. Hazel Grace is a 16 year old who has cancer; more specifically thyroid with mets in her lungs. Up until she meets Augustus a normal day for her consists of either sleeping late or taking her courses, watching reruns of America’s Next Top Model, and thinking of death constantly (which she says is a side effect of having cancer which is a side effect of dying). She’s not too optimistic about life and tends to only interact with her parents. Augustus on the other hand is dashingly handsome and very charismatic, even though in the past he has suffered from cancer. In Hazel’s words “His every syllable flirted.” Augustus’s adventurous spirit really brings Hazel out of her shell. The main conflict in the story is cancer vs. cancer patients. Throughout the story it shows the struggles people go through and the toll it can have on a relationship. My favorite character in this story would definitely be Augustus. The reason to why he is my favorite character is that I feel that he brings out the best in Hazel and makes the story interesting. I feel that everyone wants their very own Augustus Waters because he seems almost too perfect. Hazel is not a very lively person but it’s like Augustus gives her a real taste of life. Augustus is charming and gallant; what’s not to like? I’m pretty sure John Green intended for all readers to fall in love with not only the book but the characters, too. I feel that readers should take a few ideas from this book. The most important idea is to go out and enjoy life. No matter what your situation is, don’t stay cooped up in your house with a negative attitude. If you think nothing will ever improve, well then that is what is going to happen! Hazel starts out all mopey and sad, but then she takes a leap of faith with Augustus and her life gets 1,000,000 times better. This advice should be given to everyone because it applies to everyday life and can really determine if you’re happy or not.

I feel that I can relate to some of the characters during this book with emotions. Hazel constantly talks about how she is a side effect of life and feels misplaced. While I cannot say I have cancer I can relate to feeling outcast and misplaced. I think it’s something that most teenagers go through, and I’ve definitely been there and done that. I have also been in a bad mood and moped around my house like Hazel in the beginning of the book. I would say I also relate to Augustus in the way that when I see a friend that’s bummed out I try to get them to have fun and enjoy themselves.

I absolutely love this book! I feel that you get a unique point of view from Hazel as she tells a life that seems to have its downsides but she makes it worth living. I enjoy how it tells the story of Hazel but inside that is the story of Hazel and Augustus. I think that the passionate love that Hazel and Augustus share is a feeling that everyone wants and is searching for so when we read about it, it makes the book even better. The characters are very detailed and are so complex that they could actually be real people! The main characters are the type of people who everyone would want as their best friend (or boyfriend), and you really get a feel for who they are. The main strengths of this book are the characters, love story, and the genuity. As I said before, the characters have very rich details and you get the feel that they were based off real people. The love story between Augustus and Hazel is very captivating and I couldn't put my book down. I feel that the book is very genuine in the sense that you feel that this story could have really happened. The characters are always rational, the plot has its twists and not everything is a happy ending. I don’t feel that there are any weaknesses within the book. There might be a few tidbits that I would change, but I don’t feel that anything takes away from the book. A small change I would make is giving Augustus a voice. While I find Hazel’s point of view both entertaining and insightful I would really like to know what’s going on in Augustus’s head.

I would most definitely recommend this book to another person. Not just one specific person either, I feel that everyone who reads this book will thoroughly appreciate it. This book is a love story coupled with tragedy which leaves a bittersweet taste in your mouth after reading. This book is one of a kind yet it suits all who read it. If you see this book it is in your best interest to pick it up and read it!


Vocabulary from the book:

  • hamartia: tragic flaw          

  • dysmorphia: malformation; an abnormality in the shape or size of a body part    

  • sobriquet: a nickname

  • coterie: a group of people who associate closely, an exclusive group; clique

  • nihilism: nothingness or nonexistence... an extreme form of skepticism: the denial of all real existence or possibility of objective basis for truth



    My creative portion of this project was creating a "medicine" called Life. Hazel is constantly talking about how she is a side effect of life. Inside the box are society's idea of perfection; Nina Dobrev, Scarlett Johansson, and Blake Lively. On the back of the "medicine" it shows the sides effects which are Hazel and Augustus with their additions that are necessary for them to live. Below the side effects are the items "no longer available." These items are the people that were listed to be dead at the meeting where Augustus and Hazel first met.


           
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Independent Reading Project- The Perks of Being A WallFlower

Perks Of Being A Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky, is a teen novel that tells the story of a young boy. The plot is a man/woman themselves vs. the world. The book begins before his first day of high school. He is a nervous nelly, anticipating the beginning of the school year. He has no friends and doesn’t really look for any. He walks the hallways with his head down, to avoid eye contact. 

The main character’s name is Charlie. He is the youngest of three kids, with a mother and father. They have a pretty normal family from the outside, but once you go on the inside you realize they have as many problems as the rest of the world. One day at a football, game Charlie meets his new friends that he will be with until they graduate. The two kids introduce him to an entirely new group of kids that he had never known before. They call themselves the wall flowers. Charlie is a complicated person on the inside. He can’t always control his mind and that can get him in trouble, not with anyone in particular but mostly himself. He has to see a psychiatrist. There are many things that can trigger him to become wary or emotional. 

This is a common thing that can often be linked with anxiety. It is a normal thing to have going through high school with projects or tests or even friends, but this is not the same thing. I have sometimes experienced something of the sort. It has a lot to do with being able to control your mind and wanting it to stay calm, but while doing that, all you do is think about what is bothering you more. For Charlie, this issue comes up when he is thinking about the past (if you read the book you will know what I mean). 

I think this book, though could be debated with others, is actually a really good book. I read it and it made me think about how I was feeling more deeply and how I could relate to this book. Being a teenager in the same time period that this book was written, I can relate to most of the things that happened in the book, whether it is me personally or via someone else. 

I would recommend this book to mostly young-adults and the grown-up that likes to relive their child hood through a book. I think it gives a lot of truths that some books like to gloss over because of trying to paint teenagers as their stereotype, or even trying to go too far the opposite way. For example, I think Perks does a very good job as telling the life as it is, at least through the way  I have seen it so far. Over all I thought this was a really truthful book with a very well detailed story. 

My Creative Portion  

For my creative portion of this project, I chose to show the main character Charlie’s development throughout the story through the books that he reads. Throughout the book, Charlie reads 12 different books. Each one he reads at a different point in the story. For each one I wrote one word the described how he was feeling while reading that book. I wrote it on the back of a book that I put paper over and wrote the title and author of the book on to give it the affect that it was actually the book that he had read. Below is a picture of the books he read all stacked in order of when he read them. 

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Looking for Alaska

Looking for Alaska

book review by Lauren Thomas




Looking for Alaska is a young adult novel written by John Green that revolves around anguish and grief. The book has received much controversy on its contents. People have claimed the book has sexually explicit content that is not suitable for the intended age group of readers. Also, many people have challenged that the book is “disgusting”, “pornographic”, and will cause immoral thoughts and actions in children. The main characters of the book drink, smoke, have sex, and use explicit language and certain people do not think this book should be a young adult book. The author John Green has a joint YouTube channel with his brother. In one of his videos he defended his book saying he was not a pornographer. The scene in question isn’t supposed to be physically intimate, it’s awkward and empty of emotion which contrasts with the scene that follows after it where there is no physical intimacy, but emotional closeness. I agree with John; his book had a complex structure to it with meaningful quotes and messages. This book didn’t make me want to go out drinking or smoking, it made me think about how teenagers can be independent, but still needing a shoulder of someone close to lean on.

The book follows main character Miles “Pudge” Halters, a biography reader and last-word-memorizer, to his new high school, Culver Creek Boarding School, where he tries to find a Great Perhaps. Miles used to be an inept, shy wallflower; however, the moment he meets his new shrewd roommate Chip “The Colonel” Martin everything changes. Miles is thrown into a world where has fun, where he has friends, and where he can do what he wants to do. He continues to meet more of The Colonel’s friends: the mysterious, bipolar Alaska Young and the Japanese adept rapper Takumi Hikohito. Alaska intrigues Pudge the most. Now Pudge is on a mission, shoveling through layers of clues and anguish, to understand Alaska and what her actions mean.

Looking for Alaska revolves around the topic of grief and sadness. It also explores the aspects of friendship, self-discovery, and identity - perfectly fitting into freshman year at SLA. I loved this book. This book left me fraught with emotions. It had me in tears, laughing until I turned red, and it left me thinking about what the power of friends and love really means. The author of this book, John Green, is so talented. I love his personality and writing style. In my opinion, there is nothing I would change about this book, and there is no weaknesses to it. I don't relate to anyone in the book; however, Pudge and I do share being shy. I would recommend this book to anyone who read The Fault in Our Stars (John Green’s most current book). In fact, I would recommend everyone to read any John Green books. His books are filled to the brim with deep, meaningful quotes such this one from Looking for Alaska:


“...if people were rain, I was a drizzle and she was a hurricane.”




My creative portion for this book includes a movie trailer full of quotes & important scenes, as well as a movie poster/new cover for the book. The canvas has “looking for” written on it and the shape of the state Alaska. I chose the state of Alaska because it is one of the main character’s name and when I first saw the book I thought it was the actual state, not a girl. Inside the state of Alaska there is a road-map-like trail with important icons from the book. For example, the first icon is a book that says “YOU” standing for Pudge’s love of biographies; the second icon is the state of Alabama which is where Culver Creek is.



Please watch my trailer and provide feedback! Thanks to the help of my fellow classmates Miles, Dillon, Jesse, Lauren, Joseff, & Anna for being in it!


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Independent Reading: Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Keeping the Moon by Sarah Dessen

Sarah Dessen is #1 on the New York Times Bestselling Author, School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, 1998, A YALSA Best Book for Young Adults, 1999, New York Public Library Book for the Teenage, 2001, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist, 2003. She has written many books two of which I have already read. All her books focus on teenage girls and she usually will tie in different characters that have a small role in one book, but a large role in another. The book I chose Keeping the Moon was published September 1st, 1999 it was her third novel she now has ten books, one novella, and the current book she is writing. In 2003 the film how to deal with Mandy Moore was based off of Someone like you and That summer both written by Sarah Dessen.

Keeping the Moon, also released as Last Chance is about fifteen year old Nicole Sparks or Colie. This books narrates her summer that she spends her Aunt Mira in fictional Colby,a small beach town presumably in North Carolina. Each Sarah Dessen book has some sort of theme, some are simple and some can be more complex. This book is a very simple theme, friendship, a theme that evolves to be very complex. Colie was once overweight so was her mother, however her mother started aerobics and they both became very skinny, Colie evolving into a small case of anorexia.

When she arrives in Colbie she is very hesitant to make friends, she always had been however when she starts work at The Last Chance burger joint she makes new friends.

Her main best friends are two girls who have graduated from high school, it is never made clear how old they are however. Morgan is very tall and very welcoming of Colie, Isabel however is very rude and difficult towards Colie. The two only become friends when Isabel meets one of Colie’s arch enemies, who calls her a slut and a bitch.

Norman is the young man, probably seventeen or sixteen who lives in Aunt Mira’s basement, he is the cook at the Last Chance and takes an interest in Colie, the two start out as friends but become involved near the end.

Aunt Mira is very eccentric and reminds Colie of who she used to be, more of what she and her mother used to look like. Colie is somewhat afraid of Mira in the beginning but the two become good friends while talking. Colie learns that Mira’s life is very difficult, she is made fun of all over Colby but when Colie confronts Mira with this, she learns how strong Mira is.

My final view on this book is that Sarah Dessen finds a unique way to catch attention of young adults and enrich their minds. I love Sarah Dessen books and want to continue reading her novels because her style of writing really catches my eye.

Click Here for my Creative Portion     

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gatsby

F. Scott Fitzgerald

by Jesse Shuter

    The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald was an extremely well written book with a plot that has many interesting twists and turns. The Great Gatsby is one of America’s most popular books, it is assigned to be read in school all across the United States. The Great Gatsby was also turned into a movie four times (1926; 1949; 1974; and 2013) and was even briefly a television program (2000). The Great Gatsby is a timeless classic, on USA today’s website The Great Gatsby is currently number three on the best seller list, and it has been on the best seller list as one of America’s top ten books for 407 weeks. It is clear that The Great Gatsby will be one of America’s favorite books for a very long time.

    In The Great Gatsby the narrator is Nick Carraway. Nick moves from his home in Minnesota to New York to learn about and get a job in the bond business. He moves to West Egg, New York right next door to Jay Gatsby. Nick introduces the reader to Gatsby and the reader meets Gatsby through the eyes of Nick. Nick is also cousins with Daisy Buchanan and her husband Tom Buchanan attended Yale with Nick. Jay Gatsby was an extremely young wealthy man who lives in an extravagent mansion where he throws outrageous, huge parties every saturday night. The interesting thing about Gatsby is that no one seems to know about his past. Through getting to know Gatsby, Nick discovers that born James Gatz on a small farm in North Dakota. He then went to train to be in the army, and while training to be an officer he met Daisy Buchanan, Nick’s cousin. Gatsby fell in love with Daisy and wanted to gain wealth in order to impress her. He became wealthy by participating in the illegal act of bootlegging alcohol. After being in a relationship with Daisy for a while, Gatsby had to leave to be in the army. Meanwhile after Gatsby left Daisy met Tom Buchanan, whom she married and started a life with. Tom is your average arrogant jerk. His is rascist, sexist and even a hypocrite. Tom also has a mistress, her name is Myrtle Wilson. Daisy had a close friend named Jordan Baker who is a professional golfer, she begins a relationship with Nick in the story. In the story Gatsby befriends Nick and then uses him to reunite with Daisy. It is then that they begin an affair. When Tom finds out he is outraged, which is interesting because he is having an affair of his own. Gatsby and Tom start to get in a fight with each other over Daisy. Later in the book Tom discovers that Gatsby kills Myrtle Wilson while driving in his car with Daisy, what he did not know was that Daisy was the one driving the car. Tom immediately tells Myrtle’s husband, George Wilson, and because of this George begins to believe that Gatsby was the one having an affair with Myrtle. George goes mentally unstable because of the anger and kills Gatsby and then himself. Even though all that Jay Gatsby wanted was love, all he got was betrayl and death.

    In the book I would say that there are two kinds of conflict. The first is person vs. person. This is because throughout the book there is a tremendous amount of tension and fighting between Tom, Gatsby, and Daisy. Gatsby is even murdered because of this anger and tension. The type of conflict is person vs. self. This is throughout the entire book, especially in Jay Gatsby. Ever since Gatsby met Daisy all he wanted was her apporoval and her addoration. He did things that he did not necessarilly want to do in order to earn her love. He throws all of these parties not because he loves to party, but because he needs this kind of excitement, approval, and even support to replace the emptiness he feels from letting the girl he loves get away. The life of Jay Gatsby is sad and that is why he deserves sympathy. That is also why Jay Gatsby is my favorite character in The Great Gatsby. He is such an interesting character, who is viewed by some as a celebrity, yet all he wants is for the woman he loves but can’t have to love him.

    I can relate to Jay Gatsby. I have never done anything illegal to gain money, but the aspect of Gatsby of which I identify with is the aspect where he is willing to do whatever it takes to reach a goal. He is admirable for his perseverance because he always succesful in his endeavors.

    I liked the book but I did not love it. I found that throughout most of the book there are rising actions which are boring after a while. I found myself waiting and waiting and waiting for the climax of the book which I personally felt did not appear until late in the book when Tom discovered the relationship between Daisy and Gatsby. By this point the author had left himself very little time for the plor to resolve so I felt that the final big things were rushed at the end of the book. If I could change something in this book it would most likely be that the climax begins closer to the middle of the book, and this way there is more time for the falling actions from after the climax to pace themselves and occur in a way that does not feel quite as rushed. I would not recommend this book. It takes a very high vocabulary to truly understand the plot of this book, and also the book was tedious in many parts.

Quote Analysis:

    “‘Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,’ he told me, ‘just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had all the advantages that you’ve had’”. (Page 1, Paragraph 2, Chapter 1, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald). This quote happens almost immediately in the book and yet it is my favorite quote in the whole book. This quote sets the tone for the entire story. It does multiple things at once to help the reader. First of all it introduces the reader to Nick Carraway who will be the narrator throughout the story. Secondly, it explains Nick’s views on life and his back story. Finally, It foreshadows the rest of the book it lets you know that later in the book there is going to be a time where the reader needs to set aside the views and understand that a person may have done their actions for a reason that the reader does not understand because they have never needed this thing. I personally believe that the moment this quote is leading to is the point in the book when we learn that Jay Gatsby illegally shipped and distributed alcohol which is also known as bootlegging. What the reader needs to understand is that Gatsby felt the desperate need for wealth because first of all he was raised in a poor household and he wanted to have a better life than his parents, and second of all, he wasdesperately in love and he wanted to earn the girl he loved’s heart by becoming wealthy.



Vocab (Difficult words throughout the book):

Commensurate- Adj, corresponding in size or degree.

Hauteur- Noun, disdainful pride

Convivial- Adj, friendly or lively (of an atmosphere or event)


Corrugate- Verb, contract or contract into wrinkles or folds

Apathetic- Adj, showing ot feeling no interest, or entusiasm

Privy- Adj, sharing in the knowledge of something secret ot private

Sauntered- Verb, to walk in a slow, relaxed manner



For my creative piece I made a combined commercial for both the movie and book (below)

A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones 

By George R. R. Martin

Andrew Roberts


Recently I had the pleasure of reading the first installment of George R. R. Martin’s series   A Song of Ice and Fire.  I enjoyed A Game of Thrones greatly, and will read it again, along with the other books in the series.  A Game of Thrones was written in 1996, and won the 2004 Locus Award as well as being nominated for the 2004 Nebula Award and the 2004 World Fantasy Award.  There are five books currently in the series, with twi more to be written, A Game of Thrones being the first, and then A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, A Feast for Crows, and A Dance with DragonsThe Winds of Winter, the sixth book, is currently being written.  A Game of Thrones is the base of the first season of HBO’s TV series Game of Thrones, the other books being the bases for the other series.

A Game of Thrones is not a simple book.  It consists of three separate plot lines that do not interact in the book itself, but it can be foreseen that they will affect each other greatly in future books.

The first plot line includes most of the main characters save two.  There are eight Great Houses in a kingdom called the Seven Kingdoms (which is kind of ironic, because there are actually eight) or Westeros.  The story focuses on House Stark, which rule one of the seven parts of this kingdom.  They rule the northern part of the kingdom, and are constantly warning that winter is coming (their slogan is, in fact, that).  After some character development, the King comes to Winterfell, where the Stark family resides.  The King wants Lord Eddard Stark, head of the family and also a friend of King Robert (who is from another of the houses: House Baratheon) to be his new Hand.  The Hand is the second-in-command to the king, and handles matters of money and organization and such (there is a saying: “The King drinks, the Hand buys the wine”).  The King’s previous Hand was mysteriously murdered, and Eddard decides to go to King’s Landing, the capital, to become the Hand and also to find out what exactly happened.  He leaves his son Robb in charge at Winterfell along with his wife.  Just before he leaves, his son Bran falls off the castle roof while climbing.  His wife, Catelyn, learns that he did not in fact fall; he was pushed.  While visiting her son in bed, she is attacked by an assassin with a knife she finds belongs to Tyrion Lannister, a member of House Lannister, which is always vying for power and is feared by many.  Lysa arrests Tyrion Lannister, and in retaliations his brother Jamie attacks Eddard in King’s Landing and kills his guards.  A Civil War erupts.

The second plot line follows Jon Snow, bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark.  Jon, being a bastard, has never fit in, and decides to ‘take the black’, or go to serve on the Wall, a monstrous wall built over centuries to protect the Seven Kingdoms from threats in the north.  He goes to the Wall, and shortly after he arrives his uncle Benjen Stark goest on a scouting trip beyond the wall and never comes back.  The Others (the name for the creatures beyond the wall) are stronger in winter, and winter is coming.
The third and final plot is one that tells the tale of Daenerys Targaryen, the daughter of a king King Robert unseated.  Her and her brother Viserys go out of the Seven Kingdoms to a land to the west where the Dothraki live.  Viserys weds Daenerys to Khal Drogo, in return for an army that he will use to take back the Seven Kingdoms.  That army is never given, and Viserys dies  soon after.  Daenerys becomes pregnant, and Khal Drogo promises his future son the Seven Kingdoms for his rule.

The book does not follow one specific person, so there is not an obvious favorite for the reader.  I personally liked Arya Stark, Jon Snow, Catelyn Stark, and Tyrion Lannister.  Arya is a rebel; she refuses to be made into the stereotypical “lady”, unlike her sister, Sansa, who is very ladylike, but also sides with the enemy because she loves a prince.  Arya does not care what people think she should be, but does what she wants.  She gets trained to fight with a sword her half-brother Jon gives her.  Jon is the bastard of Lord Eddard Stark and another, unknown woman.  He ‘takes the black’, or joins the Night’s Watch, a group of people who defend the kingdom from almost mythical monsters in the far north.  He has, being a bastard, always struggled to fit in, but he does so at the Night Watch.  He earns his peers’ and his superiors’ respect, and, though he struggles, finally finds a home.  Catelyn works behind the scenes to carry messages and to generally assist in ways that others cannot.  She is also a comfort to others and, though discouraged by things such as lying friends and ignorant sisters, is a strong person assisting her son in doing what he needs to do (which is something I will not spoil).

One thing that reoccurs (but is perhaps not the best of messages) is Eddard’s want to do the noble thing, but then that noble decision turns out bad for him.  The message I got from that is this: while the noble thing is seems right, it will not necessarily benefit you or the people around you.  You must not let nobility get in the way of the right choice.

In this story, there are many examples of kids taking the responsibility of adults; Robb becomes Lord when Eddard becomes Hand, among other examples.  I cannot relate to this, and hope not to have that much responsibility ever on me at that age.  I can imagine the feeling of this, and do not think I want it.

I love this book.  I will most definitely read the next books.  A Game of Thrones was a thrilling tale of politics, treachery, and war.  I loved the plot twists and the cliff-hangers and the action.  There is one significant problem I had with the book: there are several vivid descriptions of sexual activity.  While George R. R. Martin could have gone into much more detail, he still passed the line.  I ended up skipping parts where this happened simply because I did not want this in my mind.  When I finished the book, I went back to one occasion and read it for the specific purpose of getting a taste for what the author was trying to convey.  While these incidences do provide a sense of realism, there is no real need for any of them.  The TV show stays true to the book, and visual images are much worse than mental ones.  That is what I would change in this book - I would take these incidences out.

I would most certainly recommend this book to others, but not anyone below high school, because of the things I described in the last paragraph.  This also has a high reading level and is a little slow in the beginning, and weaker readers may find it less enjoyable because of that.  But overall, this is a series I will follow until it ends.



In my creative portion, I changed some of the House Sigils to better reflect the characters of those houses.  You can see it by clicking on the PDF below.
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The Girl Who Played with Fire - IRP - Berg

Josh Berg


Independent Reading Review


The Girl Who Played with Fire was written by Stieg Larsson before his death in 2004. The Girl Who Played with fire is the only novel in the Millennium series that has its title unchanged. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is originally called Män som hatar kvinnor before translation, in English, Men who hate women. The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest is called Luftslottet som sprängdes, in English, The air castle that was blown up. A prominent  theme for the series in general, is violence against women. This theme is quite visible and present in the plot of all of the books due to a gang rape that Larsson witnessed at a young age. He felt guilty for years after for not being able to intervene and it would seem that the books in the Millennium series were partially a form of retribution for Larsson. Not only did these books do well for Larsson on a personal level, but sold fantastically as well. The novel I read for this particular Independent reading, The Girl Who Played with Fire, is the first and only translated novel to be number one in the UK hardback chart. It spawned movies as well as graphic novels, which are for the most part still in the works, however I am in the process of trying to acquire The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo graphic novel which is the only one complete at this point.  It is a shame that Larsson never really got to see the impact that these novels he crafted had on people. 


*MINOR SPOILER WARNINGS*

I am trying to not divulge too much information that could potentially spoil this book if you have not read the first one, however you have been warned.



This novel follows the same main characters and introduces many new minor  ones and a few new major ones. Despite how impressively crafted the main characters are, it is really the minor ones that make the book for me. They draw comparisons between themselves and the main characters in interesting ways, as well as provide sometimes quirky personalities, but most of all, they are human. These characters minor and major alike are not black and white. It is the minor characters more often than not that are the glue that holds the book. At the beginning of the book, Lisbeth has cut ties with her beloved journalist Mikael Blomkvist. This is most likely due to her inability to go back to the world where they did not know each other. It is most certainly difficult because Blomkvist has not had as hard of a time with the whole transition and has resumed his relationship with Berger. I am glad that Larsson did not just drop the whole idea of how difficult this is for someone, especially someone who is a bit emotionally imbalanced like Salander. Salander is strong in many ways, but as stated before, she is a human being and is susceptible to certain things which is really what draws her apart from many stereotypical female characters in stories. A fair amount of the time you will usually have a character that is very much a mere archetype. You might have the stereotypical vulnerable female character or a usually noble attempt to make a strong female character that often falls short due to exaggerations and falling into a femme fatal emotionless object. That is really what makes Lisbeth special, the details that do not pertain too much to the main story as they may be eventually resolved. These things make the characters and situations seem real.

Salander has left Sweden for Grenada. She soon establishes a relationship with a young boy named George. The relationship soon becomes a bit questionable and it is unclear if the author had the age in mind too much when writing about their relationship although I imagine he did. I think that this relationship was a bit of reminder about Salander’s disregard for the law for things that she perceives to be OK. Salander soon becomes aware of a scheme involving her neighbor Dr. Forbes. The Dr. wishes to dispose of his wife in order to take her wealth. She attacks Forbes and he is killed in a natural disaster. Salander returns to Sweden and purchases a new apartment with some illegal money. She gives her old apartment to her partner and simply requests that her mail be given to her. Meanwhile her legal guardian, Nils Bjurman, who hates her and vice versa with an perhaps stronger passion, due to events from the last book I shall not disclose, is looking for a certain item damning to him that is in Salander’s possession. Soon enough our protagonists meet again after Mikael manages to help deal with someone assaulting Salander. Who this is, or their affiliation with others will be important later as are many other seemingly small details mentioned here. Despite his efforts to reconcile with her, she wants nothing to do with him. She feels rejected by him, so it is only fair that he have a turn at being the rejected one. Mikael soon comes into contact with journalist Dag Svensson and his girlfriend Mia Johanssen. The pair speaks of research they have done about the sex-trafficking of underage women in Sweden. Interestingly enough, Lisbeth seems extremely intrigued by the repeated mention of the leader of the operation, “Zala”. All this information is made clear to Lisbeth through hacking. Soon the couple Dag and Mia are found murdered and Lisbeth will later find herself in a less than ideal situation. Why could these things have happened? What does it all mean? I suppose you should read the series and find out. Even after finishing this, there is still much that is impossible to understand. You should only read this given that you are interested in a series that from the two I have read, are not beach reads by any means and are dark. When I say dark I mean DARK. Unless you are prepared to read about evil things that are described vividly to a somewhat stomach sickening point. One of the biggest things made more clear at the end would have surprised me except for the fact that I pride myself in guessing twists for a reason. 

My favorite character despite my obvious enjoyment of the more minor characters is probably Lisbeth Salander. I feel like a bit of a plebeian writing that, but so be it. She really does have a lot going for her character that really makes her compelling. The hopelessness that she feels is a theme throughout the book that is only made to feel more real through the other times that she feels strong. She is a real person that could exist, but she still remains interesting in so many ways. 

I did enjoy this book quite a bit, although I think it is only fair to note that although I enjoyed Larsson’s writing style throughout the book, it did lose a lot of its novelty and freshness that made the first book so amazing to me. It still has that complexity yet lack of stuffiness that I really enjoy. These books are the opposite of books that talk down to you in the way they talk to you. I recommend the first book to anyone who thinks they can handle a lot of the themes and the actual writing itself. I recommend the second to those who loved and hated the characters from the first with a passion. 

For my creative piece I drew a book cover. The cover is supposed to have art that resembles the room Salander is in during the prologue as I found this part to be extremely powerful, not to mention well-written and important to the rest of the plot. I omitted many of the details for the sake of artistic interpretation and to make the rest of it pop and not have a lot of jumble. Not to mention I couldn’t draw the details so well and I had already put forth a lot of effort into other areas of the creative piece such as the flaps.



TGWPWF COVER JACKET
TGWPWF COVER JACKET

Independent Reading

Book Review
2013-06-06 21.36.53
2013-06-06 21.36.53
​Creative Piece : Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a book by Stephen Chbosky. Charlie is the main character and he writes to an anonymous person. This book is written as a letter format and it's told by first person point of view. I decided to respond to all of his letters, writing only one letter to Charlie. I made the paper look old and added minor touches so it looked like it was written in 1992.