Unforgiving

          Author's Note: I wrote about the theme of bullying.

What would you think if someone was insisting that what you were telling them was false even though you knew for a fact it was true?  When someone does that, you get an unjust feeling of discouragement. That feeling doesn't go away until they see that you're not crazy and know exactly what you're talking about. These feelings were experienced by nine year old Margot, in Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer in a Day". That feeling caused by bullies is a big theme of this story.

    Margot struggled with being bullied at her school in Venus. In this story, the planet Venus has seen non-stop rain for 7 years. Margot is from Earth, so she remembers it being sunny and not rainy 24/7. Although the kids in her class don't believe shy Margot that the sun is going to peek out on that specific day or the that it looks like a lemon drop, she knows that she is right. However, Margot's classmates her names, criticize her, and don't believe anything she says

   Aside from the fact that they don't believe her, they put her down a lot and discouraged her. A lot of the time they told her she doesn't know anything or she is a liar, and that is bullying. Because Margot is quiet, smart, and..... well, different, the kids in her class hate her. The teacher never sees the bullying that goes on in Margot's class so that makes the bullying and discrimination worse. The kids don't bully her just about the sun coming and how she apparently "thinks" she knows what it looks like. She very well does. However, they bully her just because they feel like it.

  On the day the sun came out, the kids decided to lock Margot in a dark and dreary closet in the classroom.  As soon as they locked her in a closet, they ran to the window to see the unveiling of the mysterious sun. While the sun was only up for a minute, rain started to pour down again and devastate the whole class including the teacher because they knew they wouldn't see it for another seven years. The class then remembered that they left poor Margot alone in the closet and realized that she wasn't lying and she was actually telling the truth! After rushing to the closet, the kids opened the door, and freed Margot.  However, the damage has been done. She once again, experienced icy behavior from them to her which could have been the breaking point for her because it was incredibly mean. Actions can speak louder than words, and this action scared Margot to death.

"All Summer in a Day"reminds me of the book The List by Siobhan Vivian. I noticed the similarities between the two because they both have a theme of bullying and it's pretty evident. In the list, a high school puts up a list of the "prettiest" and the "ugliest" girls in the school. Even though the students don't just blurt mean things out like the students in "All Summer in a Day" do, they still are saying who has the looks to be classified as "pretty" and to point out the people who apparently just don't cut it. This list was a given respect ticket to all of the girls who were on it. Anyone whose name was on their were treated like the princesses they thought they were. Certain girls who were placed on the "ugly" list probably had their feelings hurt just as bad as Margot did. 

Applying to the bullying theme of the story, the bullies in the story are derogatory to themselves and damaging to others. Dealing with being bullied  required Margot to face those two startling things by the kids in her class.  Poor little Margot remained in her timid "shell" of shyness after going what she went through. Bullies are unfortunately powerful and are all over the world. Even though there are different types of bullying, all bullies have the same goal. As disturbing as it is, their goal is to make you feel bad about yourself. The bullies in this story sadly accomplished that goal every time they talked to Margot.

Change of Heart

Author's Note: I predict that Skeeter Phelan will accomplish her goal to make her book be successful. I also think that the people's attitude in her town will change.

Imagine being forced to use a different bathroom because of your skin. Or, imagine having to sit in a separate part of the public bus because of the color of your skin. Well, in The Help,by Kathryn Stockett, that's how life was for black people in 1962 living in the heart of Mississippi. That was their life until an ambitious, fresh out of college girl came along and tried to change things. This leads me to believe that because Skeeter is strong-willed she won't back down from the fight and things will go as planned for her....and the town both. I predict that she will accomplish her book of showing the horrible relationships between black maids and white women will go number one in the country. Also, I think it will end the dreadful lives of all black people,especially the maids.

    The reason I think that her book will become such a success, is because so many maids don't want to live like they do but they're just afraid to speak up in fear that they would possibly be beaten or lose their life. It started with just Aibileen and Minny helping Skeeter but then it turned into five. Six. Seven. And  many more  maids who wanted to contribute. People want to help her help them. Skeeter and the maids always meet in secrecy at Aibileen's house. You could tell that it was such a big risk when Skeeter first came over to her house, Aibileen said to her " you know, I ain't never had no white person in my house". That pretty much clarified that what they were doing, was dangerous

 Another reason that I predict the book will be a success is because Skeeter is a very good writer. She has a college degree in writing and also writes the 'Miss Myrna' column at the local newspaper firm. Skeeter contacts executive editor, Elaine Stein in hopes of publishing her book. To spare punishment to all the maids, Skeeter changed all of their names and the name of their town. For each maid, she wrote a genuine word-for-word chapter as the maids sat in front of her and told them their heartbreaking stories. Skeeter was adamant  on delivering the truth and nothing less.

 This novel reminds me of the book Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas. Freshwater Road  is about a young woman, Celeste, who takes a vacation to the south and gets the surprise of her life. Celeste helps people with the evil ways of racism,violence, and social change. Meanwhile they teach her a thing or two about valuable life lessons.  I think these are similar because they both take place in the early 1960's in the south and they both deal with racism and exclusion. In both books people find love, redemption,and identity.

  Based on my background knowledge, I can conclude my prediction that  Skeeter will accomplish writing a successful book. I also think the town will change and look at their fellow colored neighbors equally as they do white.  The unfairness in that town would soon be gone after Skeeter made her book, so it's kind of a double whammy. If there was another story I believe that all the characters would be nicer and more friendly. Attitudes will change.

Changing

   I wrote this character development on Landon Carter from Nicholas Sparks' A Walk To Remember. His transformation was remarkable and I thought it would be great to give examples.

 In the beginning of the book A Walk To Remember, by Nicholas Sparks, one of the main characters,  Landon Carter had a  wretched attitude towards life, and  he had  to deal with that hard fact of his true love having cancer. He is a judgmental, cocky, and unappreciative teenager. Popularity wise, Landon ranks in the top five at  his school alongside his best friend Erik, who is captain of the football team and who is also egotistical. Landon recently dated a popular girl and he is possibly the richest kid in the town.  When Landon came in correspondence with Jamie, however, he realized that he needed to change, but for the better. And that's just what he did.

Breaking up with someone is always hard to do,but , that's what Landon did with his girlfriend  Angela just before his high school's homecoming dance.  Landon was still single at the time of homecoming and he didn't want to attend the dance without a date, as of course that would make him look "lame". When the dance got closer, everybody was arranging plans for themselves leaving very little amount of people free.  As the desperation intensified, Landon had no other choice but to ask the strict minister's daughter, Jamie Sullivan , who has a reputation of the "goody-goody" to be his date. Jamie  and Landon continued to do things together after the dance. The two of them  did things like, star in the school play and visit the local orphanage, although Landon did do them reluctantly giving off the major hint when he said to his mom " How could I say no to her? She's so sweet". During their time together, Landon changed, but for the better and fell in love.  Deep into their relationship, Jamie told Landon that she had leukemia and was going to die soon. Achingly watching her suffer from the illness, Landon tried everything he could to save her, but nothing could beat the violent disease.  One  thing that could help would be to have their spirits uplifted. The solution to that was the wedding between the perpetual  lovebirds. From there on out, Landon wasn't a boy anymore, he was a man.

  While Jamie held on to  her deteriorating life weakly, Landon's influential 'manly' acts advanced. He started to noticeably be nicer to not just his  parents, but his whole town and school along with nurturing Jamie. His priorities really straightened out for him . During the quick time from when he fell in love and up until their wedding, Landon had an epiphany of how he should be more kind and appreciative, just like Jamie. In the midst of his transformation,  his annoying best friend Erik, became inspired by Landon's generous new ways. Erik realized that Landon was being more respectful and respected him for that and decided that he wanted to be someone admirable like that. So, Erik did exactly that." Miraculous transformation" was all people could say from then on about the two best friends.  Another inspiration that evolved, was Landon's father who is rarely home and too caught up in his own life to pay any attention to his son.Landon's father noticed his son's change and was motivated to be a better father for his son who was now very mature. At a point in the book, Landon's dad actually said to him, " son, you're really starting to grow up, and I'm proud of you".

  

 Though Landon's bad-boy turn around  was remarkable, it still wasn't original. Just like one of the main characters  in the short story  Thank You Ma'am  by Langston Hughes, Roger  had a bad-boy reputation just like Landon. This reputation could've easily gotten Landon or Roger in serious trouble, like peer pressure incidents. Perhaps that would've happened  if they didn’t change it quickly.  Roger's situation is quite different than Landon's because he tries to steal and Landon never did, tough they do have a similarity in being taught a valuable lesson. By the end of the story, specific people thought differently of each character.

       Landon kept up his inspirational image even after the devastating loss of Jamie that happened three months after their wedding.  There are many reasons why the "new" Landon was such an inspiration. One of the biggest reasons was because he was a more positive person. That positivity showed vividly. Because of him being such a nice and generous person, his whole school, town, and family admired and looked up to him. Landon Carter had indeed changed.

Excogitation

 Traveling back in time to talk to the founding fathers of our country would be an amazing experience.  

                                 

   What would you say if you could travel back to 1776 to talk to the founding fathers of our country? Well, If you think about it, I mean truly think about it, it’s a thought provoking and powerful question. If I had that chance I would tell them what a great country we’ve become based upon the constitution they wrote over 200 years ago that was the foundation of our desirable country. Additionally, I'd want them to know that the way they set up our country, based on freedom has prevailed and benefitted so many people.

    Since the constitution was written, our country has opened the doors for people to immigrate here from all over the world to make a better life for their families.  They came for job opportunities and of course, freedom. Some of the biggest freedoms that stood out were religion and speech. Those things matter immensely to people and are the core elements that play a part in establishing the definition of a strong, independent nation.  

    Personally, I'd desire to let them know that the founding fathers have excelled when they set up this country. Perhaps, if they heard that, they’d know they succeeded .Also, they’d know that they’ve accomplished exactly what they set out to do.  In a way, I feel as if it would reassure them and make them feel confident. The constitution vividly states that freedom is a must and will be the foundation of our country forever and always. Our founding fathers thought incredibly about whether these things would succeed or not.

    Rethink that topic. Having a word or two with Thomas Jefferson or George Washington to tell them how our country stands today. Now don’t tell me you don’t think that would be impeccably eye-opening.  American citizens should thoroughly ponder the idea, as if it were to happen to them . On the spot, if you asked someone that question, I bet they wouldn’t have an answer immediately. The attention grabbing question displays itself like a magnet for strong opinionated people. So, really, what would you tell them?

  

The Everlasting Love

Author's Note:  I wrote this cause and effect piece on The Notebook by Nicholas sparks because of the touching and inspirational moments the couple have shared together. 

In the book The Notebook  , a wealthy teenage city girl, Allie, falls in love with a low-paid country boy, Noah,  in the 1940's.  Their love lasts throughout the summer, but begins to deteriorate as fall approaches because of major disapprovement of Noah by Allie's parents .  The climax is determined when 63 years later, Noah reads Allie a letter about  the married couples life, and Allie recalls that Noah is her husband.  Allie has  severe Alzheimer's and can barely remember anything. This is the turning point because Allie falls in love with Noah all over again and actually can remember him. 

The result to this climax was that Allie and Noah can actually enjoy their time together. In the past , Allie would have short outbursts of fear around people, including Noah, because she forgot who he was. As her Alzheimer's progressed badly  and Noah's health grew worse as well, the two of them spent as much time with each other as they possibly can by doing things like playing the piano, reading, or walking in the garden etc.  At one point in time, the doctor actually thought that Allie's Alzheimer's was doing better, but turned out to be doing the opposite. Eventually the two died together in the same bed, holding each others hands.

Thriving for Answers

Author's Note: I wrote this response on the main conflict in the book The Secret Life of Bees and the explanation and resolution to the conflict.

   Lily Owens lives on a peach farm with her careless and abusive father who wishes to have a "normal" family .There are multiple conflicts in this book like, Lily having an abusive father. However, the main conflict is  Lily wanting to find out certain information about her dead mother. Lily wants to find information about her dead mother but she is unable to because her dad will not tell her.

 In the book, it clearly shows that Lily is longing for a caring father and wants to know about her mother who has been dead for 10 years. The things Lily wants to know are things such as, the person who killed her mother with the gun, the reason her mother had a gun, and the reason her mother was acting the panicky way she was the day she had been killed. Lily has been stuck for many years wondering these things, but had a major deprivation of the details regarding them.

 The resolution turned out to be very happy and relieving. It started when Lily and her housemaid ran off to a small town that Lily's mother was linked to. Lily and the maid ended up in the house of three loving sisters who were friends with Lily's mother a while back when Lily was a baby. Over the course of time during Lily's stay at the three ladies' house, she slowly discovers information that she has been thriving for so long. She was  upset at first, because she found out that she was the one who accidentally killed her mother. Lily eventually came to terms with the shocking details and was put at ease. The love grew fond between Lily and the three women, so it was decided that Lily would stay with them as her permanent home and would be free from her unlovable father. 

In the book The Secret Life of Bees the main conflict is Lily wanting to find information about her mother who is dead. Over the course of the book, Lily learns valuable life lessons and discovers information that she was in search of.

The Big Apple Escapade

Author's Note:  I wrote about this for my personal narrative/memoir because it's a very fond and unforgettable memory of mine.

It was surprisingly NOT an invigoratingly cold-feeling afternoon in the Big Apple on December 26th. Maybe I was a little far stretched by having two pairs of gloves, ear warmers, and a hat  on. Anyways, my family embarked on a trip to New York City for the day to basically do everything "tourists" do. I do hesitate calling us tourists because we've already been there 5 times and have lived near there,  but love it enough to go back. I was ecstatic to return to such an, I guess you can call "magical" place that I have many fond memories from.  Once we finally parked our car, my cousin Kelly, Aunt Kerry, Mom, sister Ashley, and I headed towards Rockefeller Center to ice skate. In the meantime  my Dad, Uncle Jim, brother, and other cousin James went to the spot that John Lennon was murdered at.  My brother is an absolute Beatles fanatic , so that explains the death site visit for them.

  We were waiting in line for about one and a half hours before we could even get our skates and pay. Let me tell you though, those one and a half hours were not as atrocious as you would think they would be. They were actually kind of entertaining. I snapped  pictures of the golden angels spread out throughout the plaza, but if you want to know something about being mesmerized , let me tell you about the beautiful Christmas tree. The 74 foot Norwegian spruce was twinkling with lights and dazzling with ornaments. As I stood there admiring it, my mom called out to me,

 " C'mon Grace, it's time to get skates"

     

I acknowledged my mom and scurried along. The blonde lady handing out skates was most definitely  in the Christmas spirit because she had on elf shoes and a priceless jingle bell hat which I thought was just awesome . In a confusingly high pitched voice she asked me,

 

 " What size are you sweetheart"?

   

  I told her my size and she handed me a dark blue pair of skates. I swiftly laced up my skates and was ready to go. The five of us cautiously stepped onto the ice, awaiting that  inevitable moment for one of us to fall. My cousin, sister and I started getting the hang of things by picking up speed and practically prancing on the ice  while my Mom and Aunt struggled to get a steady pace going.  Watching the ice shave up against my blades reminded me of why I love ice skating and doing little family things like this. A woman who saw us trying to get pictures approached us,

  

 " Do you guys want me to take a group photo for you?''

    

 " Yeah, sure! If you don't mind" My aunt told her.

   

  So the lady took our picture, and must I say it's a quite admirable one. The glistening  Christmas tree next to us, us with rosy cheeks, and the whole splendiferous  city before us. It was perfect. After time escaped us with fun, we decided to get off of the ice, but I knew I could've skated longer. Before we entered the small recreation room, I turned around one last time to take a final glimpse of the rink, and continued to follow my sister to the skate return. Once all of our skates were off, we decided to grab some hot chocolate at a local café  to reward ourselves.

  " Oh my god, that was so much fun" my sister  squealed.

  Everybody nodded in a satisfied agreement. The five of us all ordered the same thing at Café Mocha. A double fudge chocolate hot cocoa. Just thinking about it made my mouth water. The café was a petite, but very cozy place. The walls were painted a deep purple, and candles of different scents were burning everywhere. A fireplace was lit giving it the perfect affect.

  We all sat there in the brown leather chairs, sipping on our drinks nearly scorching our tongues. All of us started to reminisce about our humorous moments, like when my cousin tried to save herself from falling by kicking the air but fell on her butt anyways.

I could tell that we were all pleased, so I knew the rest of our "touristy" day was going to be very enjoyable. My mom spotted  the rest of our family outside of the café, so we exited Café Mocha and approached them. Gathering together and exchanging  memories of our first activity, we were contemplating where to go next. I decided to give a hint of our next potential destination by smiling and saying,

  " Hey, who's looking forward to some original New York cheesecake?"

The Secret Life of Bees Retelling

 Author's Note: This is my retelling of the historical fiction book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd.

A teenager travels away from her troubled home to find information about her diseased mother. The family she is staying with on a bee farm gives her the information she was craving. Once she grasps it, she wishes she never knew and regrets going on her crazy adventure, but eventually ends up making the bee farm her permanent home.

Something New to Add to Our School

Something I want to add to our school is a cafe. This cafe could be located in the cafeteria and it would serve things such as hot tea, coffee, lattes, mocha's, cappuccinos, smoothies, pastries, and fresh scones. Students could go to the cafe at lunch, before school starts, after school, at home sports events, and at concerts or performances.The cafe could open at 7am and close at 3:30 so students could go before and after school. Even staff and faculty members could purchase things from it.

      If we had a cafe it would be a  great to collect income. I think we should actually propose this idea to our principal. Almost everybody in our school would love to have a warm cup of coffee in the morning or a refreshing smoothie and cookie after school. I’m sure it would cost a lot of money to do so but it would probably be a big hit so income would be good.

Six Flags: Great America

It was a crisp and cloudy morning on the day of Great America. Despite the not favorable weather, we were still determined to have fun at six flags. We started our day by having a brief student meeting held in the high school to boarding the coach buses. After our 1 hour bus ride we arrived at our performance destination, Woodland middle school. After the final performances we were off to the park.

  Once we got to the park we tried to hit every roller coaster possible. We started off with demon which is 65 miles per hour and has to upside down loops. After demon we went on batman which was obviously batman themed. After going on a few small rides we grabbed lunch and went to the award ceremony. Our school district did amazing Every category placed 1st except middle school band which placed 2nd! After the awards we went on my favorite  ride ever, raging bull. After our rides we got dipping dots and started to make our way towards the departure bus. Overall that day was very fun and exciting.

Pet Peeves

                                                           Pet Peeves
  I have many pet peeves. My list of them just goes on and on. It’s so weird how some things can bug people immensely and not bother other people at all! We all have things that make us go crazy I have a lot more than this but these ones I can think of instantly. Some of my pet peeves are...

                                      People chewing with their mouths open
                                      Chomping on their gum
                                      Clicking their pens rapidly
                                      Right after I paint my nail it smudges and then I have to redo it.
                                     When people blame other people for things they didn’t do.
                                       I hate when people don’t wash or sanitize their hands before eating.
                                  I hate when people interrupt others while in the middle of telling a story

    Reasons for why some of these bug me are just because they are just extremely gross. I know that I could go on and on and explain why all of these bug me. Just because that would turn my short story into a 10 page essay I'm not going to do that.

Delectable Foods

I have a lot of favorite foods. My top three favorite are watermelon, pickles and peanut butter. I love watermelon because it’s extremely juicy and sweet. Watermelon is also my mom’s favorite food so we have it in the house a lot. I also love pickles because they’re crunchy and a little bit sour. I didn’t realize until about a year ago that pickles are just cucumbers that marinated in vinegar and salt water for a long period of time. My family knows that I love them so much that my sister even bought me a jar for my birthday one year. Lastly peanut butter. I love peanut butter because of its rich taste and creamy texture. The good thing about peanut butter is that you can put it on a lot of things. Things I like to put it on are crackers, toast, bagels,bananas,celery  and on bread for a classic peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Symbolism

Symbolism

Semantic Devices

Semantic Devices

Spring Assessment

  The book Incantation written by Alice Hoffman really is an eye opening and riveting story. It takes place in the cruel and unforgiving century of 1500 in the heart of Spain. Supposedly over 12,000 Jews lived in Spain around that time which the book takes place in. Back then being Jewish was a terrible thing in that small town in Spain. Estrella de Madrigal is a 16 year old girl who lives a comfortable life; only because of one thing that keeps her from being bludgeoned to death. Her family is a Marrano family. In Spain a Marrano is supposedly somebody who is actually Jewish but pretends to be Catholic. Estrella is forced to keep that secret and she is forced to live with the burdens that come along with keeping it.

  The death that had overtaken Encaleflora, Spain was awful. Dozens of Jews were brutally murdered because of their religion. I believe that it's horrible to be killed because people chose what religion they want to be. Every time one of the leaders finds out there is a Jewish family in the village they brutally beat them to death. Estrella quoted" I have to watch the brutality every single day of my loved ones being killed who are living the same life I am….that could be me if I am not careful". That's not fair that a 16 year old girl has to run those thoughts through her head. For Estrella the perfect distractions to get her mind off things were her pet pig Dini and her best friend Catalina.

  Throughout Estrella's childhood she and her best friend Catalina told each other everything including her family’s deepest secrets except for one. That one thing was that Estrella's family was a Marrano family. Estrella thought she could trust Catalina because they were so close. That's what I would think as well. If you have a best friend and you truly consider them one then you should be able to trust them right? In most friendships that's how it is. With Estrella and Catalina's I knew there was something suspicious about one of them I just wasn't sure who. As I read the book, the small hints were clear that Catalina was going to do something she wasn't supposed to. Catalina has a cousin named Andres that she is planning to marry when they both grow older. Estrella knows Andres very well and is attracted to him along with Catalina. With that love triangle many troubles aroused.

  With all of the trust Estrella put into Catalina it quickly started to fade every time her supposed to be best friend says something. Estrella felt like Catalina was turning into someone unbearable to be around. It's very unfortunate that one day you can go from being the closest of friends and the next you feel miles apart. The thing suspicious about their friendship was that Catalina knew Estrella's family was a Marrano family. Once Estrella and Andres decide that they want to marry in the future, Catalina becomes furious. With the fury raging from Catalina's whole being, it was insane. She was so upset that she decided to leak the family secret. At this point in the book I was stunned. How can you do such a cruel act to your best friend's family? Estrella was even sure that Catalina could answer that vague question. Estrella's family has to deal with the bitter consequences which were very unfortunate.

  Alice Hoffman completely succeeded in creating such a remarkable story of a young girl and the betrayal of her best friend. She also amazingly showed how hard it was to live with that. She tells the story just like they were real events and as if I were there. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been to watch several tragedies each day and to watch her friend betray her family. Incantation is a fantasy that has the excellent emotion to seem true.

 

Child Abuse

Author's Note: Child abuse is a horrible ongoing crime in our country. Just around 80% of children being physically and emotionally abused are under the age of 4. Not only is abuse very common but child neglect is as well. This crime need's to be stopped immediately.



   

Over 3 million reports of child abuse are filed each year and more than five children die every day from child abuse. Imagine being beaten, discouraged and starved by your own mother every single day. The  book "A child Called It" written by David Pelzer is a heart breaking yet inspiring book. David Pelzer, the author was actually the young child that suffered eight years of unpredictable and torturous " games" his mother liked to play with him. Imagine being beaten, discouraged and starved by your own mother. Well, that is what David experienced from what was supposed to be his caring and loving mother. " I live in a dark world with dark people…but soon there will be a light to guide me through it". Young David once quoted that at age eight. Him as the author and victim amazingly delivered such an eye-opening story to the world .

    All throughout his horrifying childhood David stood strong. Although at many times he was overtaken by such fear and loneliness.  The lonely child explains through out the book of his terrible times. Only  six years old at the time David's alcoholic mother makes him regurgitate his  meal because he ate without permission. It's so cruel of her to make him do that amid all the other terrible "games" she plays. What was even worse than that disturbing action was David's mother made him drink Clorox cleaner and then slashed his stomach with a knife. This part of the book left me speechless. How could a mother do that to her own kid?  After few of the many brutal moments like those David's hope started fading quickly.

Still with the hideous moments going on at home , David grew weaker,  more angry, and more hatred towards his brothers. He despised his brothers because they were never beaten or starved….it was just him. One day while his mother took his brothers to McDonald's David was forced to sit in the car and wait. His mother never allowed him to eat. It's terrible. I can't even imagine how he felt because I know my mother would never do that to me. As each pressuring minute passed David knew that if he was going to escape from his horrible life it had to be there and then. David bolted out of the car and he sprinted all the way to the police station where they would bring him to a foster home to find a loving family and recover from not only his external bruised wounds but his internal  heart wounds as well. From that day, March 5, 1973 David James Pelzer knew for a fact from the California department of police, that he was free. I was so happy when David felt a sigh of relief. No child should never have to experience what he had to.  

 A report of child abuse is made every ten seconds, and more than 5 kids die each day in America because of abuse. Stories like David Pelzer's are heartbreaking and awareness worthy stories. With the common abuse rate going up in our country, we should emphasize the importance and seriousness of child abuse and neglect cases. With all of the reasoning's I shared from the book are why I loved it. It tells an incredible story of a young boy's brave journey through the unthinkable darkness of his early stages of childhood. In the sequel "The Lost Boy" it tells of David's life trying to find love from his new foster family.  I hope at least just one more person becomes aware of the terrifying crimes that actually go on in our world and maybe just maybe we can put a stop to child abuse once and for all .

Why I loved "The Notebook"

 Author's Note: This was a very inspiring book. It's inspiration is one of the many reasons why I loved it. I would definitely read it again and I can't wait to read more of this author's books.


   

 In "The Notebook" by Nicholas Sparks lots of events occurred in the time frame of the 1940's  Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson live in Raleigh, North Carolina . Noah is a middle class country boy who fends for himself along with his father living on a dirt and gravel country road. Where as Allie Nelson's  family is a very wealthy and classy family from the northeast. Normally  Allie wouldn’t fall for a country southerner like Noah but the summer of 1943 changed everything for the two very different people. It changed them partially in a  good way. And  partially in a bad way.

       After I was finished reading this book I decided that I loved it. Mostly because of the way that  the author  plotted this story together was amazing. Each time one thrilling moment  ended another one was just beginning. In the summer Noah and Allie fell in love they were positive that  their lives were changed because of that and because of each other.  The thing that crumbled the relationship was when Allie brought Noah home to meet her parents. Allie's mother and father greatly disapproved of him and wanted him out of her life completely. I don't think that's fair of them to interfere with her love life because it's her choice to date him and if that's what she wants to do then she should. From that  moment when her parents had a yelling rage of his insincerity and lack of wealth is when their love life went downhill. Reasons like those are reasons why I love this book so much.

  Just like every regular day in Noah Calhoun's  life he goes out to his porch to sip on sweet tea and looks at the lake right by his house. Little did he know that his "regular" day turned into a life changing experience. That experience was when Allie decided to come and visit him . It has been 14 years since they last saw each other and Noah was taken by surprise at her sudden presence. Once the previous couple caught up and started talking again they rekindled their friendship. Things like those are why I loved this book because of it's suspense.

   

 Exciting moments like the ones that I described are very interesting because they keep you attached to the book. All books should be like that. They should make you want to never close it. For me all of those reasons occurred. The Notebook is a very inspiring book. The wisdom and courage it brings to readers is great. I loved this book and I would read it  again in a heartbeat. Nicholas Sparks did an amazing job at portraying a story of sincerity and love. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes this particular author or this type of genre.

  

      When I read the book Alabama Moon  I disliked it a lot. The author never included any exciting moments in the book which all books should have. This book wasn't appealing and it didn't have a very good plot.

          

      The author portrayed a very interesting vibe with Moon and his father living in the heart of the woods in Alabama. Throughout the book author Watt key, will take you through the journey of Moon's survival journey. From catching fish with his bare hands or making fires'  to keep warm . You really will begin to feel as if you are Moon and you're  playing his game…fighting for life.

              

     Moon lives out in a log house in the woods with just his father. When he was 3 his mother passed away from a severe illness. About 9 years later his father passed away also from a severe illness.  Moon is very anti-public with his life. The government doesn't know about him . With that small fact it makes life much harder for him to live

    After reading this book I decided that I didn't like it. The plot didn't appeal to my liking. Even though it was interesting, that doesn't make it exciting. The author never explained why Moon was kept a secret from the government.  He never added any exciting moments  to keep you connected or entertained.  This book was very slow and boring and I would not recommend it to anybody who is looking for an thrilling or dramatic book which is what I prefer.

    

        The way the characters were presented was not clear. Many confusing thoughts flooded my mind as I turned each page. Thoughts like why is this kid so anti-social or anti- public. Why is he so against showing himself to the true reality or craziness of the real world? Those are little of the many thoughts that I wondered.  Other characters like the by passers that came along were very under defined and mysterious. 

      Even though the book does send a good message of independence , it doesn't do well reaching that point of putting the message out there. Now that I have experienced a bad book like this one, I now know to choose my books wisely with the genres. Alabama Moon didn’t work out for me or my book preferences. Just because it didn’t for me doesn’t mean it won't for anybody else.

The "Tortoise and the Hare"

Author's Note: The tortoise and the hare is a classic. Almost everybody has heard it. I wrote a response to this story because the message is true.

     I'm pretty sure most of you have heard the story "the tortoise and the hare". It's a classic. Well the moral of the story for me is to never underestimate one another's powers. The hare was so sure of himself.  For sure he doubted the tortoise. Doing that was wrong. You never 100 percent know what everyone else is capable of. Well you don’t 100 percent sure of what you, yourself is even capable of. So never doubt anybody else even if 99 percent sure you can't do something. That 1 percent might mean they can.

"True Colors"

  Author's Note:  When I first heard this song I really liked it. The message it send out is true. I wrote about this because I think everyone should be happy with themselves. 

"You with the sad eyes

Don't be discouraged

Oh I realize

Its hard to take courage

In a world full of people

You can lose sight of it all

And the darkness inside you

Can make you feel so small

But I see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Like a rainbow

Show me a smile then,

Don't be unhappy, can't remember

When I last saw you laughing

If this world makes you crazy

And you've taken all you can bear

You call me up

Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors

True colors are beautiful,

Like a rainbow

(When I last saw you laughing)

If this world makes you crazy

And you've taken all you can bear

You call me up

Because you know I'll be there

And I'll see your true colors

Shining through

I see your true colors

And that's why I love you

So don't be afraid to let them show

Your true colors"               

      

    By Cindy Lauper

   

 When I first heard this song on my favorite show "Glee" song by Cindy Lauper, I was kind of amazed. I felt like they were sending the message that for who you truly are is incredible. Everybody is different and that's okay because different is good. A lot of people (I admit to being a victim of) hold back. They're sometimes afraid to show people who they really are. Not everybody is accepting as other people but my opinion is that you shouldn’t hold back because when you hold back from being happy, mad, sad or just yourself your acting. Your putting on an act to be a flawless and perfect person. Well at least that's what I try to do. So moral of the story, don't hold back. Be yourself.

 

                              

                      

            

A Not So Perfect Life

          Author's Note: Almost everybody that they could have a stress-free perfect life. Though, it always seems as if our lives are completely the opposite of that. In my response to a quote you'll see  that a not so perfect life wouldn't be terrible.

                             

           "Being happy doesn’t mean everything is perfect, it means  you’ve decided to see beyond the imperfections and except your life as it is". This quote stood out to me in a very special way. It's probably because I can make a personal connection to it. I always thought my life wasn't as good as it could be and I always wanted something better. That would mean that I wanted everything the way I wanted and that I had everything that I wanted. That would be a perfect life right? Well if you take everything in life and compare it to perfection, that certain thing would loose. Nothing, not one single thing in life is perfect. It's human nature to have flaws, if you or your life didn’t have flaws well you wouldn’t  be truly "human". Everyone dreams of just living in Hawaii and going to the beach everyday. Then again those are dreams. Think about it, if you lived every single day on the beach and had no chaotic stress in your life it would be pretty boring. Stress isn't the most fun thing but it gets your adrenalin racing and it gets you thinking that it's just your human flaws acting up again. So when you get to those stressful moments and you want everything to be perfect you have to realize that a perfect life would be your dreams and dreams are fun for a little while but eventually they get boring.  You wouldn’t  have anything to deal with or confront. So excepting your life is the only chance we have as humans. Once you except your life things will fall in to place and it will turn out to actually be a dream. But it will be a dream. But a realistic one,  not a fantasy dream.

A Silver Bracelet that Goes A Long Way

 Author's note: This is my point of view creative story . I wrote about my silver charm bracelet with my birth stone in it  because it is my favorite gift that I received for Christmas.

It’s October 25th and I'm sitting in a large dark and cold room.  My sterling silver links shimmer every time I move. I have two silver hearts hanging off of me clinking together. Yes, I am a charm bracelet. A silver polished charmless charm bracelet. I am being brought to the jewelers tomorrow to have something engraved in me, whatever that means. I have 11 brothers and sisters along with me. All the same silver bracelets. Soon we will be able to be told apart, thanks to the 11 other birthstones.  They transported us in cardboard boxes to something I believe is called a truck. They're unloading each one of us. I think we are at the jewelers. They are placing me down on a cold marble counter. In one of my silver hearts they are placing a precious alexandrite gem stone in me. Whoever my future owner is must have been born in June. After the gem placing I am being shipped to Brookfield, Wisconsin. I'm from New York so its going to be a long car ride. After 13 hours of riding in the truck we finally arrive in that place called Wisconsin. I can't see but I can hear a bunch of people talking and laughing and one of m sisters tell me it's a mall. We are at this place called things remembered. One of the workers is now placing me and all of my brother's and sister's on a soft satin shelf. Its mid afternoon and dozens of people have  tried me on and even contemplated buying me! I  have been here for a month and 2 of my brothers and 1 of my sisters and I are still left. My brother tells me that its going to be triple busy because it is Christmas season. One lady walks in and starts to bring me to the front of the store. She might buy me. I'm being scanned and wrapped . The cashier woman says that it is a buy 1 get 1 free so this lady goes and grabs my sister. My sister and I ride home in fright wondering where we are going and what these people are doing with us. Once we enter a mysterious place we smell a somewhat reassuring  scent of vanilla and cinnamon. We must be at this owners home. Once again I here talking and laughing and dogs barking.  This brunette lady takes me out of my box and starts to wrap me in yet another wrapping paper. This time the wrapper has snowflakes and decorated Christmas trees plastered all over it. Now its December 23 and I am being brought to another loud transportation device. I can't remember the name but it was something like a car.

Yeah it was a car. This time the drive was even longer than going from New York to Wisconsin. Once we arrived at a  not so much mysterious place(I'm assuming it's another house)I think I heard somebody say it's Christmas Eve. I haven't  quite figured out what that means but I'm getting to think it's some holiday that people celebrate that involves lots of red and green. Somebody placed me and a lot of other holiday wrapped rectangular boxes underneath a tree that is shedding green spiky things. It must be Christmas morning because the gifts around me are saying that it is a tradition for people to open present on this day. I am being unwrapped and it seems like my owner loves me. I was linked onto her lavender scented wrist and forever may it stay that way.