reading minute

I choose to read a few poems from Falling Up by Shel Silverstein for my reading minute because it is one of my favorite poem books that I read when I was younger. I like how not only do the poems rhyme but the writer makes them funny and illustrates it well with pictures. Shel Silverstein also wrote A Light in the Attic and Where the Sidewalk ends which is just like Falling Up.

plan b...part 3

To continue off my other blog of plan b part 2, I left where Reed just arrived and he's acting like he owns the place, and Vanessa is still not happy about his arival even after a couple of days later. While I was reading, the events that happened was so far all about how Reed thinks he's better than everyone else. He wants to ride a taxi to school, and he even orders take out for lunch!! Vanessa finds herself really hating Reed and Reed finds himself really hating Vanessa but they try not to show it. The worst part for Vanessa is finding out that her parents are making Reed go with her along on her Yale visit to her boyfriend! She's very iritated that Reed has to go and she first doesn't realize why but then when she was talking to Reed about it, he said there parents asked him too. Now she realizes that she underestimated her parents. She thinks they don't trust her so that's why they sent him with. As the date comes closer she actually finds herself bonding with Reed more, they talk about college and even though they don't have the same opinion it was still nice to feel like they can talk. Another big event that's going one in the Vaughn household is that Vanessa's dad is putting on a play and asked Reed to be in it. Reed accepts and Vanessa finds herself left all alone since all her family members are participating in it but her. This book is really good and I love how it really shows Vanessa's and Reed's relationship throughout the book. You can really tell how it's starting to get better, but my prediction is that something along the trip will end badly and they'll start right back at the beginning.

two way street...part 4

Iv'e now finished the book and it's been great! I left off where they both know they still love eachother but they try to hide it but not very well. So from then, I've read that courtney gets a phone call from her best friend (the one that's dating B.J.) that he told her that there is no internet girl. Courtney thought about it, and she didn't tell Jordan she knew but she felt really hurt because she thought he made that up because he didn't really love her. Jordan, on the other hand doesn't know she knows until later when B.J. calls him and says what he did and Jordan is confused. He's wondering why she hasn't talked to him and if she was mad. At the end, Jordan relizes that he loves Courtney still a lot and now that there's nothing to lose he wants to go tell Courtney about her dad but before he could, Courtney's dad calls Courtney to tell her himself. There, Courtney is very mad and confused. She runs away from Jordan and it becomes this huge big fight again. I don't want to ruin the end of it but it's really good and I recomend this book to everybody cause I love how the author writes it.

Plan B...part 2

I've finished a couple more chapters and the last time I blogged I left off saying that Vanessa and her family have just heard about the news that she has a new half brother, Reed Vaughn, and she's dreading the arrival date. Now I have learned that Reed was sent down by her mother because he was having troubles with the show, and just recently crashed his new car into a corner store. His mother thought it would be nice for Reed to take a breather and a break from the show until he pulls his act together. Reed is no much happier than Vanessa about staying and it turns out they already have things to argue about. Like before Reed came, Vanessa has never had ground rules, she never had a curfew and she had her parents trust. Since Reed arrived, her parents decided that a curfew was necessary and Vanessa isn't happy about that at all. There first arguement was about Vanessa taking up too much space in the bathroom with all her products, and Vanessa found that one day he took out her stuff to find room to move his stuff in. My favorite quote so far is when Reed says, "Can we get out of here? They're all over me" (p. 56). I like this because it backs Vanessa's point on how she thinks he's selfish and inconsiderate. This scene happened at the airport and that was the first thing he said to them when he met them. I thought it was funny because this line proves he's not happy about being there. My prediction is that Reed and Vanessa will have a lot of problems and he'll want to leave back home to C.A.

CHILDREN HEROES

There are many ways that a child can be a hero. Weather it's from recovering from an illness to picking up trash around your community, anyone can be a hero. When someone says hero we usually think about an adult, but why doesn't someone think about children? I think a lot of adults underestimate children, and i'll admit to, that my first thought of a hero is definitely not a child. Also I think that when someone talks about a hero, I think the first conclusion people come to is people that save others. I've always thought that too but i've now relized that a hero doesn't have to be someone that saves peoples' lives but being brave and having to overcome their fears.

Recycling:
http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/09/03/green-super-heroes/

The significance of this ariticle is that a hero doesn't have to be extreme. Being a hero is described here as someone that can go around the neighborhood and collect cans and bottles to recycle. I chose this because it shows that young children could be heros too, there is no age limit.

Inspiration from Children:
http://www.jmphotostudio.com/Page3.html

This article is about a mother who got the inspiration for images from her 10 year old daughter. She loved to read and one day they decided to paint her as the character of her favorite book. I like this because sometimes I think that adults think that children are young and naive and they don't think much about how much we really can do. But this shows that this child inspired and developed the idea of paintings with her mom.

Cancer Survivor:
http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=tori_degen

This article is about a girl named Tori Degen and she fought agaisnt cancer and once it was over, she started volunteering at Make a Wish Foundation and is sharing her story with others. I chose this article because I liked that just because she survived she didn't just go into her life like nothing happened, she helped other cancer patients that was once just like her. I'm glad that she didn't just think of herself and didn't give up on the other children either.

Anne Frank:


http://people.smu.edu/fnichols/diary.html

I love these quotes especially the first one. The significance is that just because she knew that things were hard, she didn't give up, she just let everything fall into place. I think this is a great description of a hero because she went through a lot and stayed strong. Even though she said there was nothing she could do, she was brave and I think that is one of the most important characteristics in a hero.

Bethany Hamilton:

http://www.myhero.com/myhero/hero.asp?hero=Bethany_SJH_

This is an amazing story of a girl named Bethany Hamilton that when she was just 14 she lost her arm by a shark while surfing by a shark!! She's a hero in many ways. First she survived the shark attack and swam safely back to shore, second, even after she got bitten, she still got back on the surfboard within that month! I think this takes great courage to go back out there when that sport was the one that harmed her life to begin with. I chose this because she's a great role model to children to never give up and even though this was a terrible thing that happened, she turned it around to make it a great thing!

CONCLUSION:

These articles above really showed me that my definition of a hero isn't always about rescuing people from danger but the characteristics that make up a hero. Like bravery,courage, or overcoming your fears. Above, it taught me that there are two kind of children heroes. Ones that fight back and ones that give back. Like cancer patients, for example, fight back cancer and they become heroes by surviving. Children that give back, like picking up cans and recyclables around the neighborhood are heroes because they don't ask for anything in return, they do it because they want to. I've learned that a Hero doesn't have to be extreme it can be something like over coming your fears and being brave. Also I've realized that children can make just as big of an impact as adults and more than that, I've found out that there are a million children heroes out there today.

Plan B

I recently started a book called Plan B, by Jenny O'Connel, and I've only read a few chapters so far but its peaking my interest already. So far it's about a girl who found out she has a step brother, Reed Vaughn, that's a teen celebrity!! And that's not very good for Vanessa because first of all she hates Reed, she thinks he's selfish and starved for attention. The second part is that her best friend is in love with him!! So right now, in the book, her family is really excited to see him and is moving the furniture and her mom is even cooking for his arival!! Which she never does but now Vanessa thinks that everyone is a little TOO much interested in there new addition to the family. To make things worse, she has a ton of college applications to get through but there's only one that really counts to her. Yale. Where currently her boyfriend is at and that makes it all the more nerve wracking to make sure she gets in too.

Her recent plan before Reed comes is to get past her senior year, travel Europe with her best friend during the summer, and then join her boyfriend Patrick in Yale. But now she's not quite sure that plan will stick when she hears about Reed. I haven't got to the part when Reed comes but i'll post back as soon as i read it!!

two way street...part 3

To continue from my other posts about this book, so far i said that they've begun there road trip (3 days) and its been very tense. Now it's very clear that Jordan still has feelings for Courtney but obviously he's not going to tell her now because he was the one who broke up with her. The chapters that go back to when they were dating shows that how Courtney's dad is now kind of threatening Jordan that if he tells her, he'll ruin there relationship and that's creeping Jordan out a lot. Before they broke up, Jordan tell his best friend BJ he really likes her, actually loves her but he's still unsure about what to do about her dad. Him and Courtney go on a trip to Miami during break and Courtney is really sure that she loves him and that she's ready to sleep with him. On the beach, she tells him that she loves him, but Jordan just says thanks. That ruined the trip for both of them because since then, they've been kind of avoiding each other. When they get back home, Courtney goes over to Jordan's house, she apoligizes for the trip and tells him that things don't have to change because of it, and that's when Jordan says that it does and he breaks up with her. A lot of things have been going on now during the trip, they clearly both love eachother still but try not to show it by trying to get eachother jealous with there previous love life (so they say). That's all I have read so far, but my prediction about the rest of the book is i think that they'll soon talk about what happened and get back together. I think Jordan will also tell Courtney about her dad because he really does love her.

story of a girl

I started reading a book called Story of a Girl by Sara Zarr. It's about this teenage girl named Deanna Lambert and she has this really bad reputation at school for being the "school slut". So far it tells how she became that by hooking up with a senior during her freshmen year. That was all she did, but to the other kids, to them that's all you really need to be called that. In the book, it seems like everyone is underestimating her a lot when she actually is very smart. She describes how her relationship changed with her father because of that. See, her father was the one who caught them in Tommy's car and ever since then they've been distint and it seems to Deanna that he seems to be disgusted with her. The only true friend she has would be Jason, which sticks up for her when the other kids make fun of her. It's now summer and she wants to get a job but the only one that takes her in is a pizza place called Picasso's Pizza and when she accepts the job, she finds out that Tommy works there. He doesn't seem to have a problem about that but she definitely does. I really like this book so far because it's interesting and it's different from the other books i'm reading too. I hope that Deanna and her father can work things out but i guess we'll have to see!

LAST CHRISTMAS [The Private Prequel]

I just finished a book that's called Last Chrismas by Kate Brian and it's the Private prequel. This is about a girl named Ariana and it tells in her perspective of how she got the way she was before she went crazy. A summary of the book is that Ariana had a perfect life and boyfriend and then she met Thomas, which is the "bad boy" and a druggie of the private boarding school. So she starts falling for him and becomes pretty obsessed. She's going behind her boyfriends back and soon it puts her life on the line. Soon, she finds out someone knows hers and Thomas's secret and if anyone finds out, her life and Thomas's is pratcially over. So she and Thomas try to find this "stalker" and it becomes very dangerous and thretening.

Once you read this, you finally understand everything better in the actual Private books. My favorite quote in this book is when the author wrote, " A few yards away, Reed glanced up and looked right into Ariana's eyes. She smiled uncertainly" (p. 263). I like this quote because in the Private book, the first one, the author wrote that exact same line about Reed looking up and seeing Ariana stare back coldly. It's a cool line because it connects/overlaps with the first book and i like that. This is my favorite book series and i recommend this to everyone!!

two way street...continued

I continued reading Two Way Street, by Lauren Barnholdt and now I found out the real reason why Jordan broke up with Courtney! He broke up with her because Jordan walked in on his mom and a guy making out at his house, turns out that the guy was Courtney's Dad. I haven't read anymore details yet, but it's getting pretty good. Also, their still riding on the road to college and it's been very strained. They both argue at eachother weather it's about stopping for food to what music to play. At the same time, Courtney's best friend Jocelyn is dating Jordans best friend B.J. and each of them are calling Courtney and Jordan because apparently Jocelyn thinks B.J's cheating on him so she's stalking him and B.J now thinks a person is following him (but he doesn't think its Jocelyn) and so he wants to call the police. So there is a lot of drama and trouble going on in the book so far. But i'm predicting that towards the end of the book, Jordan will end up telling Courtney about her dad and they will get in another huge fight. Or maybe Jordan's car will break down and then they'll have to talk about why they broke up.

two way street

I have recently been reading a book by Lauren Barnholdt called Two Way Street. So far it's about a girl named Courtney that is driving to college with her ex boyfriend Jordan. The thing is though, is that she still likes Jordan a lot and is still hurt about his breakup with her. Jordan, on the other hand, looks like he still has feelings for Courtney but in the book, it keeps saying that there is a deeper reason why he broke up with her. For example on page 16, Jordan says, "She thinks I dumped her for some girl I met on the Internet. If she knew what really happened, she'd probably hate me even more. Because the truth is, Courtney and I broke up for a really fucked-up reason that she doesn't know about, and hopefully never will. There is no Internet girl. I made her up." It makes me want to keep reading to find out what the real reason why he broke up with her. I like this line because he has a secret that hes not sharing yet but hopefully will. This book is great because it switches both characters of Jordan and Courtney and also it switches off chapters of the past and present. This is a great book so far and everyone should read it that likes teen fiction.

I'll post back soon about more of the book!

A Civil Action

In the movie A Civil Action, John Travolta plays Jan Schlichtmann. This is a great example of someone that finds who is he. At the beginning of the movie, Jan was selfish and mean. When the group of people came to him telling him that their kids have died form Leukemia, he didn't say much to help them. He only wanted cases that he could for surely win. When he finds out a problem in the community though, about the water contamination, he starts to investigate more into it. Now he has to decide if he wants to take the case or not. Later he decides that he could win this and spends a lot of time and energy in the problem. At the end of the movie, i really think this changed Jan because at first all he cared about was making sure he could win and earn a lot of money, towards the end he stuck to working on the case more and helping the people that came to him. He really found out who he was by helping the parents and sticking to the case.

ANIMAL DREAMS!

My favorite quote from Animal Dreams so far is "Near the end of the dance, one small eagle arched his wings and ran all the way to the southern end of the plaza. The wind lifted his feathers as he paused on the edge of the precipice and for just a second I was sure he would have to fall, or fly," (p.243). I like this quote because it really made me think about the last line where she was thinking "and for just a second I was sure he would have to fall, or fly," because it seemed to me like it was a symbol and like foreshadowing what was going to happen to Hallie. Like she was either going to fail or succeed.

My favorite character in the book is Codi Noline. I like her because she seems like a good kid. She also seems to me that she under estimates herself more than she should. She thinks she's worthless and no good when actually she makes a huge difference. She's lost and confused and doesn't know who she is yet or who she wants to become. In some ways i see myself as her because she seems like she's looking for something she never will find and she's too much in the future to realize she lives in the present.

My favorite scene/moment in the book so far is when Doc Homer watches Codi burry the baby into the woods. This scene stood out the most to me because it was like i could see how far away his relationship to Codi was. It made me sad for both of them to see them like this because they're family and they should be able to talk about things together and share they're secrets but it just seems like neither one of them is trying hard enough or even if they are it's like one of them is moving farther away.

SWEETHEARTS

I read this book called Sweethearts by Sara Zarr this summer. I read it because i went to this authors blog named Ally Carter and she recommended this book to teens. I've read Ally Carter's books before and so i thought that if she liked it then i would too so that's why i decided to read it. I really like this book because it didn't end like all the other books i have read. It was kind of a dissapointment too because it ended kind of sadly. I usually like books that make me feel good at the end but this one left me kind of empty. But it was still good. I liked it because it really made you think of what the character was really feeling. I could also feel like i was the character and it made the book even better. I would also recommend this book to everyone!!

favorite book!!

Private by kate Brian is a series that is about a girl named Reed Brennan that moved to a private boarding school called Easton Academy. She sees these girls that are called "the Billings girls" because they live in Billings (a special dorm) and they are the prettiest and smartest grils on campus. She tries to get in with them but it seems harder than she thinks it is. She has to do a lot of things for them and she has to choose weather or not its worth it...theres a lot that goes on in this book. It has a great plot and twist to it that you would never imagine. I enjoyed it because it really keeps my interest and its not boring at all. I can read these books in like two days over and over and it's still as good as the first time i read it. I also like how it's not like all the other teen books that i have read where it seems like it could never happen to someone but this book seems so real to me. I would definitely recommend this book to everyone!!

"this is so funny" taylor

Codi and Emilina map

welcome!!

hi, im jessica.