“The Nightmare Never Ends” is a very emotional poem about the Vietnam War by Chris Woolnough. Woolnough vividly tells the reader the struggles that a veteran from any war or battle has to go through for the rest of their life! He uses this poem to illustrate just how much war can affect a young soldier.
“The Nightmare Never Ends” is a poem about the struggles of a veteran soldier even after their service is complete. Woolnough starts the poem with the speaker telling the soldier to rest his eyes and he will keep the soldier safe the best that he can. The veteran is cradled in his friend’s arms as he drifts into his nightmare of the Vietnam War. The speaker tried to help him but the fighter had already drifted back into Vietnam in his mind. The soldier is tense and shaking as he goes through his nightmare. His friend tries to call out his name and ease his fears. The combatant is already back fighting with his troops once more. Through what seems like forever, the soldier continues to thrash and dream his horrible dream. The speaker now finds that it is too late to bring him out of his nightmare, because the battle is taking place in his mind. He is fighting along with his troops and he hears them screaming in pain and crying for help. The veteran is now soaked in sweat as he continues to dream. He feels the bullets fly by him and is certain that he will die. But his friend says that he will not die today. The fighter is his brave hero. Even though the soldier has lost so many of his friends from war, he will not go with them today. The soldier now awakens from his horrible nightmare. Woolnough ends the poem by saying “But the nightmare never ends”. He is using this line to say that even though the soldier is not having a nightmare, the memories are always with him and he constantly lives in the nightmare of his memories.
I would recommend that everyone reads this poem. “The Nightmare Never Ends” is a very moving poem that allows the reader to feel what a veteran soldier feels. It illustrates the fighting that a combatant has to live with even when he is not in a real battle. One can feel sympathy for a veteran after reading this poem and realize that they must appreciate their armed forces and all they do. I think that everyone must realize all of the pain and suffering that our soldiers go through. Most people think that suffering ends when the combatant gets out of the war or the battle, but they must realize just how wrong they are. This poem by Woolnough illustrates exactly this. “The Nightmare Never Ends” shows how the suffering of memories continues until the day the soldier dies. “The Nightmare Never Ends” by Chris Woolnough is a wonderful poem about the Vietnam War that everyone should read.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by J.K. Rowling, is the first of seven installment of the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is a very misfortunate boy who lost his parents at a very young age and was forced to go live with uncle and aunt, who view him as a burden rather than a blessing. Harry learned that he was no unique boy at his eleventh birthday, when Hagrid, a half-giant, comes and tells him that he, Harry, is a wizard. He then goes to a wizard school called Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he meets his two future best friends, Hermoine and Ron. Throughout his first year at school, Harry meets Professor Snape, who has a wee bit of a mean attitude towards him, and Draco, who is Harry’s jealous enemy that always wants to oppose him. In the school year, Harry finds a love for the wizard sport of quidditch, a sport where you fly on brooms and you try and throw balls through rings and another player tries to catch this independent moving ball. He is the youngest player in quidditch history in the last one hundred years. As the year comes to an end, he is faces a battle with Lord Voldemort, the most evil wizard in the wizard world and the person responsible for the murdering of his parents, James and Lily Potter. In conclusion, Harry defeats Voldemort, which is a surprise because no one has ever survived him, and then returns home for the summer as he awaits for the next school year to arrive.
In my opinion, this book series is worth reading because the ways that the author portrays her ideas and how she uses such descriptive vocabulary, you cannot help but continue to read until you have finished the book. The book has enough more than enough action to keep you entertained and the way that the story is based in the wizard world, it gives you a whole new imagination when reading this book. One problem that I have with this book, is how there is too much dialog and how Ron, Harry’s best friend, is too afraid to take chances and he should be more like Harry, or ‘arry as some of the characters say. The whole idea of good and evil and the huge affect that it has on this novel series is what I like most about it. There is Harry, the good pure character who always does what is right, and his friends, who have the small moral compass as himself, and Draco, a character in the novel that Rowling tries to display as an evil character, who represents as temptation, and Lord Voldemort, the most evil character in the novel who represents all that is bad. In conclusion, I believe that anyone who wants to spend a week of their life to read a book, then it is definitely worth their time to read this book
Friday, March 27, 2009
The Surgeons: Life and Death in a Top Heart Center
The heart, if not the most interesting, is one of the most interesting parts of the human being. Charles Morris takes the reader for a ride in The Surgeons: Life and Death in a Top Heart Center to see how a team of professional surgeons can alter the heart to save a dying life and the many experiences of being in a top heart center.
Morris’s experience with the surgeons at Columbia-Presbyterian hospital in
As mentioned above, the care given to the patients can be matched only by a few others. Morris gives readers accounts of this care throughout the book but two deserve attention. Craig Smith, the head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, regularly visits his patients in the hospital. He pays attention to their needs and questions with strict attention in order to further improve their quality of life. Also he is always self-critical and this earns him the respect of his staff. This kind of self-criticisms is seen in the other account given by Morris. The other account of care does not involve the surgeons talking to patients but rather to one another. Every month the surgical staff and a few others hold a meeting to review and analyze their previous cases. Here the presenting surgeons are supercritical of themselves. It makes sense that such devotion to prefect the art produces not only great surgeons but great people also.
Mehmet Oz, one of the senior surgeons, shares with Morris a thought provoking experience. Oz is famous for being on Oprah and writing many successful books. One question asked often is, “what would you do if you had to choose between two patients where one is a criminal and the other innocent but the criminal is more injured compared to the civilian?” Oz responded with a past experience. One time when he was working in the ER the police came in with a pregnant woman and a severely injured man. He was informed that the man had killed a cop and shot the woman who was a bystander. Oz wanted, “the man to die.” With his staff waiting for his decision, Oz finally decided to treat the man first since he was injured more. The next day the Police told Oz that it was the women who had killed the cop and the man was the bystander who happened to be shot. This experience taught Oz to not let personal judgments interfere with the needs of the patient.
This book has taught me so much about being a surgeon and the intense requirements that come with it. Charles Morris is great with explaining technical terms and procedures for the lay man while advancing the story. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to understand what it is to be in a top heart center.
The Secret Life of Bees
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd is the story of Lily Owens and her search for family, love, and a true sense of belonging. Lily desperately longs to replace the guilt and abandonment she feels as the result of her mother’s death and become part of a loving and happy home.
Set in South Carolina in 1964 during the tumultuous Civil Rights Era, Lily struggles daily with her father’s abusive implications that she is responsible for her mother’s death. Unhappy at school and home, she is constantly chastised by her father and forced to work selling peaches from their farm at the roadside stand. Lily and Rosaleen, Lily’s African-American caretaker in her mother’s absence, run away to escape Lily’s bitterly abusive, widowed father as well as the social injustices in their small town, which have become apparent since Rosaleen insulted three of the town’s biggest racists. On impulse from a clue found amongst her dead mother’s few belongings, including a photograph, a pair of white gloves, and a framed picture of a black Madonna with the words “Tiburon South Carolina” carved on the back, and convinced that this picture holds the key to her mother’s past, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves on the run headed for Tiburon.
During the course of their journey, while making a purchase in a local general store, Lily spots a jar of honey labeled with the same black Madonna picture as the one found with her mother’s belongings. After a brief inquiry of the store owner, Lily and Rosaleen learn of August Boatwright’s honey making business and find themselves on their way to becoming guests in the Boatwright home.
When Lily arrives on August Boatwright’s doorstep, August instantly recognizes her as Deborah Owens’ daughter, in spite of Lily’s efforts to conceal her identity. Lily has no idea that August and Deborah Owens were acquainted for many years before her death, and that August knew of the circumstances surrounding Deborah’s death. After accepting August’s invitation to stay with her and her sisters, May and June, Lily soon realizes the significance of the black Madonna to the Boatwright’s and the other women of the community. The Boatwright sisters, or “calendar sisters,” as Lily calls them, worship the black Madonna and celebrate her strength. They celebrate her ability to empower women to come together to heal and mother each other and create a sanctuary of home and family. While the Madonna represents power, she is not magical, August tells Lily. She represents the mother that each woman carries inside herself and has to find inside herself. August, and independent and successful African-American, forms a unique and special relationship with Lily while teaching her how to tend the bees and make honey. Oddly, the life and habits of the bees in turn teach Lily many things about life, love, and relationships in general. Lily finds love and acceptance with the Boatwright’s that she never expects to find, especially from strangers.
The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderful, heart-warming story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The book provides an entertaining, as well as enlightening, account of a young girl’s transformation into a young woman. With the help and guidance of several inspiring women, a neglected and unloved young woman learns just how powerfully love can transform her life. I believe every young woman, friend, sister, and mother will enjoy the life lessons shared in this book.
Do contemporary women depend on the female community for guidance and support to the extent that was represented by the characters in the book?
Would this book be as touching and inspirational if the setting was another time period rather than during the civil rights era?
A bee colony closely resembles human society. Are there any other species that the author could have used as effectively as bees to convey her thoughts and ideas?
Set in South Carolina in 1964 during the tumultuous Civil Rights Era, Lily struggles daily with her father’s abusive implications that she is responsible for her mother’s death. Unhappy at school and home, she is constantly chastised by her father and forced to work selling peaches from their farm at the roadside stand. Lily and Rosaleen, Lily’s African-American caretaker in her mother’s absence, run away to escape Lily’s bitterly abusive, widowed father as well as the social injustices in their small town, which have become apparent since Rosaleen insulted three of the town’s biggest racists. On impulse from a clue found amongst her dead mother’s few belongings, including a photograph, a pair of white gloves, and a framed picture of a black Madonna with the words “Tiburon South Carolina” carved on the back, and convinced that this picture holds the key to her mother’s past, Lily and Rosaleen find themselves on the run headed for Tiburon.
During the course of their journey, while making a purchase in a local general store, Lily spots a jar of honey labeled with the same black Madonna picture as the one found with her mother’s belongings. After a brief inquiry of the store owner, Lily and Rosaleen learn of August Boatwright’s honey making business and find themselves on their way to becoming guests in the Boatwright home.
When Lily arrives on August Boatwright’s doorstep, August instantly recognizes her as Deborah Owens’ daughter, in spite of Lily’s efforts to conceal her identity. Lily has no idea that August and Deborah Owens were acquainted for many years before her death, and that August knew of the circumstances surrounding Deborah’s death. After accepting August’s invitation to stay with her and her sisters, May and June, Lily soon realizes the significance of the black Madonna to the Boatwright’s and the other women of the community. The Boatwright sisters, or “calendar sisters,” as Lily calls them, worship the black Madonna and celebrate her strength. They celebrate her ability to empower women to come together to heal and mother each other and create a sanctuary of home and family. While the Madonna represents power, she is not magical, August tells Lily. She represents the mother that each woman carries inside herself and has to find inside herself. August, and independent and successful African-American, forms a unique and special relationship with Lily while teaching her how to tend the bees and make honey. Oddly, the life and habits of the bees in turn teach Lily many things about life, love, and relationships in general. Lily finds love and acceptance with the Boatwright’s that she never expects to find, especially from strangers.
The Secret Life of Bees is a wonderful, heart-warming story that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The book provides an entertaining, as well as enlightening, account of a young girl’s transformation into a young woman. With the help and guidance of several inspiring women, a neglected and unloved young woman learns just how powerfully love can transform her life. I believe every young woman, friend, sister, and mother will enjoy the life lessons shared in this book.
Do contemporary women depend on the female community for guidance and support to the extent that was represented by the characters in the book?
Would this book be as touching and inspirational if the setting was another time period rather than during the civil rights era?
A bee colony closely resembles human society. Are there any other species that the author could have used as effectively as bees to convey her thoughts and ideas?
The Last Lecture
The story I chose to blog was a narrative called The Last Lecture. This piece of work tells the story of Randy Pausch, a victim of pancreatic cancer. Randy Pausch wrote this story himself. Pausch was a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. He was told of his pancreatic cancer when he was about the age of forty-six. The time span of how much time he had left to live was three to six months. Pausch was informed that he was bearing ten tumors in his liver. The news of his illness was difficult for Pausch, but especially for his family. His family was very important factor in his life. I read this work and felt that I could relate to his hardship because I care very much about my family. My family is the most important thing to me and I felt from Pausch’s writing that his family was what he would miss the most.
In my opinion, this book is a very good book and I recommend it to anyone. This book tells the life story of a man who devoted himself to his family, job and also to following his dreams. Randy Pausch was a very insightful man. He was incredibly creative. An example of his creativity is revealed when he was a young boy and he asked his parents if he could paint different things on his walls. His father always encouraged him to be creative and supported this idea. He painted things such as a quadratic formula, an elevator door, a submarine and much more. His sense of humor was another of his great strengths which is obvious when he wrote that he had painted Snow white’s mirror with the line: “Remember when I told you that you were the fairest? I lied!” This experience in his life encouraged me to ask my mother if I myself could decorate my own room.
This story shows a man who was told he had less than a year to live, yet he did not lose his mind. He was upset, but he did not let this illness shut him out from the rest of the world. He disgruntled his wife when he revealed to her his wish of saying his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon, on her birthday. She was upset but soon she realized that this was what he really wanted to do and supported him, Pausch treasured his marriage as one of the greatest gifts of his life.
To be brutally honest, the reason I picked this book up was because it was small and I thought I could finish it and get it over with. I never considered how inspiring and interesting this book would turn out to be. I was mesmerized by this book and surprised by the high quality of this wonderful novel. When I caught sight of this piece of literature, my mother told me she had read it and thought it was absolutely wonderful. The moment I heard it was somewhat of a biography, I thought it would be very boring and tedious. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this novel is the exact opposite of what I thought it would be.
This man taught me that life is full of disappointments. Not everything that happens to you will be exactly what you wanted or turn out the way you wanted it to. It is your decision on how your deal with these unlucky events. A quote of this very incisive man is that “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
In my opinion, this book is a very good book and I recommend it to anyone. This book tells the life story of a man who devoted himself to his family, job and also to following his dreams. Randy Pausch was a very insightful man. He was incredibly creative. An example of his creativity is revealed when he was a young boy and he asked his parents if he could paint different things on his walls. His father always encouraged him to be creative and supported this idea. He painted things such as a quadratic formula, an elevator door, a submarine and much more. His sense of humor was another of his great strengths which is obvious when he wrote that he had painted Snow white’s mirror with the line: “Remember when I told you that you were the fairest? I lied!” This experience in his life encouraged me to ask my mother if I myself could decorate my own room.
This story shows a man who was told he had less than a year to live, yet he did not lose his mind. He was upset, but he did not let this illness shut him out from the rest of the world. He disgruntled his wife when he revealed to her his wish of saying his last lecture at Carnegie Mellon, on her birthday. She was upset but soon she realized that this was what he really wanted to do and supported him, Pausch treasured his marriage as one of the greatest gifts of his life.
To be brutally honest, the reason I picked this book up was because it was small and I thought I could finish it and get it over with. I never considered how inspiring and interesting this book would turn out to be. I was mesmerized by this book and surprised by the high quality of this wonderful novel. When I caught sight of this piece of literature, my mother told me she had read it and thought it was absolutely wonderful. The moment I heard it was somewhat of a biography, I thought it would be very boring and tedious. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this novel is the exact opposite of what I thought it would be.
This man taught me that life is full of disappointments. Not everything that happens to you will be exactly what you wanted or turn out the way you wanted it to. It is your decision on how your deal with these unlucky events. A quote of this very incisive man is that “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
Thursday, March 26, 2009
A Child Called "It"
written by Dave Pelzer
Stories which uncover a child suffering of abuse tend to bring any reader to the edge of their seat while taking them on an emotional rollercoaster. A Child Called “It”, written by Dave Pelzer, will do just that. This novel is well worth spending the time to read, as it draws you in like a fly to a lamp. Although a seemingly short book, Pelzer does not fail to bring his readers to the verge of tears as he recalls his own brutal childhood memories. In this novel Pelzer describes how with a stretch of undeniable luck he survived a severely abusive and unstable mother, Catherine, who did not even consider Dave as a boy, but as an “It”. As a child Dave’s mother forces him to endure many torturous “games”, which often leave Dave holding on to life by only a thread. The only thing keeping the struggling boy alive was his dream of one day being allowed into a home where people would care for him and love him as their own. When reading this novel you will find yourself going through all of the pain and suffering right by Dave’s side. You will find yourself wishing that the parents who caused this little boy so much pain, will rot in prison for the rest of eternity.
It becomes a routine for the little boy to be sent to the nurse’s office and be inspected for bruises. When injuries are found on the boy’s body he is questioned right away. Dave in turn recites the story that his mother has forced him to tell everyone, in order to keep their home life a secret. Eventually the nurse has had enough and contacts the police who take Dave away to never return home. Beginning the novel by unveiling the ending, Pelzer allows the reader to know that despite all the torture the young boy does find the will to survive.
Pelzer’s childhood was not always filled with abuse and torture. Dave was one of four boys in the Pelzer family. The early years of his life were filled with joy and pleasant times. These glory days were soon over when his mother took a turn for the worse. Dave’s father never seemed to be around because his job as a fireman kept him away from his family for long periods of time. Catherine would drunkenly “fool around” with Dave. She would repeat that if he did not finish his chores she would kill him. One day while forcing Dave to clean the kitchen, though he had not eaten for days, Catherine began waving a kitchen knife around to scare the boy. Soon enough she tripped and stabbed Dave in the chest. Dave’s Mother denied him any medical treatment to his wounds and would just let them heal on their own. Police reports and Teacher interviews offer evidence that support Pelzer’s novel.
Back in the sixties, when Dave was growing up, people in the suburbs kept their home lives on the “down low”. Fortunately now we are aware that children like Dave do exist and it is our mission to remove these children from abusive households. I strongly recommend taking the time to read this story and guarantee that it will grab you in as you become numb with fear and courage for this child’s survival.
written by Dave Pelzer
Stories which uncover a child suffering of abuse tend to bring any reader to the edge of their seat while taking them on an emotional rollercoaster. A Child Called “It”, written by Dave Pelzer, will do just that. This novel is well worth spending the time to read, as it draws you in like a fly to a lamp. Although a seemingly short book, Pelzer does not fail to bring his readers to the verge of tears as he recalls his own brutal childhood memories. In this novel Pelzer describes how with a stretch of undeniable luck he survived a severely abusive and unstable mother, Catherine, who did not even consider Dave as a boy, but as an “It”. As a child Dave’s mother forces him to endure many torturous “games”, which often leave Dave holding on to life by only a thread. The only thing keeping the struggling boy alive was his dream of one day being allowed into a home where people would care for him and love him as their own. When reading this novel you will find yourself going through all of the pain and suffering right by Dave’s side. You will find yourself wishing that the parents who caused this little boy so much pain, will rot in prison for the rest of eternity.
It becomes a routine for the little boy to be sent to the nurse’s office and be inspected for bruises. When injuries are found on the boy’s body he is questioned right away. Dave in turn recites the story that his mother has forced him to tell everyone, in order to keep their home life a secret. Eventually the nurse has had enough and contacts the police who take Dave away to never return home. Beginning the novel by unveiling the ending, Pelzer allows the reader to know that despite all the torture the young boy does find the will to survive.
Pelzer’s childhood was not always filled with abuse and torture. Dave was one of four boys in the Pelzer family. The early years of his life were filled with joy and pleasant times. These glory days were soon over when his mother took a turn for the worse. Dave’s father never seemed to be around because his job as a fireman kept him away from his family for long periods of time. Catherine would drunkenly “fool around” with Dave. She would repeat that if he did not finish his chores she would kill him. One day while forcing Dave to clean the kitchen, though he had not eaten for days, Catherine began waving a kitchen knife around to scare the boy. Soon enough she tripped and stabbed Dave in the chest. Dave’s Mother denied him any medical treatment to his wounds and would just let them heal on their own. Police reports and Teacher interviews offer evidence that support Pelzer’s novel.
Back in the sixties, when Dave was growing up, people in the suburbs kept their home lives on the “down low”. Fortunately now we are aware that children like Dave do exist and it is our mission to remove these children from abusive households. I strongly recommend taking the time to read this story and guarantee that it will grab you in as you become numb with fear and courage for this child’s survival.
The Unfrightened Dark
“The Unfrightened Dark”
“The Unfrightened Dark” is a suspenseful novel written by Isabelle Holland.
The main character, Jocelyn, lost her sight when she was twelve years old in a car accident, leaving her parents dead. Although she’s only had Brace (her guide dog) for a year, you are able to see and feel the bond and compassion they have for each other.
When Jocelyn’s best friend's cat, her piano teacher’s dog, and other animals slowly disappear, she fears that Brace and her cats will also be stolen. Soon enough, strangers begin to harass Jocelyn about about “enslaving” Brace and end up stealing Brace and her cats one day. I thought the harassment would make her hesitate a little, but I was wrong, she refuses to feel even the slightest amount of fear and is determined to put the clues together to find Brace and the other animals.
With the help of Jocelyn’s friends, police, and many others, they are able to find the convicts behind everything. The convicts were found in an old school building, where it turns out they kept a large amount of animals, which were “destined” to be sacrificed in a weird cruel way.
I would have to say this is one of my most favorite books yet. I have read this book at least six times already and I cannot seem to just put it down for good! From the very beginning until the very last page, this novel will keep you wondering what's going to happen next. Also, from one paragraph to another, the intensity of the novel keeps increasing, making you want to read even more than what you were intended to read.
Even though the contents in this novel were amazing, I really would have liked it if it had another book to keep the readers, including me, thinking until they read the next book to find out the answers to their questions. What was the ending like you ask? Read and find out. Why do I like this novel so much? That’s an easy question to answer but also a little complicated because the novel has so many reasons why one should like it.
One of these reasons is the text Holland uses. The text is facile to read and simple to understand. I like how Holland’s writings lets us be able to visualize what is going on throughout the novel. Not only do I like the novel because of its text, but because of its overall idea.
I personally am an animal lover, and I think that from start to finish this novel is excellent at showing a bondage through Jocelyn and Brace, as well as the bondage of many other characters and their animals. This novel also shows how reliable and trustworthy a pet animal can be. This novel demonstrates it the most through Jocelyn, the blind teenage girl, and her guide dog Brace.
Despite the fact that “The Unfrightened Dark” is one of my favorite books, I don't think It would be the first book I would recommend to others . I personally think the writer did a great job, I just wanted to know more about what happened, it seemed to just end.
“The Unfrightened Dark” is a suspenseful novel written by Isabelle Holland.
The main character, Jocelyn, lost her sight when she was twelve years old in a car accident, leaving her parents dead. Although she’s only had Brace (her guide dog) for a year, you are able to see and feel the bond and compassion they have for each other.
When Jocelyn’s best friend's cat, her piano teacher’s dog, and other animals slowly disappear, she fears that Brace and her cats will also be stolen. Soon enough, strangers begin to harass Jocelyn about about “enslaving” Brace and end up stealing Brace and her cats one day. I thought the harassment would make her hesitate a little, but I was wrong, she refuses to feel even the slightest amount of fear and is determined to put the clues together to find Brace and the other animals.
With the help of Jocelyn’s friends, police, and many others, they are able to find the convicts behind everything. The convicts were found in an old school building, where it turns out they kept a large amount of animals, which were “destined” to be sacrificed in a weird cruel way.
I would have to say this is one of my most favorite books yet. I have read this book at least six times already and I cannot seem to just put it down for good! From the very beginning until the very last page, this novel will keep you wondering what's going to happen next. Also, from one paragraph to another, the intensity of the novel keeps increasing, making you want to read even more than what you were intended to read.
Even though the contents in this novel were amazing, I really would have liked it if it had another book to keep the readers, including me, thinking until they read the next book to find out the answers to their questions. What was the ending like you ask? Read and find out. Why do I like this novel so much? That’s an easy question to answer but also a little complicated because the novel has so many reasons why one should like it.
One of these reasons is the text Holland uses. The text is facile to read and simple to understand. I like how Holland’s writings lets us be able to visualize what is going on throughout the novel. Not only do I like the novel because of its text, but because of its overall idea.
I personally am an animal lover, and I think that from start to finish this novel is excellent at showing a bondage through Jocelyn and Brace, as well as the bondage of many other characters and their animals. This novel also shows how reliable and trustworthy a pet animal can be. This novel demonstrates it the most through Jocelyn, the blind teenage girl, and her guide dog Brace.
Despite the fact that “The Unfrightened Dark” is one of my favorite books, I don't think It would be the first book I would recommend to others . I personally think the writer did a great job, I just wanted to know more about what happened, it seemed to just end.
The Gift by Danielle Steel
Given the number of books I have read it's surprising I'd never read anything by
Danielle Steel. My mom recommended I read The Gift, so I picked it up, and two days later I had finished the book. I found myself surprisingly gripped by the story, which is set in the in theUnited States
By: Teddy Stoikov
Danielle Steel. My mom recommended I read The Gift, so I picked it up, and two days later I had finished the book. I found myself surprisingly gripped by the story, which is set in the in the
In
Next, the story takes us to
In
Then finally, on December 25, 1950, the baby that everyone had been waiting for arrived-a sweet, dimpled, strawberry blonde haired girl, named Kate, was born. However, as much as Maribeth loved Kate, she knew she could never provide the life and love she wished she could. Maribeth knew it would be the hardest thing she would ever have to do, but she also knew that sometimes life makes you do things you don’t want to. So, Maribeth decides to put Kate up for adoption, but she already knows a family that would love Kate, and provide happiness and a healthy future for her, John and Elizabeth Whittaker.
Although she loved spending time with the Whittakers, Maribeth realizes it’s time for her to go home. Even though she knew she would miss them, especially Tommy, she knew she had to go. She says goodbye and promises Tommy someday they would be together. Her parents, have truly missed Maribeth, and are ashamed of their actions, and come to pick Maribeth up. With one last kiss to Kate’s adopted family, Maribeth drives away, somehow knowing someday she will be with them and the one precious gift she had left them.
After finishing, The Gift, I found myself amazed at how much I had learned from the story. I learned everything that happens in man’s life happens for a reason. Just as it was with Maribeth who was sent to the Whittakers to bring them back together. I learned that man can’t always have what he wants. Sometimes life makes man make tough decisions man doesn’t want to make, but man realizes that it’s what’s best. Even though Maribeth loves Kate and doesn’t want to give her up, she knows it’s the right thing to do. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I feel all of us could learn about love, faith, and strength from this book. Overall the book is very simple to read, but the only question I have and other’s might have is whether or not Tommy and Maribeth get back together. I really feel that Steel should have mentioned something about that. The Gift will take your breath away. It tells a haunting and beautiful truth about the unpredictability—and the wonder—of life.
By: Teddy Stoikov
Given the number of books I have read it's surprising I'd never read anything by Danielle Steel. My mom recommended I read The Gift, so I picked it up, and two days later I had finished the book. I found myself surprisingly gripped by the story, which is set in the in the United States
In
Next, the story takes us to
In
Then finally, on December 25, 1950, the baby that everyone had been waiting for arrived-a sweet, dimpled, strawberry blonde haired girl, named Kate, was born. However, as much as Maribeth loved Kate, she knew she could never provide the life and love she wished she could. Maribeth knew it would be the hardest thing she would ever have to do, but she also knew that sometimes life makes you do things you don’t want to. So, Maribeth decides to put Kate up for adoption, but she already knows a family that would love Kate, and provide happiness and a healthy future for her, John and Elizabeth Whittaker.
Although she loved spending time with the Whittakers, Maribeth realizes it’s time for her to go home. Even though she knew she would miss them, especially Tommy, she knew she had to go. She says goodbye and promises Tommy someday they would be together. Her parents, have truly missed Maribeth, and are ashamed of their actions, and come to pick Maribeth up. With one last kiss to Kate’s adopted family, Maribeth drives away, somehow knowing someday she will be with them and the one precious gift she had left them.
After finishing, The Gift, I found myself amazed at how much I had learned from the story. I learned everything that happens in man’s life happens for a reason. Just as it was with Maribeth who was sent to the Whittakers to bring them back together. I learned that man can’t always have what he wants. Sometimes life makes man make tough decisions man doesn’t want to make, but man realizes that it’s what’s best. Even though Maribeth loves Kate and doesn’t want to give her up, she knows it’s the right thing to do. I would highly recommend this book to everyone. I feel all of us could learn about love, faith, and strength from this book. Overall the book is very simple to read, but the only question I have and other’s might have is whether or not Tommy and Maribeth get back together. I really feel that Steel should have mentioned something about that. The Gift will take your breath away. It tells a haunting and beautiful truth about the unpredictability—and the wonder—of life.
A Psalm of Life
“Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act, - act in the living Present! Heart within, and God o’erhead!”
Inspiring right? These simple, yet profound words can be found in only four lines of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem, A Psalm of Life. Longfellow writes with heartfelt enthusiasm as he encourages the reader to live his life to the fullest, seeking no goal other than that beyond the grave. Longfellow also stirs in the reader, a confidence to live beyond the challenges that life brings.
Longfellow begins his poem by stating that the soul will continue to exist after the body dies, therefore, one must live his life truly knowing that there is more beyond death. Knowing that your soul lives on, one can find the strength for tomorrow. Longfellow explains this by voicing, “Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Is our destined end or way; But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today.” Longfellow places immense value in his thoughts of that which one should live his life effectively and with anticipation, knowing that his soul will live on.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow believes that life is difficult and is often a struggle; ergo, one should not live like “dumb driven cattle” sitting idle, but should actively strive to make a difference in this world. He expresses that the reader should not dwell on the past, nor shall he look to the future, but instead live in the present, keeping a strong faith in God. Through A Psalm of Life, Longfellow conveys that, like great men before us, one should live his life sublime, making a change in the world.
Near the end of his poem, Longfellow states that if an individual lives his life to the fullest extent, a “shipwrecked brother” may come along, discouraged, and find inspiration in our footprints. The words of Longfellow challenge the reader to actively pursue to be the best that he can, being patient and positive, with a heart set on God.
We have previously studied a few of Longfellow’s works, and as I came upon this poem, its meaning grasped my attention. The encouraging words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow have inspired me to be that the best that I can be. A Psalm of Life is such a rousing explanation of how one should live their life that the poem’s meaning has encouraged me to strengthen my will and faith in all that I do. This message reminds me that I can make a difference, even a small difference, in our community and this country. Life is now, and through Longfellow’s moving composition I aspire to keep God foremost, and to live life earnestly.
For anyone seeking positive encouragement, I would recommend reading Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s A Psalm of Life. The exuberance which Longfellow expresses throughout his poem truly lifts the reader up, filling him with greater esteem and higher, constructive priorities. This poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow is remarkably inspiring and is very much worth reading.
Jurassic Park
Jurassic Park is the thrilling novel by Michael Crichton that explores the idea of what would happen if dinosaurs were recreated through genetic engineering. John Hammond, an enthusiastic man of seventy-six, creates a theme park featuring dinosaurs. Among his employees are Henry Wu, the head genetic engineer; Ed Regis, the park publicist; Dr. Harding, the veterinarian; Robert Muldoon, the game warden whose job is to make sure the dinosaurs were under control; Dennis Nedry, the computer technician; and John Arnold the head engineer. Hammond also asks for advice from Dr. Alan Grant, a paleontologist; Dr. Ellie Sattler, a paleobotanist; and Ian Malcolm, a mathematician that specializes in the chaos theory. Other characters are Lex and Tim Murphy, Hammond’s grandchildren. Donald Gennaro is the head of InGen’s account with a law firm. InGen is the company that provided the research necessary to create the dinosaurs.
This book is divided into sections titled with certain iterations of the dragon fractal, along with a picture. A fractal is a kind of geometric pattern.
The novel begins with an introduction that explains that, during the last part of the twentienth century, there has been a revolution in genetic engineering, and this revolution is not necsesssarily a good one. People were becoming careless with the dangerous materials with which they were working.
The First Iteration tells of two incidents in which people are attacked by a dinosaur. In both incidents, the normal people have no idea that they have encountered a dinosaur.
In the Second Iteration, the story of Jurassic Park begins when Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler are asked by Hammond to come see his park. Gennaro, Malcolm, and Nedry accompany them to the park, which turns out to be on an island near Costa Rica.
The Third Iteration is the tour of the park. The visitors, who now include Hammond’s grandchildren, go to the lab, then the control room, which is the heart of the park where the staff manages the animals. Then, the visitors go out to see the dinosaurs. They take the tour in electric cars, but the cars suddenly stop. Grant, Malcolm, Regis, and the kids are stuck. Nedry had turned off the power. He had been unsatisfied with his treatment at Jurassic Park and steals embryos to give to another company. He had to turn off the power to access the embryos, so, as well as other security measures, the electric fences are no longer working, and the animals can escape.
In the Fourth Iteration, a tyrannosaur attacks the tour cars. Regis runs away, but a juvenile tyrannosaur eventually kills him. Malcolm also tries to run away, but disappears and, later, Muldoon and Gennaro find him fatally wounded. Grant and the kids escape and make their way back to the main building but stop to sleep in a concrete shed. While Arnold, Muldoon, and Wu struggle to get power back and the animals under control, Nedry carries out his plan to leave the island and betray Jurassic Park. However, he gets lost and a dilophosaur kills and eats him.
In the Fifth Iteration, Grant and the kids continue to make their way back to the others. Things slowly come back under control, or at least that’s what they think until Arnold realizes that they have been running on auxiliary power since they got power back after Nedry turned it off. The auxiliary power runs out, and power is again lost. Arnold tries to go to the maintenance to turn the main power on, but is killed by a velociraptor. The velociraptors are free, and are perhaps the most dangerous animals on the island. The people in the control room move to a safer place. Wu, Harding, Muldoon, Sattler, Hammond, and Malcolm are now together and, for the moment, safe.
The Sixth Iteration is when things finally come under control, but not in the way everyone had hoped. Through teamwork, Grant turns the generators on and Tim turns on main power in the control room, but Wu is killed. The park would not be a success.
In the Seventh Iteration, Hammond takes a walk, but trips and falls. Procompsognathids, which are scavengers, kill Hammond knowing he is helpless. Malcolm also died from his injury before help could arrive. Help did eventually arrive, and once the survivors, Grant, Sattler, Muldoon, Gennaro, and the kids, were safely onboard helicopters, the island is bombed.
I greatly enjoyed this novel. It was fast-paced, exciting, and intense. Every chapter left me wondering what would happen next. However, this book also had some very interesting ideas about things I had never thought about before. Malcolm often makes little speeches about the chaos theory and how the park could not possibly work because of it. A point he makes several times is that Hammond is trying to accomplish the impossible, which is to control nature. These speeches were one of my favorite parts of the book.
A speech that caught my attention was the one about power. He states that most kinds of power are attainable only through discipline and sacrifice, and examples he give are earning a black belt in karate or becoming president of a company. The discipline put into gaining that power gives the achiever the responsibility to not abuse it. Then Malcolm says that scientific power is not like that. Scientists can take what other scientists have done and proceed from there. They don’t have the discipline that the president or the martial artist does. They abuse that power of the knowledge they get from others. They create and discover for money and ignore what may be best for mankind.
A question that others might have might be "How did the engineers get the DNA and how they turn DNA into dinosaurs?" Of course, the exact process that was supposedly carried out can not be completely explained because no one has actually done this before. However, they do tell you that that DNA was obtained from biting insects trapped in amber, or hardened tree sap. They also use supercomputers to decipher the DNA and plastic eggs, but the details are unclear.
A question I had about the story was about Hammond and his ignorance to failure and mistakes. Hammond is thoroughly convinced that all of the problems in his park will be solved until the very end. Even at the very end, he still thinks that he can make another park on another island. He had extra embryos hidden in California. He convinced himself that the people he employed caused the failure of the park. He blamed Wu, Muldoon, Arnold, and Regis. Hammond didn’t seem to learn from his mistake of trying to control the uncontrollable. Usually with age came the wisdom of learning from one’s mistakes. Why was he so certain that creating a park like this was possible? Was he blinded by his desire to create the park? Can desires be so strong that they stop people from seeing the difference between possible and impossible?
Jaclyn
This book is divided into sections titled with certain iterations of the dragon fractal, along with a picture. A fractal is a kind of geometric pattern.
The novel begins with an introduction that explains that, during the last part of the twentienth century, there has been a revolution in genetic engineering, and this revolution is not necsesssarily a good one. People were becoming careless with the dangerous materials with which they were working.
The First Iteration tells of two incidents in which people are attacked by a dinosaur. In both incidents, the normal people have no idea that they have encountered a dinosaur.
In the Second Iteration, the story of Jurassic Park begins when Dr. Grant and Dr. Sattler are asked by Hammond to come see his park. Gennaro, Malcolm, and Nedry accompany them to the park, which turns out to be on an island near Costa Rica.
The Third Iteration is the tour of the park. The visitors, who now include Hammond’s grandchildren, go to the lab, then the control room, which is the heart of the park where the staff manages the animals. Then, the visitors go out to see the dinosaurs. They take the tour in electric cars, but the cars suddenly stop. Grant, Malcolm, Regis, and the kids are stuck. Nedry had turned off the power. He had been unsatisfied with his treatment at Jurassic Park and steals embryos to give to another company. He had to turn off the power to access the embryos, so, as well as other security measures, the electric fences are no longer working, and the animals can escape.
In the Fourth Iteration, a tyrannosaur attacks the tour cars. Regis runs away, but a juvenile tyrannosaur eventually kills him. Malcolm also tries to run away, but disappears and, later, Muldoon and Gennaro find him fatally wounded. Grant and the kids escape and make their way back to the main building but stop to sleep in a concrete shed. While Arnold, Muldoon, and Wu struggle to get power back and the animals under control, Nedry carries out his plan to leave the island and betray Jurassic Park. However, he gets lost and a dilophosaur kills and eats him.
In the Fifth Iteration, Grant and the kids continue to make their way back to the others. Things slowly come back under control, or at least that’s what they think until Arnold realizes that they have been running on auxiliary power since they got power back after Nedry turned it off. The auxiliary power runs out, and power is again lost. Arnold tries to go to the maintenance to turn the main power on, but is killed by a velociraptor. The velociraptors are free, and are perhaps the most dangerous animals on the island. The people in the control room move to a safer place. Wu, Harding, Muldoon, Sattler, Hammond, and Malcolm are now together and, for the moment, safe.
The Sixth Iteration is when things finally come under control, but not in the way everyone had hoped. Through teamwork, Grant turns the generators on and Tim turns on main power in the control room, but Wu is killed. The park would not be a success.
In the Seventh Iteration, Hammond takes a walk, but trips and falls. Procompsognathids, which are scavengers, kill Hammond knowing he is helpless. Malcolm also died from his injury before help could arrive. Help did eventually arrive, and once the survivors, Grant, Sattler, Muldoon, Gennaro, and the kids, were safely onboard helicopters, the island is bombed.
I greatly enjoyed this novel. It was fast-paced, exciting, and intense. Every chapter left me wondering what would happen next. However, this book also had some very interesting ideas about things I had never thought about before. Malcolm often makes little speeches about the chaos theory and how the park could not possibly work because of it. A point he makes several times is that Hammond is trying to accomplish the impossible, which is to control nature. These speeches were one of my favorite parts of the book.
A speech that caught my attention was the one about power. He states that most kinds of power are attainable only through discipline and sacrifice, and examples he give are earning a black belt in karate or becoming president of a company. The discipline put into gaining that power gives the achiever the responsibility to not abuse it. Then Malcolm says that scientific power is not like that. Scientists can take what other scientists have done and proceed from there. They don’t have the discipline that the president or the martial artist does. They abuse that power of the knowledge they get from others. They create and discover for money and ignore what may be best for mankind.
A question that others might have might be "How did the engineers get the DNA and how they turn DNA into dinosaurs?" Of course, the exact process that was supposedly carried out can not be completely explained because no one has actually done this before. However, they do tell you that that DNA was obtained from biting insects trapped in amber, or hardened tree sap. They also use supercomputers to decipher the DNA and plastic eggs, but the details are unclear.
A question I had about the story was about Hammond and his ignorance to failure and mistakes. Hammond is thoroughly convinced that all of the problems in his park will be solved until the very end. Even at the very end, he still thinks that he can make another park on another island. He had extra embryos hidden in California. He convinced himself that the people he employed caused the failure of the park. He blamed Wu, Muldoon, Arnold, and Regis. Hammond didn’t seem to learn from his mistake of trying to control the uncontrollable. Usually with age came the wisdom of learning from one’s mistakes. Why was he so certain that creating a park like this was possible? Was he blinded by his desire to create the park? Can desires be so strong that they stop people from seeing the difference between possible and impossible?
Jaclyn
In Legend Born by Laura Resnick
Sileria, an island nation in the middle of a vast ocean, has toiled under the yoke of foreign conquerors for a thousand years. The key to control of the waters, it was first controlled by Moorlanders, then the Kintish Kingdoms, and is now controlled by the Valdani. However, though ruled by conquerors, a group of elites, the waterlords, are in fact in power, as they control the water supply via water sorcery. The only ones that could compete with them are the Guardians, who wield fire magic, but they have nearly been driven into extinction. This is the setting of In Legend Born.In this kingdom, an outlaw named Josarian is causing havoc on the Valdani, attacking supply trains and riling up his fellow natives. He is joined by a shatai (blademaster) named Tansen, who has a blood feud with Kiloran, the strongest of the waterlords. Together, the two begin a quest for the independence of the nation. They are joined by a Guardian named Mirabar, who has visions vaguely telling her of what she should do. Together, the three meet with an aristocratic woman, Elelar, with whom Tansen has a history with, and create an alliance with the waterlords in order to drive out the Valdani. After countless complications (one of which is Josarian jumping into a volcano and having an affair with the fire goddess, Dar, fulfilling a prophecy), the Valdani are driven out, but at the price of Josarian’s life. The aristocrats and waterlords had made a deal with the Valdani, without the consent of the other members of the alliance, to trade the life of Josarian for a full withdrawal of all of the Valdani troops. The alliance then fractures, and Sileria stands on the brink of a civil war, the Society of waterlords and their dangerous assassins versus the bloodthirsty shallah (farmers). This ends the first book in the series. In Legend Born is by far my favorite book. It starts off my favorite series, The Chronicles of Sirkara. Currently there are three books, with a fourth and fifth in the works. At just over seven hundred pages, it may seem like the story would be boring, but it keeps you hooked for the entirety of the novel. The series is quite original, and has a deeply involving plot, with countless twists and turns. The characters are very colorful, with the author giving the background of each. The conflicts between the characters vary, and are many in number. As one gets resolved, two more spring up. Also, there are quite a few characters, and the names of the characters and the relationships between all of the characters can get confusing at times. This confusion can cause problems understanding the book, because the Silerians are very family oriented, and nearly everyone is related. However, these minute details connect everyone too, which is another thing which makes this book an amazing read. The problems are very small, and easily overlooked. in proportion to all of the books positive attributes. I would recommend In Legend Born it to anyone looking for a good book.
Just Listen
Getting in the minds and hearts of teenage girls seems to be a talent of Sarah Dessen's. In her novel, Just Listen, Sarah Dessen tells the story of a teenage girl, Annabel Greene, who seems to have everything any teenage girl would ever want. She is a model, just like her older sisters, she is extremely popular at her high school, and has the “perfect” family. Then, one incident with Annabel’s best friend’s boyfriend changes everything. Annabel is nearly raped by her best friend, Sophie’s, boyfriend, but Sophie is reluctant to believe that it was her boyfriend that caused the situation. Sophie refused to talk to Annabel or listen to her side of the terrible story, and Sophie continues to date her dreadful boyfriend. When school begins the following year, Sophie turns everyone against Annabel, and she becomes an outcast, sitting alone at lunch. Just about this time, things turn from great to horrible at home. Annabel’s sister nearly dies of anorexia, and her parents are time consumed with her sister’s health. With no one to talk to, she slowly fades away, loses interest in her modeling, and letting grades slip. Then, Owen, a guy at school that everyone fears because of his great size, talks to Annabel at lunch. They build a close friendship and connect through Owen’s true obsession: music. The two become extremely close, and after Annabel’s friend gets raped by the same guy that hurt her, Owen convinces Annabel to go for help. With Owen’s help, she takes her case to court, and is finally truly happy and in control of life.
Just Listen was not only exceptionally enjoyable, it taught me a great lesson, as well. Having someone to talk to, someone with a good perspective on life, can get you through a lot of hard situations. Life is never easy, but the challenges can be handled a lot better if you have someone that will listen to you, and help guide you along the way. Just Listen never has a dull moment. The reader is constantly inside the mind of Annabel Greene, a character who is easy for any teenage girl to relate to. Any teenage girl would enjoy this novel. It’s easy to get into, and tells an unforgettable story about truly compelling characters.
As I was reading Just Listen, I wondered where Sarah Dessen got the ideas for her characters. Annabel Greene has such a unique personality, yet is so much like every other teenage girl I know. Sarah Dessen does a wonderful job at getting into the average teenage girl’s mind and reading her thoughts.
I also wondered why Sarah Dessen didn’t spend a little bit more time focusing on Annabel’s sister. She seemed like such an interesting person, and I constantly wanted to get into her mind the way I was in Annabel’s mind.
I recommend this novel, Just Listen, to all teenage girls that know what it’s like to be in tough high school situations. Its an entertaining story – one of the best I have ever read.
Just Listen was not only exceptionally enjoyable, it taught me a great lesson, as well. Having someone to talk to, someone with a good perspective on life, can get you through a lot of hard situations. Life is never easy, but the challenges can be handled a lot better if you have someone that will listen to you, and help guide you along the way. Just Listen never has a dull moment. The reader is constantly inside the mind of Annabel Greene, a character who is easy for any teenage girl to relate to. Any teenage girl would enjoy this novel. It’s easy to get into, and tells an unforgettable story about truly compelling characters.
As I was reading Just Listen, I wondered where Sarah Dessen got the ideas for her characters. Annabel Greene has such a unique personality, yet is so much like every other teenage girl I know. Sarah Dessen does a wonderful job at getting into the average teenage girl’s mind and reading her thoughts.
I also wondered why Sarah Dessen didn’t spend a little bit more time focusing on Annabel’s sister. She seemed like such an interesting person, and I constantly wanted to get into her mind the way I was in Annabel’s mind.
I recommend this novel, Just Listen, to all teenage girls that know what it’s like to be in tough high school situations. Its an entertaining story – one of the best I have ever read.
Premonitions by Jude Watson
“It fills my vision. Sound fades. Hands are at the cabin window, beating against it. First the palms slapping, then fists. Trying to get out. Have to get out."
Premonitions, by Jude Watson, is a great mystery and a suspenseful story that will have readers glued to the book and waiting in anticipation on every page to see what crazy events occur next. Premonitions is about a teenage girl named Gracie who suffers from the death of her mother throughout the entire novel. At the beginning, Gracie is sent from her grandmother’s house in Maryland to live with her Aunt Shay and cousin Diego on Beewick Island in Seattle. Even though a year and a half has already passed since her mother’s accident, Gracie still has trouble coping with her grief, is constantly acting mad towards her surroundings as if she is blaming the world, feels that it will never be possible to live a normal life again, and attempts to escape from her sorrow by filling up her empty head with the same songs over and over again. Unkind and silent all the time, Gracie is considered a “friend” to only one teenage girl named Emily. Like Gracie, Emily suffers from misery as well, but her pain is because of her parent’s disastrous divorce and continuous yelling. Although Gracie never shows a likeness or friendliness towards Emily, the time soon comes where Gracie realizes that she is the only one who can save Emily’s life, and the time must come for her to burst out of her shell.
The story begins on a stifling, summer day in June when Emily and Gracie lie in the sun, and Gracie wants to go into town to the library or get an ice cream. After Gracie rejects Emily’s request, Emily proceeds to ask Gracie if she is her friend. With Emily looking up into Gracie’s eyes and waiting for a response, Gracie experiences her first encounter with her psychic abilities when the world slowly begins to fade and she sees fear rippling off of Emily’s body and hears someone’s heavy breathing. Hurt and upset, Emily walks away and that night Gracie receives a phone call from Emily’s parents telling her that Emily never returned home. The rest of the story deals with Gracie’s attempt to rescue Emily. Always hating her psychic abilities, Gracie has numerous premonitions throughout the story that are triggered by significant objects or people pertaining to Emily’s mysterious disappearance. Although Gracie doesn’t know whether she is viewing the past, present, or future, she can easily sense the danger and uses this gift to her advantage in finding out about Emily’s whereabouts before it’s too late. Gracie’s journey allows her to move on from the secluded life in which she was living, to develop closer relationships with her Aunt and cousin, and to view life in a completely different and more positive perspective.
Reading about Gracie’s psychic abilities made me wonder what it would be like to know about the secret lives of the people around me and how it would feel to be the only one who knew about scary incidents that were about to occur. This mystery kept my heart racing and made me look forward to reading each chapter. I really enjoyed this book, and I strongly recommend it to anyone because it isn’t too predictable, is fun and easy to read, and the unexpected turns and twists only add to its adventure and excitement.
Premonitions, by Jude Watson, is a great mystery and a suspenseful story that will have readers glued to the book and waiting in anticipation on every page to see what crazy events occur next. Premonitions is about a teenage girl named Gracie who suffers from the death of her mother throughout the entire novel. At the beginning, Gracie is sent from her grandmother’s house in Maryland to live with her Aunt Shay and cousin Diego on Beewick Island in Seattle. Even though a year and a half has already passed since her mother’s accident, Gracie still has trouble coping with her grief, is constantly acting mad towards her surroundings as if she is blaming the world, feels that it will never be possible to live a normal life again, and attempts to escape from her sorrow by filling up her empty head with the same songs over and over again. Unkind and silent all the time, Gracie is considered a “friend” to only one teenage girl named Emily. Like Gracie, Emily suffers from misery as well, but her pain is because of her parent’s disastrous divorce and continuous yelling. Although Gracie never shows a likeness or friendliness towards Emily, the time soon comes where Gracie realizes that she is the only one who can save Emily’s life, and the time must come for her to burst out of her shell.
The story begins on a stifling, summer day in June when Emily and Gracie lie in the sun, and Gracie wants to go into town to the library or get an ice cream. After Gracie rejects Emily’s request, Emily proceeds to ask Gracie if she is her friend. With Emily looking up into Gracie’s eyes and waiting for a response, Gracie experiences her first encounter with her psychic abilities when the world slowly begins to fade and she sees fear rippling off of Emily’s body and hears someone’s heavy breathing. Hurt and upset, Emily walks away and that night Gracie receives a phone call from Emily’s parents telling her that Emily never returned home. The rest of the story deals with Gracie’s attempt to rescue Emily. Always hating her psychic abilities, Gracie has numerous premonitions throughout the story that are triggered by significant objects or people pertaining to Emily’s mysterious disappearance. Although Gracie doesn’t know whether she is viewing the past, present, or future, she can easily sense the danger and uses this gift to her advantage in finding out about Emily’s whereabouts before it’s too late. Gracie’s journey allows her to move on from the secluded life in which she was living, to develop closer relationships with her Aunt and cousin, and to view life in a completely different and more positive perspective.
Reading about Gracie’s psychic abilities made me wonder what it would be like to know about the secret lives of the people around me and how it would feel to be the only one who knew about scary incidents that were about to occur. This mystery kept my heart racing and made me look forward to reading each chapter. I really enjoyed this book, and I strongly recommend it to anyone because it isn’t too predictable, is fun and easy to read, and the unexpected turns and twists only add to its adventure and excitement.
The Kite Runner -- Khaled Hosseini
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is the story of a young Pashtun boy in
Amir never tells any one of what he saw that night, not even Hassan. In the later months, the relationship between Amir and Hassan becomes distant. Eventually Amir decides that he cannot live with that secret and feels that if he is able to make Hassan and Ali leave, his guilt will be gone. So Amir frames Hassan for stealing to get Hassan and Ali to leave. Amir’s father considers stealing the worst crime yet when he finds out Hassan was stealing, he doesn’t banish Hassan and Ali, but when Ali decides that he and Hassan will leave anyway, Amir’s father is devastated.
As Amir’s life progresses,
Eventually Amir gets a phone call and the person on the other line tells him that he can finally fix his mistake of not telling anyone about what happened to Hassan. As Hassan grew old he had a son named Sohrab and Sohrab was now an orphan and he was at and orphanage in
This book really changed my outlook on life. I recommend this book for any serious, mature reader. The Kite Runner is not for the faint of heart though. There are many, grotesque scenes and gut wrenching truths of the world exposed in this novel. This novel is a modern drama because there is no resolution. There is no happy ending, and that is sometimes the reality of life. A person goes through so much yet still can’t be happy once they have conquered it all. This is the story of a man filled with the guilt of one action, or lack of action, for 26 years and his journey and trials towards redemption. I recommend before reading this book that a reader do brief research on the history of
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants By: Ann Brashares
Four completely different but insperable best friends, who met "before they were born" as their moms were all pregnant best friends at the same time. And one pair of jeans that magically fit them all. Set in Maryland, best friends Carmen, Lena, Tibby, and Bridget try on an ordinary pair of jeans at a thrift store, not expecting anything different, they come to find out that the the jeans fit them all perfectly and will bring them closer than they have ever been, as they experience their first summer apart since they were children. Carmen Lowell, the narrator, is thoughtful and kind. She travels to spend her summer with her father in South Carolina and comes to find that he is planning to remarry. Tibby Tomko-Rollins, sarcastic and rebellious, plans to stay home in Maryland over the summer and work at Walmans. She eventually meets Bailey, a cancer stuck-en girl, who teachers her the value of love, family, and friendship. Bailey and Tibby also make a documentary based on the video game loving, Brian McBrian. Bridget Vreeland, the athletic dare devil of the group, follows her love for soccer to a camp in Baja California, Mexico. While there, Bridget falls in love with her fellow coach, Eric. Bridget's mother committed suicide when she was younger, causing her to be a very impulsive and reckless, yet high spirited. During the summer Bridget learns the whole of love and the truth of heartbreak. The last of the four girls is Lena Karigallis, the shy and artistic one. Lena travels to Greece over the summer to visit her family and learn about her culture and background. Lena meets Kostos, the son of the family that is enemies of the Karigallis' . Lena knows that she must stay away from him but, cannot help herself. She falls in love and learns the true meaning of following your heart, not matter the consequences. During the long summer the four friends send the magical pair of jeans to each other to remind them of their friendship. The jeans help Carmen through her struggle with her dads marriage, Tibby with her relationship with sick Bailey and the thought of her death, Bridget with love and heartbreak, and Lena finally with love and following her heart. The jeans bring the girls strength and courage to be who they are and always be there for each other. They teach the friends the real meaning of friendship.
People may think that a book about girls and pair of jeans is ridiculous right? Well so did I until one of my friends told me that I had to read this book. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is a great book about all the aspects in life from death to falling in love. This book can teach you a lot about life and living and not taking anything for granted. I would definitely recommend this book to others (maybe not necessarily boys) but all girls. The book catches you right from the beginning describing the mothers of the girls and how they met. The book is a real inspiration about how people can really be friends forever no matter what obstacles you hit along the way and that a little bit of love and hope is all you need.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight is the first novel out of four in the series, and it is told from the perspective of seventeen-year-old Isabella (Bella) Swan. Bella has moved from sunny Phoenix, Arizona to rainy Forks, Washington to live with her father while her mother travels with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. Although Bella is clumsy, shy, and a very ordinary teenage girl, she easily befriends several students at her new school, including a few boys who compete for Bella’s affection. The only boy Bella is interested in, however, is the mysterious Edward Cullen, a student who seems repulsed just by the sight and scent of her. Bella is very aware of Edward’s strange behavior, and she tries to get to bottom of the mystery of the Cullen family. She observes that Edward’s entire family is extremely beautiful and have very pale, ice cold skin. She also observes Edward’s strength and speed when he saves her life from a fellow classmate’s van in the school parking lot. With the help of Bella’s family friend, Jacob, she discovers the truth about Edward and why he is so different. He is an immortal vampire who wants Bella’s blood more than anything. Edward’s family is a civilized clan of vampires, and they therefore drink only animal blood. Edward struggles to overcome his thirst for Bella’s blood, while Bella comes to accept the fact that Edward is a monster. Over time, Edward and Bella fall in love with one another. Their relationship is conflicted not only by Edward’s desire for Bella’s blood but by another vampire coven whose hunting trip leads to them Forks. Edward must not only protect Bella from himself, but from other enemies including dangerous vampires. Every second that Bella is with Edward is a second her life is in danger.
I first heard about Twilight from many of my obsessive friends. The thought of reading a vampire love story didn’t sound very interesting, but with all the hype surrounding the series, I decided I should read the book. When I first began reading the novel, I thought it was a great story, but a bit overrated in comparison to all the praise it receives and what every teenage girl says about it. It took a while to get into the story, but once the plot picked up, I was captured by Stephenie Meyer’s combination of romance, suspense, action, and adventure. Bella is a character who is easy to relate to, although most girls cannot say they are dating a vampire. Twilight leaves the reader with high expectations for guys, as Edward is a hard character to live up to. Meyer uses great descriptions that make the reader feel as if you are in Forks listening to Edwards “honey smooth” voice. Twilight unravels the mystery of the Cullen’s and keeps you glued page by page. Twilight is a book that you never want to put down. Although I am only on the third novel in the series, Eclipse, I can’t wait to finish the saga, and I would recommend Twilight to anyone!
I first heard about Twilight from many of my obsessive friends. The thought of reading a vampire love story didn’t sound very interesting, but with all the hype surrounding the series, I decided I should read the book. When I first began reading the novel, I thought it was a great story, but a bit overrated in comparison to all the praise it receives and what every teenage girl says about it. It took a while to get into the story, but once the plot picked up, I was captured by Stephenie Meyer’s combination of romance, suspense, action, and adventure. Bella is a character who is easy to relate to, although most girls cannot say they are dating a vampire. Twilight leaves the reader with high expectations for guys, as Edward is a hard character to live up to. Meyer uses great descriptions that make the reader feel as if you are in Forks listening to Edwards “honey smooth” voice. Twilight unravels the mystery of the Cullen’s and keeps you glued page by page. Twilight is a book that you never want to put down. Although I am only on the third novel in the series, Eclipse, I can’t wait to finish the saga, and I would recommend Twilight to anyone!
A...My Name is Alice
A … My Name is Alice conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd
Disclaimer: This musical contains a few adult situations which I will skip over since I don’t know what Mrs. Kirkland will say about them or how other people will approach them .I personally found that they were all entertaining after you got past the situation. There is also “colorful” language.
First off, A … My Name is Alice is a musical that is separated into musical numbers with scenes and monologues by different authors. Hence, why the musical was only conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd and not written by them. These women came up with the idea but had a lot of help from different people —like Richard LaGravenese and others.
I chose a monologue from this musical to use for my audition for the Fine Arts Center. After spending ample amounts of time reading and rereading the monologue, I developed a desire to read the musical in its entirety . I really didn’t know what to expect from this musical. I only knew that it was an mostly all women musical and that there was a monologue about a girl whose boyfriend broke up with her—the monologue I used.
ACT I:
All Girl Band : The musical begins with a song in which 5 women sing of their dissatisfaction with their lives until they joined an all girl band. One of them memorably sings “If I spent one more day with damn PTA, I would drown in the carpool of life,” (10). When the song is over the women describe themselves in poems and all share the name Alice. Note: there are only five actresses in the whole play and one or two actors when needed.
The next scene- At My Age- begins with two women of very different ages on separate sides of the stage. One is a15 year old and the other an older widow. Both are going on a date. For the 15 year old it is her first date. For the widow it is her first blind date. Both of them are singing about how strange and new this experience of dating is to them. They often share the same thoughts and feelings.
For Women Only #1:one of a series of poems interjected throughout the musical. These poems are all read by the same woman and all have something to do with a woman losing her man. In these poems the woman is always compared to an animal or plant. In this one she compares herself to a parrot.
Trash is about a woman who dreams her life was as exciting as a trash romance novel. She gets her wish fulfilled for a few minutes by a stranger who comes by her office but then he leaves her. She gets the idea from this stranger, to get her boyfriend to read a trash romance novel so he can pick up on her mood.
Good Thing I Learned to Dance is about a woman who always has loved to dance since she was a child. She has gone thru life with no real use for her dancing except at school dances .Finally when she is an adult in the city a stranger gives her the chance she was looking for. She now is something akin to a Jazzercise instructor.
Welcome to Kindergarten Mrs.Johnson, is a parent teacher meeting gone horribly wrong. The teacher reprimands Mrs.Johnson for giving her little girl a good self image, and teaching her how to read. The teacher is tired of the little girl being bright and guilt trips Mrs. Johnson about being a bad mother. By the end of the scene Mrs. Johnson is in tears and leaves horrified while the teacher reverts to icy sweetness and welcomes another victim, I mean mother.
I Sure Like the Boys, is simply a song sung by a young woman who displays the innocent sensuality of someone discovering sex and love. The song is quite beautiful.
Ms.Mae is an older black woman just talking about what she saw last Wednesday. She is at the salon getting her hair done and she tends to ramble and get off topic. Ms.Mae relates about how on the train home a gorgeous young black woman loses her dignity by the power of one man. This man rips off the young woman’s wig leaving her with her naturally short hair and humiliating her in front of everyone. How the man knew the young woman was wearing a wig, no one knows. Ms. Mae felt so bad for the dear but refrained from doing anything because she didn’t know how the girl would react.
Detroit Persons and Educated Feet go together. Both are about a women’s exposition basketball team and everyone on the team is a character. Spike is very sanguine and intelligent. Wanda has no inhibitions about talking of women’s subjects in her broken English. Nadine tops it off with doing time for coke (she is in jail).There are others but these are the main people. They show off their skills in a dance involving basketballs(think High School Musical).
For Women Only #2 is the next one in the series and this time she compares herself to a wilting plant.
The Portrait: a woman muses on the things she has done in her life. She thinks of her mother and how people often compare them to each other. The woman doesn’t think her mom and her are at all alike. Her mom was a lady and she isn’t. The woman at the end of the song starts wishing her mother was there and relates to us how she often dreams of her mother. She wants her mom there with her and she wants her mom to never leave her. It is a heartbreaking song.
Bluer than You is sung by three different women who have problems in their lives and want to sing the blues to express their problems. They have an ongoing competition to prove how bluer they are then each other.
ACT II:
Pretty Young Men is the tale of a few friends (including mom) going to see a ladies only show. At first the mom is extremely uncomfortable but after awhile she joins her friends in whistling at the men. The song goes from being choir style when the women try to behave to sultry rhythm and blues when they get distracted by the men. The women become more comfortable when they recognize some of the other ladies, like Mrs. Shwab the rabbi’s wife. The women agree to come every week.
Demigod: a young woman just got dumped by her boyfriend, Frank, and at first is apologizing to him for her overreaction the day before. She poses a lot of rhetorical questions to him and gets increasingly frustrated –“Do I go and have an affair with O.J Simpson?”(40). She then calms down again and relates to him what happened to her at the laundromat. She saw Frank and heard his voice in the washing machine. It makes her think she might not be handling the break-up very well. So, she gives Frank, her ex, a piece of her mind—“then the most mature thing I could do for you would be to rip your face off,”(41).
The French Monologue and The French Song: a young woman is pretending to be French and sings a song her father taught her. The song is really only a bunch of random well known French phrases and words strung together.
Pay Them No Mind: a woman is telling her significant other to not pay attention to what other people say about them. She tells her significant other to ignore the jokes. They love each other and that is all that matters.
For Women Only #3: this one being the last poem the poet reveals a little more about how her man left her for another woman. This time she compares herself to a dying swan.
Emily the M.B.A: talks about a woman who rose to a certain height in the business ladder and is not satisfied.Emily has a good job and is respected by both sexes but it is not enough. So, she decides to takeover an all women company. Other women tell her to not do it but she doesn’t listen. After the takeover is successful, Emily and her buddies celebrate with alcohol. They drive while drunk and get into an accident. All die.
This is not the end of the musical but I wanted to leave you with an incentive to read it for yourselves. If I gave you the end that would be no fun. Also, what i wrote were in most cases breif overviews of the songs/scenes,so if you want more detail read the musical. I thoroughly enjoyed the musical and I laughed and cried when I read it. I liked the songs for what they say and some are quite touching. Its a great musical to perform in theater group that mainly consists of women. There is also a sequel to this musical.If anyone was wondering, the monologue I used was Demigod --- I love how she must be apologetic then crazy then furious and confident in the space of 2 minutes.
It made me think of possibly reading The Vagina Monologues . I don't know if they are at all alike but both are for women so I should probably enjoy it.
To fully appreciate the musical I recommend looking it up on Youtube.
Disclaimer: This musical contains a few adult situations which I will skip over since I don’t know what Mrs. Kirkland will say about them or how other people will approach them .I personally found that they were all entertaining after you got past the situation. There is also “colorful” language.
First off, A … My Name is Alice is a musical that is separated into musical numbers with scenes and monologues by different authors. Hence, why the musical was only conceived by Joan Micklin Silver and Julianne Boyd and not written by them. These women came up with the idea but had a lot of help from different people —like Richard LaGravenese and others.
I chose a monologue from this musical to use for my audition for the Fine Arts Center. After spending ample amounts of time reading and rereading the monologue, I developed a desire to read the musical in its entirety . I really didn’t know what to expect from this musical. I only knew that it was an mostly all women musical and that there was a monologue about a girl whose boyfriend broke up with her—the monologue I used.
ACT I:
All Girl Band : The musical begins with a song in which 5 women sing of their dissatisfaction with their lives until they joined an all girl band. One of them memorably sings “If I spent one more day with damn PTA, I would drown in the carpool of life,” (10). When the song is over the women describe themselves in poems and all share the name Alice. Note: there are only five actresses in the whole play and one or two actors when needed.
The next scene- At My Age- begins with two women of very different ages on separate sides of the stage. One is a15 year old and the other an older widow. Both are going on a date. For the 15 year old it is her first date. For the widow it is her first blind date. Both of them are singing about how strange and new this experience of dating is to them. They often share the same thoughts and feelings.
For Women Only #1:one of a series of poems interjected throughout the musical. These poems are all read by the same woman and all have something to do with a woman losing her man. In these poems the woman is always compared to an animal or plant. In this one she compares herself to a parrot.
Trash is about a woman who dreams her life was as exciting as a trash romance novel. She gets her wish fulfilled for a few minutes by a stranger who comes by her office but then he leaves her. She gets the idea from this stranger, to get her boyfriend to read a trash romance novel so he can pick up on her mood.
Good Thing I Learned to Dance is about a woman who always has loved to dance since she was a child. She has gone thru life with no real use for her dancing except at school dances .Finally when she is an adult in the city a stranger gives her the chance she was looking for. She now is something akin to a Jazzercise instructor.
Welcome to Kindergarten Mrs.Johnson, is a parent teacher meeting gone horribly wrong. The teacher reprimands Mrs.Johnson for giving her little girl a good self image, and teaching her how to read. The teacher is tired of the little girl being bright and guilt trips Mrs. Johnson about being a bad mother. By the end of the scene Mrs. Johnson is in tears and leaves horrified while the teacher reverts to icy sweetness and welcomes another victim, I mean mother.
I Sure Like the Boys, is simply a song sung by a young woman who displays the innocent sensuality of someone discovering sex and love. The song is quite beautiful.
Ms.Mae is an older black woman just talking about what she saw last Wednesday. She is at the salon getting her hair done and she tends to ramble and get off topic. Ms.Mae relates about how on the train home a gorgeous young black woman loses her dignity by the power of one man. This man rips off the young woman’s wig leaving her with her naturally short hair and humiliating her in front of everyone. How the man knew the young woman was wearing a wig, no one knows. Ms. Mae felt so bad for the dear but refrained from doing anything because she didn’t know how the girl would react.
Detroit Persons and Educated Feet go together. Both are about a women’s exposition basketball team and everyone on the team is a character. Spike is very sanguine and intelligent. Wanda has no inhibitions about talking of women’s subjects in her broken English. Nadine tops it off with doing time for coke (she is in jail).There are others but these are the main people. They show off their skills in a dance involving basketballs(think High School Musical).
For Women Only #2 is the next one in the series and this time she compares herself to a wilting plant.
The Portrait: a woman muses on the things she has done in her life. She thinks of her mother and how people often compare them to each other. The woman doesn’t think her mom and her are at all alike. Her mom was a lady and she isn’t. The woman at the end of the song starts wishing her mother was there and relates to us how she often dreams of her mother. She wants her mom there with her and she wants her mom to never leave her. It is a heartbreaking song.
Bluer than You is sung by three different women who have problems in their lives and want to sing the blues to express their problems. They have an ongoing competition to prove how bluer they are then each other.
ACT II:
Pretty Young Men is the tale of a few friends (including mom) going to see a ladies only show. At first the mom is extremely uncomfortable but after awhile she joins her friends in whistling at the men. The song goes from being choir style when the women try to behave to sultry rhythm and blues when they get distracted by the men. The women become more comfortable when they recognize some of the other ladies, like Mrs. Shwab the rabbi’s wife. The women agree to come every week.
Demigod: a young woman just got dumped by her boyfriend, Frank, and at first is apologizing to him for her overreaction the day before. She poses a lot of rhetorical questions to him and gets increasingly frustrated –“Do I go and have an affair with O.J Simpson?”(40). She then calms down again and relates to him what happened to her at the laundromat. She saw Frank and heard his voice in the washing machine. It makes her think she might not be handling the break-up very well. So, she gives Frank, her ex, a piece of her mind—“then the most mature thing I could do for you would be to rip your face off,”(41).
The French Monologue and The French Song: a young woman is pretending to be French and sings a song her father taught her. The song is really only a bunch of random well known French phrases and words strung together.
Pay Them No Mind: a woman is telling her significant other to not pay attention to what other people say about them. She tells her significant other to ignore the jokes. They love each other and that is all that matters.
For Women Only #3: this one being the last poem the poet reveals a little more about how her man left her for another woman. This time she compares herself to a dying swan.
Emily the M.B.A: talks about a woman who rose to a certain height in the business ladder and is not satisfied.Emily has a good job and is respected by both sexes but it is not enough. So, she decides to takeover an all women company. Other women tell her to not do it but she doesn’t listen. After the takeover is successful, Emily and her buddies celebrate with alcohol. They drive while drunk and get into an accident. All die.
This is not the end of the musical but I wanted to leave you with an incentive to read it for yourselves. If I gave you the end that would be no fun. Also, what i wrote were in most cases breif overviews of the songs/scenes,so if you want more detail read the musical. I thoroughly enjoyed the musical and I laughed and cried when I read it. I liked the songs for what they say and some are quite touching. Its a great musical to perform in theater group that mainly consists of women. There is also a sequel to this musical.If anyone was wondering, the monologue I used was Demigod --- I love how she must be apologetic then crazy then furious and confident in the space of 2 minutes.
It made me think of possibly reading The Vagina Monologues . I don't know if they are at all alike but both are for women so I should probably enjoy it.
To fully appreciate the musical I recommend looking it up on Youtube.
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