2nd Quarter Outside Reading Book Review
The pact, Jodi Picoult, Harper Perennial, 1998
Genre: love story
The story The Pact is about two families, Gold’s and Hartes’s, who have been inseparable. Their children, Chris and Emily, begin to start dating which is no surprise to the families. Soon their relationship becomes more serious, until one day Emily gets shot in the head and dies. Through out the book the families try to figure out who really killed Emily Gold. The story takes place in Bainbridge, New Hampshire.
“The Pact is so good that we can’t put it down…suspenseful, intelligently written, topical.” –Detroit Free Press
The writing style of this book is very different than I’ve ever read. Usually I read books that just tell the story in a continuous flow, from beginning to end. In The Pact Picoult changes views between now and then. During the now chapters you read about all the different clues the lawyers are finding out to prove who really shot Emily. In the then chapters you read about how the two families meet and how Emily and Chris’s relationship develops. Picoult puts in so much detail you can picture so perfectly the scene of Emily’s death or even get a feel of how Emily’s parents felt when they heard the news.
“She turned in the same direction, and they bumped noses hard, but then she laughed and it was all right because this was Em. Her mouth was the softest thing he’d ever felt, and he pulled on her jaw to make it open a little, and his tongue ran over the neat line of her teeth” (93).
OR
(I can’t decide)
Chris hugged her and buried his face in her neck. Emily could feel the exertion of his heart and his lungs. She imagined the crowd watching as they embraced. The fact that everyone knew someone like him had picked someone like her was one of the thing she loved about being Chris’s girlfriend” (140).
I have to say that this was probably the best book I’ve ever read. I loved reading about Emily and Chris growing up together, from when they were first born until Emily died. I can kind of relate to this book which makes it really cool. My parents are best friends with the Westbrook’s making me friends with their son, Jamie, just like the Gold’s and Hartes’s. This book had so much emotion in it, between Emily dying and then how much Emily and Chris loved each other. The story always left you wondering what was going to happen next so I couldn’t put the book down. I highly recommend it if you like love stories and mysteries.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Swimming On The Stage
Value vs. valuable? What's the difference? Is there a difference? To me there is a strong differeence that some people don't understand. People now a days are more concerned with the valuable things. somethig that has a pricetag on it. They don't think about the valuable moments that we just can't get back once their gone. So which one would I choose if I had a choice? I really can't say!
I am frozen behind the starting block in fear. My legs fell like jello so much that I can barley hold my own weight from falling. My stomach is churning because of the nervous energy that is bottled up inside of me. On the right side of me is my competition , Katie Tyler. I can see in her eyes that she is extremely ready and that this isn't going to be an easy race. I start to shake out my muscles, to get them loose for my race. I swim my arms in a circular motion and then slap my arms against my back. I take a slow deep breath clearing my mind of anything other than swimming at this point. Suddenly I fell i slight touch on my shoulder. I turn around quick to my swim coach, Tara, she has been coaching me since I started swimming for the Swords. She begins to whisper in my ear as if she is telling me a secret. She gives me a quick pep talk to get me pumped for my race. After she leaves I then take off my warm clothes and place them on the chair behind me. I stand staring down the pool absolutely ready to own this race.
I'm wearing my favorite suit that I have for the most part won every race i swam in it. It has gotten me about at least 5 different records between championships and Swords records. So I guess you could call it my lucky suit. My suit is of course a Speedo! It is just a plain black suit with white trim along the edges. My Speedo is a size 26,an extremely small bathing suit size. I hate with a burning passion anyone who wears baggy bathing suits. I think its sloppy and very unprofessional. By a bathing suit you can tell a lot about a swimmer. Since my suit is so small it takes probably about 10 minutes to get into it. Yes, you read right 10 minutes. You may think I'm crazy but that is actually normal for any U.S.A. swimmer. I got my suit at a swim meet from a booth that was selling all kinds of swim apparel. It cost about $60. But for how much its been through I think that its worth around $200 to me.
The lights are dimmed and my heart is pumping. I have been preparing for this night forever. This is the third school talent show I've been in. The act before me has just finished and I'm up next. I smooth out my dress, fix may hair and take a look into the crowd. Although the curtain is hiding part of my vision I can see that the auditorium is packed, a full house. I can hear my name being called from the seats. I slowly walk onto the stage, being extra careful i don't trip in the heels that I'm wearing. I am standing cater stage now, and I listen for Melanie to finish introducing me. The curtains open and I am handed a microphone. The lights are shining on me, making my dress sparkle.The music fills the auditorium. My voice begins to project the lyrics into the microphone. Standing center stage is like my second home. I love being up there preforming in front of a crowd. I enjoy entertaining people. I then slow down to finish the song. Suddenley the crowd jumps up giving me a standing ovation. I just take in the moment and stand there, center stage. Right then i have the adrenalin rush that makes you feel ecstatic inside and makes me able to do it over and over again.
I value both my bathing suit and preforming at the talent show for similar reasons. Swimming is something to do to get stress out after a long day and clam me down when I'm angry. It also something I do to just express joy. If you have seen me swim you can tell that it is just something I enjoy and am very passionate about. I value preforming because it also gives me a chance to express myself. I can pick a song happy or sad depending on what mood I'm in and express myself that way. I use singing as an outlet as also for swimming.
I value my bathing suit and preforming at the talent show for different reasons. Singing is something that I can do for myself something I can do on my own time. My bathing suit on the other hand I use for competing. I treat swimming very seriously. Have you ever heard of a hardcore swimmer, because that would be me! Swimming about My saying is life sucks... I rather swim. Swimming Singing I do for fun. There is no competition when I'm singing in my shower or at church.
Although my bathing suit and singing are valuable for different reasons one main reason I value them so much is that I wouldn't be able to live without one or the other. My suit, swimming, keeps me grounded and singing allows me to express myself. I would never trade anything for being able to preform or my suit.
I am frozen behind the starting block in fear. My legs fell like jello so much that I can barley hold my own weight from falling. My stomach is churning because of the nervous energy that is bottled up inside of me. On the right side of me is my competition , Katie Tyler. I can see in her eyes that she is extremely ready and that this isn't going to be an easy race. I start to shake out my muscles, to get them loose for my race. I swim my arms in a circular motion and then slap my arms against my back. I take a slow deep breath clearing my mind of anything other than swimming at this point. Suddenly I fell i slight touch on my shoulder. I turn around quick to my swim coach, Tara, she has been coaching me since I started swimming for the Swords. She begins to whisper in my ear as if she is telling me a secret. She gives me a quick pep talk to get me pumped for my race. After she leaves I then take off my warm clothes and place them on the chair behind me. I stand staring down the pool absolutely ready to own this race.
I'm wearing my favorite suit that I have for the most part won every race i swam in it. It has gotten me about at least 5 different records between championships and Swords records. So I guess you could call it my lucky suit. My suit is of course a Speedo! It is just a plain black suit with white trim along the edges. My Speedo is a size 26,an extremely small bathing suit size. I hate with a burning passion anyone who wears baggy bathing suits. I think its sloppy and very unprofessional. By a bathing suit you can tell a lot about a swimmer. Since my suit is so small it takes probably about 10 minutes to get into it. Yes, you read right 10 minutes. You may think I'm crazy but that is actually normal for any U.S.A. swimmer. I got my suit at a swim meet from a booth that was selling all kinds of swim apparel. It cost about $60. But for how much its been through I think that its worth around $200 to me.
The lights are dimmed and my heart is pumping. I have been preparing for this night forever. This is the third school talent show I've been in. The act before me has just finished and I'm up next. I smooth out my dress, fix may hair and take a look into the crowd. Although the curtain is hiding part of my vision I can see that the auditorium is packed, a full house. I can hear my name being called from the seats. I slowly walk onto the stage, being extra careful i don't trip in the heels that I'm wearing. I am standing cater stage now, and I listen for Melanie to finish introducing me. The curtains open and I am handed a microphone. The lights are shining on me, making my dress sparkle.The music fills the auditorium. My voice begins to project the lyrics into the microphone. Standing center stage is like my second home. I love being up there preforming in front of a crowd. I enjoy entertaining people. I then slow down to finish the song. Suddenley the crowd jumps up giving me a standing ovation. I just take in the moment and stand there, center stage. Right then i have the adrenalin rush that makes you feel ecstatic inside and makes me able to do it over and over again.
I value both my bathing suit and preforming at the talent show for similar reasons. Swimming is something to do to get stress out after a long day and clam me down when I'm angry. It also something I do to just express joy. If you have seen me swim you can tell that it is just something I enjoy and am very passionate about. I value preforming because it also gives me a chance to express myself. I can pick a song happy or sad depending on what mood I'm in and express myself that way. I use singing as an outlet as also for swimming.
I value my bathing suit and preforming at the talent show for different reasons. Singing is something that I can do for myself something I can do on my own time. My bathing suit on the other hand I use for competing. I treat swimming very seriously. Have you ever heard of a hardcore swimmer, because that would be me! Swimming about My saying is life sucks... I rather swim. Swimming Singing I do for fun. There is no competition when I'm singing in my shower or at church.
Although my bathing suit and singing are valuable for different reasons one main reason I value them so much is that I wouldn't be able to live without one or the other. My suit, swimming, keeps me grounded and singing allows me to express myself. I would never trade anything for being able to preform or my suit.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
First Quarter Outside Reading Book
First Quarter Outside Reading Book
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti. Simon & Schuster, 2008
Genre: Realistic Fiction
The book I read for my outside reading book this term was The Fortunes of Indigo Skye. She was a waitress in a small diner called Carrera’s in Seattle. On her shift a new guy came in that she named the “Vespa Guy”. This “Vespa Guy” gave her 2.5 million dollars. She was extremely shocked and let the money go to her head. In getting this money it all went downhill for her. She lost her job, got into a fight with her boyfriend, and ended up running away from her problems. At the end of the book she finally realizes how having the money has changed her, so she decides to give all the money away to other family and friends who need it.
A review by Little Willow “If you couldn’t already tell, I really enjoyed this book. There’s more whimsy here than some of Caletti’s previous novels, but never to an unrealistic degree. This isn’t yet another rags-to-riches tale nor a simple story of “money can’t buy happiness.” This book is about a girl on the cusp of adulthood who actually likes her life and doesn’t want it to change that much. She would rather be poor and happy than wealthy and miserable. Indigo has a great set of values and a great sense of self. Those are her true fortunes.”
The writhing style of the author is different than anything else that I’ve read. She does a lot of comparing and contrasting in the book. If there an event in the book she will compare it with another thing that would remind the main character about it. In the quote further down she compares being ready to a boy dancing. She had written the book in first person, the main character is telling the story.
“Ready is the reluctant guy on the dance floor. You ask him and he says no; you ask him again, drag him by his wrists, and when he’s finally there, after a few steps, the music fills him and he’s cutting loose like there’s no tomorrow.”
I really didn’t like this book at all. I really liked the authors writing style though, but everything thing else I wasn’t really happy with. One reason I disliked the book was because it reminded me of The Pearl. The book reminding me of The Pearl is a bad thing because I didn’t like The Pearl and it might not have been that bad but we just had read it. Another reason I disliked this book was because it was way too predictable. I knew almost everything that was going to happen to Indigo before it happened and to me that takes the fun out of reading the book.
The Fortunes of Indigo Skye by Deb Caletti. Simon & Schuster, 2008
Genre: Realistic Fiction
The book I read for my outside reading book this term was The Fortunes of Indigo Skye. She was a waitress in a small diner called Carrera’s in Seattle. On her shift a new guy came in that she named the “Vespa Guy”. This “Vespa Guy” gave her 2.5 million dollars. She was extremely shocked and let the money go to her head. In getting this money it all went downhill for her. She lost her job, got into a fight with her boyfriend, and ended up running away from her problems. At the end of the book she finally realizes how having the money has changed her, so she decides to give all the money away to other family and friends who need it.
A review by Little Willow “If you couldn’t already tell, I really enjoyed this book. There’s more whimsy here than some of Caletti’s previous novels, but never to an unrealistic degree. This isn’t yet another rags-to-riches tale nor a simple story of “money can’t buy happiness.” This book is about a girl on the cusp of adulthood who actually likes her life and doesn’t want it to change that much. She would rather be poor and happy than wealthy and miserable. Indigo has a great set of values and a great sense of self. Those are her true fortunes.”
The writhing style of the author is different than anything else that I’ve read. She does a lot of comparing and contrasting in the book. If there an event in the book she will compare it with another thing that would remind the main character about it. In the quote further down she compares being ready to a boy dancing. She had written the book in first person, the main character is telling the story.
“Ready is the reluctant guy on the dance floor. You ask him and he says no; you ask him again, drag him by his wrists, and when he’s finally there, after a few steps, the music fills him and he’s cutting loose like there’s no tomorrow.”
I really didn’t like this book at all. I really liked the authors writing style though, but everything thing else I wasn’t really happy with. One reason I disliked the book was because it reminded me of The Pearl. The book reminding me of The Pearl is a bad thing because I didn’t like The Pearl and it might not have been that bad but we just had read it. Another reason I disliked this book was because it was way too predictable. I knew almost everything that was going to happen to Indigo before it happened and to me that takes the fun out of reading the book.
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Last Question
How I Live Now, Daisy
Briar Rose, Rebecca
Setting, England
It was a warm summer day in England, about 85 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky. Daisy was at her current house along with her cousins Edmund, Piper, and Isaac. Osbert, her oldest cousin was at a friend's house for the day and wouldn’t be home until late. She was helping Edmond in the garden, picking all sorts of fruits and vegetables to store for the winter. Daisy heard a faint ringing noise coming from the house phone ,so she placed her basket of tomatoes on the ground and jogged into the house to answer it.
“Hello?” her voice projected into the phone.
“Hi, it’s me, Becca, is this Daisy?
“Yah!” Daisy’s voice yelled with excitement.
Becca was Daisy’s cousin. The two girls didn’t get to see each other often, one reason being that Becca’s Gemma just passed away and Daisy had been in England.
“ I am doing an article for the newspaper that I work for, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about what you went through with the war?” asked Becca.
“I’d love to!” Daisy replied.
They made arrangements to have Becca take a plane and fly over to England in less than two weeks. She would get a taxi cab to bring her to Daisy’s house do they could do the interview.
One week came and went and before Daisy new it Becca would be there in a few hours. Daisy cleaned up the kitchen, or tried to. Since the war the house was a mess with smashed glass, ripped furniture, and writing on the walls.
Knock. Knock. A very light sound came from the front door. Daisy went and answered it to find it to be Becca standing with her pen and notepad ready to do the interview.
Daisy led Becca to the backyard past the garden where now all three cousins were working.
“Becca, you remember Edmund, Piper, and Isaac, don’t you?”
Piper ran over and greeted Becca with a huge hug. Edmund and Isaac gave a small shy wave. Although Edmund and Isaac and even Piper had been out in the sun all day, they were still so plane and their bones looked so fragile. Becca thought the reminded her of her Gemma, so sick looking.
Daisy brought Becca over to a small round white table which looked almost 100 years old. Even though there were four chairs two of the chairs had missing legs, making there just enough room for Becca and Daisy. After they were both seated Becca put on her small reading glasses and began the interview.
“So, my first question would be what started the war?” asked Becca.
“I would have to say the bomb that was set off and exploded a few cities over form ours,” answered Daisy.
“How did you hear that war was about to begin?”
“My oldest cousin Oslo watched the news everyday morning till night. It was all over the news."
Becca continued with her questions for about and hour. Daisy had so much to say. It was really the first time she has ever spoken of the war since it happened. Sometimes Daisy would get all choked up and have to stop and grab a tissue. At the end of the interview Becca asked her one last question.
“Did you ever doubt that you would be alive today, right now?”
“Well, I always had my doubts. I sometimes thought what if we never get back to the house, what would happen to us. I was scared that we would die. I didn’t know how to survive very well in the woods. But I stayed strong for Piper, because she was so young. I guess after struggling for many long nights and days I just knew what I had to do, keep going. So that’s what I did, Piper and I. There were doubts yes but I was able to dig deep and find my way back home.”
Briar Rose, Rebecca
Setting, England
It was a warm summer day in England, about 85 degrees and not a single cloud in the sky. Daisy was at her current house along with her cousins Edmund, Piper, and Isaac. Osbert, her oldest cousin was at a friend's house for the day and wouldn’t be home until late. She was helping Edmond in the garden, picking all sorts of fruits and vegetables to store for the winter. Daisy heard a faint ringing noise coming from the house phone ,so she placed her basket of tomatoes on the ground and jogged into the house to answer it.
“Hello?” her voice projected into the phone.
“Hi, it’s me, Becca, is this Daisy?
“Yah!” Daisy’s voice yelled with excitement.
Becca was Daisy’s cousin. The two girls didn’t get to see each other often, one reason being that Becca’s Gemma just passed away and Daisy had been in England.
“ I am doing an article for the newspaper that I work for, and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about what you went through with the war?” asked Becca.
“I’d love to!” Daisy replied.
They made arrangements to have Becca take a plane and fly over to England in less than two weeks. She would get a taxi cab to bring her to Daisy’s house do they could do the interview.
One week came and went and before Daisy new it Becca would be there in a few hours. Daisy cleaned up the kitchen, or tried to. Since the war the house was a mess with smashed glass, ripped furniture, and writing on the walls.
Knock. Knock. A very light sound came from the front door. Daisy went and answered it to find it to be Becca standing with her pen and notepad ready to do the interview.
Daisy led Becca to the backyard past the garden where now all three cousins were working.
“Becca, you remember Edmund, Piper, and Isaac, don’t you?”
Piper ran over and greeted Becca with a huge hug. Edmund and Isaac gave a small shy wave. Although Edmund and Isaac and even Piper had been out in the sun all day, they were still so plane and their bones looked so fragile. Becca thought the reminded her of her Gemma, so sick looking.
Daisy brought Becca over to a small round white table which looked almost 100 years old. Even though there were four chairs two of the chairs had missing legs, making there just enough room for Becca and Daisy. After they were both seated Becca put on her small reading glasses and began the interview.
“So, my first question would be what started the war?” asked Becca.
“I would have to say the bomb that was set off and exploded a few cities over form ours,” answered Daisy.
“How did you hear that war was about to begin?”
“My oldest cousin Oslo watched the news everyday morning till night. It was all over the news."
Becca continued with her questions for about and hour. Daisy had so much to say. It was really the first time she has ever spoken of the war since it happened. Sometimes Daisy would get all choked up and have to stop and grab a tissue. At the end of the interview Becca asked her one last question.
“Did you ever doubt that you would be alive today, right now?”
“Well, I always had my doubts. I sometimes thought what if we never get back to the house, what would happen to us. I was scared that we would die. I didn’t know how to survive very well in the woods. But I stayed strong for Piper, because she was so young. I guess after struggling for many long nights and days I just knew what I had to do, keep going. So that’s what I did, Piper and I. There were doubts yes but I was able to dig deep and find my way back home.”
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