Non-Fiction Blog 11/30/15

The book I am reading is Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul on Tough Stuff. The genre of this book is Memoir/Non-Fiction. I have read the drugs and alcohol section in this book. This chapter is about people who have parents who abuse drugs and alcohol and how it affected them. To me, I liked this chapter because it gave me a new perspective on kids like us who were dealing with parents who weren't setting a good environment. The authors are a variety of people who want to share their stories in this book.

"As I place the flowers next to my father's ashes, I say a silent prayer and wait there for just a moment. I recall everything about my dad-the good and the bad alike-and I remember the man my father was." This quote is interesting to me because the the father's daughter still loves her dad after his bad habits. I think this quote is saying that in the end, a person is still who they are behind all of the bad things and that you shouldn't judge anyone by what they do.

Some of the things I've learned by reading this are to think before I act, and to be responsible. I am not likely to forget these things in the near future because they will shape me into being a better person. If you think before you act then you can stop yourself from becoming someone that can ruin your future. Being responsible will make you a a good person because you can be independent in life without having something holding you back.

Commented on: Amilee's Blog, Kezia's Blog, Anthony B's Blog

Blog for week 11-11-15 Auggie & Me

      I have currently finished reading Auggie & Me by R.J. Palacio. This book is about three kids who cross their paths with Auggie Pullman. Auggie’s appearance is not like everyone else’s and because of that, people decide to disclose themselves from being his friend. Charlotte, Julian, and Chris have all taken part in Auggie’s life, whether they are close friends of him or just there to cause him trouble. 

      The theme that is best showed throughout Auggie & Me is courage and I think that the character’s actions show it. The character’s actions are all standing up to someone. For example, Julian stand up for himself to his mom when he thought something wasn’t right. 

      Another example of bravery is towards the middle of the book. Chris has been Auggie’s life long friend. As years pass, they lose contact and Chris makes new friends. One day Chris and Auggie FaceChatted and his friends thought Auggie was some kind of monster. This is when  Chris realizes that he has to stand up for his friend because treating someone that way isn't right. Chris showed courage by taking a chance to continue to be Auggie’s friend even if it meant losing some people on the way. 

Commented on: Jude's Blog, Amelia's Blog, Hazelle's Blog.

1st Quarter Reflections

      I can't believe that we have reached the end of the 1st quarter already! A lot of strategies have helped me to get through the quarter, like writing down my assignments, staying on task, and keeping up with the work. I've learned so much during the past quarter all thanks to those strategies, I also learned new words each week. Every week we get vocabulary words and we have to copy them down into our notebooks, so we can study for our test on Friday. Writing down the vocabulary words into my notebook helps me memorize them since it's easy to study really quick before a class.

      My 40 Book Challenge has not improved so far. I think this happened because I am trying to do so many things at one time. I set up a time for myself to work on one thing then move onto the next. This has helped me because I finished a few books each week. One thing I forget to do is updating my "goodreads" account with the books I'm currently reading or just finished.

      Annotating AoW's has become second nature to me. This is because the last quarter taught me how to annotate an article correctly with all the lessons we did. I feel like I didn't add as much thought as I should have in my annotations but for second quarter I'll do better since I didn't fully understand how to do it.

A Corner of the Universe 10-27-15

Prompt: How the conflict drives character development (causes the character to change)

A Corner of the Universe

By Ann M. Martin

Read up to: 1-189 (finished)

      In A Corner of the Universe, Hattie Owen's uncle comes in the summer to stay with her. During the summer, Hattie discovers that people don't give Adam a chance before they judge him. Adam has admired one of Hattie's "friends", Angel, and makes it his duty to make her happy. One day, Hattie and Adam go to the upstairs of the boarding house and see something that they weren't supposed to see. Adam was heartbroken because he thought Angel was better than what she was doing, so he stormed out and was missing for a few hours. He was found dead when the police found him.

      The conflict in this story is obviously Adam's death. His death drives Hattie to be sort of rebellious and stand up to her grandmother. By standing up I mean she tells her grandmother that how she has been excluding Adam from the outside is not ok and that she needs to think about how her decision has affected him. 

Narrative Twist

"His Fate"

The princess’s jealousy and barbarism had driven her to make the decision for her loved one, to pick the door with the menacing beast. It was a hard choice for her to make, especially when she has spent months loving him and only him. She was jealous, envious even. Envious that in the end, she could not have him for herself. Which had forced her to think that if she couldn’t have him, then nobody could have him.

As the time came by for the youth to pick the door, she watched his every move, the way he breathed with uncertainty, the way he was silently asking her which door. She raised her hand by the right door, knowing that this will forever change her life, her lover caught the movement and walked to the door and opened it.

Then it was when the tiger came out to make her realize how cruel she had been. She watched in horror as the beast scratched her lover to death and it pained her to think that she was the cause of this. Yet, he belonged to her first, not the lady behind the door, her .

She heard chuckling from beside her and looked over, the sound belonged to her father. She watched as he took this as no other death, without any significance, not even sparing a single glance of sympathy.

“Father,” she cried out, “How could you be so heartless?”

“What’s gotten into you, my princess?” He was confused by her sudden change of feelings towards the event.

“He meant something to me, and you just disregard it?” She shook her head and ran out of the arena, ignoring the calls from her father.

Walking past the onlookers, she made her way to the familiar castle where she called “home.” She couldn’t bear thinking about seeing anyone else, especially her father.

She locked her doors, shut her blinds, and threw herself on her bed. Her emotions were all over the place, and she could not believe that she was the one who caused all of this just because of her jealousy.

The princess was depressed for days and days thinking about how just the movement of her hand decided the fate of her lover which brought her over the window. She jumped, jumped because she could not take the pain, jumped so she could finally be happy with her lover.

I commented on: Jude's Blog, Jack's Blog, Hazelle's Blog

Blog 10-14-15

Prompt: Which character do you like the best? Why? What do you like about what you are reading?

A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin

Pages read: 1-87

      I am currently reading A Corner of the Universe by Ann M. Martin. Hattie Owen has just turned 12 and thinks that her life will change, and it did. Her uncle Adam, that she had just learned about, is staying with her over the summer. Adam does not act like everyone else does, but Hattie treats him like her friend. 

      One thing I like about Hattie is that she always thinks about Adam and decides what is best for him. She also tries to include him in things she does everyday like taking a walk around town. I like this about her because she actually gives Adam a chance to be himself with her and to gain a friendship with him. This also shows me that Hattie is a kind, and caring person because she doesn't exclude Adam from things or makes fun of him, she does the opposite.

      Something that I like about reading A Corner of the Universe is that it really does relate to the real world. I think this because people have disorders or other diseases, and the world labels them as " different " or " not normal " but this book shows that it is ok to be different because there's always something unique about you. I also like that the main character, Hattie because, she does not think of Adam differently or is embarrassed about Adam like most people in her family are.

Top Ten Book Blog

1. Wonder by Raquel J. Palacio

August Pullman is not like any other kid you would see on the street. He’s different, and by that a good kind. When August turns ten his parents decide to put him into school after realizing they can’t teach him enough that they already can. He faces even more problems with being the new kid and not looking like most kids. This story is an inspiration to me because August faces whatever comes to him and he doesn’t back down.

2. Who Put That Hair On My Toothbrush?  by Jerry Spinelli

This book is about a girl named Megin and her brother Greg. Greg and Megin are like any kinds of siblings you hear about. They fight all the time and never stop. But when something happens Greg and Megin find a way to make each other happy since they went through the same thing. I found this story interesting because it was written so well I didn’t want to put it down.

3. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

I read this book during the summer and I loved it. The way it was written made me feel like I was actually there. When I was reading this it made me emotional because of the details the author put it. I feel like I could read it over and over again and won’t get tired of it. This book is about a girl, Hazel Grace Lancaster, and a boy, Augustus Waters. Hazel and Augustus both meet at a support group and soon after they start talking. In the meantime, they become closer and something bigger than a friendship blooms.

4. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

I read this book when I was in class one day and I finished it in a day because it was so interesting. This book is about a girl who comes into a new school and is already the talk of the century. Leo Borlock does everything he can just for her to notice him.

5. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

This book is my all time favorite. It starts off with Susie Salmon telling us how she died and who killed her while she is in heaven. Susie was walking home from school one day and she took a shortcut through the cornfield where her killer lived. He lured her in his “hiding place” and eventually killed her. Throughout the story, Susie looks over at her family who is trying to put piece by piece together.

6. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Percy Jackson is not like any kind of teenage boy, he’s a greek god’s son. Percy is shocked by the news and even more when he meets other people like him. Percy soon gets used to the title and faces greek monsters that he didn’t even know existed.

7. Out of my Mind by Sharon Draper

Melody Brooks is physically disabled yet she has a photographic memory and learns different words and things that come her way. This story teaches us that we can get through anything that happens.

8. A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket

A Series of Unfortunate Events is a well thought out series. After each book you read there is always a cliffhanger that makes you need to read the next book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all of the books because they were really entertaining.

9.  Close to Famous by Joan Bauer

This book is about a girl and her mom who have more problems than needed. Foster loves to bake. She’ll bake anything just to get enough support for her mom and herself.

10. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

I’ve always wanted to read this book and when I got the chance I did. This book is basically about 3 teens who find an unlikely friendship amongst themselves.

I commented on Kezia's Blog, Amelia's Blog, and Hazelle's Blog.

All About Me

     Hi! My name is Darya and I am in 7th grade. I live in Illinois with my parents and my brother. I like to watch Netflix on the weekends or when I don’t have school.

     My interests are reading and playing sports like volleyball. In the summer I went to Florida and the oceans were amazing. I really liked how the sun in Florida made the water warm enough for us to swim. Also during the summer, I tried to read as much books as I could but this year was actually pretty busy for me.