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Organize your time! You have one period to complete this.
Organize your time! You have one period to complete this.
Okay, so you've read an entire book about someone. You should have an incredible amount of information about that person. Let's hear it. You have the rest of this period to tell me everything you can about this person.
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- You shared an incredible amount of information, giving overwhelming evidence of having read the book.
- Spelling, punctuation, sentence structure and grammar are above grade level.
- All directions are followed perfectly (including heading).
72 comments:
Matthew T LA A
Me and My Dad
Paul O’Neill with Burton Rocks
This book was an autobiography about Yankee/Reds legend, Paul O’Neill. Paul was born and raised in Columbus, Ohio. He was the youngest of 7 siblings, 2 sisters and 4 brothers. Paul’s father “Chick” was a Minor League pitcher who almost went to the majors. Now Paul is 55 being born on February 25, 1963. Paul grew up always in the shadows of his brothers, they wouldn’t let Paul play anything with them because the said he was a “Baby.” Even when Paul’s brothers did let him play they did not take it easy on him. They were very competitive and would do anything to win, which they got from their father. Next door was a girl that Paul grew up with, her name was Nevalee. Paul explains that every big moment he had in his life she was there; for example when he was a quarterback in high school he threw a game winning pass to his friend, and Nevalee was there. When they were in their 20’s, before Paul got drafted, they got married. They are still married to this day. Then in 1981 Paul O’Neill got drafted in the fourth round by the Cincinnati Reds. It took about 2 seasons for Paul to start in right field for the Reds but when he did he was amazing. He spent most of his career with the Reds until 1993, in 1993 he was a free agent and he went to join the New York Yankees. He played with the Yankees until his retirement in 2001. During his career he had 3 children named Andrew, Aaron, and Alexandra. He won 5 world series rings with the Yankees. His career batting average was .288, hitting left handed; his career number of RBI’s (runs batted in) was 1,269; and Paul was a 5 time all star. Paul O’Neill is still alive and healthy and is frequently used as a commentator for the MLB (Major League Baseball) and is now a baseball analyst for the MLB Network. That is the story of Paul O’Neill.
Jayda S LA/A Derek Jeter
I read a autobiography on Derek Jeter this month. This book took place when he was around nine or ten before he started playing professional baseball in the MLB for the New York Yankees. Derek went to school and played for a baseball team in which his dad was the coach, he was super happy about this, but there was a kid that set out to ruin his life, this person was Garry Parnell (his school bully). Gary was on Derek’s team, but Derek had made a contract to his dad to have sportsmanship to his teammates. But Derek couldn't stand Gary because Gary thought baseball was a complete waste of time and energy and possibly the worst sport on Earth. Derek hated this because all Gary did was fool around and be disrespectful to his dad when Derek was set out to win the championships this year with his team. Derek learned to be more confident in himself and work hard to accomplish his OWN goals and help the team when he needed help, but not to let anyone distract him from working hard. He even went from playing the outfield, to playing his favorite position, shortstop, to becoming a pitcher with his lucky number, lucky number 2(what he is now). This came from his dad, his dad was very supportive and strict because he wanted Derek to be successful. So, after college he tried out for the New York Yankees, and made it! Derek and his dad were so happy because after all of the struggles that he had, he pushed through them and accomplished his goal of being in the MLB for his favorite team, the New York Yankees. He made a lot of long time friends and learned a lot of parts to being a good friend through baseball including not bragging and to help you teammates and this is why Derek thinks baseball is the best and most fun sport. Since then he has made many accomplishments in his life, excluding baseball. Derek also has a wife and kids(boy and girl) now and is trying to teach them baseball and softball, but is also teaching them the beauty of baseball, how it teaches you to never give up, to have confidence, be a good teammate and to reach your goals.
Isabel B
LA A
Steve Jobs the Man Who Thought Different
The read the book Steve Jobs the Man Who Thought Different by Karen Blumenthal. Steve jobs was an outsider in school so he didn't have that many friends. Steve jobs was also adopted. Steve always had an interest in technology. After school steve would go home and take apart electronics and put them back together. One day when he was walking home from his high school he saw this guy who was about three years older than him. He was working on something in his garage so steve went asked him what he was doing. The guys name was Wonziank and he was working on a device. Steve thought that was really cool. Steve started going there everyday after school and they soon became best friends. When high school ended steve wanted to go to this one particular college. The college was really expensive and his parent told him they couldn't afford it. Steve then said he wouldn't to college if he couldn't go there. So his parent tried to get enough money and ended up sending him to that college. While steve was in college he started trying all these weird diets. For example he would just eat fruit for one week. He thought since he wasn't eating anything bad he could not shower for a long time. He smelled really bad so he also didn't have a lot of friends in college either. Steve ended up dropping out of college and going to work at a video game company with a whole bunch of other dropouts. They ended up moving him to the night shift because he smelled so bad and people were complaining. He ended up designing a video game but he needed help so he called his old friend Wonziank and they worked on it together. Steve told Wonziank that he would split the money that he got from the video game with him. Steve and Wonziank started hanging out again and that's when they made the first apple phone. They started selling thode from their garage then ended up moving to an office. Steve Jobs ended up making billions of dollars. Steve Jobs died in 2011.
Therefore that is what I learned about Steve Jobs Life.
Rachel O
LA A
Running With The Champ by Tim Shanahan
Tim Shanahan was a fan of Muhammad Ali who got the chance to be one of his closest friends. Through this book and the descriptions of their friendship, Shanahan provided much information about Ali.
Muhammad Ali was born in 1942. He faced a lot of racial discrimination while growing up, which included bullying. When he was twelve, he told an officer about a bully, saying he wanted to beat him up. By chance, the officer happened to be a boxing trainer in a nearby gym. The officer started training him which started his career as one of the greatest athletes of the twentieth century.
In 1960, Muhammad Ali won gold at the Olympics for men’s wrestling, being the first American to do so. Four years later, he became the heavyweight champion of the world. This, among other things, earned him the title, The Greatest.
Outside of his boxing career, Ali had a blooming social life. He was known to be very kind, generous, and down to earth. He donated much of his money to charity. This earned him many friends, such as Diana Ross and Michael Jackson. He also had many wives throughout his life, four in total. With them he had nine children. He had a dispute with one of his wives which eventually resulted in their divorce. Ali converted his religion to Muslim in his middle years. He and his wife at the time could not come to terms with their differing religions and decided to divorce.
In 1984, Muhammad released information to the public that he had Parkinson’s disease. This not only prevented him from being able to fight any more, it also restricted his ability to move and remember things. For the last couple decades of his life, he remained at his home with his wife.
In 2016, Muhammad Ali died at the age of 74. This could have been caused by many things, such as his urinary tract and spinal surgery. Much of his money went to charity after his death.
Abbey A- LA A- Alexander Hamilton- Ron Chernow
For the biography book report, I read on Alexander Hamilton. In his early life, he lived on a caribbean island called Nevis. At one point in his life he moved to St. Croix too. At age 10, his father left because the family was financially unstable. To add to his life, he got sick 2 years later with a disease that many people in the town had. His mother caught the disease too but they could only afford one dose of medicine. His mom, Rachel, gave it to Alexander and she ended up dying. He and his brother had to move in with their cousin who, unfortunately, committed suicide. To add to their tragedy, a hurricane came through the town and killed mostly everyone. Hamilton survived and started writing essays and poems. One person found his writings and started sharing them. The town thought he needed a better education so they sent him to New York. In New York, he was seen by George Washington and was made his aide to troup for the army. He met Aaron Burr next and they started to be okay friends although they were totally different. He then met his best friends who were John Laurens, the Marquis de Lafayette and Hercules Mulligan who Hamilton helped them all get spots in the military. Hamilton then found out about the Schuyler family because they were neighbors and fell in love with Elizabeth or Eliza Schuyler. They got married quickly and Hamilton had to go help in the military. There was one outfall with on of the generals and he challenged him to a duel but, Washington told him not to do it. His close friend Laurens volunteered and ended up winning. Washington found out and sent Hamilton home but it wasn’t for the duel. He got home and found out Eliza was pregnant with their first baby, Phillip. Meanwhile, the army wasn’t doing to well so they got Hamilton back. They fought the battle of Yorktown in 1781 and they won their freedom from Britain. Hamilton went home and found out Laurens was killed in a gunfight which caused him to write a lot more. He wrote the federalist papers with John Jay and James Madison and he wrote the majority which was 51 of the 85 essays. Then Thomas Jefferson came home from France and that caused his feud with Hamilton. They hated each other and Burr started to agree with Jefferson’s plans and drift from Hamilton. Then Eliza, their children and her sister Angelica went upstate for a vacation. Hamilton stayed home and ended up cheating on Eliza with Maria Reynolds. Burr, Jefferson, and Madison found out but they thought he did something worse so Hamilton wrote a pamphlet defending himself basically saying, “I cheated on my wife and didn’t embezzled government funds.” This then gets out and everyone knows, including Eliza, who burns the letters from Hamilton that he could have used to help him. To add to this their son Phillip gets in a duel with someone who was trashing their name and got shot. He died and Eliza and Alexander both got too sad that Eliza forgave him. Then the election of 1800 happened. Hamilton had to choose between Adams, Jefferson and Burr. No one was voting for Adams so he dropped out and it was between Jefferson and Burr. Hamilton voted for Jefferson which angered Burr so Burr set up a duel because he hated how Hamilton was in the way of all his goals. They both did what the other person thought they would do and Hamilton got shot this time and died. Eliza Hamilton told his story and everyone else's stories at the end of the book because Hamilton was always talking about his legacy and she loved him too much to let it go.
Eva W.
LA: A
Captain Nat Herreshoff (Written by one of his sons)
Captain Nat is known as the wizard of Bristol. His ancestors came over from what is now considered Germany. His family was quite large and had connections to the Browns and deWolfs. He lived in Bristol on Poppasquash point. His brother JB Herreshoff was the one who started in the boat building industry. Nat had always been interested in boat building, as his whole family had. He joined JB and created a company called the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. It was based out of Bristol. JB handled most of the financial business and Nat created the designs and oversaw the processes. The employees were close knit and did not cause the troubles that were frequently present at similar workplaces. JB kept the workers happy, as Nat was a straightforward kind of person.
He is best known for creating many Cup defenders, but the business began in steam boats. He designed and built many torpedo boats for various countries. He designed the famous boat “Stiletto,” which is known for its race against the “Mary Powell.” It had sailed past the “Powell,” stopped and wait for it to catch up, then sailed past it again. Nat designed even faster boats that could hold a speed up to 27 miles per hour, which in those days was extremely fast. The company was most successful from the late 1800’s into the early 1900’s.
Nat came up with new inventions and designs. He was the first to successfully utilize the fin keel. He also used cross-cut sails. His designs always worked. He experiment with many different designs. His employees never questioned the design, for they knew it would work. He was known to know as soon as he saw a piece or section of the boat being made if it was perfect or not. He always brought his customized walking stick with him as he grew older. It was able to be used a measuring tool.
They also experimented with steam engines. Nat was mostly successful with these. But his license was taken away because of a small incident. While the boat was on its way one of the workers who was feeding the engine was killed because of a pressure problem.
He learned much about boating when he sailed through Europe. Nat and his partner took a small sailboat to Europe which they then sailed through. At the end of their journey his father met them for the trip back. He did have some formal education. I believe he went to MIT. MIT has some of the designs, blueprints, he created.
Most of the time when designing a sailboat he would create a half hull. Many of these are shown at the Herreshoff Marine Museum. The museum is located in Bristol, where the industry was formed. Many of the original buildings are still there.
Nat lived nearby so he could easily walk to work. JB and Nat had a rule. They never borrowed money or asked for the money before the product was delivered.
When JB died the company started on a slow downward spiral. There were less contracts and the company was not the same without him. The company ended being auctioned off for much less than it was worth.
Captain Nat designed the most America’s Cup defenders that one man has made. These include Columbia, Reliance, and many others. He also was extremely successful in the torpedo and steam boat industry. Nat loved boats and still sailed well into his older years with his sons, mainly around the south and Florida. He is well-known and honored in the boating world.
February book report Gianna DePalma 2/28/18 L.A- A
Nichelle Nichols was an actress. She had a great impact on African-American women’s rights. Nichelle Nichols lived with her mother and father when she was young, and had a few siblings. Nichelle has always wanted to act and play a part on stage. She felt as though that this was her calling, and nothing was going to stop her from achieving her dream.
Nichelle first went to college and then she attempted at starting her role as a working actress. Nichelle has auditioned for many roles in her life. She was unfortunately not able to receive some of the parts that she has really strived for. This mainly because she was a black woman. She was not treated fairly. Some of her friends that she made along the way in her career were able to easily get the part in a movie or TV show that they wanted. Nichelle received a lot of unwanted attention.
She was discriminated against. Many producers and directors would do anything so that she could not audition and do what she loves. They did not care what she wanted to do with her life. They only cared about what they thought was the right thing for their screenplay.
Then, Nichelle saw the upcoming auditions and sign ups for “Star Trek.” This is what she has been waiting for. A big role that she may actually have a chance in fulfilling. She had a feeling that this was going to be the one for her. She knew that she had to put her all into this audition, but Nichelle also knew that there is always a chance that things won’t work out. Nichelle went to the audition anyway. She read the character descriptions. “Uhura” it said. That sounded like a good one to her.
When Nichelle walked into the room she knew that this was not going to be easy for her. She was looked at funny and whispering took place amongst many people. She did her best. A few days later, Nichelle received a phone call that she was cast as the role of Uhura. Nichelle was thrilled. She has been through so much already, and after the beginning of that audition she didn’t think that she even had a chance. Nichelle got up bright and early the day that she started. She was not surprised to see that she was the only black female there. Nichelle Nichols was ready for this role. She felt that she always has been.
Nichelle Nichols was a women’s rights activist and made a difference for many women all over the world. She taught them that they mean something, and that they can do anything if the out their mind to it. All in all, Nichelle Nichols worked very hard for the roles that she played, and made a huge impact on the way that women think of themselves.
Amber M L.a. A I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (PART 1)
Malala was born and raised in Pakistan. She is Muslim, and has 2 brothers, Atal and Khala. Her mother and her father are married, and she calls them Baja (a nickname she calls her father), and mother. She wasn’t very wealthy when she was a child, although she had a tv in her main room (living room), and a laptop all of her siblings shared. In their culture, if you have a daughter, usually it isn’t praised like it would be a boy. Her father, though, did not care. He still praised Malala for her smile, happiness, and joy she brought upon everyone. Malala never focused on liking boys, or having her parents pick one out for her (as they mainly do over there). She focused on education, which many girls never had. Her mother started learning how to read and write when she was young , but stopped when she was 10 due to just giving up, but later wished that she hadn’t, since Malala’s father always wrote her poems and songs that she couldn’t read or understand. They still ended up falling in love, and getting married, though. Malala wasn’t allowed to go to a boy schools, so her father started one of his own: an all girls school. Malala and her friends Shari (and others) joined, but everything was a very tedious process. There wasn’t enough funding for the school, or even enough students to go, since many people didn’t believe in girls going to school. Once he did have enough, funding was still an issue. Him and Malala started doing speeches and campaigns to inform girls about being able to have an education, as Malala saw it very important in her country. That is when people started paying more attention to her and her words. Funding was now less of an issue, and more girls were going to school. Around December, was when taliban really hit Pakistan. Adults, even children were getting killed left and right, and schools were getting blown up. Malala didn’t care, though. She still went to school, because she wasn’t letting the taliban stop her education. Her mother and father didn’t think it was a safe idea, since she was more recognizable. In times of danger (and in certain marriages), girls and women covered their hair and faces with hijabs to make sure they weren’t identifiable, but not Malala. Days kept going buy, many more were getting killed, and more places were getting blown up. Nothing fazed Malala. Her parents and siblings saw the danger in staying at their home, even though it was overall safe. Malala’s family got picked up by friends to go to a far away town to be safer. She had to keep her school books at her home, which worried her a lot. They spent months away from home, with media becoming more intrigued by Malala’s safety. When they finally went back to their town in Pakistan, everything was fine at the house, except her brothers chickens that died. Besides that, Malala was relieved her books were ok.
February book report Star Trek and other Memories Gianna DePalma 2/28/18 L.A- A
Nichelle Nichols was an actress. She had a great impact on African-American women’s rights. Nichelle Nichols lived with her mother and father when she was young, and had a few siblings. Nichelle has always wanted to act and play a part on stage. She felt as though that this was her calling, and nothing was going to stop her from achieving her dream.
Nichelle first went to college and then she attempted at starting her role as a working actress. Nichelle has auditioned for many roles in her life. She was unfortunately not able to receive some of the parts that she has really strived for. This mainly because she was a black woman. She was not treated fairly. Some of her friends that she made along the way in her career were able to easily get the part in a movie or TV show that they wanted. Nichelle received a lot of unwanted attention.
She was discriminated against. Many producers and directors would do anything so that she could not audition and do what she loves. They did not care what she wanted to do with her life. They only cared about what they thought was the right thing for their screenplay.
Then, Nichelle saw the upcoming auditions and sign ups for “Star Trek.” This is what she has been waiting for. A big role that she may actually have a chance in fulfilling. She had a feeling that this was going to be the one for her. She knew that she had to put her all into this audition, but Nichelle also knew that there is always a chance that things won’t work out. Nichelle went to the audition anyway. She read the character descriptions. “Uhura” it said. That sounded like a good one to her.
When Nichelle walked into the room she knew that this was not going to be easy for her. She was looked at funny and whispering took place amongst many people. She did her best. A few days later, Nichelle received a phone call that she was cast as the role of Uhura. Nichelle was thrilled. She has been through so much already, and after the beginning of that audition she didn’t think that she even had a chance. Nichelle got up bright and early the day that she started. She was not surprised to see that she was the only black female there. Nichelle Nichols was ready for this role. She felt that she always has been.
Nichelle Nichols was a women’s rights activist and made a difference for many women all over the world. She taught them that they mean something, and that they can do anything if the out their mind to it. All in all, Nichelle Nichols worked very hard for the roles that she played, and made a huge impact on the way that women think of themselves.
Morgan Smith
Wild: by Cheryl Strayed
LA: A
This book is an autobiography about Cheryl Strayed. In the beginning of the book cheryll’s childhood is explained she lived with her mother and three siblings in small apartments in the city. They were very poor despite her mother working many different jobs and received welfare checks from their government. Soon her mother got together with a long term boyfriend. After saving enough money they moved from their tiny new york apartment to a cabin in the woods in Main they built themselves with zero accommodations of modern life. While Cheryl was in college she received news that her mother was diagnosed with brain cancer and had about a year to live. But soon the year shortened to a few months and her mother was put in the hospital. Cheryl spent every moment she would with her mother in those last three weeks but she still felt guilty after her death. A year or so after her mother's death after cheating on her husband and coming down with depression cheryl became so distant and depressed that she separated from her husband ,(who she still loved,) and went to live with friends. While at touristy shop cheryll spotted a guide book for the Pacific crest trail a massive trail running all along the eastern border of california. Cheryl picked up the book and made the decision on the spot that she wanted to hike the trail. At the time it seemed distant to her and she thought it would probably never happen but a few months later and there she was in a motel room in Mojave California with a giant backpack and no preparation for what was to come. The next day she set out and hitchhiked to the start of the trail. Just three hours in she started to get worn don and had to stop. Cheryl’s hike continued like this for a while having to deal with the immense weight of her pack. She met plenty of people along the trail the first being a couple who took her in and let her shower and eat good food. The next was a fellow traveler who helped her to unload unnecessary weight. Along the trail Cheryl had many epiphanies. She realized she still loved her husband and was mad at herself for leaving him. She realized that it wasn’t her fault her mother died and she finally moved on roughly two years later while climbing a volcano on her mother's birthday. While reaching the end of her hike sheryll moved so far past the crippling depression of before to having an immense, (and not at all misplaced), sense of self worth. Cheryl’s final challenge on the trail was when she found herself in snow capped mountains where the trail had been buried and there was nobody around to help. Through her resourcefulness and maybe a bit of luck cheryl managed to find her way back to the trail. After her treck cheryl found herself with a new more positive outlook on herself and the world and she set out to rebuilding her life and better this time around.
Nico P
LA A
Scrappy Little Nobody
Anna Kendrick
"Scrappy Little Nobody" is about Anna Kendrick, who was born in Portland, Maine. She grew up with an older brother.
At the age of 5, she realized she was different than other kids. She was obsessed with the idea of success, and she wouldn’t play with any other kids. She met a girl named April in third grade, and they started seeing each other after school. Kendrick was on the playground with April, and they went under a wooden rock climbing set. April showed Anna the graffiti on the back of it, as well as the nasty things said about other people. April ended up deciding not to be Anna’s friend because she wasn’t going to write some mean about someone else.
When she was 9 years old, she went into the acting industry and started with doing small commercials. She described being in a large room with tons of little kids as a recipe for total disaster.
When she was 12, her and her mother traveled to New York City. She had to take a bus every Friday in order to get there. She auditioned for many musicals, and she ended up being in “Annie”. As a child, she was obsessed with this movie, and she wanted nothing more than to play the part of Annie. Kendrick ended up getting the part of Madison. She realized that she was now allowed to be a bratty child, she she explained that she believed she was ready for the part.
Kendrick turned 16, and she traveled with an acting troupe. She took part in a film that she thought was awful because it was a group of teenagers who hadn’t acted much. Kendrick said that the acting was like a 5th grade play rather than an official movie. The movie took a few months to film, and was eventually was showed at the Sundance Film Festival.
Kendrick describe what film festivals are like, and she describes the process of someone doing her makeup for her, and picking out outfits that were more expensive than some apartments.
She moved to LA at 18 to pursue her acting career. She started starring in multiple movies. She is best known for her role in “Twilight”, and her starring role as Becca in “Pitch Perfect”.
Fay B, LA A, My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor
Sonia Sotomayor is a Supreme Court Justice, one of only nine on the panel. Sotomayor comes from New York; her family is from San Juan. So growing up, she was raised speaking Spanish and embracing her family’s culture. Her family life left something to be desired, though.
Growing up, Sonia lived in the Bronx. Her mother, Celina, worked as a part-time nurse to provide for her family. Sonia’s father, Juli, loved his family, but couldn’t keep himself from spending every extra penny on liquor. Juli and Celina often fought about this. In fact, Sonia recalls that nearly every day there was a screaming fight in her household, until the day Juli died. To make matters even worse, at eight years old, Sonia was diagnosed with diabetes. To her family this was a curse. It was the cause of death for many of her relatives, so her abuelita, Mercedes, was especially concerned. Sonia had to learn to give herself the shots because her father was afraid to do it. He was concerned his shaky hands would hurt her. As a result, Sonia grew up giving herself the shots of insulin she needed and regulating what she ate. As she grew, the important skill of mentally checking her health flourished into skills she could use later on in her law career.
Her abuelita held a special place in her heart. Mercedes held parties on the weekends for her family, where there were cut-throat games of dominoes and food and a special summoning of the deceased, for adults only. Those parties soon ended when Juli, her father, died. Mercedes was so hurt that her firstborn was gone she couldn’t talk about him. After his death, Sonia thought life would be better. There would be no more screaming fights, no more nights when he would get awfully drunk at abuelita’s. But after his death, her mother spent the whole summer in her room. This was time Sonia took to indulge herself in reading, to distract herself from the pain. She had always been a good student in school.
She went to a Catholic school, which her mother was determined to pay for and keep up. She learned from other girls how to study, which is how she developed the skill of seeking out mentors everywhere. She hadn’t known that she was only regurgitating information instead of interpreting it and analyzing it. She had been doing that ever since that summer she started to read a lot. So when she entered high school, Miss Katz, a wonderful teacher she would always remember, explained to her that writing an essay isn’t about regurgitating facts. It is about focusing on the question and how to answer it with facts. She took this advice and decided to join Forensics Club, her first exposure to speaking publicly that he would carry with her.
College was a first in her family. No one in her immediate family had successfully completed college. Her mother had tried, but ended up raising a family instead. Sonia, after meeting a boy she fell in love with named Kevin, realized during her senior year she might need to start thinking of colleges. Kevin had been at Princeton, being a year older than her, and recommended any Ivy League schools, if she wanted to go into law. Sonia wasn’t sure what that meant, or how the college system worked. She knew she should try to find a prestigious school, though. Travelling to different Ivy League schools, she found herself most comfortable on the Princeton campus. Sonia didn’t understand the magnitude of her decision until she saw people’s reactions. When she told them she was going to Princeton, their tones got soft, their opinions changed of this average, Hispanic girl. She was accepted with a full scholarship. Many knew she was smart but didn’t know she was capable. It goes to show that she never wasted a moment. Her uncontrollable drive to learn and succeed made her what she was.
Briana M LA A
Courage to soar: Simone Biles
Simone Biles was 6 when she started liking gymnastics. She has 4 siblings 1 older sister and brother and a younger sister. Her birth mom took drugs so Simone and her siblings were took to a foster care. This is where their grandparents took care of them. When they got to the house there was a trampoline, Simone got really excited, so she did some tricks for everyone.
A year went by staying with the grandparents. When her mom got better her older brother and older sister wanted to go back home and live with her, But simone and her younger sister didn’t. Then, her grandparents adopted simone and her younger sister and the older children stayed with the birthmom shannon. When simone went on a school field trip to the gym she kept on doing so many tricks, and one of the teachers noticed her and asked her if she wanted to come to the gym and practice. Now the teacher thought Simone could go to Nationals even the olympics. So Simone kept practicing and practicing she never gave up.
A few years later Simone was going to go to a high school but her mom decided to have her home schooled. Simone was not excited about this, But she kept on practicing to her full potential. Simone did so many meets and she was doing really good. Until, she went to one meet and she did not do her best. She was doing a trick and hurt her ankle so her coach pulled her out. In the end she was fine. This got Simone to practice even harder. The next few meets she was doing good this is where the coach from the national and olympic team found Simone and thought she was a very good gymnast. The National coach invited Simone to go to her camp. This is where girls get ready to go to National and maybe Olympic level. Simone was really excited, she was practicing extra hard. When it was time for the meet to go into Nationals Simone was very nervous, she felt like she did a good job, but she ended up not making the team. Simone was very disappointed but when she got back to the gym she did more harder tricks and she made it perfect.
A year later Simone tried again. She did very well, and she made the team. Now it's time to go to nationals. Simone kept practicing and practicing. At home she had a few difficulties, while her friends were at football games she was practicing. Also, her coach quit the gym, but she was still Simones coach just not for the gym. Next, Simone's parents wanted to build a gym for themselves so when Simone was done with gymnastics they could still be a part of it.
Finally, It was time for the Rio Olympics 2016. Simone was really nervous. She did really good. She did all of her routines perfectly. She landed each trick perfectly. When it was time to look at the scores Simone and her coach were very nervous. In the end Simone got gold. Simone's parents went crazy and so did Simone. Simone did not know she would make it this far but she did. She had so many adventures down the road to her success but she made the impossible happen.
Alice G La A The Glass Castle By Jeannette Walls
Jeannette is a very successful journalist in New York but one day on her way to a fancy party she sees her mother scourging around in a dumpster for food which reminded herself of her privilege and made her look back at how she grew up. When she was just 3 years old Jeannette was cooking hot dogs for herself because her mom was too busy painting when her tutu caught on fire and she suffered severe burns all over her body. Her mom rushed her to the hospital where she was well treated and she really liked it there but to avoid paying the bill her dad came in the middle of the night and ran away with her. After that her family moved around a lot because her dad could not hold a job and her mother thought she was an amazing artist. They stayed in many different places while she grew up, most of which had very few people but almost everywhere they went something happened. While driving away from their first home, her dad grabbed their cat out of her sisters arms and threw him out the car window as her brother clutched their dog in fear of losing him. Then there was another time when the hotel they were staying in burned down because Jeannette was playing with matches so they slept in their car on a beach for the night. Jeannette even fell out of the car once and her family drove away. It took almost 20 minutes for Jeanette's family to come back for her but, its not only Jeannette who suffered. Her mother and father had gotten into a fight which led to her mother running away and her dad trying to run her over. She and her siblings were neglected and abused when they lived in her grandmother's house and her parents just let it happen in fear of having to leave. As she grew older, her faith in her parents slowly decreased. It wasn't until her mother had finally gotten a job but her dad would waste all their money on alcohol and he brought her to a bar where he let a man force himself on Jeannette that she gave up hope. Her sister was the first one to move away and soon after, Jeannette followed her to New York. It wasn't long before her brother and eventually her parents moved there too. Her parents tried to live with Jeannette and her siblings but refused to contribute to the expenses. They slowly drove her sister to insanity and it had gotten so bad that her sister was sent to a mental hospital for trying to stab her mother. As years passed without her family, Jeannette realized that no matter how bad her family was, they still made her the strong, determined woman she is today and after her father passes away, she realized how much she missed them. She decided to have her family over for thanksgiving dinner with her and her second husband and for the first time in years they were able to get along and reconnect peacefully.
Amber M L.A. A I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai (PART 2)
When her father went to the school, though, it had been ransacked, and destroyed. There was graffiti saying, “Support Taliban!” and other messages like that. The army had basically let their guards down, since they thought the Taliban had done their worst. Girls started going back to school (after they fixed it), and they went on a day trip to a place to protest and speak about women's rights. When they went on the bus to leave, Taliban had gotten their way through, and even though Malala had herself covered this time, they still found her and shot her, along with 2 other people, and she got shot in the left side of her head (near her eye, missing her brain), and the bullet got stuck in her shoulder. She was in very critical condition at the hospital in Pakistan, so doctors flew her out to a hospital in Birmingham, England. When she woke up from her surgery, she couldn’t talk, her left eye was blurry, and most importantly (to her father), she couldn’t smile. Her father said, “the one thing that brought people joy, Malala’s smile, she no longer has. Taliban took away her smile.” When she went in for another 5 hour surgery, she was able to smile again, and 3 weeks later, she began to talk. She still needed to write things down on paper, and her vision and perception of color were still messed up. Her and her parents were not allowed to have phones or look at news, because doctors feared it would stress them more. Turns out, news reporters had figured out her location, and demanded to see her and ask her questions, but were denied. It took many months for her to recover, and she was only allowed to go out a few times. One time she went to a garden nearby, because she loved nature and the doctors wanted to surprise her. Today, she goes around the US (and other places) and talks about the importance of girls’ education.
Killian L.
LA A
Secrets For the Mad
Dodie Clark
Dodie Clark is a singer/songwriter from England who gained her fame from making videos on YouTube. At around seventeen years old Dodie started uploading videos of the songs she wrote and would occasionally cover songs from other artist. In her book Secrets For the Mad Dodie explains the struggles she had in her starting years on YouTube and early teens. When Dodie was in her late teens and early twenties she had noticed that she was very distant, all the time and had trouble remembering recent events that she had done. Dodie went on a tour of the U.K performing her songs and meeting her fans, however she would only remember bits and pieces of her trip such as performing on stage or things that, as a singer/ songwriter didn’t cause her much anxiety, as she had been doing it for so long. Dodie didn’t remember things from the tour such as taking long plane rides or staying at hotels for a significant amount of time. When Dodie returned home she knew something was wrong, and she began to become more depersonalized.
Depersonalization is a mental condition that makes you feel as though your dreaming most of the time and prevents you from remembering certain things that you would otherwise have no problem remembering; however, Dodie didn’t know she had the condition. Dodie began to sink back into her mental condition, which caused her to be even more concerned for her own health and safety, she wondered if she was depressed, as she wouldn’t get any enjoyment from doing things that her younger self would enjoy doing. Dodie also wondered if she was suicidal, as she was in an abusive relationship with a boyfriend who forced her to do things she wasn’t okay with doing, but she was too depersonalized to understand what was happening. Her boyfriend was manipulative and would force Dodie to take down videos that he didn’t like, or would make comments on her appearance. Dodie’s boyfriend’s comments about her apperance and they way she looked, along with the pressure she was seeing the world put on her to be ‘skinnier’, Dodie began to develop an eating disorder. The topic of suicide rarely came up in Dodie’s life but when it did come, she wasn’t sure what it meant, because she was afraid of leaving the earth. Dodie was genuinely happy living, didn’t want to leave but she wasn’t enjoying living the way she did when she was little.
Dodie eventually went to seek help, as she became really depressed and anxious for about two months, and could barely tell when she was dreaming or not. Dodie reminissed of the past when she was happy, as a kid, when she never wanted to grow up and went on strike, saying that she would be the one to never grow up and she wanted it that way. Dodie’s therapist diagnosed her with depersonalization and anxiety, however she had learned to be okay with it, and use it to her advantage, when Dodie became super anxious she would usually become super depersonalized which enabled her to do things that she would otherwise not be able to do. In her book she says that if she wasn’t depersonalized and anxious all the time, she wouldn’t be able to not grow up, and though when she lets her anxiety and depersonalization get in the way, she is very upset, she knows how to cope with it and get out of the state of mind that she had been in for the two months of her life before she got help.
Tori C, LA A, Breakaway by Alex Morgan
In the biography about the soccer player Alex Morgan, it tells all about her life and career about how she became the soccer player she is today. Alex Morgan is a soccer player for the US national team. She plays center forward and scores a lot of goals for her team. Her family life was very close and comforting, she came from a loving family that supports her in everything she does. Her two sisters, her mom, and her dad all go to every soccer game of hers no matter what. When Alex was little her father dreamed of all his daughters playing softball. Once Alex told him she wanted to just play soccer, he tried as hard as he could to help her and teach her how she can become the best player she can be. Alex describes her dad as her biggest supporter. Ever since the age of seven, Alex Morgan always had the dream of becoming a part of the US national soccer team and has been working hard for it ever since, but something happened. While in college, she tore her ACL during a scrimmage against the mens team of her college. When this happened she was devastated, she couldn’t play soccer for almost a year. This set her back in accomplishing what she wanted to accomplish and her dream of becoming part of the US national women's team. But this didn’t stop her, she worked even harder to get back on the field and recover from this injury. Before her injury,She got into a division 1 college and was a starter on the team. In college, she also met her husband. He also played soccer and was on the men's team for their college. When Alex had finally recovered from her injury, she tried out for the US Olympic team and got offered the opportunity to play for them in the year 2011. Unfortunately during that year they lost against Japan in the finales. The following year she joined the US Olympic team officially and when they played during the Olympics, they won the finals. During the final match, or the championship, Alex Morgan started the game, assisted a goal and scored two goals. After the Olympics, Alex got told devastating news that her husband's mom died of breast cancer. In honor of her, Alex wearing a pink headband in every game she plays in. A couple months later, the US national team got in touch with her and recognized her for her performance in the championship in the 2012 for the Olympics. They then invited her to come to a few practices with them. Alex Morgan was super happy and excited. Everything she worked for finally paid off, because her dream is finally coming true. After a few practices with the US national team, the coach really liked Alex Morgan and recruited her onto the team. It was her dream came true.
Anita Nobel Aidan R.
Anita Nobel was born in Switzerland in beginning of World war 2. She lived with her mother, pappa, older brother and her nanny. Since her father was usually away for work and her mother had a full time job, her nanny did most of the parenting to her and brother. Anita and the rest of her family were Jewish but her nanny was christian and always kind of forced her religion on the two kids when their parents weren’t around. Her small village was invaded by nazis who killed and imprisoned most of her town. Her mother was able to get fake documents from her brother that proved she and her brother were baptised. Her father left for work one day after the invasion and never came home and was assumed dead by her and her family. At this time she was only 6 years old and her brother was 8. One day 2 nazi soldiers showed up at her house and the nanny hid with Anita and her brother. Anitas mother showed them the fake documents but they were suspicious of a “christian” family living in a jewish village so the two soldiers forcibly took all the families valuable stuff and money. Anita’s mother grew worried about her mother and other siblings who lived in a village far from their own so she took a train (which required sneaking by nazi guards) to the village. She left Anita and her brother with the nanny in their old village, Anita never ended up seeing her mother again. Anita’s nanny was very angry she was left there and often times got very angry at the two kids saying it’s all their fault they’re jewish. On jewish holidays they would have to celebrate very lowkey so they wouldn’t get caught. Anita was once stopped by nazi soldiers in a field hiding a jewish cake dessert traditionally eaten on jewish holidays under a blanket in a baby carriage but was never caught. She talked her way out of it. When she grew older and the war started to come to an end almost everyone in her village had been killed. Her nanny wanted to go to her old village to check on her family to see if they’re alright even though they’re christian she was still worried about them. Anita didn’t wanna be all alone again though her number 1 dream was going to America once the war ended she heard great things about how America saved them and kicked out the nazi’s. She expressed this to her nanny who loved her like her own kid but simply didn’t have the money to send her to America although she’d pitch in if she could. Anita wanted an opportunity and thought America was the perfect place to get one. She got a job at a local market cleaning and sweeping and did side jobs cleaning peoples house for extra cash. Finally she gained enough money to buy a plane ticket to America. She moved to chicago, Illinois and did a lot of writing, that was one of her favorite things to do, she got involved in women's rights and other movements. She wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and did. She shared her story with many and inspired them to do more, she moved around the country before moving back to Switzerland to live out the rest of her days.
Kristiana C LA~A Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls Part One
Jeannette Walls lived a life very different from most people. Her first memory was from when she was living in a trailer park in some southern town she doesn’t remember the name of and accidentally set herself on fire. She spent many days in the hospital where she was taken care of and lived a life very different from the one she knew at home. She was taken care of and was able to watch TV and there was always food available to her. The doctors kept asking if her parents had ever abused her and she was very confused by this. Yes, she was a three year old who essentially took care of herself, but that’s just the way her life was. She loved her parents and she knew they loved her. After a few days in the hospital, her father showed up and ran out of the hospital with her in his arms.
They soon left the trailer park doing what her parents called “the skedaddle.” Her father liked to say there were government agents after him and that’s why they never stayed in one place for too long. She later learned it was just because after a while, her father would lose too much of their money drinking and wouldn’t be able to pay their bills anymore through all the odd jobs he did. She had an older sister, Lori, a younger brother, Brian, and another younger sister, Maureen. They lived in many Southern town throughout the beginning of Jeannette’s life, and then they moved to her deceased grandmother’s mansion in Phoenix. All the Walls’ kids were ahead of everyone in their classes because their extremely intelligent dad taught them new things all the time. This lead to them being bullied for how smart they were even though their father was just “the town drunk.” They had never lived in such a nice house, and their mother was happier than ever saying that now they lived in Phoenix, her art career could finally take off. It never did. Their father had always talked of a glass castle he promised to someday build them when he had the money. It was going to be their dream house. Unfortunately, he was drunk far to often to ever get around to making it.
When they got tired of Arizona, they moved to their father’s hometown. It was a very poor West Virginia town where they were bullied to no end by not only the other kids, but by their father’s cold and abusive mother. They soon moved into their own house within the town which was a complete dump that could fall down at any second. That is where Jeannette spent her life from middle to high school. It was where she joined her first newspaper and decided she wanted to become a writer. She wrote for the school paper and absolutely loved it. She spent her lunches in the news room where she wasn’t questioned for not having a lunch. She was very close to her siblings who all soon agreed to leave the small, broken town, Welsh as soon as they were done with high school. They began a fund to get Lori, who would be the first to go, to New York City where she would get set up and ready for her other siblings to come. One night, their dad stole their fund to buy drinks. Luckily for them, Jeannette was offered a babysitting job which would include $200 and a trip to wherever they wanted. She gave the job to Lori who took the trip to New York and began her art career.
February Blog
Nathan D. LA A George Lucas
George Lucas started his life living in Alabama with his father and mother. His only real interest was art, but his father wanted him to grow up to own a business someday, and disapproved. Lucas’ grades started dropping significantly all through high school, but he managed to squeeze through and graduate. He wanted to go to an art school after that, but his father wouldn’t allow it. Then a friend introduced him to cinematography. George really liked it, and decided to go to a film school instead. He found he enjoyed filming and editing even more than he had expected, and developed his own filming style, a kind of guerilla filming in which he would often film in unusual spots. He described it as ‘filming until someone called the police, and then running.’ He even broke into the school’s editing studio in order to use it on the weekends. After he graduated from film school, he started looking for a job. The problem was, the film industry at that point was controlled by the large film companies, such as Fox and Universal. He eventually got a job working as a professor of film at a military school, where he taught military cameramen. At one point, he split the group into two, with the group leaders being the squad’s commander and the other himself. From the start, the military group was doomed to lose. Lucas was making a film he had thought of during his school years, and had been waiting to make for a long time. It was called THX 1138, and was about a prisoner who lived in a future where the government controlled the people by use of drugs. It was a huge hit. Later during his career, he met a man named Coppola, who was also interested in filmmaking, and had a lot of money. Together they decided to start their own film company, which they named Zoetrope. They bought a lot of equipment, but were unable to finance movies themselves, so they partnered with another, larger company to film movies. However, there were some issues. The studio liked parts of Lucas’ scripts, but never all of them. They insisted on changing them, which angered Lucas. He liked them as they were! Zoetrope was unable to make money, and so went bankrupt. Lucas managed to get a job working at Universal and directed several small films. However, he started to formulate an idea that would change his life forever. As a child, he had always loved comic books and cartoons, especially ones set in space. He wanted to make a movie based on those childhood memories, a movie set in space. And from that came The Star Wars. The original movie was a lot different than the final version. For instance, Chewbacca was originally more like Jabba the Hutt, and Luke’s last name was Starkiller. Lucas spent months sitting at a desk, surrounded by crumpled sheets of paper. As the drafts progressed, he eventually shortened the name to just Star Wars, and made various other changes. Then came the actors. Lucas couldn’t decide on anyone, and he was forced to make cuts to his cast because of the low budget. Then came the filming. Lucas experienced endless delays. He was forced to cut the Millennium Falcon in half because of the limited space and paint a backdrop of the rest. The battery - powered R2D2 kept falling over on the sand, and the sets broke continually. But, finally, the movie finished. It was an instant success. People waited in line overnight to see the movie. Lucas had payed for the movie’s cost many times over, making millions.
Kristiana C Class A The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Part Two
Jeannette couldn’t wait to go, so after her junior year, she left for New York and finished her high school education there since college is cheaper if you go in the state you live in. Brian and Maureen, who was only 12 at the time, soon joined them. Jeannette worked at a small newspaper company to help pay for college until the owner told her he knew she could do more than work in a very small newspaper store. She went to Barnard and she loved it. Soon, their parents joined them in New York. Lived with Brian for a while who had his own apartment until he told his dad he had to leave if he continued to drink. They moved in with Lori and Maureen next who kicked them out after Lori couldn’t afford to feed them anymore. They became homeless. They tried not to give in and let their parents live with them again because they stilled owned their houses in Phoenix and Welsh. They had options, they just didn’t take them.
After college, Jeannette got a job at a big newspaper company and got married to a rich man who lived on Park Avenue with her. A few years later, she was called by her mother who had been living in an abandoned building with Jeannette’s father and sister, Maureen. Maureen had stabbed her mother upon being told she had to move out. Maureen moved to California soon after getting out of rehab saying she thought it was better if she stayed out of touch with her family for a while. After years of alcohol and cigarettes, Jeannette’s father died. He told her he knew she had always been the only one who never stopped believing in him. Her mother told her she thought Jeannette had her priorities out of order and she wasn’t raised to need all this fancy stuff she was beginning to get used to. Jeannette decided Park Avenue wasn’t for her and got a divorce. She met another man who she loved and married. He is also an author. They built a house together in the more rural parts of New York and had a family gathering with her mother, Brian, and Lori. Maureen didn’t come back, but their mother said she was in touch with her and she was doing fine. Jeannette’s mother also informed her that she was finally happy with and proud of her. Jeannette was finally happy and was still able to do the thing she loved most: writing.
Nikolas DaSilva LA A 2/28/18
Terry Bradshaw by Greg Roza
Terry Bradshaw was an outstanding quarterback who played in the NFL for 14 seasons all with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Before all of Terry’s fame as an NFL quarterback he worked on on farm with his family. He came from Shreveport Louisiana and grew up with his father William Marvin Bradshaw and his mother Novis nee gay. He also grey up with his older brother Gary and his younger brother Craig.All three of them were very serious about football. Although, Terry was not always the best athlete. During his sophomore year he was cut from his high school football team. In order to gain a spot on the team he would throw a football around to himself. This eventually led the varsity coach to notice him and he brought Terry on the team. This is when Terry started to dominate on the high school football field earning him many college football offers. He chose to attend Louisiana Tech University. He was a starter for two years leading his team to a 9-2 record in his sophomore year. Terry decided not to play the next year and declare for the NFL draft. He was later inducted into the Louisiana Tech sports hall of fame and the all Louisiana sports hall of fame.
By this time Terry was considered to be the number 1 recruit in all of America. One year later in 1970 Terry was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers who selected him first overall in the draft. The Steelers at the time had a hall of fame running back Franco Harris. They also had all star wide receivers which would be good for Terry. But Terry did not start his first year in the NFL. Instead Terry Hanratty started over him. Hanratty threw many interceptions over his career which led Bradshaw to take the starting position his second year. In this year which was 1972 Terry had one of the greatest plays in NFL history. He threw the ball to one of his receivers but it bounced off of his hands and into the hands of Franco Harris. Franco ran the ball in for a game winning touchdown. After this it took a couple of year for Bradshaw to adjust to the NFL. Eventually Bradshaw led his team from a one win record to a playoff caliber team. In his career he led the Steelers to eight AFC divisional champs and four super bowl titles. In 1974 he temporarily lost his starting spot to an unknown quarterback. But in the Superbowl he quickly gained his starting spot back. Bradshaw threw a game winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Terry Bradshaw was named super bowl MVP twice in his career. Terry was also named regular season MVP once in his career. After his last season in 1982 Terry officially retired in 1983. Terry was inducted into the NFL hall of fame having one of the best careers of any NFL quarterback. After his career he settled down and moved back to Louisiana with his wife and two kids.
Allyson D. A Class
Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes Courter
In the memoir Three Little Words the author Ashley Rhodes Courter remembers her life in the foster care system. At the age of four Ashley Rhodes was taken from her mother, who see loved more than anything in the world. Her brother and her traveled to their first home. They were only there for one night and they proceeded to another home. The lady who lived here was strict and disliked Ashley’s behavior from the moment she walked into her home. For a four year old, Ashley had the vocabulary of a sixteen year old. She was incredibly smart but was often put in time out for using words she had learned from her mother and step-father. After only a few months in her first foster home, Ashley was put in another foster home, this time without her brother. At her second foster home, she was much happier. She remembers the older children in the home picking out outfits of yellow, and also developing chicken pox along with two other girls. Then there was the day she left. Her caseworker moved her to another home in South Carolina, this time she was living with her grandfather and another woman named Adele. Ashley’s brother who did not remember their mother at all, took to calling Adele “Mama” almost at once. This was home in Ashley’s mind. Her grandfather had built her a toy house and Ashley was able to wash her doll clothes and did not have to share her toys with anyone (this is one of the annoyances she faced in foster homes). Good things never did seem to last for Ashley Rhodes. Before she was able to even start school she removed from her happy home with Adele and her brother to another foster care home. She lived with an older couple this time. She was not able to live with her brother and had not seen her mother for a very long time. At night she would sit on the porch of the home and then wish on the first star she saw. She wanted so badly to live with her mother but for the time being she was happy. She was able to entertain herself in a heartbeat. She has one bad memory of living in this home. This was watching a WW2 film {without permission} and showing the hanged and beaten prisoners. She states that the images haunted her for several more years. She began school but before christmas came Ashley was moved to live once again with Adele. She was happy once more and loved her school. She hated the walk to the bus down the dusty road. Christmas came and went with more dolls and cookies. Before she knew it though Ashley’s bags were packed and she wa waving goodbye to Adele. She lived this time in a very big house. Despite not living with her brother she was happy. The house she lived in now was very big and as it was summer she was able to enjoy jumping into the pool. The day Ashley left here she was headed for the worst home she ever was to live in. Here she lived with the Mosses.
Part 1
Jacob w.
LA: B
To Pixar and beyond
Lawrence levy
The book to Pixar and beyond by Lawrence levy, entirely in first person, is about Lawrence levy's “unlikely journey with Steve jobs to make entertainment history” together the had a company called NeXT but soon another individual said to call it Pixar. There were many problems with the company but it showed promise too. First off the company didn't have enough money and the production ‘toy story’ was taking quite some time. Also Steve wanted 100% percent of shares of the company because he was the owner, but they needed more money so he finally let some up. but the people that they were trying to sell them to were very reluctant. When they eventually got more money the released ‘toy story’. It was a huge hit. They wanted to make more movies or a sequel. But they needed better technology to get it out to the public sooner so they tried to break a deal with Disney for more money of course, but Disney turned them down multiple times. But soon Disney finally said yes to a deal. Pixar got more money for better equipment and Disney simply made a bit more money. Later Steve, Lawrence, and everyone at Pixar released another hit and were finally on a role. It was true, they really did ‘make entertainment history’.
Maddy a 2/28/18
L.A B
I.T
What basically happened in the book was that the little boy was wondering around and what he did was he was always with his father he did work with his father sometimes but not all the time. He always wanted to help everyone but he couldn’t he got very frustrated with his father he didn't really know what to say but just walk away and not fight because the dad said not to fight so the boy ended up going away. When it was time for dinner the boy always went to the table in his spot that he always sits in him and his father talk while they eat but not this time because they were mad at eachother and didn't know what to talk about because they felt like they were going to yell at each other and they didn't want to. The father asked him how his day was and the boy didn't answer he had a lot to say to his dad but didn't want to be rude sometimes when they are frustrated at each other they talk it out but this time something really bothered the boy and the dad didn't know what was really happening he didn't know how to handle the boy or talk to him without the boy yelling and letting all his anger out on his dad they both were mad but the dad still wanted to talk. More about the boy is that he is 17 writing his own book about his life with his father he really didn't know what to say but he is in high school but homeschooled didn't want to be with other students wanted to be the only one so he knew what was happening and getting the help he needed his aunt is homeschooling him he helps his dad on the weekend with work he wants to be like his dad. He wants to help everyone that are like homeless,his family,his friends and what he is trying to do is that he didn't know how to help till his aunt that homeschools him taught him how to help people like that and how to treat people kindly and if someone is being rude to him he tells them like thank you and worry about yourself kinda thing. But mostly the boy helps everyone and is homeschooled and the boy walks around the town and likes to look at nice buildings and likes to go to the water. At the end of everyday after school he goes to work with his dad.
Kasey. S la b burn
In the book burn the boy was on his way to school having a normal day with his friends on the bus and in class, later that day the boy had gym in which he was with all of his friends messing around in the locker room when no one was there, his friend pulls out a book of matches and the boy strikes one and lights paper towels on fire, he starts to panic and throws all the towles into a random locker, in the locker there was a shirt that caught on fire because of the paper towels as the room is filling with smoke the boy runs to the sink and cups some water in his hands and tosses it on the fire, the fire goes out and all the boys leave the room at the end of that period the gym teacher calls all the boys to the locker room and asks who set the shirt on fire and goes on to say that the police department will be there at the end of the day to take fingerprints,the boy said nothing, last period comes and the boy sits all the way in the back with his friend that knows a lot about the police and what they can do because of his past, the boy asks him “do you know if they can take fingerprints on burnt material’ his friend says yes so then the boy starts to freaks out because the police will know its him and they will call his parents and they will ground him for life, the bell rings and the boy rushes to his locker and grabs a card and a lock pic set and runs over to his friend and hands him the card and ran to another friend and handed him the lock pic, he took the bus home and saw his little brother outside and told him the whole story, he went to the shed grabbed the gas can and went up stairs to his bathroom and locked all the doors and went into the bathroom took off all his clothes except his boxers, poored the gas all over a blanket he brought up put the blanket on his shoulders, he striked the match 3 times and he went up in flames.
Aidan H
LA B
Memoirs of a boy soldier by Ishmael Beah
Ishmael Beah was kidnapped when he was around 10 to be in a soldier in a civil war that was going on where he lived. He was taken from his home forcibly by soldiers who were raiding houses and in need of more soldiers. He had to leave behind his family, who he promised he would return to. He was forced to fight with assault rifles and kill many people, most of them being innocent civilians who had gotten in the way of the soldiers while they raided villages.
Ishmael met another boy soldier his age named Mohamed, who also was taken from his family. After 3 years of being threatened with death if they didn’t kill for the army, the two boys had made a plan to escape and return to their homes so they could leave the country with their families. Late one night when they thought all of the soldiers they were with had gone to sleep, they packed the little belongings they had and started to make their journey back home. They ran through alleys and hid in gutters to avoid coming face to face with any soldiers that would recognize them, because they knew themselves and their families would be killed if anyone had found them. They walked for weeks. They were barefoot, tired, and hungry.
When the boys finally returned to their village that they had shared, it was burned down completely. They both ran to their homes to find that their families had been killed not long after they had left. Ishmael and Mohamed traveled to Ishmael’s aunt’s house. She was very relieved to see Ishmael alive, and invited both boys to live with her.
The civil war had ended after that, and general order took over again. A few days after, an American woman from New York came to visit the village that Ishmael lived in to donate and assist people who had experienced losses because of the war. She met Ishmael, and invited him to visit New York with her, where he could speak about his experiences in the war and what it had done to their country. He agreed, and went with her a few weeks after.
In New York, Ishmael spoke about his experience in front of hundreds of kids from different countries, who had also shared their stories of their countries. He returned home to see that another war had broken out. He hid in his aunt's house with mohamed to avoid being seen by soldiers. He decided that he didn’t want to live through another war experience, so he decided to leave to new guinea, where there was no war and there was peace, so he could get a flight to New York to live with the American woman. He walked for miles and slept in sewers at night to avoid being caught. He took 2 buses until he made it to New Guinea. Once he was there, he found the nearest telephone and called the American Woman to ask if he could stay with her. She agreed, and Ishmael used the last of his money to buy a plane ticket. He flew to New York and lived with the woman, who adopted him as her son. He finished his school there, and now works with kids around the world to prevent children from going through what he did as a young child.
Michael B LA b
Title: Tom Brady
Tom Brady grew up in Texas with his mother, his father and his 4 sisters When Tom Brady was a kid, he played baseball for his town’s team. He also was very good at golf. Tom and his dad, Tom brady Sr. would get up early every Saturday morning to go to the town country club and play golf and have a boys day to get away from all the girls in the house. Tom also played baseball on his towns team for a short while. Tom soon realized that golf and baseball were not the right sports for him. So, Tom Sr. got him into football. Tom Sr. knew a lot about football since he was a football player when he was younger. Tom Sr. taught Tom everything he knows about football and every play in football. When he was a teenager, Tom played for a football team and lead his team to winning the championship game. Soon, Tom Brady became really good at football, playing all through high school and all through college. In 2003, Tom Brady started playing as the quarterback for the New England patriots. Tom Brady lead the patriots to the 2003 superbowl and the patriots won. Tom Brady also lead the patrots to win 4 other superbowls. Now, Tom Brady is great quarterback who lead the patriots to win many football games.
Shea Caton
LA B
Notorious Benedict Arnold
Early Life
Benedict Arnold was only a young man when his mother died and lived in a stone house with his father. They were a very poor two Benedict and his father would have to wake up every morning and go work on fields on a farm. Benedict's father didn’t have enough money to send him to a school of any kind. At the time they were living in what is now Liverpool at the time it was being ruled by King George one of the worst kings to ever sit on the throne.
Teenage years
When he was only 16 he was hearing about the life of a privitier it tells of riches and money if you were to return. So he told his father about this and his father did not let him go but that didn’t stop him he left in the middle of the night and become a crew member for a well known pirate from the west indies Benjamin Hornigold. As time went on he was sailing with them making big loot and looting large cargo ships from spain to britain. Until one day the ship met its match against a spanish man of war Arnold was the only survivor from that rec and was casted to a tiny island for almost a month.
Where it all began
On the island he was picked up by a ship merchant named Stede Bonnet and brought to the island of Kingston where he was pretending to be someone that he is not and he set free some prisoners but got caught by spanish guards and was put on a slave ship. On the slave ship he managed to escape and set free the slaves where they took over the boat and made it his own he called it the Jackdaw which is a swift bird.
Pirating
He has been a captain for awhile now and they are trying to colonize a island called Nassau and he does the people who run the island are him, Blackbeard, Edward Kenway, and Edward thatch who later in life turns on them the island works out until the island gets infested with disease and rats.
Final Days
In his final days most of the band of priviters have died due to the british Navy and Benedict Arnold's days of pirating are over when he finally gets captured and hung in Jamaica in the year 1724.
Riley P.
LA B
Alexander Hamilton: The Outsider by Jean Fritz
Alexander Hamilton was born in Scotland and had three brothers. When we has a bit older, he moved to the West Indies with his mother and father where his love for reading and writing would start to form. After moving, his father was up and gone in a matter of time. Alexander and his mother lived together, having a pretty close bond before they both caught an illness. His mother would die from the illness, he was around twelve or fourteen. He was then moved to be under care by his cousin, though that cousin would soon commit suicide with little to no explanation. Hamilton would be taken in by his late mother’s landlord to work. He would do this for years until someone decided to help him achieve his dreams of mattering and being someone. Soon enough he was off to America to go to school to get somewhat of an education. When arriving, he would learn he’d have to go through what would most likely be our middle or high school.He met Hercules Mulligan around this time who was a tailor (and a spy) but Mulligan wasn’t a very big part of history, he would be great things though. He passed through all his classes and grades in a short amount of time, he was eligible to go to college. When he finished that portion of school, he desired to go to college for only two years like his soon to be friend, Aaron Burr did. At first, the man in charge of the college was hesitate to let Hamilton pass four years into two but it would be proved that he could handle so, or so it seemed. Alexander never graduated college though. The revolution was picking up in America and he desired to fight because as he believed, that would get him known and a legacy. He was able to join the revolution at the side of general George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette and John Laurens. Around this time, he met Aaron Burr and befriend him, don’t count on it lasting though. Hamilton would soon meet the Schuyler sisters and start to fall in love with his dear Eliza, (even despite those letters to John Laurens) they would marry in the following months after meeting because the revolution was knocking out men left and right. A few years later, John Laurens would die and it took a toll out on the man, he never stopped his hard work though. A little before Laurens’ death, Hamilton welcomed a son named Philip into the world. More years would pass and people who were around Alexander seemed to drop like house flies. Laurens would die in a gunfight in South Carolina; Philip would die in a duel when the man that killed him shot at seven instead of ten and Washington would die after he dropped presidency. Hamilton later got credited for drafting Washington’s farewell letter to his depart of presidency. In the end, Hamilton dies in a duel. The duel was with Aaron Burr, a former friend of his. Burr shot him first and Hamilton shot to the sky, he never actually shot anyone in his many duels. He died the next day, surrounded by people who loved him. He left a legacy for the future, The Federalist Papers, our money system and so much more.
Dayton V LA B
The Life and Death of Crazy Horse
By Russell Freedman
This book is about a man named Crazy Horse and his journey through life. When Crazy Horse was a boy he was called Curly he wasn't spoken too at all his one goal was to finish training camp for hunting and fighting. He was born into the Oglala Sioux tribe In the Oregon. His dad was the tribe leader and his mom was the tribe medic who helped with wounded Oglala Sioux tribe members. The Sioux now had to fight more and more tribes because of colonists taking Native Americans land and pushing them back to Oregon. But before these times the Oglala Sioux tribe was a lot more peaceful they were just hunters and farmers they never needed to fight anyone until other tribes showed up. As time went by Crazy Horse finished his training and he was giving his name. After that he became the most well known tribe member for his hunting skills and was second in command for 3 years. But then the his dad perished from injuries fighting other tribes which made Crazy Horse and he wanted changes he made it so there were more fighters just incase of an attack and he grew fond of hunting and loved it. So when the tribe ran out of food he and his close friends would go out and hunt for hours but one day he found another tribe very close to the Sioux. The reason is because Oregon was a hotspot for Native Americans who were kicked out of there land this means that tribes would fight for territory. Crazy Horse had never seen any tribe like it they were vicious people and just wanted blood and were very aggressive but so was Crazy Horse. So he made a plan of attack he sent in spies to be apart of their tribe and he would get info from them. As the spying went on they planned an attack on the other tribe. When the time came they attacked in the night burning down their building and killing all the men and making the woman slaves and they raised the children. For this Crazy horse got the highest honor the tribe could give it was called the Sioux medal of leadership they would give this medal to their leaders that were the best of the best. Like his dad before him. But as Crazy horse grew old he couldn't hunt anymore and there weren't as many tribes to defend from so he lay tired in his final resting place in his bed. A legend.
Benjamin L LA:B
JR or Johnny Cash was born February 26 1932 In Kingsland Arkansas. He had 6 siblings, 4 brothers including him and 2 sisters. JR was close to his older brother Jack They would do a lot of things together like going fishing and swimming but they also had to help around the house. One day JR decided to fishing without Jack and Jack went to the saw mill to work. While JR was walking home his father Driving a truck picked up JR to see Jack in the hospital. He was cut in half by the saw blade in the saw mill and was rushed to the hospital. He lived for week and then passed away. JR was shocked and wouldn’t forget about that day. When JR was 18 he enlisted in the air force as a radio interceptor. He had to change his name To Johnny. That how he got his name. He went to Lackland Air force base in texas for training. Then he was sent to bavaria Germany Where he started to get interested in music. He bought his first guitar and started playing. When the Korean war finished. Johnny Moved to Tennessee Where he met Vivian Liberto. They got Married, Johnny became an appliance salesman to support his family. In his leisure time he would get his to friends who were mechanics and they would music together. Johnny was running out of money to support his family so decided to get his friends and go into suns Recording in nashville to record one of his songs. The first he went it didn’t go to well because he sang a gospel song and the recording person didn’t like it and it didn’t sell well so he came back and sang a song he made called Get Rhythm and it became a big hit. He recording other song like Cry Cry Cry and Big River which also became two other big hits. He made enough money to support his family so johnny decided to go on tour with other big musicians Like Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis presley, Buddy Holly, and June carter.
He became Very successful during the late 50’s throughout the 60’s and early 70’s.
During that time he got addicted to drugs and alcohol and his wife divorced him because he was cheating on her. He was also caught smuggling drugs across the border of mexico and texas and was arrested. Later He married June Carter and they had a family together. June carter straightened him out and he checked in for rehab. During the 80’s He has won many Music awards like the grammys and Country music awards. During the 90’s his health was catching on to him. He was diagnosed for diabetes and his health began to deteriorate over time but managed to fight through. But in 2002 after his wife died. 7 months after Johnny Cash died of complication of diabetes at the age of 70.
Emily H LA B Finding the Edge: My Life on the Ice Karen Chen by Natalie England
Karen is a figure skater. She was born on August 16, 1999 in Fremont, California. She was in the winter olympics and the US nationals. She became a figure skater in 2005 because she found a girl from her hometown that is a figure skater and she wanted to be like her. She has a younger brother Jeffery and is also a figure skater. Her family is from Taiwan.
February
Hattie m la c Roger Williams founder of Rhode Island by Michael Burgan
Roger Williams was a cool guy. over time he slowly developed his belief that our democracy was based on, the separation of church and state. Roger Williams was born in London and was raised to be a devout Christian. Roger Williams was smart and educated, he went to Cambridge, but to get his diploma he would have had to sign a form saying he would forever support keeping church and state together. At the time people usually believe one of three things; church and state are the same, England has become impure(Puritans) or church and state should be separated(separatists). puritans and separatists were seen as (in most cases)enemies of the king. Roger was a separatist, he did not sign, and he did not get his diploma. He later got on a ship to the new world. At the time New England and America was uncivilized or inhabited by Indians, there was an exception the puritans most of Massachusetts was inhabited by Puritans, the ship that Roger got on was to bring puritans to the colonies.after a while of living in the colonies, Roger had a family and a bit of a following. He was famous for preaching his separatist beliefs. Eventually he was kicked out found providence and created a community of people who had his same beliefs, more people in Puritan towns spoke up for their religious beliefs as well and after being kicked out created more towns but one town was seen as a symbol of hope for anyone who wasn’t puritan but wanted to live in America. This town was Providence, RI.
Kevin B, LA C, Pele
So in my book “Pele” tells a life about a soccer all star from brazil. Pele was born in brazil and moved to nigeria at the age of around 14. Pele grew up helping out his parents but his favorite activity to play was futbol most likely known as soccer. Growing up in a poor lower class country and neighborhood Pele had to find ways to have fun and soccer was the way he had fun. He would grab a bunch of friends to practice everyday outside his house on the street mostly. Pele and his friends couldn't afford cleats to play soccer with so they would play barefoot in the grass and dirt. Pele wanted to have a life job which was being a pilot until one day Pele and his friends were out on a field player soccer when the soccer ball got kicked and rolled into a basement window of a brick building. They go searching for the ball through the building as Pele and his friends find a autopsy of a dead pilot from a plane crash. Pele was so scared he never thought of being a pilot again. Later on into his teen life Pele made his own team club which won the club championship. Pele was Mvp for the club team and was also wanted on other teams. Pele later on signed on professional teams and all star teams which did not give him a lot of money either. Pele was known everywhere for being such a great soccer player and one day he went to a coffee shop in new york where everyone asked for autographs and such. Pele was signed on many more professional teams and later known for the best soccer player to ever live. In his adult life Pele became an abassador. Pele’s Life
Jed A
LA C
Rock And Roll Will Save Your Life
Steve Almond
This book was an autobiography made by Steve Almond, so he wrote it on himself. Steve Almond is a music critic. He was interested in music from a very young age, and even played it too. As he got older though, his love for music grew greater and greater.
Steve Almond has many many interviews with some of America’s finest songwriters, and even gets inspiration from it. Since he is a critic, he would try to get as much information from them as possible, because of how famous they were. He would tell them how him, and other people felt about their music. He would always talk about the people he called “drooling fanatics,” or people who liked their artist so much, they’d drool and cry at the sight of their favorite pop artist or rock star. One of these fanatics would own over 300-400 records of their favorite artists. Steve Almond would use this phrase to describe a lot of people he met in Greenland. This is where he met a lot of these kinds of people, because this is where he did most of his interviews with a lot of rock artists. I stopped counting the amount of times he used the phrase at around 15. Steve Almond had his own version of the song “Africa” by toto. In the book, he states how much he believes that Rock And Roll, and just music in general had a huge part in shaping America. All of this aside, since the book I read was an autobiography, Steve Almond is also a writer, who wrote other books, too. Two examples of bands he’d interview were Red Hot Chili Peppers, And Nirvana. Nirvana is a rock band, and Red Hot Chili Peppers are an 80’s funk band, but also do Rock and Roll.
Ciel p.
Music was it
LAC
Lenny was around 5 years old when he found out that he loved music though he didn’t know how to play music, he discovered this when he and his family moved into a house and there was a piano, when he first saw it he loved the look of it even though it was a very old and dust piano. He would usually just bang on the piano since he didn’t know how to play which annoyed his father, especially since he usually did it at night. Lenny begged his parents to give him money for piano lessons. The father didn’t approve of lenny wanting to just play music he thought it wouldn’t get him anywhere in life. His mother loved that he was interested in piano though so they ended up paying for lessons. Lenny was a very fast learner he learned to read music at a fast pace, his piano teacher was surprised at how good he was. When he was around 13 he want decided he wanted music to be his career, his father wanted him to become a business man or atleast become a rabbi, and yet again his mother didn’t mind. At his age he was actually making his own money for piano lessons by teaching other kids the piano. One of his students says that he remembers that everytime he messed up he would smack his hand. Noticing he wasn’t an expert at piano he wanted to go to a better teacher but he didn’t have enough money for it so once again he begged and begged his dad for money. The teacher noticed that lenny’s music reading was amazing but his hands weren’t proper. They were positioned in a way that made him play like he was enraged, that’s all that he was doing wrong really. When his sister was old enough he taught her to play (for free of course) and they would play duets together. When they were both adults they went to a concert to listen to a composer, his sister thought he would be happy during the play, but he had a plain look on his face. His sister asked why he looked like that and if he didnt like it. He said he loved it but he was just jealous of a man who could compose like that. Although he wanted to be a musician for his career he ended up manufacturing a hair styling product that curls hair. He made a huge profit out of it, he still played piano of course. He actually bought a brand new piano with some of the profit he made, he bought it because he loved music and because it was often bought to show a sign of wealthiness. He played at his church, he played songs that his father sang in the shower.
Emily T
La C
Frederick Douglass- A Noble Life
Frederick Douglass was bought into slavery in the 1818’s. Frederick was known for a lot of things. But to start off Frederick Douglass was raised on a Maryland plantation. His family wasn’t the wealthiest of people. His grandma had bought a house, and it was a pretty big house. When Frederick and his siblings saw the house his grandma had purchased, they were shocked. The house was huge, they were used to living in a little cabin. Anyways Frederick was a well known helper for the civil rights movement, as we all know. When he was a slave, his slave master had always brutally tortured him to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. So he snapped back and decided to give him a taste on what it was like to be a slave. He hung him and later on took off. After this all happened a few years later Frederick wanted to do something about all of this slavery going on, he felt it wasn’t right for any human being to be treated like this. Not to mention Frederick already taught himself how to read and write efficiently all by himself. This helped him escape his way into freedom, because the other slaves didn’t know how to read or write. Frederick later on helped other slaves escape too, and they took an underground railroad to go back to the North. While other slaves tried to escape from freedom they used songs, and they used clues to get them onto the underground railroad. They had special codes in songs and even in life to help them. For example the north star had helped them lead their way to freedom to take the underground railroad, this was a clue because the north star had the way to the North. Another example is the song “ The Drinking Gorg” This was to resemble escaping their way back to freedom as well. Now as we know Frederick helped work with the underground railroad, but what exactly is the underground railroad? The Underground Railroad was a train that traveled on a railroad that is underground to escape slavery and go back to the North. Frederick Douglass worked with another person who’s been in slavery, Harriet Tubman. The two of them together operated the Underground Railroad. Later on with his life he then became known as one of the most well known person to make an impact on slavery and the civil rights movement along with Harriet Tubman. Tubman had set a goal to put a stop to slavery, and he helped achieve that goal in a big way. Frederick had lived a long life but sadly died February 20, 1895 from a heart attack. Frederick Douglass will always be remembered for his hard work and dedication to achieve the goal of opposing slavery, and for being an incredible person, who had an incredible mindset.
Sophie P
La C
Title: Breakaway
Arthur and who book is about: Alex Morgan
Alex Morgan, grew up in a small town with her 2 sisters and her parents. She was encouraged to play softball by her dad, but found her love for soccer. She explains how her dad wanted a son but never got it, but she said that he was happy. Her parents made an agreement, if it was a girl then the mom would name the baby if it was a boy, her dad would name the baby, her mom the good side of that. Her sisters weren't to into soccer or sports they were more about plays and friends but Alex was the opposite. She was a tomboy with not too many friends, but a few close ones. She was always drawn to school sports and loved watching, but mostly participating. She was the forward for her high school and middle school team. She fell in love with this position from the start. She always enjoyed scoring the goals and having the fame although she didn't get carried away with it she said, it was just a nice bonas. Playing the sport was her passion, but they she started getting older and things changed not her love of the sport, her muscles. Her jr. year she tore her acl. This was a major setback for Alex. She thought her life was over. She was out for many, many months. But, just like anyone she got over her experience and grew in knowledge. This only made her stronger.She came back, stronger than ever before, scoring left and right, timid at first but eager to get on the field, she went to games to support the team but hadn't been getting the touches on the ball. Until now, healed, powerful, strong. Theses are just a few words to describe her, she is very powerful and a great role model. In every chapter in the book( at the end) she would have a paragraph or two sometimes more sometimes less basically giving not like a story time but like a life experience and a example or hard patch in life she faced, and how this made her the strong person she is today, she explained how although this affected her she got through it, just like anything else. She also, had like a “mom” moment basically explaining how sometimes life trips you but you can just get back up and keep walking, and how everyone has a different perspective as to what is happening in a situation, but everyone does have some sort of good they just need to cut out the bad, and how some light only comes out when others can't see it. Towards the middle of the book, Alex encounters a huge goal, She has been accepted to play for The U.S women's national team! She is now a professional soccer player, Proudly representing the #12 she has earned a gold metal in the world cup! Although, she did lose to Japan, in one of her many world cups. Today she is married, and plans on having children of her own, later she claims, much , much later when she no longer plays, or according to her no longer can play, then she will consider starting a family. But, as she always says, “ My first love is soccer.” Me and her both share this common love for the sport and I want to grow up to be just like her. To add, she did score the winning GOALS for her gold medal win, in the world cup. Alex Morgan was a fascinating person to read about and I can't wait to learn more about her.
Jessie Barret
La C
Based on the book Slum Girl dreaming it's basically all about this 9 year old girl named Rubina who didn't even know her birthday nor did her father all she knew was that she was 9 year old girl who lived in a slum in india she lived with mostly rats and other animals and her younger brother, older sister her uncle and her dad. Her mother left her and her family for a different man her mom always threatened her dad that she was gonna leave him but she didn't do anything for the kids anyways so he told her to go. Rubina was at a young age when this happend. Living in the slums of india was and still is terrible most people didn't have running water or electricity the water only ran from 5am to 10am and you could only get enough water to last you till the next day. Rubianas favorite thing in the whole world was tv but most people in the slums didn't have one. One day this man came to their slam and asked Rubina to audition for a movie which people may know now as “Slumdog millionaire” she auditioned agaistets 500 other kids from the slums, she received the part along with couple of kids having to play the role of a poor little slum girl which was the perfect part for her. With the takeoff of movie receiving it about 8 oscours and other awards and having Rubina even win an actress award, she describes how rough it was to go back to the slums after, and basically disappear from the perfect theater world she had worked in ,also how happy she was to have her father and family proud of her .The theme that Rubina explained was no matter how tough life is it will always get better. Rubian story was very inspiring to read and learn about .
Kayla H.
Class: C
Title: SIster’s First
The book, “Sister’s First”, is a autobiography meaning they wrote this book but their mother helped write some of it. This book was about 2 sister named Jenna and Barbara Bush. Their grandfather and father was the president of the United States at one point. Their father’s dad was the president. When Barbara was old enough to talk, she would say her name was Barbara Bush and no one would believe her. She was named after her grandmother who was the first lady. As a result, she would change her name so that she could be herself and not be questioned. The twins were often referred to as the Bush twin. The Bush twin lived in the White House when their grandfather was elected. They were very young, 2-3, when their grandfather was elected. One time, when there grandfather was have a speech, the girls dressed up for Halloween as a pack of gum and a vampire. Another time, the Bush twins, lifted their dresses up at the crowd when they were onstage. There are many pictures of the Bush twins at the White House, leaving speeches with their grandparents, and other places. The Bush’s had a house somewhere in Maine. Every summer, they would go up and visit. They would swim,have campfires and so much more. But one time, their grandfather was acting weird and it was because of being the president , which had to be overwhelming. They did not always live in Washington DC. They moved there when their grandfather was elected but when they left their mother’s parent still stayed. They Bush’s would every so often go and visit. When the twins were born, their are pictures of one twin in their mother’s hands and one twin in their father’s hands. Also, the Bush twins would often wear matching outfits.Jenna had blonde hair when she was younger and Barbara had brown hair. There was not that much info about when Jenna’s and Barbara’s father was the president. As the twin grew up, Jenna got married and had children. She now is in the TV agency. She has been on Good Morning America. Barbara has not been so public. I have not seen her on television before.
(COULD OF WRITTEN MORE BUT I RAN OUT OF TIME)
Ethan Bland LA:C
Getting Away With Murder
The book Getting Away With Murder, is about a fourteen year old boy named Emmett Till. Emmett had a normal life as a black teen he had gone to school every day except that he was killed at the age of 14. The reason why he was killed was because he had taken part in a protest. Before his death he had only new a little about the segregation and why blacks and whites were separated. The day he had been shot was the day of the protest, Martin Luther King was the one who had been the reason this protest had gone on, the protest was about voting laws and the rights of blacks. Emmett Till mother was the one who had told him to be apart of the protest with her. There were thousands and thousands there at the protest but they were stop at a street my white offences ready to fire at any time, the white officers did not hold back on shooting they killed around one hundred people and Emmett was one of them. After the day he was shot everyone was devastated because he was only fourteen and still had a long life to live ahead of him. His mother wanted to put an end to racism but she knew she couldn't do anything about it unless that someone important would have seen the devastation in what the blacks go through. Emmett Till was heard about from every where, everyone had heard about his death and that he shouldn't have been killed for being black. In the book it says that “Emmett Till was a wonderful kid and very nice and there should be no reason why he should be dead right now.” Emmett had enjoyed playing sports with family and friends, his favorite sport to play was baseball.
I would write more but there was no more time.
Ethan Rufino
By: Herbert M. Howe
Do Not Go Gentle
My book was about a teen that got diagnosed with cancer.
Before he was diagnosed with cancer he was a normal kid that loved to do swimming as a sport.when he went to the doctors they had found the tomor. Now as a young kid like him he said it was his life that flashed before his life. The doctors did many test on him to make sure they were 100% sure it was cancer. After they had explained to him this is one of the rarest form of cancer that they have ever seen and there hasn't been many studies on it because how rare it is.
For a teen that's a lot of him to take on that early on in life. Doctors said that he needed to do chemotherapy because his cancer was really life threatening. In this book it states how he is a very lonely person and he never has anyone to talk to so he did as recommended and took chemotherapy. This point in the book is when he has to take chemotherapy and it's a very hard time for him but he isn't a very determined person because he is lonely and he is afraid to tell his parents so he dont fill them with nerves nor does he want to tell his friends because he didn't want to bother them to pick him up . During his first section of chemotherapy he thought to himself that this would just be the beginning and the pain will get better as he goes on with it he get really sharp pains that shot up his arm, he explains it hurt so bad that he leaned forward applying his whole upper body weight to try to stop the pain. This treatment happens I think it said every 6 week or months (im not sure) and the next time it happened he had said he experienced the same pain, but this time he ended up feeling really dizzy and almost passed out so he ran to his bathroom in his little private hospital room and started to vomit in the toilet saying he think that pe vomited all the liquid they put in him out. This happened one more time and he experienced the same side effects and at that point he wanted to give up and he told the doctors doing the chemotherapy on him that he wanted them to stop doing it to him and the doctors had dismissed him and told him to come back to his next appointment and with his finally decision. And he had decided to quit chemotherapy a little later on in the book the doctor had him meet up with a guy that basically tried to make him more confident that he could make it though while at the same the doctors were saying he had a 70% chance to live. After that he had started to lose his hair because his cancer was so bad that at his stage he lost all of his hair and wore a hat he started to do chemo after he worked out and thought about his dad and how he never gave up giving him the confidence to get him through chemo. Still he had the same results and still went through with it.( I WOULD WRITE MORE BUT I RAN OUT OF TIME)
Kate. H
LA C
Life in Motion Misty Copeland
By: Misty Copeland
Who is Misty Copeland? Misty Copeland is a African American Ballerina. Misty grew up traveling a lot. Her mom had many kids and not the best taste for men. When she was 5 she moved into the home where her mom’s boyfriend lives. The boyfriend, Mark ended up abusing Misty’s mom so they moved and traveled far away without Mark knowing. So, then they started a new live and Misty’s mom met someone new. Now he was a great guy and his name was Paul. Misty’s mom had a child with Paul but then all of a sudden Paul would yell and get mad at the kid’s for know reason and then bribe them not to tell mom. Misty’s mom found out and they left when Paul was out. So this happened about 2 more times and they ended on moving into a Hotel with about 5 children of her own living in a 2 bed hotel because that is all they could afford. Misty’s wanted to join drill team when she was in high school because that was all the rage. So, when she made the team ther coach said you have raw talent like you are incredible at dancing and that is how it all started. Misty thought that ballet was to slow and tight and is all about perfection and that is why she liked drill team so much. So, there was a class at the rec. Center that she took and it was ballet and she actually loved it. So, she kept doing those classes and drill team and one day there was this woman that was there and she was watching Misty’s dancing her name was Cindy. She thought that Misty could be a big figure in the ballet world. So, she talked with Misty’s mom and Misty was going to move in with Cindy and her husband at their house. Now the only reason why Misty’s mom agreed to this is because Misty’s mom cannot afford dance classes and shoes and leotards and tights and costumes and more but Cindy can. Cindy’s husband was more like a father figure than anything Misty had experience with. Misty is getting older she quit drill team and started focusing on her career in Ballet. They practice all the time and cindy is a dance teacher so she has a lot to teach and share with Misty. They went to her first competition and won 1st place and that was when people started to recognize Misty. Misty missed her mom a lot and can still see her but Cindy is also her mom and dad is Cindy’s husband. Cindy has a lot more money than Misty’s mom so she can afford food like fresh broccoli and scallops and when she has dinner at her birth mom home they have chips and soda from the vending machine across the hall and she doesn’t prefer that stuff anymore because now she needs to take care of it because that is her instrument. Misty’s lifelong dream was to be in the Black Nutcracker which is the original Nutcracker ballet but with an African dance in it and Misty wants to play the lead role Clare. When she was older about 21 she got the lead. And continued to perform in multiple dances for ABT. I have a lot more to say but I ran out of time.
Joseph D LA-C
The closer
This book is about Marinio Ravira. Marinio was born is Panama and was given the nickname Mo. In Panama almost everyone works on fishing boat before Marinio was old enough to work on his dad fishing boat he and his friends played baseball with no gloves and a stick and paper ball. When Marinio became old enough his dad wanted him to work on his boat like the rest of the family but Marinio wanted to become an engineer but of course he have to work on the boat on Marino's third day trip out to sea it was a traumatic one his uncle unitied the heavy ropes of the fishing net and the rope came back at him and hit him hard on the face he was thrown back and hit his head on side of the boat later he died. Also the pump of the boat that was supposed to stop the water from filling up the boat broke and the boat quickly started to sink they had to get on the lifeboat witch was very small for the many crew members and all the crew started to way the lifeboat down. Marinio was scared he thought of sharks. They was a island were people lived not that far away form were they landed the paddled over and the people on the island radioed a boat to come pick them up. Marinio never went on a boat again his family and him worked on the beaches untangling fishing nets because they were poor and could not afford a new boat. On Marinios free time he joined a baseball league and played outfield. One game the pitcher was doing very poorly and the coach called him in he had never played pitcher but when he got in he was a pro not allowing a hit for three innings. A few days later Marinio came home and there was a man sitting at his table talking to his mom and dad. This man happened to be a scout for the New York Yankees he said he wanted him to join the tryout in Panama his teammates told this scout that he was a great pitcher and sould tryout out. The next day Marinio went on the long bus ride to the field were the tryout were being held he had never seen a field so nice. That tryout he pitched so well that the coach’s asked him to come back the next day. The same thing happened until the last day of tryouts when he found out he was going to the states. When Marinio got to America he did not speak any english so it was hard to find the man he was looking for but then he saw a man with all Yankees gear on and he new that was the man. Marinio started out in double a and in his first game pitched four innings let up two hits and struck out six. Half way threw the season he had a earned run average of 0.19. In his second year he was in triple a i the start of the season in one game he heard a pop in arm he thought it was nothing but later in the game it hurt and he could barely pitch. He went to the doctor and the doctor told him he needed Tommy John surgery which would put him out of the game for the rest of the season possibly more. It was hard for Marinio to do nothing for a very long time but he used that time to improve his english. When he could finally could play again he was now a closer and he picked up right were he left off pitching so well so well he got called up to the Yankees. But in his first game in the big leagues he did so poor he was called back down to triple a. He finished off the season in triple A. and started the next season in the majors he played well that year but the Yankees just made the playoffs. The series was tied up at three and Marinio was in he was facing the best hitter in the league at the time and he let up a home run losing the playoffs. He said this could damage a pitcher and they would never be able to play again but Marinio said he wouldn't let it happen again. The next year they made it to the world series and there was Marinio striking out the last batter to win. Marinio went on to make over 1000 saves in his career and his number was retired by the yankees.
I was going to right more but there was no time.
Dakota Rioux La C
Brett Favre by
Brett Favre was around football and sports his whole life his dad irv or big irv (as everyone called him because of his size) was a coach at the high school he attended he was also a gym teacher there and so was his mom Bonita who was also the girls basketball coach. Brett started playing football at the age of five joining a local youth flag football team. When he was about age seven he started playing tackle football and was a quarterback and safety pretty much his whole entire life playing football. When Brett started playing high school football he didn’t that crazy of stats because of the t-bone offense that his father used to coach. The t-bone offense is a formation were there is one running back two wide receiver or three if there is no tight end. Brett had experience with having back spasms his freshman year of high school and because of that didn’t play all year. But Brett come out on the field his sophomore year more ready to play than ever before. When Brett was just sixteen he meet Diana the girl he would marry later in life after having their first kid at the age of twenty-three. Brett and Diana had a lot in common they both were athletes, both loved dancing, and both enjoyed basketball. Diana was a year older and played on the high school basketball team so they both knew each other generally well because of his mother. He meet Diana at a party at his house a lot of athletes from his school was there he saw Diana alone playing basketball on their hoop so he went out to talk to her. They talked for a very little time before Brett started showing off by throwing down dunks since he was 6’2 and about 218 pounds he was a pretty big kid for his age. Brett’s high school stats were 27 touchdowns 456 throwing yards and 23/32 completions. For a quarterback these stats were really nothing spectacular but it was good enough for some division 1,2, and 3 colleges to want Brett on their team. These teams were USM(University of Southern Michigan) which is where he picked to attend school, MSU( Michigan State University), WSU( Wisconsin State University), . He picked USM mainly because his father called the coach one day to have a talk at his office so he came down and when he did Brett “accidently” just happened to be outside on the field bombing the football 80 yards with ease (it was against NCAA rules for coaches to meet in private with players if they were scouting them so irv setup so that he didn’t know Brett was out there. By doing this the coach told him he would give him a scholarship but they already gave out the maximum amount Brett was upset to discover this news so he thought he was gonna have to attend college at MSU but luckily one person from florida never showed up and the assistant coach at USM told the head coach they must get Brett. His first year of college wasn’t the worst or the best for Brett but he said he learned a lot about football and himself that year so he would have never missed out on it. He was the 7th quarterback on the depth chart which was the last place. Brett didn’t like this so he went out to prove himself to the coaches and did so. Throughout the season a few quarterbacks took so injuries and their 3rd string quarterback Michael Jackson got switched to wide receiver where he was a way more important part of the team (he later went on to play seven seasons for the Cleveland Browns at wide receiver and this put Brett at 3rd string quarterback which is part of the travel team so he got what he wanted. When the starting quarterback got hurt in game 6 of their 15 game season and the 2nd string quarterback couldn’t do anything good enough for them to win coach gave Brett a chance and he strived. He threw 3 touchdowns his first game 321 passing yards and 20/27 completions. He then was put at first string and stayed there pretty much throughout the rest of his college career. (Could have written more nor enough time.)
Gianna C Landing on My Feet L.A C
As a child , a girl named Kerri Strug was obsessed with gymnastics. She started taking gymnastics classes when she was 4 years old. She always wanted to be better at it achieve her dream of being in the World Olympics. And that dream came true for Kerri Strug.
Kerri had 2 siblings. A brother and a sister named Lisa. Her parents were very helpful and wanted to make her dream come true. Yet they constantly asked her if this was something that she wanted to do, and make gymnastics her career. Kerri’s sister Lisa was also very into gymnastics . Lisa was a few years older that Kerri , so she got to achieve her goal before Kerri. Kerri kept taking classes, and took every opportunity she could that was the next step in her career. At the age of 11, Kerri got the opportunity to go to a gymnastics camp that was extremely far from her home. Her sister Lisa had already gotten the opportunity to go to that camp, and she Lisa was still is the camp at the time. Kerri’s parents took a little time to think about if they would let Lisa to go. That was because she was about 16 years old and knew how to take care of herself. Also their parents knew that the state their camp was in, they have family members that live out there, so they can keep and eye out on Lisa. On the other hand, Kerri was still very young. Her parents knew that she was a good enough gymnast to go, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to be all out on her own like that. Kerri begged and begged. She told her parents that this was the next step that could train her for the day she was going to perform at the Olympics. She hoped at least. Her parents knew that with Kerris gymnastics schedule already , she always still kept on track with her school work. Kerri as a great student , who always got great grades. After a lot of discussing with her parents, they finally let Kerri go to this camp. They told Lisa that she needed to watch out for her and keep and eye out for her. Kerri was so exited and so thankful that her parents let her go. When Kerri arrived at the camp, she was so overwhelmed. This camp was supposed to be the camp that great gymnasts go to do high level training. She had heard it was a beautiful gym that had a amazing locker room. When she walked in, it was not what she expected. It was in a long old garage, with a very small locker room.But that didn't stop her from all her excitement. Part 1
So most high leveled gymnasts get hurt a lot. Especially this one. Kerri always got hurt, Whether it was spraining something, breaking something or pulling something. There was never a moment in her gymnastics career that something didn't hurt on her body. So the main head of the camp and Kerri’s coach decided to put all of the gymnasts in physical therapy a few times a week. Even if nothing hurt that badly. They had it so it would be less painful or urgent if something did happen. I think it was a very good idea. After a while of Kerri being at the camp her mother came to visit her daughters. Kerri was so excited! Her mother told kerri that she was going to come see her every other friday. Kerri was so relieved that she would still have her mom by her side. After a few years of getting hurt and having visits and loads of school work Kerri got asked for Another great opportunity. She got asked to be in something called the pre-olympics! It is something that makes you feel like your in the olympics and it teaches you the things you need to know for when your actually in the olympics. Kerri was so honored. She was extremely excited to! Her parents knew they needed to support Kerri in this because this could be the biggest opportunity she had gotten. Kerri got to the pre-olympics and loved it. She was there for about 3 months. Her and her parents were writing letters back and forth to keep up. Something very bad happened to Kerri. She hurt her foot very bad. She was doing a move on the beam and she fell. This was the worst injury she has ever gotten. Her coach and her family new it was bad because she wasn't trying her hardest. After she got it checked, they found out it was going to affect her career very badly. That didn't stop Kerri Strug . She kept working hard and finally she achieved her goal of being in the world Olympics! Part 2
CJV LA:C All American Murder James Patterson
Former patriots star, to murder. Aaron Hernandez was born in a nice house in the suburbs of bristol connecticut. The Hernandez's were known all over Bristol CT, Mostly Because of Aaron's father Dennis. Most people knew him as The King do to his high school football career at Bristol Central High school. It didn't take long for Aaron to over take that role as the star football player in town. Aaron was on the team and instantly became a star. No one could stop him. He could catch, run routes extremely well and he could run the ball as well. His father was always a constant supporter and wasn't afraid to cry if his kid made a great play. Aaron was also a great student. Heading into his sophomore year Aaron’s brother DJ was expecting a football scholarship from uconn for football. Also Aaron was on the varsity team. But it didn't take long for the first of many tragic things to happen in Aaron’s life. Aaron’s father passed away from a post reaction to a surgery that put him into cardiac arrest. Aaron was devastated but still played in his game later that week. At Dennis funeral the people were around the corner trying to get in. After his father's death Aaron started to get aggressive and grow distant from his mom. He didn't have a great relationship with his Mom Terri because she has cheated on his father but they still stayed together. Aaron started to hang with the wrong crowd and started to smoke weed. By the time of his senior year Aaron was the number 1 tight end in the country and he was planning to go to Uconn to play with his brother. He backed out and excepted the scholarship for the florida gators. Down in florida the gators were treated like royalty and Aaron liked that. The first sign of trouble came when he didn't even play a game yet. The bar manager claims that Aaron refused to pay a 12 dollar bill and as things escalated he punched him and ran. Also his use of drugs was getting worse and he also had a couple more run ins with the law. He still had a great college career and was was selected by the patriots in the 2010 NFL draft promising them he had changed. But nothing changed. Aaron had the skill to be the next big thing ass he showed how good he was in his first 3 years with the patriots. One night he asked his friend Odin Lloyd if he wanted to go to a club. Aaron and to other men had a different plan. Aaron brought him to a abandoned location and killed him. Know one knows what the motives were. (had a lot more to write but didn't have enough time at this point he was 23 and the biography and when he is 29 when he dies by suicide)
Emily A
LA: D
I am Malala
This book was a memoir written by Malala herself. Malala grew up in the Middle East, and she had a pretty great life. She was a smart girl, and a kind child. She lived in a small home with her mother, father, and her brothers. Malala never got in any trouble and focused mainly on her house duties and school. Unfortunately, her small, humble world was basically crushed when someone new came into the leadership in Pakistan. The dictator did not allow anything, women weren’t equal to men and they couldn’t even get an education. Along with this new ruling, Malala took a big toll on this because her education was one of her most important values in her life. She did not have much at all; all she had was her family, her small house, her education, and a few friends. For a person who values one thing so much then to have it completely taken away is harsh. Malala fought to go to school; she fought to get her education and the education of all the young girls her age. One day, on the school bus Malala was at gunpoint, and was shot. It was devastating to everyone who knew her. Malala barely survived, but in the end she was strong and she pulled through. Getting shot took her back her strength for a little while, but after all took that life changing event and did something else that would be life changing. Malala fought and fought for education. It took so much time, but after all she got what she wanted. Young women in her country regained their rights. By being the leader of this comeback, she gained a lot of publicity. She traveled the world and went to places that she never thought she would ever see. Malala spoke to millions of people over her brave, and heroic actions. Because of this she won a Nobel Peace Prize. Malala continues to live out her legacy that she has had since day one, she still travels and speaks on her accomplishment to this day. For young girls, she is a courageous role model and a lot of people look up to her.
Aly D
LA D
The book I read was about a boy who lived with his parents, but living with the people who brought him into the world wasn’t the best for him. He was about 10 years old, and he lived in a house with his mom and dad. They were very poor, and didn’t have much money, which meant they couldn’t afford too much. His parents treated him terribly. They always had him stay up in his room for pretty much the whole day, and they wouldn’t feed him as much food as a child should be consuming. They would give him scraps of their food or make him very little to eat. Sometimes he wouldn’t eat at all. He wasn’t really allowed to go outside for fresh air, or play. He just stayed in his room all day. His parents always got into fights with screaming and yelling and sometimes physical fights. They would get drunk, and sometimes abuse him. Eventually he was brought into a foster home.
Abbey p
So there was this girl named lisa and she wanted to be popular but kids were bullying her because she was new to the school and she didn’t know anyone new faces and a fresh new start in a new school and she wanted to make sure that she was focus on work then get out of school. Lisa was a very gorgeous girl in the high school she was from maine and she moved to cali and she liked cali a lot very beautiful place and very warm and didn’t a lot of rain showers just a lot of fires and they would make cali even more depressed because it could be someone houses or just wildfires and they are very dangerous. Lisa missing her out friends and she wishes to back in maine where her family was but they moved because of her dads work he worked in the military and they had to move because of an upcoming battle that my dad had to face. When years went along my dad has past away from getting shot in the war but i still love her no matter what happens and i will always remember him in my heart. Mom and i want to make breakfast and we heard a knock on the door and i was like i think dads home , mom said i hope so and i saw out the window that some people were outside. My brothers and i waited and sat down we the people came in and said “Hello i’m one of the officers that work with your husband or dad i’m sorry tell you but he has passed away from a very bad condition and we didn’t know what it was from but i am very sorry for your loss. I hope you understand. Everyone was crying i went back to school i was a different person i was happy loving caring to a suicidal and very emotional person.
Mariah R
LA d
Autumn Falls
Bella Thorne
Bella thorne is an actress, singer, and role model to many people. She is young and talented her first role was in The Disney Channel on a 5 minute show called The Time I. At a young age Thorne was diagnosed with dyslexia. She told about her dyslexia and how she worked with it and how her family would make her read small things like a cereal box, restaurant menus, and signs on the road to make her better. Thorne started a show called Shake It Up sometime in 2011. She played one of the lead characters “CC”. On Shake It Up she become good friends with co-star Zendaya. AS the years went on Thorne started her music career with her first song. The song was TTYLXOX. The song went a little like “be be be my BFF cause idk what's coming” and more fun up-beat lyrics. After Shake It Up and TTYLXOX came out Bella starred in movies and other t.v shows. Another t.v show she starred in was called scream where she was only in one episode do to the crazy killer murdering her character. Then she starred in my personal favorite role of her. The movie “You get me”. It’s about a guy who has a one night stand with Bella and she goes crazy. Now Bella is living her life as a adult who loves to have fun and has amazing friends.
La-D
Devin oliveira
The book I read was called superstars Tom Brady and this is what the story was about.
Tom Brady did not know what kind of college he should go to he was getting all kinds scholarships from different colleges but he saw a college that caught his eye wolves that team was the best team in college and still is to this day lots of people came from the team Wolves and to the NFL Tom Brady was hoping he could be one of those people that made it to the NFL. and he would like to go to the Wolves team because where that stadium took place him family and friends lived and he has not seen them for a while so he said that it would be a good chance to see his other side of the family once again. So Tom Brady ended up going to the Wolves and it worked out great he was the best on his team he threw for many touchdowns and run for a few first downs and that's when everyone realized that Tom Brady was a superstar.
HANK AARON
Jack standish
2/28/18
When Hank Aaron was a kid all he would wish to do was play in the mlb. He would run as fast as he could back to his house to play catch with his brother or dad and most of the time he would get some of his friends together to play an organized game and they would play till supper. It was tough for aaron growing up as a kid because his mom died when he was 11. It was the time were jim crow laws were out of hand and she ended up getting shot several times by a white because she was drinking out of the wrong bubbler. It affected aarons life bigtime. It affected his grades, he started to lose some friends because most of the time he wouldn't play outside and in school he wouldn't talk much. It took him a few years to recover from it and once he did he was at the top of his class getting As and getting his social life back with many friends. Once he was in the 8th grade he understood that he was really good at baseball and could someday be in the MLB playing with pros. Even though at the time there were no blacks allowed in the league he was still encouraged. It was in 11th grade when the first black joined the MLB, Jackie Robinson. This brought loads of help for Hank because now he actually knew that he could he make it. He went through high school and graduated and ended up going to a not so nice collage in alabama. He ended up going to a baseball league that paid a decent amount of money. It was like an MLB just for blacks. He was doing great in it, an outstanding job. One day he hit 3 home runs, in one game. He ended up signing to the atlanta braves for a vast amount of money and spent his whole career there. He ended up winning 7 triple crowns, 4 world series and appeared in 15 all star games with an amazing carrer.
Avery R LA D
Breaker- alex morgan
This book is about alex morgan she is on the us women's national soccer team but first, When she was really little her dad wanted her to like softball she did and she played it but then after a while she started to like soccer because of her sisters and that's where it started.
when she was nine her and her dad would go out and train as hard as they could every day and her coaches would help her to get better and she wanted to get better and be a better player. When she got really fast they had to get a trainer for her to do all of her conditioning. She was even playing with the U-17 girls. She lived in california in a small town.
Zachary R.
La: D
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was a very interesting guy. He was born around 1863. When he graduated from college he was around 19 years old and he was studying to work for a design group. One day he was working at a job plan site and he saw the first steam train. He described it as a boiler on wheels with a coal cart and other carts behind it. He wanted to know more about it. Soon or a later, he found out that- that steam train he saw ran on a few things: Coal, Water, and Fire. To get the train rolling, he had to have fire then put the coal in the fire then to slow it down or stop it he’d have to not put any more coal in. If there was an emergency, the driver would have to put water on the fire to put it out. When Henry saw this he wanted to make an automobile able to drive on the road. He was the first automobile makers to ever be making on. He named his first automobile the Model T. After awhile he referred automobile as the word “car”. People still use the word car today, people rarely use automobile instead of car. In the 1930s, he sold around 10,607 Model Ts. In 1947, Henry Ford died of old age. He lived 83 years.
Grace S
La D
“Hope Solo My Story” by Hope Solo
In the book,” Hope Solo My Story” by Hope Solo she tells about her life when she was growing up and to where she got today. Hope Solo was always a fun energetic girl that had a passion for sports, to be with her family, and to be with her friends. When she was younger she would go and play outside in her backyard with her brother for hours playing soccer. But, one day something had totally changed. Since her mother and father are divorced things weren't the same. When Hope was seven years old her and her brother had gotten kidnapped by her father. Her father was homeless and poor at the time and didn’t have much to do with his life besides kidnap his own kids. But, not to long after they got returned back home to where they lived. Not many years later Hope’s father passed away. She wasn’t really close to her father unlike her mom but she still remembered some things about him. Later on, in Hope Solo’s life she wanted to have a career in soccer because she had a passion for it. So, she stuck to her dream and made it happen. She worked so hard to reach the Olympics and made a spot on the US Olympic team that year in 2008 and once again in 2012. Before the game started she spread his ashes in the goal(where she would be standing the whole game).She did this for good luck and to remember her dad. That game she won and said,” I did it for my dad.” That year she had received the golden glove award from being the best goalie in the world.
Hope Solo has inspired so many people with her story. The author's purpose of this book is to show that since she is famous for being the best goalie in the world her life was never perfect. She had faced so many struggles with her family that nobody would have believed would have happened. Everyones thinks that someone's life is perfect until you actually get to know them.
Trinity Abeyllez February Biography Blog
L.A. Block-D
In Real Life My Journey To A Pixelated Word
By -Joey Graceffa
Okay the book i read this month is a AutoBiography of Joey Graceffa a youtube star and in this book it tells us about his life as a child, growing up , and his rode to fame.
When Joey was really young he talked about how he would eat this things called , “Paint Chips,” which is pretty much the chips of paint that fell/chipped off his wall. He explained how that caused him to get sick easily and gave him,” ADHD,”which is a attention disorder and high energy. As Joey was growing up he had a lot of battles he had to overcome one that really affected his life was when his parents got divorce. It really hit him because he thought he was different and could never fit in plus he thought it was his fault his parents wanted this. He talked about how it was hard growing up being 2 places at once constantly and how he felt like he deserved to have one christmas not two or how he should be able to have a birthday party with all of his cousins and grandparents without his parents coming at each other. Then the unexpected happened he ended up being a homosexual. He figured out he was like this when he turned 15 years old and tried lying to himself so he could feel normal especially since his parents were divorced and he had ADHD etc. so he lied to himself. He lied to himself by dating girls, partying with girls , and having sex just so he could feel normal but he knew deep down inside he was always gay. Since Joey lied to himself so much it made him depressed and took him down a rode of anger and sadness. Which made him feel even more of a outsider and different. The worst part of all of this he was bullied A LOT and that had a toll on him also. Then one day in college he found this thing called YouTube and he started making content that made him happy. But he couldn't believe he was also making different people happy. Then on his channel he started talking about all the different things he was going threw in life by making this video called , “Draw My Life,” a lot of people enjoyed it and told him he was going threw the same exact things as he was going threw. This started making Joey feel equal and happy. Until he got his first hate comment which called him a ,”Faget,” and , “ Your worthless you're never gonna have a real job or have a good life,” the one were they pretty much called him gay it him really hard because he didn't want to reveal that he was a homosexual but he realized one comment wasn't gonna stop him so he did this thing were he read all his hate
comments and tried to find ways to help him overcome what they said and tried to find ways to make it not bother him anymore. Then he did it , he came out to the world but not on youtube in the book with a chapter titled , “SURPRISE,” and under it had one sentence where is said ,” Im GAY,” and then the story just kept going.
Jasmine Medeiros ; Book: Isaac the Alchemist ; Another: Mary Losure ; Classe D
Isaac was just born when his father had died before he was born so he never actually meet him. Well his mom left ones or two times and she left him with his grandmother and he doesn't know why his mom used to tell him how much he meant to her and how much she loved him so he doesn't know why she left those times. Well when she came back to him she had a boyfriend such as Isaac new stepfather, a few years after that the boyfriend of his mother and he ask he to get married and such then I had 2 siblings in my life know. Isaac and his family are a rich mister and they have a nice house and and he goes to a nice church and he is very wealthy. He has a baby sister she is still a baby and his other he is 3 and I think that he his kinda hurt because know he is 13 or so and he did not have his mom all the time she left and stuff well yeah. Isaac sometimes most of the time he wishes death on his stepfather he just hate him a lot and he wishes that a lot in his head in his room he hate that stepfather of his he wish he could see his real one. He had some free time and went to church read really old books talk about magic and witches and he explains that in the book. A lot of people say that he had a perfect life but he really did not when he was younger and did have things to do but he was not that perfect well not really he had imagined things like killing and wishing his dad was dead. Well when he got older he had a pashen and that was kinda like law and that was a good thing he liked a lot well he did not have an amazing chided hude but he did do some nice things when he got older yeah he was rich and goes to church it doesn't mean it was that amazing because it not always about money.
I DID NOT FINISH THE WHOLE BOOK
Logan L
Hope Solo-My Story
LA D
Hope Solo lived in Richland, Washington when she was younger. She started to play soccer at a young age.She played forward. She lived in a house that had a smiley face on the picket fence. She would always spend her time outside in her backyard. She felt as if she could escape everything by being out there and that the smiley face meant happiness. But as she got a little older, like around the age of 7,her parents started fighting a lot and she didn’t understand why. She would still go outside in her backyard since she thought the smiley face brought happiness. She was too young to understand, but her father was stealing money from her mom and he would disappear for a night a lot of times. Finally he left them and Hope thought that she would never see her father again. Until one day, when she was a little older, she was going to one of her premiere soccer games with her friend. When she arrived at the field she noticed a man and realised it was her dad. Her dad watched her game and then asked Hope and her friend if they wanted to see where he lived. So they went up into the woods and stopped at a tent. Hope was very confused. She thought her dad had money. Turns out he was homeless. That day changed who she thought her father was. One of the games Hope was playing in she played in net because they were winning by a lot. Her coaches then realised she was a good goalie because she was making great saves and she was diving everywhere. That same year at tryouts, they wanted her to try out as a goalie and she made the team that was in a different age group because they were older then her. I think she was like 12 at that time while the other girls were like 15. She ended up being a goalie from that day forward. When she was at school one day, her dad came and picked her and her older brother Marcus. They both thought that their mom was allowing him to pick them up. But it turns out, their mom didn’t even know. Her father was kidnapping them. Their mom ended up finding them and her father ended up going to jail for kidnapping. When Hope got a little bit older, she joined the US Women’s national team. Some of the players were mean to her but others like Abby Wambach was nice to her and helped her feel comfortable there. Hope Solo made a lot of Accomplishments by being on the US Women’s National Team. She had great games and some not so good games. When she was on the team, they won a lot of things like the World Cup in Rio De Janeiro. Hope Solo is no longer on the US team, I don’t know exactly why because this book was written before she was no longer on the team. Hope Solo was and still is a role model to all the goalies and soccer players out there, like me. She has showed everyone that they can still do their best even if they have had difficulties in life.
Mikayla H.
D Class
A Man Named Dave
by Dave Pelzer
Dave Pelzer was the first born child in his family along with 3 other brothers. He was brutally abused by his mother but none of his brothers were. His mom was an alcoholic and his dad was a fireman. His mom would punish him if he spoke without permission, moved without permission or didn’t do what he was told. He would have to do chores in an unreasonable short amount of time. If he completed his chores in time, he could eat. If he didn’t, he would not eat and have to undergo a horrific punishment. Some include his mom mixing ammonia and bleach, locking him in a bathroom, with no clothes, in a tub filled with ice cold water, having to breath in chemicals. Another punishment was having his hand held above the burner on the stove until he had severe burn marks. His mother would often make up stories about his bruises and scars to tell the school so she wouldn’t get in trouble. His mother eventually came to the conclusion that Dave was no longer a part of the family so, she banned the use of his name in the house and was now referred to as “It”. He had to sleep in an army cot in the freezing basement with no blankets or pillows. Every morning, he had to wake up really early and do his chores before he went to school. Often times in school, he was made fun of for the way he looked. He wore the same clothes everyday. His mom did not let him take lunch to school, so every day during recess, he would go in his classroom, and take any leftover food from his classmates lunch boxes. One day, he was caught, so they moved the lunchboxes to where he couldn’t get to them. Once that plan fell through, he started stealing frozen hot dogs from the lunch room every morning. Eventually, his mom caught on and made him throw up whatever he had for lunch. So, he stopped taking hot dogs from the lunch room. One day, his dad left the house and never came back. His dad would always sneak little scraps from dinner and give them to him. When his dad left, he had no desire to live anymore. Eventually, he ran away and was found by police officers and taken back to the station. They asked him why he ran away but he was too scared to tell them, just in case his mom found him and told them a different story. Eventually, he cracked and told them everything. He went to a foster home. Throughout the next year or so, he went to court against his mom and ended up winning. He stayed in foster care until he was 18, a legal adult. Then, he decided to join the armed forces, specifically air force. Ever since he was little, he was fascinated with planes. He wanted to be a fireman like his father was but ended up being the cook. A few years before, when he was still in foster care, he met his dad again for the first time since he left. His dad was very old. He ended up giving Dave his fireman badge since he was long retired. After being in the air force for a while, he found out his dad was very sick and only had a few weeks to live. He flew back home and visited his dad in the hospital. He gave Dave a piece of paper; one that would earn him a lot of money. His mother has been wanting that paper forever. Once his father died, his mom didn’t tell him and was planning a funeral. During the funeral, his mom yelled at him for having the paper. She cremated his father. Dave was not happy because his dad always said he never wanted to be cremated. Dave now lives a happy life with many book of his published.
Zoe R L.A.D In Real Life Joey Graceffa
“In Real Life” is a autobiography about a youtuber named Joey Graceffa. He is still a youtuber to this day and he now has over 8 million subscribers! When Joey was a child he grew up with a older sister named Nicole and they lived outside of Boston Massachusetts. He ate lead paint chips as a kid so he went to the doctor and he ate a ton of paint chips. So the doctor said that he might have some mental issues because of it so in school he got placed in the special ed class. He had a mother who was a alcoholic and he was really scarred from that. His mom went to rehabilitation places and would get better then would go right back to the drinking. He would have really bad arguments with her and he would always end up crying after that, so would his mom. In School he would get bullied by older boys and they would call him gay and the same throughout middle school, but in high school he met a girl named Brittany and they shared a love if making videos so they started a channel called Winterspringpro because is way Joey’s favorite place in a game called World of Warcraft. (W.O.W.) They would make parodies of famous songs and it took off. They would get a lot of views and likes. (This when youtube just started) They were eventually being noticed in school with their fans and they would ask for their autograph and they felt like they were getting somewhere. When collage came he knew that he wanted to make videos so he applied to a school that had a great filming major so he applied and did not get inso he joined a different college and still tried for that collage but still never got in. He and his friend went to different colleges but still made videos together. He met someone that he went to school with and that became friends with them. He would see people and really start to wonder if he REALLY was gay. He later dropped out of tht college and moved to L.A with Brittany. They went to a convention called vidcon and made some youtube friends and later they were invited to work at a place to film videos and the said yes! Things started to drift away between him and Brittany so joey made is own channel called Joey Graceffa and that was also taking off. By then was definitely gay and started to go out with them and he was happy, but he had a hard time sticking with them. He met a friend named meh=gsn and they did the Amazing Race together and they lost but it was still fun for them. Now he still maked videos and gaming videos and he is still successful to this day.
2/28/18 Shaquille O’neal Faceson Hicks LaD
This book is about a Nba HALL OF FAMER! 10 time all star 3-time NBA champion 2-time Finals MVP 3- Time League MVP and argued the most dominating player in nba history to this day. But wait before I talk about what he did on the top of the world It wouldn't be right if i didn't tell you what he had to overcome to get to the top. First things first okay so shaq growing up as a kid was very tough because his father left his mother and him when he was just born leaving his mother alone. His mother was very,very smart the doctors sat her down in down in a room with a organization called DCYF which helped families in need of adoption of foster care until the mother or father can financially,mentally and physically safe with a newborn child so she agreed that she would be able to take care for young shaq until he was 18. When shaq was 2 years old his Step-Father Odom entered the picture with two sources of income this made shaq’s and his mother’s life a little bit easier because they didn't have to live off of a well-fair check no longer and life in the projects of detroit. So three years later shaq entered kingareteen shaquille was very different from the other kids clearly taller stronger and unfortunately chunkier and because of this shaquille got bullied all the time when shaq turned ten years old he was 5’4 115 pounds kids used to call big-african and one day he was in the classroom and he had just got back from lunch and had a straw and paper so him and his buddy were spitting spit balls back and forth between each other and shaquille had hit another child in the class and then began to tell the teacher on him so shaq got pissed off and met that kid outside and hit him so hard the kid began having an elliptic- seizure. When shaquille got home his dad and mother were waiting for him to give him a talk about how he was bigger than kids around him and he could have killed that little boy out that park that day. This is what got him into basketball. In the summer of his freshman shaquille has sprouted up to 6’8 195 pounds his first dunk ever was in 7th grade and that's when scouts of aau teams started to notice him so he got a lot of attention. This was book focuses mainly on the the childhood of shaquille O’neal and how he became the wealthy man he is today.
Miles S L.A. D Class Becoming Kareem, Up on the Court and Off
Kareem born in the 1950’s and loved to read. He was a well educated person because he read so much. Unfortunately his parents weren’t supportive like other parents were with their kids. Kareem’s dad was not the kind of father that Kareem expected. His father would ignore Kareem’s questions and point to a book(if able to) and give a grunt. Kareem’s mother was sort of supportive. She cared a lot about Kareem’s education and what his future would be like. Since Kareem’s father didn’t bond with his own son he didn’t care about some of Kareem’s most important events and if he was bullied. Kareem was educated in a catholic school but it wasn’t the school for Kareem. It had the worst behaved children or children that acted like as if they were animals. Kareem experienced a lot of bullying because of this. His height was 6 ft at his school not usual for someone who wasn’t even in high school yet. Kareem’s height made him on the basketball team automatically. Kareem thought it would be easy but didn’t know the fundamentals. Unlike most kids Kareem grew in sudden spurts so his body wasn’t in sync when ever Kareem moved on the court. All of that changed when Kareem tried to make a hook shot at one game. It made him feel like an athlete so he did it over and over again. Kareem was noticed but his friendship would cost him. Johnny was Kareem’s best friend and they were inseparable. One day they were sitting at lunch and Kareem pushed Johnny as a joke and Johnny pushed back harder but not as a joke. Johnny had a bloody nose and called Kareem an old word that was used a lot toward anyone who wasn’t white. Kareem was shaken up by the unbecoming language and never say Johnny that much after. Kareem didn’t let that get in his way. After being spotted in one of his basketball games a high school coach came over to Kareem and taught him fundamentals. As plain as it is the coach saw potential in Kareem. His height was perfect and all Kareem had to learn was the proper way to move with and without the ball. Kareem finished middle school and went to play basketball in his freshman year. Kareem met so many great players and they all tried their hardest. Kareem knew that his team would dominate because of the skills they had. The coach was tough which Kareem didn’t seemed to mind. After winning a lot of games the team felt undefeated. They were until they got destroyed by a much more athletic high school team.
The coach yelled at Kareem and called Kareem a word that reminded him of his friendship with Johnny. Kareem felt heartbroken but later on that actually boosted his confidence. Kareem played so well and increased his athletic performance which the coach loved until the season was over. The coach told Kareem the reason why he called Kareem the word from before. The coach knew that if he called Kareem that then Kareem would prove the coach he wasn’t that word. Kareem felt better and understood but still felt shaken up. The coach said the word as if it were always true. Kareem knew better than that and that’s why he played better. He still knew that if that were the case to make him better then it would just be offensive reflections over and over. The coach was right but missed Kareem’s judgemental process in thinking that. After the freshman year ended Kareem played basketball with a different coach that mostly spent one on one time with Kareem. The coach was like a father to Kareem which made Kareem felt that as an accomplishment. Whenever Kareem and his teammates failed to win the coach would make them practice until they couldn’t anymore. Then he would do it again but just for fun. He would take notes and smiled but acted serious. Kareem became even faster; as a result, the learning came quickly for Kareem. His special fundamental, The Skyhook, would dominate in practice and in games. After Kareem graduated from his sophomore year and earned his diploma, Kareem played in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks. Kareem loved winning but even better than basketball was converting to Muslim. Muslim was common practice for African Americans and Kareem loved it. He used it to play better in basketball because it brought out his definition of himself. He felt nervous saying that to the team but on a bus ride with his team they all talked about their religions. Kareem’s life was an experience that Kareem enjoyed and knew that the whole time.
Jovan G LA.A Leaving GloryTown Eduardo F. Calcines
SOMEONE- In the book Leaving Glorytown main characters inclue Eduardo,Rafael Eduardo's father,Conchita Eduardo's mother,Ester Eduardo's little sister,Abuela Ana and Abuelo Julian his grandparents,and his three best friends Rolando,Luis,and Tito.
WANTED- Eduardo and his family live in Cuba in the mid 1900's while Fidel Castro is dictator of all of Cuba. Eduardo's family like most others wants things in Cuba to go back to normal before Fidel's so called "Revolution. Eduardo and his family soon realize things will never be the same, and the long to go to America what they call the "Land of the free."
BUT- IN order to go to America in Cuba you must get a visa which allows you to legally leave, but once you apply for a visa everyone knows,and Cuban's who apply are called "Worms" for trying to leave the great "Revolution", and "Worms" have it real bad in Cuba when Eduardo's father applied for one Eduardo got into fights and arguments with other children at school because all the children were bullying him for being a "Worm", and even Eduardo's teacher despised him for being a "Worm".
SO- In order to get a visa you can't be a criminal or get into any trouble while waiting for your visa, so Eduardo's father told him he mustn't hit or yell at any other students even if the bully or pick on him because then they would never be able to leave Cuba,and would be labeled "Worms" for the rest of their lives.
THEN- Eduardo and his family waited for their visa to come,and Eduardo plays with his friends Rolando,Tito,and Luis<and one day they sneak onto a ferry which is a large boat that carries cars,and ride around the country of Cuba going from port to port until they finally made their way back to Cienfuegos were they all made their way to to San Carlos street were all three of them happened to live.
FINALLY- In the end nearing Eduardo's 15th birthday he and his family fear there visa won't come in time and Eduardo will be drafted into the Cuban army, but about four months before Eduardo's birthday an army official came,and gave the Calcines family their visa from there they had exactly one week to pack and get ready for america. On the day of the flight Eduardo and his family went to the capital were Cuban's are banned from going,and took one final look at the turquoise waters of cuba,and boarded the flight.
Morgan W LA:C Title: Courage to Soar By: Simone Biles
Simone Biles is an Olympic gold gymnast. She was six years old when she started gymnastics. Her childhood was a little rough. Her dad and her mom made bad choices, this ment her and her siblings had to go into foster care. She had a brother and a sister. For a few years they were all in and out of foster care. One day her grandparents, on her mom side, took them. They had all the court approval, her grandparents were now her parents. Right when Simone got to her grandparents house she immediately fell in love with her new house. She no longer had to worry about where she was going to sleep that night or if there was going to be food on the table. Starting gymnastics at six years old is a little late for an Olympic gymnast. Usually Olympic gymnast start when they are two years old at mommy and me classes, but Simone wasn’t so lucky to start that young. While she was in foster care she couldn’t do gymnastic, because she was always moving. Now that she was at her grandparents permanently, she could start. She was always flipping around that house and always moving. She was a fast learner for someone who just started. She was doing competitions all around the United States. She was a three time world champion in 2013. She is one of four kids and always acted like the mom. Even though she had a difficult childhood she pulled through got good grades and make it to the Olympics as a gold medalist for the U.S.A.
Amelia O. LA:A book: Reasons for hope Jane Goodall 3/15/18
In the book “Reasons for Hope Jane Goodall” the author describes the life of Jane Goodall in a complete way. In the book the Author describes her early life as a child throughout her life until about her elder years. She is shown as a role model to all in the book as she helps animals and is a great example of a life we should live mentally and physically. In the book the author describes the charitable work that she does and all of the other things that she does to help people and animals and making the world a better place for all.
Jane was born during the War in England to an average wealth family. At a young age she was an explorer to things in her backyard. She would spend hours playing with the chickens that the family had. She also Collected bugs, and played with bugs and was a helper in the garden. She was nice to many kids in her elementary school so she had many friends. Her mother describes her as a smart girl who loved to spend her free time outdoors and reading. In the story Jane talks about this book that she keeps relating too. The book was about animals, and at that age Africa which was far away seemed like an enchanted mysterious land.
As Jane grew older she knew she definitely wanted to do something relating to animals but she knew she might have to sacrifice that dream because England was not Abundant with many different species to discover. Then she got a telegram from a friend who moved to Africa asking Jane if she wanted to stay in Africa and come down to visit. Getting to Africa would take a lot of money so Jane saved up all her money for a few weeks and finally she made enough money to the trip to Africa.
During this trip Jane describes the colors they see on the boat and the islands they stop along the way. She says she loved the feeling at sea and she never wanted to leave. After a few weeks they docked and she was finally there. Her friend and Friends family brought them to there house and Jane describes that night as a perfect night, seeing all the different animals the giraffes the elephants and many other animals. Though she was having a fun time she had to get a job to, to make some money. She went to the museum which had an opening, but it was a secretary job. She takes the job, wishing it was a different one, but she describes later how she is happy she took the job and how her boss is nice.
One day she hears her boss talking about a trip, she asks if she can go, not having a degree does not stop Jane she is a hard worker. He says the trip is to go investigate Chimpanzees, he allows Jane to go with him. Before the trip Jane describes how she is scared but she feels like it is a now or never situation.
A few weeks later she s in the forest looking for chimpanzees with her boss. After setting up camp and looking for a few hours there is nothing, the crew is disappointed. Then Jane sees a dark figure move behind the trees, it's a chimpanzee. The crew and Jane describe how they interacted with the animals.
Throughout the next few years jane works with the chimpanzees. She talks about her compassion and love for working with the chimpanzees. Also she talks about her research, how they ate, walked, build basic tools and how similar we are to these primate. She does this work and continually turns it into a job. Throughout her life she has gotten many awards.
Later in life she started a Jane goodall wildlife fund, she does this out of the love for all animals. The fund has helped many animals today. She is an inspiration to many people. She travels throughout the country talking about her studies. She has helped many students who are interested in animals find what they love.
In conclusion, in the book “Reasons for Hope, Jane Goodall’’ The author clearly shows the work that Jane has done and how she is an inspiration to many people and how she is a hard working humble human being.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
SOMEONE Charlie, a freshman heading into high school. Sam and Patrick who are seniors that get close with Charlie.
WANTED Charlie wanted a clean slate in high school. He wanted to make new friends and didn't want to be considered the outcast of the grade.
BUT a couple of years ago, Charlie lost his aunt in a car crash on christmas eve, his birthday. He was very close to her so it was a big deal. While he was in middle school, he lost one of his only friends to suicide. Charlie cannot stop thinking about these losses. Charlie does not want to connect to people because of undergoing pain in his life. The theme of this book is the benefits of allowing and connecting with people in your life.
SO Two seniors who were also very quiet and who kept to themselves befriend Charlie. Their names are Sam and Patrick. Charlie starts to open up to them. As it turns out, Charlie starts developing a crush on Sam who is also Patrick’s stepsister.
THEN Charlie is too shy to tell her about the crush. Patrick gives Charlie advice on how to talk to girls and more about being a normal teenager. Charlie starts taking the advice and opens up more to everyone.
FINALLY It is near graduation and Charlie realises that Sam and Patrick will be gone and he will have to take what he knows and try to benefit from it. Charlie gathers an interest for music and starts making mixtapes and mixes laid out on a CD
Riley H, LA D
Edgar Allan Poe: His Life and Legacy
Edgar Allan Poe was born on january 19, 1809. Poe’s parents were hardly involved. His mother was an actor who was only focused on her career. She died doing a show, Poe was only a year old. His father was an actor but also a huge alcoholic who had abandoned Poe and the mother soon after Poe’s birth. Edgar Allan Poe was soon taken into foster care and was adopted by a rich merchant. They moved to England and Poe attended Manor House School when he was six years old. When he was an adolescent, they moved back to America and he went to the University of Virginia for college. He was there for one year until he started to have a gambling addiction and his foster parent made him come back home. Poe joined the army and moved to Baltimore. Not a long time after, his guardian died. After this happened, Poe turned to poetry. He was noticed and became an editorial assistant in the Southern Literary Messenger. Poe grew stressed and started drinking. He had the addiction gene so he soon got attached to alcohol. He left his job and married his cousin. He wrote many stories after these events. Sadly, most of them only got noticed after his death. Poe died at only forty years old. Many people tend to argue if he died of rabies or alcoholism.
Georgia K, LA B, Three Little words
The book, “Three Little words,” is about the author's childhood. In this book the author doesn’t have any ordinary childhood, she has a hard one. Basically throughout the book it talks about how the author (Ashley's) mom had her when she was very young, at age 17. When Ashley was only three years old police came to arrest her birth mother Ashley and her brother John were put into Foster care. Another, key point in this story is that it says that Ashleys birth mother also got abandoned by her mother as well, so Ashleys birth mother was following in her footsteps. Ashley spent 9 years in foster care with 14 placements, she moved from home to home and they would take her clothes and everything that belonged to her while moving around. In all of Ashley's different homes she came across abuse, beaten and cruelly forced to spend the days in the hot Florida sun and sit under a counter for hours. Usually the houses Ashley got sent to she always got forgotten about and most of the houses were way overcrowded. Ashley was rescued from the foster care by Gail and Phil who gave her a happy ending. After the hard life ashley lived she finally got to feel what love was like. But Ashely often feared that quarters would send her back leading her in ny different ways. But after awhile she finally realized she had found home and then she went off to collage. Ashley then graduated and wrote this book to give an example to teens and to be careful with what there doing , and maybe give advice to kids like her that are going through the same thing.
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