My Holocaust Haiku

Well, apparently I'm a liar because I did say I was done with the blogs for the remainder of this school year... well, I forgot one. It's my holocaust haiku, you know, three lines, first and last line containing five words and middle line containing seven. Well here goes nothing...

I look upon the stars,

just hoping to glance upon a sign,

the sign from god, silence

Just to let the viewer know( I should let you figure it out on your own) but this haiku refers to a Jewish child in the holocaust wishing for a chance to be saved, only instead being greeted with the cold hand of death.

Well, that's officially the last one(I think).... so I guess I'll see you next year, thanks for reading.

Reflections on my Junior year... PART II

Here we are again... this is probably my last post of the year.

I told you I would be back on this topic again.

Well, last semester I said that it was a super rollercoaster.... I wonder what this semester was like. Honestly I have been pretty chill this semester, which is not nessescarily a good thing. In most of my classes I actually semi-improved on doing my homework. In one class though(THIS ONE) I got real behind because I missed and missed a couple of days( which I know is not an excuse) in English and then I was scared to turn stuff in because I was afraid it was wrong because I wasn't here to know what was going on and then it was like a really really bad snowball effect.

I hate though's.

So now, I'm praying to god( which I'm not religious by the way) that I can somehow pull a miracle out of the sky and get by by passing this semester. That is terrible, I know, who just sits back and whishes to just GET BY on a semester. The Answer. Me.

So this semester, especially the last few weeks has been uber upsetting to my psyche, health, and much more. I am really hoping to survive semester. I always do, but who knows the unlucky god has to eventually balance out the luck god ever now and then, but I hope its not this time.

I even feel like throwing up right now. Ok. I need to stop saying stuff like that or I'm going to be in a lot more trouble than I'm already probably going to be in in the next few days. So besides my ultimate peril and devistation from this Earth by the Annihilation that is my grades... the semester was awesome.

I became captain of the drum line( I told you Tanner). I got a super anvil lifted off of my chest and almost floated in the sky because of it. Oh...... I almost forgot, I can say those magical words now....

IIII AAAAMMMM AAAA SSSSEEEENNNNIIIIOOOORRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Wrestling Match

The Wrestling Match, a story by Buchi Emecheta, centers around a boy named Okei and takes place during the Nigerian War in the 80's.

Okei is of Nigerian origin and the story centers around him and his age group battleing the hardships of being young. The elders of the town think that the young age group(Okei's) is not as it should be causing violence and disturbing the peace. This and more set up the events that result into the story climax of the wrestling match.

This is considered a novel even though it is pretty much a short story. I honestly didn't like it to much considering there was a whole bunch of wierd names and it was hard for me to keep up with whom was whom.

So in the end, Buchi Emecheta might be praised by official book reviewers, but not this one. I rate that the Wrestling Match gets a two out of five stars.

pages varies

Night

Night by Elie Wiesel

This book is the true story of Elie Wiesel when him and his family were in concentration camps during World War II.

It is truly a sad and distrubing story and real accounts of what happened there during that dark and infamous time period. The story follows Elie and his family being captured by the German army and put into concentration camps and the story of his survival(SPOILER ALERT: yes, his family doesn't make it out)

Everyone in the world, upon the right age, should read this book. It is very insightful in the ways of knowing what went on there and should be read by all. Elie Wisel has truly left me speechless.

This book gets a sorrowly five out of five.

115 pages

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Yes. Yes. Yes. I am one of those people. I read the Harry Potter series.

Actually I've only read Harry Potter 4-7. I never read the first three because I had seen the movies and didn't think I had to read them even though my parents bought them for me a long time ago.

So recently my brother has been checking them out of the library(even though I owned them) and reading them. He said they were really good, I believed him. I hadn't seen the first or second movie since they come out a long time ago, and couldn 't remember the plot or what happened, so I decided to read the first three, just to say I had.

So the first Harry Potter book revolves around Harry actually finding out that he was a wizard, the boy who lived. When he was a child Voldermort(He-who-must-not-be-named)killed his parents, but couldn't kill Harry for some unexplained reason. Now the wizarding world rejoicing from the evil reign of Voldermort ending, Harry, just a baby and now orphaned, goes and lives with his aunt, uncle, and cousin Dudley.

But Harry is thrust into an unknown world of magic and wizardy when he turns eleven and is invited to Hogwarts school of whichcraft and wizardy, where he learns of magic, gains friendship, plays quidditch and learns of his evil nemesis, Lord Voldermort.

I actually enjoyed it, but I don't know the differeneces from the movie because I haven't seen it in like five or six years, but I am sure I will watch it soon with my little bro. I can say though that my favorite of the seven is probably the Half-Blood Prince and the last one.

So... in the end I give this book a five out of five, which is probably what all of the Harry Potter books deserve.

309 pages

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

I like Drums. I like Girls. I like to occasionally be Dangerous. I like Pie. How is this not the perfect book for me.

My little brother brought this book home(from my school actually) right before spring break. He never really got into it and told me to take it back... so instead of taking it back I decided to read it.

I'm glad I did.

The book centers around a thirteen year old named Steven whom obviously plays the drums and he also has a five year old little brother Jeffrey. But one morning Jeffrey get's sick and it turns out he has Leukemia, which is no bueno. Now Steven has to deal with school, his awesome drum solo, girls, and his family trying to deal with the tragedy that has been bestowed upon them.

I really enjoyed this book, I could kinda relate to it. I mean, I have an annoying little brother, I play the drums, it just kinda fit me. So that's why I really enjoyed it, and it turns out, I already owned a Jordan SonnenBlick book called, Notes from the Midnight Driver, its good too, check it out. To me this book deserves a five out of five stars.

273 pages

Thoughts on the Holocaust Research

In English class, we have all been assigned a specific part in the holocaust to do a research paper on the subject and at the end we will individually do an presentation towards the whole class which improves the whole classes general knowledge on the whole subject of the holocaust(Whew! I said that all in one breath).

Anyway, the subject I have been tasked to become more knowledgable in is the mobile killing groups(or Einsatzgruppen). These groups were tasked with the elimination of the jews and others.

My thoughts on this is that it is honestly terrible. A man that could go through with so much madness consumed with an outlandish idea upon exterminating an lower race it perposterous. Clearly this man should have never been concieved( I hope that doesn't get me in trouble...). This man, this abomination is named Adolf Hitler.

That is my thoughts.

Favorite Web Based Tech Tool...

What is my favorite web based tech tool?
Well, honestly if I could pick a favorite one it would probably have to be Wikipedia. Now I'm sure a lot of people would disagree that that is even a web tool, but I say it is. I also say that only 99% of it is correct, um those odds are good enought for me. Even if there not correct it gives you a mass abundant scources to find out for yourself, it provides pictures, data, and much more. So it has to be Wikipedia for me, the #1 site I go to for all of my informational needs.

Reflection on Spring Break...

Well, I'm actually a tad behind on this whole blog thing but I tend to correct that mistake.

Even though Spring Break was a while back, that doesn't mean I can't reflect upon it.

Anyway normally during Spring Break I usually just chill with my family and friends but this time, wait a sec I'm getting way to ahead of myself. Let's backtrack...

In band, every two years we take a trip, the first trip we took was to sears tower in Chicago and went to see the Broadway musical, Wicked: the wicked witches of oz. Now your probably asking why would band students go see a Broadway musical of all things, well it was my freshman and first year in the high school marching band and our theme of that year was based on the musical of the same name. So you can imagine when we went and seen it at the end of the year it was kinda emotional because it reminded me of my first year in the marching band and in the drum line. It was pretty cool hearing the music that we played that year... it was amazing.

Anyway, after a long a detailed back story,two years had passed and it was time to take another band trip... destination... Florida.

So the band and my family(they didn't go the first trip) went to Orlando, Florida and went to: Disney Hollywood Studios, Universal Studios, Island of Adventures, Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, and EPCOT. It was pretty cool. And since it was a band trip, we kind of actually had to play so we went and competed against other schools in the united states and even Canada and won best overall. We got in the news papers.

Nuff said.

Glass

Glass, the sequel to Crank. This was a good book. I wouldn't say Ellen Hopkins best(I think it is still Impulse)but, it was in the top three at the least. This one once again dons the poetic writing style that is Ellen Hopkins. This one is just as dark as Crank or maybe darker(debatable). For some reason, this one didn't engulf me in its story. Maybe it was the fact that I was on my fourth Ellen Hopkin book in a row and was just tired of reading or the series. Who knows. All I know is yes, I did enjoy it, but I probably should have taken a break between the books, but I didn't.

The story was decent, picking up were Crank left off, telling the tale of Kristina and Bree and thier neverending decent into the monster. Now that Kristina has a baby(established at the end of Crank), she is a mother. Everything else involved in the story is Kristina's every falling descent into the black pit that is the monster. She meets new friends, distrust grows greater within her family, and because of the monster she doesn't care.

Another thing that bothered me was that there was really no payoff at the end of the book. Maybe, if you really think about it, theres no payoff in any of Ellen Hopkins book's. But, nevertheless it still was engrossing, and I was compelled to read it to the end. I give the book a three out of five stars.

688 pages

Impulse

I really enjoyed Crank. I sorta enjoyed Burned. I loved Impulse.

I think this is ultimately the best Ellen Hopkin book I've read. She goes back to her roots and gives vivid poetic shapes and scriptures. She goes back into the depths of the abyss and shows what its like to be in a uber-tunnel of darkness, and not see the light. I don't know if that makes me demented or not, but that is why I loved this novel.

The Story is told in three different perspectives. The first is a boy named Connor, the second boy is name Tony, and the third, a girl, is name Vanessa. These three have all attempted suicide and know they are in Apsen Springs to overcome what they have done to themselves.

688 pages

Burned

In this book from Ellen Hopkins, I was kinda disappointed amongst other things.

Don't get me wrong it was a decent book, but I can't put my finger on it, just something about. Anyway, once again it is written in poetic form, but it's not as bad as Crank. Yes, it is still for a more mature audience but its not as dark and sinister. Another thing is that in Crank, the poetic shapes she created were more vivid and alive in the text, but in Burned it was just like she was just putting it in poetry form just to do it. I don't know, maybe it was just me, not the book. But I seriously don't think so.

The central story of Burned consists of another girl protagonist, Pattyn. She's a Mormon whom doesn't think women should just bow at the feet of men and do as they are told. She believes that women deserve a place in the world just as any other man does. Silly little women(just kidding). In believing this she strives to do things she not permitted to do by her family, which consists of about seven siblings, a lazy mother, and an abusive father. One includes her getting with a boy and doing inappropriate things. The town soon knows of what they have done and it gets back around to her family due to gossip. Decisively, her family disapproves. She is then sent off to live with her Aunt J and finds retribution with her and a boy named Ethan.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell, without giving too much information away(I hate when people do that). See, the thing that really drove me towards Hopkins books is that they were dark and sinister. Don't get me wrong, this is still a little dark, but it wasn't what I was looking for. In the end this book gets a three out of five stars.

544 pages

Crank

Crank...

What can I say about this novel?

It has been a really wierd upside down corkscrew omega extra death rollercoaster. This book is not for a young audience at all. It's mainstreem audience will consist of the fifteen and twenty age range. I strongly suggest making sure your child or whomever is reading this be advised that it has very strong adult content. However, on a good note, the book is written in poetic form. Meaning, that its not a straight forward, "read to left to right", but rather sometimes the words will make shapes, and or artistic means. This was very interesting because,well it was just one word.

Different.

Different can be good and it can be bad, but in this case it was a positive attribute. It was cool sometimes reading a sad moment and realizing that the text was in the shape of a tear. Pretty deep stuff.

I guess a novel wouldn't be worth anything unless it had a good story. I'm here to tell you that Crank has a very cool story consisting of: loss, destruction, hope, and ultimately the fight for redemption. It has all the things a good book needs to have. So whats it about?

The story consist of a sixteen year old named, Kristina. She goes to Alburquerque for three weeks to visit her father that she barely sees, due to her father and mothers divorce. In the course of those three weeks she meets a boy named Adam whom appears really bad for her. He is. She then creates the alternate character Bree to cope with the new things going around her. Kristina is kinda like a dog to Bree's cat, complete opposites. Adam shows Kristina/Bree the monster. Crank. The monster then spirals Kristina's life until there is nothing left to spiral. She then returns back to her hometown with her mom and family and finds that they are just not her style any more. As life is completely changed by the monster, she starts to steal,cheat, and lie to get more. Kristina can't do all of that stuff, but Bree can.

Ellen Hopkins has truly written a powerful novel that explains what happens when you dig a hole to deep for you to pull yourself out of. I give this book five out of five.

544 pages

Thoughts about the end of level literacy test...

Once upon a time there was a boy, and he pulled his hair out because he was so mad and frustrated at the end of level literacy test. Actually that didn't happen, or maybe it did... somewhere. In this case though the end of level(which will now be refered to as the E.O.L)literacy test was not that bad.Yes it was a little long, but what E.O.L test isn't? The content in the test was not as nearly as bad as usual, yes there was a little misunderstandings, but othere than that it was a pretty decent test. My only prolbem was that it was very time consuming. Which in the end it wasn't a prolbem at all considering we got to miss about two-thirds of the day, for two days! In the end, do I think the E.O.L test is not a very intelligent idea?

Yes.

The Reason I think this is that in the end the actual test will not help benefit us at all, it could only,in the end, hurt us. All the test is for schools to compare to other schools and is pretty much bragging rights and maybe the school will get money for it... who knows. So, why do I care you ask? I care because all it is doing is wasting my time so our school can show people a ribbon and if I don't do well enough on the test then I get remediated the next year. I don't think thats fair at all. Hypothetically, lets say that your a straight-A student but doesn't happen to do well on test or under pressure. Then comes along the E.O.L test. Awesome. You then mess up or whatever and then you have to be remediated for the next year when your GPA(Grade Point Average) is 4.0, which is the highest possible grade average you can have. Where is the justice in that?