What Do You Think Will Happen?

Author’s Note: This is my prediction piece. I am predicting what will happen at the end of the book “My Sister’s Keeper” by Jodi Picoult. This is not an essay, it is a few paragraphs about what I think will happen and why.

My Sister’s Keeper is a girl named Kate who finds out that she has leukemia at the age of two, and her sister who is her exact bone marrow match (which means  that Anna, Kate’s sister, will have to donate her bone marrow and blood many times in order to keep Kate alive). When I first heard about the book (from friends and family members), the only idea I had about it was that it was about two sisters. I’m not finished with the book, but I still have at least 50 pages left. My friend, who started reading the book at the same time as I did, finished it and said that it was a surprise ending. Of course, I didn’t want her to ruin the end for me, because I have heard that it was really good, so she didn’t give me any clue about what will happen at the very end. 

My prediction is that one of the sisters will die. I’m not sure which one yet because Kate, it says in the book, had tried to commit suicide because she didn’t want to be a burden to her family. Anna doesn’t want to put up with constantly donating her bone marrow and blood to her sister, because it never seems to work. Anna gets so fed up with it, that she sues her parents because she thinks that it is not right to use her as a harvest crop for her sister. I also think that Anna’s attorney has a service dog because he has a type of medical problem. This is evidence from the book, and I know it’s true because every chapter is from someone else’s point of view: Anna, her brother Jesse, their mom or dad, Anna’s attorney, and Anna’s guardian ad litem. Each of those people have a different way of describing what is going on.

The reason that I think my prediction is correct because if Anna doesn’t donate a kidney to Kate, Kate will die because her kidneys were failing her. But if Anna does donate a kidney, she might die during the transplant or of the effects after the surgery. I also think that Campbell (the attorney) has that service dog because of a medical issue because he keeps lying to everyone who asks, and each time, the story is different: and metal lung, to keep him away from drugs, deaf in one ear, and many other things. Some people, in other books/movies have service dogs to predict when the person is going to have a heart attack, stroke, or seizure. That is my evidence for those predictions.

Even though I haven’t finished the book yet, I am sure that my predictions for some of the characters are correct because there are clues in the book that most likely hint to the ending. When I finish the book, I will look back at my prediction piece, and see if my predictions were correct, or somewhat accurate. Based on the clues that are throughout the book, I am positive that one of the sisters is going to die.

Character Development Piece

Author’s Note: This is how a character in a book that I read, called Airborn, changes. How he thinks and acts towards other people, and how he manages to do it.

Matt Cruse was a boy who was born in the air; his mother had him while on an airship. Ever since he was born, he had felt like he belonged in the air, and he wanted to be in the air all the time. He got a job as a cabin boy on an airship that his father worked on called the Aurora, and after a few years of that, he wanted to move up to be an assistant sailmaker. The man who owned the ship’s son, named Bruce Lunardi, got the job instead, and Matt has to learn how to cope with the fact that that Bruce got the job that he wanted for so long. Matt also meets a girl on the airship (Kate de Vries), and she is very interested in how the ship works and what Matt does to help. One of the reasons Matt liked Kate was because she was in the upper-class family and Matt was a cabin boy, and she didn’t care that Matt wasn’t rich like her, and they overcome their differences in each other’s lives. The three go on crazy adventures, in and out of the air.

Matt’s story depends on how he reacts towards others in multiple situations, and Matt discovers how jealousy can get the best of you if you let it out of control. He thinks that Bruce is a rich, snobby brat, so he always acts mean towards him. What Matt didn’t realize was that you can’t change someone, no matter who they are, no matter how hard you try. So you just have to learn to like things about someone, and not try to change who they are. Matt couldn’t change the fact that Bruce was the ship’s owner’s son, so he had to cooperate with him towards the end of the book. Pirates, mean-spirited people who board airships and take people’s things take over the Aurora. Matt, Kate, and Bruce are the ones who know how to get the passengers on the ship safe, while keeping the pirates from taking anyone’s life. The three have to trust each other and do their part to clear the pirates off of the ship, in the air, and get the Aurora to their destination.

The Aurora crash-lands on an island due to damage on the ship from the pirates. The island, Matt and Kate discover, is more than an isolated island off of the charts. Kate’s grandfather had once attempted to go around the world in a hot air balloon, but died in the balloon due to weather and disease. Matt works in the crow’s nest, which is where a person looks out of the window for obstacles in the ship’s way. He sees the balloon where he was, but didn’t know that it was Kate’s grandfather, for the Aurora discovered it a year before he met Kate. This is another connection with Matt and Kate. The man died, but when the two, a year after the discovery of the man and his balloon, read his journal, they find out that he had seen mysterious creatures on the very island that they are on. Matt and Kate go on an adventure trying to find things that Kate’s grandfather had seen, only to be found by pirates living on the island. They had to make a quick escape from the island to get back home.

Only a few pirates enter the ship after it takes flight, and in the fight for their lives, Bruce performs a heroic act that saves the ship and every one of the passengers. One of the pirates, who was there while Bruce was steering the ship back onto it’s correct route, shot him. Bruce died while overcoming his fear of situations like the one he was in. The head of the pirate attack, Vikram Szpirglas, was attempting to kill Matt because he was steering the ship to safety, and Szpirglas would’ve been caught if they reached their destination. Matt was almost killed in the fight for his own life, but Szpirglas tripped and fell off of the ship and into the water hundreds of feet below. Matt realizes then that he has to act quickly during those times, and not stall because something bad might happen. That was another way that Matt developed during the book. Kate plays an important role in helping Matt and Bruce fight off the pirates. All three of them figure out that they all have to be brave and trusting when times like that come. When Matt discovered that Bruce had died, he felt horrible for hating him at all. He realized that Bruce couldn’t change who he was. He could only become friends with Matt by overcoming their differences and trusting him with his life. 

People can learn lessons like these in many ways, not just fighting off pirates and surviving on an island with mysterious creatures and secrets. Not only do Kate and Matt become friends, but they discover that there is more to life than being rich and having a great job. They realize that you can be friends with anyone as long as you cooperate and work together during tough times.

Cause and Effect Piece

This is my cause and effect piece. The reason I chose this topic is because I wanted to write something about me.


Sometimes my memory is linked to smells. A few years ago, my parents would always take my brother and I to an indian restaurant. I never liked the smell of curry, so when I went into any indian restaurant, I felt like I was going to throw up. The cause was the curry cooking in the kitchen.

At Thanksgiving, my mom made a soup that had curry in it. Once she started making it, I could smell it all over the house. After a few minutes, I felt like I was going to pass out because the smell seemed so strong to me. So the cause was the smell of the curry, and the effect was my reaction to it: A nauseous feeling. My memory has linked that smell to a negative thought. If curry didn’t smell differently to me, I wouldn’t have that feeling every time I smelled it.

Patriot's Pen Essay

Author’s Note: Most people don’t think about the people that founded their country. In this country, there were people from the past that created America. They started everything in America. If you could really meet these people, what would you tell them?

                How would you talk to someone that important? What would you talk about? I would talk to them with honor and pride because of their duty to America. I would tell them what a great honor it would be to talk to a person who helped shape our country in the very beginning. I would tell them that they would’ve gone through many hardships to start a country, but they didn’t overlook those problems. They took them on and thought, “I will make sure that our future generations have a great country to live in!” If you think about it, many people wouldn’t be able to do what our founding fathers did: Begin a fantastic country that we will be proud of now, and in the future.

                Early America had to have been hard because they didn’t have the technology that we have today. Communication is a huge thing; they couldn’t just email another person. Just imagine having no computers, no cell phones, no advanced technology. Now imagine founding a whole country without it! People rely on technology a lot, because it has helped us make great discoveries about the world around us and how to make it better. Our founding fathers did a lot more than just sign papers. They declared independence for our country; which was acting for themselves along with other people. I would want to let them know that they did many important things for America, and some people don’t realize it.

                Why would I tell America’s founding fathers that? Because some people don’t realize the importance of our founding fathers. If you really did think about it, this country would be completely different if they weren’t our founding fathers. Our independence might not have been won in the same way, or we wouldn’t have the Constitution that we have now, showing our rights and freedoms. 

                I, out of all of the people in America, have had the opportunity to actually think about what I would tell America’s founding fathers. I encourage others to consider what they would tell America’s founding fathers, and why, because if we really could have a conversation with them, what would you really tell them?

Six-Flags-O-Phobia

Author’s Note: Kids can either totally love roller coasters or absolutely despise them.  Theme parks can be the best place ever, or your worst nightmare. It all depends on your childhood.

I remember my first trip to Six Flags, also known as Great America mainly because of the water slide and the swings. Memories like this are memorable because of something significant that happened earlier in your childhood. If you have a good memory, you will be able to remember it. Some people TRY to block out those memories, only because they were too scary. Even though my memory of Six Flags was very terrifying, I will still remember it for a long time.

Going on the swings was the best thing that I did at Six Flags that day. It was rainy, so not many people were there, so there wasn’t a very long line for the swings. When I got on for the first time, it felt like I was flying. My parents had told me that I could go on the swings as many times as I wanted. I remember the small raindrops hitting my face as I swung around, passing a tree with rustling leaves. Every time I passed that tree, I reached out with my arm and tried to catch one of the leaves flapping as I swung by. Because I was so small and young, the whole ride felt colossal and high up in the air, so that is partially why I remember that trip.

The last time I went to Six Flags was last year, and I remember seeing the rides that I was terrified to go on when I was little. I did go on roller coasters, but only because I was the only one that would’ve stayed behind. As we were waiting in line, I remembered when I had gone there last time, so I was afraid because I didn’t go on one when I was little. Your experience at amusement parks can differ depending on what you did in your childhood.

When I went to Great America last year, Batman was the first roller coaster that I went on. because it was the only one that I had ridden that went upside down. People had told me that roller coasters were really fun, but I hadn’t known until then because of my fear of roller coasters as a kid. This was a good chance to actually try out a roller coaster. Once I got on, I literally started bawling. I remember all of the twists and turns and then finally the end of the ride. I wanted to go again, and I wished I had actually gone on one of those rides as a little girl. About 5 years after going to Six Flags for the first time, I told my mom, “I want to go to Great America again because I want to go on one of the huge roller coasters!” My mom told me that I could go with my dad because he loves those rides

I got over my fear of roller coasters. Everyone could if they went on a roller coaster, because I wanted to love them. I always had the fear that I would get stuck upside down, and I’m pretty sure that other people have that same exact phobia. I can assure that you will get over at least SOME of your fear of an amusement park ride. I also went on a water log ride, and that was scary experience, and I didn’t think I would ever have to go on another roller coaster. I did, and now I am completely over my fear of roller coasters. If you ever go to Six Flags, go on a ride even if you are terribly afraid of them, because if you get over your fear, it could actually be fun!

Cause and Effect in Delirium

Author's Note: This is about the cause and effect in a book I read called Delirium. I chose this book to do my cause and effect assignment because it had a clear example on the topic.

The cause in Delirium is how the people that run the society don't want people to feel the emotion of love. The people that live in that area have to follow the rules, or you will die because of the sickness or be cured immediately. This is the cause of the story because people will try to break the rules of the society that they live in.

The effect in the book is that two people fall in love and hide whenever they want to meet because they will be caught and cured. They don't want to be cured because when you're cured, you never feel the strong emotion of love or anything, for that matter. Not over excitement, not depression, not love. So they need to hide from the society and make sure they never find out.

Conflict/Resolution Milkweed

The main conflict in Milkweed is that the main character, Misha, has to survive living in the ghetto, but he also has to support his family and friends. He learns fast, even though he is just a kid. But for someone who doesn't know their own name, he learned quite a lot and used that in his early years. The problem is that he feels like he is stuck somewhere where he can't get out. Just another day, smuggling food and sleeping. It wasn't a normal child's life. This is a person vs. society conflict because he is trying to survive under the strict rules of the society.

The solution to the conflict was that Misha escaped, and he worked more and more to go somewhere where he was free. As he got older, he still had to deal with his past. He tried to find ways do cope with the memories, and the way he did that was that he spent time comforting his granddaughter. It wasn't a direct solution, but Misha still did figure out that he just had to let go of everything in his past and focus on what was going on in the present.

Matched by Ally Condie

Cassia has only known the ways of the Society because they decide everything for you: what your job is, when you die, and who you marry. Cassia is Matched with the obvious person for her, but makes her own decision that defies the Society. How will she make things right, for her and the Society?

Family Vacation... Yay?

Author’s note: This is not true, except for the annoying brother and me wanting to be a photographer part of it. I will admit, the car rides that we take as a family are not the best things ever, except when there is really pretty scenery or everyone is asleep except the driver, which is either my mom or my dad.

A family vacation. How cheesy. That’s how I’m going to spend a whole two weeks of my summer. How fun (I say with sarcasm)! There is nothing better than sitting in the middle of a forest, living in a tent with only 5 outfits and a swimsuit, and NO WIFI! My parents allowed me to bring my phone and iPod, but there isn’t any wifi to connect to the internet. I do not think that I will survive. It’s practically impossible. I think I should just have no expectations for this trip, because with my family, anything could happen. Even if I did have wifi, there’s always my brother to annoy me. He has his own iPod, which might shut him up for a while, but he won’t last long. My dad is all about the hikes and taking pictures of everything, which I don’t argue about, even though I want to be a photographer when I grow up. But he likes to take pictures of me, which I don’t like at all. My mom just wants time to herself, which I like too, but it’s hard to get when you’re in my family. Camping is the word for this nonsense. I would much rather keep the outdoors limited to my backyard or the park 4 houses down. Especially in the summer. I don’t want to waste summer on camping! Sitting on the couch, watching tv, and eating chips is better. By far. Then there’s the car ride to struggle through. Sitting in a car with my dog, brother, mom, and dad is not fun. If it was just my SILENT parents in the front, SILENT brother next to me, and my dog as her normal self, I would be fine. So much for no expectations. Even so, I am just looking forward to huddle up in the tent with my iPod and dog. Away from the bugs, and the sun, the heat, my brother’s complaining, my dad’s camera, and basically, the outdoors. I like being by myself in nature, not being forced to take pictures everywhere I go. However, I have to go to this things anyways... I am officially bored. The fourth hour in the car. I don’t even know where we’re going. My iPod is almost dead, because I sucked up all the battery playing the same game for two hours straight. Then I finished my book. Then I attempted to sleep. That is practically impossible, except when my brother is asleep. When I tried to look out the window, I just started feeling dizzy and got a sick feeling. Just 3 more hours to go. I entertained myself the rest of that three hours by thinking. Thinking about what I was going to do during these two weeks. I might actually try to have fun. Just as I finished this thought, I saw the sign that welcomed us to the park.

Gymnastics... Or not?

Author's note: I cannot tell you if this is true or false directly. When I was little, I was like a little monkey and I liked climbing around on the furniture and the playground. My mom signed me up for gymnastics so I could climb around everywhere, tire myself out, and also become more athletic. Enough with this blabbering. Here is my story.

I was very flexible when I was younger. I could do push-ups, pull-ups, the splits, cartwheels, somersaults,  and everything that you did when you were in gymnastics. I could even do little flips on the trampolines there! I remember the thrill of swinging myself past the monkey bars, doing a somersault on the mat below it, then standing quickly to do a double cartwheel. It was amazing being so flexible. But now, I can't do anything like that to save my life. I always looked where the older girls were doing even more than that. They could swing around bars, do triple flips in the air, land on the mat, do a double somersault, and jump up right at the end of the mat. All in about 6 seconds. I sometimes wish that I could go back to that. There was only one thing at that gymnastics place that I absolutely was terrified of. I don't remember the name of it, but there was this huge pit with a bunch of foam kind of blocks in it. Whenever they threw me in that thing, I about had a panic attack and had to fight my way through the dreaded blocks to get to safety on the platform around the pit. I always thought of it as the death pit. There was this really tall wall next to the pit, which had these ropes that they made us climb. I felt like a spider about to drown in a hot stuffy pit filled with blocks. Everyone else thought it was fun for some strange reason. I once asked one of the people in my group what was under the pit, but her answer wasn't very assuring: "I had a friend here that went under the blocks, and she fell through the bottom and one of the instructors had to get her through a secret door in the back! She said that there were tons of spiders and snakes down there!" So after that, I kept trying to go down to see if there was a space below them. I got really close once, and I could feel a draft of air on my foot, but I forced myself to pull myself out of that pit. That was my gymnastics life, and I did that for about 2-3 years.

Middle School

Author's Note: I wrote this because I wanted to give a little encouragement to my brother. He is isn't enjoying 4th grade as much as me, but he is still worried about middle school. He saw my writing one time, so I told him that in middle school you get to write  essays, and he just about died. By writing this, it also gives me encouragement because I know that it is pretty much true.

Middle School wouldn’t be my first choice of “fun.” It isn’t hard, but it’s sure not easy. At the beginning of the year, I thought I might die because middle school was so scary. But after 2 days, I memorized my schedule and where I was supposed to go. Once I got into the hang of things, it was all good. But it didn’t go on that way. The subjects that we learned just got harder and harder, then I started getting behind on my work, but I caught up and now I have straight A’s! This is with the exception of Language Arts which is “Progress.” If you hear people saying things like “Middle School is like torture!” or “You will get a TON of homework,” don’t believe them. There is not a TON of work you have to do, but you need to take responsibility for what you do and your time, you will be a great student. But if you slack off and don’t do your homework, not pay attention in school, be mean to other people and the teachers, and don’t study for tests and quizzes, you won’t get the greatest grades. So don’t think that I’m saying that it doesn’t require work to do good in school. If you take the time to do your work, (that includes homework) and be a good student, you will glide through your first year of middle school easily.

Flying Cats

Author's note: Just so you know, this story is not true. I am pretty sure that when we were little, my cousin kicked the cat on accident, but she did not toss it. I repeat: This story is NOT true! I wrote this story because I didn't want to write about fantasy cats with wings, so this is what came up. Thank you for reading!

I have seen many strange things, like people being strange in many ways. I sometimes wonder what goes through the minds of the people who do those things. But when animals do weird things... It just flat-out creeps me out. Kangaroos attacking people for no reason, monkeys throwing their poo at people, or even dogs acting like cats! But cats doing weird things, that is entertaining! But the weirdest thing I have ever seen an animal do is fly. Fly like the wind across the room. It is one of the most hilarious things I have ever seen! Cats are light animals, so they can be launched by pretty much anything. Including children. Children aren’t exactly mature enough to know not to toss cats. But when you’re mad at a cat for eating your last spoonful of ice cream, you can’t blame them. My cousin, when she was little, picked my grandparents’ cat up and threw it across the room! The reason for this is because it ate the last spoonful of ice cream in the bowl. My cousin then did not realize that there was more ice cream in the freezer, but still. Throwing a cat is not the answer to everything. Luckily, the cat was not injured: It landed on me.

How Are We Perfect?

Perfect: Why do people call other people perfect? Why do they think that people have perfect lives? Because they think that their life is so bad, that they think how could this person, who seems to be the definition of perfect, have tough spots in life? They might seem perfect on the outside, but people’s loved ones might have passed away, or their parents might be divorcing, or their family might be having financial problems. All of this stress can be released in many different ways. For some people, this is released in bad ways that can hurt themselves. In the book Perfect, by Natasha Friend, a girl’s anger about her father’s death is swept away by her making herself become bulimic.

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health estimates that about 8 million Americans are compulsive eaters. One million of those people are men, and 7 million are women. However, the National Eating Disorder Association’s statistics are even higher. They say that 10 million women in the US have eating disorders. Even so, that is a huge amount of just women for just one country to have these kinds of problems. In Perfect, one of those millions of females is Isabelle Lee. The cause of it was her father’s death, and on top of that, an irritable sister and a secluded mother. Her life is hard, and she copes with it by stuffing herself with food, which makes her feel comfortable, then making herself sick so she doesn’t gain the calories. Though mostly people in high school and up have Bulimia, Isabelle is one of the many middle-schoolers that has this problem.

At every school, there seems to be that one person that give the impression that they have the perfect life. This person may have a good life where they only have little friend issue or family problem, but no one is perfect, including Isabelle. The people that have a lot of family problems don’t need to bully anyone in any way, but they might hurt themselves in one or maybe more of the possible ways that there is. There are, in fact, more people in the world that are being bullied than people who have bulimia. This is because, some of those people are being bullied which causes them to be bulimic. This proves that nobody is perfect. Life throws a lot at a person, from the moment they are born, to their last breath. Which, in some cases, might not be a very long time. These things included health issues, learning disabilities, and for older kids, friend problems plus many more. Being perfect doesn’t mean to have the best clothes, be the smartest, perfect hair, strong, funny, or anything else. Being perfect means being who you are, and nobody can change that no matter how hard they try.

In the book, Isabelle’s sister tattles on her for “puking her guts out.” Her mom puts Isabelle in a group that helps people with their self-perspective problems. There, she learns how she can cope with her friend dilemmas, family issues, and, she finds out, herself. She does this by making a new friend in the group. One of the people who walk in the door is the most popular girl in school, Ashley Barnum. She seems to be the most perfect girl with a perfect life, hence the book title: Perfect. But Isabelle soon finds out that her parents are divorcing, and she too has Bulimia because of that. The two become amazing friends, and all the while teaching each other that they can give up their ways of being Bulimic and stay friends to support each other through hard times.

All of the things mentioned in the book are real-world issues. Not just in the US, but people in different countries might do these things, too. This book proves that even though there are some pretty tough spots in life, you can’t expect yourself to be perfect. The author also makes the message clear that when you are having some hard times, there will always be someone there to help you, and closer than you think if you just look.

Your Life in a Book

Author's note: I wrote this creative piece because I can relate to it, and I'm sure that other people can, too.
Have you ever read an amazing book and felt like it belonged to you; like the author wrote it especially for you? I have. Sometimes in my life I can make connections with these books, an I keep thinking about how my life is like one of the characters in the book. These books also make me feel like I need to read more in that story, or that there should be another book in that series or just another book by that author. Sometimes I can't tell how the book relates to me. Either emotional and mentally, or how people in my life are like that. I am currently reading a book that really does relate to me, and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Solutions

Author’s Note: This essay shows that there are solutions to everything. Your friends and family will do anything to help you through these problems in life. There are also simple problems in life that can easily be fixed.

Everybody has had their bugs in life. From forgetting their homework to losing their job. But people don’t think of how animals feel when they have problems like this. Louis, a swan that was born without a voice, has to communicate without sound. If he is in trouble, he can’t cry out for help. He won’t ever be able to find love because he can’t tell her how he feels. How would you feel if you couldn’t tell anyone anything no matter how hard you tried? These problems all have solutions to them, too.

Louis knew a young boy that still went to school. He took him to school with him so he could learn to read and write. Communication with humans is easy after that, but when he gets back to his family, Louis tries to write hello to them on a slate with chalk, but none of them understands the words scribbled on the slate. So Louis had to find some way to communicate with them. His father had seen trumpets that sounded like the swans, to he went to get one. When Louis learned how to play it, he was able to express his feelings to other swans, even though it wouldn’t be a whole conversation.

In all of this commotion of life, Louis is in love with a beautiful swan named Serena. Louis finds out that with all of the practice with his trumpet, he can play for her and she will realize what a wonderful strong swan he is. This is a way of communication through music. E.B White does a great job of describing how music can be expressed in different emotions like love, happiness, sadness, joy, depression, hopelessness, anger, and many others. Serena realizes what she had been ignoring: A wonderful strong, brave, and talented young male swan. So finding love by playing a trumpet wasn’t hard after all; it just took time.

Towards the beginning of the book, a swan couple, Louis’s parents, make a nest and get ready to have eggs, a fox comes and tries to eat the mother. But the boy, Sam, comes and throws a stick at the fox so it would go away and leave the family alone. Sam had been watching the swan family so far, and as the eggs hatched and the babies grew up, Sam sat on a log on the edge of the pond. The boy was so interested in the birds, that he protected them so they could have a family of little birds, too. When you get to know someone or something, you feel the need to be nice and protect them. Like giving them a ride, or saving their life. Either way, it is an instinct that humans have. To protect one another. Eventually Sam and Louis grew up and Sam took him to school and camp while visiting each other often.

Books can have the effect on you where you feel like that book was written for you, or that it seemed like you could make a lot of self-connections, or that you felt that one of the characters was like you in some sort of way. E.B White did a fantastic job of connecting these kinds of things in the book, so that audiences of all kinds would feel that way. Over all, the author did a great job of composing this book and giving the message that everyone is important, and should not be ignored.

Opinions

Author's note: Judging. It isn't the best path of life to follow. Years ago it was that you practically had to judge people on their skin color. You had to stay away from people with dark skin because everyone said that they had "diseases." There was no way you could change the way people thought. You were alone, but people tried and it cost them their lives. In "The Help," by Kathryn Stockett, a group of people get together and write a book about their lives working for other people, and they have to keep it a secret so they won't be killed or go to jail.



There are people in the world that just aren’t fair. They judge people by how they look or how they act. If someone sees someone that walks into the room with torn, faded clothes, they automatically think that the person is weird or mean. If someone walks in with bright, new clothes on, they think that the person was cool, or rich. In the book "The Help," people are judged by their skin color. If they have dark skin, they have to live in the worst part of town, with rickety houses and have to work hard for food to feed their family. The woman have to work as maids in the white people’s houses. They cook, clean, babysit, and run errands. The people that own the houses are very cautious about their maids, they had to make sure they didn’t steal anything, or destroy something, or use their bathroom. Yes, the people with dark skin had to use a bathroom outside the house. People back then didn’t have many rights.

Minny, a maid with a husband that beats her and have a bunch of children, was fired from many jobs. She had many stories to tell, of how she used the guest bathroom, or how she sass-mouthed the owners. Her white friend, Miss Skeeter, was a writer. She wrote in the newspaper about cleaning tips. She wanted to write a book on how maid’s lives are working for other people. Not many people are interested in their maid’s lives. All they care about is that their house is clean, their child is alive and healthy, and that they have food in the fridge. The maids have to do everything perfect, or they’re fired. People these days don’t generally think that because of our freedom. We are free to get the job we want, and who works for us. We shouldn’t judge people. It’s like saying people with red hair can’t eat a certain food. What if that’s their favorite food, but then they can’t eat it? It would not be fun. So we shouldn’t judge people. Miss Skeeter sells the book of many maids in the area without people knowing who or where it took place. It would be cool to read a book about the lives of maids around me, to know how they feel about working for other people, not to mention the funny things that they do.

Minny’s stories are so clear to the people that she worked for, they figure out that it was their city that they were talking about, and people got mad. But so many copies were sold, they all got a fair share of money to support themselves and their families. It would be amazing to have someone write about your life and earn tons of money from it.

Kathryn Stockett, the author, made the main point of the book is to tell people that all kinds of people can do great things, not just the people that think they can do anything. Everyone can do something amazing eventually in their lives. The different maids in the book take care of many different children in their careers. Aibileen, one of the maids in the story, took care of a little girl that thought of her as her mother. The little girl didn’t even like her real mother, just the maid. That was Aibileen’s story in the book, along with other people she had worked for, but the last child she cared for was the most special in her opinion. Again, and opinion. In this case, it is kept to herself, so she isn’t going to get into trouble for it.

Another point that was in the book was that the maids didn’t really show that they cared how other people thought about them, they didn’t make any comments about it. So when Miss Skeeter asked them to tell her how their lives were working for other people, they poured out their feelings, emotions. Stories. It is good to tell people your opinion about someone, but at the same time, it isn’t because you might get in trouble. In The Help, it isn’t good to tell your opinion about someone to their face because you could go to jail for life, or get shot in front of your family. The book is a fantastic book to read if you like suspense and learning about people’s lives back then.

Thinking about how people these days judge each other is different than back then, we don’t have people work for other people because of the color of the skin. People shouldn’t judge people on how they look, they were just made that way, and that’s how they should stay.

Grow

Author's note: I wrote this post because sometimes I feel like a small seedling to begin with, but I know someday I will become a beautiful tree. 

I feel like one of those plants that nobody likes because another plant is taking all of the sun and growing bigger and more colorful. I can either shrivel up and let the other plant get all of the attention, or I can try as hard as I can to get more sunlight and grow taller and taller, until I can be as big and bright as the other plant. I choose to grow, even though it will take time... Soon I am taller than the other plant, it's grown all it can. I reach up to the sky, and before I know it, I'm a full grown tree.

A Bubble's Journey

Author's note: I wrote this creative piece because I used to love playing with bubbles when I was a kid. I thought about what it was like to be a bubble, so I wrote this to get an image into my mind, and others minds.

I started out in no shape in a bottle as a liquid. Then I was being blown from the bubble stick and getting bigger an bigger... Before I know it, I am floating in the air, getting higher and higher... The city is so beautiful below me: The sparkling lights and the occasional voice of a person. I drift through the air watching what is going on in the world. I know that sometime I will have to pop, but now I am trying to enjoy my short life in the air. The breeze carries me on,  through the night soundlessly. Just a short time later, I know my time has come. I get too high, then "pop!" I burst. The tiny drops of the bubble I once was fell from the sky and onto the pavement far below. Being a bubble is terribly difficult, but hardly any work because I last for such a short time.

Figuring Things Out

Author’s Note: Mindblind is a story that I will never forget. It is about a boy that has Asperger’s and he goes through things that not all teenagers go through. It is emotional for him and his friends as they go through bad times and extraordinary times together.

Do you wish that your mind was like a computer? You could store all of your memories on an imaginary j-drive. You would know a ton of facts and information about everything. This is how 14 year old Nathaniel Clark spends his entire life. He is a talented young man with Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is a disorder where a person lacks communication skills but it’s not autism. Physical clumsiness is also common in Asperger’s. In Mindblind, Nathaniel battles his disorder and figures out why he is here.

    Jenifer Roy, the author of Mindblind, made the main point of the book is that even people with disabilities can do great things. Nathaniel writes a song about math, one of his strong spots, with his band. Soon this video goes viral and becomes a big hit on YouTube. The author put this as a special part in this book to get her main point across. She did a fantastic job of putting the main point in, because other readers understand why she wrote the book. Jenifer Roy has great ideas on how to connect the main point of the book to what the characters do. It isn’t completely random, it actually makes sense. Teenagers around the country can relate to Nathaniel. They all have ups and downs in life, but soon things will turn out right.

Jenifer Roy did a great job of making the characters and their emotions and personalities. I understood each of the character’s personalities, what they did, and why. The author also did an excellent job of connecting all of the characters in a way that at the end, everything came together. All of the characters, all of the things they did, and the different memories that the main character had.

There is a very important part in the book Mindblind that has to do with these connections with the characters. Nathaniel’s dad makes him go to a party, and while he is there he gets drunk. While he is drunk, he sees things that make him mad. This is where some of the connections with the characters comes in. After he passes out, his friends talk to him and explain what happened. Nathaniel learns that everything that he thinks was bad, was actually a good thing and he freaked out over nothing. His friend’s “boyfriend” really turned out to be her cousin that Nathaniel had first met many years ago. He soon forgives and forgets about the problems they had between each other. That is a connection with characters that is really important in the book Mindblind.

The author did an amazing job of distinguishing the things that happen in this book. She put an image in my head of everything that was going on or what the character’s emotions were, or how they felt. Jenifer Roy also made sure that all the important details were noticed, so she made a character do something to make sure that her reader would understand that it was important. I admire which particular details that she chose to put the story together on.

Everything in this book made me realize that kids can do anything, as long as they can figure out what is going on. So many books have situations like Nathaniel’s, but the author made this book better than any of those similar books. Jenifer Roy did a fantastic job of composing this book. I recommend this book to anyone who likes any kind of book, because this book has everything in it.

Author's note: I saw this piece of art by Edgar Mueller, and I remembered when I was younger when I learned about 3D art. People interpret art in different ways, and make different connections to other pieces of art, or themselves. This piece describes how I interpret this specific piece of art.   

 This piece of art is by Edgar Mueller reminded me of when I went to Meadowbrook, my old school. This is because we did 3D art on the playground on Field Day. Field Day was when we got to choose what activity we wanted to do, then for the whole day we went to the different things we chose. I love art, so when I saw 3D art on the list, I signed up right away. I was in 2nd grade at that time, so we only did little things like 3 dimensional shapes. I wasn’t the best at it, but the teacher showed us pictures of professional drawings on the street. I wanted to learn to draw that good. I saw something like this before on the street, but it was like a little crack in the ground with lava flowing out in one place. That is how this piece of art inspired me.  If you want to view other pictures of Edgar's art, click here, or "Edgar Mueller" at the top of this post.

"Families are like Fudge, Mostly Sweet with a Few Nuts"

 Author's note: I can relate to this quote, and I'm sure that other people can too. I wrote this piece to show how people can relate to it, too. 

"Families are like Fudge, Mostly Sweet with a Few Nuts"

One day I was in Girl Scouts, and we were decorating posters with our names on them, and things that describe us. I put a sticker on there that said that exact same quote on it. I can relate to this quote because my family is nice and loves spending time together, but sometimes a family member or two can act as the nuts. They still go together with the family, but they are different. I told my brother this quote once, and he didn’t like it because he knew that sometimes he wasn’t on his best behavior (I am not saying that I ALWAYS am, either, but you get the point). Sometimes fudge have a little bit of powdered sugar on top. I like to imagine that my dog is that powdered sugar. When we didn’t have her, we were just plain fudge with some nuts. But now, we have Zoey, and she completes the family. We love having her around, and so do the rest of my relatives. I am pretty sure that the person that made that quote can also relate to their families. That is how I interpret this quote.

If you Could Invent Something, What Would it be?

        I have many many ideas that could be inventions some day. My brother had an idea one day when we were eating tacos. His taco was falling apart, and he was trying to get it to stay together. He said, “I wanna invent edible tape so I can keep my taco together!” I thought about that, and it does seem like a good idea. But if I could invent something, it would be kind of like an iPod or iPad, but it was like a projection screen in front of you whenever you want (for safety reasons, it would be partially see-through). I would ask people around the world what other things they would want to be included in it, and I would try to add those things in so I could sell them to people around the world.

The Evil Zebra

Author's note: I have so many childhood memories. Some are happy, and some are just not the best times. But whatever the memory, it is worth writing about.  

I have had some happy times as a child, and some not-so happy times. One that I remember clearly is one of those that you do not want to re-live. I was at my house, and I was riding on this little zebra that had red wheels. I was riding it, and looked back at my parents and didn’t see the staircase leading to the basement ahead of me. My parents tried to stop me, but I kept on rolling. Then I started tumbling down the stairs. I went first, the zebra went second. I have fallen down the stairs multiple times, and I was kind of used to it by then. But I wasn’t expecting it that time, so I was dazed when I hit the bottom of the stairs. The Zebra didn’t hit the bottom of the stairs; it flew across the room and hit the ground with a thud. I rode that zebra many times after that incident, but now that I think of it, it is the best idea to keep your eyes on the road. And now that I think of it, I have fallen down the stairs so many times, it’s not even scary anymore!

What am I?

     I had to sit in this box for who knows how long! I just sat there, not plugged in, just waiting for someone to come and pick me up. Christmastime is a time where people buy a lot of things; that time is the last few days.  Someone picked me up and threw me into the shopping cart. After a long shopping cart trip being squished under some clothes and tons of Legos, I finally made it to the car. The car is one of the biggest danger zones if you are a newly-bought or wrapped gift. It’s hard to keep your balance while sitting in a box and rolling around the car. There were other things in the back of the car, including some heavy things that squished me while I was in the car.

    When I finally arrived at the destination where the person drove to, they put me on a bed and left me there for a few days. I sat there in complete darkness, waiting. I knew that sometime I would be out of  my box an plugged in. While I’m not plugged in, my memory is a haze. Anyways, after 3 days, someone came. I didn’t expect to be wrapped, but they wrapped the outside of my box in paper! There used to be a tiny bit of light in my box, but not then. It was complete darkness. Because I was not plugged in, I couldn’t put on my light so I could see. So I waited. For another 4 days.

    After that time period was done, I was thrown into something I can’t name because of my lack of sight. Then I heard the engine of the same car I came to the second destination with my person. Things were piled on top of me during that ride, and it was still dark. The trip lasted about 3 hours. After that I was taken out of the car, and I was put on the ground. Apparently, I was in a completely different home.

    After the second day of sitting in the spot on the ground, I heard many voices yelling. I don’t know why. Then I realized that today must be that “Christmas Day” I heard about on the radio the first time I was plugged in and tested. There was a sudden lurch as I was hurled through the air and landed it another person’s hands. A loud ripping sound from outside my box. I Saw the sudden tiny light again. A few more rips, then I hear, “An iHome! Thanks Mom and Dad!” Soon after that I was plugged in. The smaller person that had “unwrapped” me had pressed my radio button and I feel the urge to start playing Christmas songs. So the songs come on, and I watch as the other people find out what is hidden behind the paper.