Sunday, April 26, 2009

The Giver Book Review

Living in a world with no memories of life before your time may sound awful, but the characters in The Giver do not have any problem with it. They actually enjoy not having any of the old memories. The Giver is an interesting book, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Many lessons can be learned by reading The Giver. One important lesson in The Giver is that things are not always as they seem. Jonas, the main character, learns that the life he has been living has not always been that way. He learns that color and music exists. Jonas learns that just because he thinks someone is telling him the truth does not mean he actually is. Jonas has grown up in a community were expressing feelings happens at the end of each day. He learns that some of the feelings he thought he had are actually completely different. Another lesson learned in The Giver is that memories are important. The community lives without memories of time past their own, with the exception of one. Jonas starts to receive memories from the past, and he realizes that even though some of them are bad the community needs to know them. He discovers how much knowledge can be learned through memories, and he knows all of the good that used to be.

The characters live their lives day by day performing the same routines everyday. In the mornings the family units tell of their dreams, and then they head off to work or school. After school, all of the children of a certain age do service at jobs they might enjoy. When everyone gets home at night, the family unit tells each of their feelings from the day while eating supper. The people of the community do not have very exciting lifestyles, and they have many rules that need to be followed.

The Giver was a very good book. I would recommend The Giver to anyone. The book is very interesting, and it will keep you wanting more every time you set it down.

Friday, April 24, 2009

So Much Depends Upon...

So much depends upon
The timeworn softball field,
Dusty and damaged from so much use
Enveloped in the camouflage of the woods.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Softball Is Over

The dreaded day has finally arrived; softball season is over! I really have been dreading the end of this season and hoping that it would not come to soon. The season seems to have flown by way too fast, and I wish we were still playing.

This softball season was so much better than last year. Practices and games this year were way more exciting, and way more fun. We made jokes and learned a lot of new drills. The drills we learned this year helped us improve our game and work better as a team.

We had new coaches this year too! Coach Coker and Coach McDonald are awesome coaches. They both helped teach us many new techniques that helped us play better. They made sure that everyone knew what to do, and helped anyone that needed helped. If someone wanted some extra fielding or batting practice, Coach would make sure to help them. While at practice, and before some games as well, both coaches would make jokes to make practice more enjoyable.

I am going to miss softball so much, and the seniors that are leaving this year are going to be missed as well. I have to say that even though we did not make playoffs, we had an amazing season and played our hearts out.

Animal Farm Book Review

In George Orwell's Animal Farm ten commandments become one terrible saying, " All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." Animal Farm is a good novel and I enjoyed reading it.

The characters in Animal Farm are very realistic. Even though they are animals, they act like humans. The animals plow the fields and plant the grain each season just as a human would. The animals start learning to read and write, and they build a windmill. Most of the animals are very hard workers just like humans. Other than the work, the animals also have conversations and carry out business. They talk about work and about their leader mostly. The pigs in Animal Farm are very lazy and do not work at all. They are supposed to be in control of all the business transactions and running the farm, but all they do is sit around all day and eat and sleep.

All of the animal in Animal Farm are supposed to be created equal, but they really are not. The pigs take control and work the other animals almost to death. The animals work so hard each day for only a tiny ration of food, while the pigs sit around and eat all day long. The pigs claim to need more food because they are in charge, and the extra nourishment helps them make better decisions. The only reason Animal Farm ever came into being was so the animals could live equally, but some start to think that maybe they were better off before the pigs were in charge.

I would recommend Animal Farm to anyone who likes books that have animals as the main characters. If you do not like animal books, you should probably stay away from Animal Farm.

Monday, April 20, 2009

My Favorite Techie Tool

Do you have a favorite techie tool that helps you with your work? Most people enjoy how easy it is to use Microsoft office, but there are other tools out there. Calculators, cell phones, and even e-mail are very well known tools that people use on a day to day basis.

My favorite techie tool would have to be e-mail. With e-mail I can stay connected with my friends no matter where they are at. Sending letters by e-mail is much faster than by snail mail, so my friends receive my messages sooner.

Besides staying in touch with my friends, e-mail also helps if I need help with a school assignment. If I forget what my homework is, I can e-mail my teacher and they can send me the assignment. Sometimes I have trouble doing my homework, and with e-mail I can quickly contact someone that can help me.

E-mail is a very resourceful tool, and anyone with internet can use it. E-mail can be used for multiple reasons and it is very easy. For you environmentalists, e-mail also helps conserve trees.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Book Review Premonitions

Imagine seeing clips in your head about the future but not knowing when and where the actions are going to take place. In Jude Watson's Premonitions the main character Gracie sees things before they happen. Premonitions is an exciting and mysterious story that I really enjoyed reading.


When Gracie's mom died she moved in with her aunt Shay and cousin Diego. When she moved in, Gracie found a new friend named Emily. One day when it was excruciatingly hot outside, Emily wanted to go to town and get ice cream and Gracie did not want to. Gracie was being mean to Emily that day, and caused her to leave. That night, Shay received a call from Emily's mom who told her that Emily was missing. Shay awoke Gracie and they went over to Emily's house so that they could talk with her mom. A few days later, Gracie started getting weird visions of Emily but she did not know what they meant. Gracie spent everyday trying to find Emily and trying to see visions of her. Gracie had many suspects in her head about who she thought had kidnapped Emily, and almost all of them were wrong. Gracie does find Emily, but gets herself into trouble in the process.

Premonitions teaches that all people should be careful what they say to their friends. Just because you are mad about something does not mean you should push your anger onto someone else. The person you are talking to may take you too literally and may take what you are saying personally even if you really do not mean what you are saying. Gracie upset Emily so bad that Emily had to find somewhere she thought she would be loved. Gracie did love Emily; she was just taking out all of her anger on Emily. So be careful what you say and who you say it to, or you might find yourself in a bit of trouble.

I would recommend Premonitions to anyone who likes reading suspenseful books. I would recommend the book to both boy and girls.





2 books







Saturday, April 4, 2009

Book Review The Missing Book 1 Found

Imagine being an important person in history and not knowing about it because you were stolen by time travelers. Well, in book one of The Missing thirty-five children experience this exact fate. The Missing's first book Found is an exciting book, and I really enjoyed reading it.

Unknowingly thirty-five children are living in the wrong century. They live a normal life everyday, and they are all thirteen years old. The children have families and friends who love them, and they do not know they are not from the decade they are living in. One day two of the children start receiving mysterious letters with no return address. When they find out other kids have been receiving the same letters, the two friends become frightened. They meet up with a woman named Angela who explains to them some of the weird things that are going on. While talking with Angela, the friends are witnesses to a drastic event that almost cost them their lives. When the kids finally figure out everything that is going on, it is too late. All of the thirty-five kids, with the exception of one, were led into what could be their doom.

An important theme in Found is leadership. When the letters first begin to arrive, one boy named Chip takes control to find out what is going on. He did not know that he was adopted, and know that he does, he wants to find his real birth parents and know what is happening with the anonymous letters. He calls a list of names to see if any other kids have received the letters too. He also asks them if they were adopted and if they know anything about the letters. Chip conquered a lot of obstacles to get were he was going, and he used his leadership abilities to do it. Later on in the book, Jonah, Chips friend, takes control of a somewhat hostile situation. Jonah demands to know why the future people want to take them away, and he gets his wish fulfilled. He ties up all the adults so that the other kids could talk with them and question them. Jonah used his leadership abilities to save the lives of thirty-five children.

Mysterious people from the future, oblivious children from the future, and time travel make for an exciting book that is very hard to set aside. I would recommend Found to anyone who has read the Shadow Children series, and even if you have not, Found is still a very good book.



2 books

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Spring Break

Last week was spring break for the Batesville School District, and that means no school. My spring break was pretty boring but it was not bad.

The thrill of my spring break was staying over at my friend Stacy's house. While I was there, we played the Wii, and we played basketball outside. Stacy's little sister was really funny and kept us entertained throughout the night.

I earned some needed Beta Club hours over spring break as well. The hog bar-b-Que was going on, and members of the key club were there to help. We did not cook the food though; we packed it so that other people could eat it. When I was finished working, I got a chance to try the bar-b-Que, and it was extremely tasty.

Practice! Practice! Practice! Softball practice was very exciting over spring break, although that may be because my break was boring and softball practice was something to do. I love to play softball, even though I am not the best player. We worked on batting all practice one day, and the other practice we worked on fielding.

Some people may say that learning how to crochet is boring and for old people, but I really like it. My Mimi taught me how to crochet over spring break, and we also celebrated my grandpa and my other grandma's birthday. Learning to crochet was very fun, but I am not very good at it.

All in all, my spring break was not full of much excitement. Though it lacked the excitement, it was a much needed break from school that I needed.