The Last Book in the Universe, by Rodman Philbrick

          In the book "The Last Book in the Universe", Spaz comes across a girl from "Eden", a place where supposedly everyone and everything is perfect. The girl has a clean white dress, and bright blue eyes, and Spaz, who is a "normal" feels intimidated. People from Eden rarely approach "normals", but she does, and gives him a bag of food.

          I think that this is a very interesting idea, because even though she is doing something extremely kind, he questions if it is really out of kindness, or if it just makes her feel like a better person, because now she looks perfect, has money, and helps people who are less fortunate. It does make sense for him to question this, but I think that it really was an act of kindness. He said that it was rare for people from Eden to approach a normal, or even to make eye contact, so the fact that she actually talked to him, makes me think that it was from her heart, even if it did make her a better person.

          In conclusion, some people do good things because they care, and some, for their own feelings of superiority.

Hurricane Song, by Paul Volponi

     In the exciting book "Hurricane Song" by Paul Volponi, Miles his father and his uncle are forced to stay in the Superdome during Hurricane Katrina, because their car broke down on their attempt to get out of New Orleans. The Superdome is dirty, dangerous and short on food and water. To make things more awful Miles isn't very close with his father, and feels as if his father cares more about his music than his own son. The experience, along with  Miles' love for football and his father's love for music actually brings them closer. Even people who are totally different can grow to love each other.

     Even people who are totally different who are totally different can grow to love each other. In the beginning of the book you can easily see how different Miles is from his father. Miles doesn't have much respect for his father's music and his father doesn't have much respect for Miles' love of football. An example of their differences is that Miles receives a drum from his father for his birthday. Another is that Miles thinks if is ridiculous for his father to bring his trumpet and his "gig book" to the Superdome.

        Even people who are totally different who are totally different can grow to love each other. At the end of the book, you can see how things have changed. Miles' father says he will see Miles on a professional football team, and even grabs his hand instead of his trumpet, which shows that he really does care. Miles' shows a new appreciation for music after the hurricane. Him and his father are checking around to see what survived the hurricane, and Miles saves a piano.

     In conclusion, people can learn to love each other, event if they are completely different. Miles loves sports and his father loves music, but after being together though rough times, they begin to care about each other, and each other's interests.

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place

     At the beginning of the book I didn't like Margret's character. I thought that she was annoying. At her camp she refused to take part in any sort of activity, by saying "I'd prefer not to." I found it annoying how closed minded she was, especially because it was her idea to go to camp in the first place.
     The one thing that she loved though was the towers her uncles had built, so when she found out that they were going to be demolished she was extremely upset. Despite her immaturity from the beginning I am starting to see a new side of her. She calls all of her uncles old neighbors, to help her stop the towers from being demolished.
     I am starting to see that when she is passionate about something, she really works hard to make it right. I am beginning to have more respect for her, because I admire her devotion.

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

     "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost, is about a person who come to a fork in the road. He is forced to make a decision about which path he will take. In life you will have to make decisions, and even if you make the wrong one, you will have to learn to live with them.
     In the first stanza, the speaker comes to "two diverged in a yellow wood," he must decide which path to take. He sees that they "had worn about the same." This means that the roads are probably about the equal, but he is still worried that one holds something, that the other one doesn't. In the last stanza the speaker says with a sigh, "I picked the one less traveled by." we know they are the same, os we can infer that he is telling his story to someone later in his life, and is trying to make himself sound more brave and independent. Perhaps, this is how the speaker lives with it.
     I tend to worry about a lot of things. Most are useless, and come when I am forced to make a decision. Even if both options are equally as good or bad, I always feel like by choosing one, I will lose out on something. This poem has shown me that it will be okay, and even if I chose the wrong thing I will have to live with it.
   
The poem:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

The Outcast of 19 Schuyler Place

     I am still rather close to the beginning of The Outcast of 19 Schuyler Place, by E. L. Koningsburg, but I can already tell that it's gonna be a good book. I really love how descriptive Margaret is about why she loves her uncles. Their relationship is very special.
     She explains how she never feels as comfortable with her parents. Margaret also explains that she always felt more comfortable with her uncles. I think it's sad that she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents but it's good that she has her uncles, who she loves. In the beginning of the book, Margaret lists all the reasons why she loves her uncles, Making it very clear that can relate to her, and understand her more than her own parents can.

     Margaret doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, except her uncle's house. Closer to the middle of the book she talks about why she dislikes her parents. Her uncles are building giant towers of scrap glass, wood, and metal in their backyard. There are clocks on top of the towers, that are more for decoration than telling time. Margaret thinks of the towers are beautiful. Her dad thinks that they're a waste of time and space. She knows that her father loves her, but she says it's difficult to live with people who have such different opinions than you.
     In conclusion it is sad that Margaret doesn't have close family she can relate to, but she is very lucky to have people like her uncles around who understand her so well.

     

     

Soda Ban Essay, I'm having a lot of technical difficulties with posting, I'm trying trying to post old things, they should be up soonish

New York City Soda Ban Supported

New York City Mayor Bloomberg recently passed a law banning all sodas over 16 oz from city regulated businesses. The soda ban should be supported, because it will help lower obesity and diabetes rates. It will also make people think about what they are drinking before they use the loopholes to get around it.

The soda ban will help lower the rates of diabetes and obesity, there are a lot of loopholes, but the ban will still make larger portions of soda more expensive and harder to get. As Mayor Bloomberg said when explaining the ban, the point of the ban is not to completely take away your rights of doing what you want, it's to make you realize what a big impact soda has over your health.

Soda is a major component to health problems such as diabetes and obesity, in fact they cause over 5,000 New Yorkers die every year. Of course soda isn't the only reason diabetes and obesity rates are going up, but by eliminating large sodas the topic of obesity and diabetes has come up. Bringing more awareness to these issues, will make people understand the impact that soda has on them, and their health. As Casey Neistat said in the “Soda Ban Explained” video, "Whether or not this ridiculous ban passes, it has forced a conversation about why people are getting fat, and that, that's a good thing."

  According to “Sugar Wars,” Mayor Bloomberg said, "It's certainly not the last step that lots of cities are going to take, and, we believe that it will help save lives." This shows that Mayor Bloomberg knows, that soda isn't the only reason for diabetes and obesity, and that he will continue to help. Eliot Hoff, a spokesman. For New Yorkers for beverage choices, claims, "This is not the end." She too agrees that there is still more to do before obesity and diabetes aren't as big of a problem.

In conclusion in New York City soda ban should be supported, even though it's easy to get around it it will make New Yorkers think about what they are drinking before they buy their soda the difficult way. Nobody really needs all that soda, and the ban doesn't even completely take it away from you. Hopefully this will bring awareness to how seriously dangerous the levels of obesity and diabetes are. Whether you're for the ban, or against the ban, We can all agree that our health is important, and that we should come together to protect ourselves.

Hurricane Song

     I have started a new book, but I am not far enough in in to really have any opinions on it. So, I decided to talk briefly about Hurricane Song, the book we are reading in class. In it, Miles and some of his family are forced to stay in the Super Dome, during hurricane Katrina, because their car broke down before they could get to a their other relative's house.

     After reading this last chapter, I feel like I'm getting to know Miles' character a little more. At the beginning, Miles really wanted to be friends with two boys on his football team, because they were older, and he thought it would make him more popular at school. It was nice at first, but then he started to realize how mean they were, they wanted to steal money from people, and then when he refused, they said he had to choose between them, or his family. He chose his family, and gave them money so they would go away.

     In conclusion, I saw a huge change in his character. He puts his family first, and popularity isn't his first priority.

Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry

     I finally finish Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, (yes I know it took for ever,) I am done though! Over all it was a very good book, I like how simple it was, but how easy it was to understand the characters.
     I really like how Lois Lowry left some things up to the reader to determine. I love it when books are descriptive, but still give you space to think what you want. In a lot of books, the author explains every little thing that's happening, and it actually gets really annoying, because its fun to read something, and question some aspects of it. I think that this book was a perfect balance of information, and a mystery.

     Another thing that made this book good, was how you really got to know the characters. Even the minor characters' personalities were very obvious. They each had different ways of speaking, you could tell that some were more educated than others, or that someone was a positive kind of person, just by their dialogue.
     In conclusion, Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry was very good, I recommend it to anyone looking for  anyone who is looking for a good book to read.

Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry

     I am still reading Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry, but next week I will have finished it and I will conclude the book as a whole. This past week I noticed how curious Kira is.

     Kira finds out that she is an "artist" she has never heard this this term before, but she likes it. First she goes to research the meaning of this word, but then she realizes that there is more to it. Kira, Jo, and Tom still haven't been adopted yet. That is very unusual. She starts to question this, wondering what could make them different, that would make it necessary for them to be held onto for; and then she remembers that all three of them are artists.
     Kira can embroider, Jo can sing, and Tom can carve wood. In conclusion, I think that since this story takes place in the future, and people have assigned roles/ jobs in the community when someone has the gift of being creative and unique at something that only they can do, others are either scared, and confused. Or they just admire them, and want to keep track of them.

Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry

     I am almost finished with Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, (yes I know it's taking a while). I can't help but notice how appreciating Kira is. She doesn't take anything for granted.
     Kira is very thankful. and doesn't expect good things to come to her. I think this has to do with her dark past. Kira's father left her and her mother when she was very young, and then her mother died, making her basically an orphan. Kira is used to accepting things the way they are, and moving on when bad things happen, so when good things happen it is rare, and exciting.
     Kira comes to work after she finds out that her dying teacher is dead. She doesn't know what to do, because she won't be able to dye threads anymore, therefore she can't embroider, (which is her job) she is very sad, but she stays positive. Then she sees that a dying station has been built for her. This means that she can continue life normally, and she is very grateful, she is very excited and thanks everyone. This shoes that when good things happens to Kira she is thankful.
     In conclusion, Kira doesn't assume that good things will come to her, since it doesn't happen often. When things do go her way, she cherishes them instead of taking them for granted.

Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry

     As you probably know, I am reading Gathering Blue, by lois Lowry. Kira's mother dies, and she has to restart her life as an orphan. The ways she does it shows a lot of maturity.

     She is used to her mom supplying for her, but she knows she needs to do that herself now. Most small children probably wouldn't know what to do. Kira probably doesn't either, but she tries everything, hoping one will help. She continues gardening, for food, and then she tries to get a job and succeeds, the reason I find this impressive is because Kira was aware of her embroidery talent, and she takes advantage of it to help her. Getting a job can be difficult, but Kira tries anyway.

     In conclusion, Kira teaches us that even when dealing with serious things you need to do what ever you can to help yourself recover, Kira is doing very well now, even as an orphan.