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catherine

Holding Up the Earth

Dianne E. Gray



Hope's mother died in a tragic car accident eight years ago. By fourteen, she has gone to seven different foster homes. She now arrives at Anna and Sarah's caring hands. She discovers Anna and Sarah's ancestors who have also settled on this land before. Reading their diaries and letters, Hope soon learns to accept her new life and settles.

Rating:4/5

My Left Foot
by Christy Brown

Christy Brown's autobiography My Left Foot, tells us about his condition of cerebral palsy. This condition is a muscle disorder. When he was young, he could not control his speech or movement, other than his left foot. He taught his left foot to paint, write and type.
Born in 1932, Chirsty Brown was one of the 22 children of a Dulin bricklayer. He played with his brothers like any other child, but at the age of ten, he noticed he was crippled. He hid away from everyone in his room and painted his feelings with a box of watercolour paints he traded for soldiers at Christmas. He then fell in love with a neighbourhood girl. There you should read on!
This book is written so well you will feel sympathetic for Christy because it's like you him so well!!

Rating: 3.5/5

Title: The Life of Pi
Author: Yann Martel
The story is about a guy named Piscine. He believes in three different religions, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. Pi grew up in a zoo located in India. At one part of his life, Pi and his parents decides to go to Canada through the cargo ship. At this event, Pi was orphaned. He was left alone with one creature with him; a tiger. It was really sad for Pi. At the beginning of the novel Pi didn’t know what to do with an animal. However, as the story develops Pi and the tiger got along and started liking each other. The both helped each other at times of need.
From this book I learned many lessons. Firstly, I go to know that if you want to live life then you need to continue on. Pi was left all alone in a sea with a tiger. His parents and brother is dead and he doesn’t have anyone except a tiger. It was a sad moment, for many of us we wouldn’t go near a tiger, but I learned that anything can happen at anytime and you just need to make the best out of the situations. You achieve something through the struggles you go through. Also, I find it interesting how Pi believes in three different religions. Even though some society members disagree with him, Pi still continues on. Overall I liked this book for all the themes and lessons that I got to know and learn. I also liked the part of how it took in India, in Pondicherry where I visited which I found interesting.

Vol. Hrs: 27 hrs

Macbeth by William Shakepeare

Macbeth is another Shakespearean story that I have read. Macbeth goes against his moral values. To gain more power and to maintain his power Macbeth started committing cruel crimes. At the beginning of the play, Macbeth was normal, and was satisfied with what he had, however Lady Macbeth is the one who questioned his manhood, and encouraged Macbeth to start his quest for power. The first murder he did was the murder of the king who is also his cousin. After that Macbeth started planning and murdering other noblemen of Scotland. The noblemen include his best friend. As the story continues on, Lady Macbeth feels bad and guilty that she was part of killing the King. This makes her mad and soon she dies of her guiltiness. Also, Macbeth loses love to his wife as because of the overload of respect he has and the power he has. At the end, Macbeth dies.

From reading this play, I learned that gaining power with violence and immoral actions, the power wouldn’t last long, and something disastrous will follow it.

This was an okay play too. It was short and was little easy to understand.

VOl. HRS. 24 hrs.

Title:The Watcher
Author: James Howe
The Watcher is a short read but has a lot of in depth meaning to it. The story takes place in a beach setting. There three main characters; Margaret who is an outsider, who just comes to the beach and sit and just watch people. What she intently watches is families, “perfect” families. The other character’s name is Chris. He is a life guard at the beach. He can’t concentrate on his work or anything else, since he is missing his older brother. He wants his older brother to be alive and hang around with him. Therefore the thought of his brother being dead makes Chris not to be in a normal state. The last character is Evan. Even though Margaret and Chris think that Evan’s family is the perfect one, but inside the family is breaking apart. The story continues on Margaret being kept on staring at Chris and Evan. They also find it awkward that she is always watching them. Margaret wants Chris to be her guiding angel and Evan to be her brother. The reason why Margaret wants another family is revealed at the end. Also at the end, Chris and Evan are the one that rescue Margaret from a risky situation.
You might be thinking that the watcher refers to Margaret, but it actually refers to us. How many, individuals are in our society, how we all watch wrongful activities, and see people who have emotional problems, and how we continue watching every day and the way we don’t do anything about it, we continue to ignore it. continue making fun of it, and continue watching . So, overall we are watchers in this world, where the code of silence is rarely broken.
I will reccommend this book for all of you. Even though it was a little boring, the themes and the connections in our book makes it more interesting.

Vol. Hrs. 21 hrs

The Nanny Diaries
By: Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus
Pages:306

Nanny is a student at NYU who is working to afford the rent for her studio apartment. Her job may seem simple; how hard can being a nanny to a 4-year-old boy get? But when the employer is a filthy rich family living in Manhattan, and she’s in charge of their only spoiled son – Grayer X, this job can get a little bit out of hand. Apart from taking care of the X’es well-pampered son (which comes with the responsibility of feeding him, taking him to all his classes, and just generally be his second mother), Nanny also has to run ridiculous errands for Mrs. X herself. An example is getting “Lavender Water” for her parties. Along with her extremely high expectations, she never seems to get off Nanny’s case. Mrs. X has long gone crossed the line and has even called Nan on Christmas in the morning to see if she was available to work. But soon, the situation worsens when the marriage of the X’es begins deteriorating and Nanny is in the midst of it all. During this troubling time, Nanny tries to hold on to her sanity, all the while making sure Grayer is alright.

All in all, this is a great novel to read; it has an interesting story line and is mixed with witty humour from Nan, the adorableness of Grayer, and a small touch of romance. Although the beginning was downright boring, the story started picking pace by the first quarter. I especially enjoyed the moments where Nanny and Mrs. X exchanged dialogue. Unfortunately, all the buildup led to a very disappointing ending; I guessed it’s just what the authors planned, but if I was writer, I wouldn’t want it to end like that…it’s just a bit sad…Anyways, I won’t spoil the ending, so if you want to find out what it is, read it for yourself. Oh, and the movie is coming out in September!!!
Rating: 8/10

Volunteer hours: 3 hrs (total – 49 ½)
s.t.e.p.h.i.e.

Title: How I Live Now

Number of Pages: 196

This book is a story about a fifteen year old, Daisy. Daisy's family life is messed up, her mother died when giving birth to her, and her step mom is driving her nuts. Because of the fear that her step mom might poison her, Daisy eats as little as possible. Due to this reason, her dad decides to send her to England to live with her cousins whom she never ever met before. When she comes to England she is very shocked because her 14-year old cousin drives and smokes! She likes her cousins immediately and her and Edmond fall in love immediately. Soon a war starts and Daisy's mom has to go to the city for some peacekeeping work. The kids have the house to themselves, something they loved. Because of several bombings and attacks, all flights were cancelled and electricity was disconnected. The kids enjoyed living by themselves with no one to look after them. But good times never last long. Soon, the government took over their house to keep the troops in their. Osbert, the sixteen year old cousin, joins the army and all the cousins need to split up. Daisy didn't want to split up with Edmond but she had no choice, she and piper, Daisy's nine year old cousin, are sent to live with this old lady. From then on their journey begins; they work in the farms just to help the war and are determined to find Edmond and Isaac, the two twin cousins. After running away from the old lady they travel to the farm where Edmond and Isaac were, their journey wasn’t easy they lived in the forest and wilderness trying to find the food and necessities. But, unfortunately this journey wasn’t worth it. They spent so long, apparently a month, but when they reached their destiny all they found was dead bodies. From then on, the book talks about how the two girls coped with this disappointment. Eventually, Daisy gets deported and Piper is left alone. Six years later the book shows how the war had affected some people. Edmond, who was alive, was a completely different person. He blamed himself for the death of several people. He wouldn’t talk and couldn’t live and enjoy his life for he has seen the death of many. On the other hand, Isaac was able to escape the war and come back home; he had to ditch his own brother because Edmond didn’t agree to leave. He wanted to live and help the others in pain. So as you can see Edmond was suffering six years later and Isaac was himself. Osbert was the same and Piper too. Different people deal with the war differently. Upon reuniting with Edmond, Daisy was quite disappointed. This was because Edmond wouldn’t talk to Daisy. After days and days of explanation, Daisy and Edmond got together. That’s where Daisy decided to live the rest of her life. That’s “how she lives now”.


I actually loved this book, it was so sad:(………very emotional too. I’d suggest everyone to read this book. I would rate this book 4.8 out of 5. This is because the part where they are travelling kind of gets boring but other then that the book is Great!!!!

Total Hours: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Title: Swede Dreams

Author: Eva Apelqvist

# of pages: 202

Plot Summary:

Calista Swanson longs to be away from her annoying twin sister and reunite with her Swedish boyfriend, Jonas, who visited her community in Wisconsin as an exchange student a few months ago. She therefore seizes the opportunity to become an exchange student to Stockholm this semester, and is determined to learn the language and culture of Sweden.

She meets very friendly people on her way there: Lena on the plane to Stockholm, her host family, and her neighbours. Much as her experience has been perfect, Jonas hasn't replied to any of her e-mails for a while now, and despite his promise that he would guide her throughout the city, they have not seen each other in Stockholm. Later on, she discovers that he doesn't want to go out together anymore, but she moves on and has a wonderful time learning about the Swedish culture and language, and meeting extraordinary people.

Through her e-mails back home in Wisconsin, she also realizes that she and her sister ought to be closer, and that she should always make choices for herself instead of relying on others' opinions.

Opinion:

I enjoyed learning more about tourist destinations in Stockholm, and discovered that even though it may not be renowned for its tourism, it has a lot to offer to visitors. Apelqvist includes thorough descriptions of the scenery there. Her comments encourage readers to learning about other cultures, about other people, and trying new things, a major recurring theme in the novel. Calista is always meeting new people and learning more about Sweden every day.

As for the actual storyline, I found it a bit dull. There is no suspense as Calista is always surrounded by warm people who would never do any harm to her. She faces almost no challenges. We do not develop any feelings for Jonas because he never appears in person, only through Calista's memories and a single phone call. We only seriously understand the sentiments of Calista and Hakan (her neighbour's friend, who would later become Calista's boyfriend) because of their heart-to-heart conversations - everyone else is a perfect family member, a perfect friend.

Swede Dreams was a good read for its descriptions of tourism in Sweden, but the plot itself was otherwise monotonous.

Main themes and subjects:

• Learning about other cultures and languages
• Meeting new people and building social relationships
  
• Tourism in Sweden
• Swedish history
• Romance

Target audience: Teenage girls

Genre: Chick lit

Rating: 3/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 69 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie
By: Jaclyn Moriarty
Pages:491

This book is a companion to “The Year of Secret Assignments” – although there really is no connection to it. The reader is introduce to Bindy Mackenzie, the nerd girl at Ashbury High. She excels in all her classes and earns and average of 99.9%, sadly she is not one of the most loved people at her school. Recently, she enrolled in a new course being offered – the Friendship and Development Project. Apparently, this class (consisted of 6 other students) is supposed to be a “life raft” for each other, and a place where they will provide support and chat about issues facing adolescents. Bindy sees no reason for her to join such a group and finds it all rubbish. She starts bad-talking about the members in her FAD group, and soon got everyone to turn against her. Then, all life starts falling apart; she begins to have hallucinations, fail exams, skip classes – and she doesn’t care at all. (Okay, here is the part that is a little weird, you will have to read the story to get it). So back to the plot synopsis about her life falling apart, theses are all signs showing that she is slowly dying. How could she be dying? Who would want to kill her? Why are they killing her?

I was a bit confused about the relation between the title and the story in the first place. It wasn’t until I read 3/4 of the book did I finally got the meaning. This is because the title makes it sound like it is a mystery book with detectives and all that, but the writing sounded like a regular high school fiction with a nerd girl cast for the main role. Like the first book the author wrote, this is not told in narrative perspective. Presented in the form of letters, transcripts, diary entries, emails, and other documents, this story has a plot line which matches that of “The Year of the Secret Assignments”. A definite excellent read!
Rating: 8.5/10

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 46 ½ )

Title: EVIL HAS A NEW DOMAIN...ANGEL

# of pages: 307

Angel is a vampire who has a human soul. He has commited innumerous amount of crimes and now wants to become good and repay to the community. To make sure that all his sins are forgiven he goes to Los Angeles and opens up a detective agency. It's called "Angel Investigations" and their motive is "To help the helpless". His agency has only two more workers, a girl named Cordelia and a half-demon and half-human guy Doyle.

Wierd things have been happening in Los Angeles, something is killing people in a wierd way, leaving behind only the skin and powder of the bones. Who could possibly do this? Well...there are these demons living in the city, their victims are usually from different parts of the city. These demons are able to read the mind of the person in front of them. This way they are able to transform in to the love of the person in front of them. This makes it easier for them to kill people. But why is it killing certain specific people only? Well...he needs to kill one person from each sunsign to complete his cycle. After this cycle is completed, he will be immortal. Immortal, meaning he will be able to eat ANYONE he wants to eat ANYWHERE he wants to eat.

The police department doesn't believe there is such thing as demons living in this city. They are looking for human culprit in the city. The only person that can do the job now is Angel. He doesn't only need to destroy the demon, he also has to make sure that the cult that is after the demon doesn't get there before them. The cult is after the demon so that they can bind the demon to their will.

This is not only a hard task but also an emotional one for Angel. This is because when ever Angel sees the Demon, he sees his love, his x-girlfriend. This form of demon makes it harder for Angel to attack him.

I LOVED reading this book. It has sooo many twists and surprises in it. It's like the unexpected is alwayz happening in this book. I suggest everyone to read this book.

Total Hours: 9 hrs and 30 mins

Title: Shopaholic & Baby

Author: Sophie Kinsella

# of pages: 359

Plot Summary:

Becky Bloomwood is now working at The Look, a new department store that has been dubbed the "biggest retail disaster in British history". The spare time gained from the lack of customers to serve is used to ponder her preparations for her baby due in December, including finding a new family-friendly home to move into.

However, once again, life is in ruins when she discovers that her new obstetrician is, in fact, her husband Luke's ex-girlfriend. She attempts to find out whether Luke and Venetia are in a relationship, while struggling to find the perfect home, and buying essentials for the baby.

Opinion:

Once again, this Shopaholic sequel was a thrilling read and was one of those novels I simply couldn't put down. There were quite a few twists in the plot, and it was hilarious to constantly see Becky trying to make things better for herself when she is really only making it worse - a theme that is difficult to be tired of. Another repeated concept, seen in the prequels, was that Becky was faced with an impossible array of challenges in her life and she was obliged to find a solution to them. The fact that every time, she manages to have a happy ending reduces the tension, but I suppose that's a general feature of most chick lit novels.

Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to all chick lit enthusiasts, especially those with an interest in fashion and simply a sense of humour.

Main themes and subjects:

• Romance
• Shopping
• Fashion
• Marriage/ Separation/ Childbirth

Target audience: Teenage girls and women

Genre: Chick lit

Book Review by Fiona T.
* 66 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Bowling for Columbine
Documentary Film by Micheal Moore
Won 5 awards
Although you think this film is about bowling, you're wrong. This film is much more than bowling, it's talks about guns and violence in the states. You know South Park? Well, guess where Matt Stone got the idea? Colorado of course! They're gun nuts! (or are they just nuts?) Micheal Moore also compare U.S.A to Canada. There are a lot of guns lying around here,....but our gun death rates are twice as low as the state's! He also blames the media, the government and the NRA (National Rifle Association). He takes a serious problem and turns it into an unboring film to teach those who watch it. Even the director of The Inconvenient Truth used Micheal Moore's way of expressing global warming (you should watch that film too!) This is a very serious, but funny enough to suck you into the story. There is also some language that is inappropriate. I love this film a lot. There are some parts that are a bit boring, Very good documentary!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

See it!
Rachel

Princess in Love
By Meg Cabot
229 Pages
4.5/5

I found this book better than the first two. For some reason.

It may not seem like it, but Mia has it harder than anyone thinks. She is a princess, and is on covers of Teen People and everything, with everyone wanting to take pictures of her everywhere. But she says she's "five foot nine inches tall, with no visible breasts, feet the size of snowshoes". Many people think she's all perfect, but actually, she is just an average teen with her own insecurities, and a royal title to go with it.

Mia could not believe she didn't figure it out. All along, Kenny, her lab partner for bio, had been her secret admirer. How did Mia not figure it out? I mean, he always does his homework for her and stuff. But when Mia found out, she was a little dissapointed. She had been thinking it was Michael. Okay, she was hoping it was Michael, but still. She couldn't believe it! In the beginning of this book, Kenny is Mia's "boyfriend", which Mia is pretty happy about, but she isn't totally satisfied. She would much prefer Michael Moscovitz at any given time. But.. she's not letting herself believe that.

Mia isn't really in love.. is she? Well, she doesn't think so, cuz Kenny STILL hasn't asked her to the dance, which is in a few days.. she actually really wants to go with Michael, but still. Shouldn't her boyfriend be first to ask her?

*Would have been 114
*Can Be Published In A Newsletter
*Jessica

Title: Locked In Time
Author: Lois Duncan

The main character in this book is Nore, a teenager, who was trying to get over her mom's death and her dad's sudden remarriage. what really enrages her is the fact that her dad's new wife is very pretty without a single line or blemish. How is it possible for a forty year old to be that pretty? Her step brother and step sister are very quirky. The strangest thing of all, she sees her mother in her dreams who tells her to leave that place right away, she ignores the warning and continues to live at her step mother's house.

Her step family seems awkward, they barely speak, seems like they have known each other for more then a 1oo years and are able to understand what each other has to say without speaking. Nore hears her step mom, and her step brother planning and discussing regarding Nore. This really enrages her and soon she discovers the reason behind her step mom's beauty: Magic:Voodoo.

Her step mom has used magic to remain the same age for the rest of her life, and they have been living for more then 200 years!!! This isn't it, there are more problems coming up for Nore.

This book is very interesting and full of twists, the author used a lot of creativity and I loved this book!!I would rate it 4.5 out of 5........I suggest everyone to read it.

Total Hours: 6 hrs and 30 mins

Princess in the Spotlight
By Meg Cabot
223 Pages
4/5

This is the second book in the series, after The Princess Diaries. I have to say, this series isn't really that good, like, the plot isn't really intense and the climax isn't really all that evident, but there's something about them that just keeps you reading.

In the first book, Mia Thermopolis' mother was dating Mia's algebra teacher, Mr Gianni. In the beginning of this book, Mia gets some.. uhh.. exciting news. Her mother is pregnant with her Algebra teacher's baby! She doesn't know whether she should be shocked or happy. Soon after, Mia's mom tells Mia that they're also getting married. Which is kind of a lot for Mia. She's been living with her mom for her whole life, and all of the sudden, she's going to have a stepbrother and her algebra teacher is about to become her stepfather.

Meanwhile, while her mother is pregnant, Mia still has to endure her painful Princess Lessons, led by Grandmère. Being the princess of Genovia is not that simple, I must say. On top of that, she is getting these anonymous emails from.. someone. She has no idea who. But.. she strongly suspects that her secret admirer is her best friend Lilly's, big brother. Well.. strongly wishes, I mean. She has had a crush on his since.. forever.

Princess Mia has a lot to figure out other than the stuff i talked about.. I read this so long ago, I can't remember :)

would have been 111
can be published
*Jessica

Reminder: June 15th deadline for volunteer Hours

There will be no more posting after June 15th. For those of you who need to finish volunteer hours, that will be your last chance.

I archive the postings so I can still see how many hours you have but if you want forms filled in, please start sending them to me.

Summer Blog will start July 3rd. Again, there are no volunteer hours for this blog.

Catherine

Angus Glen Teen Department

In preparation for summer, we are trying to make the collection more appealing.
We have not needed to make room on the shelves because we were building.
Now, it is time for us to go through and take a look at the books. Some of them, especially the paperbacks have been overused and abused.

Our goal is to have things in wonderful shape by the time school finishes.

We are also going to go through the cd and dvd collection.

Angus Glen and our other branches get new materials in, regularly. We hope you like the changes.

Catherine and Andrea

Sorry, for being behind in answering posts.

I usually get an email notification when someone has posted and I have not had any for a little while so I thought no one was posting.

i will keep checking without waiting for the notices.

Catherine

Title:Julius Caesar

Author: Shakespeare

Julius Caesar is a tragedy written by the well-known playwright Shakespeare. To cut a long story short, Julius Caesar, the ruler of Rome is assassinated by one of his best friends, Brutus and other Roman Generals. The intent of many of these conspirators was to save Rome from falling. In a series of events, Anthony-one of Caesar’s loyal friends turns the crowd against the conspirators, persuading the Plebeians that Caesar was not ambitious. Eventually, most of the conspirators kill themselves through misunderstanding. It is said that, “Ambition and pride caused Caesar’s downfall”.

Some people are so into Shakespeare and can understand what he is saying without any help but some can't. I am not really interested in Shahkespeare writing, I find it sometimes boring. However this book has helped me a little to understand Shakespeare.

Many of you might have read this book. If you are interesed in Shakespeare literature, then go ahead read the book, but for me it took a while to understand phrases.

Vol. Hours. 18 hrs.

Name: Grave Secrets

Author:Sylvia McNicoll

The book that I’ve read is called Grave Secrets and is written by Sylvia McNicoll. Reading this book is worthwhile reading it because there are valuable themes and lessons to be learned. This book teaches lessons that have great significance to it. The lessons that can be learned from this book can be used for future life and can allow you to confront success in life.
To start off with, the central theme of this book discusses about how if you are determined to change something, you will be able to achieve it. To be more specific, this book is based on a flashback. Years before Nicholas moved into his house, his house was used as a Boys Age Home and nearby it was a swimming pool. Unfortunately, history says that a young, innocent five year old Corey drowned into the pool, as he was not skilled at swimming and no one was there to help him at the time. After this horrible incident, the pool was buried and the Boys Age Home was redeveloped into a normal house. Even after a few days into the house, Nicholas kept hearing voices. He heard a ghostly voice staying to stop, but he did not know exactly what to stop. However, Nick was more determined and confident as time passed by and he eventually stopped history from reoccurring. Another theme of this book is how believing in yourselves can allow you to achieve success.

I didn't find this book as interesting I have as for other books. I will give it a 3/5.

Vol. hrs. 15 hrs

Name:Rudy
Director:David Anspaugh
Cast:Sean Austin, John favreau, Ned Beatty, Greta Bend

Rudy Ruettiger has overcome many obstacles before becoming a victorious football player at Notre Dame. To be more specific, Rudy has always wanted to become a football player at Notre Dame at a very young age; his family members, whom he relied on for support to achieving his dream, were rather discouraging him; they were always telling him that he was too small to be a player at Notre Dame. Rudy did not allow his weaknesses overtake him. He was discouraged and depressed also because of his low academic records. His academic marks weren’t high enough to be accepted by the administrators of Notre Dame. All throughout his life, people have been saying that he can’t become a football player in Notre Dame, except for his friend Pete. Pete has always motivated and encouraged Rudy. Without Pete, it might have been impossible for Rudy to accomplish his dream. In fact, it was only after Pete’s funeral where Rudy finally decided to qualify for Notre Dame. Rudy struggled to show people that he was capable of achieving what he wanted; in fact, Rudy was finally able to accomplish his dream after many trials.
As every athlete, Rudy had to prevail over physical obstacles. Rudy was quite small to be a football player; he was small in height and in weight (he weighed 100 pounds less than an average football player in Notre Dame). This yet didn’t stop him from trying. To elaborate more, when he was chosen as one of the unofficial players of the team, he was injured numerous times. This was because he didn’t have much strength and didn’t follow the criteria of an average football player (he was too small in size). However, this didn’t prevent him from playing as an unofficial player in the team. As a matter of fact, the team members wanted Rudy to dress in one of the seasons because they were fully aware of the effort he put into football and how hard he valued the football team in Notre Dame.

Another obstacle that Rudy had to overcome was his low academic records. This was an obstacle because Rudy’s academic marks were too low and in order to be accepted by the administrators of Notre Dame, the marks needed to be higher than a certain percentage; however, Rudy’s marks did not reach the expectations. As of this, it became really difficult for Rudy to get into Notre Dame. With the help of Father Cavanaugh, he was able to attend a few semesters (four semesters) in a college where his marks increased. Though his marks highly increased, he was rejected three times by Notre Dame. He still tried and at last, he was accepted at the end of the fourth semester. It is evident that he gave his best shot in the college he later attended. For instance, even though everything the professor/ lecturer said to the class was written in the textbook, he wrote everything down on a piece of paper; this shows that he really cares about his education and wants to know everything the lecturer happened to mention. As well, earlier on this movie, the director happens to show how Rudy was in his earlier years of studying. He never seemed to pay attention to what the teacher ever said. When the teacher asked Rudy a question about what they’ve discussed so far in class, he came up with a respond that proved he wasn’t paying attention to class; it was rather a silly and uneducated guess.

Not only that, but Rudy suffered from dyslexia, a learning disorder in which someone is unable to read and comprehend written words. Even after aware of this, Rudy still continued to work hard in college. Many students would often quit after knowing they have a learning disorder; yet, Rudy continued to make attempts in studying harder. In fact, Rudy did not see his learning disorder as something that could possibly prevent him from achieving his dreams; instead, he saw his learning disorder as a motivation to achieving his dream as quickly as he can.
More importantly, Rudy, before leaving to Notre Dame, left behind his girlfriend. He thought she will wait for his arrival for marriage, but she, rather impatient, cheated on him with his brother. His girlfriend, who he relied on for support and for understanding his problems, did not see him as he saw her. Seeing his girlfriend in the hands of his brother only motivated him to show what she missed. Therefore, it is evident that Rudy has a strong heart because he continued to strive for excellence.
In conclusion, the movie Rudy Ruettiger should be recognized to promote physical activity. This movie reveals the true qualities of a sports hero and shows what can happen if you are determined to achieve something. I strongly recommend this movie to everyone to understand the true meaning of a sports hero and what it needs to be an actual sports hero. I am determined that whoever watches this movie will definitely benefit and get something useful out of this movie.

Definately reccommended.

VOL. HRS. 12 hrs

Name: A League of Their Own

Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty

Director: Penny Marshall

To begin with, A League of Their Own is a movie based on history; it has thoroughly introduced the circumstances, the nature and the thoughts about women’s baseball team a long time ago. American’s baseball teams were based on males, but however, as war started, men went to fight. American lost a good population of baseball players, being unable to accomplish a baseball team until World War II came to an end. In the hope of reestablishing baseball and bringing back to the American population, the Americans established a women’s league, where women qualified and were chosen to compete for a baseball team. The American population, like many other countries in the past, assumed women weren’t talented in sports like baseball. They believed there was no need to watch them compete, as there was scarcely any Americans at the start of the women’s league as the audience. Two women/ girls who made it/ partook in the women’s league as a member/ participant were Dottie and Kit. As sisters, rivalry developed/ arose between both; Kit was jealous of Dottie, her older sister’s beauty, popularity in public and her skills/ talents in baseball. This women’s league was recognized as the Peaches. The Peaches made it to the World Series, but days before, Kit was traded onto another team. At the World Series, the Peaches and Kit’s team were the two competitors. Near the very end, Dottie, who was the pitcher, was thrown off/ pushed to the ground by Kit as she ran towards home run. The ball, initially caught by Dottie rolled off her hands, allowing the opponents to be recognized as the winners.

From my point of view, I find this movie to be a little funny. Overall I liked the movie, and I enjoyed watching it.

Vol. Hrs. 11/ 30mins

Remember The Titans
Starring:Denzel Washington, Will Paton, Wood Harris, etc
Director:Boaz Yakin

Remember the Titans remains as a memorable and a movie of significant importance in my heart, as it has brought great impact in my life and to the many people who have watched this unforgettable and exalted movie. The scenes that share great importance to this world is what has earned this movie the title of “an eminent and a prospering movie”. Some scenes in the movie that are portrayed as significant importance have been a great impact in my life and to the many others; therefore, they are portrayed as unforgettable and most cherished. These scenes emphasize the change of periods in history and the period of segregation in America’s history that was in the need to be stopped. Some scenes in this movie, I watched with great concern and care than others for they were of much more meaning than others. Hence, the importances of these scenes are thoroughly portrayed and described with great clarity to why these scenes were watched with great detail and care.
Remember the Titans is a movie that is based on true lives and a true team; the story and the lessons behind each scene is what has earned this movie the title of “an eminent and a prospering movie”. All the same, this movie is very meaningful as it shows what barriers and circumstances Africans confronted in the period of racism, but a crucial portion of this movie is based on how a football team titled as “the Titans” overcame the obstacles of integration, of society and the colour barrier to unite as one, despite the different races and to become one, successful and great team. All the same, Remember the Titans comprises/ consists meaningful words and scenes that should be world- wide known to make this place a better place for the better. This movie in fact taught me and the many others who watched this movie that it is important to make yourself comfortable with whom you are surrounded with because they will always be around you; that when it is the time for change, accept the change and go with the flow, just like Gerry accepted the change to his football team to treat his African American teammates with equality. Nonetheless, Remember the Titans is a movie that should remain in the hearts of everyone who have watched it for a lifetime, for it is that eloquent, influential and powerful.


Overall i would definately reccommmend this move for it is a movie that shows what are some type discrimination that has took place in the world. I enjoyed watching it and i know many will too.

Vol. Hrs. 11

Title: The Greenies

Author: Myra Paperny

# of pages: 291 (298 including author's note and acknowledgements)

Plot Summary:

The Greenies are a group of orphaned European Jewish children immediately after the Second World War, who survived the Holocaust in their homelands. Inside, they grieve for the family members they lost, but most of them do not show their true feelings when their wartime experiences taught them not to.

Over one thousand of them, preteens and teenagers (for the younger ones would not have survived the war), have been carefully selected to immigrate to Canada with the Canadian Jewish Congress' assistance. However, living in a new land contains many surprises, and sometimes it's difficult to blend in with the rest of the Canadians.

Opinion:

The Greenies was a very touching story. How the children felt about their past and how the Holocaust would leave a permanent mark on their lives was moving. Their reactions to certain foods, etc. they never saw before in their lives were also interesting, though I was quite displeased when they rejected food on their way to their foster homes while they constantly complained about how terrible concentration camp life was. It was unfortunate for them that some things didn't turn out the way they wanted, but they repeatedly assumed that all Canadians were disagreeable. As a Canadian, I believe that it was unwise to make such comments when they only recently arrived (i.e. they met few people), and complaining wouldn't change any circumstances, or make things worse since there was nowhere else to go for the Jewish orphans.

I would recommend The Greenies to all teenagers because despite some of the opinions expressed that contradict mine, the story was unique in its own way and I appreciate the authenticity of it.

Main themes and subjects:

• Holocaust
• Immigration to Canada
• Orphans
  

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Historical fiction

Rating: 4/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 63 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

THE SANDLOT 2

This movie is a sequel to sandlot 1 which was produced in 1993. This movie is basicly about a group of baseball players which are 12-year olds who happen to meet good girl baseball players. They are always arguing and fighting because the boys don't believe girls can play baseball. Eventually, they become good friends and began to play on the same team. One of the girls, Hayley's dad works for NASA, therefore he works with rockets. Johnnie, also a part of the group Hayley hangs out with, loves rockets.

One day, Johnnie mistakenly sends a model rocket, which belonged to Hayley's dad, over the junk yard of the great fear's yard. Great Fear happens to be a so called "mutated dog" owned by a person who breeds dogs who eat kids. The gang has no choice but to get the model rocket before Hayley's dad comes back home.

Basicly, this movie then focuses on how the kids try the wierdest techniques to get back the model rocket.

I'd say it's a very good past time movie, but not exactly a "must-see" type.

Volhrs= 30 mins (total hrs- 3 hours and 30 mins)

Title: Judy Collins, Trust Your Heart

Author: Judy Collins

Number of pages: 275

Judy Collins was a very successful singer. In this book, she shares her life story from the beginning to the point where she became a succesful singer. Judy's life began in middleclass family, her dad was blind, and her mom did practically everything.

She used to go to piano classes, and her parents expected her to become a classical pianist. Soon, she discovers folk music and decides that she wants to become a singer, not a pianist. This really disappoints her parents and her piano teacher. This was the first disappointment that she caused to someone she loved, from that moment on she continued to disappoint her loved ones. She continued to do things the way she watned to do, and beleived that everyone should understand her. Her life consists of many so called "lovers", who eventually end up ditching her for her career life is so much more important to her than her personal life. Her marriage ends up as a total disaster and her four year old son's "Clark", life is ruined.

This book is all about the challenges one has to face to become succesful in life. This book teaches the reader that to gain something, loosing something is essential.

I really wouldn't recommend this book to anyone, because it gets quite boring in the middle. it's always the same thing, she is having troubles settling between personal and career life. I also didn't like this book, because Judy seemed to be so selfish and self centered. She didn't even care about her kid when she asked her husband for divorce. I'd say read the book if you are really into the depressing kind of novels.

Vol hrs: 3 hrs

Title: The Age of Innocence
Author: Edith Wharton

This book is about a guy named Archer Newland who is engaged to a girl named May. During the time period that has been left for the wedding, Archer falls in love with another woman named Ellen who rescently has been divorced and Ellen also has feelings for Archer. However, in order to make sure that Archer doesn't marry the wrong person, Archer hurries the wedding and marries May, and still loves Ellen. During the married life of Mat and Archer, Ellen did sometimes came and met the couples and Archer and Ellen did try getting together but in corner of both thier heart, it sayed no. May and Ellen has lived together for 25 years, and they had 3 children, during this time frame May dies of a disease which i can't remember now. After some time, Archer's son asks Archer to come with him to France and under some circumstances and Archer and his son goes and visit Ellen but at the last minute Archer says no to the visit and just allows his son to go and visit. Archer lives of his memories.

I thought this book okay. Its not that bad or that good in my point of view.

***3/5 ***

P.S There will be lot more reviews by me more, since i will be putting on reviews on books and movies that i have watched and read while i was absent.Lolz. I will try to keep my reviews short and up to the point.
:)


VOL. Hours 10 hRs. & 30mins.

Movie:Finding Forrester
Director: Gus Van Sant
Cast:Sean Connery,Rob Brown,Murray Abraham
This movie is good for all high school students, since the movie about a high school student. Jamal a high school is really good at writing, well beyond excellent. However he hides his talents at school since he doesn't want to be seen as unusual. Therefore, to keep him busy Jamal plays basketball and he is pretty good at it too. While he plays ball with his friends, there is always a man (William Forrester) looking at them through the window (his apartment). William is an author, and he writes and reads a lot too. Jamal develops a good relationship with him. He gets some advice from William on life, and on writing. When the whole school has to do like SAT test, Jamal did pretty well. For this reason a private school wanted Jamal to come to their school for free, and Jamal does accept the invitation. In there Jamal got an assignment of reading one of Forrester’s books. Jamal asks Forrester for info on him, and Forrester does give the some info about himself, but he asks Jamal to not tell anyone about anything. At one point Jamal hand in an essay that he wrote with Forrester but it was Jamal’s work, The professor accuses Jamal of plagiarizing since his writing is well beyond excellent. How Jamal solves this problem, how William helps him, and how he overcome basketball competitions is what the rest of the movie is all about.
I find the ending to be really sad.
I will recommend this movie to you all, cause it talks about how your environmental surroundings can affect the way you choose to do well in school.

VOL. Hours 7 hrs. & 30mins

The It Girl
By: Cecily Von Ziegesar
Pages: 272

The It Girl is a series derived from the Gossip Girl series, although there really is no connection between the two except for the fact that its main character is from Gossip Girls. It stars Jenny Humphrey, who left Constance Billard in NYC to go to a boarding school called Waverly Academy in Upstate New York. Once there, she strives to leave the “Old Jenny” behind and is determined to become the school’s next “it” girl. Adjusting to the role of being “New Jenny”, she rooms with the campus’ two biggest hot shots – Callie and Brett. Unfortunately, there are rumours going around about who she really is, what’s more is that she is thrown into a scandal involving Callie and her boyfriend – Easy Walsh; so much for starting off a perfect school year. But with some small twists and turns, Jenny soon earns the respect of the student body at Waverly. However, tension is in the air when the girls learn that Tinsley (the former “it” girl) is returning back to the Academy after she got expelled. And with that, the book wraps up. With Tinsley back, who will be the new “it” girl in the next book?

As I have never read the Gossip Girl series before, I can’t really find something to compare this book with. There are definitely way more mature issues being discussed in here than the “Clique” series; obviously. Such as: drinking, smoking, foul language, and minor sex. Told from multiple points of views, it allows the readers to really get inside the heads of all the main characters; no matter how snobby or jerk-like he or she is, the book will find a way to make you sympathize them.
Rating: 7/10

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours – 3 (total 43 ½)

Title: The Wish House

Author: Celia Rees

# of pages: 216

Plot Summary:

Richard and his family has visited the Welsh village every summer, and he longs for the times when he can reunite with his close friend Dylan, two years older than him. Unfortunately, though, this year, 1976, Dylan has begun working for his father on his farm, and is no longer able to spend entire days with him.

Richard remembers the old times when he and Dylan would have thrilling adventures in the Wish House, an abandoned, crumbling building. However, upon revisiting the structure, he finds a nude woman sunbathing on the lawn. He later discovers that the Dalton family has resettled in the house. J. A. Dalton is a famous artist, but it is his daughter's striking beauty that constantly captivates Richard.

He finds himself in love with Clio Dalton for the rest of summer, until he finds out how deeply he was betrayed.

Opinion:

The synopsis described the novel as "a brilliantly gripping and original coming-of-age story". I suppose that would have been the case if the transition from childhood to adulthood was based primarily on sex. It seems as though Richard has nothing more on his mind than his longing for Clio to be alone with him, as though he would have absolutely nothing to do had Clio not existed in his life. He does not face challenges other than fulfilling his desires. He does not suspect that the Daltons expect something valuable from him when they provide meals for him every day. The way much of the story is based on their sexual relationships, and the detailed descriptions of their activities is very disturbing - for this reason, I would have to object to the rating on Chapters Indigo's website as "Ages 7-9". When Richard discovered that he was betrayed by Clio the whole time, I was hardly sympathetic; several incidents in the storyline, within his knowledge, made the ending so obvious that I wasn't surprised by it.

Personally, I would not recommend this novel to anyone. Fans of romance novels in general may find the story uninteresting, since Richard and Clio seemed to have developed their relationship instantly (plus the lack of a happily-ever-after ending). There is little adventure, certainly no action, and mystery is scarce. Perhaps Celia Rees could have made the story more exciting by adding some twists in the plot, or at least reduce the repetitions of events.

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Romance

Rating: 1/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 60 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

The Princess Diaries
By Meg Cabot
283 Pages
4/5

I love how this book wasn't all formal and smart alleck-y with big words and confusing thoguhts. i really felt like I was reading a journal (really, sometimes, books that are intended to be journals are SO non-journaly). i love how she writes, and I love how Mia puts random math and homwork notes into her journal!

So, Mia Thermopolis is a five foot nine flat chested freshman who thinks there is nothing worse on earth than being herself. She is majorly flunking algegra, while coincidentially, her mother is DATING Mr. Gianni, the Algebra teacher. So.. things can't really get more embarassing.

So after, Mia's father reveals that he is the Prince of Genovia (population: 50 000) which means.. MIA IS A PRINCESS! But.. somethings not right. Okay, so, she's a PRINCESS, but she doesn't have a boyfriend, while everyone else does. She can't help but feel sorry for herself! Ohh, but now what? The most popular guy in school asked you to the school dance?? OooOOhh..

*Jessica
*Would have been 108
*Can be published in a newsletter

Princess Lessons
By Meg Cabot
128 pages
4/5

Another great book. Mia Thermopolis (Princess Amelia Mignonette Grimaldi Thermopolis Renaldo of Genovia) is giving us Princess Lessons! in this book, you will find stiff like how to dress, proper table manners, how to write guest invitations, and basically everything you need to know to be a princess, or at least live like one.

Again, with all the funny illustrations and stuff, it was a really quick read and I loved it. AND I also love how there was blakc AND pink font. So cool. (Sorry, I get excited about pink.)

*Jessica
*Would have been 105
*Can be published in newsletter

Holiday Princess
By Meg Cabot
144 Pages
4/5

This book didn't have a storyline; it was info and facts about how people celebrate their holidays around the world! There were so many pictures which made it a super quick read. It was also really funny, but of course, cuz it's Meg Cabot. Oh, and I LOVE her random humour.

There was stuff about how people celebrated holidays years ago (history), how epople celebrate holidays now, and stuff like preparing for a Christmas party, and little art projects and stuff in between. There was tons of stuff about traditions in different cultures, which was pretty interesting.

Overall, this was a great book, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to read a short little book to brighten their day!

*Jessica
*Would have been 102 hours
*Can be published in a newsletter

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE

Cast: Jack Lemmon, Hank Azaria

Director: Mick Jackson

Last week, I saw the movie of the book that i have read. I think the director did a pretty good job on the movie. It was all the same. Usualy, i don't sometimes understand some things about some movies. But, by reading the book and then seeing the movie i could see the connections. By actually seeing the actors act out the scence, I got to understand how important Morrie was to Mitch. If you want the review of the movie, i have put the review of the book today, since its the same story. I will reccommend you all to read the book first and then see the movie. I think both main characters did a pretty good job on their acting especially Morrie. He says some good dialogues such as "There is nothing wrong with being number 2". I find the both the book and the movie to be good.

Read it! And.... Watch it!

VOl. Hour 7 hrs.

Tuesdays with Morrie


This book is based on a true story. Professor Morrie, who was Mitch’s favorite professor of all time has developed some sort of disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease where it results in progressive muscle atrophy that starts in the limbs. This disease made the moving man to be still, after some time Morrie couldn’t move some parts of his body. After some months, Morrie’s life was to end. After seeing that his friend didn’t get to hear all the nice things that people said in hi
s funeral, Morrie arranged a living funeral for himself. At Mitch’s graduation, Mitch has promised Morrie that he will keep in touch with Morrie, but Mitch has broken that promise. Mitch who wanted to become a pianist has abandoned that aim and became a sport journalist, which made him become a workaholic; he never takes time to enjoy life. During this time, Mitch met Janine, where both fall in love. While Mitch was just randomly changing channels Mitch saw someone whom he has never seen before; Morrie, Morrie was giving an interview for a show. This made Mitch to remember the classes that Mitch had with Morrie. Seeing, the interview made Mitch to go where Morrie lived, finally getting some time for something else other than for his job. At the reunion, Mitch and Morrie eat lunch together, Mitch keeps on remember back to some of time with Morrie in school and Morrie talks about life philosophies. After that Mitch go backs to Detroit and thinks of how his life, how he is chasing the wrong things life such as athletes and money rather than love. Since Mitch’s union is on a strike, Mitch pays another visit to Morrie on a Tuesday. They meet outside of a class and talk, Mitch felt comfortable and shares some of his problem, and Morrie gives some pointers on life. These visits continued, every Tuesday Mitch would come and visit Morrie and talk, which helped Morrie and Mitch. At time, Mitch brought Janine too. Once Janine (who is a singer) sang to Morrie, which made Morrie to cry. So, the visits continued, and Morrie and Mitch became like a father and a son. Mitch recorded each of his meeting with Morrie to write a book.

I will recommend this book for everyone to read. It is a really a good book. Its kind of sad at some points.


VOL. Hours: 6.30

"The color of Water"

"The color of Water" is an autobiography book of James and Ruth McBride. The biography that I read is not on a famous celebrity, or some famous community worker. He is someone who is an ordinary world with very normal problems. James is a black Jewish-mixed person born in New York to a black father and a white Jewish mother in the early 1960s. The 1960s was a rocky time for the black skinned people; a lot of discrimination and prejudice were taking place. For James it was more racial discrimination and prejudging since he was from a mixed background of black and white and people in his black community hated him and his family for that. Also, Ruth also had a rough time growing up. From listening to Ruth’s life, we as humans can learn how to be positive and confident even in the worst times possible, which is what helped Ruth overcome social prejudice. Not only that, but from James’s life, we can learn how to appreciate a parent’s hard work. Last but certainly not the least, this book has to be read, for it is a well-written book with hundreds of recognitions. A powerful aspect of the novel that I find interesting and that adds an interest to the novel is the way the author chose to write the memoir. James, the author of “The Colour of Water” chose to write the memoir using the writing technique page turner. “The Color of Water” comprises autobiographies of two fine people, James McBride and his mother Ruth McBride. In one chapter of the book, the author informs us with the events occurring in Ruth’s life with great detail, and then in the next, we read about James’ life. The page turner technique is quite effective in this novel. The technique helped me understand how each character would have felt in certain circumstances. In each chapter, the focus was on either Ruth’s or on James’s feelings and perceptions.
The page turner technique also built some suspense in the book. Personally, as a reader, I enjoy books with suspense. A book with suspense is often a book that’ll keep the reader spellbound. At times, the author ends several chapters in a confusing or in an interesting style. I would have to read not the next chapter, but the following chapter to clarify my doubts and to discover what happens next to Ruth or James.
The Color of Water” teaches its’ readers both big and mini lessons that are essential in life. None of our lives are flawless.

I know like a lot of us might find biographies as boring but if you eer have to read a biography, i will reccomend you guys to read this one.The book is not boring.

Vol. hours; 3.30

Title: Then He Ate my Boy Entrancers

Author: Louise Rennison

# of pages: 320

Plot Summary:

Georgia Nicolson is determined to find one of the best-looking guys she has ever known of. Masimo. Her boyfriend, Robbie the Sex God, is still away in New Zealand. Georgia is known to be obsessed and gossipy about her boyfriend situation; these traits are revealed more than ever when Masimo is constantly the only person on her mind.

She is delighted that her whole family is vacationing in the United States, where Masimo is coincidentally visiting. Unfortunately, she only sees him after returning to England, but they still went out one night and, at the moment, Masimo has yet to decide whether or not he should become Georgia's boyfriend.

Opinion:

I enjoyed reading this novel because of how realistic some situations were, because friendship, hatred, anxiety, and heartbreak are part of life. However, perhaps the author could elaborate on Georgia’s life besides friendship and love, such as outdoor activities, or attending school. If I were in Georgia’s shoes, my life would seem quite monotonous, only brightened up by communication with friends and Masimo.

One of the aspects of this book that bothers me is the way the author uses cliffhangers in the plots in each of her novels. Rather than finish one phase of Georgia's life for each book, the story instead continues on, making the series seem like a single book with multiple volumes (it's difficult to distinguish what happened in each instalment). Rennison practically forces readers to search for the next book! In my opinion, a better conclusion would show Masimo's decision on the "Georgia's boyfriend" issue. This would successfully end the story, concluding one taken from Georgia's experiences. I read the sequel, Startled by his Furry Shorts, and even when it ended, the issue was still only larger than before.

Then He Ate my Boy Entrancers is recommended for teenage girls whom enjoy humour and romance, which this novel is mostly composed of. Otherwise, it is rather dull compared to more adventurous and action-filled tales.

Target audience: Teenage girls

Genre: Chick lit

Rating: 2/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 57 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Title: The City of Ember

Author: Jeanne DuPrau

# of pages: 270

Plot Summary:

The City of Ember was a large project, built years ago by a group of "Builders" deep within a cave. Two hundred pilgrims settled in the city, stocked with enough supplies to last two hundred twenty years. It was ensured that they would remain in the city until those 220 years by forbidding adults from sharing any memories of the world outside, so that the babies would not grow up to yearn for their past and would not know of places beyond the city.

The City is run entirely on the electricity generated by the river's movements. Light bulbs are the only source of light, and citizens have no professional knowledge of the mechanics involved in the making of their city. And so, when the city runs out of supplies, everyone searches for ways to survive.

Lina Mayfleet and Doon Harrow are twelve-year-olds who believe that there must be ways to solve the city's problems. When she discovers an ancient parchment from the Builders that leads the way out of the City of Ember, she and Doon embark on a journey to save the citizens.

Opinion:

The City of Ember was a thrilling read, filled with adventures and suspense. It was difficult to put it down when Lina and Doon were running through the city, searching for the message of the Builders. Antagonists are aplenty when the authorities abuse their powers by stealing scarce supplies, hiding that knowledge from the general public, and attempting to arrest both Lina and Doon for "spreading vicious rumours".

I also appreciated DuPrau's creativity in writing this novel. The concept of the city, isolated from the rest of the world and having no knowledge of how their city worked, was ingenious. However, the way the society was organized was similar to The Giver or Gathering Blue, both by Lois Lowry. Children were assigned their jobs and everything just happened according to the government's interests.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel to all teenagers. Fantasy and science-fiction fans would especially enjoy DuPrau's work.

Target audience: Teenagers

Genre: Science fiction

Rating: 5/5

Book Review by Fiona T.
* 54 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Tuck Everlasting
By: Natalie Babbitt
Pages: 139

The Tucks have a secret in their family that only they knew, until 10-year-old Winnie Foster accidentally stumble upon it. One morning in the first week of August, Winnie became fed up with her rich family and decided to run away into the woods. There, she found Jesse Tuck drinking from a mysterious spring coming from out of the tree. So the Tucks had no choice but to bring her home to explain their secret to her and why she mustn’t at all cost tell anyone of this. Apparently, the Tuck family has the gift (or the curse) of living forever. They were granted eternal life after drinking from this mysterious spring. Unfortunately, Winnie wasn’t the only one getting the inside scoop of this story. A strange man in a yellow suit was listening to every single word to what the Tucks had to say; and he intended on marketing the spring water for a fortune. What's more is that in the end, it all came down to Winnie and her decision of drinking the spring water or not.

This book was truly amazing! Even though it is considered a children book, there were issues in the story which can be discussed beyond the boundary of children; such as the meaning of living for all eternity. Sure, lots of people don’t want to die, but have they thought about the consequences which come from living forever? – this story explains it all. It was also a beautifully written book with rich imagery and poetic language (tons of metaphors and similes were used). And since I just recently stopped reading the Clique series, this book was a nice change compared to all the trendy fashion and girls with attitudes. What’s more is that the movie for this book is just as good, and possibly even better. It definitely did the story justice. Okay, maybe it’s time to stop raving about how good Tuck Everlasting is and just end it with a rating which sums up everything I had said.
Rating:9.5/ 10 (I would have given it a 10 if it was a *bit* more descriptive with the story extended, but seeing that it was a book intended for kids, that probably explains why the small amount of pages – only 100 something)

s.t.e.p.h.i.e.
volunteer hours: 3 (total – 40 ½)

TRAP Reviews

hi, everyone!

Andrea has asked for your selections for the teen webpage. She wants these in preparation for its' startup.

Here is what I submitted:
My choice is Star Girl by Jerry Spinnelli.

Janey’s Girl chosen by Jessica.

Lesia’s Dream chosen by Fiona.

Dial L For Loser chosen by Stephie.

Twilight by Jenn. I know you did not like the sequel.

Catherine

True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet
By Lola Douglas
268 Pages
5/5

The cover of the book is what caught my attention at Chapters. It was so sparkly! Well, at least the star was. I think I got a little overexcited about the book at the time, but.. that's okay. This one seemed really similar to Secrets of My Hollywood Life by Jen Calonita, but there were also many differences. They were both mainly about popular, young Hollywood celebrities going undercover and going to high school. One of the differences is that this book is written in diary/journal format. The other book was a first person narrative, .. but I still loved both of them!

Morgan Carter is a recovering drug addict, and her mom is sending her out of the spotlight for a while. Morgan hates the idea, but what can she do? She's given a completely different identity - her new name is Claudia Miller. When she meets some new friends, she horrified by how everybody believes tabloids and has so many opinions about celebrities. But she can't blow her cover and tell them the truth that she knows about, right? Yeah. She gets into trouble when she's making up all these lies and excuses to everyone, especially a guy named Eli. Eli obviously likes her, and she's lying to him so much. Claudia can't believe it, but she keeps doing it. She can't even remember all the lies she's told, but she has to go with it. It's not like she would go up to Eli and tell her that her dad didn't actually strangle her dog and break the dog's neck. .. She told him that.

Will Morgan, err.. Claudia, like high school more than Hollywood? Will she ditch Hollywood for high school? Or will she return to the spotlight?

I loved this book. The beginning was very similar to Secrets of My Hollywood Life, but as the book went on, they were had more and more differences. This book was enjoyable, and it was worth buying! (Even if it's only to look at the sparkles every once in a while..)

*Jessica
*Would have been 99 hours
*Can be published in a teen newsletter

Title: Lesia's Dream

Author: Laura Langston

# of pages: 255

Plot Summary:

Lesia Magus is a fifteen-year-old Ukrainian girl living in Shuparka, her village in the Province in Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Her family of peasants working for the landowner struggle to make ends meet. Europe is on the verge of World War I, and so they fear that what little land they possess will be taken away. Lesia and her brother, Ivan, believe that their only hope is to save enough money to immigrate to Canada. She dreams of wealth, including nearly-free land, and security.

Everyone in her family works hard to earn enough money to emigrate. Eventually, though, upon their arrival in Canada, they discover that racism looms and they have not entirely escaped from World War I.

Opinion:

Lesia's Dream was a touching tale that brought me to realize the difficulties some of the early Canadian immigrants faced. It was also interesting to read a story, which could have easily been a biography of a real family, that was related to the material I studied in my History courses in elementary school: when the Canadian government encouraged Eastern European farmers to settle in the West. Laura Langston's work was unique in that I have never read a book that followed the life of an immigrant family so closely. The way Lesia told it as if she were describing her past to her grandchildren in a letter was very emotional.

Lesia's Dream is highly recommended for those who enjoy reading historical fiction. Many of the events in the novel are factually accurate, and only the plot itself was from imagination based on those facts.

Target audience: Preteens and teenagers

Genre: Historical fiction

Rating: 4/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 51 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Title: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Author: J. K. Rowling

# of pages: 672

Plot Summary:

In the sixth book in the Harry Potter series, Harry is now a sixth-year student at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and begins his year with extremely high security wherever he travels. The magical world is tainted with fear of the famous sniper Voldemort and his ruthless followers (Death Eaters), and the situation only worsens when one of his classmates and a teacher are suspected members of this group. This suspicion becomes reality in the end, when the teacher effortlessly murders the Headmaster, the only wizard Voldemort fears.

Opinion:

Many former fans of the Harry Potter series are wondering about J. K. Rowlings current creativity, as her sixth novel in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, seems rather dull compared to previous instalments to the series. Before, every single event was explained in detail, and Harry and his friends were constantly in their action-filled adventures. Instead, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince includes few ventures, and the climax, when a devoted ally was murdered, is identical to that of the previous novel, in which another was killed. I'm sure that those who purchased a copy of the sixth novel only did so in anticipation for more exciting adventures such as those from Ms. Rowling before.

Although Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was unexciting compared to other Harry Potter books, it was still satisfactory for an ordinary novel, with strong connections to the others and fairly thrilling events. Its uniqueness was admirable, because I cannot relate any aspect of its magical world with others. It is difficult to do so, but Hogwarts is similar to the Black Palace in Kate Constable's The Waterless Sea, only more lenient.

Of course, since the Harry Potter books are already bestsellers, I see few reasons to encourage others to read them. Nonetheless, this novel is recommended for those who enjoy fantasy, mystery, and possibly romance. Adventure-lovers may be disappointed with the lack of escapades, but there are still enough mysteries to suit enthusiasts. I must warn you, though the first, fourth, and fifth instalments were much more exhilarating than this one. Reading previous Harry Potter books before this one will be useful, because of allusions.

Target audience: All ages

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4/5

Book review by Fiona T.
* 48 hours so far
Can be published in the Teen Newsletter

Sweet 16
By Kate Brian
259 Pages
9.6/10

Teagan Philips, an utterly rich and fashionable teen (also very spoled) , is finally turning sixteen! Her Sweet Sixteen party is supposed to turn out as the party of the century, with an awesome DJ, pretty-but-not-too-pretty servers in Chanel shades, piercing stations, and so much more! Her boyfriend seems to be the sweetest guy on the planet, by the way. Everything starts out perfectly (uh. except for the fact that it was raining.) and everybody's enjoying the party, while Teagan discovers some popularity-killing faults to her party. Everything starts going wrong, her Vera Wang dress is ruined, she fires a waitress, and trips on her way down the steps in the basement. Nobody notices that she's gone.. nobody but one person. Person? Sure.. but it seemed very little like a person. Anyhow, she comes to the rescue, bringing her to see things that have happened in her past and will happen in her future. The 'ghost' tells Teagan she is dead, and they are invisible while tey re enact all these horrible situations.

In the end, Teagan isn't as caught up with money and other things like she usually is. She notices how great her dad is, and how she seemed to have upset him. Teagan's mother died when Teagan was six, and her father has a new fiance whom she hates. Afterwards, she learns to love her soon to be stepmother.

This book was not realistic, yet in some ways it was. The situations were obviously fiction, but they were pretty belivable, like it could happen to anyone at any given time in their life. I loved this book, and it kept me reading till the very end. There weren't any boring parts. Okay, well, if there were, there weren't a lot of them.

*Jessica
*Would have been 96 hours
*Can be published in a teen newsletter

Janey's Girl
By Gayle Friesen
333 Pages
5/5

I loved this book!! I think everyone should read it. It's just so.. touchy.. feely.. ok ew. But the point is, it's a VERY good book.

Claire (Clarissa) is fourteen, and has been living with her mom forever. Her mom is always working, and Claire was so relieved when she decided to take a little vacation. .. To her grandmother's place. Claire's grandfather died, so her grandmother lived by herself. But it's a small town where everyone knows eachother. Claire's mother's name is Jane, or Janey, and everyone knows Claire (although she doesn't know any of them) as "Janey's Girl".

She meets a guy named Jack, and the first impressions weren't good. But as she got to know him, he was actually a really nice guy.

Claire always asks about her father; what he's like, what he does, where he is, but Jane never lets conversations about him go on. Claire feels that she should have the right to know about her father, but Jane only tells her the main points: they were best friends, and she got pregnant when she was eighteen while he was only in high school, and he chose not to take any part in it since he didn't feel he was ready. Claire was hurt by this, especially when Jane said that he didn't want her. But who would have thought that he was living right where her grandmother was?

Claire learns that families are far from perfect, and that people make their decisions. Jane seems to be too protective of Claire, and Claire doesn't like it. Claire wants to make her own decisions, but Jane seems to be picking out her daughter's interests by herself.

Okay, maybe from that, this book didn't seem really good. But I can't say much more since it would give away too much. There are some unexpected things that happen, ... JUST READ THE BOOK!!

*Jessica
*Would have been 93 hours
*Can be published in a letter (even thought it won't be)