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)