After Ever After blog post

         In class this year, we read a book about an eighth grade boy coping with his brother who was diagnosed with cancer. The book was called Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie. I recently found out that there is a sequel to this book, but instead in Jeffrey's , the little brother, point of view. In the second book, Jeffery has reached eighth grade and is struggling with all of the pressure that comes with it. After having cancer for a couple of years, chemotherapy has poisoned his brain, making it really hard for him to do math. On top of that, he has girl problems, and his best friend is tourturing him him about it Those are only two of the many issues the main character faces in this book.

        Jeffery goes to the same middle school his now college age brother did. He also has the same English teacher. Those are pretty much the only normal thing in Jeffery's life. He met his best friend in the third grade, when he was new to Jeffery's school. His friend Thadeus, or Thad came in on crutches, and with a bald head and a scar running across his scalp. Jeffery introduced himself to him saying that he had cancer too. Thad made some sarcastic remark, and then they became friends. Going into middle school, Thad had much trouble walking, and had to be wheeled around in a chair. If you haven't guessed already, Thad didn't have Leukemia, he had brain cancer, and wasn't out of remission like Jeffery (the five year period after cancer treatment). Meanwhile, statewide tests have been introduced to New Jersey, which could be trouble for Jeffery.  There is a math test, and if Jeffery doesn't pass the test he will have to repeat the eighth grade. Thad has offered to tutor him, and Jeffery has a Thad try to walk on the treadmill in gym every other day, and Jeffery's goal is to get Thad to walk across the stage for graduation, and Jeffery promissed that he will be at graduation, with a passing grade in math. Aside from the two best friends, Jeffery has a crush on the new girl from California, and Thad has been making obvious remarks in front of her when they sit together in science everyday. Jeffery is also missing his brother Steven who is in Africa, playing drums.

          Jeffery is going to have a big eighth grade year, and this is only half of it. The other half you need to find out yourself. You should anyway.

On the Far Side of the Mountain

           I recently revisited one of my favorite books from sixth grade- On the Far Side of the Mountain, which is the sequel to My Side of the Mountain, and the prequel to Frightful's mountain. the series is about a boy who has eight siblings, living with both his parents in a tiny apartment in Manhattan. The boy's name is Sam, and he has always had an interest in the wild, and what it would be like to live there. So he tells his dad, "I'm running away to the Mountains, I'm going to live there." His dad laughed and said go ahead, like he wouldn't actually do it. Well, the book is called, "On the Far Side of the Mountain," so you can guess eh proved his dad wrong. He ran off to the mountains, with only a swiss army knife, flint and steel, and a couple other necessities. He made a tiny camp out of sticks and leaves to survive the firs night. I love this book because it shows how humble and non- society dependent a person can be, and can be independent, and not rely on others.

         In On the Far side of the Mountain, Sam has long since made his home on the mountain. He lives on one of the mountains in the Catskills, and his home is an old tree that was gutted, and made cozy. Sam kills deer, squirrels, fish, frogs, and even turtles for food. He wears clothes made from deer hide, and socks lined with rabbit fur. It is the purest world a man could ever live in. I forgot to mention before, that Sam was about 15 when he ran away, and in the book I just finished, he was maybe 18. At the end of the first book, his family goes to visit him, but with a plan in mind. They want to build a farm on the peaceful, natural mountain side, which Sam begged them not to do. They tried anyway, but the soil was so rocky that it was impossible to plow. Then, one of Sam's younger sisters persuaded her parents to let her stay. And she did. She built a tree house a short distance away from Sam's tree. It is truly a beautiful story about a beautiful paradise.

         These are the reasons I love this book. The purity of the Sam and Alice grow so much, that I only wish that that could be reality.

Dead is the New Black bloggy posty

            If anyone has read my other posts, you know that I was reading little women and I get bored easily when books aren't thrilling, so I wasn't such a fan of Little Women. So one project real I asked Giselle if she had a better book and she handed me a book with a pink cover with black dripping type saying "Dead is the New Black." I read a few pages and figures, ok, this is a classic teenage vampire story with boyfriends, cheerleading, coffins and such. Was I right? Yes. Yes I was. The main character is a girl who's family is all psychic-except for her. Her sisters can read minds, and make objects float in mid-air. Her mother works in crime solving, and as teenage vampire dramas go, there is a very unusual case, in which a girl was killed, but there was no signs of death, and so on. The book will suck you in with the fast-moving plot, even if it isn't a particurally good book in terms of quality, but it's a quick and exciting read.
          In "Dead is the New Black" Daisy, the main character is 17 years old, and goes to a high school with her best friend, who happens to be a really cute boy(go figure). He has a crush on the head cheerleader, who used to be a cheerful blonde, but is now carrying a coffin around, wearing black, and is always wearing a mysterious ankh pendant around her neck. Going back to the unusual case Daisy's mother was working on, Daisy, being used to cases like that, took her best friend, Ryan (the boy) to the morgue to look at the girls dead body. There were no signs of injury, but there was a noticeable stamp on her hand that read "opal." I haven't finished the book yet, so I couldn't tell you what it means. I'll have to find out! Moving on, I didn't mention that they took the keys from the security guard to get in. So they almost get caught in the morgue looking at the body, when Ryan hears the guard. He randomly kisses Daisy, and the guard says "Ryan, didn't I tell you to stop bringing girls in here? I thought your father took your keys away." Daisy covered him by blaming it on herself, and it just got more akward after that.
         I guess you can see why one would get sucked into these kinds of books right? They don't make you think that much ,and they're fun to read. I would recommend this book to anyone that is really bored with their current book and need a fun, quick read.

Little Women Blog Post #2

            Little Women has gotten increasingly better. It isn't as boring as before and has a small plot line. There is one thing I want to focus on in this blog. In the book, it is obvious that there is a particular way of speaking and amount of politeness  that everyone has. There are four girls in Little Women. Meg, the oldest and prettiest, Jo, the "tomboy," Beth, the sweetest, and Amy, the youngest. Even thought they all have their different personalities, the "little women" are all equally polite. They speak in an old- English drama type of way. I am very impressed with the way everybody talks. It makes me feel bad about the way I talk. For example, they would say "I am so forlorn that Beth's dainty heart was broken by the deceased bird!" I would say "It's like, sad that her bird's like, dead."
I feel like I need to go back to the 1800's to learn how to  talk right.

           I think that the girls in little women are too polite. I think that a certain amount of politeness is great, being polite and well mannered are two great attributes to a person's personality, but the amount of politeness in little women is so absurd. They are always polite. No matter what. Even in arguments they are polite. I think a certain amount of rudeness is acceptable in some situations. For example; the girls had gone on a camping trip with a couple Englishmen and their friend Laurie. They were playing a game of croquet, and one of the Englishmen cheated by nudging his ball though the hoop with his foot. Jo, the second oldest sister was annoyed and she said something but she didn't get mad at all! I If I was there I would have shown him my fist and told him not to cheat-but that's just me. I also appreciate that they can be so polite and happy while their father is at war. Even though that was how everyone spoke back then, I think that Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy are all greatful for what they have.

         Without hate or complaints, I actually think Little Women is a good book. I think you have to dive a little deeper to get the true meaning of it, but it's there. It shows you should appreciate the time period you live in. But mainly it also shows that you should appreciate what you have, even when you are around others that have more.