I would probably want to die... Brian wants to live.

I am currently reading the book Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This book is about a guy named Brian whose parent divorced a month ago. It is really hard for him to accept the fact that he has to "live" with his mom but then visit his dad only during the summer. On his first trip to see his father, his mom hires a private plane to take him there (to Canada from the US). Halfway there, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. Brian tries to reach someone who could help him but fails because the plane is very old. As the plane is starting to lose fuel, Brian decides to crash it because he doesn't have a better idea.

After surviving the plan crash, Brian has to learn how to live in the middle of no where with northing. Surviving in the middle of no where is very hard for Brian. He has to learn how to survive by getting food, water and building shelter for him to live it. At first he isn't able to do it mentally or physically but then state of mind changes. He wants to live.

He makes many mistakes while in the middle of no where. For example, in the middle of the night he hears some animal in the shelter he built him himself and immediately throws his only weapon at it and misses. In defense, the porcupine sticks its quills in Brian's leg. After that experience Brian learns that he has to do whatever it takes to keep himself safe and healthy. He doesn't have any medicine in the wild and needs to keep himself alive.

Everything is going fine until a plane comes over where he is living. He knows it's a "search" plane looking for him and he tries to signal it but it misses him. He knows that is the only chance he had of going home and starts to cry, he feels like dying. Though he could of killed himself (or let himself starve and die) he doesn't because he wants to live.

If I were him in this situation, I would want to die. Knowing that I would never see my family again would hurt me so much and I wouldn't see the point in living. I also wouldn't know how to figure out half he stuff Brian learns by the middle of the book. Brian is really smart and even though I see no point in living, he does.

In conclusion, this is a really good book that I can't wait to finish. Does he get to see his parents again? Does he die at the end of the book? What happens??? I can't wait to read more and find out the rest of Brian's journey and struggle to live.

"I keep wishing I could think of a way to…to show the Capitol they don’t own me. That I’m more..."

In The Hunger Games, North America, (now broken into twelve districts), is ruled by The Capitol. The Capitol uses oppression, poverty, and hunger to control these districts. The Capitol is well supplied by the districts, and its citizens live prosperous lives, in contrast to the districts, where people live in poverty and oppression. In addition, to prevent a rebellion like one that happened roughly seventy-five years before the start of the book, the Capitol uses the Hunger Games, a bloody fight to the death involving one boy and one girl from each district, to remind the districts that they are powerless. These methods are used rather effectively to keep the districts in line. Oppression is used by the Capitol to control the districts in several forms. The most obvious form of oppression is the peacekeepers. In the districts, laws are to be obeyed down to the smallest detail, with severe punishments for those who disregard them. These laws are partly to prevent rebellion, and partly to keep the districts poor and hungry.

Another way that the Capitol uses oppression to control the districts is the Hunger Games. The forced removal of the districts’ children psychologically affects their families, and shows them that since it is so easy for the Capitol to take their children and force them to kill each other, if they try to rebel they will be crushed. The Capitol ensures this effect by forcing everyone to watch the Hunger Games.

Oppression is the most direct and noticeable way the Capitol keeps the districts in its iron fist. While poverty is a less obvious way of controlling the districts, everybody knows that it exists. This can be seen on a national scale in Panem (new North America) and on a smaller district level scale in District 12. In Panem, there are a few districts where competing in the Hunger Games is considered an honor. These districts, called the career districts, are well of, suck ups to the capitol, and most of the Hunger Games’ victors come from these districts. In contrast, the other nine districts are poorer and getting sent to the Hunger Games is considered a death sentence. Hence, the career districts are hated by the rest of the districts, which keeps them divided and therefore weak. In the non-career districts like District 12, a similar division occurs, but it is not as intense. In these districts there are two social classes: the merchant class, which includes families that work as butchers and bakers, and live in the main town area, and the working class, which generally follows the district industry, and lives in a slum or poor housing. The working class is much poorer than the merchant class, which causes their kids to enter for the tesserae, which allows them to get a supply of grain and oil for their families, but enters their name in for each family member 10 times instead of the usual 1. This causes a bit of resentment of the merchant class, because they do not have to take the tesserae. Division like this, caused by poverty, if not completely obvious at first, is still a very effective way of making sure that the districts are in the control of the Capitol.      

The last and most indirect method the Capitol uses to control the districts is hunger. Caused by poverty, this weakens the working class and kills many. These deaths are not officially caused by hunger, but everyone knows it is. Hunger weakens the members of Panem’s society most likely to rebel: the working class, who understandably dislike their situation. Without enough food in their bellies, the would-be rebels would be weak and destroyed easily. It also distracts from time that could be spent planning on an uprising, as people with starving families would devote a lot of time trying to feed their family, rather than letting them starve and plotting a rebellion. Hunger, while the least obvious method of controlling the districts, is just as effective as the others when it comes to preventing rebellion.

Thanks to oppression, poverty, and hunger, the districts are firmly in the grasp of the capitol. As a result, the districts are forced to comply with the Capitol’s laws and the Hunger Games. I believe that this book sends a strong message about the corruption of some oppressors (mainly dictators).

Actually, I just started reading a book of Shakespeare Sonnets...

I just finished three books over the past weekend and I ran out of books to read. So I decided to just start reading a book of Shakespeare Sonnets...

Most of Shakespeare's sonnets are about love or relationships with different people. The one that I am reading currently is "Sonnet 116" which is exactly about that.

In the sonnet, Shakespeare is talking about love and marriage. He is trying to define love and what it is although that is nearly impossible because it's different for everybody. In the first four lines he attempts at saying what love is and what it isn't. He says love is perfect and unchanging which means that if you really love someone it will remain that way forever no matter what. It doesn't "admit impediments”. Even when your loved one might have changed, that doesn't mean that you don't love them anymore. Basically what Shakespeare is saying is that true love is forever-like in Romeo and Juliet.  

In the second four lines following those he describes to us what love really is using metaphors.

"It is the star to every wandering bark, 

Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken 

Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks 

Within his bending sickle’s compass come..."

In the third set of four lines Shakespeare starts talking about what love isn't. He says that love isn't susceptible to time. That if you really love someone love doesn't alter or change-within days, hours or minutes. Instead it "Bears it out even to the edge of doom" which means it lasts until the person is dead. 

His conclusion is:

"If this be error and upon me proved, 

I never writ, nor no man ever loved."

To me that means that if he is thought wrong on his opinions and notes about love then no man had truly ever loved anyone before. 

"As fall grows closer, they must figure out if their love is forever, or just a summer they'll never forget."

I am currently reading the book Seventeenth Summer by Mawreen Daly. It is about a girl named Angie who lives in Oklahoma with her family. They live the typical country-styled life out in the open country. It is her seventeenth summer and things within her begin to change. At first, she didn't believe in love. But now after meeting Jack they build a strong bond together and she falls in love for the first time.

But their relationship is complicated. Jack doesn't believe in going "steady" with a girl and likes flirting with many girls even while going out with Angie. This confuses Angie because she doesn't know if Jack really likes her or not. After a while one of Jack's best friends asks her to dinner. She says yes not knowing that it is a "date". Then Jack takes it the wrong way and hooks up with his ex-girlfriend. They don't talk for a while because the rumor is that Jack and his ex are back together. This crushes Angie's heart.

One thing that I would change within their relationship (if I could), would be to change their lack of communication. They are both shy people and love silence. Silence can be good at some extent but you need communication in a good relationship too. Sometimes, they talk about random things but they never talk about their relationship. I think it could benefit their relationship if they talked about it. The only reason Jack was confused about Angie's "date" with one of his friends is because he didn't hear it straight from her-but as a rumor. If he had gone and confronted her about his problem he probably would have saved himself a lot of regret hooking up with his ex to make her jealous. Overall I think that if you are in a serious relationship you should be able to talk to them about stuff that is bothering you. You need communication in order to make a relationship better.

Both Angie and Jack are very different people. They come from different families: Jack in an only child and Angie is one out of three kids. Jack is allowed much more freedom where as Angie's parents restrict her with guys so they don't have to see her get hurt. They both went to different schools and are on different education levels. Angie's parents are making her go to college to get a full education where as Jack's parents want him to look after the bakery in Oklahoma. Even though they come from different families, one thing they have in common is their parents deep love and care for them.

In conclusion, this is a very interesting book with many great characters. Even though I'm only on page 182 I can tell something is going to change within one of them because of their different lifestyles. They still have to choose whether their love is forever, or just a summer they'll never forget. If they choose that their love is truly forever they will have to make many sacrifices in order for that to happen. But if it's just a summer they will never forget than maybe it's not worth all the trouble they are going through.

“You heard about the fingerprints, huh? They just came in and told me about that a little while ago. They still think I took that snake. But I didn’t! I swear!”

In the book Nancy Drew #18, by Carolyn Keene, Nancy is trying to prove one of her good friends innocent. It is hard because every little bit of evidence is leading to say that he is guilty. But Nancy Drew  is determined and will not give up until she proves him innocent (like he says he is).

Charlie Adams, the “guilty one” knows he’s innocent. I think he is a nice person who would't steal a thing especially a poisonous snake from the zoo. I’ve inferred that it is really hard to prove yourself innocent if every little bit of the evidence that the police has leads back to you. I know Charlie wouldn’t do such a thing. Then who would fake this and why? Based on the book, Charlie Adams is a really good guy who is locked up in jail for nothing and I believe he did no harm. Nancy is a smart, loving and a great detective; I know she will prove them wrong.

Things are not looking good for Charlie Adams. I feel really bad for him because even his friends are suspecting that he stole the snake. No one is sticking by him except for Nancy Drew. I hope Nancy can prove him innocent or it will be bad. I can tell, about the way he talks on the phone and directly to Nancy that he is innocent. “Nancy!” he cried, sounding both relieved and embarrassed as the clerk left the room. “They told me you where here. What are you doing here? Never mind-I don’t even know what I’m doing here; why should I know what your doing here?”. When will everyone realize that?  

“It is much easier to be brave if you do not know everything.”

In the book Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry, Kira learns that Jamision, her defender/boss/leader is lying. He told her that her father is dead and was taken by beasts. In the beginning, I thought Jamision was trust-worthy but by the end, I found out that her was a lier. 

In the beginning of the book, I thought Jamision was trust-worthy because he saved Kira from having to go to the field. He helped her and gave her anything she needed/wanted. I think he was nice and caring to help Kira even with her disabled leg. When he told Kira that her dad was dead and he actually saw the beasts take him away I was surprised. I knew I trusted him but it was a big surprise to Kira and myself. “Don’t forget, Kira,” he continued, “I saw your father taken by beasts. It was a hideous thing, terrible”. I trusted Jamision and his 3 syllable wisdom (each time you get older, you get one syllable added to your name) but something seemed fishy about the way he was acting all nice and goddie-goddie to Kira.

My feelings for Jamision kind of started to turn when Kira discovers that he locked a toddler with great talent inside the big castle/house. Then Kira realizes that she really isn’t really free, she always has to stay there and work; she can’t even sew what she wants to. I feel really bad for Kira because she starts to realize that this isn’t the life for her but she is forced now. Also, she talks to Jamision about beasts; how Anabella said that there is no such thing and men are just trying to scare you. Jamision overreacts and that makes me think that maybe Anabella is telling the truth and Jamision is hiding something. “She’s very old,” he said firmly. “It’s dangerous for her to speak that way. Her mind is beginning to wonder". But really, he is lying and Anabella is telling the truth. I think Jamision is a lier and he is just hiding something from the reader and most of all, Kira.

I realize that my inference is true by the end of the book. Jamision is hiding the fact from Kira that there are no beasts and that he tried to kill her father and maybe poisoned her mother into dying so her could have Kira’s wonderful talent all to himself. Her father says “Yes, he tried to find a place for me before. Jamision is the one who tried to kill me.” But when Kira meets her father at the end of the book she decides to stay with Jamision and try change the ways of living in their society.

I don't know if I agree with Kira's decision because even though Jamision took care of her all her life, he is a lier and that will never change. If I was Kira, I wouldn't of forgave Jamision that quickly and would have went to live with my poor old lonely dad. Maybe I would have tried to changed Jamision into a better person, I don't know. Although I question Kira's decision to stay with Jamision at the end of the book, I trust her to make the best decisions that will carry her through the rest of her life.

"Stanford Wong? Are you Sarah Wong's little brother?" my teachers always ask. Eventually, when they find out that I am nothing like my sister, I can sense their disappointment. Sarah skipped a grade. So it only seems right that I flunk a grade to balance things out. Hey, maybe I'll be in Ripley's Believe It or Not! The headline will read: STANFORD WONG, THE ONLY STUPID CHINESE KID IN AMERICA!"

In the book Stanford Wong Flunks Big-Time by Lisa Yee, Stanford gets put in summer school. His dad isn't happy about it. Stanford’s relationship with his father is upsetting because his dad doesn’t listen, isn’t supportive and is jealous of him.

When Stanford tries to talk to his dad, his dad doesn’t listen. When Stanford’s dad tells him he has to go to summer school, he doesn’t even want to hear what Stanford has to say. He leaves the room before anything else is said. Another example of when his dad doesn’t listen, is when his dad misses dinner several times on purpose. He knows Stanford and his wife wants to talk to him but still he doesn’t want to listen. As you can see, even when Stanford might have something important to say, his dad still doesn’t want to listen.

In the middle of the book, Stanford loses confidence in himself because his dad isn’t supportive. When Stanford improves from a F to a B+, his dad says “You could have done better, you could have gotten an A!” I think his dad is really mean not to say anything nice to Stanford, he improved a lot. Also, his dad keeps comparing him to his sister Sarah, who is a genius. It makes him sad to think his dad doesn’t believe that he can get an A! Instead of wanting to prove to his dad he can do it, he loses faith in himself- I know he could get an A. Besides all that, his dad never comes to his basketball games. It is sad because that’s where Stanford excels. It seems that Stanford’s dad doesn’t want to see his own son perform well (which is in basketball).

Eventually, Stanford learns that his dad might actually be jealous of him. Stanford is great at sports especially basketball. He thought his dad would be too but every time he offers to play with his dad, his dad rejects his offer. Then, he finds out from his grandma that his dad has always been really bad at sports. Stanford is really surprised about that news. Also, he learns that his dad was so bad that he couldn’t even do the monkey bars. Who can’t do the monkey bars? His dad also got teased a lot as a child. I think Stanford’s dad wanted to be a great student, so nobody would ask him if he was good at sports. It is clear, that Stanford’s dad probably wished to be Stanford growing up and is now jealous that Stanford has such an amazing talent for sports. Therefore that is probably why his dad won't come to any of his games.

Stanford learns it is challenging to live with his dad (like any relationship, it has it's ups and downs). Although it was hard to live with his dad (because he didn’t listen, wasn’t supportive and is jealous of him) Stanford dealt with these problems delicately (for a guy). It definitely showed a different side of him. By the end of the book, Stanford and his father built a stronger relationship and I think really connected in a "father-son" kind of way.