Sharks vs. Eagles

I had always dreamed of winning a championship, but especially against Parkview. They were our rivals and it was always a very close and intense game. Our team of only 6th graders, which had never happened before, were undefeated that season. We were determined to win and take the trophy back to school. We beat the first two teams in the playoffs and so did Parkview, so to our disappointment we had to play against the one team we were nervous to play.

I walked into the gym that night mentally and physically ready to give my all. We actually played in Phillips Gym. Parkview's team was huge compared to our team of 8. We warmed up just like we always did and our coach put our starting five in and the buzzer sounded. I was so nervous. "What if we lost here?" "After all of this? TO PARKVIEW?!" The first quarter went by fast. Full of great defensive plays but it ended 0-0.
Second quarter I hit a mid-range jump shot, 2-0.
Halftime. At halftime I only became more nervous and so did everyone else. One shot is not the most comfortable lead you can ask for.
 Third quarter, my teammate scored a lay- up and I scored again. 6-0. The buzzer sounded and we looked up and realized we were almost there. We were so close.
Fourth quarter, in the first minute Parkview's point guard scored. 6-2. Then they scored two more times in the next three and a half minutes. 6-6. Two and a half minutes left. The possession went back and forth and the crowd was crazy. 1 minute left. My team had the ball. I got a pass and I was screamed at to shoot by the crowd. I didn't shoot. I passed it back to our point guard and cut to the other side of the court and I knew that if I got the ball I would shoot. Our point guard shot and missed, but our post got the rebound and fed it back to me and I shot and scored. The screams were so loud but there was still time left on the clock. We held them until the buzzer sounded for the final time.
We won 8-6.

Reading Response

I just finished The Knife of Never Letting Go and I could not believe that it was over. The ending took me by surprise and was a complete cliff hanger. There are those books that you can see the ending to towards the end of the book and there are the books that you aren't really sure but you think you know what's going on. I thought I had a general idea where it was going, but I was completely and utterly wrong. I was so into it that I read the first pages of the next book that were in the back, which I never do. And once again, I was left on yet another cliff.

Overall, this story was extremely entertaining and well written. The author kept you attached to each of the characters and you really understood how Todd felt. The details to describe everything around them and the backstory to the New World was amazing. I was on the edge of my seat a lot throughout this story and I can't wait to pick up the next book and get left on even more cliffs. I highly recommend this book if you like dystopian and adventurous type of books, or if you just want a good story, this is a great way to go.

Comments

Ellen- Possession
Liza- 100-200 Word Short Story

The Woods

It was dark and cold, she had been running for hours through the thick woods behind her house. She could faintly hear the sound that had been chasing her all of this time. She looked up and saw the nothingness of the dark sky. She was covered in dirt and her clothes were ripped. She was chilled to the bone and tiredness pulled at her eyelids, but she couldn't stop. The sound was starting to get closer so she started running again. She couldn't see a thing and suddenly starting falling. She felt a sharp pain rip through her leg. She stood up and yelped with pain. Her hand slowly ran down her calf and felt the warm, stickiness of blood all over. She looked all around her and didn't see a thing yet she heard that sound. She tried to run but fell and cried out in pain, the sound encompassed her, and she was never heard from or seen again.

"Harrison Bergeron"

Harrison Bergeron was a very fascinating story. Everyone was finally "equal" according to the story, but were they really? Some people like Harrison wore masks, a red clown nose, had tons of metal on their body or birdshot, and/or a chip in their head that buzzed to make them forget, while some people had none of that because they were "average." I don't think that this is equal. Making people endure all of those handicaps while others have none is not equality, yet I still enjoyed the plot of this story. 

I enjoyed how the author gave us descriptions of the handicaps people had while leaving an uncertainty in our minds. He caused us to think and ask questions about Harrison and why society was like this. When Harrison came onto the TV and ripped off his handicaps I was on the edge of my seat asking "What is going to happen?" "Why is he asking for an Empress?" I don't know about you but the climax of the story took me by surprise. Kissing on the roof...very unpredictable. When Diana Moon came and shot Harrison and the ballerina, that was also unpredictable and climactic. I really like the story for its creativity and unpredictability. But, I also liked at the end how the author really showed us how dumb Hazel is by her forgetting that her own son was just shot and killed. That is why I like this story, the unpredictability, the creativeness, and the detail the author gives us but he still leaves room for plenty of questions.

Comments

Griff- Dear 5-year old
Ellen- Dear 11-year old
Ryan- House of Hades

Dear five-year old

Dear five-year old,
Take nap time seriously. I know you think that you are too old for naps but trust me, you aren't. Take that time to get a good nap so you can play harder and work harder afterwards. I never took naps and now I want a nap everyday. Naps should be taken seriously for all ages.

Taking naps are good for you. Take that nap time for granted because you are going to miss it. I love naps so you are definitely not too old. I know naps don't seem like fun to you now, but appreciate them. Signed a fourteen-year old.

Reading Response

The Knife of Never Letting Go has kept me on the edge of my seat since I almost gave up. I'm really glad that I didn't give up. The author makes me feel like I'm there, looking over everything, hearing and seeing everything. The characters are all very interesting and I feel like there is more to them than meets the eye. I am very attached to all of the characters and I'm not even half way through the story.

I am not sure at all where this story is going but it should be good. Todd has a very long journey ahead of him to escape Prentisstown and everyone in it. Hopefully the "settlement" that his brothers sent him to will protect him. I cannot wait to see what happens to Todd. In fact, I'm going to go read right now.

Week of September 12 comments

Megan- Nighttime in New Orleans
Ellen- 9/11
Ryan- Katrina post

9/11

We all know what happened on 9/11. Two planes hit the World Trade Center's twin towers. The first plane hit the north tower at 8:45 and 18 minutes later the second plane hit. This sent America into a panic. After all of this, another plane hit the western side of the Pentagon at 9:45 in Washington D.C. Less than 15 minutes later, one tower collapsed, and at 10:30 those other tower did too. Which caused more fear, death, and destruction for America. But, another plane was taking off in New Jersey on a delay and was hijacked, but the people on board heard about what was going on from their cell phones and some of the passengers started to come up with a plan.

A mix of passengers and flight attendants fought the four hijackers. The plane then went out of control and sped toward the ground at 200 miles per hour in western Pennsylvania and crashed. Everyone on board was killed. No one knows where this plane was supposed to hit but there are theories, for example, the White House, U.S. Capitol, Camp David, or nuclear power plants along the eastern seaboard. This day caused America to start a war with terrorism and we have created higher, more thorough security everywhere. America will never forget the date of 09/11/01.

The Knife of Never Letting Go

When I first started reading The Knife of Never Letting Go I was not intrigued at all. I was bored because the author was giving us all of this information about the town and this to called Noise. And yes, Noise is meant to be capitalized. I was reading and reading waiting for something to happen and then my wishes came true. This happened right as I was just about to give up on it, and for some reason I love books that do that.

The Noise I was talking about is something everybody can do in Prentisstown. There used to be women in town but an epidemic happened and all of the women died. Now, everyone can hear everyone's thoughts, see their memories and fantasies, which seems awful to me. There is always Noise, it is never silent. Ever. The main character, Todd Hewitt, goes into the swamp and finds silence. After he found this silence he tried to cover it up with more Noise but he fails. The mayor and his people go after Todd and the silence that he found, which is a girl. Here is the question, how can you escape when your pursuer can hear you from a long distance away?

Comments-Week 1

Ellen- Fostering
Anna- Parasailing
Ryan- Free Post 
Wyatt- Building Fence

Brother vs. Sister

I walked outside into the muggy, humid air. I was barefoot which allowed me to feel the soft grass and all of the sudden something white and sticky was all over my black shirt. I looked up and my brother was standing there with a shaving cream can and white foam all over his hand. In our family, this means war. So, turned around and saw another blue can of shaving cream. I grabbed it and ran towards my little brother. I put the shaving cream in my hand to throw it at my brother. It was soft, cold. In that moment, my brother started laughing.
"Why you taking so long? Are you scared?" Jackson said.
I replied, "Absolutely not. You are gonna loose."
Now how you loose in a shaving cream fight, I have no idea but we would find a way to win. We threw the saving cream at each other for a long time, making a huge mess. We slapped each other with it, got it all in each other's hair, and laughed until it hurt. We had so much fun that a winner was never decided. But the competition between us never stops, and it most likely never will.

Thirteen Reasons Why

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher is an incredible, well organized, jigsaw puzzle of reasons.  This story gives us insight on how a traumatic experience affects others and how the mind succumbs to depression. Hannah's story is one that changed the way I think in a small and huge way. Clay's life was changed just the same along with the other 12 people. Thirteen Reasons Why shows a person just how much everyone really does connect.

Clay Jenson loved Hannah Baker but never got the chance to do it because depression beat him. It sent Hannah into a downward spiral and she took everyone else with her as best she could. Her thirteen reasons intertwine fourteen people's lives in ways that no one usually notices. Their eyes, hand movements, smiles, what was said, what was not said, what was done, and what now can never be done will change your perspective on how you think, feel and do throughout your whole day. This book really hit home for me. I have been around people that I truly care about that almost lost the battle of depression and some that did.