Book Review: Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

A girl with the rare disease called SCID- or Severe Combined Immunodeficiency- is allergic to the world basically. But the boy who moves in next door changes everything.

Not even allowed to step outside of her house or touch the grass, Madeline Whittier has it bad. Set in today's world and being allergic to everything in the outside world, she lives with her over-protective mom and her nurse, Carla. Her boring life turns around when Olly moves right next door. Olly's the boy who's skinny and wears black all the time and has a dysfunctional family and shows Madeline who she really is. 

And she also learns about the outside world from him.

Nicola Yoon incorporates the modern world of romance and the idea of really finding yourself. Think Eleanor and Park meets The Fault in Our Stars. This book takes an interesting spin, one you'll never forget. You'll cry, you'll laugh, you'll smile, but you will never forget the love Madeline and Olly have for each other-- Yoon makes readers think about life, love, and the act of forgiving and not talking life for granted. This book is like the apocalypse (I know, morbid). You can never not think about it, and the surprises within the story make you jump with laughter or cry with tears falling hard down your face. 

In conclusion, anyone should read the book. It's interesting, it's witty, it's smart and funny. Yoon really puts her heart into this book. The story of Madeline and Olly will not make everything think about you, but make you think about everything. 

3rd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children: Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (only until page 60)

The Queen by Kiera Cass

The Heir by Kiera Cass

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaria

A goal I had in second quarter was to read 10 new books and I was really close to it, but I only read 9.5 books because I stopped in the middle of All The Bright Places. However, all of the books that I read were about 300-400 pages long, and my goal was to finish books more than 200 pages long so YAY! My goals were more series based like reading the Harry Potter series and the Maze Runner series and although I read book one of Harry Potter, I stopped; instead, I read lots of individual books.

Two goals that I have for 4th Quarter are I want to read book at least 350 pages long so I can challenge myself and have a LONG book that I can read. Another goal I have for myself is I want to read at least 7 books this quarter. Since 4th quarter is testing and all of that, I don't want to put myself in too much of a frenzy, so I just want to dial down with a couple of really good books.

Point of View- Meghan Daum

            Meghan Daum is a columnist of LA Times, who published four books previous to joining and wrote many articles for the New Yorker, Harper’s and Vogue, and contributed to the public radio programs “Morning Edition,” “Marketplace” and “This American Life. She writes on the Op-Ed sections of the columns. The two columns I chose from her are “Curvy or No, Barbie is Still a Mean Girl” and “2015: The Most Hyperbolic Year Ever”. I would label her point of view as critical. In her columns, Daum talks about a certain topic or trend, and dissects it about what other people say about it and how she feels about that topic. In “Curvy Barbie”, she says how the new Barbie’s are depicted as “fat” and “basic”. She also says how Barbie’s new and old give off the vibe of “it sucks to be you”. In “2015”, it gives off the same idea of being critical. She talks about how Trump is calling people names during the debates and how Instagram feeds are all lies and photo-shopped selfies.

            One writing craft technique Daum uses is she implements many parantheses to emphasize or exaggerate a certain point that is being made. In “Curvy Barbie”, she uses the parenthesis to exaggerate how even though Barbie is shown to have many professions such as a doctor and lawyer, she still has the “basic girl” inside of her. Daum exaggerates the Basic Doctor Barbie by saying, “(the surgical scrubs doubled as a mini-dress)” and the Basic Astronaut Barbie as, “ but you can still be sure that she had...a vanilla-scented candle in the crew cabin of the space station (‘You guys, why can’t I light this?’)”. She does the same thing in “2015” and displays a ton of sarcasm in the parenthesis of this column. An example is, “‘[Adele is] the biggest pop music story of our time’ (thanks, Rolling Stone)”. She also explains the disrespect to cultural food in Oberlin College and how the sushi was made wrong, “(Never mind that the idea of being able to eat sushi in a college cafeteria is...well, never mind, again)”. As you can see, the use of parentheses show how Daum incorporates sarcasm and emphasis to a topic being discussed, so it gives her writing more of a unique and likeable flair.

Things I Learned Last Year

Things I Learned Last Year

Friends,when they meet each other
usually meet up next to the lockers.

Sometimes your phone can shut down
in the middle of and incredible game.

The new boy at school has dedicated himself
to the whole eighth grade class.
For twenty-five dollars
you can get his breath in a bag.

My eighth grade math teacher was an optimist
but she piled hatred on us.

The audience at a concert
never knows how to stop making noises during pauses.

In a home, the Mom's job
is to cook, clean, and care.
Yet, they never get appreciated enough
for what they do.
_____________________________________________________________________________

My last year was pretty average, just like any other year I can say. I did a lot of fun things with my family, like go to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina during the summer. I also got to spend time with my friends like going to the mall for one of my friends' birthday. The school year I got to learn so many things, especially in Spanish I, which was my favorite class EVER! Overall, I felt like I celebrated the year as much as could and have as much fun as possible.

The tone of my poem is goofy and relatable, but the last part is kind of something that is true for many people, so it ends on a warm tone too. I think that some of my favorite parts in my poem are the  "new boy at school" and "My eighth grade math teacher".

If I compare my poem to Stafford's poem, there are a few similarities. Sometimes I add goofy lines to mine and he adds silly ones too like, "Sometimes you can open a sticky door with your elbow" and "Ants, when they usually pass each other, usually pass on the right". Like my poem too, it also shows a true story like, " The man in Boston has dedicated himself...". The only differences in my poem is that Stafford uses historical characters like authors to make up his poem, however I didn't want to do that. He also likes to use contradicting statements many times, even though I only used a contradicting statement once.

2nd Quarter Poetry Journal Reflection

The Last Wolf

Yes, I said.

 I know what they have done.

I jolt up from the concrete. Hard and cold, like me. My clothes are tattered, and my arms and face are full of scars from last nights' trek in the woods. Rubbing sleep out of my eyes, I look around. I can't believe it's almost been six years since the Wave and I'm the only one left...I think.

Now, you're probably thinking, what's the Wave? It was horrible. I still have nightmares: flashes of fear-stricken faces and screaming children here and there, parents unable to find their families. Trees being ripped to shreds.

The Wave hit my town the worst because it was right next to the. Freaking. Ocean. Maybe if we hadn't lived there, I would still have my family. Anyways, all I remember was the hundred-foot wave. The gray water contrasting against the black sky. It started coming down slowly. The faster. Faster. Faster, and I couldn't hear anything after that.  

_______________________________________

I chose to write this piece from a line I saw from the poem, The Last Wolf, and from that poem I chose the first two lines and put it in my story. Just like last time, I wanted to write something ominous, something catastrophic and it left the character with nothing but a small shred of dignity. It was the kind of story that I wanted to keep writing, or it left the reader thinking of an ending for themselves, so in a way, my story was kind of like a DIY story. I want to write more stories that have a darker theme next quarter.

2nd Quarter Independent Reading Reflection

For this quarter, I passed my goal of reading five books and read 10! I'm really happy because I didn't think I would reach my goal at all. I read the Color of Water by James McBride, all three books in the Shatter Me series by Tahereh Mafi, and The Selection series books one, two, and three by Kiera Cass. I also finished three of the four or five novellas from the Selection Series and those were amazing too! Obviously, this number is better than last quarter (8 more to be exact), so I'm thrilled to see that I made such an accomplishment. My books were challenging enough for the regular high school student, so it wasn't any pressure on me at all. I chose this challenge because I wanted to read something I was comfortable in reading, so it wasn't to easy or too hard. I can't exactly pick a best book, but the 2 series that I read were the best this quarter. Those books were the ones you couldn't put down, and I loved that feeling. They had a story, and they had characters that had developed different/stronger characteristics throughout the books. I think what I discovered for this quarter is that I love to read Dystopia/Utopia/world-conflict books that questioned society in the books, and how the characters questioned their life decisions too.

I reached most of my first quarter goals by reading more than five NEW books that were more than 150 pages long. I also read some of the series that I wanted to read (Thank goodness!). Of course, I always have new goals for myself because...why not, right? One of my goals is to read more than TEN books this time (that I haven't read), and to make sure they are at least 200 pages this time. I also want to read The Maze Runner series because I saw the movie and I have to know what's next :). I'm also planning to start the Harry Potter series, but I might not finish it because THEY'RE HUGE! Maybe until book five, so I'll be pretty busy this winter break too. One book that I'm dying to read is The Martian, and trust me, I'm sure to make it happen this time! I can't wait to start reading!!!

                              

Come here, Come all to the Globe Theater!

Isn't it a wonderful day? It's 1599 and I just heard that this new theater called the Globe Theater just opened. It was built by William Shakespeare and another company, and I heard that he writes the plays himself. I have to go see it because the first show ever, Julius Caesar, is playing.

When I look around, I see more than a thousand seats in a big circle. It's an open sky so natural light is used. I'm standing on the ground with hundreds of commoners like me who paid a penny to watch. I also see the rich wealthy nobles sit on the stage itself! They get a good view...Lucky. Up a couple of stories and I see the Gentry sit in galleries with cushions! I think they had to pay two pennies to sit there. There's a flag that has what seems to be Hercules carrying a globe on his shoulder. Totus mundus agit histrionem or "The whole world is a playhouse". There's lots of men here. I mean there are women, but only the rich ones, and they're using a mask to cover up their face. I also heard that The Globe Theater is also being used as a gambling home. Oh, SHH! It's starting!

The show is going good so far, but one thing that's bothering me is...where are the women? I only see young boys wearing bad makeup and plastic wigs to act as an actress.

"Excuse me, sir," I ask the man next to me.

"Yes, dear?" He replies impatiently, as if wanting to get back to the show.

"Would you care to explain to me on why there are no women acting in this play? It seems kind of wrong,"

"Are you crazy little girl?!" He whisper-yells. " Women aren't allowed to act, it's a terrible idea. Only boys shall act, and if necessary they'll dress up like a girl". With that he left, and I kept watching and started to get back into the show.

Overall, I thought it was an amazing experience! It was a good show that made me laugh and cry. It was also a great atmosphere with the open roof and circular theater. I can't wait to go to the next play in the Globe Theater!