I am Poem

Book of a Thousand Days

Book of a Thousand Days

"Book of a Thousand Days," by Shannon Hale, is a great tale about a young mucker named Dashti. Dashti finds work as a lady's maid, and on her first day on the job she finds herself locked in a brick tower where the only connection with the outside world is a small metal flap in the wall to dump their waste. They were locked in the tower because of Lady Saren's refusal to marry Lord Khasar, a man she thinks is a monster. After 3 long years of being locked in the tower Dashti finds an escape, they leave the tower and travel to Song For Evela, the realm ruled by Kahn Tegus who is also the man Lady Saren is secretly betrothed to. They decide not to tell him that Lady Saren is there and pretend to be mucker clan sisters and begin working in the kitchen scrubbing pots in Khan Tegus' house. Lady Saren forces Dashti to say she is her, and also tells Dashti the reason she fears Lord Khasar so greatly, which is because he turns into a wolf at night and sneaks into realms and kills the people living there and destroys the realm. Dashti defeats Lord Khasar, but soon faces death when Lady Vachir, Khan Tegus' betrothed before Dashti said she was Lady Saren, wants Dashti's blood for destroying her betrothal to Tegus. Khan Tegus convinces the honored chiefs to let Dashti keep her life even though she faked nobility. Since Lady Saren was betrothed to Tegus first she has the right to betroth him she keeps her right to betroth Tegus, but exacts it for Dashti and they get married. That is what "Book of a Thousand Days" is about.

One theme I saw in the book was strength. I think strength is one of the themes in the book because Dashti showed a lot of it throughout the book. She had to have a lot of strength to do everything she did. She showed strength when she defeated Lord Khasar. I have strength, but have not needed to use it in situations like Dashti did. That is why I think one of the themes in the book is strength.

Another theme I saw in the book was love. I think love is one of the themes in the book because Dashti's love for Saren and Tegus outlasted all the challenges it faced. Dashti faced death several times yet she still stood by her Lady's side. Dashti loved Saren like a sister and how I love my family. Dashti was very loyal to Saren and she loved her. That is why I think one of the themes in the book is love.

I enjoyed "Book of a Thousand Days." It was a fairly short book and although it had a bad start, I thought it had a really good ending. I think the book was pretty boring at first, but was really interesting later. I would recommend this book to kids that wouldn't mind reading a book that gets off to a slow start. Overall, I thought that "Book of a Thousand Days" was a good book.

I got this photo from:http://www.yabooklove.com/2011/04/book-of-thousand-days.html

Fever 1793

Fever 1793

"Fever 1793", by Laurie Halse Anderson, is about a young girl named Matilda who lives in Philadelphia and during the summer a lot of people are infected with Yellow Fever. Matilda lives above her family's  coffeehouse, which she helps run alongside her grandfather, her mother, and their cook, Eliza. When Matilda's mom is infected with Yellow Fever, Matilda and her grandfather flee to the country where the air is clean. However, when they are about to enter the country they are denied access because Matilda's grandpa is coughing from the heat and is accused of having the fever. They are stranded and Matilda's mom and Eliza think they are safe in the country. While they are seeking help, Matilda blacks out. Eventually, Matilda's grandfather finds a hospital, the Bush Hill Hospital, a hospital for fever victims. Matilda is treated there and when she is strong enough to leave, her grandpa and her head back to Philadelphia, they come back to an empty coffeehouse. Matilda's grandpa is killed by thieves who are robbing the coffeehouse. Matilda later finds Eliza, who is treating fever victims and stays with her, they go back to the coffeehouse and start to run it again, and when everything is good, it gets better and Matilda's mom returns. She is very weak and can't run the coffeehouse anymore. That is what "Fever 1793" is about.

One theme I saw in the book was survival. I think survival is one of the themes because people in Philadelphia  all try to survive Yellow Fever. Also, Matilda and her mom do survive the fever. The whole book is based upon surviving the fever although not everyone does. I have survived many things in my life, but nothing quite as dangerous as Yellow Fever. That is why I think survival is one of the themes in the book.

I really like "Fever 1793". I thought it was very interesting and enjoyed reading it. Although it gets off to a slow start, when the action happens, it's really good. I think a lot of kids would enjoy reading "Fever 1793" because it is an adventurous book about Matilda and her battle to stay alive. I think a lot of students should read this book and not stop because it is a little slow in the beginning.

Laurie Halse Anderson has written more books than just "Fever 1793. I really liked the book and want to read more of her other books. A few of her other books are: "Speak", "Forge", "Chains", "Twisted", and "Catalyst". All of her books sound good and I hope I read some of them. I really enjoyed "Fever 1793" and like Laurie Halse Anderson's writing. Those are some of the other books that Laurie Halse Anderson has written.

I got this picture from: http://meredith26443.edu.glogster.com/glog-2539-9142/

Science Systems Essay: A Letter to the Human Body Corp.

Science Systems Essay: A Letter to the Human Body Corp.

Dear Human Body Corp.:

I hear that you are trying to fire me, the Nervous System. Even in my wildest dreams I could not believe that you would do something as thoughtless as that. Well, I'm sending you this letter to remind you of all the wonderful things that I do for you. First off, without me you would be an emotionless freak with no possibility of having any part in music. Also, you wouldn't be able to speak, write, read, or solve problems, and lastly you would die without the Nervous System. So, don't fire me or all these terrible things will happen to you.

If you were to fire the Nervous System you would become an emotionless weirdo who can't do music. One consequence in firing me would be that you can't even tell what you're feeling! Can you imagine that? Not being able to feel happiness, excitement, etc. Well, that's the price you'll have to pay if you fire me. Also, you wouldn't be able to take part in any type of music. Don't fire me, or you'll turn into an emotionless weirdo who isn't able to play music.

Don't fire the Nervous System, or you won't be able to speak, read, write, or solve problems. If you fired me you wouldn't be able to go to school. I know most people would think of that as a good thing, but let's think about your future if you couldn't get an education/ read, write, or even speak; obviously it's not good. You wouldn't be able to make friends or speak to the ones you have! Also, you wouldn't be able to read so if you're the kind of person who loves to read books don't fire the Nervous System or your reign of reading will be over forever.

Lastly, and I can't stress this enough, you would simply be dead if you fired me. First of all, you wouldn't be able to breathe. Secondly, without the Nervous System your heart wouldn't know how to beat. Lastly, you couldn't eat or drink because you would have no control of your body. So I suggest, if you want to live, not to fire the Nervous System.

If you fired the Nervous System you would end up emotionless and unable to do any type of music. Secondly, you would be unable to speak, read, write, and solve problems. Lastly, you would not be alive without me. So, if you want to be a dead, emotionless freak who can't even speak, read, write, or do music then be my guest, but if not then don't fire the Nervous System.

                          Sincerely,
                          The Nervous System

I got this picture from: http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/introb.html

January 19

January 19       

        It was Sunday morning January,19 2009. The sun was shining brightly which was unusual because the weather hadn't been good for a while. Even though it was bright outside, it was not a bright day. My mom and aunt had gone over to my grandma's house because she had not called yet, something she always did on Sunday morning to see how the morning was, before going to church. My cousins had come over, Breezi, Jonah, Douglas, and Chava. My mom and aunt were gone for a while, we tried calling, but never got an answer. We could all sense that something was wrong. We called again and finally got an answer.
        "Where are you guys?" I asked, relieved we got an answer.
        "We're at grandma's house," my mom answered quietly.
        "What's taking so long?"
        "We'll be home soon, OK?"
        "OK."
        After a while we heard the door and we all ran over there, anxious to see where they'd been.
        "We're home!" called my mom
        "Finally," Chava called back.
        "Kids, sit down," my mom suggested. My aunt was crying and my mom had red eyes.
        "What's wrong? Why are you guys crying?" asked Jonah.
        "I'm sorry, but grandma died in her sleep last night," my mom said, her eyes starting to tear up.
        "What?" said Douglas, stunned by the news we had just gotten, although we were all kind of expecting it.
        "I'm really sorry," said my mom.
        My grandma and I were very close, my whole family was. We went to her house almost every day. When we were sick we would always go to her house for the day and lay on her couch. My whole family loved her very much, but we eventually got used to having her gone. For a while, all of us were sad and didn't want to see pictures of her, but eventually we liked to look at them and think about all the fun times, and hear stories from our parents. For the first little bit it wasn't all that sad because it didn't really seem real, but as time went by and we realized that she was really gone, it was really sad. I miss my grandma, but my family still has good times without her and we wouldn't have had those good times if we just thought about the bad and wished she would come back.    

I got this picture from: http://www.picgifs.com/graphics/grandma-and-grandpa/4/

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

How Angel Peterson Got His Name

How Angel Peterson Got His Name is a great extreme stunt book about some teenagers (The narrator, Angel, Wayne, Alan, Emil, and Orvis) who live in a small town in northern Minnesota who do crazy stunts with bikes, kites, skis, and skateboards. In every stunt that these teens do they always get hurt in some way. Like when Angel Peterson broke the world speed record on skis he ended up flying into a bunch of snow. Along with getting hurt when all of these stunts are tested the teens end up doing what they said they were going to do. Like when Emil decided he wanted to fly his huge target kite made for the Second World War, he did get to fly his kite, but the problem was he flew with his kite. All of the stunts were started by the same question "What exactly would happen if they did that?" Unfortunately, all of the stunts had the same outcome and the kids get hurt while performing them. That is what How Angel Peterson Got His Name is about.

One theme I saw in the book was taking risks. I think taking risks is one of the themes because the kids took a lot of risks to do the stunts that they did. I saw the kids take risks from the possibility of catching themselves on fire to being killed by a bear in a wrestling match. When Wayne and Orvis were hitching rides from cars on their skateboards, they would ride up to a car, hold onto the bumper, and then crouch down really low so the driver couldn't see them. They took the risk of being run over by a car because they were hitching rides from them. I have taken risks before, but not like the ones in the book . That is why I think taking risks is one the themes in the book.

I liked this book because it has good humor and the stunts were very interesting. I liked how the teens kept doing more stunts even after the outcome of the stunts before it. Overall, I liked the book and think that a lot of other kids would too. I would recommend How Angel Peterson Got His Name to kids who would like to read a very adventurous book. This book is not very long and has good humor for kids in middle school. I think a lot of students would like this book and would be happy that they chose to read it.

Gary Paulsen has written so many other books then just How Angel Peterson Got His Name. A few of the other books he has written are My Life In Dog Years, The Winter Room, Dogsong, and Hatchet. I have read Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers by Gary Paulsen. I found it to be a very interesting story about a dog named Cookie and her trainer and the adventures they have together. Gary Paulsen has written a lot of great books and I have enjoyed the ones that I have read so far and hope to read a lot more.

I got this picture from: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2917.How_Angel_Peterson_Got_His_Name

iPods and MP3 players at school

    iPods and MP3 Players at School

Kids nowadays do a lot of things while listening to music on their iPods or MP3 players. Students could get their work done a lot faster if they were allowed to listen to music during class. Also, teachers wouldn't have to keep reminding their students to get back to work because they are focused while listening to music. Some reasons why iPods should be allowed in school are that kids spend a lot of money on the device and the music to go on it, so they should be allowed to use them, and music would help kids concentrate on their work. Also, some students do not like teachers' music, and iPods contain many educational tools. Kids should be allowed to use their iPods in school.       Technology is getting more, and more expensive because people are coming up with new ways to upgrade the devices, so they have to increase the prices. Kids this generation has had the opportunity to have an iPod or MP3 player almost all of their life, a lot of kids are very used to having their music everywhere. Since kids are so used to music all the time they spend a lot of money on all of the new songs and the new artists. Since technology is coming up with new products, kids will save up all of their money to buy it. Then the kids don't have very much time to use the device they spent all their savings on because kids go to school for 6 hours a day 5 days a week. A lot of a student's time is filled up with school, and if they are in band they have to practice their instrument and if they do a sport then they have to go to practices. When students go home they have to do homework and all that is really left is the week end. Kids spend so much money on all of their technology, but have little time to use their devices. I think students should be allowed to use their iPods at school because they spend so much money on them.         Music would make it easier for students to concentrate on their work because they are not as bored. If iPods were allowed during school then students would be able to concentrate better. If kids were able to listen to music then they would be calmer and have a better chance of getting all of their work done and get higher grades because they were able to concentrate during class. Some kids have a hard time concentrating, especially if people all around them are talking. If kids were allowed to listen to music and block out all of the other noise then they could have a much easier time trying to concentrate. That is why music would help kids concentrate on their work during class.          Some students do not like the music that teachers play. Also, some kids may not be allowed to listen to some of the music and are only allowed to listen to a certain type of music. If some students like the music teachers play, but one kid is not allowed to listen to that kind of music then it would ruin the chance of music during class for the students that actually like that type of music. If kids were able to bring their iPods to class and allowed to listen to it during an appropriate time then that problem would be gone. I think students should be allowed to bring their iPods to school so the students can listen to whatever kind of music they want, as long as it is school appropriate of course.           I think iPods should be allowed in school because they are not just games anymore. Students should be allowed to use iPods as an educational tool if nothing else. Recently, technology put out the option of downloading books and other apps to help students in class. Also, during class kids could take notes on their iPods, or take a video of the lesson to refer back to when they are doing their homework or simply don't understand it. If they need to students could just read their notes again, or watch the video they recorded. There are a lot of apps that a student can download to help them in school like calculators, flash cards, dictionaries, and thesauruses. These devices also have educational games for kids, like vocabulary bingo which helps kids practice their vocabulary through a fun game of bingo. You can also buy an app called homework manager, which helps kids keep track of their homework daily. There are many more educational tools available for iPods. These apps can help students get better grades, and they should be allowed to use them.           Music and iPods could get rid of all of a students stress. Imagine you're a student at school and you've had a bad day. When you get to class you are all stressed out. Well, if kids were allowed to listen to their music on their iPod then they would have a chance to get less tense and relax their brain so they can learn more. If kids were able to listen to nice soothing music after a hard day, then they would have a better chance to get a lot more work done. Also, if you are less stressed you can get way better grades. Stress is just one of the reasons why students don't get the grades they are capable of getting, and being able to listen to music would help enormously.          Therefore, kids should be allowed to use their iPods in school. I think iPods should be allowed because kids spend a lot of money on their technology so they should be allowed to use them. Music would help kids concentrate on their work and get it done faster, and some kids don't like the music teachers' play. Also, iPods contain many educational tools, and music would help get rid of students' stress. The school board should change the rule and allow the use of iPods in school. That is why I think iPods in school is a good idea. I got this picture from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1216041/iPods-fitted-noise-limiters-new-EU-rules-protect-hearing.html