SSR assignment

Book: The Deep
Author: Peter Benchley
Joe Cosenza
Period 3

This week I am still reading The Deep. In this part of the story, the guy from the beginning of the story that wanted the first ampule from Sanders and Gail is back. He captures Sanders and Gail because he hears a rumor that they have found another valueable ampule of some sort of medicine. They don't want this man, Henri Cloche, to get the ampule, so they do not bringn it with them to his house. When they get there, he doesn't believe that they don't have it, so he makes them strip down to bare body, searching for the ampule. He told them not to tell anyone about this because he basically kidnapped them, and their friend Treece won't help them. Sanders and Gail go to Treece's house and tell him all about the experience with Henrri Cloche. That is how far I got this week in the book.

Extra Credit --- Emmys

A woman named Melissa Mcarthy won an emmy for ooutstanding lead actress in a comedy series. She was born in Plainfield Illinois which is not too far from here! I also really like her as an actress. I think she is funny and very entertaining to watch. I recently watched Bridesmaids, which she was in. I thought she was absolutely hilarious! It made me feel happy for her for winning an emmy and for coming so far in her actig career. http://www.emmys.com/celebrities/melissa-mccarthy ----Andrew LaRusso

SSR summary #2

This week i finished the book Shakespeare: A novel undead. Im going to summarize the ending of the book. Will and Kate were gettiong ready for the opening night of will's new play when he smells the undead. The whole crowd is just lifeless zombies. Will sees the queen watching and knows he has to protect her. Kate and Will fight of the zombies and make their way up to the queen. They find something very unpleasant, Nigromante. He has killed the queen's guards and is taunting her. He fights Will and almost kills him, so Kate lets him drink her blood. He then regains strength and kills Nigromante. The queen afterwards has Will work for her as a bodyguard and Kate goes back to Reginald. In the end Will has a brillant plan to fake Kates own death so they can run away together. I thought this was a very good book and recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers. --- Andrew LaRusso

SSR assignment. [ A Child Called "It"] by David Pelzer

The main character of my book is David Pelzer. He faces many struggles to try to survive the pain his mother is giving him. His mother doesn't really seem to care about David at all and calls him many names. Truely deep inside Davids like any other kid and makes mastakes. The author David as David himself, explains himself as a strong brave young boy who went to the fullest just to make his mother happy. All he got in return was a beating and awful punishments. In my eyes all David did was try, try to succeed to get his mother to be caring and happy once more as he used to know her.

(character methods used:
what others say
what author tells us/says.)

_Mildred Knapp, english 1 -period 3

SSR

Author: Mimi McCoy

Title: The Babysitting Wars

Summary: This book is about how three girls want to raise money so they could go to Wonder World. The main character Kaitlyn was the main money collector. She was a babysitter and a good one at that. She knows the whole neighborhood, and the neighborhood knows her. Then a new girl comes to town and things start to change. Nola is a babysitter too, and she is hanging around Kaitlyn’s crush, Topher. Then to me it seems like she is not spending time with her friends anymore.

Natalie Sarabia, per. 3

SSR Assignment 9/25.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's stone by JK Rowling: Chapter 16.

Harry Potter is of course, the obvious main character. He demonstrates this because he is incredibly brave and motivated to find the truth. In chapter 16, he is brave enough to go past Fluffy (the three headed dog) and catch the person trying to steal the sorcerer's stone along with Ron and Hermoine. The author tells us that Harry had been trying to figure out who Nicolas Flamel was and what he was famous for; being the creator of the sorcerer's stone. Then, all on his own Harry unravels the whole mystery of the story. That's why he's the main character.

Scott Quinn 1st period

My book title is named heat and the author is named Mike Lupica. This is so far a great book about a boy living in New York city and is living with his brother Carlos. The main character of the story is named Mike Arroy. His character traits is that he is a brave and is a nice person. He is a brave person because his father is dead and lives wig his brother that is under the age of having Mike. If the cops find out they are going to be deported because they came on a boat to America. So he has to be quite and play baseball without telling the truth about himself. He is a nice person because he is always protecting his friends an making sure that they Re ok. Mike is also trying to help out his brother anyway that he can.

my book is Shattered Glass by Gail Giles

My main character would have to be Simon Glass. To describe his personality Simon is more of an outcast because nobody wanted to be friends with him. Most kids at school judged him by how he looked, which was a geek who was chubby and unattractive. Now Rob and his friends are still proceeding to make Simon into a cool guy at school. After hanging out with Simon, Rob and the others have realized that Simon is a funny guy because he makes them laugh when he makes a joke out of someone or something done. Simon is a friendly character because he told Young(Rob's friend) that he would hack into the school system to be sure that Young can take creative writing class except report cards and others will have him taking advanced biology. Through the making of the cool Simon Glass Rob and the others are seeing that he can become their friend.

By: Mary Garbacz

Runner by Carl Deuker

The best way to describe my character is by his personality. One of the key aspects of his personality is his maturity. Chance is one of few kids who grow up doing stuff on their own. Without anyone telling them what to do or how to do something. Chance has always shown great maturity since his mom left him. From then on he lived with his father who was never home because he was always out drinking. So Chance grew up taking himself to school, working at different places for money, learning how to cook, and now even paying all the bills. Chance never had a real chance to be a kid because of him learning how to live on his own, and doing everything on his own. He even said in the book to one of his moms friends that he wished he would have been told what to do and learned from his parents how to do things growing up, but sadly that never happened. He's now looking forward to being recruited by the army so now someone will be giving him commands and now getting the chance for someone to tell him what to do. Chance's life is a really different life than most of us have, and I think we should be grateful for not having such a difficult life like Chance

Enrique Miranda, 3 period

Shadow boxer

One way to describe my main character George is the he is brave. George is brave because he is still living his life like nothing happen even though his dad is no longer with him. Another reason why he is brave is because since his dad is gone he had to step up and become the man of the house at the age of fourteen. Another thing is that now he has to take care of his mother and his brother and take care of himself. That is what makes my main character George brave.


By:BYRON DURAN

SSR4

One way to describe the main character Rachel is smart. Rachel is smart because she knew something was up with Julia. She was persistent to the end of the book with her suspicion. She talked to her neighbor about her. She even checked out books to find out more. No one believed her when she was accusing Julia of being a practicing witch. They were wrong, Rachel pulled through and proved Julia was up to no good.

SSR

Martin Rangel
period 1

I have just finished reading tears of a tiger. One trait i would use to describe Andy would be that he is athletic. He became the captain of the basektball team after his friend died. He also uses his skills to deal with his depression from the accident as he gets distracted and focuses only on the game. Another trait would be his mixed/hidden feelings about the accident. At first he couldn't hold it together, but then he started seeing a pyschologist, Andy fooled them all as he acted like he was improving but he was actually getting worse. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and decided to end his life with a gunshot. It really shocked them as they thought he was improving. This is a really good book.

SSR 4

I have just finished reading "Slam" by Dean Myers. This book was very good, it never got boring, i never got tired of reading it. Overall i thought it was a great book. Slam, the main character has influenced me with his great character traits such as always being determined to do everything. Like in the story he is always determined to win get good grades, go to collage. Everything he does, he lives off of success. He always plays his heart out even when his team is down, have no chance to come back, tired, they are the underdogs, no matter what he tries his best to win. The two methods of characterization that he uses that show he is determined is how he feels about basketball, school, his girlfriend, his family, and his future. Also i believe he shows he is determined when of people in the story talk about how focused and determined he always is when he wants to do good for something. Such as basketball or his school work. This book has really inspired me to try my best at things, never to give up, and to always believe in yourself.

Joe Kamenske

Period 3

SSR Novel

Dean Khater
One trait I m using to descibe my main character is his actions. In the story he goes to games or news to get the scoope for his post. Now he is exploring the Army-Navy games's sercerity for his story. Steven is a good kid that works hard. He just does his job good. His main story in this story is the mystery at the game. Now he is trying to slove that for another story.

SSR 4

I would describe my character in many ways. But the main way I would describe him is strong. He is going through alot right now in the book. I would describe him as strong because he works every day at a young age. He is only a boy that ran away and started to work alone. He did have some friends in the beginning but he lost them to. He didn't get hurt at all. He didn't cry about it and he still did what he was told to do. He would wake up early in the morning and work until night all for five dollars, every single day. This is why I think he is strong, mentally and physically.

-Tomasz Parzadka

lock and key

In the book Lock and Key the main character is Ruby. One characteristic of Ruby is she is very stubborn. One example is that she refused to go live with her sister. But she ends up having to go live with her anyways. She said that she was doing fine living without her mom anyways and didn' understand why she had to go live with her sister. Even though Ruby turned eighteen in the next couple months the police told her she had too. The second example is that she refused a ride home from Nate who is Ruby's new neighbor. Who offered her rides to school and she refused but ended up having to get rides with him everyday because she wakes up too late to take the city bus. So even if Ruby is stubborn she doesn't get her way anyways.

Elizabeth Hunt

Period 3

By Sarah Dessen

SSR- Breaking Dawn (assignment 4)

Nariman Shehaiber

Period-3

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

One word to describe my main character in Breaking Dawn who is Bella, would be strong. Bella is physically and mentally strong. She is fighting for her and her baby's life and doesn't want to give up even in the worst times. She does everything she can to keep that baby alive. She doesn't let Carlisle take it out of her and she doesn't let anyone try to harm it in any way. Also, when Bella is hurting and Edward asks her if she is okay she tells him that she is fine, the baby is just getting big. She is not only protecting the baby with actions, but also with words. When the bruises start showing up on her stomach and her ribs keep breaking she tells everyone that the baby just needs room to stretch. She stays strong not only for the sake of herself, but for the sake of the people around her because she doesn't want them being worried about her. She is a strong fighter.

SSR Assignment

Title: Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Period: 3
Marissa Goliszewski

A character trait that I would use to describe my main character, Stargirl would have to be different. Stargirl is very different in her own way. In the book, it says that she was not dressed like the other girls. She wore a long white dress with ruffles. She also always carries a  ukulele on her back. Stargirl always knows when it's someones birthday. At lunch whenever it's someones birthday she would go up to them and start singing while strumming her ukulele. When she cheers at football games, she cheers on for the other team instead of her own team. Everyone in the book sees her as very different because no one does that except for her.

SSR assignment

Author: Peter Benchley
Title: The Deep
Period 3
Joe Cosenza

A character trait I would use to describe my main character, which is David Sanders, would have to be outgoing. He is always looking for adventures and new wrecks and ships to discover under the water. He is outgoing because his actions and speech depict it. He always tells his wife that he wants to go discover new wrecks and ships. Sanders is also excited most of the time because he is just that kind a person that always has a smile on their face. He also says it in his words too! Sanders is very sociable and that is a sign that shows he is outgoing. He enjoys talking to new people and meeting them. Sanders loves to tell new people about the discoveries he has made also.

SSR characterization

My main characters name is William Shakespeare. He is talented and quick. I got this from the characterization i found in the book. I said he was talented because everyone he meets says he is the best playwright out there. Also he is most well known for being a playwright. I also said he was quick. I said this because whenever he is escaping the zombies he always makes it out alive. He also caught up to his mistress when she was across the city of London. ----- Andrew LaRusso

The Child Called "it" by Dave Pelzer

As I'm reading a new book i picked out (The Child Called "it") i can honestly say it is the most amazing yet saddest book I've ever read. Dave gets abused by his drunken intoxicated mother. This book makes me realize i should be thankful for the mother i have. His mother doesn't let him ever eat, and if hes lucky his own vomit. As I'm reading this book it hurts me deep in my heart and makes me wonder what did Dave ever do to deserve this. Getting poisoned from being forced to swallow and getting hit for no reason is pathetic. If his father were to even say a word his mom would always win the argument. Honestly i wish child abuse would just end.

_Mildred Knapp
period; 3

Runner by Carl Deuker

I really don't like that Chane is smuggling drugs for Money. Why cant he just get a legal job not an illegal one. People are starting notice his smuggling but still don't really get what he's actually doing. Chance is pretty much getting away with his smuggling by telling people that hes looking for stuff to write about on the school newspaper. Except he's actually not, he's actually looking for boxes with drugs between these 2 giant rocks. Chance's father told him that he must quit his job immediately after the owner of the bike store tells Chance's dad that he has the full time job. I hope his dad gets the job so Chance can quit his illegal drug smuggling before he gets caught. What i've learned so far is that if you really need money find help dont do illegal smugglings like Chance.
-Enrique Miranda, Period 3

SSR Novel

Dean Khater

I liked that in the story Steve got a life time experince. He got a tour at the Army's collage. He also got to meet the President of the Washington Post. He also got to meet a former Army collage football player. While he was at the Army's acmedy, they said a speech that inspired the fans of Army football and Steve. I learnded that when you have a chance to make something big you jump on it. Also that when life throws oppurtutines that you take them and make the best of them.

The book I am reading is called Shattered Glass by Gail Giles. The story is how a popular guy named Rob is going to have a plan to make Simon Glass, the class geek, into a cooler/popular person. Rob and his friends have went to Simon's house to help him out by picking out clothes, etc. This can effect me because it shows that I must give everyone a chance to show who they are and that I can't just ignore them. Also, I have the ability to help those who need it. I can help those who feel lonely during school by communicating with them or any other people. This also effects me by letting me know to let others help me to becoming a better individual.

By: Mary Garbacz - period 3

Heat

The book I'm. Reading is Heat by Mike Lupica. This book has effected me by how the main character is so poor. He shows me that you can do anything if you work hard at it. Also his dad died a couple of months ago but he still wants to accomplish his goal that his dad told him he can do if he works hard. His goal was to play in the Little League World Series. This effected me by that you need a goal to set for yourself because if you work hard enough you can achieve it. This a good book so far and effected me by how strong Michael. Scott Quinn 1st period

Heat

The book I'm. Reading is Heat by Mike Lupica. This book has effected me by how the main character is so poor. He shows me that you can do anything if you work hard at it. Also his dad died a couple of months ago but he still wants to accomplish his goal that his dad told him he can do if he works hard. His goal was to play in the Little League World Series. This effected me by that you need a goal to set for yourself because if you work hard enough you can achieve it. This a good book so far and effected me by how strong Michael.

To Be Mona By: Kelly Easton

In this book, Sage, has to put up with a lot. For example,she has a whole lot of problems at school, she has issues with her boy friend, she is loosing her best friend, and she has to be the responsible one of her family. This book has really taken an effect on me. I may not get every thing I want in my life, but this book makes me appreciate what i have. Where Sage on the other hand has to deal with what little she has. She has to do everything in and out of her house. I have to do very little but i still whine when i am told to do something. So, thanks to this book i will try my hardest to appreciate what i have and be willing to do things for my family just like Sage. In the book, Sage at first wished she could be any one but who she was and have anything that she didn't have, but in the end she was satisvied with what she had and was glad to have it. I too now feel the same.
By: Lizzy Forbes

Tears of a tiger,

The book I have been reading is Tears of a tiger. Until now it has been really interesting. It is about a group of friends who are in their school's basketball team who get in a car accident and their capitan,Rob dies. Andy who was driving the car was drinking as well as the others except for B.J. Andy was the one that had trouble accepting what had happened and has been really depressed. He is currently seeing a pyschologist to help him along the way of forgetting about the accident. This is a very extraordinary story so I'm excited to see how this book blows my mind.

lock and key

In the book lock and key Ruby is dealing with a lot of family issues. This has affected me in a way of seeing how bad life can really be. Instead of money problems or not getting what you wanted at the store, etc. It shows to me that you could have it much more worse. Because in Ruby's situation where her mom totally doesn't care about her and she has to move in with a sister that she hasn't seen in years. But she still finds a way to see the brighter side of things. Like finding friends and trying to keep in touch with old ones. And maybe even a boyfriend soon. But can't seem to stop thinking about her old life and how it had changed so fast. Sometimes she wishes that she could change it all back. But this book really affected me to look differently at situations and life's not really as bad as you think it could be.

Elizabeth Hunt

SSR ASSIGNMENT.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
Right now, I'm in the part of the book where Harry Potter finds out that Hagrid has a dragon egg, which is illegal. When it hatches, it starts to create terrible trouble for Hagrid to handle. So, they decide to owl Ron's brother in Romania to see if he can take it in. He sends back the message that his friends are coming to see him and they can stop by the tallest tower at midnight. That's their chance! They take Norbert (that's what Hagrid names it) up the flights of stairs under the invisibility cloak and give it to the friends of Ron's brother. On their way down, forgetting the cloak, they get caught by Mcgonacle. I like this part because it shows that they are adventurous and eager to get things done as well as having to be forgetful. That's what I like about the book. Even though it's Fantasy, the characters still have human characteristics.

Summer Of Fear.

I am still reading the book "Summer of Fear". The way this book has effected me was the feeling that I'm not alone. When i say that, i mean that i relate to this book a lot. Just like Rachel; sometimes i feel like someone's ruining my life intentually too. Or, even the way she doesn't like to do things with the person who makes her mad. I can also connect to Rachel the way that if she finds something interesting; she has to go find out more about it, just like me. For that reason, I think thats why i enjoy this book so much.

- Tina Maciaga.

SSR

There are a lot of feelings that you can get from the book "The Beet Fields." One of my feelings is gratefulness. I say gratefulness because the boy in the story didn't have much. He ran away and went working on farms. He had to pick beets at such a young age. He only got to eat dry bread and a bit of peanut butter. Then he met these illegal immigrants and had been a part of them as a family. They were like a family to him because he hated the ones at home, and never treated him right. So I am grateful to have my family, a home, and something to eat. Unlike him he has to go hunting for food. He catches pigeons. unlike him I can go to the store and buy some meat. So that's why I am grateful because not everyone has great things. Be happy with what you have.

-Tomasz Parzadka

Stargirl By: Jerry Spinelli

By: Marissa Goliszewski

I am still reading the book, Stargirl By: Jerry Spinelli and in Chapter 14 there was a basketball game. Stargirl went and she cheered. She cheered for the Mica team, not the opposing team Sun Valley. Sun Valley was ahead until their best player, Ron Kovac, broke his ankle. The loss of the best player on the other team made the Electrons(Stargirl's team) to come from behind and win the game. Two nights later things went differently. There was another game. It was against Glendale this time. All five of the Glendale players were good and the Mica team lost. At the end of the game, someone threw a ripe tomato into Stargirl’s face. I feel very sorry for Stargirl. I mean if that happened to me I would feel very embarrassed and upset. I would also feel humiliated and feel like no one likes me or cares about me. That's probably how Stargirl feels. She didn't even do anything wrong, they just did it because they don't like her.

SSR #3

I am still reading "Slam!" by Dean Myers. This book has effected me by changing the way i look at things in the story such as Slam himself, his family and friends, his life in the ghetto and his life at a rich smart white school. But most of this book as effected the way I look at basketball. The book has told me that basketball in the life of Slam is his life. Basketball is what keeps him out of trouble, its what makes him want to go to school and do his school work, its what makes him want to do good in school, its what makes him a want to get smarter, stronger, and better at everything, including basketball. But most of all I think if it wasn't because of basketball Slam wouldn't want to get up and start his day, he would be stuck in his old ghetto high school, "Carver" were there is a very low graduating percentage, and even a lower percentage of their students going to collage. He would be living on the "stump" like most of the kids in his neighbor hood. The stump is like living off everything sleep anywhere, they wake up and sell illegal drugs all day until they get caught and go to jail or join a gang or get shot. That is why this story has effected the way I look at basketball and Slams life.

Joe Kamenske Period 3

"Shadow Boxer"

A way that my book effected me was that it made me feel lucky and greatful. I say this because unlike George I dont have to be the man of the house at the age of 14 and help take care of my brother and help my mom take care of the house. I also feel greatful because George lost his father and I still my father in my life to help me make goood chooses in my life. This book also should me how happy that I have a good life and dont have that many hardships in it like other people do or like how George does. That is how my book has effected my so far.


BY:BYRON DURAN

SSR 3- Breaking Dawn

This week I'm still reading Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. In this part of the book, Jacob and Seth are still trying to protect Bella from the wolf pack's plan to kill her. Edward and Jake are beginning to become closer and are starting to like and respect one another a bit more. Jake left his pack just to protect Bella, and I think that's part of the reason Edward started respecting him more. This part of the story is probably my favorite because of Edward and Jacob getting along and because this is part of the rising action. The rising action, to me, is the best part of the book. I'm excited to read on and see if the wolves attack and what happens to Bella and the baby.

-Nariman Shehaiber (P.3)

SSR 3

This week I am still reading The Deep by Peter Benchley. In this part of the story, the main characters are diving to find remains of the Goliath(the sunken boat). While there are down there, they find a bottle of medicine in a special kind of glass. When they take it back to land, the glass owners offer to pay big bucks for it, but they turn it down to actually see what its worth. The couple takes it to the closest guy that knows everything about the Goliath, and he says it is something valueable; therefore, he wants to examine it, so they leave it there for him to look over. My opinion on this is AWESOME because they found a valueable piece from the Goliath that people want. This makes me think if I ever found something pricey like this bottle of medicine, and who I might sell it too, or how much I'd charge it for. I liked this part of the book because I think this might be part of the rising action, and to me, the rising action is the most intense, and most interesting part of a story.

By Joe Cosenza

SSR 3

This week i am still reading Shakespeare a Novel Undead. This time when i read it talked about how Kate told everyone that her nurse had the plague. This caused everyone to flee in terror and they had to lock her nurse in the stables. I have mixed emotions about this. From Kate's point of view it seems like a good idea because now Kate doesn't have to worry about her nurse checking up on her every minute, and can do whatever she wants, and be free. I also think what she had done was a very mean thing to do. I mean Kate locked her own nurse in the stables by telling lies. That seems very dishonest and cold to do to her. Overall i felt very sorry for her nurse and her predicament, and i felt anger towards Kate for doing such a thing. ----- Andrew LaRusso

SHATTERED GLASS

I can connect to what I have read in my book because a group of friends have a plan to help a kid that nobody really likes to become a more popular. My friends and I in eighth grade did the same thing except we were going to help a new girl have some friends to talk to at school. We didn't want her to be left out since she was new to school and didn't know anyone. The difference is that Rob and his friends from in the book were helping a kid out that most people knew since grade school and a kid who just was an outcast. Rob and his friends were going to do that for their satisfaction. My friends and I were going to help out the new girl because we knew its tough on the first day starting at a new school. The new girl ended up to become a friend of ours. In the book it doesn't seem like Rob and his friends will become good friends with the kid Simon Glass.

By: Mary Garbacz

SSR connection

24 girls in 7 days_ by Alex Bradley.

In the book i am reading it is around prom time and everyone's looking for dates. i can connect to Percy and Natalie( Jack's friend). reason being that they are trying to help Jack find a date to the prom. my friend and i had to help our friend out. Jack is a shy kind of guy and so is my friend. One difference is that Jack's looking for a prom date and shes looking for a homecoming date. So we basically had to ask people for her or find someone to ask her. Jack still didn't find anyone and neither did my friend, but Jacks friends, aswell as my friend and i are still on a mission to help our close friend to find a date to homecoming.

{Mildred Knapp.}

SSR

author: Gail Giles
title: Dead Girls Don't Write Letters
summary:Well, this book is an interesting piece of work. There are so many twist in this book, one including how Sunny (the narrator) knows that her sister is dead. Once Sunny gets a letter from her dead sister she knew something was wrong. Her sister said that she was coming home and when she arrived Sunny and her dad automatically knew that it was not Jazz. Their mother was still so lost on her pills that she thought it was Jazz. so the dad told Sunny to go through dinner so her mom would feel batter even though they both know there is an impostor among them. then Sunny wanted to know why would a person do such a think like this and she drew up a plan.

Harry Potter Connection.

In the first Harry Potter Book (Chapter Thirteen), I connected with Harry, Ron, and Hermione about trying to find out about Nicolas Flamel. I was doing a research project on Ghandi in Sixth Grade. I headed to the library just as they did. I searched tons of books and even watched a movie on him to tell the right and accurate information. As the chapter goes on, they eventually figure out Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer's Stone. And that is what the dogs protecting underneath them.

SSR Conection

Dean Khater,

I can make a connection to my book The Rivaly with Steve. He likes to be compatative and tries to be better than Susan. When the Army-Navy was coming he jumped on the opportunity to beat her. Im like steve because I like to compatative and beat my friends at everything. I also like to be better than friends at sports so i can be better than them. I think im more compatative than Steve because if i loose i get really mad.

SSR- Breaking Dawn (connection)

My connection to Jacob's point of view section of Breaking Dawn would probably be that Jacob was protecting a dear friend. The wolf pack wanted to kill Bella because they thought her baby would be a threat to them. Jake was appointed to kill Bella but he simply could not do it. He loved Bella so much that he left the pack to protect her along with Seth. I could connect to this because if I was told to kill or even hurt a friend I would never be able to do it. I believe in karma, and what goes around comes around. Not hurting a friend is good karma for yourself. Also, you gain your friend's full trust and respect. Both Edward and Bella saw that Jake had really changed for the good. Edward became more accepting of Jacob and I could tell that there's going to be a really good relationship between the both of them.

Nariman Shehaiber

lock and key

In the story lock and key Ruby and her family doesn't get along all to well. And it's sort of the same situation in my family, because were always fighting. Like no body can ever get along, we all have our differences. And choices of opinion and how we look at a situation. And in Ruby's family her sister Cora left right after high and got scholarships to college and totally forgot about her mother and sister. So then her mother decided to do the same. And she looks at her decisions differently than how other people might. But i mean every family has its problems.

Elizabeth Hunt period 3

SSR Connection

The connection I have with the book "Slam!" by Dean Myers is Greg or "Slam" is that he loves to play basketball and so do I. Also he is in high school, Slam's mom always wants him to do good in school just like my mom and she says school comes first before fun and games. Just like Slam's mom said to him when he was to busy worrying getting better at basketball then to get his grades up. He grew up watching his brothers playing basketball and he started to play very young like I did we both wanted to be good as them. Now in the story Slam is better than his brothers by far. He can dunk! Obviously that's where he gets his nick name. More and more I read of this story the more i can connect to it. When first started reading it was boring but now I can stop reading it.

Joe Kamenske period 3

9.11

9.11
well to me this day was a horrible way to start over,but that is exactly what it did. the day known as 9.11 was the acts of terrorist attacking the pentagon, the twin towers in New York, and a Pennsylvania farm location in the United states.The planes crashing into Americas soul made the US stronger. this horrific event lead the US in a better direction starting with tighter air port support systems. Things like that made the US take the wars and battles to the other country's so we don't fight on our soil. this attack was the first real fight on our soil, the first and last because the United States thinks of its people first.

9/11 Extra Credit

It starts off by saying how long the 9/11 attack has been, three-thousand six-hundred fifty-two days. Also saying how families gathered to honor 2749 people that died on ground zero. Not only did the workers die but so did the heroic firemen and officers that tried to rescue them. Another 224 people died in Pennsylvania where they were also honored. In there honor President Obama read Psalm 46, which talks about God as “our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Former President Bush quoted Abraham Lincoln saying “I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement.” There was also a few of moments of silence first at 8:46 a.m., the time American Airlines Flight 11 struck the north tower, and again at 9:03 a.m., when United Airlines Flight 175 smashed into the other tower. Another silence at ground zero and at the Pentagon came at 9:37 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 slammed into what had been considered the unshakable nerve center of the world’s most powerful military. Finishing it of by saying God Bless and Rest In Peace.

-Tomasz Parzadka

"Shadow Boxer"

The connections that I have with my book, would propbably be that the main character. Becasue he is fourteen year old, he is love with the sport that his dad show him which is just like me but my dad thought me how to play soccer. Another thing that I can connect with is that George and his dad have a really good relationship. Which is just like me and my dad.


By:BYRON DURAN

Connection

A connection I have with the story The Light In The Forest is that I remember when my teacher would tell us about the pilgrims and the Indians. How they came to America for land. But in this story the white people came to take people. So then in both stories they had to fight for the land. After a long battle there is only 1 winner. This story also reminds me of other historic battles. Such as the battle of Little Bighorn. Also between the Indians and English.

-Tomasz Parzadka

Summer Of Fear.

In the book 'Summer Of Fear' Rachel feels like everyones against her, ever since her cousin Julia came to town. Everything Rachel does, she gets let down; like she's not good enough. But, everything Julia does is perfect. I can connect to this because I have four older brothers, and it's hard being compared to them. I can relate to Rachel because I feel ignored sometimes too, or nothing I do is right either. When it was Rachel's birthday, she didn't want to celebrate it; just because the fact that Julia was going to be there. I can admit I do the exact same thing, sometimes when i get so mad at someone in my family, i don't want to do anything with them. Even if it means I can't have fun, I don't want them there.

-Tina Maciaga.

Stargirl By: Jerry Spinelli

Marissa Goliszewski
  Summary 

There's a girl named Stargirl Caraway that's a new student at Mica Area High School. She's going into 10th grade and used to be home schooled. She's not like everyone else, she wears no makeup and dresses very different. There's a guy named Leo and his friend Kevin that want her to be a guest on their in-school TV show Hot Seat. They don't know her that well, but with the rumors that they heard about her they think she would be a good guest. A girl named Hillari Kimble tries to make sense of Stargirl and thinks that she was planted in the school. Leo thought if she was a plant, she couldn't be on Hot Seat. The next day of school Stargirl changes and becomes a whole different person. She wears an outfit that everyone wears and wears makeup to try to fit in with the rest. Leo thinks about her a lot especially at night in the moonlight and he decides that she must be real.

Connection 

A connection that I have to the book, Stargirl By Jerry Spinelli is at school Mallory Stillwell, the cheerleaders’ captain, invited Stargirl to join the cheerleading team. Stargirl does and even wears the same clothes that the other cheerleader’s wore. My connection is that I have been a Cheerleader for about five years. I’ve been on St. Alberts, Flying High Cheer galaxy which is a competitive team for two years, Oak Lawn Hometown Middle School, and now Oak Lawn Community High School. Just like Stargirl she’s on the Cheerleading team at Mica Area High School. That’s my connection that I have to the book.

SSR Assignment

I am comparing this section of the story to a time when I go stuck in an elevator like they did in the book. I got stuck in an elevator in Florida while I was heading to my room. My mom had to call the maintenance man to come help me out and fix it again. In the book though, the guy somehow maneuvers his way out of the elevator and climbs a pole in the elevator shaft to the top. I could never do that! I would be way to scared; therefore, I sat in the elevator with two other people for about 20 minutes until it finally began to work again. In the book, the wife was terrified and angry at her husband for climbing out of the elevator because she knew he could have gotten hurt. My mom was the same way except I didn't do anything to get myself hurt, but she didn't care somehow it was still my fault.

By Joe Cosenza
Book: The Deep
Author: Anonymous( there isn't an author in/on and online it says "Anonymous" also)

SSR Assignment #2

This week I was still reading Shakespeare A novel Undead. This week the whole city of England was freaking out because they thought the black plague was arising. Actually it was zombies that were roaming the streets and and killing people. This reminds me of a time when we were freaking out when the swine flu was the medias main story. Everyone was scared and didn't know what it was or what it could do. After a while they found a vaccination and it became no big deal. ---Andrew LaRusso

Title: Uglies.
Writer: Scott Vanity.

In this story there a girl whos bestfriend is three months older then her, she has to figure out how to get out of uglyville faster so she can get to prettyvile to go see her bestfriend. Even though she only three short months away she needs the company of her bestfriend. She snuck through the town of new prettyville, till almost caught found him in a white tie party, once they meet she toke off going across the sky back to uglyville, where there she waits for her turn to be a pretty.

By: Jake Onoroto.

Falling Angels

This book is taken place during the Vietnam War. It's about a young man who meets interesting people and misses his family from day one in Vietnam. His world is now full of Vietcongs he has to worry about and his life. War is complicated and all you want to do is talk to your family. That is all is wanted from Perry ( the main character), but he also wanted to get away from it. Life changes in Vietnam is especially when you can't get away from it.

24 girls in 7 days. by alex bradley

from what i read so far this book is basically about a boy named Jack who isn't very popular. prom is coming up and he needs to find a date. he's been crushing on this girl named Pamela for a while now. he's doesn't just want any girl for prom he want the perfect date. one day during lunch Pamela had asked him what time it was, of course he told her but the conversion ended in a awkward way. Jack had asked Pamela if she would go to prom with him and at first she thought it was a good idea but, ended up making an excuse on why she couldn't. now he must continue his adventure to finding the perfect one.

_Mildred Knapp.

SSR Novel Summary

Dean Khater

My book is about a couple named Steve and Susan. They both live in Washington. They both are journalists for different newspapers. They also cover the sports sections for the papers. So when they heard the Navy-Army Rival game was coming they both jumpped on it. SNow they are both trying to beat each other for who gets the better reviews. They also cover other sports to try to get ahead.

Naihal Wajid SSR Assignment.

In Class, I read some pages in The 50th Aniversary of The Guiness World Records. Although I read a few different articles, one in particular caught my attention. It was about a woman that grew her nails very long. So long in fact, she hasn't cut them since the seventies! I admit I was creeped out. But, the picture showed them to be so different and cool.

SSR

author:Gail Giles
title: Dead Girls Don't Write Letters
summary: So far this book is about a broken family that goes through hard times. There is two daughters so far and the parents are divorced. Then one of the daughters, Jazz, was in a fire and apparently died/or passed. So now her sister and mother live together and her mother is having a really hard time and has to take a lot of antidepressants. Jazz's sister is taking good care of her and is fine because she didn't care for Jazz. Jazz was too perfect to everyone and she didn't get enough attention. One day while getting the mail she found a yellow letter which is what Jazz always wrote with, because she liked to write letters. When she read the front of the letter she noticed that it said her name and she had to hide the letter from her mother so she would not freak out. There is just one good question, do dead girls write letters?

SSR Assignment

I read the book Shakespeare A Novel Undead. A lot happened in my book when i read on monday. To start off, this book is about how shakespeare was a zombie and hid it from the world. The book is told from 2 different perspectives. One is of William Shakespeare and the other is of a rich wife who is also a zombie hunter. It starts out with Will writng in his study when his servant runs in with a severe head wound. He says he was attacked by a zombie. The story then switches to the womans perspective and it tells how she hates her husband and just wants to kill every zombie in the world for killing her best friend. Finally it ended with the wife decapitating Will. That is all i read so far. I am very interested in the book and can't wait to read some more. ------- Andrew LaRusso

Lock and Key

In the story lock and key ruby lives with her mother whos a drug addict and cannit pay the rent and they move around alot. Until they find a new house that she calls the yellow house. and they like it because it is segregated from everyone beacause it is in the quiet country, and they're doing pretty good until one day Ruby's mom doesnt come home. So Ruby is forced to live alone for three months until child services found her and sent her to go live with her sister Cora. Who she hasnt seen since she was much younger. And shes married to a really nice guy named Jamie and has a really nice house but doesnt feel she fits in so she decides to try to run away. So after at least 11 o'clock she amkes a run for it but get caught by a cute neighbor boy and jamie tryin to get over a fence but luckily the neighbor boy nate helps her make up an excuse and throws her bag back over the fence to her. Bu t she decided to hide it and come back downstairs for it later so about a hour later she opens her door to go get her bag but she is stopped by her bag sitting right in front of her and now she realizes that Jamie does understand her.
Elizabeth Hunt

Runner by Carl Deuker

The Book I am reading is called Runner by Carl Deuker. The book starts of in the main character Chance's, Highschool class where he encounters Brent Miller, a much older guy than he is whos father used to go and drink with chance's father before Chance's father and Brent's father had a fight. After the fight Chance's father was sent to jail for a few days and Brent's father ended up at the hospital. So Brent got really mad that Chance's father had beat his father's ass so every chance Brent got, he would shove Chance into lockers or he would squeeze his face with his hand. Brent promised him that he would someday get Chance alone and then he would show him what pain really was. Brent eventually did get him alone in the bathroom with one of his friends and they flipped him over and dunked his head into a toilet with piss and poop. They left him crying and terrorized on the bathroom floor until a big guy from the football team picked him up and help wash himself off in the sink. Now back to the present Brent is back as a war hero even though he knows very little about the army and he"s trying to act as a war hero in Chance's classroom as an honorary guest. I wonder what will happen now between chance and Brent now that they have encountered each other again? I guess I'll have to keep reading to find out, but over all the book is amazing so far.

The book that I have started to read is called Shattered Glass and the author is Gail Giles. The story starts off with stating that a group of high school kids have killed a kid in their grade, and they talk on how they realized that they were annoyed from him. The kid they disliked was named Simon Glass and was discribed as a textbook geek. Rob one of the main characters and is the one who starts everything with Simon, Rob would tease Simon during lunch about every day. In the beginnning it says that Rob picked on Simon by inviting him over to a conversation but he humilated him by calling him fat and other mean jokes. Walking out Rob knocked of his books down and had everyone laugh at him. Rob's best friend Lance tries to convince Rob not to be so harsh but Rob doesn't listen. It seems that Rob will be and Simon Glass will not become good friends throughout their high school year.

This was done by: Mary Garbacz , Period 3

Shadow Boxer

The book I read was "Shadow Boxer" and it is by Chris Lynch. So far I read about about a young boy named Georgie and his father. Georgie dad thought him how to be man and to him how to be a man was to know how to be a fighter and how not to be a fighter, how to learn to walk away. But his dad could not show him how to walk away because 19 days later he found his dad dead on the kitchen floor. Since his dad died it was only his mom and his brother and him and he knew he had to be the man of the house and show his brother everything his dad showed him.


BY: BYRON DURAN

SSR- Breaking Dawn

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer is the fourth book of the famous Twilight Saga. The main characters in this intriguing saga are Edward Cullen & Isabella Swan. In the beginning of Breaking Dawn, Edward & Bella are getting married. Bella is really excited & cannot wait to be a Cullen & have her husband transform her into a vampire. Edward on the other hand is very worried about hurting Bella & does not know if changing his wife is the way to go. Nonetheless, Bella & Edward go on their honeymoon & have a wonderful time at Island Esme. While they're there, Bella starts having morning sicknesses & begins to feel something moving inside of her...what could it be? BELLA IS PREGNANT! Yes, you heard me, Bella is pregnant. They call Carlisle, Edward's father who is a doctor, and ask him if this pregnancy could harm Bella in any way. Carlisle insists they take the baby out immediately. So Edward & Bella are on the next flight back to Forks, Washington. This is the beginning of a wonderful book.

-Nariman Shehaiber

Book

Title: The Light In The Forest
Author: Conrad Richter

My book is based upon Indians. So far it is about an Indian named Lenni Lenape. He adopted a white child which name was John Cameron Butler but renamed him to True Son. He then taught him as an Indian. True Son grew up to be just like an Indian, to think, feel, and fight like and Indian. He was taught to hate white people. But then when he was fifteen he was ordered to go back to the whites. The Indians signed some type of treaty that they would give back the white kids. So he ran away. That's all i read so far.

- Tomasz Parzadka

SSR

The book "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers is about this 16year old kid who has lived in one of the worst neighbor hoods in the Bronx. His name is Greg, to keep out of trouble he plays basketball every day with his closes friend that he has known since he was 5. Who is "Ice"(Benny Reese). But after their freshman year in high school "Slam's" mom and grandma is making him transfer from Carver the ghetto school were all his friends went were he played basketball for Carver, Many people said Carver high school could make it to state this year after what there freshmans'did last year. Slam wanted to stay at Carver but his mom made him transfer to this all white school were books came first. It was the best school in the Bronxs. Which was Latimer high school. But Latimer by far had the worst basketball in the division the same division as Carver and the other good athletic schools. Since Slam and Ice are going to different high schools they don't talk as much don't see each other than much any more. But they did hang out right before the basketball season was going to start with Ice's girlfriend Mtisha. Mtisha was saying Ice was getting all this money all of the sudden saying " I think Ice is dealing something you need to talk to him, get the old Ice back." Slam was to angry and disappointed to her that he is dealing drugs and maybe doing them. He could barely even talk to Ice. After Ice and Mtisha left his house he sat up all noght thinking about his best friend that he has known for like ever who is one of the "BEST" players in the Bronxs who could easily go play collage ball, but is risking his chance to do that to make some extra "CASH"! Slam doesn't know what to do. He hasn't talk to Ice since which has been like 3 weeks ago. And that's how far I have read so far the book has been pretty good and i enjoyed what I have read so far.

Joe Kamenske Period 3

Summer Of Fear;

So far Summer of Fear is a great book. The author is Lois Duncan, who writes very good scary books. The book starts out with a teen named Rachel and her family. Then her mom gets contacted that her sister's family died in a car accident, all but one; the daughter named Julia. Julia had no where to go, so she moved into Rachel's home. Soon every one fell in love with her charm, except for Rachel. Rachel doesn't seem to like how Julia is taking everything that's hers. Her style, her bedroom, her best friend, and even her family. But no one seems to believe her when she says Julia is hiding something.

-Tina Maciaga.

Title: Point Blank

Author: Anthony Horowitz

in my opinion point blank is a good book so far. its about a boy that the government of England uses as a spy. he is 14 years old. this time they put him in a school with kids his own age who dropped out of every school they have ever been in. they think that the kid's fathers are connected to a murder. so they send the kid to see if he can learn something. so for the next couple of months he pretends to be a drop out. he later finds out that the 2 deaths were connected. he was about to leave the school when he was caught the found out that he knows what happened. he tried escaping but they caught him.

Zahi Kawar

My sister's keeper. Michaela

In my opinion so far My Sister's Keeper is a great book. The way it sets my mood is shocking. The parents of Kate and Anna arn't very fair. The fact that their parents had another child just to use its body to keep the other one alive. Why ruin a perfectly healthy body? That is why Anna is going to court. I really am enjoying thing book.