Pull

Pull

In the story Pull written by B.A. Binns a senior high school student named David took the role as the breadwinner of the house. This was because his father who had separated his mother apparently came back to their residence pleading for shelter. His mom said yes. Unfortunately during the night the divorced couple had an argument. The result of the dispute was David’s dad shot and killed his mom.

            The department of child family services came to put David and his two sisters in a house. A family member wanted David’s sister, Linda in Jamaica. Another family member would receive David in Wisconsin. Fortunately David’s aunt accepted all three children in her home. The family didn’t have to split apart. To support the family David received a job as a construction worker. Linda spends her time playing the same Playstation game. David’s other sister, Barney, attended the same school as David. This was just the beginning of David’s worries.

            Barney was an innocent freshman. David noticed that she was being a bad influence. He decided that they were going to protect her. He took the initiative that they were going to pretend that both of them are going out. This relationship was believable because David converted his surname from his father’s last name to his mother’s legally. David considered that Barney’s friend, Yolanda, and her boyfriend, Malik, would be a bad influence. Yolanda had a false reputation of being a clothing thief. Her boyfriend, Malik, was actually the bad influence for David.

            Malik was a showoff because he had wealth, appearance and athletic ability. The only problem was that he didn’t treat females with respect. One time David saw Malik disrespecting Yolanda. David decided to fight him twice. The second fight occurred in a different occasion. He received consequences for it. He had the option of being kicked out or joins the basketball team and has consultations with a psychologist. He chooses the second option. Later on David lost his job. After these atrocities David’s life started changing.

            At the end of the story David had accomplished many goals. David started dating Yolanda because he finally learned the truth. Malik wasn’t bothering David or Barney anymore. Barney was now hanging out with people who gave her a bad influence. Everything was going well until another tragic event occurred.

            David’s aunt had a stroke. The department of child family services came again to split the family apart. David decided to quit school and work at a job he was offered in Ohio. Barney, Linda, their aunt and another family member moved to a house that David paid for. Yolanda promised that she would wait for him until he came back. In Ohio David wanted to live his desired career as a construction worker.

            Every person in the world has something in common. Everyone has possessions. These possessions can sometimes not be visible. An example of this would be friendships. Friendships are just an idea and not an object. In the story that I’ve just read David happened to loose many possessions. This made me come through a realization. I haven’t realized how important my possessions are that I take them for granted.

            Everyone has at least a mother at birth. The family would most likely shape the child to act similar to their family. In the life of David Albacore he lost this possession. His mother was murdered. His father is paying his sentence in prison. This means that he is the head of the house. He has to be the parent and child at the same time. For instance there’s no one to tell him what is wrong or right. He also has to make these decisions for their siblings. The majority of children are fortunate because if a child does do something their parents will take their responsibilities, but they will also teach them what they were supposed to do. This normally occurs for when a child goes to the juvenile detention center. The parents bail the child out and also make them learn their lesson. The worst part of David’s disruption is the mandatory encounter with the Department of Child Family Services. When this occurs the government becomes the family figure. As the parental figure they start making decisions for the child’s future. In the story the family was about to split up. This is upsetting because Barney would have to live with strangers because she wouldn’t have known the parents or other children. I’ve learned that being part of a family isn’t permanent and it’s better to enjoy it.

            After reading this book I started valuing education as a purpose and not an obligation. In the story David had struggles at school that I had never or will probably never encounter.  For instance David worried that Barney would get abused verbally or physically by other students. Throughout my whole educational life I have never seen this happen to me or someone else. I think this is because teachers in these schools aren’t there to just receive a pay check, but they’re also there to protect the students. The students have also learned to respect others because it’s better to tolerate than to discriminate.   

            Seven months before graduating David was forced to drop out. This was when I realized that I had to be grateful for my education. David had to drop out to support his family and himself. Having an education is a life long possession. Not everyone has the ability of getting an education. David can’t get a diploma. By not having a diploma many opportunities are lost. For instance David will not have the possibility of going to college. College is the pathway of becoming a professional. By being a professional the person has the ability of getting an occupation with a well paid salary. These great salaries gives people the ability of sustaining a family and not have any worries that deals with money. This was an unfortunate decision for David to make because he was going to get a scholarship because he’s a talented basketball player. This meant that David turned down free education. David was going to pursue his career dream as a construction worker. David is young, but he didn’t realize that construction was the only occupation that he can get. If for some reason he gets fired he will have to be willing and work at a place for minimum wage. Receiving an education is a right. When someone doesn’t take the opportunity they will most likely regret it in the future.

            The story Pull made me realize how possessions are vital and shouldn’t be taken for granted. The story also had many other messages. For instance the topics that stuck out were responsibility, determination, judging people and being decisive. This book was published in the year 2010. This means that the story is actually relevant to the teenage society today. The struggles that teenagers suffer during the 1900’s are different than the struggles of a teenager today. This is why students should read books like this one to confront their problems.

  

    

       

Roxanne Bookman: Live at Five

            

     In the story Roxanne Bookman: Live at Five written by Cathy Warren demonstrates a young girl determined to win. Her passion for winning commenced at a baseball game as her opponent team happened to have her rival Claudia Slooder. Roxanne was the spotlight of this baseball game. This was because it was the bottom of the last inning. Both teams had a tie of 13 runs. Roxanne’s team was up at bat. The bases were loaded. Everyone in the team told Roxanne to break the tie by getting to ball 4. Up at the plate Roxanne didn’t even move the bat for the first three throws. On the fourth throw Roxanne had a feeling that she could have scored a home run. As she predicted she hit the ball. Roxanne started running through all the plates. As Roxanne reached the last plate her friend, Abby, advised her that they had to go through another inning because of her. Roxanne didn’t realize that the ball was caught and it had become the last out. In the extra innings the tie ended by the opposing team winning. Roxanne was disliked by her own team by her action of courage. The results were devastating. The other team won the championship. They’re coach also lost the best coach award for coming in second. The awkward part happens to be that Roxanne’s coach happens to be her teacher for the year a week after the team lost. Roxanne knew that she was disliked, but she wasn’t worried about that. Instead Roxanne worried about her coach’s change of personality.  

            Roxanne tries to alleviate her coach’s feelings for nominating him as best teacher in the local news station. The ironic part is that the other teacher nominee happens to be Claudia’s teacher. As it turns out there were devastating results again. Claudia Slooder’s teacher receives the award. Roxanne is still not going to give up. So she decides her class will compete with Claudia’s class in a televised competition show. She knows that there’s a large chance at losing. This is because she is the team captain with three of her friends forming part of the team. Roxanne’s determination seems contagious with the other team members. The competition consists of two rounds. In the first round the questions are only worth one point. In the second round it’s worth two points. In the first round Roxanne’s team dominates by eighteen to zero. Roxanne finds it awkward that her team has such a great advantage. So she speaks to Claudia. Claudia tells her that she is terrified by the cameras. Roxanne advises Claudia to think of them as foreign insects. To that surprise in the second round there’s a tie of 24 points. She breaks the tie by answering the question correctly. The results are that Roxanne and Claudia become amicable to each other and Roxanne has received her chance to celebrate a victory.

            This book realized me the significance of my experiences. Last week in short notice my chemistry teacher told me if I could substitute a student that was in the chemistry league. I said sure. When I said that yes I hadn’t realized that I was a student in the advance level while the other students participating in it were in the honors course. So I studied really hard that day. The results were that the high school beat the opposing team. This story reminds me that being smart isn’t the key to winning at a competition but trying to be is.

            In the story that I just finished reading made I realized that a teacher can be really important to a student’s life. Roxanne wanted her teacher to be happy. In fourth and fifth grade we also had that type of care for our teacher. Back then Wal – mart had a teacher competition. In order to be accepted students had to write why their teacher was important to them. Our class and many other students wrote essays telling how that teacher was important to them. Our class and many other students wrote essays explaining how our teacher was important to them. In an ordinary day my teacher was sent a letter from Wal – Mart that explained said that she had won the best teacher award. Our class went with our teacher to receive that award. A newspaper and television broadcaster came to interview the class. My teacher’s award also came along with other benefits. The school received money from Wal – Mart. Our class itself also received money from Wal – Mart. That teacher was great because she helped out any students without any restrictions.

            In this story I’ve learned that having foes might end up regretting it. This was because Claudia used to consider Roxanne as an enemy. As it turns out if it was not for Roxanne giving her advice, Claudia would have had to receive a defeat of 26 to 0. This also happened to me this year. There was this student that showed his disapprove ness by annoying me. Three years later we meet again. As it turns out he starts talking to me so he can get some help from me in class. This story makes it clear that saying I hear, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

            Lastly Roxanne demonstrated that doing what is right might be regretful, but if you keep trying at it it’ll happen. I refer this to Roxanne’s fault for losing the game. I had a similar experience like her last month. When I was playing soccer in gym I was surrounded but I needed the ball to advance. My decision was to kick the ball backwards, but facing forward. As I turned around I realized that I created an auto goal. People on my team were booing me, but the other team was cheering for me. So I became determined to make a true goal this time. On the following day I made the goal. The most ironic part was that our team remained undefeated. By reading this book has taught me, that in order to make winning enjoyable you have to be determined at doing it.         

              

The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room

            After reading a personal choice book for a month I decided that I wanted to do a quick read. The book that I decided to read was The Beast in Ms. Rooney's Room. The story was written by Patricia Reilly Giff. The main character's name is Richard Best. As it turned out Richard Best had to repeat the same grade again. In his new class he felt uncomfortable because he had the same teacher but this time he had different classmates. His former classmates ridicule him because he has to repeat the year once again. The teacher also made him participate in a special reading group. Two other kids are part of this   reading group. Richard's new classmates know that this special reading group are for kids who have difficulty on the subject upon reading. So his classmates use this as an excuse to frown on him. Now Richard has a task to redeem his reputation. In his school all the classes compete for banner of the week. A class to have this banner represents a great honor. This shows that the class has had good behavior for a whole  week. Richard starts enforcing great behavior for his whole class to follow him. The ironic part is that 20 minutes before the announcement of the class getting the banner Richard was caught walking around without a hall pass. Luckily on the following week Ms. Rooney's class was given the banner. As it turned out Richard was proud to have his nickname to be known as the "Beast".
           This book wasn't the best book I've read because I wanted more suspense but it was alright. This book made me see students who stay back in a different perspective. I've seen and heard many teachers making their students stay back. At first I thought that was great because you would still have the same nice teacher and the student has the strength to be the smartest kid in the class. As it turned out I was wrong. This story made me realize that just because you stay back it gives the other students a reason to ridicule you upon your intelligence. This happens to be quite cruel for Richard. I've also notice that it'll be most likely that the former and new classmates will pick on anyone because they stayed back. Richard reminds me when I was a young student. When I started kindergarten I had a major problem. My problem was that I couldn't speak English well because at home I spoke Spanish all the time. The only time that I got to speak English when I was a toddler was when I repeated words on Sesame Street. The similarity that I had with Richard was that I had to go to a special class which was ESL. In ESL I practiced my writing and reading skills. Another problem that I had on my kindergarten year was that there weren't many Hispanics at my school. So instead of going to preschool I was trying to get prepared for my kindergarten year at home. As I was reading this book I had many flashbacks. These flashbacks made me realized that I have gone a long way. Now I don't feel incapable of learning new information in school.


Here is a  link to read a short preview of the book http://books.google.com/books?id=piz6qrsRocMC&printsec=frontcover&dq=the+beast+in+ms.+rooney's+room&source=bl&ots=JezT34Vq_k&sig=hD-5F2URNocXuh8LTyOQ-FEps7E&hl=en&ei=D9cGTZ3fHous8AaD9-2VCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

Stormy Misty's Foal

            Over the past month I have been reading Stormy Misty's Foal written by Marguerite Henry. The story takes place in a non ficticous island named Chincoteague. Chincoteague is an island located on the east coast of Virginia. To the right of that island is another island. The name of this island is Assateague. The interesting point upon this island is that it's a sanctuary where ponies can run free. The story says that the pony population started from the European explorers who brought them there. In order to enter the island of Assateague in car you must have a permit. Every year there an event called pony penning day. This event is held during the summer for three days. The wild ponies are rounded up and they have to run across Chincoteague island. Then the ponies get auction. Every year the Chincotague fire department controls how many ponies wll be auction.

 

              The Beebes own a ranch recognized by all the residents in the island. On this ranch there's a pregnent horse. Her name is misty. This mother had a tradgic event on the week that she was going to give birth. A suprise hurricane came upon Chiconteague island. This hurricane happened to be a suprise because it occured during march and during the early 1960's. Misty's owner put her in his kitchen. The Beebes were then transported by a helicopter to Virginia's mainland. After the hurricane passed away Mr. Beebe and his grandson Paul helped to get the dead ponies off the island. This was quite sad because many ponies on the ranch and Assateague island died. To their suprise when the Beebes returned to their home they saw that the cat had a litter but Misty was holding her foal in. After the catastrophe was gone the mother gave birth to a male foal. Everyone was excited. People traveled from afar to see Misty's foal. The name of the foal was decided by the letters that the Beebes recieved. The name election turned out to be Stormy. Later Stormy and Misty started traveling to places for money. The money that was collected was for buying back ponies sold in the auctions. The Beebes did this so they could have ponny penning day again. There were not sufficent ponies after the hurricane to have an auction from there. Many of the events that occured were true.

Read a preview of the book http://books.google.com/books?id=Uf10dMALiaAC&printsec=frontcover&dq=misty's+foal&source=bl&ots=n0rvYWmqtQ&sig=-Z9GcCmbCFtDxGP-miNsAAyMjMA&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false

            I thought this book was a great classic. From this story I learned some geography. I didn't know that Virginia actually had wild horses located on an island. At first the book seem really informational which seemed that the plot was going really slow. Once The reader gets to the middle of the story that's when it becomes action packed. I reccomend that this book should be read by animal lovers because this story shows the appreciation that the people have for wild ponies. I've learned that just because a book is old doesn't mean it's boring. 

Pick Of The Litter

           Last week I finished reading the story of Pick Of The Litter written by Bill Wallace. This story was a quick read. Overall the book was alright. This story didn't really reached my expectations because the story was based on minor problems. The main character, Tom, freaked out because his teacher couldn't find an exam he took. The second major problem that occured was Tom wanted to keep a puppy. The problem was the breeder was going to pick the best dog of the litter and that dog was the one he wanted. The solution to these "major problems" was very predictable. The teacher found the exam and the breeder choose a different puppy. The reason I continued reading this story was because I like to finish books that I've started. Most of all this book was fairly easy to read. It only took me a week of personal reading time to finsh this book. I reccomend that this book should be read by dog lovers and kids under the age of 12. If I could rate the book, it will be rated G because it is great for the young readers. Dog lovers would enjoy this story because Tom has to take care of a habitat center for dogs. This book lacks quality but surely has a minmal quantity of reading.
            The story takes place in the midwest during the summer time. It's the second to last day of school and Tom needs to finish a test that he didn't do a week before. He left it on her desk. On the next day the teacher couldn't find the test that Tom took. So Tom became worried and the teacher found the test a couple of minutes before school was out. Then starting on summer vacation Tom went to his granpa's residence. His grandpa takes care of abandon dogs. Tom went every day to help his grandpa to maintain the dogs. A dog had a litter. One of those pups caught Tom's attention. He named the pup Tad. The problem was the breeder was going to pick the best dog of the litter. That happened to be Tad. The breeder came and choose a female dog instead of the best puppy because he wanted a female dog to be used for breeding. Another event that occured was that Tom and his parents went to Six Flags. He met a girl and they became friends. After the vacation he kept writing back to this girl. These were all the major events that occured in the story.  


 

You can read the first 3 chapters of the book by clicking this link http://books.google.com/books?id=BBZj7lcIwQ0C&printsec=frontcover&dq=pick+of+the+litter+by+bill+wallace&source=bl&ots=xJIsxvQVW8&sig=tnE5Ewz0CXkfTIf457lQl_Fo5GY&hl=en&ei=MkfITNGEKYnEsAOPtvnXBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&sqi=2&ved=0CDgQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false

The Enormous Egg

           I have finished reading "The Enormous Egg". People say that keeping a pet is a huge responsibilty.  Nathan Twitchell having to maintain that dinosaur turn out to be a nightmare. After many problems with government officials he finnally settled into the national zoo. At first there was a petiton to get the dinosaur out of the country. It took a speech from an ordinary kid to show the whole nation that it's important to keep an animal like this alive.
          I have learned from Nate that if your are determine to accomplish something you'll get it or achieve it. He and the hen kept the egg warm for six weeks. An egg usually doesn't take this time to hatch and this egg was enormous which leads to the tittle. After the egg hatched Nathan worked extremely hard to find food for this over size animal. That was when the begining of autumn came. He had to find a permenant home for this creature. After many problems with the cops in Washington DC, Nate decided to put the creature in the zoo. A senator wasn't going to allow this to happen. He was even proposing to get this animal extinct once again. So it took a speech from Nate's heart to explain to the whole nation that keeping a tricertops was vital for the nation and to him because it was his pet. After many petions and  contributions, the dinosaur had food funding for 40 years. Later on this could be a dilema because a tricertop's life span is 150 years. I bet Nate will make one more speech to keep the funds going for this unique creature. I admire him for being determine to care for this creature. Nate also had one more quality which made him succesful which was perception. A seventh grade substiute teacher once told me that if you have a good perception than good events will occur in life. If you do have a bad perception then you'll have not so good events happening.
         This book was very enjoyable to read. It was so good that they made a movie out of it. Then after the movie was made, a recognition was made for this book at a zoo. This book left me wondering if it would ever be possible for a hen to lay a dinosaur egg?

The Secret Millionaire

The Secret Millionaire

            As I was sitting in front of the senior stairs I saw an unattended book bag. I went to see if it had someone’s identification in it. When I opened the bag, I saw a note. The note explained that it was my bag to keep. The book bag contained a map of the school. There was a second note. The second note had instructions on how to get a 1943 penny. A letter was attached to the map. So I began reading it.

                        Dear Treasure Hunter,

                                Congratulations upon finding this abandoned book bag. There is a

                        treasure of a 1943 penny down in Morristown High School’s secret room.

                        I couldn’t complete the mission because I needed a key to enter in the                                room. I know the penny is there because the principal confirmed it when I                           asked her in the auditorium.

                                  This penny is special because in the year 1943 only 11 pennies were              made. Four years ago the National Mint located in Washington D.C.                           agreed to give anyone one million dollars to anyone who gave them one of                        those 1943 pennies.

                                   So it’s your chance to get yourself some cash. Remember if you get                         caught, the school could give you 45 days of OSS. Good Luck.

                                                                                                            From,

                                                                                                               Unknown Person

            I decided that I was going to participate in the treasure hunt. First I needed to get that key. That’s when I realized that there was Quicky Mikey. Quicky had a discrete business in the boys’ bathroom on the third floor. His business functions from 2:30 to 3:30. His nickname is Quicky because he can get you items really fast. He has a large book bag full of keys for lockers and classrooms, hall passes, the Morristown High School Wi-Fi password, tickets for school events, usable identification cards, parking passes, answers to tests and much more. He also has his laptop with him to hack into the school’s network. With that access he can change report card grades, clear detentions off the permanent record, change the school’s lunch menus and also change teachers’ lesson plans by hacking into their account. Quicky also has connections if a student is in the search of something else.

            The time was 2:57. I waited enough time to get the coast clear. Without creating any suspicion I went into the boys’ bathroom and I began knocking on the stall door.

            “Who is it?” Quicky asked mysteriously.  

            “It’s me John T.” I said.

            “What up dude. I guess it’s my first time making business with you. How can I hook you up?” asked Quicky in a surprised voice.

            “I need a master key to enter any room in this building and an identification card as if I were the superintendent.” I answered.

            “Well dude you gave me a hard task.” said Mikey with a grin.

I was hoping to get the key and identification card. Quicky was searching through his book bag when finally he took out a key that had to be the universal one. After five minutes of waiting he also found the special identification card. I was worried  about getting caught.

“How much?” I asked.

“Well 10 for the key and 15 for the card. Do you have the cash?” Quicky questioned.

“I do and here.” I said as I gave him the 25 bucks.

“Why do you need it?” asked Quicky.

“I saw a nice football in the gym and I wanted it. Anyways thanks for the help.” I lied as I replied.

“Nice making business with you.” Quicky said.

I left the bathroom and I had one more place to go to, which was Dover.

So I took the train from Morristown to Dover. Dover is like New Jersey’s motor city. I came to this town to check a specialty parts store for cars. I walked a mile until I reached this shop on route 46. At the shop I asked for a license plate glower. A license plate glower is a sneaky way to get by tolls for free. When a car passes a toll without paying, a camera takes a picture of the license plate. This glower shines when a camera takes a picture of it so the police can’t figure out which person passed the toll for free. I decided I was going to spray myself with this glower so the security guard wouldn’t actually see my face on the school’s camera. At the shop I invested 100 bucks for this glower. This might have been excessive, but I was going to become rich. I took the next train to Morristown. The time was 7:30 pm and it was night time. I decided that this was going to be the day.

This was an unusual day because normally the school isn’t totally abandoned at 8:00 pm. I knew that at all times there’s security in the front and back atriums. The dead stairway was my only option to enter into the school. With the help of the key, I got the door to open, but I still needed to know where the penny actually was. On the map I had three ways to get onto the underground level. There was an entrance through the girls’ locker room bathroom. Another option was to go through the custodians’ room by the elevator on the first floor and take a flight of stairs down below. My last option was to go through a secret elevator in the principal’s office. I saw that my best option was to go through the custodians’ room. That’s what I did. As I was walking by the back atrium, I heard footsteps and a man singing. So I dashed into the girls’ bathroom. It was awkward but worth it. After five minutes I peeked out the door and I saw the coast was clear. Quickly I dashed into the custodians’ room.

The room was dark. So I used the light from my keychain and cell phone to shine my path. For some reason the custodians’ room was not locked. In the room I saw lumber and desks that students normally used. Next to a desk was a janitor’s broom. This could come in handy for me. I unhooked the bristle part and I only kept the stick. At the far corner of the room was a door. That was it. I opened the door with the handy key. As I opened the door, there were stairs going downward. I bet a security guard has already detected me, but luckily he can’t see my face. Finally, I reached the end of the stairs. I took a right exit because the left one is an expressway into the girls’ locker room. I kept on walking rapidly. After a minute of walking quickly I came across the exit that leads into the principal’s office. As always I was determined to keep moving forward. At last I reached the secret room. As I expected, I needed an authorized identification card.  I put the card against the scanner and it said access permitted. Again I was encountered by another door. This time it asked for a regular key. I managed to open it and there it was lying in the middle of the floor next to a 1944 penny. I knew that there were invisible lasers. So I used the broomstick by laying it on the ground. Slowly I pushed the penny towards me. I was excited, but it turned out to be a 1944 penny. I repeated the same process and finally that 1943 penny was in my hands. I was taking a risk so I ran as fast as I could to take the girls’ locker room exit. After two minutes of running, I was in the girls’ locker room to take the nearest exit to get out of school.

As I reached home I thought the risk that I took wasn’t that brave. I came home and told my mom a story about having been at a game I was invited to and I went to sleep. In the morning I decided that I was going to ditch school and go to the nation’s capital. The 1943 penny was safe in my wallet. I took out my birthday money to buy the train ticket. My parents didn’t know what had just happened to me. As I was walking to the train station I passed by the school and I saw the school surrounded by cops. I could assume why they were there. I kept my cool and just kept walking. I reached the train station and I went from Morristown to New York. At Penn Station I took an Amtrak train to Washington D.C. The trip cost me 75 dollars. I took a taxi from the terminal to the US Mint. I went to the information center.

A man took me into a sound proof office. He checked out the penny. The examination was crucial because he was checking to make sure it wasn’t false. He told me that I was the seventh person coming in with that 1943 penny. The man was kind because I told him that I didn’t want any publicity. He accepted that request. The check was made out to me. As soon as he gave me the check, I went to Valley National bank to deposit it. With my remaining birthday money, I took a train back to New York City and another one to Morristown. That was how my birthday money was invested. When I came home at six I told my mom that jazz band practice was three hours long due to a concert that we were going to have in the city. She randomly asked me if I actually met Justin Bieber in person. I said no. My mom said that with all the cops in school why would I want to meet him. That was when I realized that the cops were surrounding the school during the morning because the singer was going to be there and they weren’t searching for the penny after all. This has been my story on how I became the secret millionaire.

                                                                                                   By: Jonathan Torres