Darkness Before Dawn

-----This book takes place with a girl named Keisha recovering from the death ofher ex-boyfriend Andy. Keisha has dealt with a lot of pain in her life and she was looking for someone who can compfort her and make her feel better. When her first year of being a senor began, she was greeted by a collage stufent named Jonathan Hathaway. Jonathan was the princibles son and was also a volunteer assistant teacher at the school, Keisha immediatly fell in love with him. Jonathan was a unlike any boy she has ever met, unlike the tippical high school guy, Jonathan was safisticated, charming, and romantic. He would take Keisha to the theater, museum and the mountains. Keisha's parents were concerned with her relationship with a guy that was about three years older than her, but they tried to make an exeption because this was the firts time in a while they saw there daughter realy happy. Than during the school dance Jonathan wanted to take Keisha out to dinner. He took her to his appartment where like always was his charming self. This time though, when she bagan to feel tired and worried to be at his appartment this late at night, he refused to take her home. After she was practicaly screaming at him, she ran to the door. He stopped her in her tracks and he cornered her to a wall. He held a nife to her head and threatened her to get in bed with him. With all her might she managed to the knife out of his hand and scratched him accross the face. She was able to leave the appertment, although her jacket and shoes were still left behind. Without anyone in site, she passsed out on the snow. Luckily someone found her and she alerted her parents. After the incident Keisha faced a time of depression but with help from her friends, she managed to be just fine. At the end of the year Keisha gave the speech at graduation, she knew she has succeded in the end.

-------Kiesha is a one of a kind girl, she smart and pretty but she is also very sensetive.In her life she has dealt with a lot of pain, but she has the determination to overcome whatever comes her way.

-------Jonathan Hathaway is no more than a self-centered jerk. He has no respect for anyone but himself and he has caused a lot of people a great deal of pain. He might not know how this will effect him now, but he will in the future.

--------I feel that this book was a great way to end this series. Even though each character at, at least one time has dealt with a alot of hurt and pain, they know to make the best of what they got and to never give up. The message that Keisha has left us with at the end of her speech was inspiring to not only the other characters in the book, but the reader as well.

--------In this book i used a lot of infrencing. The characters are like real people so i am able to make infrences based on what i hear in real life. I just knew there was something creepy about Jonathon Hathaway. The way he was intrested in such a young girl just wasn't right, plus the wasn't any other way of the book having a problem.

-------Sharon M. Draper is a great author who writes about social issues that go on in scociety today. She gives the reader a sence of reality for what troubles you may face as time goes on. Her characters come to life and by the second chapter, it seems like you know them personally

Forged by Fire

-------Gerald never had an easy childhood, when he was three his mom Monique, had a drug problem and often abused and didn't care for him. One day while Gerald was in the house alone, he was playing with one of his mom's lighters when the house suddenly caught fire. Helplessly, Garald was consumed by the smoke and flames and was brought to a nearby hospital. His mom was sentenced to jail and he was taken in by his aunt Queen. There he was brought up just the way every boy should, until his ninth birthday finally arrived. His mom who he hasn't seen in six years, just came out of jail and was coming to visit him. Gerald reluctantly decided to see his mom only to meet her new boyfriend Jordan, and his new sister Angel. Suddenly his mom asked him to live with them and he couldn't of said no sooner. He disliked his mom completely and her new boyfriend scared him to death. Then while Gerald was alone in the house with Angel and Aunt Queen, Aunt Queen had a heart attack and died. This obviously upset Gerald very much but to his surprise he was back to living with his mom, and this time a new father and sister. Gerald was proud of his mom for being able to give up drugs, but disliked the fact that Jordan often drank and hit Angel . Angel and Gerald were very close, Gerald was the only person Angel could talk to and he tried to protect her as much as possible. Soon Jordan's drinking got worse and worse and he started getting violent towards Gerald, Angel and even Monique. Then one day when Gerald was coming home from school he knew something did not seem right , all the blinds were down and it was pitch black. Frightened, he went to Angel's room and what he saw was not a pretty sight. Jordan was sexually abusing Angel. Over the next few days Gerald was really worried for Angel. He wanted to know what happened but Angel would not tell him, she knew Jordan would hurt him if she told him. Jordan id not stop sexually abusing Angel and Gerald wanted to tell someone about it. The next day at school he approached Mr. Washington while he was dropping off his son Robbie. Mr. Washington was always active with the school and came to every basketball game, to Gerald he was like the father he never had. Gerald decided to tell Mr.Washington about what Jordan was doing to Angel, he took Gerald and alerted the police. Gerald and Angel both testified against Jordan but Monique refused to believe the truth and was silent the entire time. Jordan was sentenced to prison for four years. Everything was going well for Gerald and Angel, they were finally having a life and were making new friends. Then one day after a basketball game, Gerald walked into the apartment only to find Jordan sitting right in front of him. Just as things were going fine, Jordan had to show up and Gerald was not happy about it at all. Monique was thrilled to have Jordan back, but Angel was not good at all. She screamed and vomited after seeing him standing in the house. Angel refused to live there and each day was a challenge for both of them. After Gerald told Mr. Washington, he suggested that him and Angel sleep at there house most of the time so Angel doesn't have to worry about Jordan. Gerald was surprised to see that Jordan had a decent job and not at all used violent behavior or drank extensively, he still remained suspicious though. A few day's after Jordan's arrival Monique was hit by a car. This frightened Angel and Gerald because if anything happened to her all they will have is Jordan. She was fine, but she said the doctor prescribed her some pills. Over the next few days Monique did not seem herself. She watched t.v all day long and was often dazed and confused. Gerald thinks that since Monique is hurt, it is just another way for her to start doing drugs again, which Gerald was not happy about so he flushed those pills down the toilet. Then it all started again, when Angel came home from school she was alone and was making hot dogs. Then before she knew it, Jordan was behind her and he was drunk. She tried to escape his grasp but she wasn't strong enough, and he brought her to her bedroom.
Then without realizing it, the cooking hot dogs started a fire and within minutes the whole house was catching fire. Jordan was to busy to realize anything. Gerald could see the smoke from the apartment window and rushed there as fast as he could. When he burst open the door he rushed to Angel's room where he found her laying unconscious. Jordan didn't see him come in and was caught off guard by Gerald's punch. Gerald ran to his sister as Jordan ran to the front door to try to escape. He picked her up and as he was making is way out of the apartment, all the smoke was covering the exit. He didn't know where to go and it was getting harder and harder to breath. Then as he was starting to drift from consciousness he tripped on something and landed at the front door. As he made it out, Monique was running towards them and was so relieved they were OK. Gerald And Angel were both fine but Jordan died in the fire, he was the one Gerald tripped on that led him top the front door. Hopefully this is the start of a new beginning
------------Gerald is brave and strong kid. He is extremely protective of his younger sister and is very caring and friendly. I give Gerald a lot of credit for being so optomistic and positive, his life has been full of bad times but he always looks at the good ones.
------------Angel is a very determained and sensitive girl. She's small and thin, but when she want's someything she'll make sure she get's it.
------------This book is my favorite of all the books in the series. It made me think how fortunate i am to live without having to worry like Gerald had to. I admired his care for his sister and friends.
------------In this book i used a lot of infrencing. The characters are like real people so i am able to make infrences based on what i hear in real life. When Jordan was released from prison i just knew he would harm Angel again, a man like that neve changes, sure enoough he did.
-------------Sharon M. Draper is a great author who writes about social issues that go on in scociety today. She gives the reader a sence of reality for what troubles you may face as time goes on. Her characters come to life and by the second chapter, it seems like you know them personally

Maus

--------Maus is a comic book that explains a dreadful time in history where six million Jews were killed, this book share's a Jewish man's life in the Holocaust. The begins with Arte Spiegelman asking his father about writing a book about his times in Poland during the Holocaust. Every day Arte learns more and more about his father, whether it was him in hiding or him making an escape from the Nazis, Arte was intrigued with what went on at those times. Finally he learned how his dad made it to America and was free from any communism.
---------Arte has always been concerned with his dad and has always been interested in writing. When his mother died he faced a time of depression but he felt it was necessary for him and the whole world to hear about his parents life in Poland during World War 2.
---------Valdek is a very determined and unselfish person. During the Holocaust, he was always optimistic about him being someday free no matter what the circumstances were. His family always comes first and it was his goal to make sure him and his wife survive this terrible time. He never took things for granted and everything special in life was his to treasure.
--------This book helped me see how the Holocaust effected people then and now. The book gave me a sense of thankfulness and pride that i am able to live in a country so wonderful and be fortunate enough to be free in expressing what i believe in.
--------Art Spiegelman used great illustration and detail to explain his father's story in the Holocaust. The comic book form used in this book was very interesting and set an image for the reader to see what time's back then were like.
-------In this book i used a lot of inferencing to help me understand and to help me realize plans that Valdek and others used to escape the Germans. In the book it mentioned Valdek going on a train to escape from Poland, i already knew that there was Germans waiting to put him in jail, sure enough when the train stopped officers began arresting any Jews located in the train.

Thirteen

My book Thirteen, is a Horror book filled with many stories that are frightening and exiting. Each story is written by a different author, Christopher Pike, R.L. Stine, A. Bates, D.E. Athkins, Lael Littke and Pat Windsor. They are just a few of the authors who contributed to this book.
One of the stories that a choose to wright about is "The Spell" written by R.L Stine.
It starts off with this girl Jennifer who hangs out with her five friends all the time. She is a nice girl, smart and has a sense of humor but what she doesn’t have is the ability to protect her and her friends for what is about to come upon them.
One nice day her and her friend s were outside when she noticed Chad getting picked on again by Marty. To her it was the same old thing, she new Chad’s a little weird and Marty is always teasing him for it. Although Chad never said anything or stood up for himself she knew it hurt him deeply yet she just stood there and watched and laughed like the others. Even though Chad was part of the group he had a different relationship towards everybody then they did, he was probably closest with Jennifer the most and she was aware of that. She always tried her best to make him feel like he fit in but she knew it was pointless, he had no self-esteem.
Time past and Chad began to hang out with them less and less. He began having an interest in Hypnosis which just gave them more of a chance to make fun of him, but he remained stuck in his attack reading old books that no one has read for the past century. I get the impression Jennifer felt bad for him but didn’t want to be the only one saying something about it so she remained silent.
Chad finally decided to hang out with them, they ate dinner at an Italian restaurant and everyone especially Chad was having a good time. It was just like old times until Chad pulled out his hypnosis watch and began trying to hypnotize them, like always Marty and them teased him, they did not feel a any bit different .Everyone except Marty went to Chad’s house that night, Marty couldn’t make it because of his knew job at the restaurant near where they live. Every time someone made a gesture that they were about to leave he made them stay by telling them a joke or giving them something more to eat, Jennifer new he was acting a bit strange. He kept them passed dark and had them take a walk, everyone didn’t mind and went along visit. Within the first several blocks Mark stopped and starred at Pete and Molly who were with them at the time. He then ordered them to walk right in the middle of the busy road standing before them on their left. To Jennifer’s surprise they walked into the middle of the road showing no emotion or hesitation. Jennifer was confused and speechless, she stood there calling out her friends name and begging them to come back. she was practically soaked with tears. Cars dodged and beeped at them as they swerved past there still bodies. Jennifer begged Chad to do something but he ignored her and was pleased by the way Molly and Pete did as they were told to do. Chad then ordered them to come back, both Molly and Pete seemed to not remember a thing.
Once they got back to the house Molly and Pete left leaving Jennifer and Chad alone. Chad then explained what happened just now, he said when they were at the restaurant he really did hypnotize them. He said he just ordered Pete and Molly to kill Marty tonight as he goes outside to take out the trash at his new job. Jennifer was speechless, how could someone she new almost all her life to such a horrible thing. Then Chad then asked her to come with him too watch Marty’s death. Out of fear she went with him, not knowing what might happen to her if she doesn’t. As she approached the ally of the restaurant she looked down only to find her good friend Marty in a puddle of blood. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing she ran home, tears fled down her face and just as she stepped into the doorway the phone began to ring. She hesitantly picked it up only to hear Chad’s voice. He whispered as he spoke his very last words to her, "your next". Is all she heard.
It just goes to show you, be carful who your friends are.

The Austere Academy ( Series of Unfortunate Events, Book 5)

The three Baudelaire orphans attend for the first time there new home, Prufrock Preparatory School. They can only hope that this place will be there home for a good amount of time. The school looked gloomy and sad with its tombstone shaped buildings, dull landscape and nobody in sight. Especially with the words "Memento Mori" over the school building in which Klaus the middle orphan interpreted to be "everyone dies". Still the orphans tried to remain optimistic and exited about finally getting the opportunity to go to school and get a proper education. The three children fallowed there social workers orders and went straight to Vice Principle Nero’s office. There first reaction was one that many would agree with, Vice principle Nero had very strict rules, unfair punishments and no tolerance for any kind of misbehaving. The three orphans didn’t know if they would have a pleasant time here after all. At lunch the three orphans were not at all greeted very well by there peers. The whole school practically chanted numerous remarks and the orphans were not welcome to sit at any table of their choosing. One girl named Carmelita Spats was particular the most obnoxious and continuously made fun of the orphans in every possible way she could think of. Finally right before the orphans were neck high in embarrassment and humiliation they were very relieved to hear the voices of two students sticking up for them. The Quagmire triplets allowed Klaus Sunny and Violet to sit with them. As the lunch period progressed they found that they had a lot in common. Like the Baudelaire orphans the Quagmire triplets also are orphans and have lost there brother and parents in a fire. They immediately were surprised to learn that they have the same interests and taste, the Baudelaire orphans finally made friends. Things were going pretty well until the Baudelaire orphans met their new gym teacher, Coach Genghis. Without any hesitation each child new it was Count Olaf in a disguise. The orphans tried to figure out what Olaf’s plan this time was to capture them but none of them could figure anything out. The Quagmire triplets tried to help as well but they had no experience in Count Olaf’s evil plans and they didn’t know where to start. One day at lunch the Baudelaire orphans were approached by Carmelita Spats. She seemed to be in a good mood as she told the orphans they were expected to go see Coach Genghis at the field right after school. The orphans were extremely worried for they did not know what will happen to them. That evening they showed up at the field and pretended they didn’t know that Coach Genghis was really Count Olaf. He surprisingly only made the orphans run lots and lots of laps around the field until they could not run no more, they were extremely exhausted. Coach Genghis made the orphans run every day, the children were extremely tired and could not pay attention in school any longer. Finally Vice Principle Nero found out about the orphans lack of effort towards there classes and wanted them to take a final exam that will determine if the orphans should be expelled from the school and sent to Coach Genghis for tutoring. Nero obviously didn’t know about the orphans running activity with Count Olaf so he didn’t know that was the reason why they were so tired. The Baudelaire siblings were extremely worried and turned to the Quagmire triplets for help. They now knew Olaf’s plan, if he got them expelled he could take the fortune away from them. The orphans had a plan to disguise the Quagmire triplets as themselves and have them run laps with Coach Genghis as Klaus and Violet study real hard so they don’t fail the exam and get expelled. They thought it was fool proof. Violet and Klaus studied very hard and were now by far ready to take the quiz, they just didn’t know how the Quagmire triplets are doing. Right as they began taking the Quiz Coach Genghis came in holding the Quagmire’s disguises. The Baudelaire’s were shocked to see there plan fail and did not know what kind of trouble there friends were in. After the Orphans finally convinced vice principle Nero that Coach Genghis is really Count Olaf he runs out of the building into a car parked on the corner of the field. Inside the Car are the Quagmire triplets screaming for help. The orphans try to run after them but it’s too late, they got away. Count Olaf once again has escaped and will probably be back again.

------------Klaus is known for his great interests in books and reading. Whenever the Baudelaire orphans were in trouble and needed to figure something out, Klaus would always remember something from what he had read to help them.

------------Violet is the oldest sibling the Baudelaire family. She is highly gifted when it comes to inventing things and is very clever. She is brave and eager and she will always try to help you if you are in need.

-------------This book i didn't really enjoy as much as the others. It was frustrating to see how stubborn the characters were, such as Principle Nero and the social worker because they paid no attention to the orphans what so ever.

--------------In this book, determining importance is a key strategy in helping you understand the book more. Lemony Snicket has a tendency to explain every little thing and i personally feel it is totally irrelevant from the story and is extremely annoying.

--------------Lemony Snicket is a very humorous and creative author who ads his personal experiences into the book. When you read one of his books you always know what a word means because he often explains it several times. I feel that when i read the book it feels like i am reading a dictionary and i end up skipping whatever he has to say.

Tears of a Tiger

Andy Jackson has it all, the looks, girls, and an amazing talent to play basketball. After his basketball team, the Tigers, have an easy defeat at an away game, Andy and his buddies, Robbie Washington, Tyrone and B.J. celebrate and start drinking. Before long they are so drunk they could hardly walk . Without thinking, Andy and the boys decide to drive back home. Within seconds on the road, Andy lost control of the car. The car began spinning out of control and finally came to a rest upside down. Andy managed to get out of the car with only a few minor injuries, but as he turned around he saw his best friend, Robbie, burned to death with the remains of the car. Luckily Tyrone and B.J. made it out safely, but Andy was still in shock from what he had just seen.Robbie’s death affected the whole school, after all, he was the captain of the Tigers basketball team, but Andy had the most trouble recovering from the accident. It was normal that a kid would feel horrible about being responsible for his best friends death, but Andy keeps on blaming himself for what had happened. He knew Rob for so long that they were like brothers, all the good times they shared are just kept reminding Andy about what he had done. He can’t stop feeling guilty and it kept getting harder and harder for Andy to deal with his feelings. He doesn’t have family that he can talk to and express his emotions. His dad is always at work and his mom doesn’t seem to care like she should, they both seem to not see how bad Andy is dealing with the stress and loss.
B.J. and Tyrone are really worried about Andy, they notice every day he is becoming more and more depressed. Andy has a hard time telling people about his feelings and can’t seem to get the courage to ask people for help. Andy isn’t the same and they want there old friend back. Over the next few days, Andy begins feeling worse and worse. He suddenly begins having dreams about Robbie in his sleep. In one of his dreams, Robbie asks Andy to die so he would not feel lonely in heaven. The dream really effect’s Andy and living life is a challenge for him every day.
One day after school Andy and his girlfriend Keisha get into a fight, Keisha was really important to Andy. She would make him feel better and was able to understand the pain he was feeling. Now he had no one, and his life is falling to pieces right before his own eyes. Andy couldn't’t take it any more. That evening he went upstairs to his bedroom and took a moment to realize that each day of his life was just getting worse. The pain was just building up inside him. As he held his fathers rifle in his hands, he made up his mind what he had to do. In an instant he pulled the trigger and ended his suffering.As the news of Andy’s suicide spread throughout the school, Andy was thought of totally differently. His talents were forgotten and all that he was remembered by was his death.
------------Andy is a very athletic and talented boy, but sometimes he has trouble expressing and dealing with his emotions. In the book he refused to except help from others and this is what led to his unfortunate suicide.
------------Keisha, in my opinion, is the only one who could understand what Andy was going through. She's sensitive, kind, and thoughtful and if Andy realized that sooner, his future could have been changed.
-----------When you read this book, you have a sense of reality for what goes on in the world today. I felt that when i read this book, i knew Andy and the Trouble he was facing. Unlike many books who deal with the issues that teenagers today face, this one particularly helped me see how Andy reacted with his problems towards others. How his parents, friends and girlfriend saw Andy was all different, but because each one had a different relationship with him, that the author made it noticeable for the reader to see.
-----------In this book having a mental image helped me understand and have a better concept of the book. Sharon M. Draper uses a lot of good details to describe senes such as the car accident that killed Andy. During this scene i was able to have a clear image of the car going up in flames with Andy sitting in the front seat.
-----------Sharon M. Draper is a great author who writes about social issues that go on in scociety today. She gives the reader a sence of reality for what troubles you may face as time goes on. Her characters come to life and by the second chapter, it seems like you know them personally