My 7th grade so far

I can’t really complain about my first semester in seventh grade. Sure, there were a lot of projects and tons of homework but all in all, it’s been fun. I have more friends now then I ever had in PEL, and I make more everyday. Despite the obvious fact that with more friends come more enemies, the enemies usually leave me alone. In fact, the number of people who have a bone to pick with me for some random reason or the other is surprisingly low. Which is strange for a person who’s had bullies hounding him since the day he could walk.

When I get asked the question “What is the most difficult part about being a seventh grader?” I can say without a doubt that it’s the projects. To be honest, the projects in sixth grade were harder, but there were fewer of them and I got good grades for each of them and I was proud of the fact that I had gotten good grades for tough projects. The projects in seventh grade however are more common and much harder. Not to say I didn’t complete them on time and get decent grades for them. It’s just that I was pulling my hair out while I was working on every single one of them and I was seriously worried about what grade I would get. Grades are a big thing for me. I’ve already mentioned and written them four times in this paragraph.

Unlike the “hardest part about being a seventh grader” question, when I get asked, “What is the easiest part of being a seventh grader?” I have to think for a good while before I can give the inquirer an answer. I would have to say that it is the teachers. There are very few teachers in the school who don’t give clear instructions and answer all questions about assignments or something like that. There are quite a few who are really nice, funny, patient, etc. Getting the right homework and knowing the due dates for the homework is usually an easy task with JIS teachers.

By far the most fun thing I’ve done in seventh grade is spend time with some of my best friends such as Stuart and Prashant. In PEL I had one best friend, Matthew Aquilina, and very few other frineds besides. It lightens my mood knowing that I have more friends than I could ever have dreamed about when I was in PEL. Talking to Prashant and Advaith during class or after school or debating with Charlie about whether genetic engineering is possible or not are all memories I will cherish simply because of that happy feeling that you get when you know that someone is there to talk to you, share your troubles, your thoughts and your opinions.

So there it is. A short summary of my first semester in seventh grade. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, happy moments and sad moments, joys and trials. But when we go to wherever we’re going to go after I complete seventh grade, I know that it isn’t the experiences I will miss, or the teachers (although there are a few exceptions) but my friends, who have been there with me the whole time. Alas, life goes on, and I will surely make new best friends, but I’ll never forget my seventh grade friends, since they were the highlight of the semester for me.    

My Paris Trip

My Paris Trip

This whole thing started on August 17^th, when Mrs. Schwartz announced on the Bali stage that there was going to be an AMIS Honor boy choir this year, and JIS was participating. At this one piece of news, I literally jumped for joy. I couldn’t believe that finally, after all this time; I had a chance to participate in one of AMIS’s legendary music festivals. Last year, it had only been the girls who got to go to Taiwan and sing, so I had a feeling that this was my chance to improve my singing abilities greatly. Even though my excitement was slightly diminished by the fact that auditions were on the 27^th and singers would only be chosen on the 30^th, I held my head high throughout that whole day.

I’ve loved music in all its forms (except for heavy metal music) since I was 3. As I grew up, Barney’s Family songs became Bollywood’s greatest hits, and those gradually turned into the music I listen to today. I like a wide range of music, which is good since I get exposed to many different singing styles. I like rock, punk rock, electronica, pop (to a limited extent) and country/western music. I am also able to play the piano fairly well. Music has also been the only subject that I always got A’s on throughout my life. Music is a part of my soul as much as my family is. I could not live without music. Any time of the day, you’ll find me singing, humming, whistling or tapping out a beat on my desk.

After the rehearsals, which were relatively simple, I’ll admit that I was absolutely terrified. I had no idea who would be selected and I was fervently hoping that I would be selected but with the amount of boys that were there, it seemed unlikely. However, my fears were never realized as a poster taped to the wall stated:

 Congratulations to the six boys who will be going to Paris to represent JIS at AMIS this year! The lucky boys are: Leandro Bengzon, William Strang, Maxwell Weidmer, DaSol Lee, Brandon Fernandes and Madhav Pulle. Rehearsals start August 31^st, so be there!

I was ecstatic! After three days of nerve-wracking waiting, I had finally been selected! The five short rehearsals went relatively smoothly. Our songs were difficult to sing but easy to learn, and soon we had mastered the singing too. The songs covered a wide range of genres, form spirituals to lullabies. Our songs were Yonder Come Day, Nenni (a Turkish lullaby), Rock-a My Soul, Rhythm of Life, Kyrie (a Latin funeral song), Pie Jesu (a Greek funeral song), Rainstorm, The Lion Sleeps Tonight, a German Canon and an American toe-tapper called Polly Wolly Doodle. Even though some of our rehearsals were from 2:40 pm to 5:00 pm we still hadn’t mastered the songs when the time to go to Paris rolled around.

After a round of farewells, we were on the bus to Jakarta International Airport. Our group consisted of the six singers, Mrs. Schwartz and Mr. Pendell, the learning support teacher. Our time at the airport was spent doing the usual things such as checking in or filling in arrival and departure cards. The flight to Abu Dhabi was uneventful since I slept most of the way. When we arrived at Abu Dhabi airport my legs were killing me. I bought a cup of hot chocolate and some duty free Hershey’s Kisses with some money my mother had given me. The flight from Abu Dhabi to Paris was even more uneventful, again since I slept most of the way. I also watched the A-Team for the 500^th time. When we got to Paris all the kids were half dead, especially me. We took two trains to the American School of Paris, which was hosting the festival, lugging our bags all the way. After meeting our host family and taking the school bus to our host family’s house, we ate our dinner, which consisted of pasta and, being as jetlagged as we were, promptly crashed on our beds even though it was only 6:30 pm.

We woke up at 7:30 am and, having gotten 13 hours of sleep we were feeling relatively refreshed. After breakfast, I noticed an odd sense of elation that I hadn’t noticed before. I looked outside the window at the unfamiliar sky and realized where the elation came. It was the fact that I, who had never been abroad without my family before, was in Paris! But I had little time to think about this, as we had to leave for our first rehearsal.

When we arrived at the theater that would serve as our rehearsal venue I was shocked that so many boys had volunteered for the festival. Call me sexist or stereotypical if you will, but I was pretty sure that this place would be empty since most boys don’t like singing. Guess I was wrong I thought. We met our conductor, Adam Hart, and our pianist, Keith Montgomery, during the first few minutes of our time. Mr. Hart was from the American School of Dubai. He seemed like one of those teachers who is really funny and leaves an indelible imprint in your memory. My assumption proved to be correct. Mr. Montgomery was from the American School of London. After the initial formalities we got down to business and started rehearsing. I can tell you without a doubt that the rehearsals were the most strenuous thing I had ever done. My voice was stretched to the limit and I almost couldn’t speak. I had a bad throat ache after one particularly difficult rehearsal but fortunately it went away before the main concert.

The rehearsals usually lasted around four hours with breaks in between. After the rehearsals we went back home to our host families. The host families had children in ASP and Brandon, Max, Will, DaSol and me stayed with Mary and Roland. They also had a seventeen-year-old son named Luke. Leandro stayed with a different family just around the corner. I can’t thank Mary and Roland enough for their kindness while we were there. It was Mary’s delicious cooking that sated my ravenous hunger at the end of the day and it was Roland’s effort to get us there on time (we had to take two trains to get to ASP since they lived far away) that helped us to be there when we needed to be there.

Finally, after 16-plus hours of rehearsing at ASP, and countless hours back in Jakarta, the day came when we had to perform for all of ASP. After a quick 30-minute rehearsal, we put on our concert clothes and prepared for our unorthodox but enjoyable entrance into the theater. At that moment I was standing next to my fellow alto and friend Nico Thiry. I looked him in the eye and saw my emotions reflected there. Fear, anticipation, excitement and nervousness. All these combined to form a simmering emotional soup in my gut that made me want to puke.  But I had to be strong, because the auditorium doors were opening, and it was time for the show to start.

After our stunning entrance with Yonder Come Day that earned us a two-and-a-half minute long applause from the crowd (I know the exact time because Nico was wearing a watch) we proceeded to sing our other songs. By this time the soup had cooled down a bit and I was more relaxed, despite the fact that several people around me, including Nico, had nervous expressions on their faces. After six more songs, we finally got to sit down. During this time Mr. Hart introduced Mr. Halvorsen, the Middle school director, Mr. and Mrs. Basset, founders of AMIS, Mrs. Lynn Hutchinson, arranger of Nenni, and Mrs. Beamic, our violinist for Polly Wolly Doodle. But we hardly paid any attention to all this because we were too busy rubbing our aching knees! We sang two more songs, then, during the tumultuous applause that followed, somebody shouted “Encore!” everybody else in the audience seemed to agree, and soon we were singing our 10^th and final song, which was Rock-a My Soul. The audience literally exploded with applause. All of us were beaming so much that our cheeks hurt. Then, after we were given permission to leave, I ran like a madman to the changing room to get out of my stuffy clothes. Then came a round of cheers, tears, photographs, and frantic searches for paper to write email addresses on. In the middle of this sea of people, I was standing there with a contented expression on my face, the expression of one who has just accomplished something difficult, and he is tired but happy, experiencing the satisfaction of a job well done. Soon the time came when the trickle of people leaving became a flood and just me, Will, Brandon, DaSol and Max were left, along with two other singers from Ankara. Apparently we were the group whose host families had decided to go to the cocktail party, and had left us in the care of Mr. Halvorsen and two other teachers. We ate sandwiches in the teachers lounge and watched Casino Royale until 9:30, and then we had to leave. We slept all the way and when we got home, fell into bed like chopped-down trees.

We woke up early the next morning and got ready for the long drive to Charles de Gaulle International Airport. We thanked Mary and Roland one last time and then rode the train to the station to meet Mr. Pendell and Mrs. Schwartz. Then we took a van to the airport and boarded our flight. This time I stayed awake longer and watched Jonah Hex, Marmaduke, The Losers and an episode of Bones. In Abu Dhabi airport I lost my backpack and spent an hour searching for it with Mr. Pendell. Thankfully we found it at the police station. During the flight to Jakarta I slept the whole way and woke up feeling excited at the prospect of returning to my family. As I said goodbye to the airhostess I breathed in the humid, heady air of Jakarta. I was home. The drive back to JIS was pretty funny, as we cracked jokes to pass the time. I learned a funny one about blondes (no offense to all the blondes out there) and added it to my repertoire for future sharing. When we reached JIS my family’s driver Trisno was waiting there. I stuffed the bags into the trunk and we drove to our house. When I got there I was ready to drop dead and absolutely starving. I ate a quick dinner and then when my dad got home I hugged him so hard I think I bruised him. Then I got ready for bed. As I slid the covers over my body, I reflected on the past week’s events. I had made new friends, sang in a professional choir, and had a great time meeting new people and had seen a slice of one of the most famous cities in Europe. All in all, a very good trip, I thought to myself, as I fell asleep and ended one of the shortest yet the most memorable chapters of my life.   

Payback

Payback, by Andy McNab and Robert Rigby is the second (sequel to Traitor) explosive, roller-coaster chapter in the brilliantly written Watts family series. Still on the run from the British government and MI5, Fergus and Danny Watts have taken refuge in Spain. When a series of UK teenage suicide bombings kill hundreds of people and leave British Intelligence stumped, they are forced to come back when their position is discovered. But it’s not for execution. The government, desperate for answers, has decided to let Fergus and Danny help them on the mission. But even though they mean well, Fergus is suspicious, and has doubts about whether they’ll get out alive.

For this book, I didn’t really have a favorite part, since it was a continuation of the first one. But don’t get me wrong; it was just as good, if not better, than Traitor.

Since I already wrote about McNab in Traitor, I’ve decided to write about the operation that he led. McNab led an SAS unit known as Bravo-Two-Zero and were deployed during the first Gulf War to Iraq to set up an observation post along the Iraqi supply line. They were compromised when a farmer driving a bulldozer discovered them. The farmer alerted the Iraqis and a firefight began. Since two of the eight-man team had already been killed by hypothermia, they were under strength. McNab, along with three others were captured, but Corporal Colin ‘Chris’ Ryan managed to escape. He was the only soldier who wasn’t killed or captured, and later wrote the book The One That Got Away.       

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My Trip to Papua

A Life-Changing Experience

 

My trip Papua officially began when the small boat pulled up at the jetty. As I got out and took in my surroundings, one definition kept popping into my head. Paradise. I walked along the pier, looking down at the crystal clear water to see what I could spot. There were starfish, brain coral, minnows and a stingray just to name a few.  My brother and father walked a few feet ahead of me. We reached the main office of the resort and after getting our room key, went to see what the room was like. We opened the door to a full size air-conditioned bedroom. We had brought our Xbox with us so we connected it to the TV and started playing. When we arrived it had been close to 5:00 PM, so by the time we finished playing it was 7:00 PM. We went to have dinner, which consisted of rice, sautéed vegetables and, for desert, a piece of chocolate cake. After this, my brother and I were very tired because we’d been up since 2:30 in the morning! We said goodnight to everyone and then walked to the room and crashed into bed.

 We didn’t wake up until 7:00 the next morning. After a good breakfast of delicious Nuttella pancakes and a banana milkshake, I headed to the pier and my dad and I got ready for our first dive in Papua. When we had assembled the various bits and pieces, we got on to the Barracuda, a 7-man diving boat, and headed off to the first dive site. Since I am only 11, I’m not old enough to dive with a buddy below the rank of Dive Master, so I had my own buddy assigned to me. His name was Dolvinus. As we neared the site, I reflected that Indonesians are very good divers, so I was in good hands. When we finally did arrive at the “jump-in zone” we did a quick equipment check and then jumped in. A huge swarm of bubbles appeared around me as I opened my eyes. I inflated my BCD, or my Buoyancy Control Device, and floated at the surface. When Otto, our dive guide, gave the signal to descend, I let the air out and sank into another world. When I was 1 meter above the seafloor, a godlike sight came into view. I was floating over a cloud of thousands of fish, which were in turn floating over a beautiful reef. No, beautiful isn’t the word to describe the reef. Nor is divine. No matter how hard I try, I simply can’t find the word to describe that reef. You have to see it to know its true beauty. I swam to rejoin the others, who consisted of Otto, my father, Yoko (one of my dad’s colleges),David (a medical consultant from Boston with almost 300 dives under his belt) and then we all swam together over the reef. I saw a lot of beautiful fish, but then Dolvinus pointed out something just out of the range of my peripheral vision. I turned around….and my heart skipped a beat. I was less than 10 meters away from one of the most beautiful hunters of the coral reef. The Blacktip Reef Shark. I will never forget that moment; because that was the first time I had seen a shark outside of an aquarium. Dolvinus and I saw two more sharks. A Wobbegong Shark and another Blacktip, and millions more fish, but I couldn’t get the image of that shark out of my mind.

 The second dive of that day was at a different spot, but when I jumped in, the sight that greeted me made my blood boil. For at least two kilometers, dynamite fishermen had blown up the reef. They had left in their wake a huge pile of dead coral, white and lifeless, mere shadows of the once brilliant creature they made up. Why anyone would want to destroy a vibrant coral reef both perplexes me and angers me. What could fishermen possibly gain by blowing up their fishing grounds? They realize that the next time they come here, all the fish will be gone, and there will be nothing for them to catch. Yet they continue to blow up reefs all over the world, and nothing seems to stop them. I kept thinking about this for most of the dive, so I wasn’t paying much attention. But I managed to see my first turtle, which was a Hawksbill Turtle, and the much bigger but slightly less beautiful cousin of the Blacktip Reef Shark, the Whitetip Reef Shark. On the third dive of the day, we descended as usual, and I happened to descend right into a million strong school of Yellowfin Tuna, and it was a spectacular feeling to be engulfed by so many fish. They accompanied me until I hit seafloor, and then they swam away. I looked and Dolvinus and he had a look that said: what in the world just happened?! I laughed to myself, if you can laugh underwater, and swam off to look for the others. Dolvinus followed me. We saw a lot of fish, a fact I was getting used to, and among those fishes were a Bumphead Parrotfish, a Sweetlips Grouper and Jack Trevally.

 The fourth dive of that day was another thing that I will never forget. The fourth dive was my first night dive. We descended in pitch-black darkness onto a reef that was teeming with sleeping fish and reef animals that were creatures of the night. I was terrified and ecstatic at the same time. I think that was a side effect of the adrenalin rush I experienced while descending. We saw Mantis Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, another Hawksbill and a clownfish sleeping peacefully in an anemone. I had a big meal of rice, corn fritters and vegetables for dinner and then watched a movie with Yoko, my brother and my father. The next day I skipped the first morning dive because I was too tired to go, but the second morning dive I participated in and it was an eventful dive. We descended through murky waters and were again enveloped by schools of fish, this time it was silverfish and Trevally. When I hit the bottom my regulator was snagged on a rock and was almost yanked out of my mouth. Then, because I didn’t deflate my BCD properly I kept bobbing up and down in the water column like a cork. I saw a Whitetip on this dive as well as nudibranchs and starfish. On the third dive we again descended through water with nil visibility. We stopped at a sand plain and then continued towards the reef. Currents were really strong and getting there was like trying to pull a truck filled with cement through a really strong headwind. Again the condition of parts of the reef made me angry. More dynamite had leveled homes and the survivors had fled to intact parts of the reef. I knew from long hours of studying the ocean and its inhabitants that many of those species would not survive. Many species of reef fish have adapted to live in only one specific environment in the entire reef ecosystem. Forced to move away from those habitats, they will soon die out.

 I want to educate these fishermen when I grow up. I want to educate them on safer and more profitable ways of fishing. Ways that are safer for the reef, and more profitable for fishermen. But I can only do that when I am older. Now, I can send a message to a small group of students at JIS: Our coral reefs are the richest ecosystems in the world. The biodiversity of the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil pales in comparison to the natural wealth of the coral reefs. We, as kids born in the 21^st century, are lucky. We have the best quality education available to us, we have plenty of food to eat, and we all have families who love and care for us. There are many people in the world who don’t have these things. I urge you all, as a friend, a classmate and an ocean lover, to make the most of your opportunities and save the coral reefs so that not only we can enjoy them, but future generations of children and adults can enjoy them too. I will help too. My dream since the age of 4 was to become a marine biologist. I figured that by taking that kind of job, I could be in the thick of the effort to protect the oceans. Even after seven long years, my passion for the ocean remains as strong as ever and my dream is still the same. There are a lot of things we can’t do as adults, but there are small things, tiny things that might not seem to make a difference, that we can do to help the oceans. So I urge you again to do the best you can to protect our oceans, because without them, our world, will be an, empty, lifeless ball, floating around in space, a shell of its former glory. If you don’t want that to happen, go online and Google ways that you can help. Like I said before, most of them are so simple you won’t believe it has any effect. But it will. We are the generation that has the power to change this Earth that we live in. Take advantage of that. Act now. 

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games, by award-winning author Suzanne Collins, is a poignant, gripping, violent and romantic tale about a 16-year old girl named Katniss Everdeen.

The shining country of Panem, a country that rose from the ashes of a country once known as North America, consists of a rich Capitol surrounded by twelve poorer districts. As punishment for an earlier rebellion, each district has to send two “tributes”, one male and one female, to participate in a live-on-TV fight to the death known as the Hunger Games. Winning means fame, fortune, and a lifetime supply of food for the tribute’s family. Losing means certain death. In district twelve, Katniss’s sister, Primrose, is originally chosen to be the female tribute, but Katniss volunteers in her place. The male tribute is Peeta Mellark. As they get ready for the upcoming games, Peeta pretends to be in love with Katniss. But when the real games begin, it becomes real. Can both of them survive the Hunger Games?

My favorite part was the whole book. I can’t decide whether it’s this part or that part that’s my favorite and it just ends up being the whole book because it’s so well written.

Suzanne Collins’s writing career began in 1991. Since her first book, Gregor the Overlander, 

she has written over two-dozen books for children. She lives in Connecticut with her family and a pair of feral kittens they found in their backyard.

Summary of The Giver-In 20 Words

Jonas's friend Asher apologizes for being late.  After school, he shares feelings about the Ceremony of Twelve with his parents.

Psych

Psych is a WhoDunit comedy TV series about a man named Shawn Spencer, who has the ability of exceptional observation skills and photographic memory, but he attributes his abilities as being psychic and is hired by the police after a member of the rich and influential McCallum family, Camden McCallum Jr. is kidnapped. Shawn, using his memory and "psychic" abilities theorizes that the kidnapped man may have kidnapped himself in order to get the 5-million dollar ransom. When the SWAT team and local police arrive at the isolated woodland cabin where Shawn "sees" that the McCallum is, they burst in to find Camden and his accomplice shot dead. The police, noticing the pistol in the accomplice's hand, says that it was suicide, but 

Shawn thinks otherwise. Once again using his clue-gathering skills and photographic memory, he visits the McCallum family mansion where he confronts the head of the family, Camden McCallum Sr., father of Camden McCallum Jr., and has a vision of McCallum Sr. accidentally killing his son and intentionally killing his accomplice after discovering their woodland hideout. (Of course, he already figured this out using deduction and evidence at the scene of the murder, but he had to keep up the facade that he was psychic in order not to be arrested) McCallum Sr., outraged and scared by Shawn's revelation, orders Shawn and Gus to get out of the house. Gus, Shawn's partner, shows Shawn some medication for a dog bite. Gus theorizes that after that murders, McCallum Sr. was bitten by the dog that mcCallum Jr. owned, but stopped biting him after he recognized who his victim was. Then Shawn calls the police, and acting like McCallum Sr., says to the police that "there's an intruder in my house. Please come and arrest him." As Shawn is being arrested he pretends to have another vision, this time about the dig bite, and tells the Chief of police to check McCallum's wrists. After this, McCallum finally cracks, and Shawn is pardoned. At the end of the episode, Shawn shows Gus a piece of property he recently bought, and says that this is the site of their new detective agency.

This is an example of the SUSPECT who may or may not have commited the CRIME.

This is an example of the DETECTIVE or the INVESTIGATOR who is trying to solve the crime.

This is an example of the VICTIM of the crime.

This is an example of the EVIDENCE that may or may not help the IVESTIGATOR solve the crime.

This is an example of a WITNESS to a murder.

This is an example of the CRIMINAL who commited the crime.

Monk

On thursday we watched an episode of the award winning WhoDunit television series Monk. The episode was called the Case of the Voodoo Curse. In this episode Mink is called in to investigate the mysterious death of a woman who was hit on the head with a baseball. After her death, her family finds a box in the woman's house, and inside that box is a voodoo doll with a baseball stitched to its head. The weird thing is it was mailed 3 days before she died. 2 other people die, and each one ofthem have a voodoo doll mailed to their house a short while before they die. I did not like watching this show because evidence and clues are scarce, as compared to Sherlock Holmes where a lot of clues are found and the reader or the watcher, in the case of the Sherlock Holmes movie, must figure out the puzzle for himself and that is what makes it fun to red or watch. Monk however does not have many clues and the whole effect of "reader figuring out puzzle and then being surprised by surprise"ending is ruined when Monk explains the whole thing in a car chase. Needless to say, I did not enjoy this very much.

Traitor

Traitor, by Andy Mcnab is an explosive, suspense filled adventure story about 17 year old Danny Watts, who is in training to become a member of the British army. When it seems like Danny finally has the chance to become an actual soldier, his dreams are shattered by a single news story. SAS TRAITOR MASTERMINDS COLUMBIAN PRISON BREAKOUT. The traitor is someone Danny knows all too well, his grandfather, Fergus Watts, aka Frankie. As Danny sets of on a journey to find his grandfather and show him that he has ruined his life, a whole new plot begins to unravel, and Danny realizes that Fergus might not be the traitor at all.

My favorite parts were the parts where they use surveillance slang and acronyms in the book because it’s really interesting to see how soldiers and spies communicate.  E.g.: Mag=Magazine for a gun, Rounds= Bullets, LUP= Lay up point or camping point, CTR= Close target recon and so on.

Andy Mcnab was born on 28^th December 1959 and is an English writer and former soldier. He says that “ I never did well in school, and I didn’t even know what a syllable was.” He 

was awarded several medals, including the Military Medal and the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his part in the failed SAS operation that involved a SAS unit whose call sign was Bravo-Two-Zero. Andy was a member and the leader of the unit, and hypothermia and bullets killed 3 of his friends. Andy is still believed to be wanted by some of the major terrorist organizations of the world so he chooses to not reveal his face or his current position.

Plastiki

I am here to tell you about a new thing called Plastiki. But before that, I have to tell you a small story. During the 1950's and 60's, there were a group of scientists who theorized that early man might have populated the continents by using rafts to sail across the ocean. To prove it, the scientists built a raft out of wood and sailed around the world.The experiment didn't actually prove anything, but it showed that the theory was possible. It was called Kontiki. Now, almost 60 years later, a team of scientists, adventurers and journalists have constructed a 60 foot long catamaran out of plastic bottles. It's known as Plastiki. Their ambitious plan is to use this catamaran to spread awareness about what we are doing to the oceans. Their first stop after leaving San Francisco was the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is a final stop for all oceanic 

garbage riding the currents, and right now it's bigger than the United States. Their goal, as I said before, is to spread awareness that there is a mass of garbage out there right now which is nearing the size of Canada. If we stop polluting, that thing won't grow smaller, but we can focus all our power the destroy the Patch instead of worrying that it will get bigger. They will also  stop at several sites of ecological importance that are being affected by global warming and the Patch. Islands such as Hawaii, which is the closest US state to the Garbage Patch. Midway, whose spectacular coral reefs and historical WWII shipwrecks are threatened by the large amounts of garbage that breaks loose from the Patch and float into its waters. The British skipper of the vessel, Captain David De Rothschild, says it is a fun and a media-

attracting venture since to spread awareness today you need the media on hand to broadcast everything you say. In my opinion, Plastiki, you have my full support. I think that this is a great way to show the world what exactly it is they are doing to our beautiful oceans, and that there is a simple answer to it. Unite and stop polluting.

Elephant Run

Elephant Run by Roland Smith is an action packed suspense filled adventure set in Burma in 1941. When Nicholas Gillis Freestone, aka Nick, is sent to Burma to help his dad out in the family’s teak plantation. Nick grows to like the place, but all that is snatched away when the Imperial Japanese Army comes knocking on the front door. With Nick’s dad set to a camp and Nick and Mya, Nick’s friend, all alone, there seems to be nothing they can do. But the sudden appearance of Hilltop, a mysterious monk, convinces them that they need to set Nick’s dad free. The question is, will they succeed?

 

My favorite part of the book was actually the whole book. Each part was about the same in quality, length and pace, so I can’t judge. But that was the thing I liked about this book.

 

Roland Smith was born in Portland, Oregon November 30^th 1951. He has worked in various zoos around America. Following the 1990 Exxon Valdez oil spill, he promptly launched 

a campaign to save the wildlife injured during the spill. He lives with his wife Marie and children Becky, Shawn and Niki Smith in Tualatin Oregon

Pictoral Definitions: Vocab 10

Melodramatic

Beckoning

Despicable

Godsend

Probation

Impeccable

Ambivalent

Melancholy

Primitive

The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp

The Pirates of Crocodile Swamp is an easy-to-read but not-too-boring adventure by Jim Arnonsky about to young boys. When their alcoholic father abducts them and takes them to the Florida Keys, Sandy and Jack (who are, coincidentally, the same age my brother and I; Sandy: 11, Me:11. Jack: 9, my brother: 9) escape into Crocodile Swamp with limited supplies and fend off hungry sharks, poisonous snakes and giant crocodiles. But it is only with the help of newfound friends can they truly escape from their past.

My favorite parts of the book are when they describe their feelings toward their dad and about running away. Since Jack is the less mature one, he has a lot of turbulent emotions clashing within him. Sandy is pretty much focused on one goal: do whatever it takes to get as far away from their dad as possible, so I liked reading about what they felt like.

Jim Arnonsky was born on September 1^st, 1946. In 1976 Jim and his wife Deanna moved 

 to Vermont with his two daughters. He continues to live there today and is self-taught, in writing, the arts and the sciences.

This is and extremely relaxing read, that you might read on a boring day. For anyone who loves the swamps or nature, this is the book for you.

The Fire Thief Fights Back

The Fire Thief Fights Back by Terry Deary is the awesome and exciting final chapter to the immensely popular Fire Thief trilogy. Closer and closer to his objective of finding a human hero, Prometheus, the infamous Fire Thief, meets Sam Wonder and his mother, Jenny Wonder, salespersons of Jenny Wonder’s Magical medicine (which is actually useless rainwater) and Alice, a slave girl. As the monsters of ancient Greece rally up against earth, with the Avenger leading them, Theus must gather his 3 human heroes and along with Zeus, fight of the monstrous threat.

My favorite part of the book was when Zeus and Sam fight off the seven monsters guarding the Avenger. Funny footnotes and amazing description made this part extremely enjoyable for me.

This final chapter to the fire thief trilogy is funny and slightly sad, but it is a must read for anyone who loves a good adventure.

fact: during the Second World War, there was a marine biologist who joined the
Marine Corps when the war broke out. He became a combat medic and he had a patient on Guadalcanal who was going to die without extra blood plasma. But there was little the former marine biologist could do since the division's supply of blood plasma had been destroyed in a grenade explosion. So the medic injected coconut milk into the soldier and he survived, not just the battle but the whole war. He
survived because of the mrine biologist's long hours of research and discovery, he found out that 91% of the proteins found in coconut milk are found in blood plasma.

Flight of the Fire Thief

 

The Flight of the Fire Thief by Terry Deary is the extremely humorous yet soberly serious sequel to the Fire Thief as Prometheus, now known to the gods of Mount Olympus the infamous Fire Thief, is on the run from the vengeful Avenger for giving fire to the humans. Prometheus struck a deal with Zeus: If Theus can find one true human hero; he will suspend Theus’ punishment for eternity. If not, Theus will be destroyed. In this exciting adventure, the story all boils down to one question: Who is the human hero depicted in the Temple of the Hero at Eden City?

My favorite part of the book was the funny footnotes and head notes that the author puts in to make this otherwise serious book a little more humorous. The book is written in the form of diary by Helen, a girl who helps Theus in his time at Eden City.

Terry Deary was born on 4^th March 1646 and he quotes “the schools I went 

to never taught me essential life skills such as parenting and money managing. I’ve never used Boyles Law or Trigonometry in my life so why teach it to me? Schools should change.”

 This is a very good book, and if you are interested in Greek mythology and that sort of thing, this is a good series.

Just a random thought. It's been said that crocodiles cry as they eat their meat. What if they were smart enough to realize that dried tears contain salt so maybe they are seasoning their food as they eat it. 

The Quantum Prophecy Series- The Awakening

The Quantum Prophecy Series- The Awakening

 The first book in a series of spectacular books by Michael Carroll tells the story of a great battle, which wiped all the superhumans. The question is, did they merely just retire and blend back in with society, or did they all perish in the battle that supposedly took the lives of many supervillians as well as many superheroes? Colin Wagner and Danny Cooper are about to find out what exactly happened to the superhumans that decade ago, as their own superhuman powers begin to manifest, Colin and Danny must take a dark journey into their own past as they uncover astonishing revelations and disturbing truths in this awesome action thriller with all the twists, surprises and cliffhangers of your favorite Commando adventure.

 My favorite part is again the whole book. Why, I don’t know. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that the warp-speed pace of the book does not slacken until the end or that even when Danny and Colin had thought the worst of their troubles were over, they had to face a new threat in the second book, which I am now currently reading.

 Michael Carroll was born on March 21^st 1966 and is and Irish writer. The Quantum 

Prophecy series is his dream project. He lives in Dublin with his wife Leonia and the world’s only sane cat!

 This is a very good series, one that I encourage beginning readers to try since it is easy to read but not too boring. For the Superman or Spiderman in you, try this.   

Spy High- The Frankenstein Factory

Spy High- The Frankenstein Factory

This fast-paced action story set in 2064 by A.J Butcher tells the story of a school for secret agents in training, Deveraux Academy. But the Academy’s students rarely call it by its proper name. They call it Spy High. In the first installment, the six members of Bond Team, Ben Stanton, Lori Angel, Cally Cross, Jake Dally, Jennifer Chen and Eddie Nelligan have petty disagreements. Stanton-always wants the limelight, wants to be the best and will do anything to get to the top. Angel- Not just a pretty Miss Perfect, Bens’ girlfriend. Daly- A boy born under an agricultural dome. Doesn’t have many privileges due to his birth, Ben thinks of him as inferior to him. Nelligan- the class clown, the joker. Never gets good grades. Chen- quiet, has a dark secret connected with her parents murder. Cross- technical genius, grew up on the streets. So tough she would make Schwarzenegger cry for his mother. As this unlikely team is forced to cooperate with each other tempers explode and fights break out between team members. The senior tutor, Elmore Grant, asks them to take a vacation to the woods. But this vacation turns in an action –packed adventure as they uncover a plot by a mad scientist to turn the world’s population into mutants.

 

My favorite part of the book was the final battle between the mad doctor Frankenstein and Bond Team. Many times it is hard to describe a fight in which futuristic weapons are involved, because we haven’t developed them yet. A. J

Butcher has done a good job of describing so much with so little information.

 

Overall this is a very good book, and I look forward to reading the 10 other books in the series.

1. Flabbergast- surprised, astonished, a you-have-got-to-be-kidding-me sort of expression.

2. Cask- a container usually made of expensive wood like oak and used to age, ferment of store drink such as wine, whiskey, beer and spirits.

3. Cynical- an attitude; if a person is cynical that means that he is distrustful of others,always thinks that people have a bad or selfish motive for doing something, even a good deed.

4. Accumulate- to gather, to collect items, often in very large amounts.

5. Provisions- supplies, often used to describe food or military rations, if you are going on a long trip on a mountain, you will need provisions.

6. Ominous- a signal that something bad is going to happen. Ex- "The dark bank of ominous rain clouds hinted a storm."

7. Subvert- to intentionally sabotage a machine of a plan so not everything goes according to plan.

8. Congregate- to get together at a specific place and time, a meeting of sorts.

9. Adversary- your enemy, your opponent. Classic examples would be Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader or The Joker and Batman.

10. Contradict- to disagree, to correct, often in a rude way.  

1. Haitian dictators stole money from the people for their own pleasure, leaving once rich families on the streets.

2. Soil erosion has impaired farmers trying to make a living.

3. Lack of knowledge and literacy has destroyed many Haitian dreams of getting a job that pays well abroad.

4. In 1838, the Haitians had to pay the French a debt of 150,000,000 to pay slave owners who lost money during the Haitian slave revolution. This weakened Haiti's economy considerably.

5. Since a slave-free Haiti was considered a threat to the right of using slaves, a boycott of Haitian products further weakened the countries' economy.

6. Haiti is today made further poor because the US supplies government extortionists with comfortable aid packages and not the people.

7. The fact that Haiti has high rates of unemployment so it can't send goods to other countries for money.

8. The lack of social infrastructure such as roads, hospitals, etc.

9. The occupation of the US Marines in 1915 dealt a severe blow to Haitian image.

10. Since only people who speak French in Haiti are allowed a proper education.

I got this information from an essay written by graduate student Bob Corbett.

Although it has been more than a week since a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, the nightmare is just beginning. Aid has not been able to reach the front lines of the struggle to survive and with limited supplies, the people are growing desperate. Some have resorted to looting shops and supply piles, taking whatever they can in the struggle to survive. As shown in the picture, even boys are taking part in the looting. But I wonder why they are hurting more people. Haven't enough people been hurt already? In a time such as this, I think people should forge friendships and trust among their brethren, not fight each other. But the question  still remains.Why hasn't aid reached Haiti? Even though US jets and helicopters have taken off from carriers transporting aid, inly a few people have received assistance. This is just one example of how disorganized some governments can be. The people are suffering because of their mistakes.   

Danger in the Desert: True Adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter

 Danger in the Desert: True Adventures of a Dinosaur Hunter by Roger Cohen is the incredible and true story of Roy Chapman Andrews, an American explorer who wore a fedora, carried a pistol, and had no less that ten confrontations with danger and death. Sounds like the real-life Indiana Jones model that Spielberg might have used! Quoted by Roy, “ I can remember just ten times when I had really narrow escapes from certain death. Two were from drowning in typhoons, one was when our boat was charged by a wounded whale, once my wife and I were nearly eaten by wild dogs, once we were in great danger from fanatical lama priests, two were close calls when I fell over cliffs, once I was nearly strangled by a huge reticulated python and twice I might have been shot and killed by bandits.”

 My favorite part of the book was just reading about the exploits of this great adventurer. Hearing how he survived when his boat capsized in a cold Wisconsin river while his mentor and friend Monty died. How he discovered the first ever fossilized dinosaur eggs and not to mention his discovery of the Flaming Cliffs in the Gobi, the world’s richest trove of dinosaur bones and where eight new dinosaurs were discovered by Roy and his team.

 Roger Cohen wrote this book by interviewing Mongolians whom Roy had 

known. This is a great book, and for those of you who want to nurture the explorer inside of you, this is a must-read.

A Horrible Disaster

On January 13th, 2010, a massive 7.9 earthquake ripped through the Haiti's capital of Port-au-Prince. When Krakatau exploded in 1893, 36,000 people were killed and this is even worse. more than a 100,00 people are feared dead in Haiti. The search for survivors and dead continues, and entire families have been swept into mourning as their children, wives,husbands,siblings and parents are ripped from them all at once. The photo shows clearly anguish and fear of just one recently rescued Haitian girl. As people find more and more dead, they become more and more demoralized. Aid has reached Haiti, but due to blocked roads  adequate supplies cannot be sent to help the victims. people work with their hands to dig out survivors, desperate to find someone alive amongst the carnage. when i saw the video, my heart completely broke.As the the night settles, I pray fervently that the people of Haiti will find some light to guide them through their dark times.  

The exciting and fun vacation that I took during the Christmas break had two parts to it. I’m going to write about both of these parts, but I won’t tell you the whole story. I’ll just write about the most fun thing I did in each part:
The first part of my vacation was in India, specifically Madras in the state of Tamil Nadu. Here I spent time with my mother’s side of the family, with my cousins, uncle, aunt, cousins and grandparents. We had a lot of fun together, listening to music and sharing stories about our schools. When we were not doing those things, we just sat around the house, lazing around. Every evening we went swimming at the Olympic-sized pool at the Madras Gymkhana Club, one of the oldest clubs in India. We also went to the Marina beach – the second-longest beach in the world. It was very crowded! At the beach my brother and I sharpened our skills as marksmen and shot some balloons. The system works like this. There are a hundred or so balloons on a stand and you have 10 shots. After you pick your targets, you pick up your rifle and hope for the best. My brother and I are both pretty good at it, and both of us got 8 balloons out of 10. One of the best parts about the vacation was getting new books. They were three of them. The Odin Mission, Tormod: A Templar’s Apprentice and Alex Rider: Crocodile Tears. The absolute best part was spending time with my grandparents. I hadn’t been able to visit them since our last trip almost a year ago. So for me, that was the most important part. Family.

The second part of my vacation took place in Thailand. We landed in Bangkok where we spent a few days. On the first day, we visited the Royal Grand Palace. That evening, we celebrated my mother’s birthday with a dinner cruise in an old converted teak rice barge down the Chao Phraya River. It was very beautiful seeing all the monuments, buildings and Buddhist Wats (temples) all lit up. We also visited several other wats in the city – Wat Pho, Wat Arun etc. For my parents they were interesting, but for my brother and me, they were just plain boring. Wat Pho however, was interesting because it had a giant resting statue of a sleeping Buddha inside a massive chamber which was beautifully cast from metal and covered in gold leaf. The feet were meticulously crafted with mother-of-pearl inlay work. The intricate designs told the story of the Buddha’s life. We took a day trip to Kanchanburi to see the famous bridge on the river Kwai, which was constructed by over a 100,000 P.O.W’s of the Japanese during World War 2. Because of brutal conditions and overwork, 15,000 P.O.W’s met their deaths while at work. This is why it is called the Death Railway. Afterwards, in 1945, the bridge was bombed to smithereens by Allied bombers but was reconstructed as a monument and a tribute to those who died building the Death Railway. Another exciting we did was go to a tiger temple. The temple was only inhabited by just monks until a wounded boar wandered in. The monks nursed it back to health and released it. It soon became a haven for unwanted pets, wounded livestock and orphaned animals. I got to hug a 400 pound tiger in that temple, and I could feel its sheer power as it slept. We also went to the mountain town called Chiang Mai, and after two days there we went back to Bangkok. In Bangkok we saw the movie Avatar in 3D, and it’s one of the best movies I have seen in a long time. The movie tells the story of crippled marine Jake Sully, who is sent to the moon of Pandora. The indigenous populace, the Na’vi, won’t let the corporation Jake works for take minerals from Pandora so Jake, in his Na’vi avatar, is sent to infiltrate. But Jake falls in love with the princess of the clan and fights back in a desperate battle against the corporation.

So there was my vacation. It was very fun, and I hope to have other memorable vacations just like this one.

The Odin Mission

 

The Odin Mission by James Holland is an adrenaline-fueled adventure starring, by the book, no-nonsense soldier Sgt. Jack Tanner of the 2^nd Battalion of The Yorkshire Rangers during the Blitz in Norway in 1940. When Jack is posted to a new platoon in Norway, he feels a bit out of place. The platoon CO, Lt. Dodlinger, asks him to do a “ low-risk, routine recce (reconnaissance) mission.” This “low-risk” mission turns into a nightmare as Tanner and his stranded patrol fight back waves of Nazis to not save their own lives, but also to protect a mysterious Norwegian professor who may turn the tide of the war in the Allies favour if he’s brought back safely to their lines. But it isn’t that easy. Their mission is fraught with danger and the soldiers must bond together to survive one of the most disorganized retreats in British history.

 

James Holland like all historical fiction writers needs to have done his homework and know his history to write a believable book like this. In fact, for me it was so believable that I was astonished to find out that Jack Tanner didn’t exist! Holland’s writing style is to cram twists, amazing fighting scenes and unforgettable dialogue in every chapter and in every window of opportunity. Many times that doesn’t work out, and authors go bust. But James Holland is very talented, which is what enables him to write a good book such as this.

 

My favorite parts of the book were the fighting sequences. My heart was pumping as I read over the pages that had amazing descriptions of massive gunfights between the desperate British and the ruthless Nazis. I always cheered for Jack and his men, and when one of them died, I felt sad!

 

While doing my research on the Internet, I couldn’t find out anything more about the 

author except that there is a second book in the series, The Darkest Hour. So I decided to explore the Norwegian campaign, which is not as well known as some of the other campaigns. The Norwegian campaign essentially started because vital shipments of iron ore from Sweden had to cross through Norwegian port of Narvik to get to Germany. Hitler was worried that if the Allies took Norway these shipments would be destroyed. So he sent a good-sized force of 20,000 men to Norway and within weeks the Blitzkrieg had done its damage. An emergency force of British and French troops was dispatched to destroy the Nazi presence in Norway. But after nearly a year of bitter fighting, the Allies knew this was one battle they could not win. They lost because all the British and French supplies were on one ship, which was sunk, and the British were stupid enough to push forward even as casualties mounted. But the evacuation from Andalsnes was one of the best pieces of organization in history, enabling many lives to be saved. But it was also a defeat for the Germans. By the end of the campaign, the Kreigsmarine had just three cruisers and four destroyers left. The Norwegian Resistance was a constant fly in the ointment, and by 1945 the country had lost any strategic significance.

 

The Odin Mission was an awesome book, and I hope to read the next book in the series. As with Under a War-Torn sky, this is a must read for historical war fiction lovers.