A person that really inspires me is Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin, or Nastia Liukin, a world famous gymnast. She has many characteristics to describe her, but no matter what, she is always perseverant, smart, and hard working.
I think Nastia Liukin is perseverant because, even though she’s really good at gymnastics, she never stops trying to do better and get even bigger skills. She never gives up and tries her hardest every day.
Nastia Liukin is also very smart because she is good at balancing her time between gymnastics and having a normal life. She is really good at gymnastics and practices every day, but Nastia still has time to go on facebook to chat with her friends and go to the movies.
Nastia is extremely hard- working. To be and stay that talented , you have to practice a lot. She has two practices every day and wakes up at around six in the morning for her first practice. Also, Nastia Liukin is only twenty years old, and she has already gone to the Olympics, won a gold medal, created her own move on beam and even started her own line of gymnastics apparel.
Anastasia Valeryevna Liukin is a very good role model to me, and she inspires me to try harder in everything I do. I hope I can someday learn to balance my life like she does, so that way I can actually have time to hang out with friends. She will continue to inspire me throughout my life.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Things Not Seen- Book Report #2
I read the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. I think I would rate this book a 9.6 because I liked pretty much everything it, especially the friendship between Bobby and Alicia. They turned out to be best friends, and they would have never even met or paid attention to each other if Bobby wouldn’t have been invisible or if Alicia wouldn’t have been blind. I thought it was cool how they kept thinking up little experiments to see if anybody would help Bobby’s “situation”.
My favorite part of the book was when Bobby and Alicia were instant messaging each other, and Alicia came up with the idea that maybe if Bobby slept with his electric blanket again, he would become normal. He couldn’t become more invisible, so that sounded like a logical theory. When Bobby woke up the next morning, he was visible again! Alicia, the little blind girl who everyone usually ignored and felt sorry for was the one who fixed the whole problem!
The only part I really didn’t like was Sheila. Sheila is a girl that is in the same “situation” as Bobby. She has been invisible for three years, but has had a pretty good life that way. When Bobby finds out how to become visible again, he calls Sheila, thinking she would be thrilled, but instead she had a kind of surprising answer. She said thanks for calling, but she likes her life exactly the way it is, and likes being invisible. She didn’t want to go back to normal again, and Bobby understood, but I thought that that was kind of weird. If I could rewrite that part of the book, I would have made Sheila be relieved that Bobby found the cure and she would have turned back to normal and would live happily ever after. On the other hand, if it would have gone that way in the book, it would have made that part really predictable, and I probably would have wanted to change it again. I guess that the author has to add these little quirks so people don’t get bored and quit reading. So maybe the book should stay exactly the way it was written in the first place.
My favorite part of the book was when Bobby and Alicia were instant messaging each other, and Alicia came up with the idea that maybe if Bobby slept with his electric blanket again, he would become normal. He couldn’t become more invisible, so that sounded like a logical theory. When Bobby woke up the next morning, he was visible again! Alicia, the little blind girl who everyone usually ignored and felt sorry for was the one who fixed the whole problem!
The only part I really didn’t like was Sheila. Sheila is a girl that is in the same “situation” as Bobby. She has been invisible for three years, but has had a pretty good life that way. When Bobby finds out how to become visible again, he calls Sheila, thinking she would be thrilled, but instead she had a kind of surprising answer. She said thanks for calling, but she likes her life exactly the way it is, and likes being invisible. She didn’t want to go back to normal again, and Bobby understood, but I thought that that was kind of weird. If I could rewrite that part of the book, I would have made Sheila be relieved that Bobby found the cure and she would have turned back to normal and would live happily ever after. On the other hand, if it would have gone that way in the book, it would have made that part really predictable, and I probably would have wanted to change it again. I guess that the author has to add these little quirks so people don’t get bored and quit reading. So maybe the book should stay exactly the way it was written in the first place.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Things Not Seen- Book Report #1
I read the book Things Not Seen by Andrew Clements. The main character is Bobby Phillips, and the biggest choice he had to make was whether he wanted to tell everybody about his invisibility or hide his invisibility. Bobby chose to hide his invisibility. I would have made the same choice because if Bobby told people about invisibility, he would probably become some kind of lab rat because everyone would be trying to do tests on him, trying to figure out how it happened. Also, if people found out how to become invisible, there would be invisible people all over. It would be easier for burglars to rob people, because no one would be able to see them!
Another choice Bobby had to make was whom he could trust. As soon as he found out he was invisible that dreaded Monday morning, the first thing he did was tell his parents. That’s the way Bobby’s parents wanted it to stay, just them knowing, and no one else. But Bobby met this blind girl named Alicia at the library, and when she touched his shoulder, there was nothing there, just skin, what was Bobby supposed to say? He decided to tell Alicia the truth, and later on they became best friends. He knew that he could trust Alicia. Bobby’s parents weren’t too happy when they found out that their son had blabbed about his “situation” to another person, especially one he had just met, but they grew to understand Bobby’s decision.
I think I would have made the same decision Bobby made because, if he didn’t trust Alicia, he would have been all alone, with no one to keep him from really losing himself. That’s what Alicia had said when she had first gone blind. She said she would have lost her mind if she didn’t have anything left of her old life, of the way it was before she was blind, and I think Bobby felt the same way. With Alicia, he had something to make him feel semi-normal again. Bobby didn’t choose to be invisible, it just happened one night, and I think if I had to choose, I wouldn’t want to be invisible either. You wouldn’t be able to do most of the things you used to do when you were normal, and even staying home from school that long would get boring. I think I would choose to stay exactly who I am.
Another choice Bobby had to make was whom he could trust. As soon as he found out he was invisible that dreaded Monday morning, the first thing he did was tell his parents. That’s the way Bobby’s parents wanted it to stay, just them knowing, and no one else. But Bobby met this blind girl named Alicia at the library, and when she touched his shoulder, there was nothing there, just skin, what was Bobby supposed to say? He decided to tell Alicia the truth, and later on they became best friends. He knew that he could trust Alicia. Bobby’s parents weren’t too happy when they found out that their son had blabbed about his “situation” to another person, especially one he had just met, but they grew to understand Bobby’s decision.
I think I would have made the same decision Bobby made because, if he didn’t trust Alicia, he would have been all alone, with no one to keep him from really losing himself. That’s what Alicia had said when she had first gone blind. She said she would have lost her mind if she didn’t have anything left of her old life, of the way it was before she was blind, and I think Bobby felt the same way. With Alicia, he had something to make him feel semi-normal again. Bobby didn’t choose to be invisible, it just happened one night, and I think if I had to choose, I wouldn’t want to be invisible either. You wouldn’t be able to do most of the things you used to do when you were normal, and even staying home from school that long would get boring. I think I would choose to stay exactly who I am.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Feeling Sorry for Celia -setting
The book Feeling Sorry for Celia is written in letters, so it doesn’t really explain the setting that much, but the entire book takes place in Australia. But being more specific, one of the places that Elizabeth went was Coffs Harbour. She went there with her friend Saxton to rescue Celia from the circus she ran away too. The three stayed in Saxton’s aunt’s house, and Elizabeth writes that the house has a really big window overlooking the beach. The ocean moves around lazily and the sand is a beautiful white. Coffs Harbour is located in the northeast region of New South Wales. I think I would really like to visit Coffs Harbor because it looks like a really beautiful and peaceful city. There is a 90km string of beaches that makes up the Coffs coast!
Another place that Elizabeth goes to is Double Bay. Her dad is living there for a year while he’s in Australia for his job (and her half-brother and her dad’s wife are living there too, but her dad never tells her). Also, her pen- pal Christina’s cousin Maddie lives in Double Bay and goes to Trinity Ladies College, but that is not really important. Double Bay is in Sydney, which is on the South East edge of Australia.
At first, I thought that the book took place in present time. I thought that because the characters in the book kind of have to deal with the same problems and pressures that people in our generation have to go through. The whole book talks about how strong Celia and Elizabeth’ s friendship was and had been since they were babies, but then they started drifting apart because they got different interests. I think that lots of kids have to go through that, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that it’s present time. Most people have always had to go through something like that. Then I realized that the whole book is written in letters, and never once talks about e-mailing people or texting people or even having cell phones! If it took place in present day, the fifteen year old main characters most likely would have had cell phones, or at least e-mail. I looked at the copyright of the book and it was published in 2000, so I’m guessing that the book took place in the 1990’s. That makes my first guess wrong.
Another place that Elizabeth goes to is Double Bay. Her dad is living there for a year while he’s in Australia for his job (and her half-brother and her dad’s wife are living there too, but her dad never tells her). Also, her pen- pal Christina’s cousin Maddie lives in Double Bay and goes to Trinity Ladies College, but that is not really important. Double Bay is in Sydney, which is on the South East edge of Australia.
At first, I thought that the book took place in present time. I thought that because the characters in the book kind of have to deal with the same problems and pressures that people in our generation have to go through. The whole book talks about how strong Celia and Elizabeth’ s friendship was and had been since they were babies, but then they started drifting apart because they got different interests. I think that lots of kids have to go through that, but that wouldn’t necessarily mean that it’s present time. Most people have always had to go through something like that. Then I realized that the whole book is written in letters, and never once talks about e-mailing people or texting people or even having cell phones! If it took place in present day, the fifteen year old main characters most likely would have had cell phones, or at least e-mail. I looked at the copyright of the book and it was published in 2000, so I’m guessing that the book took place in the 1990’s. That makes my first guess wrong.
Feeling Sorry for Celia - theme
In the book Feeling Sorry for Celia, I think there are a couple themes. One of them could be that “it doesn’t matter what other people think of you, it just matters what you think of yourself”. At the beginning of the book, the main character Elizabeth keeps getting notes from all these clubs like “The Association of Teenagers” and “The Society of People Who Are Definitely Going to Fail High School” that tell her that she is an embarrassment to teenagerhood and that she is going to fail because she is not doing any homework or studying. She is always feeling really self conscious, and never really talks to anyone except her best friend Celia. But at the end of the book, when the clubs are saying mean things about her in the letters, she finally writes them back and says that her life is going great, and the next time they write to her she will flush the letter down the toilet instead of reading it.
Another theme this book could have is “When one door closes, two others open”.
Elizabeth has some hard times in her life, but always seems to find a bright side. Like when Celia ran away to join the circus and was gone for a really long time, Elizabeth would write to her pen pal Christina, and later on they became best friends. When Elizabeth starts to really like this boy named Saxton and then he asks Celia out, she starts getting these anonymous notes from a guy from Christina’s school who has a big crush on her. Every time something bad comes into Elizabeth’s life, she always finds something positive.
A third theme could be “You don’t need a lot of friends to make you happy; you just need one really special friend.” At the beginning of the book, Elizabeth only has one friend, which is Celia, and they do everything together. But when Celia runs away, Elizabeth is left by herself with no one to talk to. She tries to make friends with other girls in her school, but she doesn’t find any that she would really like to hang out with. So she just keeps writing to her pen pal Christina about how she misses Celia and is worried about her. And that makes her feel better. The two are always writing to each other, and they become best friends.
Another theme this book could have is “When one door closes, two others open”.
Elizabeth has some hard times in her life, but always seems to find a bright side. Like when Celia ran away to join the circus and was gone for a really long time, Elizabeth would write to her pen pal Christina, and later on they became best friends. When Elizabeth starts to really like this boy named Saxton and then he asks Celia out, she starts getting these anonymous notes from a guy from Christina’s school who has a big crush on her. Every time something bad comes into Elizabeth’s life, she always finds something positive.
A third theme could be “You don’t need a lot of friends to make you happy; you just need one really special friend.” At the beginning of the book, Elizabeth only has one friend, which is Celia, and they do everything together. But when Celia runs away, Elizabeth is left by herself with no one to talk to. She tries to make friends with other girls in her school, but she doesn’t find any that she would really like to hang out with. So she just keeps writing to her pen pal Christina about how she misses Celia and is worried about her. And that makes her feel better. The two are always writing to each other, and they become best friends.
Feeling Sorry for Celia- character1
In the book Feeling Sorry for Celia, the main character is Elizabeth Clarry. The book doesn’t really describe what she looks like, but when she meets her pen pal Christina, she says that Elizabeth is really pretty. Also, someone once said that she looked like and elf, because she has really pointy ears. The only makeup she wears is banana-flavored lip gloss, if that even counts as makeup. In her room, she doesn’t have any posters except for one that her mom designed. She has a paper chain made of Christmas cards hanging from her curtain rod and a Little Mermaid quilt cover. Elizabeth’s an only child and has a dog named Lochie. She and her mom live near Double Bay, Australia. Her dad left them when Elizabeth was little and now lives in Canada with his wife and child, Richard Clarry (who is Elizabeth’s half-brother and is only three months younger than her.) When her dad visits, he always take her out to a fancy restaurant and buys her wine to see if Elizabeth can taste the special flavor in it (Elizabeth never really tastes anything in it other than red wine, at least not anything good). They never know what to talk about, so the dinners are always pretty awkward. Elizabeth’s fifteen years old and goes to a Catholic school. She barely ever does her homework, and instead writes papers on why she shouldn’t do it. She loves volleyball and long distance running, and in the book she runs in the Forest Hill half marathon and finishes in the top five! At the beginning of the book, Elizabeth is very shy and self-conscious. Her only friend is Celia Buckley, who someone on their bus described as a “fairy-princess”. Celia is kind of an odd person. She’s running away all the time and loves to do adventurous (which are mostly dangerous) things. When Celia runs away, Elizabeth’s usually by herself, an outcast of the school. She’s also a very sarcastic person always saying things like “I think it’s stupid to spoil a good book by writing an essay on it, so I’m not going to write one” or “the guy next to me just coughed and I saw a little splat of gooey green stuff land on my math book, so I am not going to do math”. Throughout the entire book, she’s a really funny and interesting character.
Feeling Sorry for Celia - Recommendation
I read the book Feeling Sorry for Celia by Jaclyn Moriarty, and I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. I really liked the whole book, but was kind of confused at how the book was all written in letters. It was kind of weird that when the different clubs and societies wrote to Elizabeth, they wrote things about the other clubs’ letters. Like when one club would say “Elizabeth, you should stop running in marathons” another club would say “Don’t listen to that club, keep on going!”. It was a little less confusing after you got used to it and got farther on in the book. I also didn’t like how Celia kept running away. First she ran away and join the circus, then Elizabeth rescued her, next she ran away with Saxton (her boyfriend) to go jump off a cliff, but she was stopped, and after that she ran away with Saxton, Maddie (Christina’s cousin) and Maddie’s boyfriend to go to New York, but were found and stopped before they could get plane tickets. Why did she keep running away? Why not just stay at her house? Well, Celia was already a peculiar person, maybe the author just added in to make the book more interesting.
I think my favorite part in the book was when Elizabeth and Saxton rescued Celia from the circus she ran away to. They brought Celia to Saxton’s aunt’s house and had to stay there for a long time after because Celia was so sick. I like this part because I thought it was really cool that Elizabeth would do all that for her best friend. But it made me kind of sad when they got back from Saxton’s aunt’s house and started going back to school again that Elizabeth and Celia were drifting apart.
I don’t really know who I would recommend this book to, but I’d recommend it. The book is mostly about friends and Elizabeth learning to like who she is, so I’m guessing that mostly only girls would read this book. The book doesn’t really take a huge amount of time to read because the end of every part’s always the beginning of something suspenseful. Elizabeth’s always trying to think of a way to save Celia from what ever crazy idea that came to her head and made her run away. The book’s really unpredictable and exciting.
I think my favorite part in the book was when Elizabeth and Saxton rescued Celia from the circus she ran away to. They brought Celia to Saxton’s aunt’s house and had to stay there for a long time after because Celia was so sick. I like this part because I thought it was really cool that Elizabeth would do all that for her best friend. But it made me kind of sad when they got back from Saxton’s aunt’s house and started going back to school again that Elizabeth and Celia were drifting apart.
I don’t really know who I would recommend this book to, but I’d recommend it. The book is mostly about friends and Elizabeth learning to like who she is, so I’m guessing that mostly only girls would read this book. The book doesn’t really take a huge amount of time to read because the end of every part’s always the beginning of something suspenseful. Elizabeth’s always trying to think of a way to save Celia from what ever crazy idea that came to her head and made her run away. The book’s really unpredictable and exciting.
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