Because I am apparently behind the rest of the population in the 7th grade, I just now (yes, JUST NOW) read the Hunger Games. I know. Shame on me. And I really was wrong to wait this long to read it because it just as good as everyone said it was. I did notice though that it wasn’t quite as gory as people said. They made it sound NASTY! I didn’t think it was all that bad. But the point is that this was a really good book for all (maybe not ALL) ages and genders. I read it in a day over spring break. I liked it a lot, but I wouldn’t say it was the best book I ever read or anything. I would still definitely read the other ones though. I would call it a good vacation read.

My team praying with Pedro

I wanted to post a thank-you to my soccer coach because we just started our last season together as a team, and he’s the reason why we are all so close. Pedro may yell at us and say “No! That’s bad! We talk about that!”, but at the end of every hard practice, at the end of every game we lose, he never forgets to tell us, “I love you all, equally. Now get in a circle and pray.” He has nicknames for all of us (Mine’s Horsey), and thousands of inside jokes. (Some of which include deer and Kim Kardashian. Don’t ask, it’s a long story.) I wish all coaches could take Pedro lessons because he’s the type of coach who you want to give everything for. We would go to the end of the Earth for Pedro, and the best part is, we know he would do the same for us. I’ve known this song for a long time, but I never found an appropriate person to use it for until now. Do you know anyone who this song applies to?

Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone,
But in my mind,
I know they will still live on and on,
But how do you thank someone, who has taken you from crayons to perfume?
It isn’t easy, but I’ll try,

If you wanted the sky I would write across the sky in letters,
That would soar a thousand feet high,
To Sir, with Love

The time has come,
For closing books and long last looks must end,
And as I leave,
I know that I am leaving my best friend,
A friend who taught me right from wrong,
And weak from strong,
That’s a lot to learn,
What, what can I give you in return?

If you wanted the moon I would try to make a start,
But I, would rather you let me give my heart,
To Sir, with Love

-To Sir, with Love

     The Dead and the Gone by Susan Beth Pfeffer is about a 17 year old boy named Alex living in New York city with his two sisters, mother and father. His father is out of the country and his mother is at work when an asteroid hits the moon, knocking it dangerously close to Earth. Tsunami’s, floods, storms, and volcanic eruptions follow. Alex is forced to care for his siblings and do everything he can to keep them all alive. Although I think that it was a good idea for a story, the book, like the series Twilight, wasn’t well written. I kept waiting for it to get better, or a interesting twist in the plot to grab my attention, but it never came. Nothing happened. It was about Alex’s eternal struggle, and everything was always one step forward, two steps back, so it wasn’t a very interesting read. At the beginning, I was on Alex’s side, but by the end, I found myself thinking, “If I were put in this situation, I think I could do better.” I really don’t recommend this book, unless you want to be aggravated beyond belief with the main character.