Dani+Meadows

=Last Blog= January 6th, 2011

I read a new book over winter break and finished it. It was called //Amy// by Mary Hooper. In this novel, the main character Amy is in high school. Naturally, she goes through a difficult time during school like most people. To add onto that, two best friends have abandoned her and she feels lonely, betrayed and vulnerable. To temporarily cure this loneliness, she goes onto a chatroom website on which she can talk to people who don't know her personally. She likes the idea of talking to strangers, because they know absolutely nothing about her. She finds it refreshing.

After a few days of talking to random strangers online, she meets a boy under the alias of Zed, and their online relationship quickly develops. Amy is thrilled to consider him her boyfriend even though they've never actually met in real life. She's lonely and fragile, and finds any sort of attention to be a strange, yet pleasurable thing. Against her own better judgement and despite her parent's warnings, she travels by train with her friend to the town in which Zed supposedly lives. They meet in the train station. Amy thought Zed was much more attractive online; which makes her question if he used a real picture or not. They then travel to a n isolated beach where he slips her a "date rape" drug and takes nude photographs of her while she's unconscious. Later, she has no memory of what happened until she discovers her shirt on backward and starts to have realistic dreams of her experience. Amy's new, closest friend Beaky, helps Amy trap Zed and turn him in to the police.

I loved this book. The author really captured teenage emotions in this. It's also written well to potentially raise awareness of internet dangers and manipulation with an ending that I would never have predicted. With this book, I believe the author tackled somewhat difficult subjects in a sensitive and effective way. The events in this novel can be a little scary at times, and some events are even slightly disturbing. In this novel, Amy explains how important friendships are and prejudice against victims of bullying which can be very relatable to modern-day teenagers. It's not very long, and it's relatively fast paced, so there's no temptation to forget about it. It stays in your mind for a while. I honestly couldn't stop reading it. I believe this book is a cautionary story that is entirely realistic for modern teenagers with all of the somewhat new and potentially dangerous social networking and chat websites. I don't think this book was ever "preachy", which sort of surprised me because the plot was so realistic yet dangerous.

My thoughts on this Wiki are pretty good. I think it's nice to have a class that utilizes technology so much - it's kind of a rare thing to find in this school. For some, the technology is a bad thing because of their lack of immediate internet access. A majority of the students, though, have that access, and I believe it's a very helpful thing to have. There is a large amount of useful information on this English class on certain Wikis that have been created, and I found that to be very helpful when I've been ill. Due dates for assignments are boldly posted on these Wikis, which makes it much easier to remember when things are due, and then being able to type them rather than manually write them are a big time saver. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =__Third Blog of 2nd Quarter__= __December 6th, 2010__

This is Dani Meadows and I'm still reading //Catcher in the Rye// by J.D. Sallinger.

Holden only payed his "lady of the night" the five dollars. She claimed that the price was ten, but he refuses to pay her more, and she left in a huff.

Holden sat in his hotel room and smoked for a while. I think he smokes to calm down, but in actuality, it doesn't help - he just thinks it does. He then remembers an incident shortly before his brother Allie’s death when Holden left Allie out from a BB-gun game - he still feels guilty for leaving Allie out. Eventually, Holden goes to bed. He feels like praying, but his distaste for organized religion prevents him from following through on this. Suddenly, there is a knock at his door. In his pajamas, Holden opens the door to face the elevator operator he had met earlier, Maurice, who has returned with Sunny (the prostitute) to collect the extra five dollars Sunny previously demanded. Holden tries to refuse, but Maurice pins him against a wall while Sunny takes the money from his wallet. Maurice snaps his finger into Holden’s groin, and Holden starts to insult him in response. Maurice punches Holden in the stomach and leaves him crumpled on the floor. Holden then imagines himself as a movie character, taking his revenge on Maurice after having been shot in the gut with a gangster’s bullet. Finally, he manages to go to sleep.

The next morning, Holden calls a girl he knew from school named Sally and makes a date with her for later that afternoon. He checks out of the hotel and leaves his bags in a locker at Grand Central Station. He fears that he'll run into Maurice again if he exits the hotel, but gladly doesn't.

I think the character of Holden is very unique. In most books I've read in the past few years, characters are very one-sided. They only think about the problems they're facing and what they're going to do to resolve that issue in a logical, but in a redundant and cliché sort of way that is used in nearly every becoming of age novel. In reality, though, most people use lots of imagination to solve their problems, and to brainstorm what may happen. I think Holden uses his imagination well. The part where he imagines himself as a movie character is very well-written and when I read it, I could see Holden as that movie character. Though he wasn't really a movie character seeking revenge on Maurice, I could see him doing that in my mind because of how well the author described what was going on in Holden's imagination. = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =__Second Blog of 2nd Quarter__= __November 19th, 2010__

This is Dani Meadows and I'm still reading //Catcher In the Rye// by J.D. Sallinger. As I read more of this book, the more I like it.

The first thing Holden did when he got off the train was go to a phone booth. He wanted to call someone - more specifically, someone from his family, but he was too scared that they would discover that he got kicked out of school. Instead, he calls a cab and goes to his hotel that he will be staying in for quite a while. He goes to a few bars and drinks, even though he's underaged, and meets a few girls. They irritate Holden immensely, so he makes up a lie in order to leave.

He walks all the way back to the hotel, and Holden continues to get Jane on his mind. It's rather obvious he misses her, or wishes they were in a relationship. After sitting in the lobby of the hotel for quite a while, thinking about Jane, he gets into an elevator. A stranger on the elevator asks him if he'd "like a little tail". Holden says yes, because he's bored and lonely, so he gives the mysterious man his room number.

Holden gets quite excited for the arrival of his woman of the night. When she finally comes to the door, Holden expects an old, unattractive woman. He discovers that she's actually rather beautiful in a trashy sort of way. Holden gets frightened and no longer wishes to do anything with the woman except talk. The woman wants to do her job, but Holden continues with conversation. She gets antsy and decides to leave, and forces Holden to pay her for the 30 minutes of conversation.

I think Holden is perhaps self-medicating with the alcohol, so it makes him temporarily forget about his stresses. It appears as though Holden yearns for companionship because he didn't choose to do the things with the woman, but chose to talk instead. He seems like an extremely alienated and lonely person, even more so now that he has left his school. In my opinion, Holden made the right decision by talking to the woman rather than doing what she was hired for, because I believe Holden would have felt even more depressed and alone for stooping that low. = = = = = = =__First Blog of 2nd Quarter__= (November 4th, 2010)

This is Dani Meadows and I'm currently reading //Catcher in the Rye// by J.D. Sallinger. I chose this novel because a friend of mine said it was good; a classic even - so I read a summary of the novel and it sounded like an appealing and smart story to me. I found this book in the library at school.

The novel begins with the main character, Holden Caulfield, writing from a rest home to which he has been sent for therapy. He begins to tell the story of his "breakdown", beginning with his departure from Pencey Prep, a famous school he attended in Pennsylvania. He didn't apply himself to school, and in result of that, only passed one class - English. He got kicked out of the school because of this. Holden searched for a way to say "goodbye" to the school and did this by visiting his favorite teacher, Mr. Spencer. He had a last-minute fight with Stradlater, his room mate, because Holden had found out that Stradlater was with his previous crush, Jane Gallagher. Stradlater went on a date with Jane and ordered Holden to complete his English essay for him.  He wrote this essay in a very descriptive manner about his deceased brother, Allie's, baseball mitt. It was a unique baseball mitt because it had Allie's own poems written all over it. Holden described Allie as the "most intelligent member of his family", and when he died, Holden didn't know how to handle himself. He slept in the garage for weeks after the death and broke all of the windows with his bare fists.

After finishing the essay, Holden sits and talks to his increasingly annoying guest named Ackley. They discuss religion - a very sensitive topic for Ackley. Holden becomes irritated by Ackley's "phoniness" and leaves the dorm. He decides to leave for New York because he will be kicked out of school very soon anyway. Holden decides against calling anyone to inform him of his travels because he fears that his parents will find out, and he wants time for them to fully digest that he had been kicked out of the prestigious school. He doesn't say anything to anyone before his departure, except for yelling "sleep tight, ya morons!" to the boys on his floor before stepping outside to leave Pencey forever.  Holden walks the entire way to the train station and catches a late train to New York. While on the train, an attractive older woman gets on and sits next to him. She turns out to be the mother of his classmate, Ernest Morrow. He dislikes Ernest immensely, but tells enormous lies about him to his mother, claiming that he is the most popular boy on campus and would have been elected class president if he’d let the other boys nominate him. Holden tells her his own name is Rudolph Schmidt, which is actually the school janitor’s name. When she asks why he is leaving Pencey early, Holden claims to be returning to New York for a brain tumor operation.

I absolutely love this book so far. I think I can relate to Holden in lots of ways. There are not exactly substantial similarities between I and Holden's life, but I still feel as though I can relate to him. I think he suffers from profound amounts of alienation by being sent to Pencey Prep - especially after his brother, Allie, died. I think that after such a tragic death like his, their family should be close instead of sending Holden away to some foreign state to go to some fancy school by force. I think Holden is an extremely realistic character - so realistic that I feel as though I'm reading the journal of a close friend whenever I open the book. Holden is quite witty, funny and smart, and his personality has many different layers rather than being boringly one-dimensional, which I find to be an essential part to a well-written and good book.

I think, so far, that this book is about Holden's quest to find eternal happiness for the first time in his life. I think he strives to do the right thing and to be content with his life, but certain things get in his way to prevent that from happening. In my opinion, he needs to find peace within himself before he can branch out to people in a polite and honest manner and become less alienated.

**__ Last Blog of 1st Quarter (2nd Blog) __**

 * This is Danielle Meadows and I started and finished //Twilight// by Stephenie Meyer within the past two weeks. This book takes place in present Forks, Washington; a small, rainy, remote town. The main character, Bella Swan, moves from her mother's home in Arizona to her father's home in Washington, who she hasn't seen in quite some time. ** After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself drawn to a mysterious and handsome member of a tight-knit family, Edward Cullen. After days of research and assumptions, she eventually learns that this family is a clan of vampires who drink animal blood rather than human blood. The two fall in love, but Edward is very hesitant with her when it comes to physical affection. James, a rather sadistic vampire from another vampire clan, is drawn to hunt down Bella. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella as this occurs. Bella returns back to Arizona where she believes she is safe, but is eventually tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is severely wounded, but Edward rescues her by sucking James's venom out of her. The taste of human blood makes Edward go crazy, and he is almost forced off of her by his father, otherwise Edward would have killed her. Safely, though, Bella and the Cullens return to Forks, having killed James. I think Edward was strongly loved Bella if he continued to save her all of those times throughout the book, even though it was difficult for him to be in a relationship with a human rather than a vampire. Edward was constantly at risk of killing Bella, but he seemed to do well at holding himself back which was probably another sign that he really loved Bella. I think James and his clan represents evil in this book because he was set out to kill Bella and transform her into a vampire unwillingly, while the Cullens represent good because although Bella continued to get into trouble, the Cullens (more specifically Edward) would always get her out of that trouble, even though they didn't have to. I highly recommend this book because it's a good read about making choices and tough decisions, and the plot is pretty interesting. It is a bit lengthy, but once you get into the book you probably won't want to put it down.