Tag Archives: writing

The Weight of Water–Letter Essay #6 Bianca Jortner

Recently, I read the book The Weight of Water, a 210-page poetry book by Sarah Crossan, an Irish author. The Weight of Water was published in 2011 and was nominated for the Carnegie Medal. This book is unique because of its poetic-style throughout the whole book while telling a meaningful story. “The Weight of Water” … Continue reading The Weight of Water–Letter Essay #6 Bianca Jortner

Collaborative Letter Essay #9- Lord of the Flies

Dear Blog Readers,   Recently, we read a 286-page dystopian novel titled Lord of the Flies by William Golding. The author attended Oxford University and his book Lord of the Flies was published in 1954 in London, England. It has sold millions of copies worldwide and has been translated into numerous languages.The author also received … Continue reading Collaborative Letter Essay #9- Lord of the Flies

Harrison’s Letter Essay #9: The Lost Track of Time by Paige Britt

Dear Reader, I have recently completed reading a 305 page fictionalized fantasy piece of literature. Said book is named The Lost Track of Time and was dreamed up by Paige Britt with the drawings every now and again so amazingly illustrated by Lee White. Britt has only written a few books as she is a … Continue reading Harrison’s Letter Essay #9: The Lost Track of Time by Paige Britt

Harrison’s Letter Essay #7: Divergent

Dear Reader, I have recently finished reading a 487-paged, realistic fiction, dystopian book named Divergent by Veronica Roth. Veronica is now a world-wide known author for her amazing stories that she continues to write to this day. She got the idea for this series when she was in college and it was a hit. It … Continue reading Harrison’s Letter Essay #7: Divergent

Melissa’s Letter Essay #5: The Fifth Wave

Recently I have finished the 460 page science fiction The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey novel recently. I really enjoyed this book because of the unique idea. The main character is a girl named Cassie (Cassiopeia) Sullivan, even though the perspectives change each part, all the other perspectives are very closely related to her and … Continue reading Melissa’s Letter Essay #5: The Fifth Wave

Why I Hate Teenagers

I’ll always remember this moment.   Always.   In my last moment of death I will remember this moment. This story, this experience is  basically drilled into my brain forever and ever. The fact of the matter is that I’m basically  drowning right now. Goodbye friends, goodbye family. How ​did​ it get to this?     An hour before I was completely fine, sitting on the grass next to a murky lake making a pile  of rocks for no particular reason. I always did pointless things back in 4th grade, just to fill  the lonely time at my brothers baseball games. Of course, I should be bored at baseball, I  mean after all it was just a bunch of boys trying to hit a small ball with a big bat. The sun  was shining high in the sky with the smell of hotdogs and other junk food in the air, children  were screaming and yelling in the distance as wind rustled through the trees.  Nothing special here.  “Hey Johanna come over here.” Jeez louise, a 7th grader, talking to me? This never  happened because I was of course only 9. A real life teenager actually freaked me out.  What if I said something dumb? What if she doesn’t like me? This 7th grader was named  Hailey and we had sort of a friendship. If I saw her anywhere besides baseball she would  ignore me. It was weird. I walked over.   “Yeah what is it?” I said with curiosity  “It’s way too hot out, maybe we should go swimming.”  “Umm I don’t know if that’s the best idea. Isn’t the lake infested or something?”   “I’m sure it’s perfectly fine, nobody will notice. Why don’t you go first?”  This is where the trouble starts.   Right here.  The truth is back then I absolutely fell for peer pressure, especially from someone older. My  mind went blank and I couldn’t think. I stood up straight and faced her.   “I don’t think I should, the lake probably has snapping turtles.” I timidly explained.  “Yeah right you’re just using excuses. If you don’t go in I’ll tell everyone you’re a baby.”  I ​again ​could not think straight. My mind clouded with pictures of everybody calling me a  baby and making fun of me.  “Fine.”  Why had I said that? I couldn’t swim well. The lake was filled with creatures and dirt and  darkness and little kids peering over the edge looking to their doom if they fell over. I was  terrified of it. Little beads of sweat were coming down my face from the sun and the stare of  Hailey. We were both standing on the dock now to the water, looking down I peered into the  despicable, disgusting, downright dirty lake. Why oh why had I agreed to this? I knew I was  going to do it one way or another. Swimming was not my thing at the time and the lake was  about 50 feet deep. I took a running start and hopped in. Water clogged my nose as my  body submerged into the cold dark water. My feet and hands started to tangle with water  weed and I knew I couldn’t keep above the water for long. At this very moment in my life I  decided that I hated teenagers. Being convinced that theyĺl look cool if they get some  random kid to go swimming was not someone I wanted to hang out with. Cold water shot at  my body like bullets and my breath was knocked out of me as I struggled to keep my head  above the muddy substance. I bobbed once, went under all the way and got back up. I  bobbed twice, struggling to make it back up. The third bob under was the one I was sure  my life would end by. Suddenly a hand grabbed me and I knew I was saved this time. The  mystery hand grabbed me and pulled me up on the dock with all of its strength. The most  surprising thing was the identity of the hand. It was Hailey. Jeez, did I look like a baby now.   “It’s fine that you couldn’t swim very well, I thought you could by now.”  “Yeah I’m not the strongest swimmer.” I replied without looking her in the eye.  I was so embarrassed.  A teenager had finally talked to me, and I had made a fool out f myself. Not my best day.  As I trudged back up to my parents I knew I was in big trouble. My new soccer uniform that   I had been wearing was ruined with waterweed and disgusting clumps of dirt and plants.  My parents were not happy to see me. They scolded me about what I had done for a week  … Continue reading Why I Hate Teenagers

Gabi, Where Are You From?

I’m from days on the beach, attempting to tan my Scottish-Irish skin, but soon giving in to the calling surf.   I’m from sword fights in the basement, the clash of plastic against plastic that will determine which brother controls the video console.   I’m from firefly nights on the back porch, with creaky swings … Continue reading Gabi, Where Are You From?

Reading Reflection

I read 44 books this trimester (the second trimester). I read a lot of books that I wouldn’t usually read this trimester, I read some traditional literature, poetry and historical fiction. I also read some challenging books such as ¨13 Reasons Why¨ which is high school level. And I think that it’s fine to read … Continue reading Reading Reflection