Quarter 2- Blog #7 BREAKING DAWN

Over break I have continued reading Breaking Dawn. It is amazing! I am so sad that this is the last book of the series! I really think and hope that she decides to write another one! The thing inside Bella really was a baby. It was half vampire and half human so that’s why it was causing so many problems. Once the baby was removed from her body, Bella was about to die. Edward decided it was time and he injected venom into her to make her a vampire! This was the part I had been waiting to see if it would ever happen! I’m happy it did. Then when Bella woke up she was a whole new her and no one was sure how she would behave as a newborn vampire. Surprisingly, Bella was very in control of herself. The werewolves didn’t attack the Cullen’s because Jacob imprinted on Bella and Edwards new baby girl, Renesmee. Imprinting for a werewolf is when they fall in love with someone and then protecting that person becomes their life. Everything was going well, Bella even got to reunite with her father Charlie, which no one thought would be possible for a few years after she’d been changed. Then one day Alice had a vision. It was of the Volturi coming to attack their family and destroy Renesmee. The reason that they wanted the little girl destroyed was because she appeared to be an immortal child, which was illegal, and the Volturi are like the vampire police, so it was their duty to take care of the issue. Alice told the family to gather all their vampire friends to be witnesses when the Volturi came. Then one night Alice and Jasper disappear with nothing but a note apologizing that they had to leave this way. Bella finds a note in one of her books that says a name, and underneath, it says destroy this. Bella does what she is told and is determined to find out what the name means. I wonder what Alice and jasper are up to and I cant wait to find out more about what the Volturi plan to do.

Quarter 2- Blog #6 BREAKING DAWN

Since my last post a lot has happened in Breaking Dawn! It is so good and suspenseful that I can barely put it down. Her wedding was a success, and just as I suspected, Jacob Black did show up. All was going well until he started to freak out about what Edward and Bella might do on their honeymoon. He almost couldn’t contain himself, but his friends got him away before he could do any damage. Then Edward and Bella set of for their honeymoon. They arrived on a beautiful island, that Edward to Bella belonged to his family, specifically to his mom Esme. The island was called Isle Esme and it was a beautiful, warm, and majestic place. Even though it was very dangerous, Edward had agreed to try to make love with Bella even though she was human and he was a vampire. At first it was fine until Bella felt horribly ill. They went home early to see Carlisle, and sure enough, Bella was pregnant. Unlike a normal pregnancy, this one is killing Bella. The baby is too strong and growing to rapidly for Bella to carry. Jacob’s werewolf pack leader, Sam, hears about Bella and decides that the pack needs to attack the Cullen’s and kill Bella and the creature she is carrying before it kills anybody. Jacob and Seth refuse to do this and remove themselves from the pack, which is a big deal. I’m really curious about what will happen with Jacob and Seth on the Cullen’s side. I wonder if the werewolves will still attack! I cant wait to read more and see what really is inside Bella!

Quarter 2-Blog #5 BREAKING DAWN!

This week I started reading the last book in Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. I haven’t really gotten into it yet since I’ve only read the first few chapters but I think it will be very good! I heard from others who have read the series that this is one of the best, if not the best. As you know if you read Eclipse, Bella and Edward were engaged to be married. The first chapter starts with Bella being embarrassed from all the stares after she let Edward give her a safe car when her truck broke down, and unsurprisingly, he went over the top. Her wedding day keeps getting closer and even though she hates the idea of marriage in some ways, she is excited for his side of the bargain, which includes her transformation. Jacob Black, her best friend, has been missing for quite a while and she is very worried even though she knows he is fine. She knows this because since he is a werewolf, the other werewolves can hear his thoughts when he is in his wolf phase. The wedding was on the day of the chapter that I stopped reading, and I am very curious as to how the whole thing will play out. Will Jacob be there? I have no idea, but for some reason I feel like he will show up during the service. I’m also curious about her human friends from school, and if they show up how will they act towards Bella? There are so many unanswered questions, and so many things to come in this book! I can’t wait to read more tonight!

Annotated Bibliography

Research Question:

Should Illegal Immigrants be given the same rights as citizens?

Hendricks, Tyche. “Illegal immigrants choice: work underground or leave.”  San Francisco Chronicle 27 Aug. 2007. Edina High School, Edina. 7 Dec. 2008.  .

 

Tyche Hendricks is a staff writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. His article “Illegal immigrants choice: work underground or leave,” discuss’ the struggles that illegal immigrants are having with holding a job and the different laws that could make it impossible. It is very hard for all illegal immigrants to find a job to support themselves, but especially hard for immigrants with children. It is sad because most of the people just want to create a good life for their children where they can be educated. Jorge S. is among the immigrants with a family. He has three kids that he is trying to provide for everyday. He found work at a grocery store in East Bay grocery store as a clerk and is very nervous that he could lose his position. The law that the Bush administration was trying to put into effect was to restrict employers from from hiring undocumented workers. They say that illegal immigrants come to the United States for work because it pays better and that if they want to decrease the number coming, they have to make life miserable for illegal immigrants so that they want to leave. This is very cruel and would probably work in decreasing the number of illegal immigrants. The worst part is that it says it takes up to 17 years for those who want a citizenship to get it. This article really shows the discrimination in the workplace against illegal immigrants.

Research Question:

Should Illegal Immigrants be given the same rights as citizens?

Canedy, Dana.  “Hospitals Feeling Strain From Illegal Immigrants.”  The New York Times 25 Aug. 2002. Edina High School, Edina. 7 Dec. 2008 .

 Dana Canedy is a staff writer for the New York Times. In her article, “Hospitals Feeling Strain From Immigrants,” she talks about how Hospitals are struggling and losing money because they are caring for illegal immigrants who can’t afford the medical care they are requiring. In the article she has evidence from lawyers and people working at the hospital that shows what is happening. The hospital has people, like illegal immigrant Mr. Jimenez, showing up in need of emergency medical attention. In Mr. Jimenez’s case he needed care for his severe brain damage that was the result of a head on car collision. All of the treatments he needed cost the hospital nearly 1 million dollars that they will probably not get back since he is unable to pay. He has made the hospital his home at no cost to him, and Canedy talked to lawyer Michael banks who said, “The hospital is saying that he’s occupying a bed and we need to get him out.” Immigrants aren’t eligible for Medicaid, which also causes a lot of issues in the problem of what hospitals will accept them. This is an especially great problem in the Border States like Texas, and Arizona where the number of illegal immigrants is constantly rising. People like Mr. Austin feel that there needs to be a national program that would insure these individuals, or repay the hospitals when they are losing great deals of money. At this time the hospitals aren’t turning the ill patients away, but are instead being more aggressive in trying to find ways to release them. Mostly this article is showing how hospitals are being greatly affected because our country won’t allow the immigrants the rights to Medicaid and other insurance.

Quarter 2-Blog #4- CLAIRE

Since I finished Eclipse, the third book in the Twilight series, I had to find something new this week. Instead of reading a huge book again right away, at the airport I grabbed one of the summer collection Clique books. They aren’t really my age group but this one was an easy read for the plane to keep me occupied. The summer collection has five books, one for each character. The one I read was about Claire. Claire moved to New York in the first book, The Clique, from Florida and was constantly trying to be Massie, the popular girls friend. Now in this book they are friends but it is summer and Claire is back in her hometown of Kissimee, Florida. She is excited to see her old friends but things go haywire when the girls decide to compete in the annual Miss Kiss pageant. At first its all fun and games but the Claire is appointed to be a judge, since she had a role in a movie, and all of the sudden her friends seem to be using her. Then out of nowhere, with no warning Massie shows up! This is hard for Claire, because even thought she doesn’t want to be, she is two totally different people when with the different groups of friends. Massie decides to compete just to prove that she is always a winner, which makes things harder and more complicated for Claire. Claire decides to give her friends some pointers for the competition, but on the actual day everything goes wrong. After two of her old friends are eliminated, it comes down to Claire’s NY best friend, Massie, her Florida best friend, Amandy, and a local girl named Gracie. Trying to be fair Clair votes for Gracie, which makes both of her friends furious. In the end Massie forgives her but her other friends kind of part ways with her. As much is Claire is sad about this she knows NY is her home. This book was obviously more childish but it was still fun to read on the plane and I am planning on starting the last Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, very soon! I can’t wait!

Quarter 2-Blog #3- ECLIPSE

Over thanksgiving break I finished reading Eclipse. It was really good and full of suspense! At the bonfire the elders just told stories of the past which we interesting to hear about. Then everything becomes really intense because Alice sees an army of newborn vampires, who are really dangerous, coming to Forks. Everything starts to become connected between the killings in Seattle to the army coming to Forks, to the vampire who had been in Bella’s room. Another major thing that happens is that Jacob Black tells Bella that he is in love with her and without warning kisses her. She fell assaulted but he tells her that she loves him too. She is very confused and Edward is angry with Jacob. Then the Cullen’s realize that they will need to fight off the army that is coming for Bella, which makes Bella terrified for their safety, especially Edwards. Interestingly, the vampires and the werewolves end up making a truce or pact for this battle and ally themselves so that they can be a much stronger force and bring down the army easily. Bella ends up getting Edward to stay with her event though she feels guilty. Edward and Jacob also take Bella into the woods make different tracks to confuse the army. When they are camping out Jacob gets to sleep by Bella because there is a storm and he can keep her warm, unlike Edward who is ice cold. Meanwhile, Edward has proposed to Bella and of course, she said yes even though she hates the idea of marriage. Jacob realizes this and is very angry and heartbroken. While Edward is away for a little while Jacob tricks Bella into kissing him b y telling her he will kill himself if she doesn’t. Bella realizes that she does love him too and she begins to cry. Then the fight happens. Everything is going well until Victoria and her partner Riley find Bella and Edward. After a long suspenseful fight Edward wins and it seems to all be over until we hear that Jacob had been severely injured. Since he is a werewolf he will heal really fast but it is still hard for Bella to cope with. She goes to see him and in a way they say goodbye but not necessarily forever and Bella spends the whole not sobbing. Jane and Felix from another vampire coven called the Volturi, show up in the clearing after the fight and cause some disturbance by killing a vampire, and realizing that Bella is still human. Later Bella tells Alice that she can plan the wedding, which was her dream come true, and then she and Edward go up to their meadow where out of no where he tells her she can choose everything and that he was sorry for pushing extensions and deadlines on her, but once he says that she decides she wants to do it that way after all. At the end of the book it is Jacob talking which was weird but it was showing how he was trying to cope. He also received a wedding invitation from Edward with a note inside that said he wanted him to have the choice as to whether or not to come. I thought this was a nice thing to do since they are enemies and Jacob had trying to take Bella from Edward. I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one in the series, Breaking Dawn!

Quarter 2-Blog #2- ECLIPSE

So much happened in the chapters of Eclipse that I read this week! First of all Bella does go back to see Jacob, but it ends badly when he can’t control his anger and tells Bella that he would rather see her dead than as a vampire. This makes Bella really mad and she leaves and goes home. The next day she is home and in her room for the first time since her “slumber party” with Alice. She notices a bunch of things missing and cleaned up and just assumes it was Alice who had cleaned up. When Edward comes over he smells a scent he never had before and gets worried. Jacob calls to apologize about what he had said and Bella forgives him because he is her best friend. While they are on the phone Edward talks to him and they decide that Jacob should come and smell the scent to so that the werewolf side of the boundary can track the new person lurking around. Edward decides to check the paper and sure enough there is an article about a serial killer around town and Edward knows that this is a sign of a young vampire. This could be bad because that could send the Volturi to Forks to fix it, and if they do they might check on Bella to see if the Cullen’s had changed her yet like they promised. Jacob asked Bella to go to a bonfire in La Push and Edward is letting her. I wonder what will happen at the bonfire and if any of it will be bad! I also am really curious about who the person that had been in Bella’s room is. Everything is really suspenseful and it is hard to put the book down because I always want to know what’s going to happen next! I love it and can’t wait to read more!

Quarter 2- Blog #1- ECLIPSE

I decided to put off reading Nineteen Minutes for a little while because I really wanted to start reading Eclipse which is the third book in the very popular Twilight series. It is amazing so far! Edward is back and Jacob Black, Bella’s best friend and werewolf, wont see her even though he wants to. Edward is forbidding Bella from seeing him anyway, even though she really wants to. This is really hard because Jacob and Edward are enemies and both very strong so it would be stupid to try and argue with them. Alice, Edward’s sister has a vision that Victoria, the vampire out to kill Bella, has returned. Even though Edward knows he can keep her safe he decides to get her out of town and he and Bella go to Florida to see her mom. Neither of Bella’s parents particularly likes Edward after the whole incident where he left and put her into deep depression. When they get back from the trip Bella makes Edward tell her what is going on. Then one day when Edward is “hunting” Bella sneaks up to La Push to see Jacob. They spend the afternoon together talking and catching up. Bella finds out that Jacob also doesn’t grow older, but unlike Edward he eventually will once he is old enough to quit being a werewolf. Then sadly Bella has to leave knowing she will be in big trouble with Edward. She goes to her friend Angela’s to help her with a project, and then finally has to go home and face Edward. They fought for a while but both got over it for the time being. This book is so suspenseful and full of events! I can’t wait to read more! I wonder if now that she’s broken the ice once, Bella will continue sneaking out to La Push to se Jacob. I guess ill just have to wait and see!

Blog #7-Nineteen Minutes

For this week I decided to keep reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodie Picoult. The part I read this week was about what was going on seventeen years before the shooting. At the end of the chapter I read last week the police man was in the school after the shooting had just ended, and was rescuing a girl who had been shot. The girl was Josie, who seems like she will be a main character later in the story. Her mom is Alex Cormier, who in the chapter I most recently read, Alex is pregnant with Josie and is trying to decide if she is going to keep the baby or not since she has a busy life with work, and got pregnant in an affair, so has no husband to help supports her. She meets a doctor named Lacy and they seem to be creating a sort of bond with each other. Lacy was interested in Alex from the first time they met and only now, after many months, is Alex beginning to open up to her. I feel bad for Alex because it seems like she was tricked into becoming pregnant, since the man she had the affair with was her teacher who was very manipulative and made her think he truly loved her and was ending his marriage. Even thought I know that Alex keeps the baby, since it is revealed in the beginning of the book, I am wondering how she comes to this decision. I am also wondering if her and Lacy will continue to allow their friendship to grow after the baby is born. This book might be better than I thought! On the other hand, there is still a lot of confusing character switches, and the context isn’t very good at holding my attention. I guess ill just read some more and see!

Blog #6- Nineteen Minutes

After finishing New Moon, I had to choose another book. I decided to read Nineteen Minutes, by Jodie Picoult. When I heard that it was about a school shooting I thought it would be a good book to read because it would be suspenseful. I was expecting the book to be mostly about the “nineteen minute” school shooting and what happened during that time, and so far it hasn’t been like that. The shooting happened but it was in the book more after the fact, which to me was a little disappointing. Also there are a lot of different main character figures that the book switches back and forth between, telling that persons specific story. This would maybe have been better if the characters were kids who witnessed the shooting, but right now they all seem kind of random. It is confusing for me to read it this way and hard to always understand whom they are talking about. All the characters seem to be connected in some way but it isn’t very clear to me yet how they are. Since one of the main characters is a judge I think that the book might have a court case about the shooting in it. I’m not sure if I’m going to keep reading this book because even though I would probably enjoy it I feel like I have already read books just like it. Some of them even by the same author, Jodie Picoult, like The Pact and My Sisters Keeper. I know they probably wouldn’t be that much alike in the end, but I think I might switch to a book I will enjoy more. Ill just have to wait and see!

Blog#5- New Moon

Since last week I have finished the book I was reading! As you already know the book was New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. The end was so good and now I want to read the next one, Eclipse. So much happened since my last post, and a lot of it was unexpected. Jacob was having Bella stay in La Push as much as possible so that he could protect her easier. One day he said he would take her cliff diving, but then last minute him and his pack saw a fresh trail from Victoria, the vampire they had been searching for. Bella was mad that they were looking for her because she feared for his safety too, and despite the hurricane like conditions she decided to go cliff diving by herself. She did and almost drowned but Jacob saved her in time and as she was being carried away she spotted red hair poking out of the water, Victoria had been really close. Then when Bella got home Alice Cullen was there which was a big surprise to Bella. Alice is Edwards sister, so she is also a vampire. Her special power is that she has visions of what is happening to people. She had a vision of Bella jumping off the cliff and thought it was because she was committing suicide. Luckily she wasn’t, but unfortunately for them Edward had found out about the jump and was off to Italy to be killed himself. This part is like the story of Romeo and Juliet, where Edward is going to the Volturi another vampire family so that they can kill him. They refuse but want him to join them; Edward decides he will reveal himself to the people so that the other vampires have to kill him. Bella gets there just in time, but the Volturi say that Alice, Bella and Edward can only leave if Edward promises to turn Bella into and immortal. Otherwise Bella would be killed. Edward promises reluctantly and when they get back to forks he asks Bella to marry him. She says she will eventually, and he keeps trying to think of ways to make her not want to be a vampire. Jacob says goodbye to Bella, at least for now, and Victoria is still loose in the woods! I am so curious to see what happens in the next book with all the new twists and turns!

Blog #4-NEW MOON

Since last week I have continued reading New Moon. The chapters that I read this week are probably the most intense and suspenseful yet. First Bella goes to La Push, where Jacob lives. She waits outside his house and when he gets home and sees her he is furious in a way that is scary. He doesn’t only seem mentally different but he has cut all his hair off and seems bigger. He gets really mad and tells her to leave but then that night sneaks over to her house and apologizes for what he says. He says that he can’t tell her his secret but if she figures it out he will tell her if she is right. Before he leaves, he tells her to think of the stories he told her the day the met on the beach. She does and it comes to her in a dream, Jacob is a werewolf.  The next day she goes to the beach and he meets her there he seems annoyed that she came and thinks this will be the last time she will come see him. Bella didn’t care at all about him being a wolf; it was that he and his cult were killing innocent hikers. When she told him this he was overjoyed because he was actually the one trying to protect the hikers. The vampires were the ones who were killing people. At first she was relieved until Jacob said that they killed Laurent, the vampire that had tried to kill Bella in the meadow. That meant that there were other vampires and when she asked he said this time it was a girl, which meant Victoria, who wanted to kill Bella more than anyone. This was a scary realization and I can’t wait to see what happens with this whole new part to the story!

Blog #3- New Moon

Since my last post a lot has happened! The book has gotten better and more suspenseful as I keep reading. Jacob finished the motorcycles so Bella got to try, which ended in her getting stitches. For her it was worth it because she herd Edward’s voice talking to her and telling her to stop and hearing his voice made her want to do it again. She cared way more about the memories than about her safety. Then Bella tried to get a group together to go see a movie, and last minute it ended up being only her, Mike and Jacob. This was awkward because both Jacob and Mike like Bella, but Bella likes Jacob more so Mike was more of a third wheel even though it wasn’t a date. Bella tried to make it clear to Jacob that their relationship was only friendship but he didn’t seem to really get the message. Everyone got sick and Jacob seemed to disappear from Bella’s life and whenever she got a chance to talk to his dad, Billy, he was mysterious and suspicious. He always said that Jacob was sick, but then one day Charlie saw him with some friends, which was weird since he had promised to call Bella when he was better. One day Bella decided to go hiking by herself since Jacob was busy. She found the meadow she had been looking for and mysteriously another vampire who she had met before. She thought he was good but he ended up trying to kill her. “I’ll be very quick. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.” (pg.241). Luckily for her, giant bear or wolf looking creatures scared him off. I am wondering who they are and what happened to the vampire. I also am curious whether or not Jacob will come back into Bella’s life. I can’t wait to find out!

Blog #2-New Moon

Over the weekend I started New Moon. This is the second book in the Twilight series written be Stephanie Meyer. I really liked it at first but then Edward left. Edward was the vampire that Bella, the main character, was in love with. In the first book he was pretty much the second main character and it was really suspenseful because he is a vampire and she isn’t. Then in this book he leaves and says, “It will be as if I’d never existed.” (pg.71). This line was so sad because Bella was going to loose him. She goes into like a state of numbness and ignores everyone. She eventually starts trying to come out of it but is kind of harsh to her friends.  Then she finds motorcycles for free, since they don’t work, and goes to Jacob Black. Jacob likes to build cars so she thinks he could help. When she sees him she actually feels happy and at ease for once. It is really obvious that Jacob likes her so I’m wondering if something more will develop. It could but Bella might not be ready for another relationship. Part of me wants them to be together because maybe she can get back to her normal self. The only thing is that I am hoping that Edward will come back. If he does I wouldn’t want Bella and Jacob together because it is so much more interesting to read, and more suspenseful, if she is with Edward since he is a vampire. I also wonder if Bella will reunite with old friends. I can’t wait to read more!

Blog # 1- INNER CIRCLE

I just finished reading Inner Circle, a book that is part of the Private series written by Kate Brian. Inner Circle is the fifth book in the series and I really enjoyed it. Reed, the main character, goes back to Easton academy for her second year. This year all her friends from the previous year are gone because they had something to do with the murder of Reeds boyfriend so this book was already going to be different. A new girl moves to the area, and a new headmaster is at the school. Cheyene is one of the girls in the billings house, which is the best house on campus, and she wants to be the leader. Reed is in the house too and doesn’t agree with what Cheyene wants to do to the new comers of the billings house. In the end Cheyene is expelled, but the night before she is supposed to leave she commits suicide leaving a note saying she couldn’t go home. Then reed checks her e-mail and there is one from Cheyene saying ignore the note, you are the one who ruined my life. This is scary for reed and a major cliffhanger! I can’t wait to read the next book!