Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie

Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie is an original novel by Jordan Sonnenblick. Steven Alper is an 8th grade boy dealing with the challenges of growing up. On top of middle school stress Steven’s younger brother, Jeffrey, has cancer. Steven has to learn to deal with this added pressure. While finding his true self he becomes more aware of others by willingly making personal scarifies.

When Steven shaves his head it shows that he really cares about his brother. Jeffrey had thought that people couldn’t see the fact that his chemotherapy left him with no hair, until another kid told him he was bald. Steven see’s that Jeffrey is really upset about this so he shaves his head so that Jeffrey doesn’t have to be alone in his baldness. Steven cares enough about his brother to make a physical change to his appearance.

Steven has a very big crush on a girl named Renee Albert. She is coming over to tutor him in math. This is all he has ever wanted. But every since Jeffrey has gotten sick anyone with the tiniest hint of illness can’t be around him. When Renee comes over she is sniffling. Steven doesn’t let her even though it is his hearts desire because he puts his brother in danger. This shows that Steven is putting his brother before anything else.

Steven realizes that with his brothers medical bills are really high and that his parents are struggling financially. He decides that he will give up his drum lessons to help his family’s budget a little bit. Steven is seeing that his family is struggling so he willingly decides to help. This shows that Steven wants to help his family.

Through personal sacrifices Steven becomes more aware of others, which allows him to himself. Not everybody has a younger brother with cancer or is under the stress of 8^th grade but we can learn how to care for others through Steven.  Steven is a true role model.

Memoir

Memoir

            The day was crisp and new. I was excited. Today I would be flying to Texas with my grandma.

 We arrived at the airport and went to our terminal. My grandma hates flying and the whole flight she was tense with worry. The flight was 3 ½ hours. When we finally hit the tarmac a rush of relief washed over my grandma.

Once we had gathered our stuff and left the plane we went to baggage claim. I saw my grandpa. “How is the flight?”

“Fine, fine” replied my grandma

When I stepped out of the automatic doors it hit me. The humidity was washing over me a giant wave. Almost instantly covering me in a thick layer of sweat.

Once in the car Doal (grandpa) started teasing me about my nail polish. When we got to my grandparents house on Locke Lane I went up stairs and put my suitcase in my mom’s old room.

The next morning we went to my grandma’s favorite Greek breakfast place. The waitress remembered from last time I was there. I even had a usual.

Finally that afternoon we drove to Galveston. My grandparents have a house out there that they were selling. This is weird I was think to my self the whole time the Bay house gone? Really gone? Truly and absolutely gone? For, forever?  

This was one of the last weekends that they could pack up and move all their belongings out of the house. Selling the Bay house must be hard because they have had that house since my mom was little. That’s the house my mom and my aunt grew up in. The houses were my grandma and I made a failed attempt of pear jelly. We picked some pears from my grandma’s tree outside of her and tried to boil them till they were soft then adding sugar. After a half hour the whole house started to smell like death. We just kept adding sugar. Finally we realized this wasn’t working and gave up. Or how about the many green lizards that lived under my grandparent’s house that always freaked me out. Or play Sorry and solitaire with my grandma on the porch. Or the time that I sat on a bee in my bathing suit, on the hammock. And the hammock I read the 5^th Harry Potter in that hammock.

The letting go was hard but I know that even though the location is gone the memories are still fresh and crisp in our minds.

A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass

The book that I am currently reading is A Mango Shaped Space by Wendy Mass. What has happened so far is that Mia thinks that she is crazy because she can see shapes when she hears noises and numbers and letters have colors to her. When Mia finally tells her parents about this they think she is crazy. The part that I am up to is when Mia's family gets a call from a doctor who thinks he knows what Mia has.

Mia is self-conscious. When Mia finally found out that she was the only one who saw these colors, she lied and said that she had made it all up. This shows that instead of admitting that she was different and saw colors she lied just so that she wasn’t thought of as different.  This shows that Mia just wanted to be like everybody else.

I highly recommend this book to any one who has been afraid of being different or has struggled to tell people who you really are.  This is a really good book for 8 and up.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The book that I am currently reading is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling. So far in the book Harry is getting private lessons from Dumbledore, and is suddenly a potions master because of an old potions book with the edits of the Half Blood Prince.  Harry is being called the Chosen One because of what happened at the Ministry in the last book.  Meanwhile, love is in the air at Hogwarts. 

Even though Harry is being called the Chosen One and has been famous since the day he was born, he is not full of himself.  A lot of girls want to go out with Harry because he is famous, but he likes the girl who really knows who he is.  Harry doesn’t sign autographs and he isn’t trying to be noticed.  He is just trying to be a normal 16 year old.  Harry isn’t trying to tell everyone that he is the Chosen One even though he knows his destiny.  Harry is still kind and he isn’t trying to make new friends that will make him the top of the top.  He is still friends with Luna and Neville, who are not popular.  This shows that Harry is very modest and that he aspires to be a normal 16 year old. 

I highly recommend this book once you have read the other five in the Harry Potter series.  This book in the series is probably my favorite because it’s one you can really related to and if you read it you will probably see why.