Author: katemblogs

Spring break was amazing! Over my break I did a ton of relaxing and sleeping, but went I wasn’t hibernating I did some stuff super fun activities. To start every morning my mom and I would go on a 5 mile walk. This was one of my favorite things I did because with everything going on I feel like I barely even can talk to my mom, but on our walk we can talk and laugh with each other. The trail we walk on also is flooded with beautiful wildflowers and grasses. Another thing I did was walk around a sinking island. Although I didn’t have to travel far Balboa island is still a sinking island! My mom walked through so many cute little shops and picked up a few goodie for our house.

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This month I read Its Not Summer Without You, by Jenny Han.

It’s Not Summer Without You Is a semi-sweet teen romance novel about three teens and cousins beach. The main character Belly Deals with many issues over summer but the main problem is the love triangle she’s in with to brothers, Jeremiah and Conrad Fischer. The book starts with Susannah, the two boys mom, not being able to beat her cancer for the second time and slowly begins to die. Over time she gets weaker and weaker yet she is able to have a few last memories with her boys. Once she was gone summer would never be the same. The passing of Susannah left Belly and her mom devastated and with no clue how to go about it. Conrad on the other hand had it all figured out, is a very closed off person and his coping skill is locking everybody out, including his ex-girlfriend Belly. Jeremiah who has a softer personality is in desperate need of comfort and love. The only right thing that the family could do was prepare a beautiful funeral. The event was filled with sorrow and emotion but the after gathering was worse. Walking into Susannah’s favorite place, the beach house, a dark cloud began to brew. With everyone’s emotions all over a fight began between Conrad and Belly. Belly broke out in tears as she yelled at Conrad and blamed him for causing problems. Although nothing was meant the gathering ended and everyone left. Later in the summer Belly broke away from home due to a call that she would have never expected. Conrad a straight a student has run away from college and missed is final exams. Jeremiah called Belly so that she could help him find Conrad. Belly lies to her mom and sneaks out to drive back to the place that haunts her most, Cousins beach. Back at the beach house they end up finding Conrad living in the house trying to stop their dad from selling their childhood memories, but sadly…

It’s Not Summer Without You is the second book to The Summer I Turned Pretty. Although these books are connected they definitely have different plots. Unlike most books that follow a similar plot and have many repetitive moments Its Not Summer Without You brings you on a new adventure with new characters and new love. This makes it totally worth reading. Another example on why this is a great read is the emotion factor the book has. Every character has their own personality and own unique traits, witch makes them easy to connect to. I don’t know about you but having a character that resembles part of my own life makes a book ten times more enjoyable. The first and second book both are roller coasters but Its Not Summer Without You will make you jump.

My Favorite Character in the book surprisingly isn’t the main character but is one of the Fischer brothers, Jeremiah. Jeremiah is a loyal and kindhearted brother and friend that will always be there for his love ones. For example on page 127 Jeremiah states, “ Belly you know I will always be there for you, I love you and although I’m not him you’ll always be my Jelly Belly.” This shows that although Belly doesn’t love Jeremiah in a way to date him, he is still a loyal friend and gives his support and comfort to Belly.

My favorite quote in It’s Not Summer Without You has a deep sentimental meaning that I believe everyone can connect to. On page 78 Jenny Han states, “ I didn’t know how much this house was to her until it was about to be taken. This quote is a example of how people don’t take the little moments in their favor. This quote reminds me to always take in the little moments you spend in your favorite place with your favorite people, because once they are about to go you will regret no taking in the feelings.

Twenty four hours the clocks begins to tick down, The possibilities are endless being invisible. The first thing I would do is I would accomplish in my twenty four hours was buying an expensive car. Maybe a Ferrari or a Maclaren or some other fancy car like those. Off to the dealership! When I walk in the bright beams would fly through my eyes, as the sun rays down upon the glorious cars. As a billionaire signed the documents I would sneak by and sign off my name and address so that first thing the cars would be brought to my house already payed for, but not with my money. The next Thing I would do was go to Disney land and get in for free saving myself hundreds of dollars. At Disney I would enjoy the sweet scents of chocolate in the air and the blissful feeling and the nostalgia of the park’s. After of course snaking it into the parks I would turn my invisibility off for a little and have some food and enjoy some of my favorite rides. And when the lines were to long my invisibility would come back on so I could cut people in line when they weren’t looking. As you can probably tell I would spend almost my entire day at Disney but finally I would end my day by getting my mom a present at the Disneyland and leaving in her room. Right before she walked in I would turn invisible and wait for her sweet reaction. Although being invisible would be fun it’s just a daydream.

Imagine being stuck on a abandoned island. That’s my life! When I wake up the bright sun beams on my eyes through my hut window. I roll over in my hammock and without a doubt I fell out of it. After I wake up I usually go to the bamboo cabinet I made and pull out a coconut I can crack with my machete. I quickly gulp down the milk inside the coconut bowl and head outside. It’s a cold morning and the air feels crisp and cool, The sweet sweet air with a light sprinkler scent fills my nose. Rain! The night before rain had fallen and I know my rain Cather has to have caught fresh water. It’s been forever science I’ve had fresh rain water. I run down the soggy hills nearly tumbling at the base. When I reach my grass and wood machine I pause. The basket of water is full and is poring over to the next. I fill my crates and set them high upon my head and slowly and carefully walk back to my hut. Back home I make coconut milk oatmeal. The rest of my crew is on guard making sure the natives don’t attack our huts Again. I walk down to the beach to make sure Skippers fishing rods are still there. Step after step I walk down through the dusty brown sand my feet aching from the grain. Snap, crackle, snap, Dunk. The air in my body left me as the world started to drift round and round making me nauseous. Through the branches I saw it rolling a round hard coconut. As I collapsed I heard a faint call. “ Gillian” Shouted Skipper.
The breeze had cooled and the sky had painted itself a different color. I mumbled for something I wasn’t even quite sure what and then I saw Marianne and her beautiful silky brown hair. She looked as if she were and angel. I was on cloud nine until the booming sounds of his footsteps rang through my ears. I plopped up onto my feet and yanked my shoulder to move my arm up by my head . “Sir mam, Yes no sir” I managed to fumble.
“ You hooligan how come you don’t got the brains to remember the trap we set.” Skipper exclaimed irritated. My mouth began to giggle and my airways began to wheeze. And as the sun went down the Skipper and I laughed together.

The quote that stood out to me! Albus Dumbledore had so many amazing quotes but forever I was too young to understand them. One of his quotes that stands out to me is, “ Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, when one only remember to turn on the light.” To me this quote is about reaching out to others when you need it most. This is because sometimes when I’m sad or feel so overwhelmed I keep it to myself. Reaching out to somebody can create a spark, just like the person is turning on a light in my life. Another way this quote relates to my life is in sports. This is because sometimes I need my coach to open a closed windows when mental blocks occur.

This Month I read The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is about a hard and different teenage summer. Belly the main character has been visiting cousins beach for as long as she could remember. The summer house is owned by Susannah and her two boys, Jeremiah and Conrad. Belly is on her knees for Conrad while Jeremiah is her best friend. Everyday on the first day of June Belly, Steven her brother, and Belly’s mom drive down five hours to cousins beach. Every year Belly fantasizes until she’s back at the summer house. Everything her life revolves around is their, her crushes, her brother like figures, Susannah, and of course the beach. But this summer everything is different. Belly doesn’t have to hang around with the moms all the time and she finally is old enough to keep up with the guys. Of course to Jeremiah, Steven, and Conrad she is still a little girl, but Belly doesn’t let that stop her. Once arrived at the Summer house they get settled in and Belly says hi to junior mint and gives many hugs to the Fischers. The boys and Susannah are amazed on how much Belly has changed and how beautiful she is. all the kids go for a swim the boys leave for the first bonfire of the summer, while the girls prepare for a movie night. Belly explains to her mom that she is extremely tiered and the goes to “bed”. With the dress that barely covers her legs and a spritz of expensive perfume on she sneaks out to go to the party in the alone in the deepest part of the night. She takes in the salty air while she digs her toes inch by inch into the sand before coming up on a group on teenagers relaxing and drinking their summer hearts away. At the bonfire Steven freaks out that Belly is their and almost takes Belly home until his girlfriend Shayla distracts him. Belly finally realized that this wasn’t her type of thing until she meets Cam. Cam later in the book becomes Belly’s boyfriend and they do so many fun things together like visiting a drive in theater, swimming, going on picnics and other summer activities. Belly thinks she’s in love with Cam until she remembers that every time Conrad is around the whole world stops for her childhood crush. Towards the end of the book Belly is lead on by Conrad until Cam is out of the picture. Belly thinks that she will finally be with the guy of her dreams until Susannah breaks the news that her cancer is back and this time she wont put up a fight. Belly and the boys are left heartbroken and Conrad leaves belly on the hook until it finally happens…

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a classic love novel with so many ups and downs! This book is definitely a emotional roller coaster. When I say emotional roller coaster I mean you will be smiling, crying, and definitely laughing. This book is so relatable and makes you feel understood in the aspects of your social life,vand makes you realize how much you love your life! I love how Jenny Han made sure that there is a exciting yet scary climax that had me jumping out of my seat. You should totally buy this book and you will not want to put it down.

Out of all the characters in this book it was so hard to choose because of their different personality’s. My favorite character in the story has to be Belly. Belly will always have my heart with her fun, loving, and young spirit. She is the big sister of every girls dreams because of her journey through her teenage years. Belly is a very consistent character that will always show compassion towards others. For example after Jeremiah found out that his moms cancer has came back his kiddish personality is rained on with how upset he is. Belly decided that she needed to puts herself after Jeremiah although everyone kept the secret from her too. On page 197 the text stated,” I was there for him and I didn’t know what to say so I was just there, comforting him when I needed to be comforted too.” This quote actively demonstrates Belly’s compassion because she is setting her needs aside to help a loved one that is going through the same tough time.

My favorite quote from The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han reaches out to all readers who need it most. This quote can be very versatile and flexible to your life and has meaning to everyone. On page 238 the book states, “This whole summer I have focused on my tan and Conrad Fischer while Susannah was dying.” This quote is significant to me because sometimes as modern day people we get self absorbed and sucked into our own life and we don’t realize what is going on to the people we love around us. This quote makes me realize how important it is to just spend more time with those I love because I will never know when I will be able to spend time with them again.

Somebody I look up to as my hero is my mom. My mom is a huge role model in my life. My mom has always been there for me in so many ways. To start every time I have been sad or upset about something she is there to comfort and support me. This may not seem like a lot but to me it is because she has never forced me too talk about she has just been there, with her warm comforting words and her loving gestures. The second reason my mom is my hero is because she is able to take care and support 4 other people besides her in our family. This is incredible to me because everyone has everything they need and more because of my moms effort. Too add my mom always try’s to make me even smarter. She is constantly motivating me to think harder when I’m stuck and when I’m not stuck she challenges me to think further. All of these things make my mom a hero to me and I am so grateful I have her in my life.

This month I read Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.

Fish in a tree. A Fish in a tree is surely not something you see everyday. But yet thats not quite the meaning. In the beginning of the story Ally is introduced.Ally is in the sixth grade and unbeknownst to herself for almost all of the story has dislexia. Ally has throughout seven different schools and seven different teachers she has been smart enough to fool a lot of people in many ways. All is truly a smart and talented girl that a incredible artist and phenomenal a mathematician, but she goes through a tremendous amount of struggle to read and write. For all the time she has spent in a classroom her teachers have told her off to be “not a dedicated enough student”, or even yet not smart enough. Later in the story after getting told by her “tell it as it is” friend Keisha to receive guidance for Ally’s problem with dancing letters Ally a comes to the conclusion, help from a adult wouldn’t be enough to cure dumb. So every time Ally gets called on in class she continues to make disturbing distractions. Then one day after Ally’s current teacher goes on maternity leave ally is left with a new long term sub, Mr. Daniels. Between his goofy ties and his spontaneous curriculum Ally believes he’s just like the others. He announces to the class that they will be doing a show and tell the following day and Ally knows exactly what to bring, she just has to pry it away from her brother Travis. Ally wants to bring and shinny coper penny her dad gave to her before he got deployed. After a bit of convincing in the morning, Travis that she wont lose it he lets her take it to class. Ally’s up third, first Keisha shows her rainbow marbled cupcakes, and Albert-the science lover shows his water samples Ally gets to present. As she tells the back story to her coin she stumbles and has and extremely hard time reading the flash cards her and her mom prepared for her a few of her popular yet uptight classmates chuckle and make fun of her. This isn’t the first incident that lead Mr. Daniels to think Ally needs special help because the next day when writing in their personal notebooks Ally decides to scribble with letters and draw figures in her book instead of doing the writing prompt. When Mr.Daniels questions her about it she tells him that thats what seems to be going on in her head. Mr.Daniels says he understands and when he gets up he hears the cruel things Jessica is saying about Ally this is the begging of the bullying. Later in the story Mr.Daniels convinces Ally to get dislexia tested, and sure enough she has it. Throughout the rest of the story Ally trains her brain to learn reading and writing and sticks up to her bullies.

My favorite quote in the book Fish In A Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt is so amazing because the meaning is flexible and you can alter it to have meaning and purpose to your personal struggles and life. On page 267 the author proposed this quote, “Everybody is smart in different ways. but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing its stupid. I can connect to this quote in a way because part of me constantly puts unrealistic pressure on myself and the pressure others put on me to achieve a clean slate of grades and be the best on my sports team, to the point that when I fail I feel like I’m not enough. This quote reminds me that its ok to fail because everyone has their strengths and weaknesses.

If your ever in need of a good read I would totally suggest you check out Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. This book has a amazing plot that can lead you through the deepest saddest emotions but at the same time can make you grin a mile long. Fish in a tree is put through a perspective that isn’t quite your stereotypical middle schoolers. The perspective is from someone who has a common yet misunderstood disability. Reading from this view can expand your thinking about dislexia and can make you grateful about how you learn.

My Favorite Character in the novel would have to be Ally the main character. This is because she is relatable and never lets anyone bully her friends. For example around the end of thew story one of Ally’s friends, Albert starts to get physically and verbally bullied by A few guys in their grade for like Star Wars Ally decides to stick up for him but how she gets herself too shows her traits of being protective and relatable. One page 78 the text states, ” My brain began to race and all I could think about was how poor Albert needed help, but I was stuck, and couldn’t find the courage to help until I remembered if I was in his shoes I would be sobbing for someone to care about my situation. So step by step with no determination too pure Motivation I went over to defend my friend.”

Wow it’s 2023! My word of intention for this year is calm. There are many reasons I want to focus on this word because with all the middle school drama and school classes and of course other things outside of school. Keeping everything calm allows me to not overthink things. This is because without all my thoughts racing through my head I can focus more on the tasks that need to get done. Another reason my word of focus this year is calm is because in my sport sometimes I want to yell my teammates and this makes my time not as fun as it should be. If I focused on staying calm during the game I think I would enjoy the little things more and not be so tense. My final reason I want to be calm in 2023 is because I feel like I miss things when I’m stressed. Like the little details my mom tells me so that I can have more in depth conversations later about it. I can already feel it, 2023 is going to be a fun and calm year.

Mrs. Tanikawa is out sick and the school has asked me to step in as principal for the day. Being principal is a big responsibility and a lot of discipline to be able to handle middle schoolers calmly. My first change I would make is starting school at 9 like a typical late start day yet I would end school at three thirty. This would be the first change I would make because students preform better and have more energy that could be set forward to learning. The second change I would make is allowing students to attend whatever classes they want, with the exception that they have to attend seven classes and they have to stay in one class every period. My day as school principal would be fun filled especially at lunch. The third change I would make is getting to have the Friday fun games out in the quad not even on a Friday. The lunch change isn’t over too. My fourth upgrade I would put together is a student vote form for what they would want for lunch with options like Chipotle, pickup sticks, wahoos, and other delicious yet beneficial foods for lunch. The fourth change influence my final upgrade, a fist come first serve fun lunch day! These changes would only be for a day so If I was principal I would make sure to get all the paperwork and duties done but I would also have fun with all the students. MI hope your not absent if this fantasy comes true!