I found Catherine, Called Birdy to be a wonderful, interesting book. I liked the way that the book was written in Old English and also found the diary-like format fun to read. Catherine seemed to “relax” and speak her thoughts while writing in her diary. After the first few chapters, I surprised myself by thinking of Catherine as a real person. She seemed to actually be alive to the reader, which is the mark of a good book. Furthermore, Catherine and I had some things in common. One was that we both have sharp tongues. Catherine can’t resist talking back to her tormentors and those who annoy her. Another was that Catherine was excited about having a new little sister. Seven years ago, I was also very excited to have a new little sister. Overall, I would rate this book nine out of ten, and I would recommend this book to people who like medieval history and Dear America books.
Catherine, Called Birdy Book Review by Paulina Shearer
Posted on October 7, 2013
Cloudy, With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Movie Review by Jiayi Cheng
Posted on October 20, 2013
Release Date: September
Rating: PG
Flint Lockwood is back in a new sequel! It’s been four years since the first movie, and Flint now works for Live Corp Company. When Flint is sent out on a mission to Swallow Falls to find his Flint Lockwood Diatonic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator, or FLDSMDFR, the old gang is brought back together and heads off on a new adventure. However, Swallow Falls is now infested with foodimals, or food animals. How will Flint and his friends deal with supreme tacodiles, shrimpanzees, and double bacon cheespiders?
Pitch Perfect Movie Review by Paulina Shearer
Posted on October 21, 2013
Pitch Perfect is about introverted college freshman Beca, who would much rather move to L.A. and manage a radio station than go to college. Her father wants her to go for at least one year, and he makes her a deal - if she goes to all her classes, joins a group, stays for the whole year, and still doesn’t like college, he will pay for her move to L.A.
Beca gets an internship at the college radio station (stacking CD’s), and meets Jesse, another intern. Jesse develops a not-so-secret crush on Beca. During the Career Day Fair, Beca looks around for a group to join and spots the school’s girls’ acapella team, The Barden Bellas. The group leaders, Aubrey and Chloe, ask her to join. Beca turns them down at first but later agrees to join after tryouts, where she plays her iconic song, “Cups”.
Meanwhile, the boys’ acapella group, The Treblemakers, have recruited Jesse as one of their new singers. The leader of the Treblemakers, Bumper, is rude, snotty, and selfish. Most of his group is that way, too. Furthermore, Trebles and Bellas can’t date or even be friends without being kicked out of their groups!
Can Jesse overcome this problem and win Beca’s heart? Can the Barden Bellas put the Treblemakers to shame at the ICCA’s (International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella)? Watch the movie to find out!
Here are a few of the performances:
Since U Been Gone (Auditions)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=aNV6UtkYPU4
Cups (Beca’s Audition)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhECTE2-Oqc
Treblemakers Finals
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb9xuYKJVeo
The Commander's Desire
Book Review by Paulina Shearer
Posted on October 29, 2013
The Commander’s Desire is a powerful, moving, adolescent romance novel set in the Middle Ages. I loved this book because of all the details, the romantic angle, the turning of hate to love, and the triumph of passion over a seemingly uncrossable void of distrust.
First, we start with the detail. Everything seems to thrive with life in this book: Mary the cook, Hagma the maid, and even Sir Duke, the horse! The author, Jennette Green, describes everything so well. I would give this book a nine-point-five out of ten and would recommend it to people who like romantic novels and stories set in the Middle Ages.
Frozen
Movie Review by Jiayi Cheng
Posted on January 16, 2014
Frozen is the latest Disney movie. Over $700 million gross worldwide and the recipient of a Golden Globe award, critics are proclaiming that Frozen is the best animated musical since the Lion King. In most trailers and movie posters, this movie seems like a happy-go-lucky animated movie for kids. But as the case with most films, nothing is perfect.
Frozen follows the story of two royal sisters, Elsa and Anna. Elsa, born with cryokinesis, accidentally injures Anna, her little sister. Scared of hurting her again, Elsa tries to cover up her powers and isolate herself. The gap between the two sisters only worsens when their parents die at sea.
Now, fast forward to the day of Elsa’s coronation as the new queen of Arendelle, their home. Everything goes awry due to a case of ‘Romeo and Juliet syndrome’ between Anna and southern prince, Hans. After accidentally revealing her powers out of frustration and freezing Arendelle, Elsa has to flee into the mountains and away from her home.
But Anna isn’t just going to stand around. As Anna attempts to find Elsa, she meets Olaf, a magical snowman, and Kristoff and Sven, a large man and his reindeer who work in the ice business. With their help, can Anna bring back Elsa and save summer?
The Boston Massacre
Poem by Paulina Shearer
Posted on January 30, 2014
Gather round, children, and you will hear,
Of that terrible, horrible, frightening year
Or day, more exactly, when the colonists fought with
The redcoats, in 1770, on the day of March 5th.
It begins with the angry waifs on the street
Throwing rocks at all the redcoats that they meet
Yelling, “Lobsters for sale!”
“Bright red lobsters for sale!”
“Ha, ha! We’re too young! You can’t put us in jail!”
The soldiers, they silently rage deep inside
Their leader says, “Stop! You must always abide
By our rules! No firing is allowed upon these boys.”
To the urchins, he says, “Go and play with your toys.”
By now quite a crowd has gathered around
Not one friendly face is there to be found
The soldiers, they lose their heads all together
And begin firing; the colonists turn heel and burn leather.
Count the ones that are killed on this day.
The bullets struck true, all but five fell astray.
Five people who used to be very brave
Now lie alone in a cold early grave.
The Fault in Our Stars
Book Review by Sarah Li
Posted on April 14, 2014
The Fault in Our Stars is truly one of the best-written books I have ever read. It's about a 16-year-old girl called Hazel Grace who has lung cancer. She struggles through her daily life, and finally finds solace when she meets a 17-year-old guy called Augustus Waters, who also has cancer. When she's with him, she feels like she can be a normal teenager again. But, both of them are hindered by cancer, and both of them might die any day. Will cancer stop them, or can they be together forever?
