ORR for Nov. 27, 2011. Players We're most exited to see when season starts.

Page 1: The introduction which explains what the article will be about, therefore I have no comment about it.
Page 2: This page states that Kobe Bryant, considered as the second best basketball player in the world alongside Dwyane Wade, is aging for the NBA, 33 years old. Last year the Los Angeles Lakers, who are a Kobe Bryant-Centered team, went into the playoffs and were swept by the Dallas Mavericks (Dallas won L.A. in 4 games where L.A. lost all of them), which shows Kobe's game at the moment, also it shows he has little to no seasons left. This page states this is Kobe's last shot against the younger players. I unfortunately must agree to this statement, as I hate the Los Angeles Lakers, therefore Kobe Bryant too, I think that this is his last shot at anything, and if he understands that he will put everything in for it, whereas if he doesn't believe so, there is nothing to be frightened of.
Page 3: Kevin Durant is the leaser of the young guns. This means that as there are many GREAT young players in the NBA right now, and that Kevin Durant will be their leader. I must agree and disagree with this, as I think the former M.V.P. Derrick Rose will lead the young players alongside Kevin Durant.
Page 4: The Oklahoma City Thunder Need Russell Westbrook to Buy in. This means that OKC Thunder need Westbrook to start playing well and fast, as he is the other star in the Thunder (Kevin Durant the first star). What this means is that Westbrook needs to step up as the SECOND option on his team, and stop being needy for the ball, otherwise if he doesn't play his part, Thunder may be in big trouble.
Page 5: Blake Griffin Is Ready to Ascend from Prince to King of LA. I have only three words about this. Overrated. Blake. Griffin.
Page 6: Ricky Rubio Makes His Long-Awaited Stateside Debut. Ricky Rubio is a Spanish Superstar who was drafted in the 2009 draft class by the Minnesota Timberwolves and did not manage to agree upon a deal with his European team, therefore Minnesota had to use one of their many draft picks this year to get him again. The wait the NBA has had to see Rubio in an NBA uniform has been too long in my opinion and seeing him finally playing for the Minnesota Timberwolves, one of the worst teams in the league last season, is going to be great.
Page 7: Can Carmelo Anthony Make the New York Knicks a Contender? Alongside LeBron James and Kevin Durant, Carmelo is my favorite Small Forward in the league. Anthony was traded in the deadline last year from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, who were, and are currently still in 'rebuilding' mode. Will Anthony manage to take the Knicks on his shoulders with Amar'e Stoudemire. In my opinion, NO. The Knicks need a proper Point Guard who is willing to play for them. As of right now they only have a combo-guard who in my opinion is either a backup or a third-option to the point guard position. All-in-all, if the Knicks don't get a Point Guard this offseason, then there is no way Carmelo and Amar'e alone cant make the team a contendor.
Page 8:John Wall Has Resurrected the Moribund Washington Wizards. About this page I don't have an actual comment, although I do think John Wall is the future of the NBA alongside Blake Griffin, Kevin Durant, Derrick Rose, and many more. 




http://bleacherreport.com/articles/956875-nba-lockout-players-were-most-excited-to-see-when-season-starts/page/1

Fearless Series: Twisted #4

Title: Fearless: Twisted #4
Author: Francine Pascal
Genre: Teen/ Thriller
Comments: Twisted by Francine Pascal is about a young seventeen year old Gaia Moore who has a incapability to feel fear. One day, just like any other, short after Gaia's friend Sam Moon had gone missing but had then been saved by Gaia, yet his girlfriend had taken the praise, there are mysterious killing by a serial killer in different states. All his victims are similar, blonde, pretty, often athletic and top of the class. So when the killings start moving towards Gaia's town, her friends and family start to worry. Her friends Sam Moon and Ed Fargo, who both dislike each other due to the fact they both have feelings for Gaia, decide to monitor her every move to make sure she is in no danger. Yet when Gaia meets David Twain, she never suspects a thing. As the killings, occur in Gaia's town and then a girl that she knew, from her school is killed, everyone becomes more and more worried. In the midst of all this, she is also struggling with her social awkwardness and outcast label. So when David Twain is extremely forward in asking Gaia on the day they meet, all she can physically do is say yes. Yet when when they go on their date it turns out David isn't really the person he says he is...
Twisted from the Fearless series was a very good book, even though it was 4th in the series, it was easy to read without having read the previous books. It was a page turner and kept me captivated, I like that Gaia was an unconventional character, and was different from the normal heroines in other books. I would recommend this book to people who enjoy stories with a criminal and more mysterious twist. 

ORR for Nov. 20, 2011. Basketball within prison borders.

"With two armed guards by his side, Byron Mullens walks with several friends toward the inner perimeter fence, the two feet of barbed wire curls running along the top glistening in the sunlight.

They have already handed over their cell phones and keys, gone through a metal detector, signed in the log book and walked through a series of locked doors that won't open until the previous one is shut. Now Mullens and crew must go through another round of security, pausing as they get to the gate and holding up a badge" (Anna Katherine Clemmons, 1). Byron Mullens is the backup center for the famous Oklahoma City Thunder team, which includes stars like Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, and more. As a high school student, Mullens would go to talk to troubled teens about making the right choices... and to play Pick up basketball games. He has done that until being drafted into the NBA in 2009 from the Ohio State University. Right now as he walked into this prison to play against level 2 and 3 prisoners, he claims he enjoyed the experience. Mullens claims that although they are doing their time for the crime each one of them has committed, he believes it is right for them to get to go to the gym and play Basketball.  Mullens also says they are much stronger than he expected because all they do all day is work out.

My opinion about Mullens's decision to go and play with these prisoners is that I agree with his decision and I think it is right. As he did go to play with level 2 and 3 prisoners, who are serving their time in prison, I believe he did a good thing, maybe selflessly or selfishly, it doesn't matter.

Title: Noughts and Crosses
Author: Malorie Blackman and Dominic Cooke
Genre: Drama (play)
Pages: 109

“Noughts and Crosses” is a play we recently read in class. It has a really interesting and suspense building plot, and explains to us how the racial differences affect people all around. Callum’s relationship with Sephy was almost broken, just because of how other people saw them. Callum, a nought, has a white color of skin, and was poor. He was treated badly by the society, got kicked out of school, apparently because he was lowering that school’s reputation. His family went through a lot, including the death of their daughter, Lynette who committed suicide. Sephy, from the other side, came from a rich family, with her father, Kamal Hadley, being the Prime Minister, and her mother, Jasmine Hadley, an alcoholic. She was black, a Cross. And meeting up with Callum was not allowed for her. This line repeated throughout the plot, “… friendship doesn’t exist between a nought and a Cross” (Cooke 87). I think that it was kind  of powerful to hear it almost the whole time, making me think that Callum and Sephy try being best friends, but there was always that barrier that both of them had to cross to get to each other.

What I do not understand from this plot, is that it was set around the 20^th or 21^st century, because those people had really good schools, and objects like phones, and other modern things existed, making it kind of impossible to take in mind the death penalty that Callum experienced at the end of the plot. In most countries, especially the United States, do not rule with a death penalty anymore. So this is what mostly confused me in this story, otherwise I thought it was a pretty well-written play.

I truly recommend this play to students in high school or middle school, because it gets to teach us how not everyone gets accepted in their society, and there isn’t much you can do about it. 

ORR for Nov. 13, 2011. The Lockout Is over!

57 % of Basketball Related Incomes. That is how much the players received in the past decade and 2 years. Now the deal is 51% BRI for the players. Now as that may seem as a huge sacrifice by the players, they had no choice, as the owners made a lot of sacrifices too. In this type of deal in the NBA, it is not only talks about the BRI, but essentially about everything, and everyone who will be paid. This is not only a great deal from the financial side, but also there will be a 66 game starting on Christmas day (each team misses 16 games of the season)! In the '98-'99 NBA lockout, the season began in early February and had a 50 game season (missed 32 games). Fundamentally, this is a great success, both for the NBA, and for the Euro league and Chinese teams who have signed NBA players and have shown their leagues another level of basketball.


Rajon Rondo. Chris Paul. Russel Westbrook. Derrick Rose. Brandon Jenings. All of these are elite NBA point guards, and are said to be the most affected by the NBA lockout. Not specifically these players necessarily, but this position. A point guard is the "Playmaker" or the "Center of the offence". I personally play as a combo-guard (which means I play as both a point guard and as a shooting guard) and as I play mostly as a point guard, I can agree with the statement that the point guards COULD be the most affected. Why? Because as there have been many charity games and countless pickup games, and in those games the players were mostly from the NBA, meaning the point guards who played in those games were also mostly from the NBA. Where I am getting at is that the players who participated in these games have of course not played to their fullest efforts, and made more exciting plays than they would in a professional NBA game. If the point guards have not played in these types of games then maybe they are out of shape. Now the point guard position is the "Center of the offence" and if they are out of shape or have gotten used to making crazy passes as attempts for more exciting plays, then their game could be ruined, therefore the whole team is hurt. Although I am not worried about the Point guards in the NBA and for them to be ruined, because if they were really the star of the team then they would have either played in these games, and probably made really exciting plays, but were capable of keeping their game when they get back to the NBA. Whereas if they aren't the star or the center of the team then the team's Shooting Guard or Small forward would probably be the play makers, and Shooting Guards or Small Forwards have a lesser chance of losing their game because it is usually more simple.


All-in-all I believe that the lockout's is a great thing that has happened with all the sacrifices both the owners and the players have made, and although there are potential players who could have lost their game, I strongly believe that this is a great turnout to something which could have been solved 150 days ago when the lockout began, or could have arrived to a dreadful ending of the National Basketball Association as a whole.


























http://bleacherreport.com/articles/956851-the-nba-lockout-is-over-welcome-back-hoop-heads

The Bronze Bow

Title: The Bronze Bow
Author: Elizabeth George Speare
Genre: Historical Fiction
In this book a young man named Daniel has just freed his friend Joel from the Romans with a group of boys against the Romans. Daniel has also discovered that his younger sister, Leah, said to be full of Demons, was talking with a Roman over their garden wall. Daniel was furious and yelled at his sister to never talk to him again. Leah did not know what was so wrong about it because the roman was doing no harm. He only talked, in the little Israelian he knew, to Leah about his family and how he missed them. He even gave Leah a fruit basket. The Roman was very nice and did not harm, but Daniel despised the Romans no matter how nice they were. After yelling at his sister he realized the the Roman did no actual harm. His sister was quiet and did not speak to Daniel, or even seem to notice that he was there. She at almost no food and did nothing but sit on the ground. Daniel had spent months trying to get Leah to be okay with him being around, but all of that went down the drain. Daniel felt really sorry for what he did, but he could not get Leah to trust him anymore.
I think that it will take a while before Leah will trust Daniel again and that Daniel will learn to love the Romans.

The Way I See It

Title: The Way I See It
Author: Nicole Dryburgh
Genre: Autobiography

This week I continued reading the book called The Way I See It. It is about a girl who suffered from a very rare type of cancer, leaving her with many disabilities. In the next pages, I read about Nicole's first radoptherapies at the Royal Marsden Hospital. She wrote about how the surgents needed to make a mask for her face to ensure that the radioactive rays were always killing the cancerous cells, and not harming the healthy ones. This was probably really stressful and frightening for a girl who is only nine years old, and I cannot imagin how painful it must have been for her to endure all the radiotherapy treatments. It probably wasn't only physically painful, but mentally as well. Nicole started having to skip a lot of school, and stopped being close with many of her friends. Than, a few months after she found out that she had cancer, Nicole was given 2,500 British pounds by her aunt Linda, which she decided to donate to the Sargent Cancer Care charity. Reading this part of the book was really quite inspiring, as she decided to give the money to people who were suffering just like she was. What was really important in this passage, however, was the fact that Nicole understands that she is not alone, and that there are other people out there, with the same condition. This probably made her stronger and more willing to continue living her life normally.
When the radiotherapies ended, and when Nicole thought she was completely cured, she started having agonizing pains in her spine at the beginning of 2002. The doctors saw something peculiar on the MRI, so they  immediately sent her to the King's College Hospital, which must have been terrifying both for Nicole, and her family. It was shown that the cancer was still there, and that Nicole had to undergo an exploratory operation in July 2012. This must have been devastating for a thirteen year old girl (which is how she was when the cancer was discovered again), who probably wanted to spend her summer carelessly with her friends and family. When the surgery was completed, Nicole was released, and she was able to start her school year. However, next summer, her scars kept on swelling, and the swelling would not go away. This led to yet another trip to the hospital. She got chickenpox, and had to have another lumbar puncture which she describes as being "painful and really uncomfortable". It is really shocking through how much Nicole has already gone through, and I haven't even finished the book yet! All those experiences must have left a huge impact on Nicole as a person, as well as on her family. It must have been very difficult for her brother, Lee, as well as her mother to watch her become so seriously ill, and to cope with all the consequences.

The Stone of Light

Author: Christian Jacq

Genre:Historic Fiction

Ardent was freed from capture, and he was told to leave the Palace of Truth. across the river in a small village he meet's an intresting character called Silent. Silent's decendants are from the Palace of Truth and he is bound to return once he finds a sign telling him too. Silent is a hardworker but is unstatisfied with his lif, he finds it dull. Then one day his boss offers him a promotion, which he gently refuses, but during this day he meets Ubekhet his bosses daughter. Silent soon falls in love and decide's not to drown himself, but also to stay in the village marry her and start his live over. Silent's collegues are jealous from the promotion option and try to kill Silent, but Ardent the big and muscular man is walking by and saves Silent. The two soon become friends and decide to join the Palace of Truth together.

I find this book very intresting because of the apirations of the characters, they both want to become artists which wasn't common in the Egyptian Era, most people worked as farmers or had proffesions such as claymaking. I also find this book intresting because of the traits and descriptions the author provided, they are very thourogh. One of the character is hardworking but silent and has a dull life, while the other has a perfect description for a farmer that would be succesful, but he has a different imagination and wants to do something differebt with his life, not the ordinary. So far I give this book a 9/10 because the plot and setting is well developed and the characters have a great personality that makes the book intresting.

Come Again

Title: Come Again

Author: Josie Lloyd & Emlyn Rees

Genre: Fiction

Page Numbers: 385

Comments:
This week I've been reading a very long book which is based on friendship, commitment, work, lust and loyalty where everything comes under the spotlight as the main characters; Matt, Helen (H), Stringer, and Susie. I'm pretty sure that there is a movie made about this book because the writing is quite deep and extended- usually in movies we hear a lot of drama going on and the narrator just keeps talking and talking forever. If I hadn't skimmed through some bits, I would have found this book really tedious. Obviously, I couldn't read the WHOLE book in just a week, so I decided to read the first 50 pages, as always. In the beginning it talks a lot about friendship. The first sentence is: 'Don't have any friends.' I was quite shocked at first, I'm sure you are too now that I told you. Don't have any friends? What is that supposed to mean? Usually I rely on my friends because they help me a lot in difficult situations and give me advice. At first sight, I thought the bad guy in the book was saying this- but then I figured it was the narrator. I think this is just some kind of creative way to start off a book. However, there is also a bad thing located deep inside a friend, that we usually don't think about when we hang out with friends. The book explains that you shouldn't have any friends because they may disobey you, lie to you, or even gossip about you. That's what part of this part is about. Next, there's loyalty- which ties up to friendship. If your friend isn't loyal to you, you may lose your trust in them and go bonkers because they did something you wouldn't have liked them to do. As you can see, the first 50 pages doesn't talk much about stuff. I would reccommend for girls at the age 13-20 to read. Notice that it talks a lot about marriage in the middle/ending, so if some girls aren't interested in that, then I wouldn't recommend this book.

A Great and Terrible Beauty

This week I began reading the book A Great and Terrible Beauty writing by Libba Bray. A Great and Terrible Beauty starts off in Bombay, India in 1895 with Jemma Doyle on her 16th birthday walking the streets with her mother. From the beginning Libba Bray draws your attention to a sort of pendant necklace hanging around Jemma's mother's neck. During these first couple of chapters Jemma's mother is murdered in a mysterious way just after she sends Jemma home from they're walk! She (Jemma) is sent to England where she will attend Spence Academy "where they shape girls into fine women fit for marriage." Once at the dark and mysterious school Jemma meets her roommate Ann a scholarship student (or the schools charity case) and two very mean and rude girls Pippa and Felicity who despite they're cheery sounding names. They "are not lovely at all!" And during all of this as well as continuously during the book Jemma gets the feeling that shes being watched...

The girl in a cage

This book was really boring and hard to understand because of the way it transitioned place to place during the book. In some part of the book it was interesting but some were really dumb. This book is really for a lot of people but really not for people who like a hard reading and hard to understand.

A Real American

Tittle: A Real American

Author:  Richard Easton 

Gender: Adventure

Prepare yourself for a determined eleven year old Nathan McClelland and a strong willed Arturo Tozzi,as they engage you in their struggle to figure out what it means to be a friend and a real American. Their story is testimony ti the strength and spirit of children,who often have to show adults the path to overcoming prejudice and traditional ways of thinking.

This book made me think how is it to be a real American, the book has it's own problems but that doesn't mater, the book by it self is very good and i enjoyed.

I recommend this book to everyone, who wants to know what is a real American!!

A Great And Terrible Beauty

Title: A Great And Terrible Beauty

Author: Libba Bray 

Genre: Historic Fiction

What I read this week: 

Gemma, Ann, Felicity and Pippa share a bond together, they have changed.It started when Gemma noticed the missing class picture, it was the one taken the year Sarah and Mary went missing, the year of the fire at Spence, the year that had changed the realms. Destroyed The Order. 
The girls sneak out one night, but instead of going to the caves, they decide to go seek advice from Mother Elena, one of the gypsy. She had been around for a while and remembers Sarah and Mary. They use to go to her for advice. When Gemma, Felicity and Ann ask Mother questions, she answers as if Gemma was Mary. This gives the girls information about the missing friends.
Gemma decided to tell her friends about her powers. She even manages to bring them along in her visions to the other realm.

"[...] You don't notice the light without a bit of shadow. Everything has both dark and light. You have to play with it till you get it exactly right."
- Libba Bray
p. 266

I like this quote because I find it true and when the author says it, you realize that even though everything seems perfect in the realms, there is always a negative side. I think this is foreshadowing what will happen later on in the book. 

The Mysterious Benedict Society: The Prisoner's Dilemma

Title: The Mysterious Benedict Society: The Prisoner's Dilemma
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Genre: Mystery, Adventure, Comedy

     I personally really enjoyed reading all three of The Mysterious Benedict Society books. They have this way of keeping your attention and weaving an amazing mystery plot at the same time. The story follows four children by the names of Reynie, Sticky, The Great Kate Weather Machine and Constance Contraire. In the Prisoner's Dilemma, the four are trapped in Mr.Benedict's house, as Mr.Curtain is yet again looking for the whisperer, a device which allows the bearer to control the minds of anyone and everyone. One day though, a businessman arrives at the Benedict household, claiming that he is Constance's father. After a confusing discussion, Constance runs away. The Benedict Society follow her, but soon find themselves followed by evil.

     I loved the last installment to the trilogy, absolutely fantastic. A gripping journey around the world, all just to find a four year old girl and stop an evil mad-man from controlling humanity. For all those who love a comedic element splashed together with a wild adventure, this is the book for you. A definite 10/10 from me.

Ender's Game

Title: Ender's Game
Author: Orson Scott Card
Pages: 324

          Ender's Game is a novel taking place in the future.  Humans have been fighting wars against "Buggers" (aliens) for many years.  They have won both the First and Second Invasions from the Buggers, but they need someone to lead them when the Buggers attack in the Third Invasion, which is expected to be soon.  The government tries to figure out ways to "breed" military geniuses, because the average human mind simply is not enough to outsmart Buggers.  The smartest, fastest, and the bravest are taken away as young as 6 to Battle School, and then graduate to Command School after many years.  This story follows the life of Ender.  He is the military genius that everyone has been searching for.  He is taken away when he is six years old to Battle School.  Right from the beginning, the adults around him start isolating him from the other children so that he won't have any friends by continually pointing out that he is the best.  They need to do this as part of his training.  The boys and girls at Command School are split into groups or "Armies".  Right after Ender manages to fit in to his army, he is moved to an army where no one wants him, because no one believes in his skill.  He is traded into another army by his captain, and begins to make himself at home there.  Right after he begins to fit in in his own army, Ender is made captain of a completely new army made out of cast-offs and newbies from other armies.  Ender is able to train his army to win every single battle they have against other armies by thinking and making up strategies no one else has thought of.  When he is around 10 years old, he goes to Command School, even though no one goes there until they are at least 16.  He is trained by the one who defeated the Buggers in the Second Invasion, and is given control of squadrons in computer simulations of battles against Buggers.  His master makes them increasingly more difficult so it is impossible for Ender to win the battles without losing ships.  In the end, he is given a final exam, which he must pass.  This simulation outnumbers him Buggers to humans 1000 to 1.  At first, Ender believes that it is hopeless, but he ends up exploding the whole Bugger planet.  At the end of the exam, his master tells him that all the battles he was commanding were real.  All those ships he lost were real ships, and that planet he destroyed on the screen was a real planet.  Ender won the war.  He destroyed the Buggers for good.
          I could not put this book down.  I thought it was very well-written.  The author deals with training Ender, but not completely stamping out all his compassion, empathy, and all the feelings that make him human.  Ender is put through all these difficult scenarios, meant to train him.  What he goes through is so shocking that when you read the book, you cannot believe that he didn't break under the strain.  He was abused, beat up, and shunned by almost all the other children - old and young alike - at Battle School.  I thought that this novel was very good, deserves a 10/10, and that anyone who likes science fiction should definitely read it. 

Pharaoh

Author: Valerio Massimo Manfredi

Gener: history/fiction

Pages:351

Jerusalem , the city of Babylonian the kingdom of Judah is in a critical position in 586 B.C.
Other city's are attacking it.In the chaos, the prophet Jeremiah sees a bad future .
He warns the city and the king.In the panic the king begs him to save the chest .
He man edged to save the secret chest in the cave.
When he returned he had a terrified discovery that appears to have sent him mad.


COMMENTS: it takes me time to read this book and understand it in the same time...