Final SOL

I pulled the blue rope, and I heard a click as I started to fall. My muscles tensed up as I accelerated towards the ground. The swing started to turn up again, and I could feel myself being pushed into the chair. I started going up, and at the very top I felt weightless. The swing continued, until we slowed to a stop and the operator grabbed the chair. I hopped off, and more people hopped on.

And Then There Were None

Agatha Christie

In this book, 10 people are invited to a resort island. As they wait for their host, they hear a mysterious nursery rhyme, and start disappearing one by one. And then there were none. I really enjoyed reading this book. I really liked the suspenseful writing, and really interesting plot. The only thing that I did not like was the beginning, which was slightly slow.

4 out of 5

SOL

As I pushed up the metal stick, the propellors started to spin.  Once they were going fast enough, the drone took off into the air, and accelerated towards the sky. I moved the other stick, and the drone dogged side to side. I pushed up the other stick again and watched the drone get closer and closer to the trees. It got too close, and the drone shuttered as a few shredded leaves fell down. I raised the drone up one more time, and pressed the camera button. Right after, another drone fell from above and crashed into mine. They both fell to the ground, unharmed.

The Radioactive Boy Scout

The Radioactive Boy Scout

The Radioactive Boy Scout is a true story of a boy who builds his own nuclear reactor, which causes an EPA emergency, and thousands of dollars in cleanup  resulting in barrels of radioactive waste being trucked to Utah. The boy got radioactive materials from common household items like smoke detectors and lanterns, which he concentrated into chunks of pure metal. He used these to create a nuclear reactor.

I would rate this book at 4 out of 5 stars

SOL

I could smell the caramelizing sugar. We pulled open the oven door, and the pans of milk and sugar were bubbling, and quite burned. Not the creamy Dulce de leche for spanish class. A brown, sticky, bubbly, burned, mess. I poked at it with a spoon. Underneath was the golden caramel it was supposed to be. I was relieved, and I checked the directions. It had said to cover the pans with foil. No wonder it was burned.

The Road

The Road. Cormac Mcarthy

A father and son referred to only as "son" and "papa" travel on a road across a post apocalyptic america. The man teaches his son how to find food, protect himself , and most of all, survive to carry the fire on for the human race. Their goal is go south, where they will be able to survive another winter under the ashen sky.

I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. Cormac Mcarthy used short, bare sentences to show scenes, even though there are great descriptions. The relationship between the characters is portrayed very well, and I understood them. I would rate this book at 4 out of 5

The Road

The Road
Cormac Mcarthy

Although I have not finished, The Road has so far been a very powerful book. The writing style uses bare sentences that don't need things like commas to convey a message. The book also does not have things like names, which are not needed in a post-apocalyptic setting. The characters show weaknesses and are relatable, which makes the unusual setting more realistic. I really enjoyed reading this book, and  I would rate it at 4 out of 5 stars.

SOL

I slid the cue between my fingers, and the tip glanced off the side of a white ball. It rolled across the felt, and smashed into a black ball. The black ball headed straight into a hole in the corner, failing to knock into any of the other balls scattered about. I heard a low bump as it hit the corner, and a clink as the ball hit another one inside the pocket. Darn it. I pulled the ball out, and tried the shot again.

Little Brother

Little Brother

I read Little Brother, a book about terrorism, computers, hackers, and the Department of Homeland Security all through a teenager in San Francisco. I have finished reading this book, and I really liked how the characters evolved over the book, and how my point of view also changed along the course of reading the book. This book was distopian, but was not futuristic or unrealistic, and was relatable to our lives, and real issues like government surveillance and terrorism. This book was exciting from the beginning, and I enjoyed through the end.

4 out of 5

SOL March 30

I stepped into the first pool. It was lukewarm, but once I got in all the way it felt cold.  I ducked my head underwater, and now it felt even colder. I climbed out and shivered my way over to the next pool. This one smelled more like a hot spring. As I climbed in, my body warmed up, and started to relax. The temperature was just right, hot, but not too hot. I wondered what the third pool would be like. After I relaxed for a few minutes, I climbed out and walked into the pool. My body heated up, and was instantly too hot. Soon I was dizzy, and I could feel the blood pumping through my fingers.

SOL March 29

I slid my skis around, and poled myself towards the lift. We hopped on, and the chair pulled off the ground. I unzipped my pocket, and pulled out my sandwich. After I bit into and took a few bites I noticed a grey bird flying towards us. It kept coming, and fluttered its wings a few feet away from us. It must be after my sandwich, I thought. The bird came again, and tried to get at a crumb in someones hand. After we skied down again I got onto the lift, and this time we pulled out a bag of chocolate and cookies. I saw the bird coming again, and sure enough, it landed on the tip of my ski pole, a few feet away. Another bird flew up, and then they both left.

SOL March 28

Signs fly by as we ascend up the winding interstate into the mountains. Our car drives through a ridge, with a giant cut through it. We get higher into the mountains, and leave the dozens of subdivisions behind. By now we can't see Denver, and the foothills are getting bigger and bigger. We pass a series of gas stations and lodges, and we are on our way.

SOL March 26

The hallways are filled with sound, talking, walking, and an occasional calculator crashing into the floor. For five minutes when people are coming and going from math classes, the halls fill with people, carrying textbooks, notebooks, binders, and calculators, all piled in a precarious stack. After the flood of people has shrunk, they wait in the halls outside their math class, or dwindle off into their classrooms. The last doors open, and we go inside and sit down.

SOL March 25

Book Review
Little Brother

Little Brother is a book about a a seventeen year old Marcus, who is a computer genius. He plays a scavenger hunt game, and to get one of the clues he and his friends skip school one day. After they leave, a massive bridge is exploded, along with the subway system. Marcus and his friends were near the subway entrance, and they flag down a vehicle for help. They are captured, and detained by Department of Homeland Security. After they are released, five days later, they vow to strike back.

I really enjoyed reading this book because of the good characters. They were likable, but they did things that I disagreed with too. This made me care about the characters, but still disagree with them. I also really thought that this book was exciting, and made me keep reading.

I would rate this at 4 out of 5 stars.

SOL March 24

The rain soaked down into the humid air, and we pushed open the doors.  Our big group slowly moved in clumps across Boston, from our hostile in chinatown, to the Prudential center. We filed into the giant vehicles, that had once charged the shores at D-Day. Shaped like a boat, but with wheels, and an engine, they were called duck boats. After a short tour through the streets of Boston, we drove into a side street by the grand Charles River. The road descended into a ramp, and the water splashed up close to our windows. A boat engine stated, and we accelerated again, but into the river.

SOL March 23

The bridge ended, and we took off our shoes and sunk our feet into the hot sand. The guides mad us put them back on, because of the "evidence of hooligans," whatever that meant. We walked through the dunes, and then down the beach until the sand was wet. The waves broke on the shore, and then retreated. We ran to the water, and we were stopped by the guides again. We couldn't touch the water either. If the water hurt us, their insurance would not cover it. So we could not touch the water. We had traveled 2,000 miles to keep our shoes on at the beach, and not touch the water.

 

SOL March 22

Round and smooth,

Scuffed and dirty,

Spherical and seamed,

Firm, not hard.

And kicked, over and over.

The soccer ball.

SOL March 21

I bit into the burger, and the flavors exploded in my mouth. The juicy tomato, the crunchy lettuce, and the moist burger. The bun had a special sauce on it, and it was delicious. After a few minutes it was gone, and my hands were covered in ketchup. Yum.

SOL March 20

I swung my feet over the side, and sat up. I rubbed my eyes, and walk out of my room to the hall way. Streams of light came through the windows, and they cast squares of light on the floor. I took a few steps to the stairs, and slowly walked down. Once downstairs, I slowly walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bowl out of the cabinet. I opened the box of corn flakes, and filled the bowl. After pouring the milk, I walked into the dining room and sat at the table. I lifted a spoonful of corn flakes into my mouth, and they crunched into the cold milk.