sold

The book I read was, "Sold." Sold is about a girl named Lakshmi that lives with her family. Lakshmi's family lived somewhere in the mountains of Nepal. Her family was very poor as well, they always struggled with money. Her stepfather had told her she should leave home and get a job as a maid in the city to support them. Her stepdad introduces Lakshmi to a stranger that agrees to her being a maid if she traveled with him. Lakshmi and the stranger took a long journey to the city. They arrived at the "happiness house." Lakshmi was full excitement and hope because she was finally making money to support her family. Then, Lakshmi realizes that her stepdad had sold into prostitution.

I didn't pick this book but my mom did. She had this book in her library and told me to read it because it was a great book. I agree with her because its crazy how people would do anything for money. This book shows the difficulties Lakshmi goes through but she doesn't lose her hope. I love this because even through the worst she remains herself, which is hard. I give this book a 9.5/10 and would suggest readers who like mysteries.

 

behind the bedroom wall

The book I read was,"Behind the bedroom wall." Behind the bedroom wall is about a 14 year old girl Korinna that lives in Germany. This book takes place during the 1940's. Korinna has to choose wether or not she wants to stay loyal to Germany. Later on, she finds out that her parents are hiding a Jewish family behind a wall in their home. Korinna was furious about this and was totally against it! Korinna then gets a reality check, she acknowledges her parents decision and chooses what's right.

I picked this book when we were learning about the Holocaust. I wanted to know more stories and point of views so I picked this book. Overall, I thought this was a good book because getting to hear someone's point of view during the Holocaust is rare. People are lucky they get to read so many stories from people being involved. I give this book a 8.5/10, should read if given the chance to.

my plans for Summer

It's summer break in a week for me! I am extremely happy that I'm graduating middle school. My last day of school is June 3rd. I'm going to miss all my friends and teachers that I love dearly. I'm most excited about moving onto high school. I'm going to meet new people and have many amazing experiences.

This summer I will go on many adventures. Chicago is an amazing place to create memories. I know I have created the most important memories in downtown. I love going downtown in the train with my friends. Taking the train is the most important part because of the view and the people who are also taking the train. To elaborate, Chicago is amazing, I can't wait to see what summer break brings.

soccer

This year I made the girl's soccer team for my Middle School. I have been in the traveling soccer team for two years now. I tried out just for fun in seventh grade and I actually made the team. My love for soccer grew so much over the year. I know way more about soccer than I did in the beginning when I started. I feel as if I also became a better player as well. My coach made us practice to better as a team and as players ourselves.

When I started soccer I was shy because I thought I'd be judged on how I played. I was wrong, my teammates were supportive. They interacted with me and taught me ways to better my posture, passing, defense, kicking, handling, and juggling. Soccer has created some of the most amazing friendships I will cherish forever. I will always have love for my old and new soccer team. I wish soccer lasted longer to be with my team. They were really the highlight of my day.

the day I saw Travis Scott

Travis Scott is my absolute favorite artist. He has been my favorite artist since 6th grade. I love his music so much.  I'm always listening to his music wherever I go. Both of my aunts love Travis Scott as much as I do. One of my aunts told me she wanted to go to his concert in Milwaukee and I told her I wanted to as well. So that day, we bought the tickets. The concert was on a Thursday and it was a two hour drive to Milwaukee, WI.

Since it was general admission everybody was crammed trying to get to the front. I was so lucky to be in the front. The special guest who performed before Travis was Khalid. He sang very beautiful. Travis played many of my favorite songs. He also performed his new song Butterfly Effect. His concert was phenomenal, he's an amazing performer.

why I love Traveling

I recall going to Puerto Rico, California, Las Vegas, San Diego, Florida, Dominican Republic, Mexico, New York, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ecuador, New Jersey, Panama, Virginia, Indiana, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Bahamas. I love traveling because I get to see new attractions I can't see where I live. I love food. I'm not a picky eater at all so trying new food is such a bonus to me when I visit places I've never been to. In South America their culture is different but I think it is so beautiful. They make and wear the most lovely clothing.

I'm extremely grateful to have a mom who takes me to places we've never been to. I also love being in planes. I always create new friends by asking the passenger next to me, "So you're going * * here too." I love being on planes because it gets me excited till we reach destination. My goal is to travel the world. I want to be able to tell my friends, "Yeah, I've been there before" and tell them my amazing stories.

Ecuador

I am Ecuadorian. Ecuador is located in South America's west coast. Ecuador is known for the equator, mountains, and the Galapagos. Did you know that Ecuador is the closest country to space? Mount Chimborazo stands 20,548 feet above sea level. Ecuador has one of the biggest mountains. Ecuador is known for being on the equator. Ecuador has a muesum called the Intiñan Solar Muesum where you can see the yellow line where the equator lies. Many visitors go year around to the Intiñan Solar Muesum and the Galapagos. The Galapagos is an island on the Pacific Ocean that is a province of Ecuador. The Galapagos is surrounded by beautiful plants and animals. Visitors go because they get to meet and touch the animals that live in the Galápagos Island.

I love going to Ecuador. I'm going to Ecuador this summer in July 26th till August 8th. I love going because I feel as if all my stress and problems go away. I also love going because I get to see my family. My family from Ecuador mean the whole world to me. I'd do anything to see them everyday. I'm thankful I get to go to Ecuador every summer break.

the day I saw Chance the Rapper

The day I saw Chance was incredible. It was a secret event that SoundCloud held. You had to be sent an invitation to be able to go to the concert he was performing. There was three shows being held. You had took pick wether you'd want to go in the morning, afternoon, or night. My friend and I picked in the afternoon. You only got to be able to buy two tickets as well. Each ticket was $20 which was very affordable. All the money Chance got went to the Chicago Public Schools (CPS). He's an amazing person because he already donated $1,000,000 but he keeps wanting to donate to CPS. This is rare in many famous artists because they don't really do anything to help an organization. Chance does this because he loves helping out. He believes in making the world a better and safer place. We need more people like Chance so the world looks up to good people.

The concert was on a Saturday at 2-6pm. The meeting place was at a school in Logan Square. When everybody that picked the afternoon show was there, buses were lined up to takes us to the destination where the concert was. There was over eight buses to takes all of us and the buses were still crowded. We finally go to our destination and the concert was in a stage room. The thing that sucks is that we couldn't have our phones and record. So, the security guards gave us a little bag to put our phones and locked it until the end of the show. I didn't really mind because I was still seeing one of my favorite artists. The concert was unforgettable and a day to remember. There was a dance crew, orchestra, and a choir group. The choir and dance crew were young but they were amazing. On the stage there were people who were recording him and the crowd. When the concert ended confetti was dropped, I kept some as a souvenir. Since the concert ended, we gave the security guards our bag to unlock it and got our phones back. I want to thank Chance for everything that he has done for his fans and the people. I am loquacious when it comes to Chance and talking about what he does.

Favorite Shows

I have a list of my favorite shows but for now on I'll narrow it done to two. My absolute favorite show on my list is 'Shameless'. Shameless is about a family of six that lives on the South Side of Chicago. The family has to learn how to grow up and cope with their parents that are alcoholics, drug addicts, and always in and out of their lives. Fiona, the oldest sister, takes care of the whole family because she wants them to have a better life. My favorite character is Carl Gallagher (Ethan Cutkosky). I love this show because it shows the importance of family and love. Another reason why I love this show is because it takes places in Chicago. I've seen and taken pictures on the shameless houses. I rate this show a 10/10 and I recommend to watch this show!!

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My second favorite show is 'How to Get Away with Murder'. In my opinion, this show is absolutely amazing. The show is about a defense law professor (and lawyer) that teaches a class called How to Get Away with Murder. During the first course of the class she picks a group of students, "the best and the brightest." She chose these students to help her with her cases out of the university. She wants them to develop into better students. The students and Professor Kealing are accused of murder and many other things. This is where all the secrets and mysteries reveal. I rate this show a 10/10, it'll make you be head over heels for the next episode!

Life is Beautiful

     The similarities I found between the Life is Beautiful and the readings in class is that it shows the injustice happening to the Jews, colored, and disabled. If you were a Jew, colored, or disabled you would be killed. Not only that but people who were old would be sectioned to being killed. People thought that they were going to take "showers." Although, they didn't know that they were going to a gas chamber for their death. A gas chamber is a locked place where poisonous gas is entered to kill humans. The gas that was used in the holocaust gas chambers was carbon monoxide. In total, there was six gas chambers. The gas chambers were in Hartheim, Grafeneck, Hadamar, Sonnenstien, Bernburg, and Brandenburg.
     I think the mood in the movie "Life is Beautiful" is both humorous and suspenseful. I think the movie is humorous because Guido was always in a cheerful mood. Even when horrible things were going on he'd do anything to to make his son not worry. Throughout the movie Guido pretends to Giosue (his son) that they're playing a game. The game is simply that you have to get 100 points and the prize is a tank. The stories he makes up to continue the "game" is heartwarming because he doesn't want to ruin his childhood by telling him what's actually happening. The suspenseful part of the movie is the leading of Guido's death. I was very apprehensive when Guido was hiding. Although, he got caught by the guards and was shot and killed.
     Life is shown as beautiful in the movie by many ways. One way was before the holocaust. Their lives were good and carefree. Their lives were beautiful. During the holocaust when Dora was separated from Guido, he did his best to let her know he's okay. He did this by sneaking in a room where there was in intercom and was speaking towards her. I thought this was so beautiful because he'd do anything to let her know he'll be fine.

The Lost Boy

The book I read is, "The Lost Boy" by David Pelzer. This book is a sequel from the first one. He has three sequels beginning from the first one. This book is a true life biography. The first book explains how David gets physically abused by his mom. In this sequel, David is out of the house and gets to live his life now.

David's mother gets into a fight with his father about David in the beginning of the book. David's father is telling David's mother that she treats David horrible. When she heard that she told David, "If you think I treat you horrible then leave." David didn't know what to do but he knew he shouldn't live another day in that house. He walked out the house and after a few blocks he started running. He wanted to go to an old place him and his family visited when he was younger but he didn't make it. He eventually got back home because the police found him and contacted his father. David's father picked him up and was telling him to never do what he did again. The next couple of days he went back to school but that was his last day there. The nurse from his school notified the police that David has been being abused at home. She knew this because he had scars all over his body and he always made up excuses on why he had them. David was placed in a foster home until court was set. He became best friends with his social worker Ms. Gold. He told her everything his mother did to him. Ms. Gold was always very nice to David, she try to make David realize what his mother did was wrong. The day came and he finally had to decide wether or not to stay at foster care or go back to his mother. David was mortified on what do. Read to find out wether David picks to live in foster care or back with his mom!

Propaganda

This propaganda is trying to illustrate that Jews are "taking money" and "killing people" from Germany. The intention of this is to manipulate people to think that Jews are "evil." Once people believe that Jews are bad, they start to listen to the Nazi. Little did they know the Nazi were controlling their heads and what they believed. They soon believed that Jews shouldn't be in Germany anymore. People would destroy their houses, properties, and stores. They believed everything they said. This propaganda is effective because little kids will grow up to see this and believe it, like everybody in Germany did. I find this sad because just with any little cartoon kids will believe the nonsense that comes with it.

 

A Child Called It

The book I read was, "A Child Called It" by David Pelzer. The book is a true life biography. The book portrays how he was physically abused by his alcoholic mother. It wasn't always like this though, he had a happy family before. Until he became the "problem" of the family and was called "the boy" by his mom. His father was never around because he was a firefighter, which meant that he was always working. For this, his mother would let out her anger on David and that's where it began...

Even when David's mother wasn't drunk or sober she'd always manage to torture David. She had beat him till he couldn't walk anymore, put Clorox and ammonia together and lock him in the bathroom, made him sit on a burning stove, eat his newborn brother's poop, drowned him, stabbed him, starved him, and more. Since David's mother starved him, he stole kid's lunches and food from the grocery stores. Although, this came to a stop when he got caught. David's mother made sure he didn't eat by making him throw up. If food came out, he'd get a punishment and wouldn't get food for days. When David got food he'd get the scraps of cereal from his brothers, that's all he could eat. David was taught to realize he's a bad boy and deserved his punishments. David lived his life feeling vulnerable. You'll have to read to find out David's story. David's case is one of the top 3 worst cases of child abuse in California.

I was really interested in this book because I learned that child abuse can happy to anybody. Reading someone's story about being abused is inspiring. I found the book inspiring because he was one of the worst cases of child abuse and he didn't let that stop him on publishing this book and the sequels. I recommend this book to people who like biographies of a cold past.

Regret

I regret fighting with my best friend. This happened a month ago when we weren't on the best terms. We fought because I didn't get a message back for a week. A lot of things happen now, I never know when I can lose her. I interpreted I should never take my best friend for granted. If I could go back to that day, I wouldn't have fought with her but talk things out and solve it.

If I could meet any famous person

I would meet Kanye West, Chance the Rapper, and Travis Scott. I love going to concerts. When I'm at concerts I can't even comprehend that I'm actually there. I saw Kanye West last year on July when I went to the Drake and Future concert. He was the surprise guest of the concert. When he came out I crying my eyes out. I'm such a huge a huge Kanye fan, I think his music is amazing. I'd be an honor to meet one of my idols.

I'd meet Chance as well because he's an such amazing person. He has a huge heart for people, his city, and his family. I love how he tries to make the world a better place. He has donated a lot of money to charities and schools. I love his music too, his music can make me happy anytime. I hope I can see and meet him this year.

I'd want to meet my ultimate favorite artist Travis Scott. I've been listening to Travis since 6th grade. My aunts and I always listen to Travis. I love his music, I'm always dancing and singing to his music. He's a great person too, he recently bought his mom a house. His concerts seem so crazy and enjoyable. I can't wait to see him this year.

 

List of what makes ME happy

Many things make me happy but here's a list of 20 things that makes me happy;

1. my mom
2. my family happy
3. being able to go to school
4. getting good grades
5. protests
6. my friends
7. traveling
8. reading
9. eating
10. adventures
11. concerts
12. being with my best friend
13. listening to music
14. taking the train
15. downtown
16. grey's anatomy and shameless
17. volunteering
18. donating 
19. giving other people happiness
20. giving back kindness 

Best Commercial

To me, the most impactful commercial of the Super Bowl was "Hero's Journey" with Melissa McCarthy. I think this commercial is about knowing that we have to save our planet even if we have the newest inventions or gadgets. This is important because it is giving the people who are watching a recall that we have to take care of our planet. The intended response is that everybody should develop a stronger care for the world.

Best Advice I've Ever Received

The best advice I've ever received was from my mom. She summarized to not try and grow up so fast and appreciate life right now. My aunts supported what my mom said as well. I agreed, my mom was right. I shouldn't try to grow up so fast already. I should appreciate that I'm young and have a whole life ahead of me.

Worst argument

My worst arguement was with my best friend. We fought over something little like all best friends do. We didn't talk for over a week. I realized that no little fight should ruin our friendship between us. We both explained we were sorry and resolved things.

Fake it till you make it

I am very confident when I present. I learned how to cope with being comfortable while presenting. I think of it as presenting to big group of friends, whether I know them or not. Presenting projects in classes helped me become more comfortable with being able to present in such big groups too. Although, I'm not confident with my posture and how I fidget with things. Like the video said, I just have to fake it till I don't fidget and have a better posture in presenting.

Where I'm From

I am from separated parents,
where my mom and I live in Berwyn.
my dad lived in Humboldt Park,
now lives in Ecuador

I am from Berwyn.
where I grew up with my family
grew up by my grandparents side
grew up with my mom always being with me
grew up with my aunts love and friendship

I am from two blue line stops,
Humboldt Park and Logan Square.
where the culture is strong
and everybody is family over there.
home I miss like crazy, everyday.

I am from Ecuador,
where it is 3,075 miles away from Chicago
where both sides of my family are from
I go every summer,
but it's another home I miss everyday ...

Thirteen Reasons Why

I read the book, "Thirteen Reasons Why." The book is about a girl who commits suicide for thirteen reasons. Each of the thirteen reasons is a person. Before she commits suicide she records herself talking to each person, telling them how they lead to her death. Each tape goes in order, all thirteen of them have a tape with a number on. The first person on the tape gets all the tapes in a box. The person has to then send all the tapes to the next one, then so on, if not all the tapes get released. Although, one person isn't suppose to be on the tapes. His name is Clay and he receives the tapes. The story goes by his point of view. Read more to find out what number clay is and why he's on the tapes.

New year, new me?

I want to start reading more this year. My goal is to read over 15 books this year. I want to develop a stronger vocabulary by reading. I want to mature even more over the year as well. I can do this by having a high mindset about succeeding in life. Last year, I was slacking, not doing my homework and procrastinating. This year, I want to change that by reading on my free time and making more time to do things outside.

Best gift I've ever received

The best gift I've ever received was a MacBook. It was the best gift I've ever received because I can do many things with a MacBook. My mom bought me the MacBook for Christmas. I opened the present at my house. She bought me it because she knew I wanted to expand my knowledge. I can research new things and determine to learn new things I didn't know. I can also expand my vocabulary. Also, expand my knowledge in subjects I have trouble with, websites can explain deeply.  I can develop to be more wise.

Best Day Ever

My best day ever was in the summer, July 7, 2016. I went to a Drake concert with my best friend before I would leave to Ecuador. Our seats were really close to the stage. A few performers performed before Drake and Future did. Then, Drake performed songs from his new album as well as other songs. Then Future performed by himself and with Drake. Drake and Future were great performers. As a surprise Kanye West performed last. Nobody knew he was coming, everybody was screaming. I was crying because Kanye is one of my favorite artist.

Favorite Quote

"Be the change that you wish to see in the world" by Mahatma Gandhi.
This is my favorite quote because it's showing that we can't just wait and hope the world is going to change. We have to change ourselves if we want to see a change. It will all fall into a domino effect. If somebody changes, the next person will, then other people will want to change. Then slowly, our world will change because you did. 

What is one thing you did that was kind/thoughtful this break?

I let my aunt live with me for a while when she was going through her times with her partner. She left her house and needed somewhere to stay. So, I told her she could stay with me however long she wanted to. I helped her out other ways as well. I gave her advice and company she needed. I helped her out by being by her side when she needed it.