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1/9/2018 0 Comments Book Review Three junes is a three part book all tied together in one novel. It takes course throughout three different summers; each summer being narrated by a different family member of the McLeod’s. The first summer is narrated by the father named Paul, the second summer is narrated by one of his three sons, named Fenno, and the third summer is narrated by a women the father encounters in his trip to Greece, named Fern. This novel is filled with love, family, deaths, new beginnings, and friendship along the way. This book is filled with little things that end up making bigger things at the end of the story. In the first summer, Paul takes a trip to tour Greece. It his way of trying to get the death of his wife out of his head. In Greece, he ends up meeting this woman named Fern, who the reader sees again during the last summer in this novel. The father, Paul, passes away which is what leads to the second summer in the book. His death is what caused his three sons to return to their father’s hometown . This is where Fenno meets Fern, the women who once attracted his father. Fenno was unaware that she meant so much to his father until they got to know each other. Fern is what leads the novel into its third summer. This third summer revolves around Fern and how she is present day. We find out that she is pregnant. However, guilt can’t help but set in when she realizes that maybe she made an awful mistake leaving Paul all those years ago. Each summer takes place several years apart. The first summer is six years before the second summer and the third summer is four years after the second summer. I recommend this book to my peers because with each summer, the novel pulls you in more and more. The main themes and topics throughout the story like love and friendship and family all make you want to keep reading. I definitely recommend this novel, Three Junes, to all my peers because it is a great and easy read.
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12/18/2017 0 Comments Reveal I still have flashbacks of this horrific night. I sometimes ponder what I could have done better. Or what else I should have grabbed. Maybe if I was older I would have realized that most of my stuff can be replaced, but the valuables are the most important. I usually think about what could have happened if my mom didn’t wake up and hadn’t realized what was happening. Or if my sister never came in to shake me out of my sleep. Where would we all be? What could have happened to us? On December 28th, 2013, my beautiful home was set to flames. We still can’t fathom the thought of what even happened that night, but still eternally grateful that we are all safe and alive. My brain still can’t even process the idea of my mom waking up just in time to realize that half of our house was gone. She was tossing and turning all night until she couldn’t take it anymore. At three in the morning she decided to leave the warmth of her bed to go downstairs. She thought that maybe a glass of water would do the trick to help her fall asleep. As she turned the corner to enter the kitchen her eyes could the sight of yellow and orange glowing from the backyard. She watched as the fire trailed up the grass and worked its way up the house. She was locked in place, shook to the core of what her eyes were seeing. She then realized that maybe she should warn my dad about this before it gets too bad. As she shook him from his deep sleep, his first instinct was to call 911. As the rest of the house was woken up, I was packing up the things I wanted to take with me before the house was gone forever, along with half of my belongings. As a third grader, I didn’t know what I needed to grab or what was worth it to bring. Here, I am, regretting this now, grabbing my phone, Ipod, and my dog. Only thing I would have still grabbed today was my dog. Tucker has been my best friend through it all and he was coming with me, there was no other option. I vaguely remember getting out of the house. However, something that I remember vividly is sitting in the street waiting for my family to join me. I remember the feeling of seeing my sister run out of the flaming house and the box she had swung in her arms. We sat in the street and she emptied the box. This was her way of making sure she grabbed everything she needed. Looking back at this moment now, I start to have regrets. I don’t know why I didn’t grab my necklace that my grandfather gave me, knowing now that it would be the last thing he would give me. Or the ring my mother gave me after the first holy communion. These things that I cherish now, are gone and it is too little too late. If I could go back to this night I would. I know this sounds weird because who would want to relive the moment you realize your whole house is in flames? However, I think I would need this. I would need the maturity to go back in that house and grab a few more things. I regret not having the chance to run back in one more time to have the jewelry I once had. Or the memories that I wish I had again. I sometimes go back to the land that was once my home and my safety net. I trace back to the backyard that I once would run around in. I touch the dirt that remains. I do circles around where my house once laid. My fist find themselves banging against the grass out of anger. My heart aches for my childhood home to back to me. I miss being able to tell stories about that one secret corner in the basement that was my favorite hiding spot during hide and go seek. Or my favorite tree outside my bedroom window because of the way it swayed in the wind. Or the window in the living room because of the way that the sunlight came through so perfectly. I miss the way this house felt against my skin, the way my bare feet loved the feeling of being pressed against the cold wooden floors late at night. I miss my childhood bedroom where my mom would sit with me because I couldn’t fall asleep on my own. I thrive for this house, I need this house, my heart misses it. I remember watching the house I once loved and felt safe in, burn to the ground in ashes. I still sometimes ponder the thought of this house. I wonder how this fire even occurred, and if it could have been prevented. I miss it more than ever, the house that built me.
12/12/2017 0 Comments BAd Friends No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow. You may feel that just because they have been there for you through a lot and have always stayed loyal to you, that you have to keep them as a friend. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. A real friend will put a spotlight on whatever your doing great at, boost your confidence up, and be there for you through thick and thin. No friend should silence you and make you feel like your voice is small. They shouldn’t belittle you into feeling like your opinion doesn't matter. If that is the case, then that person is not your friend. No friend should deny your right to grow. They should be full of joy at the fact that as an individual, you are growing and learning who you are. If they take that away from you and make you feel like you aren’t able to better yourself and grow from your experiences, then they are not your friend. You should surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed in everything you put your mind to. Those people should want the best for you and never silence your mind. They should allow you to learn and grow and become a better version of yourself everyday. If they become jealous of the fact that you are growing and they for some reason can’t grow themselves, do not allow them to deny your growth. They will deny your growth in envy of you and you shouldn’t let them win. A friend is a friend until you decide otherwise. If you want your friends to boost you up and make you feel like you are on top of the world each day, than you can’t surround yourself with people that “demand your silence” and “deny your growth”. They will only bring you down as a person and bring you down as your try to grow. Those “friends” that do that, feed off those who lack self confidence. This is why they will try everything to tear you down and demand your silence and deny your growth. They are only happy and only will stop when they are on top. These type of friends don’t enjoy their friends success and rather them fail just so that themselves can the best.
Today marks six months after the night at Danvers State where we all spent the night to film the movie. A lot as gone down since that night. I returned home soon after we finished filming the movie and the first thing I did was send in the film. The next day I received a letter in the mail and had to make sure I opened it to make sure my parents didn’t see it. At this point, I wasn't ready for the yelling and screaming my parents would do if they found the letter. RTV has issued a letter directly to me and all I can do is stare at it. This could be the make or break of my career, of my future. I waited until my parents were out of sight to open it, and once they disappeared, I jumped at the opportunity to rip it open. The anxiety was killing and I just had to know if I won the contest or not. I felt my face become sore and my cheeks start to burn. My eyes couldn’t hold back the salt water that wanted to pore down my face. The thrill of it all was too much to handle. The letter read, “ Congratulations, Derik. You have received the first place prize for the film contest.” My heart felt like it was trying to jump out of the chest until I remembered that now it means that my parents would have to find out eventually.
As they returned home later that night, I sat them down at the able. Dad, with grandfather’s spatula in hand, ready to pass it down to me any moment now. I could tell this was the last thing they were expecting. I contemplated on just not telling them. Maybe I’ll write them a note and leave it on the counter the morning I leave; then I remembered that Liza would be disappointed if I did so. From beginning to end, I poured out the lie I have been keeping from them for months now. I watched my dad’s face become saddened. As if I just murdered somebody and there is absolutely no hope for me. My mother bombarded me with questions about the diner. “What is going to happen when you decide to up and leave and we are too old to maintain this diner?” or “Maybe you can come back on the weekends to take over.” or “The hell is a film maker? You’re future is here, in this diner.” See, that one is my favorite line by her, because she has no idea how much creativity I have inside this brain and it’ll go to waste if I stay in this small town forever, maintaining this old diner. A few weeks go by and now we are back to reality. They have come to terms that in a few days I will be leaving soon to further my film career in California. They eventually agreed to at least try and watch my film. My dad got so into it and actually got excited for what’s to come once I’m in California doing this full time. My mom doesn’t like to give the impression that she was wrong, but I could tell that she was proud of my work and she knows that I deserved to win and deserve to go to California to live out my dream. Here I am, in present day. I am packing up my car when Liza walks up. I was confused why she had a suitcase and a bag in her hand, but I didn’t think too much into it. I then realized that she was joining me on this new chapter in my life. I was tossing and turning last night just thinking how I’m going to say goodbye to her, and now I don’t have to. To start a new journey is a blessing and to start somewhere fresh and new is even better. From Massachusetts to California, here we come. 11/30/2017 0 Comments Ode to the New Yorker If you are someone who is pressured as a young teen by parents or people around you, then you will relate immensely to this novel. It covers topics about a high school teens finding their ways, finding yourself through situations you never thought you'd find yourself in, and deals with the stress of the idea of having a bright and meaningful future. As a reader you will easily relate to this book if you are a teenager that has gone through any of these situations. Throughout the book, Project 17, the main character, Derik, was the youngest child in his family. He was a senior in high school and had no interest in trying hard in his last year before “freedom”. His “freedom” after high school was to go into the family business of the small diner his parents own. His mother and father want him to one day take over the family business, hopefully sometime soon after graduation. However, the last thing Derik wants his to take over the family diner and he figures out a way out. His idea sparks when he decided to ditch school one morning and drive up to the abandoned mental institution to see it one last time before it gets teared down. His idea of creating a film here with a bunch of his friends came from the spookiness vibe that he got from the institution. He decided that he’d enter his film into a contest, he knew if he was able to win the contest he would have his way out of his old small town, and a way out of the taking over the family diner. It was a perfect plan, or was it? Laurie Faria Stolarz, the author, takes you through his journey with the film and how things work out for him throughout the book. You encounter all his ups and downs in his journey. Some things that I would have told Stolarz to change was the disgust that Derik had when he found out that after graduation he would have to take over the diner if he didn’t find a way out. That would have let the reader know just how much he really needed to win this contest. The author also could have added how awful Derik’s life would have turned out if he had to end up just like his parents, stuck with the diner for the rest of his life. That would have made the reader feel sympathy for him and root for him in the end. Overall, I enjoyed this book and the author’s style throughout the book, it made the characters come alive. She did a good job of creating each character and letting the reader get attached to each one, enough for the reader to want them to succeed in the end.
11/22/2017 0 Comments What I am Thankful For2017, I’m thankful for you.
You’ve given my hardships, but in the end the outcomes of those have taught me a lot. 2017, when you took my grandfather, my life shattered. I felt alone and like nothing even mattered anymore. However, this death brought me to a light. It brought me closer to people who I thought I couldn’t be anymore closer to. My family. We shared this death together and grieved together. We we’re each others shoulders to cry on when no one else understood our lose. We we’re each others reasons to laugh when smiling was the last thing we wanted to do. We kept each other strong when the easy way out was to become weak and depressed. For this I am eternally grateful for my family. They were a support system when no one else could be. 2017, I’m thankful for you. You’ve taught me a lot and shown me what’s really important in life; family. I’m thankful for my family, for my forever friends. 11/3/2017 0 Comments A Memory I Carry AloneAlone I sat along the staircase, leading into the kitchen. The clock struck midnight and it was way past my bedtime. I couldn’t sleep with the adrenaline rushing through my veins Christmas night. All I want is to rip open my gifts and see what they have to offer. This is the moment I witnessed a special memory that only I can recall. Curled up pressing my face against the railing of the stairs, I tried to see what gifts my parents were wrapping for me. However, all I saw was my mother opening up the hot oven to take out cookies. I was confused as to why, at midnight, she wanted cookies. And then my dad stepped into the kitchen. His hands slipped out of his pockets and onto the speaker to hit resume play. My ears were startled at the Christmas music that he decided to blare at midnight, but I didn’t mind. The music muted the rest of the room, it was like I was watching them out of a movie. I can’t hear them, but I can see the smiles and kisses they are sharing. My heart is warmed by the overload of love that surrounds the room. I watched them for an hour; eating their favorite Christmas cookies and swaying back and forth to music. I can remember this one Christmas like it was yesterday. It was the night that I first witnessed love. Real love. Passionate love. Two people who did nothing but cared for each other and loved with their whole hearts. I watched them dance and sing together and mostly just care for one another. They gave each other their lives and together they are stronger. I aspire to have a love like theirs. The kind of love that doesn’t die. The fire doesn't burn out. I carry this special Christmas memory alone. I am the one who witnessed this. I am the one who saw their love in full swing. I carry this memory with me every day. This memory is much more to me than just a simple memory. It was a moment of clarity, to never settle in love or even life. Someone is made for you out there, and when you find that, your love will never die. No matter your age. If you’re 16 or 80 years old, your love is your love, it won’t ever burn out.
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Author: Sophia AntignaniI enjoy writing and being able to express myself freely throughout my writing. It's a place where I can find myself and get lost in my stories. I hope you enjoy! |