A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven: Or, How I Made Peace with the Paranormal and Stigmatized Zealots and Cynics in the Process by Corey Taylor, Dominic Diaz

When trying to figure out what book to read for the first quarter I had no idea what to read so I decided to find a book written by one of my favorite song artists, Corey Taylor, so picked up A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven. In the title the book was already ironic due to the author stating that he's an atheist multiple times inside and outside the book meaning that he neither believes in heaven or hell and should dismiss the paranormal all together. This book though is a fusion of his personal experiences with unworldly paranormal activity and his critical thinking as to how ghosts, spirits, or whatever they're called can exist. Another key aspect of the book too was his attitude being shown whenever he'd tell a story or explain the logic as to how ghosts can exist. One specific story he explains how his son, Griffin, was seeing a shadow man in his room at night when he was 3 years old and it was made clear that as a father he felt fear and anger that something he couldn't explain at the time was happening to his family. Every single part of the book was quite interesting because not only did he go in depth with the possibility of ghosts existing but the stories too were both comedic and kept my eyes glued to the book. It was something I enjoyed reading and I got a few good laughs out of it and it makes me think more differently because I now question more things with a more critical thought process than I did before.

Fang Girl by Helen Keeble, Sammantha Rubio

Out of the three books I read last semester, I decided to pick Fang Girl by Helen Keeble. Fang Girl is a humor and young adult fiction novel with a total of 325 pages. The book is about a 15-year old girl named Jane Greene who is suddenly dead after waking up inside a coffin with fangs, super speed, and no more mediocre life. She returns home to her family to understand the reasoning of her death while her family seem to be confused about their dead daughter at their front door. Her parents, confused on how to take care of their dead daughter, feeds her live animals, reads every book they could find, and get frightened that their daughter may or may not want to suck their blood.  Throughout the book, she learns to cope with the idea of her being dead while trying to still "live" a normal life. I really enjoyed this book because there were many funny and humorous moments in the book that really kept the momentum all throughout. This book was very enjoyable to read and never had a moment of boredom at all. The protagonist was very entertaining with some laugh-out-loud quotes, and her teen characteristics were perfectly detailed. I also really loved how supportive the characters were with the protagonist like how her family was very supportive about their daughter going through a process of her death. They were able to do anything for their daughter and how they handle situations that seemed bizarre and crazy, perfectly blended with the whole novel. I really enjoyed this book and many people who really like adult fiction novels would love to read this as well. :D

Hi classmates! Of the three books I read last semester, my favorite was Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. It is 310 pages long and worth every single one. It is an adult fiction novel about a teen girl named Madeline Whittier who does not know what the world is. She is constantly underneath a microscope when in the hands of her mother. At times, she is being taken care of by a nurse named Carla who is a bit more loose with her. Since she was a baby, Maddy had been told by her mother (who is also a doctor) that she had to be treated to an immune disorder that could cause a fatality if exposed to the germs of the outside world. Every day was a routine for her. Without giving big details, she met a guy her age and they fell in love. Her mother of course did not approve. One day, Maddy decided to go to Hawaii with the boy and they shared a life changing experience. Maddy then grew sick and passed out. When she came back on to the mainland, Maddy stopped talking to Olly. He later moved away but Maddy had to have him back. It was not long before then that she discovered that Maddy was not as sick as her mother told her to be. Her entire life seemed like a lie. She traveled to New York where her love would be rekindled.  I loved this book and everything about it. I felt that the main character, although she thought that she was sick, was a simple teen. She was not different in her personality. The way that she expressed herself at times was admirable. I truly recommend this to anyone into young adult fiction books.

[KC]: Semester 1 Blog Post

Hi, folks!

I hope you enjoyed reading the books you've committed to for Independent Reading so far. Here's your first SSR check-in:

Step 1: Create a new POST in which you review one of the two books that you read for the first semester. If you read more than two books this semester, you can choose any of them to review. In your review, be sure to clearly state the title, author, genre, and total page number of the book. Then, summarize a bit of the plot (but don't give away the major spoilers!) to give us some context. Next, discuss what you liked or didn't like about this book.

• Feel free to use these questions to help guide you, but don't feel tied to simply answering them: How was the main character? Did you feel connected? Were the major plot points predictable? How was the writing? Poetic? Simplistic? Were the characters dynamic or static? Did that hurt or help the story? If you were to change anything about the book, what would it be? 

Step 2: Once other classmates have posted their reviews, COMMENT on two other reviews. (Be sure to read the comments on your review as well and engage in conversations as necessary.)

As always, your post should be around 250 words and your comments should be at least a few meaningful sentences.

NO PLAGIARIZING!

DUE DATES
One original post: Thursday, January 23rd
Two comments: Tuesday, January 28th

[KC]: Ms. Colln's Writing Territories!

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." - Maya Angelou

Hi all! A lot of times we get stuck early on in the writing process because we think that we have nothing to write about, which is just straight-up poppycock! We have tons about which we can write! We've been on this earth a good while and we have had many different experiences in many different realms of our lives. 

This activity is meant to get you to see just how much you have up in your brain into which you can tap and from which you can write. A writing territories list shows a bit of who you are and it is also a bank of ideas to use at your disposal -- turn to it when you want to write, when you need to write, when you'll just die if you don't write! (Take a look HERE to find some ideas on what types of territories to create.) 

Notice how I've taken more broad domains and then narrowed them down to specific experiences that I've had in my life. You can do it this way or you can set it up in a different way. The creativity is left up to you!

MY WRITING TERRITORIES!

(all the areas in which I can write and write well)

FAMILY:
I am a daughter.

• wanting to make my parents proud; building things with my dad; sharing music with my mom; summer solstice parades; sand-sport super shows, car shows with dad; the divorce;

I am a sister.

• my brother, Chris; video gaming together; the first time I saw him cry as an adult; being there for his first heartbreak (and second heartbreak); 

I am a friend.

• late nights talks at Mimi's with Tati and Katelyn; getting to know people while traveling; "the band"; 

BELIEFS:
I am a Christian.

• being invited to church by my cousin; Area Bible Studies in high school; working with the K-2nd graders; going on a missions trip to Africa; speaking in FUEL

ACADEMICS:
I am a teacher.

• realizing I wanted to be a teacher in 11th grade; meeting Kenzie in the credential program; student teaching under Phinizy and Fletch; subbing for Mrs. Brown and growing our friendship; having fun at professional development days and/or workshops;

I am a reader.

• my favorite books: Pride and Prejudice, The Night Circus, The Harry Potter Series, etc.; dreaming about a book while I'm in the middle of reading it; sharing my love of a book with someone else; buying books; missing my opportunity with BJ Novak

I am a writer.

• reading through old essays; choosing to write poetry;

I am a scholar.

• wanting to remain a student forever; being in class (sharing your thoughts, trying to stay focused, meeting my classmates, forming study groups, etc); English classes at UCLA; film classes at UCLA;

I am a Bruin.

• being an athlete on campus; joining the FPS (Film and Photography Society) club (the first meeting, the short film festival); creating a friendship with my counselor and some professors (Janel, Batten, Mott, Monica); attending sporting events; Bruin Bash; Monday dinners with Claudia & Kristen; catch and dinners and classes with Troy; graduations; considering going into the PhD program; alumni events; always feeling like I'm home at UCLA;

ART:
I am a film-analyzer.

• taking film and television production at Mayfair; creating my own short films in high school; creating our softball video; having my film viewed in a festival at a theater on a big screen; 

I am a movie-goer/TV-watcher.

• My favorite movies: A League of Their Own, Pride and Prejudice, Big Fish, Hugo; sitting in a theater, talking to my friends after a movie;
• My favorite shows: Chuck, Pushing Daisies, Parenthood, American Dreams;

SPORTS:
I am an athlete.

• playing softball (Heartwell, travel ball, high school, college); one year of golf; first time traveling for softball alone (Georgia); two years at Cerritos and one state championship; walking on to the UCLA softball team; meeting some of my closest friends; learning key characteristics through the sport; learning who I am outside of that sport;

I am a coach.

• quarter-final game in Temecula Valley; our first time beating La Mirada; surprising everyone at the Division 1 tournament; the players I've coached; starting with the volleyball team;

EXPLORATION:
I am a traveler.

• Africa; Ireland; Canada; San Francisco; Hogwarts (Florida); New York twice by myself; journaling while traveling; what it means to "just be" (completely unplugged); hiking in Southern California;

Another way is to create a map of your territories. (Note: this is just a brief sketch. There would obviously be much more to mapping out a particular territory.)

Devote a FULL PAGE of your notebook to thinking about your writing territories. If you fill a page and have more to say, just keep going! Be sure to put the page into your Index to make it easy to find and work with.

D. Young - Troubled Youth

https://erwcblog2020-kc2.blogspot.com/2019/12/d-young-troubled-youth.html?m=1

S.Rivera-Juveniles tried as adults

https://sites.google.com/s.busd.k12.ca.us/s-rivera/home