A Bit of Hope

I have recently been reading up on this web site almost every day, and I have been feeling so happy. Gives Me Hope is a website where people post the day to day things that give them a little hope for the future. Through the darkest days there is at least a little light. I highly recommend that if you are having a bad day, or just need a little reassurance that there are some good things going on, visit this website. You will not be disappointed. 


http://www.givesmehope.com/

Favorite song

Book Review-My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Have you ever been in a situation where you have to make a choice, a BIG choice? A choice maybe your moral thoughts are more important than the ethical ones, or what you believe to be “right”. Maybe it would effect your loved ones, your friends. Maybe if no matter what choice you made, you would still wonder, “what if”? This is what My Sister’s Keeper is all about. Making some of the hardest choices of your life. It follows the lives of Anna, a determined 13 year old that wants her voice to be heard about why she thinks it is wrong that she is the doner for all of her older sister’s ailments (her sister Kate has acute promyelocytic leukemia) Anna was conceived in a test tube, designed to be a positive doner for her sister; Jesse, the older brother of Anna and Kate, who everyone has basically given up on because of his amazingly horrible behavior and temperament; Sara, the mother of Anna, Kate, and Jesse, who is at her wits end and will do anything to save her daughter at all cost; Brian, the father of Anna, Kate, and Jesse and the husband of Sara, a firefighter who doesn’t like to think of the negatives in his life and loves looking at the stars; Campbell, the lawyer that Anna hires to sue her parents for medical emancipation, who is epileptic and has a seizure dog. He is caught up on the past, and cannot accept what has happened; and Julia, the guardian ad litem assigned to Anna’s case, who once dated Campbell in high school, only to have her heart broken by him when he left her standing alone at graduation with no explanation. This is a gripping story about love, loss, and finding who you truly are.
The book was written by Jodi Picoult, published in 2003 and has earned great praise such as being the Winner of The Gold Book Award from Nielsen Bookscan UK; Winner, Best Novel, Spanish or Biligual - 2009 Latino Book Awards; Winner of the 2007 Virginia Readers’ Choice Award; Winner of the 2006-2007 Maryland Black-Eyed Susan Book Award in the high school division.; The Abraham Lincoln Illinois High School Book Award (2007); Vermont Green Mountain Book Award Master List (2007); Winner of the Margaret Alexander Edwards Award (the Alex Award) given by the American Library Association; Best Book of the Year (2005); Nominated for an IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; Shortlisted for the Richard & Julie Best Read of the Year in the UK, and nominated for a British Book Award, 2005. It takes place in Providence, Rhode Island in about 2003, where it has flashbacks as far back as 1990 and there is an epilogue that takes place in 2010. My copy of the book has 423 pages and it took me about 3 weeks to read.
The plot of the story is that when Kate’s kidneys fail, her parents automatically assume that Anna will give Kate her kidney, but she knows that there will be long term effects if she does. Anna decides to sue her parents for medical emancipation with the help of the lawyer that agreed to be assigned to her case for free, Campbell Alexander. When her parents find out, they are livid. Her mother decides to represent herself and her husband, because she was a lawyer before she had any children. Julia Romano was assigned to be Anna’s guardian ad litem in the case, which is someone who gets to know a child in any court case and learn about what they want and what she thinks they deserve. When Julia finds out that Campbell is the lawyer in this case, she is uneasy. She and Campbell used to be in love, until the day that he left her, never to return. Throughout the story’s many twists and turns, Anna and her mother learn to set aside differences, and to cope with the fact that people need to make some hard choices, and Campbell and Julia fall back in love when they learn that the whole reason they were not together was because of one huge misunderstanding.
I think that three main themes in this book are family, individuality, and learning to let go. The whole book revolves around a family and their differences and hardships. Coming together as a family is the most important thing that can happen in this situation, and when they finally realize this, it is so much easier to cope with all of the terrible things in their lives. Individuality is also a huge theme. By the end of this book, every single person in this story learns about themselves. They realize about themselves, and see each other in new ways. The last theme in this story is learning to let go. There are so many things that happen in every one's lives that we just want to hold onto, but we have to realize that we are being selfish in some ways by doing so. We have to learn to accept what comes to us, and believe that we are doing the right thing. The characters in this story go through the same thing. I think that if I was in the situation that Anna was in, I would have given my kidney to my sister, but I can’t really disagree or say she is wrong, because I have never been in a situation like hers and I can understand where she is coming from. In the end, on the way to the hospital to visit Kate, Anna and Campbell get into a car accident, and Anna is so badly hurt that she is brain dead. Her organs are saved and her kidney, given to Kate. Even though Anna didn’t survive, Kate did, and she lived the rest of her life grateful to have the sister that she did.
I would recommend this book to anyone. This was one of the best books that I have ever read, and I think that I learned so much and grew not only as a person, but as an individual after reading this. I have to say, it is a very sad book, and I cried a few times while I was reading, but I felt so much during the book at the same time. It made me think of the future, and I think that when I eventually am working in the health care field, I can take some of the lessons that I have learned from this book and apply them to my job. I think that this a the sort of book that you have to read at least once in your life, and this goes for every single person.
See, as much as you want to hold on to the bitter sweet memory that someone has left this world, you are still in it. And the very act of living is a tide: at first it seems to make no difference at all, and then one day you look down and see how much pain has eroded.



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Current Events Narrative- Last Launching of the Space Shuttle Discovery

Nina Solis A Trip Like No Other 3/9/11

News Story:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/space-shuttle-discovery-lands-148-million-miles-nasa/story?id=13089715
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/lindsey.html
http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/03/09/shuttle-landing-discovery-landing/

I sit down in my seat. The seat I worked so hard to get. The left front seat in this massive space shuttle. I am the commander of this mission. I am the one in charge. I have been trained and drilled again and again, and know all of the shuttle systems like the back of my hand. I am ready for this. Although this is not the first time that I am traveling somewhere literally out of this world, I can’t help but be in awe every time that I step foot in such a magnificent machine such as this. I have logged over 1,203 hours in space, and I still have butterflies in my stomach as we prepare to take off. I hear the countdown and prepare to leave this earth behind and head towards something better. The one thing that I am a bit sad about is the fact that this massive craft will be flying for the last time today. After over 20 years of dutiful service to NASA, the space shuttle Discovery will be retiring.

I feel like a kid again, pretending to be an astronaut in my bedroom, after watching men walk on the moon when I was nine. My eyes were glued to the television. Immediately after that, I knew that I wanted to be just like them. I wanted to take a step for mankind. I wanted to spear an American flag into the surface of the moon and laugh in the face of everyone who told me that I would never get there. Nobody was going to stop me.

The Discovery- what I believe to be a very appropriate name may I add- is just about ready to go. The searing hot engine starts to rumble. I can feel the whole thing shaking as it prepares to take off. Everything that I have learned starts to fall into place as I run through every gauge and button that is flashing and every noise that I hear. I feel like I am on an amusement park ride. I know that the ride will get smooth soon, but my adrenaline rushes as the walls around me shiver with excitement.

“Ready everyone?” call to the 5 other people that are just as eager as I am to take off. Some people’s eyes widen as the shuttle leaves, one person yells in excitement, I can’t tell who it was. I am focused on watching the window in front of me. I want to see every second of this.

We shoot higher and higher into the atmosphere, the pressure changing. We are going at what seems to be light speed. I imagine for a moment that this shuttle was alive. It is probably yawning right about now. Old Discovery has seen this a so many times before. 39 missions, 365 days in space, 5,830 orbits of the Earth, 148,221,665 miles traveled. It launched the Hubble Space Telescope, carried John Glenn on his sentimental return to space in 1998, assembled the first components of the International Space Station. This was just another day of work. Or would it be just the opposite? Savoring every precious second, because after this, there would be no more adventure. After this, it would be retired. This was the last time that this shuttle will every see space. For a moment I am saddened by the thought of this. I think I am losing it...

We exit Earth. Finally. Everyone exhales. Looks like I wasn’t the only one holding my breath. I look around, unbuckling my restraint. I float to the top of the ship, then towards someone else. I just push them away when they say, “Hey, watch it.” I am too busy gazing at the stars. When you are in space, nothing can compare to the view. Sure, you see pictures that you think are so amazing, and watch videos of Earth from space on the television, but absolutely nothing compares to really seeing it. It literally takes your breath away.

For the next 13 days, it is relatively quiet. No problems, thank heavens. This is no surprise considering that this shuttle has been in the business for so long - it has made more flights than any other shuttle. When it is finally time to return home, disappointment washes over me like a wave. Once I am up here next to the stars, I never want to leave. We begin the descent to Earth, and I say a quick and silent prayer that everything will run smoothly- although I have no doubt that it will.

As we are about to touch down, I speak into the radio.

“For the final time, wheels stop”

We screech on the pavement and everyone burst into applause. Everyone did an amazing job. This was a trip to remember.

As I walk away from the shuttle after the mission, I look back one last time. The shuttle is resting now, sleeping after the long journey. The time to sleep is now. It put up a great fight, and deserved all of the glory. This shuttle changed things. It made a difference. Without this, so many things would not be accomplished. I mouth the words thank you. I have been moved by a space shuttle. Hey, I told you I was losing it.

I can leave knowing that I made a part of history happen today, and can only hope that there will be more opportunities like this in the future. Life is so short. You might as well make the best of it while it lasts.

OPEN ENDED RESPONSE
In A Trip Like No Other, the author talks about his love for the universe. He also talks about the life changing event of being a part of history when he is assigned the role of the commander in the last launching of the space shuttle Discovery.

• Explain why the space shuttle is so celebrated. Do you think that this shuttle was one of the most important shuttle? Why or why not?
• What point of view do you think that the author has on this mission? Give examples from the text that help support what you think he feels like during the mission.