The First Day of Seventh Grade

Today was the first day of seventh grade. Six different classes, every day. Today was my first real experience switching classes,and as the school year goes on, I hope it is a lot less chaotic than today. They are doing construction in one of the outdoor areas, so traffic in the hallways going from class to class is like rush hour in downtown L.A. It was crazy.

All of my teachers are very nice. My favorite teacher that I met today was Mr. Shady. He is fun, easygoing, and I already like him a lot. I can not wait for the rest of the school year!

Summer's End

Last week, I returned home from a over-one-month vacation to my grandparent's house in Salt Lake City, Utah. We swam in her pool, in other peoples' pools and lakes. We played with cousins, cousins, and more cousins. We stayed longer, and longer, and longer, and had a blast.

Now the start of school is just days away and, this year, for a change, I am not dreading the start of school. As I enter the seventh grade, I am excited for the new school year and the opportunities it brings. Just one big thing I am going to miss: good food!

The Second Book

Of the three new books presented to me, I have now completed two. The second book in the Fablehaven series, Rise of the Evening Star, is a thrilling book, and continues to captivate me as a thrilling fantasy.

A few days before the start of summer break, a new student is transferred to Kendra's class. he claims to only be there to get to know people. He already has taken his exams. he is just simply there. Kendra is puzzled by the exclamations that he is 'hot'. She sees a horrible monster; a short creature covered in warts and scabs, some oozing pus. Immediately, Kendra rushes to find Seth. Seth does not see the monstrosity seen by Kendra. Unsure of what to do, they try to contact their grandfather, and fail. One day after school, they meet a magician, Errol Fisk, who claims to be a friend of their grandfather. According to Errol, they have to steal a small statue, and give it to the monster, and it will leave.

This marks the first adventure of Kendra and Seth in book two in the Fablehaven series. They once again accomplish remarkable feats and save the preserve.

Read On!

- Addison

A New Book

I am an avid reader, and am delighted every time I am blessed with a new book. Last night, a package came containing three new books! My mother, wanting to get me reading something new, had ordered the first three books in the Fablehaven series. This is my review of the first book in the series.

Simply titled Fablehaven, the story takes place on a large estate. The main characters Kendra and Seth are visiting their grandparents, while other relatives of theirs, including their parents go on a two and a half week cruise. When they first arrive at Fablehaven, their grandfather sets two rules: stay out of the woods, and don't go into the barn. On their first day, they go swimming in the pool. While swimming, they notice Dale, a helper, setting out milk for the butterflies. Later, Kendra unlocks a diary, and inside finds the message, "Drink the milk." When Kendra and Seth tasted the milk, their eyes were opened to the world of Fablehaven. For in truth, it was not just a large estate, it was a preserve for magical creatures, in place to protect magical species from going extinct.

Once aware of their true surroundings, Kendra and Seth save the preserve from falling, stop a dangerous demon, turn their grandmother from chicken to human, and, unknowingly, save the world.

I would highly recommend Fablehaven to anyone looking for a good read. It is captivating, and exciting, with many unseen twists along the way. I thoroughly enjoyed, and you will too.

Signed,

Addison

Les Miserables

Last night, I was up until midnight. What was I, an eleven year old girl doing up at midnight, you may ask? Well, I spent the better part of the night at the Ahmanson theater watching Les Miserables. It was amazing! The music was so beautiful. At the end, you couldn't refrain from crying. It was a beautiful performance. I especially enjoyed the voice of the actor who played Eponine, and also the voice of Fantine. I really had a good time.

Summer . . . Almost

PUSD has a crazy schedule. This year? We started on September 14th, and we don't get out till June 22nd. Double Ugh. Though I must say that this year has gone better than most. Because of the end of year quarterlies (finals) our teacher conducts class normally, to prepare us for this tests. So, the Tuseday, Seven days before the last day of school could of been any Thursday in the school year.

On Wednesday, we began taking our finals. Even though we had been told multiple times that the tests were going to be hard, I found them quite easily. I blame the fact that we go over the answers for handouts with exact same questions on them before hand.

Fortunately, there are only two days of school left. Our schedule for these two days? Seven forty to twelve thirty. And on Tuesday, instead of a written test my finals are: for music, turn my instrument in. Been there, done that. For P.E, all I have to do to keep my A is run a mile in under eleven minutes. Life is good!

Music and Me

I am a violinist. I also have recently started playing cello at school. This past week or so has been filled with recitals and concerts and lessons. It all started on Sunday. Sunday was my recital for the violin. I got up there to perform a piece I had been playing for a while. I made a mistake and got really embarrassed . With hormones and everything, well, it didn't end as well as I had hoped.

Thursday, it was the Marshall Fundamental Spring Concert. I performed once on both instruments. Thanks a lot to my senior friend Danny for increasing the pressure, even if he meant it as a joke. Arnold,(another high school friend) thanks for being the right type of weird. Mr. Lopez, you are still awesome, even though no one in their right mind would let Arnold compose a piece.

LOL, Addison

The Lusty Month of May!

The weather in here in Pasadena has dropped in temperature. For locals, having to wear a heavy jacket during May is as shocking as snow in July. The cold weather has come in with CST testing (California Standardized Testing.) Ugh. Why can't it be Saturday?

Earth Day Approaching

Earth Day is coming up next week. What are you going to do to show your appreciation for planet Earth? I would love to here from you!

The Disaster In Japan

As you probably already know, Japan was recently hit with one of the largest recorded earthquakes ever. The following tsunami destroyed towns, and left thousands of people homeless. The disaster in Japan affected marine life, too.

"While many animals have been affected by the disaster in Japan, the impact of the radiation appears to be less harmful than we expected." ( Global Animal ) Contaminated water is flowing into the Pacific Ocean, but since ocean water is full of potassium and calicum, it lowers the chance of an animal's body taking up radioactive particles instead. (sciencemag.org)

It appears that the greatest harm to wildlife was the tsunami itself. It is estimated that tens of thousands of costal birds were killed when the wave hit. " The endangered Midway Atoll albatross population was severely affected by the tsunami, but will survive as a species. The impact on other endangered species is unknown at this time." ( Global Animal )

The disaster in Japan did not just affect humans. If you are interested in helping the animals of Japan, www.globalanimal.org is asking for donations for animal rescue there. We need to remember this disaster did not just effect humans, but wildlife as well.

I will post!

Because my mother has recently been dedicated to posting, I too, shall return to the bliss of blogging. I will be posting once a week from now on. I will post!