Finial blog reflection

Click hereto view my best blog post.

        

          I think my character post is my best post because I used strong evidence to support my idea of how the character developed. I also summarized some of the book in the beginning so you would have an idea of what was going on. On the rubric it says you need to show how a character develops over the course of the text, so here is one thing I said in my blog that shows how Samantha developed over time. "Punctual to a fault, I've never understood the expression I lost track of time. I've never lost track of anything, not my cell phone, not my homework, not my work schedule, certainly not time. But this night, I do" (Fitzpatrick 100). This quotes shows that she did something that she never did before. She stayed out past crew few and she never did that until this night with Jase." Also on the rubric it says how the character interacts with others so in my blog I said, "I hand Pasty a bottle of juice, prompting a crunchy-granola-looking woman in Birkenstocks to say, "That baby is much too old for a bottle. She should be on a sippy cup by now." Who are these people, and why do they think their own opinions are only right ones? "Don't you ever just want to kill them, or at least swear at them?" I ask in a undertone, steering the cart away from the crabby sippy-cup woman, with Harry and George clinging to either side like spider monkeys. "Of course." Mrs. Garrett shrugs. "But what kind of example would that be?" (Fitzpatrick 107). This shows Samantha's interaction between her and Mrs. Garrett. They were in the store and everyone kept making comments about how she parents but she ignored them and went on but Samantha wasn't use to that because her mom would never allow that." Another thing on the rubric is how the character advance the plot and this is one thing I said in my blog, "Samantha keeps the book going because there is always new problems popping up. Like how she doesn't like whom her mom is dating. Or how her mom doesn't know about Jase and her babysitting. "Clay Tucker is a real mover and shaker," she says now. "I can't believe he's taking time for my little campaign." I return the strawberries to the fridge, then root around my smoothie with my spoon, looking for more prices of fruit that escaped the blender. "How'd he wind up in Stony Bay?" Did he bring a wife with him? A hometown honey? "He bought his parents a summer house on Seashell Island... Then be read about my race and couldn't help wanting to get involved." With the campaign? Or it's mom? Maybe he's some kind of secret agent, looking for ways to discredit her. But that would never work. She haven't got any skeletons in the closet" (Fitzpatrick 77). This quote shows how she doesn't like her mom's boyfriend which is one of the main problems in the story but she doesn't want to tell her mom because she doesn't know how to and doesn't want to hurt her."

             One thing I struggled with through blogging is posting twice a week. I know that we somehow have to show you that we are reading but I think that was one of the harder things to do. Another thing I thought was hard was quoting the book because when I read I don't mark things down and then when it comes to writing the blog you know you read it you just don't know where it is. One strength I had through blogging is commenting on other people's blogs because I thought it was cool to see what other classmates were reading. Another strength was always answering the questions on the rubric.

Chatacters My Life Next Door

The main character in My Life Next Door is Samantha. She isn't your average teenager. She has a mom who is a politcan and is running. She has a sister who is at Marther's Vineyard with her boyfriend for the summer and her dad left when she was still in her mom's stomach. Her mom says they are not aloud to speak or even look at the neighbors next door. But, one night that all changes. She meets Jase and starts talking to him and starts liking him. Her mom doesn't know that she has been seeing him. And that Samantha is babysitting for all the seven kids. Before Samantha meet Jase she would never get home after crew few. "Punctual to a fault, I've never understood the expression I lost track of time. I've never lost track of anything, not my cell phone, not my homework, not my work schedule, certainly not time. But this night, I do" (Fitzpatrick 100). This quotes shows that she did something that she never did before. Se stayed out past crew few and she never did that until this night with Jase. "I hand Pasty a bottle of juice, prompting a crunchy-granola-looking woman in Birkenstocks to say, "that baby is much too old for a bottle. She should be on a sippy cup by now." Who are these people, and why do they think their own opinions are only right ones? "Don't you ever just want to kill them, or at least swear at them?" I ask in a undertone, steering the cart away from the crabby sippy-cup woman, with Harry and George clinging to either side like spider monkeys. "Of coarse." Mrs. Garrett shurgs. "But what kind of example would that be?" (Fitzpatrick 107). This shows Samantha's interaction between her and Mrs.Garrett. They were in the store and everyone kept making comments about how she parents but she ignored them and went on but Samantha wasn't  use to that because her mom would never allow that. Samantha keeps the book going because there is always new problems popping up. Like how she doesn't like who her mom is dating. Or how her mom doesn't know about Jase and her babysitting. "Clay Tucker is a real mover and shaker," she says now. "I can't believe he's taking time for my little campaign." I return the strawberries to the fridge, then root around my smoothie with my spoon, looking for more prices of fruit that escaped the blender. "How'd he wind up in Stony Bay?" Did he bring a wife with him? A hometown honey? "He bought his parents a summer house on Seashell Island... Then be read about my race and couldn't help wanting to get involved." With the campaign? Or it's mom? Maybe he's some kind of secret agent, looking for ways to discredit her. But that would never work. She haven't got any skeletons in the closet" (Fitzpatrick 77). This quote shows how she doesn't like her mom's boyfriend which is one of the main problems in the story but she doesn't want to tell her mom because she doesn't know how to and doesn't want to hurt her.

My Life Next Door

In My Life Next Door Samantha has a best friend and her brother works with Sam at the community center. Sam kinda helped him get the job but he is always doing drugs and asking for money and ask for help. But he always shows up late and isn't in uniform. So when Samantha's boss comes and finds him he gets all mad and wants to fire him. Sam is like no, no but he does it anyway. I would think that if you are trying to pull your life together and get a job you wouldn't just flirt with the girls and actually wear your uniform but that seems to not be the case. I would just think he would appreciate it more then he does.

Book Recommendation

One book that I think a lot of people should read is The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks. It is an awesome book. I would give this book a 8 out of ten. It is about a teenage girl who goes and visits her dad for the summer with her little brother. She already didn't want to go but right when she gets there she gets in a fight with her dad and leaves. Her little brother hates seeing them fight so she agrees that she will try not to fight with him anymore. Well the book goes on and she meets this guy named Will. At first she thinks he is just some kind of summer guy who looks for some girls to hook up with but she comes to find out that he truly likes her. The summer goes on and one night her dad gets really, really sick and ends up in the hospital. She gets all mad at herself and her boyfriend Will because she thinks she spent her whole summer worrying about Will and not spending enough time with her dad. So she tells herself that she is going to stay when summer ends and help out her dad. Now you may be thinking oh I have seen the movie I don't need to read the book but actually the book is a lot better then the movie. It goes into way more detail and the ending is 1000 times better then the movie. But, I am not going to give away the ending so you are going to have to read to find out for yourself.

Theme and Summary of My Life Next Door

I think the theme of My Life Next Door is you never know who you may fall in love with. Samantha is your average teenager. She goes to school and is on the swim team. But her mom is into political stuff and her dad left her when she was a baby. She has a sister who left for the summer to go to The Vineyard. Her mom is dating a younger guy named Clay, who Samantha cannot stand. But they had a talk and I think she is starting to like him more. Sounds sort of like a regular family. Right? Well her mom does not like neighbors, and refuses Samantha to talk to them. She thinks that they are a huge family of seven and does not keep their yard up. But what her mom doesn't know is that Sam sits out and observes the Garrett's every move. One night she is sitting on her roof when Jase, one of the Garrett's sons, comes up and starts talking to her she thinks nothing of it until the next day Mrs.Garrett Samantha can start babysitting for them. Sam says yes. With her taking this babysitting job she becomes closer with Jase. So one night after babysitting Jase takes Sam to the beach thinking Sam's mom won't be home for awhile because she has been working late hours more lately. Sam is having a good time with Jase, kissing in the ocean and just messing around. Only did Sam know that it was way past curfew. Sam gets home and gets yelled at by her mom and gets grounded but then Clay comes in and says that everyone comes home late from curfew once in awhile. She goes upstairs to take a shower but actually Jase is on the roof so Sam starts talking to him. Her mom almost catches her. She keeps getting closer and closer to her mom finding out. Sam never knew she would fall in love with Jase and even her mom thinks nothing of it. Some quotes to support this are "Oh God. I leap back in through the window, so fast I smack the top of my forehead on the frame. Ow! "Were you talking to someone out there?" Mom, looking chic in a sleeveless black shirt and fitted white pants, has her arms folded, frowning. "I thought I heard voices." I try to keep the flush from flooding my face. Unsuccessfully. I'm blushing, and my lips are swollen. I could not possibly look more quietly. "Just calling hello to Mrs. Schmidt across the street," I say, "She was getting her mail." Incredibly, mom buys this. She's already distracted" (Fitzpatrick 121). This quote is when Samantha is on the roof talking to Jase when her mom hears some voices talking she thinks nothing of it and gets distracted right away. "He circles my belly button with that light finger. I turn my head, bury my lips in the worn cotton of his shirt" (Fitzpatrick 119). And this quote is when they are on the roof flirting with each other. So like I said I think the theme of My Life Next Door is you never know who you may fall in love with.

My Life Next Door

I liked how Samantha had a talk with her mom's boyfriend of him kissing another girl the other day. I think it was good for her to confront him about it because she kept holding it in. But when he said it was only an ex girlfriend from the past it kinda worried me because most people don't kiss their exs. I think he is more understanding then Samantha's mom but I don't think he would make a very good step dad because I think he is only being nice to her because he wants to make sure her mom likes him. He always keeps her late after work and Sam even said she is like never home now that she is dating him. He also seems like he is only in it for the politics.

Links and Displays My Life Next Door

 

I think Romeo and Juliet is a good text to text connection.



This is the cover of the book.

 

This is an Youtube video about what the book is about.

Another Youtube video about why she liked the book. She talks more about the characters.

This Youtube one is about just the overall view of why she likes the book.

My Life Next door=Very good article of good quotes that are used in the book.  

Prompt

The tone if My Life Next Door is romantic. I think it is romantic because it says "He drops his gloves to the ground, sliding his bare palms up my arms, then edging me into the shade of one of the buses. I want to lean into him, but I'm still tense" (Fitzpatrick 116). This quote tells on of the times when Samantha is looking and talking to Jase. And what romantic thoughts she has of him.

I think the mood of My Life Next Door is surprised because you never know what is coming next. There is always surprises and always new curves and problems. One quote is " Then suddenly, I hear a voice, right near me. Right below me. Hey. Startled, I almost lose my balance. Then I feel a steadying hand on my ankle and hear a rustling sound, as someone, some guy, climbs up the trellis and onto the roof, my own secret place" (Fitzpatrick 13). This shows when Samantha is just sitting on her roof alone and not doing anything and Jase comes up, someone she isn't suppose to be talking to. This shows a new surprise that you would probably never see coming.
Here is one moment when a character swayed the beliefs of others "Clay lets out a rich, low laugh. Eleven o'clock on a summer night? And she's seventeen? Honey, that's when we all miss curfew. He walks over, reaches to squeeze the back of her neck lightly. I know I did. I'm sure you did. His hand moves to her chin, edging it so she's looking right at him. Give a little here, sugar" (Fitzpatrick 102). "Maybe I overreacted, she says finally, to him, not to me" (Fitzpatrick 102). These two quotes show when Samantha comes home late from curfew and her mom is about to ground here. But Clay says that she shouldn't because everyone has come home after curfew before. So after Clay is done talking Samantha's mom ends up not grounding her. The character's tone impacted his persuasiveness because he used vialed points and used some loving words to her.

Blog Post-Blow driers

I read an article in the schools newspaper and it was about what the students and teachers think about the blow driers at school. I agree with most of the people that I rather have paper towels than blow driers because the blow dries are cold and take forever. I usually try to go to the bathroom in between bells and I feel like that is hard to do because it takes more time and you can never hear the bell ring when you are in there. Like never! I know the blow driers help the environment more than the paper towels. But it is also annoying having them when I need to whip my face off. What am I suppose to use? My shirt?

My Life Next Door RE-DO

The independent novel I am reading right now is My Life Next Door. In this novel it is about this girl, Samantha, who lives in a nice neighborhood in a big house with her sister and mom. Ever since her mom became a politician she isn't home as much as she use to be. Samantha has these neighbor who her mom said she is never aloud to talk to or socialize with. But she actually sits her in window and watches the Garrett's. They have Joel, Alice, Jase, Andy, Duff, Harry, George and Pasty. Even though Sam has never talked to them face to face she still can pick out everyone's voices and what they look like. But one night Samantha is sitting on her roof watching the older Garrett's play basketball one of the sons come up on her roof and sit down. They get to talking and they actually have a pretty deep conversation. The next day she is walking home from school and she sees Jase, the guy she was talking to last night working in the garage. She talks to him for a little while and Jase invites her inside. Jase is actually babysitting so Samantha helps out with the two older kids. Mrs. Garrett comes home and meets Sam. Sam leaves and the next afternoon they see each other walking home. Mrs. Garrett asks Samantha if she would want to start babysitting George and Pasty twice a week. Samantha says yes but how is she going to do this when her mom said she isn't even aloud to talk to this family? Is she going to get caught? What happens when her mom actually does find out? Why did her mom say she can't hang out with this family just because they live a different live then there's? I think when she starts babysitting her and Jase are going to start falling in love. I think they are going to

have a hard time keeping it a secret though. One connection I made is text to text. In the book the Outsiders they boy and girl next door aren't aloud to talk or even see each other but the boy sneaks out everyday and goes and sees her. Another connection I made was text to self. Two summers ago I was at my lake house and there was a boy two houses down and his mom was very rude and did not get along with my aunts so they just kept there distance from each other and didn't talk to each other. But one of the boys threw a football on our part of the lake and I went to go get it for him and we started talking even though our families tried keeping there distance from each other. And the last connection I made was text to world. My Life Next Door is like Romeo and Juilet because they weren't suppose to be seeing each other. And Romeo and Juilet actually happened it wasen't just a poem and play.

My Life Next Door

The book My Life Next Door is actually really good. I enjoy reading it and I usually hate reading. I still think that there needs to be a bigger problem. But I infer that Samatha's mom is going to find out that she is either babysitting for the Garrett's or she is seeing Jase. I'm not sure what her mom is going to do but I know it is going to be a huge blow up. I bet Samantha is still going to see Jase without her mom knowing. I also think that maybe Samantha is going to tell her mom about how she saw Clay Tucker kissing someone else. But I don't think her mom is going to believe her I think she is going to deny it and saw he would never so that. But overall I like my book. 

My Life Next Door...

The book My Life Next Door still has not got to the main problem yet. There is small conflicts here and there but not the big one yet. But the thing I do like is the characters are starting to develop more throught the stroy. Samantha is coming more attached to Jase. You can also start to see more character traits in the 7 Garrett kids. You can start to tell the difference between the siblings. I also like how Samantha's mom is dating someone who she doesn't like and she saw him cheating on her with someone else. I also think that is going to be a good fight between her and her mom when she brings it up, if she brings it up because everytime she brings something up about Clay her mom always gets mad at her.

My Life Next Door-Analysis

"The Garretts were forbidden from the start" (Fitzpatrick 1). " I wondered if you might ever be intersed in doing some babysitting? Jase didn't want me to ask you. He was afriad you'd think that he lured unsuspecting girls into our house so that I could exploit them for my own needs. Like some desperate mom version of whitre sleavery" (Fitzpatrick 53). "It would be fine. I don't have much experience, but I learn fast, and I'd be happy to babysit" (Fitzpatrick 53). "The air is muggy and earthy, almost thick. Let's see. Swimming. At night. With a boy. Who's virtually a stranger. And a Garrett. It's dizzying how many of my mother's rules this is breaking. Seventeen years of lectures and discussions and reminders. Think about how it looks, Samantha. Not just hot it feels. Make smart choices. Always consider consequences. Less than seventeen seconds to say: I'll get my suit" (Fitzpatrick 63). All these quotes are basically saying that she isn't suppose to talk or even look at the Garretts who live next door because her mom does not like them. But, she ends up sneaking out to go see him and babysitting for his siblings. So with that being said I think that she will fall in love with Jase Garrett. I also infer that her mom is going to find out that she is seeing one of the Garrett boys and that she is babysitting. I also think that maybe her mom will stop her from seeing them and babysitting. But if Samantha's mom does that I still think she will go see the boy.

Independent Novel

The book I am reading is My Life Next Door. I wish that it would get to the bigger problem faster. I am on chapter eight and it is still not into a big problem. There was little problems here and there.

Reading Skills on Independent Novel

The independent novel I am reading right now is My Life Next Door. In this novel it is about this girl, Samantha, who lives in a nice neighborhood in a big house with her sister and mom. Ever since her mom became a politician she isn't home as much as she use to be. Samantha has these  neighbor who her mom said she is never aloud to talk to or socialize with. But she actually sits her in window and watches the Garrett's. They have Joel, Alice, Jase, Andy, Duff, Harry, George and Pasty. Even though Sam has never talked to them face to face she still can pick out everyone's voices and what they look like. But one night Samantha is sitting on her roof watching the older Garrett's play basketball one of the sons come up on her roof and sit down. They get to talking and they actually have a pretty deep conversation. The next day she is walking home from school and she sees Jase, the guy she was talking to last night working in the garage. She talks to him for a little while and Jase invites her inside. Jase is actually babysitting so Samantha helps out with the two older kids. Mrs. Garrett comes home and meets Sam. Sam leaves and the next afternoon they see each other walking home. Mrs. Garrett asks Samantha if she would want to start babysitting George and Pasty twice a week. Samantha says yes but how is she going to do this when her mom said she isn't even aloud to talk to this family? Is she going to get caught? What happens when her mom actually does find out? Why did her mom say she can't hang out with this family just because they live a different live then there's? I think when she starts babysitting her and Jase are going to start falling in love. I think they are going to

have a hard time keeping it a secret though. One connection I made is text to text. In the book the Outsiders they boy and girl next door aren't aloud to talk or even see each other but the boy sneaks out everyday and goes and sees her. Another connection I made was text to self. Two summers ago I was at my lake house and there was a boy two houses down and his mom was very rude and did not get along with my aunts so they just kept there distance from each other and didn't talk to each other. But one of the boys threw a football on our part of the lake and I went to go get it for him and we started talking even though our families tried keeping there distance from each other.

Maddie Melcher's Summer Reading Blog

 

 

The main characters in the book Room are Ma and Jack. In the beginning of the book Ma seems fine at how her life is and so does Jack. They go on a normal day schedule just like anyone else. As the book goes on you can tell Ma gets frustrated about how her life is going. She stays in bed longer and doesn’t do things with Jack. One day when Jack asks Ma what is wrong she says she wants to escape room. She goes on and tells Jack how she wants to do this. Jack was not expecting to hear a whole story about how he is supposed to do this by himself. At first he was all in for escape but after hearing the plan he did not want to do it anymore. But Ma says he needs to do this because it is not healthy for Jack to be in here his whole life. This shows the change in Jack’s and Ma’s personality because at the beginning they were laid back and just went with the flow but now they are determined to get out there. Ma is determined to get out and not deal with the guy who raped her and Jack is determined to get out there for Ma. When they do escape room they are put in a clinic to help them and talk to therapist. Jack is scared to go outside and still wants sleep and shower with Ma. But he doesn’t know that is normal for six years to do that. But that is what he is use to that. Some other things that are different for him to deal with are just simply walking around somewhere else other then room. He is so use to having everything in the same place since he was born to when he was six. So with him being in the clinic he runs into everything like tables and chairs. He also doesn’t know how to do stairs, going up or even going down. When he first gets there he doesn’t want to talk to anyone but Ma but later in the book he learns that it is okay to sleep by yourself and it is okay to talk to other people then Ma. He also learns to go down the stairs and also finds out it is not okay to thing something from the story and take it without paying for it. I think the theme of the book is the endless love between mother and son no matter how hard the circumstances are. Even when the Ma and Jack as characters change in the book the love between them does not change. Ma risked her and her son’s life to escape and when they get out she won’t let anyone interview, take pictures or do anything to her son. She goes out of her way to make sure everything is save for Jack. "Summary of Room"