I Am A Good Reader

 

 

 

Thrillers are one of my favorite genres. They have a suspense to them that I don’t get from any other genres. I’ve found that thrillers have a type of information in them that can help with situations that are scary or intense that you wouldn’t usually think would happen. It’s the stomach dropping feeling you get when something happens in a book that you wouldn’t expect. Some things in books stick with me, it might be the concept or events that go on. I don’t know what it is but no matter what I do it always ends up sticking with me. If a situation has the same feel to something I read I get the same feeling I did when I read it for the first time, but that time it’s happening to me in real life and it’s not something made up that I’m reading. It’s like deja vu where you feel like it’s happened before but it hasn’t.

I read because if I get the right book it will be very interesting to me and I will want to read more. When the book is intersecting it makes me want to read more. It’s like a disease that sucks you in where your whole focus is put onto the book and you don’t want to look away, it’s like you’re stuck trying to gain more information and to see what happens next. Like nothing else matters at that moment besides trying to gain more knowledge on the book.

I figure out what books I want to read by reading the first and last page. I do that because it will show me what is happening in the beginning and what problems were solved at the end. If there’s writing about the book on the back cover I’ll also read that and get as much information that I would want to let me know if I like the book or not. If the first page has the right feeling, like the feeling you get when you try something new and you want to do it again or you’re glad you tried it then I’ll put it on the list to read it or I’ll start reading it.

The best reading place for me is a spot that’s quiet, dim, not too dark and not too light, and it is a place where I can be comfortable. Being in a room like that sets a mood to my reading. If I read a thriller then being in a dark room will give reading a different feel. You could feel on the edge like you’re scared or you could feel a bit more comfortable than being in a loud or bright room.  I have 75 books in my room and when I get bored or I want something to do that’s quiet I’ll pick out a book  and read it. If the book is good I’ll take it out of my bookshelf and leave it on my desk to continue reading another time. 

Last year I finished 3 chapter books in the school year. One of those books is my favorite book that I’ve read so far. It was so interesting to me and it made me want to keep reading it to find out what happens. It gave me the feeling that every moment something could change or something could happen, when i’m being pulled into the book needing to know more about what was going to happen. That is how I finished the book so fast because every moment the words were flowing through my mind as I read on and on.

When I read I consider myself an average reader. I don’t read a lot but when I do end up reading it for a long amount of time I am able to focus on the book and read what I can for that time. If the book can pull me in and be interesting I can read the book for as long as i want but if the book isn’t as interesting it can be hard to focus on the book for a while as it can be boring and not hold my attention. The same thing happens when a book has a dull moment. The book can be perfectly shiny and interesting but there will always be a part of a book that is dull and not that interesting. That part of a book is inevitable. Every book has to have a part that may not be as interesting to you. 

 

 I want to improve on not having to read certain things over again and to read more fluently without re reading it or looking up what it means. When a book has words I don’t understand, it can be hard to understand that section and keep reading without fully knowing what just happened in the book. Eventually when I am reading something there will be a part that I can read over and over and over again and just not understand it until I keep trying. At one point after reading it and fully paying attention the part will start to make sense. I want to improve to make sure I don’t take so long trying to read it and waste time. What is something you struggle with while reading? Comment down below and see if anyone has the same struggle as you?

Window or Mirror?

The book I chose was The Final Child by Fran Dorricott, The Final Child is a window to me. It doesn’t have a connection to me as it’s more me looking into another person’s perspective on the situation there. A window is when you’re looking into a person’s life and it doesn’t really have a connection to your life, but a mirror is when the book you’re reading reflects on events or feelings you have in your life. The Final Child is about a girl who was kidnapped when she was younger but has no memory about it whatsoever, all she remembers is her brother right before everything went black. After that happened she never remembered what happened and she never found out where and what happened to her brother. She spends months looking at other abductions that are believed to be from the same person. She looks into it more and investigates, she slowly is gaining back memories from that night. She finds her brothers still locked up there but her brother is trying to hurt her. She lights the house on fire, trapping the brother in there hoping that will stop him. She makes a book about everyone who lost a kid and the experiences. The book than ends in a sort of cliff hanger, basically saying that the brother might come back at any time and that he is still alive and out there. 

This book was the first chapter book finished reading in a long time. It had this thing to it that when you read it, it was so suspenseful that you want to read more. It didn’t reflect on my life in any way so to me it was a window. I was looking into someone else’s life without it connecting to mine but still I was so interested in reading it. I often look more into window books because I like getting to know about other’s experiences and how they see the world. If it’s a mirror book I feel like it’s much like how I see the world and looking into someone else’s world is like looking at stuff with a whole new meaning. For the book to become a mirror the whole plot would have to change and the book wouldn’t be as interesting to me. With mirror books it can get boring because you’re reading about things that you already know about or have felt, with window books its like a breath of fresh air. You’re reading new things and feeling new emotions that have happened to someone else or maybe made up. The Final Child is a thriller/horror. It has suspense and plot twists that you wouldn’t expect, but it also has characters that bond and it has feelings that maybe some people can relate to but there are just not ones I can relate to. That is why the book The Final Child is a mirror book for me

My First Time Trying Travel Soccer

For two years I played for my city’s soccer team. This means I played other teams that were being trained by coaches that were in my city. It was fun but I outgrew it. My mom signed me up for travel soccer without telling me and at first I wasn’t happy. I had been in city soccer with the same coach since I started doing soccer. When I went to the first practice I was on a team with people older than me. They were all in sixth and seventh graders while I was in fifth grade. It was hard getting to know everyone at first but it also helped that my coach was really nice but very competitive. So this meant that we had an hour long practice every day of the week until every Sunday when we had our games. For our game we showed up an hour to 30 minutes early to practice and warm up. When we did our practices they were all at night and in the fall so it was cold and dark so during practice we were all freezing as the temperature was usually 45 degrees Fahrenheit to 53 degrees. We didn’t get super cold because we were usually running most of the time. We did certain drills off to the side of the field until the field opened up and it was our turn to take the field. We then got into certain groups depending on your positions and had a coach come and help us. After that we had about 30 minutes left of practice and we got into our positions. We played in games and we had a scrimmage every practice. It was a lot of fun at practices and soon we all became really good friends.

For games, that’s when our coaches got strict. Our main coach had us warm up and then go out into the field taking turns shooting into the goal and warming up our goalie. When we played we usually played away games going from 30 minutes away to an hour and a half away. It wasn’t anything big but it was far enough that if it started raining we couldn’t just cancel the game. For a few games it was down pouring and many people slipped and got muddy especially for people that stayed in the game the whole time. For my team we had me and our goalie stay in the whole game. It was very cold at certain times where the grass was frozen because where we played they didn’t have turf fields or they were already in use by older teams. Our coach’s practices ended up paying off and after we got used to how to play with each other our team was really good. We lost the first two games but after that we either won or tied. We tied about 2 times in the season and lost twice and other than that we won. Our team made it to the finals and in our last game of the season we played the team that was the undefeated team of the league. But sadly the other team’s winning streak ended as we ended up winning the championship game. Our team had a fun time playing together and it was a great experience with travel soccer. After that team I did travel soccer until I moved states to North Carolina. I played spring and fall soccer on top of other sports I did during those seasons. My coach ended up being my softball coach for a season and we had an undefeated season and won the championship game. My other teams for soccer were great after. That’s what my first experience with travel soccer was like.

Camp Kirkwood

Last week on a Wednesday morning the whole sixth grade got onto 3 buses to start heading to camp kirkwood, even though there was a hurricane right on the coast. As all the kids gathered in front of the 100 building the buses pulled into the carpool and immediately started grabbing suitcases and bags and putting them in the back of the bus. There were three buses total and two of them held the luggage. When we got on the bus it was really crowded and loud. I sat next to Maddison and we were talking and playing a game with the people across and in front of us. The game was that everyone went around pressing a tooth down in a crocodile’s mouth and one person would press one down and it would bite down on its finger. It didn’t hurt, it was more that it scared you at the time when it happened. The bus ride was long but it was filled with watching a movie, playing games, and talking.

When we got there it had started raining. It was the very start of the hurricane that was slowly creeping up on the camp. We spent most of the first day in our cabins setting up our beds and getting to know the people in our cabin. We waited some of the rain out and than we started some activities. The time went by fast and soon it was after dinner and we got to either watch a movie or play dodge ball. Me and other people from my cabin watched the movies and got snow cones. But then that’s when the hurricane really came close so it was time for everyone to get back to their cabins. The next morning a few things were flooded but later the sun came out and we were able to get back to the activities. One of the activities is called the V swing and it was my favorite activity. Kids rotated through many activists. Such as the pool, kangoo jump, games, and a lot more. When it was rainy kids were either inside a cabin playing board games and talking or outside by the pool under a roof playing board games or card games. There was a lot happening in the morning but in the afternoon it was clear skies and perfect weather. The second night came and the activities were over and all the kids were in pjs and rain coats while heading to the dining hall. When we were there we ate spaghetti and meat sauce with garlic bread. 

When it started getting dark everyone met up with their advisors to hang out and talk. We took an advisory photo and talked about how the camp was so far. One of the last activities we did on the second night was we walked through a part of the forest to an opening where we made s’mores and talked. It took a while and it went late so on our way back everyone was rushing to their cabins. When we got to our cabins people got ready for bed then hung out and talked to their friends. Eventually lights came out and we all fell asleep as it was a packed day with a lot of activities. The last morning came and we got up and ready and packed to go home. 

We left out packed up bags in the cabins and started to walk to the dining hall for breakfast. It was waffles and after that we headed out to meet our groups for the last activities. We did three activities and then had lunch. The first activity my team did was the V swing. It was an hour long and people had a lot of fun. The second activity was the zip line. We had to go into a harness then climb up a net and get hooked on things. Then we had to claim up a ladder that was circular so you couldn’t fall out of it. When you got to the top of the structure a counselor hooked you up and the other person if two people were going at the same time then you jumped off and you zipped across the lake. When you got to the end you had to move your legs like you’re running so you don’t fall or slide on your butt. After an hour of the zip line we walked to the canoes and got into groups of four. Then you got in and started kayaking wherever you were told the area you had to stay in.

After all the activities had happened we all went to the dining hall for lunch. When it was lunch we were all tired and hungry. We ate our final meal at camp and headed back to the cabins. When we got there some people finished packing and some people were just waiting and had finished packing earlier. We rolled our luggages to the buses and went to an area and hung out until it was time to leave. We waited while they were listing off who was going in each bus and then when we got called we went off to the bus we were assigned. We filled the buses and started heading back to school. The long bus ride was filled with talking and relaxing. We finally got to school and when we stepped out of the bus it was loud and chaotic. Bags were being taken out of the buses quickly and kids were looking for their bags. When the buses left, cars came in and started picking up kids. Soon the kids were gone and camp was officially over.