My sisters keeper review

Brief Outline 

This book is a story about a family torn apart by cancer, the story is told from the points of view of the family, lawyer and legal guardian. It's situated in modern day America with a few flashbacks from the parents point of view in the short time of a week and a half. It starts in 1990 when Kate is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukaemia, she starts chemotherapy immediately but her parents, Sara and Brian, are soon informed that she may need a bone marrow transplant and a member of the family would be the ideal donor but no one is a match. Therefore Anna is brought into the world she was genetically designed to have the same genetic make up as Kate so she could be a suitable donor. Sarah mainly narrates the next few chapters and talks about the pain Kate is going through and the procedures Anna has undergone to keep Kate alive. Then the real story begins when Anna seeks legal representation from Campbell for medical emancipation because she doesn't want to give away her kidney. But it isn't just Anna who is pushed to the side but their eldest son Jesse, who also acts out at Kates single mindfulness on Kate.

A Character you found interesting

I found the character of Anna to be interesting not because she seems to be the main focus in the book, but because she isn't. When Anna first announces she wants medical emancipation she is told not to be so selfish and irresponsible and is just brushed to the side as childish and it would all blow over, the focus isn't even on Anna like why she wants to seek medical emancipation but what the repercussions for Kate will be. The story unfolds as she continues the lawsuit, things such as the real reason she decided to seek medical emancipation come to light. I admire Anna because of the courage and love she shows for her sister, the courage of being able to stand up to her parents and to live a life that involves her ending up in hospital every time her sister is there. And the bond Anna and Kate with the mischievous incidents the two of them get up too.

A Theme That is Explored

The theme of conflict is evident through out the novel between Anna and Sara, Sara and Brain, Campbell and Julia and many more. Another example of conflict is between Jesse and himself. Jesse fights with himself when he lights the fire as to why he really does this, as a cry for attention or a pyromaniac habit. Conflict is mainly due to Annas lawsuit, as Anna and Sara clash as to what they believe is right, this is also the source of conflict between Brian and Sara when Brian takes Annas side.

Insight you Gained into the World of the Text

From reading this novel I've discovered life is full of decisions and sacrifices and not to take life to seriously as everything could be gone tomorrow just as Anna was lost in the blink of an eye.

What Type of Vision or Viewpoint does the Author have? Is it a dark/bright insight of the world?

I believe Jodi has a bright insight of the world, that even though Kate does have cancer life can still be happy such as when she meets Taylor, she can still fall in love like everybody else. And the high moments in the book of mischievous behaviour between Kate and Anna such as when they go into the hair dressers and ask will they give Kate a perm even though she has no hair. But there are moments of dark insights like the way Kate continuously relapses or the loss of Anna. 

Comment on the imagery in the novel

The books imagery is supported by the fact that there is a movie to help you along. Even though the book doesn't have the exact same story line the main parts can be examined in the movie and the book. The imagery in the book cam be quite hard to get a hand on because she swaps between past and present and there isn't a constant protagonist. But in general the imagery is good.

Do you like the novel? Would you like to live there?

The book is situated in modern day America, I am living in the present day which there isn't much I can do about. But living in a house where my sister would have recurring cancer would be horrible. As I have a sister myself I relate to not wanting to lose her and that if I had the chance of donating anything to keep my sister alive I would jump at the chance. I absolutely enjoyed this novel, I was glued to it finishing it in three days, I would definitely recommend it to someone who doesn't mind a big cry.

Lollipop Day

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Last Friday we were all invited into Town to fund raise for the esophageal cancer Fund by selling Heart shaped lollipops and pins. In school before we left we each got a top and a cap to wear when fundraising. I paired up with Eilís and we stood at the beginning of Grafton Street. We shook the buckets and shouted different things like "Support the OCF", "Support lollipop day buy buying a lollipop" or "Buy a lollipop for 2 euro to support lollipop day" and these seemed to work very well as loads of people bought lollipops and pins off us we even had to refill the box because we ran out. 

And of course when in town we went for lunch in McDonalds, since we hadn't had anything since breakfast we devoured our food in 10 minutes we were starving! Then we returned home after all our hard work but it was worth doing for charity!

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Percussion Workshop

Today in school we got the whole day off for a percussion workshop lead by David from Jabba Jabba Jembe. When the bell rang we headed down to the library to start the session. Firstly we had to go out to his van and carry in a drum for each of us. 

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To begin with we started with some simple techniques and we learned how to hit the drum properly. so we each had to hit the drum once and we continued in a chain and each time we started the chain we added another hit until we reached four. Next we done the same but with a mini drum roll.

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When we came back after break we started again but this time we learned different rhythms and we stringed them together to make a song. I had two drums, such as the bigger two above, and controlled the bass line and I had a drum stick in each hand to hit the drum with. Then other people on different drums playing different beats and they all melded together to form a song. Ms.L recorded it so I'll put the video up later. We took a little break from playing the drums to watch part of a documentary Bob Geldof made about life in Africa, it shows the unique economic system they have and how certain laws prevent it from progressing.

After lunch he showed us this video about rhythm, its put together brilliantly and well worth the watch. Then he showed us another video which showed us how to create different rhythms and we created another song. After all this it was time to pack up, we put the drums back in their bags and into the truck and fixed up the library. It was a brilliant and very enjoyable experience.

Book Review

Paper Towns

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Brief Outline

This incredibly hilarious book written by John Green is about Quentin Jacobson, the narrator of the book, and he lives in a subdivision in Orlando, California. The tale starts off with a discovery made by preschoolers Quentin (a.k.a Q) and his childhood best friend Margo Roth Speigelman. The story then jumps to high school where she barely even glances at Q. Then Margo goes missing. Without giving too much away it accounts both the adventures and misadventures of Margo and Q and his friends on their journey to find the mysterious Margo Roth Speigelman.

   A Character you Found Interesting

The Character I found interesting and my favourite was Q. He intrigued me in the way he gave up everything to try find Margo even though they hadn't talked in over 10 years not including the joint adventure pre her status of missing was raised. He becomes very selfish in his search for Margo and he threatens the friendships of his true friends who he has known most of his life. But also in his search for Margo she teaches him a few things which allows the real Q to come to life in all his glory.

A Theme That is Explored

Appearances. This theme is most obvious with Q's perception of Margo, his first "idea" of who Margo is would be typical of a teenage boy, she is seen as his wonderful, perfect, hot neighbour and thinks she is about as deep as a puddle. His understanding of peoples appearances evolves with the book and he realises that Margo isn't just some girl next door but a person with feelings and thoughts.

Insight into the World of the Text

In Paper Towns exterior fronts are displayed by one or two characters so they blend into the typical crowd of American teenagers. But you learn who the real people are under all the layers of protection they have put up to block out the judgement of their peers.

What type of vision/viewpoint does the author have? Is it a Dark/Bright insight of the world?

The book is told from the viewpoint of Q so everything is seen through his perception of the world. He has the typical outlook of a teenager at the start of the story that everything is boring and he can't wait to get out of school but strangely one outlook different to a typical teenagers is he hates prom and the idea of prom. This sets him aside from most of the American teenage population. But his viewpoint changes at various stages in the novel with highs like the night he spent with Margo before her apparently typical disappearance and lows when Margo disappears and the unending trail of dead-end clues Margo left behind.

Comment on the imagery of the novel

The novel is very well described by the author John Green and it really brings the story to life and intensifies the humour within the book. Since the novel is based in today's era its a lot easier to visualise the novel as we live in this world so are accustomed to many of the references and situations.

Did you like the novel? Would you like to live there?

I loved this novel it is another brilliantly written book by John Green with numerous humorous points, sudden plot twists and a few tear jerking moments this book was an extremely enjoyable read. The question would you like to live there doesn't really fit this novel as it is a modern novel. I think the question Do you look forward to living there? is more fitting for this circumstance. This is because he was going through having to study for his finals which I will encounter in the form of the leaving cert, and I will probably encounter many similar situations in this novel such as relationships, college, graduation and many more but I hope not to have to deal with a friend going missing. Overall I really enjoyed this novel it is now on my favourites list along with many other John Green books. 

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Girl Rising

As part of our religion mini company Ms. L asked us to make a movie about Girl Rising.This is my video below, take a look!

I chose to focus my movie on Suma who was a Calamari in a third world country. It's the story of how she was freed from slave labour and helps free other Calamari's. You can help by donating to charities to help educate these girls.

Junk Kotoure

Yesterday we were informed of the results of Junk Kotoure. Our dress came first in our class! we also were awarded for most original idea, guess all the hard work really paid off!

SciFest

We've been preparing for scifest since September when we were divided into our groups. I ended up doing the project myself due to some problems but it turned out fine. My project was called

"Twirls, Whirls, Spins and Turns the Science of Dizziness"

It Involved me spinning 15 people on a chair four times... which was difficult to say the least. But everything came together in the end, I did end up staying up till 2 am the day before but it had to be done.. I got to school as usual but the room was packed everyone was rushing to try get the finishing touches to their projects which added to my nerves. When the bell rang everyone headed to the hall to set up.

Thank god I had brought blue tac or else the poster would've been leaning against the wall rather than on it. I got a figure of the ear and the inner ear to put on my table along with my project book and laptop which had a slideshow on loop. 

Twirls, whirls, spins and turns the science of dizziness

Then the judges arrived, there was four of them and they separated heading to the different projects. One of the judges went to the project beside me called "Low Fat Vs. Full Fat", so I listened in to try hear what sort of questions they asked to prepare myself. Then she came to me next I introduced myself and shook her hand and I began. I told her about my projects and she asked me a few questions and moved on. The next judge didn't come for another hour, it was another woman and she was lovely and she asked the same sort of questions and moved on.

Then the judges left for lunch, some of the other project groups had said that all the judges had visited them which made me anxious. When they returned from lunch the other two judges came and asked about my project, I felt I got better at explaining my project after each time the judge came. The judges then exited the hall again to deliberate, but we were told we wouldn't know the result until last class. In the mean time some of the other year groups had come in to take a look at the projects. At lunch we ended up taking a few selfies on my laptop typical. 

Last class had finally come, we had to tidy the hall first and put away all the tables and pack up the projects, then we were all gathered onto the benches for a mini presentation. First they called out the 13 projects that are eligible to enter Scifest in Tallaght. Then from the 13 finalist they called first, second and third. In third place was Sorcha, Ailbhe and Grainne with Commerical V Organic in teeth whitening, In Second was a second year group called Colours, Cookies and Cutlery. Then in first place was ..... Rebecca with the science of dizziness!! I won ! I was so excited and happy all the hard work paid off, We got given a prize of a one for all voucher each to celebrate. And thank you to Ms. O'C for organising it all :) 

St. Brigids Day

Yesterday was St. Brigids day, so in religion Ms. L brought in rushes for us to make St. Brigids crosses. I already new how to make a St. Brigids cross so I made two, I brought on home which ended up going to America with my aunt, and Ms. L asked would I give the other one to our principal, I was more than happy to oblige! 

Workshop Numero dos

Massage therapy

This was our second workshop in massage therapy this time it involved head massages and stress release. Jayne and I had to massage each others heads. Jayne wasn't very happy but joined in anyway. We also done a massage train which was interesting...

Positive Parties

This was our second week with Denise also, It was her birthday so we congratulated her. This week the workshop involved laughing. We had to go to each other and pretend to laugh . To be honest i found it a little out of my comfort zone and a bit unnecessary but partook anyway.

BK inniú  

This was completely different to any other workshop we've done. They taught us how to walk tall and in high heels. Unfortunately i was unable to partake as i had an injured ankle but enjoyed watching the rest of the class. Secondly we watched a video about the impact of media on our body image. Also we learned how to keep clean nails and how to make home made hand care lotion and body scrub.

The Week Of Transition

Carlingford

Monday and Tuesday were the most adventurous days in of my life in a long time. From swimming in the ocean to a blindfolded walk in the dark it was the time of our lives. We arrived around 10 and got suited up for laser tag which involved wearing a camo jumpsuit. We each got a laser gun deciding whether we were on the red or the blue team. The Red team was the best as it won 3/4 matches. 

Later that evening we took part in the crystal maze. We had to complete different tasks like crawling through a spiders web and a low ropes course. 

Lights out was at 11 but the 7 of us stayed up late talking bout the amazing experience. There was no sleeping in the next day even though  I overslept a bit needless to say i was woken up with a pillow to the face by Jayne...We started of Tuesday with a series of different activities such as communication breakdown, archery and body zorbing. I found my hidden talent in archery hitting the bulls eye each time. Body zorbing was my favorite out of all the activities. We had a zorbing ball around our upper bodies and held it like a backpack on our shoulders. Then we spent our time running into each other. We even had a tournament of who could knock whom over first.

Later that evening we went kayaking in the ocean, it was freezing but worth while. I ended getting thrown off the water trampoline by one of the instructors and added 24 hours to my life by sticking my head under a magical fountain.All in all it was an amazing trip.