Walk Two Moons

            Walk Two Moons, written by Sharon Creech, is a heartfelt novel that tells about finding peace in life despite its trials. Young people are the intended audience for this Newberry Award winning book. This book provides a touching read while weaving together two interesting stories. Walk Two Moons can teach us all about how to live life, through its hardships, and its happiness.

            Salamanca Tree Hiddle, the 13 year old protagonist in the story, misses her mother. Her mother that left one day for Lewiston, Idaho and did not come back. In the book, Salamanca travels with her grandparents to Lewiston for her mother’s birthday. During the long car ride there, Salamanca tells the story of her interactions with her friend, Phoebe. While the trio travels cross country, they learn important lessons about life and death that apply to all of us.

            Walk Two Moons was an intriguing book because it was written in an almost poetic form that provides more substance to the story. This poetic form also creates a more mysterious kind of read, which draws you to the final page. Another thing that made the book enjoyable was the occasional humor, which provides some laughter appeal to the book.

            The characters in this story undergo massive changes in their life. The character changes in the story are very real. The main characters seem like actual people that have real trials. Relating to the hardships in the story can be easy for anyone. For example, as Salamanca comes to except the truth about her mother, she must change her heart, mind, and life to fit her new knowledge.

            As Salamanca’s mother is a Native American, much of Salamanca’s life is rooted around that culture. She finds a lot of solace in the arms of nature. This theme of nature being almost like a person, is an interesting way the book displays originality. Things such as kissing trees, singing trees, and blackberries, all are symbols of things we need in our life to feel comforted and loved.

            My favorite thing about this book was the way it combined two completely different and separate stories into one. While Salamanca and her grandparents have their own adventures on the road, the story of Salamanca’s friend Phoebe, weaves a blanket of lessons that combine into one. One such lesson is about dying, something Salamanca learns in this quote from the book:

            “I went barreling on as if it was my poem and I was an expert. ‘The waves, with their 'soft, white hands' grab the traveler. They drown him. They kill him. He's gone.’ Ben said, ‘Maybe he didn't drown. Maybe he just died, like normal people die.’ I said, ‘It isn't normal to die. It isn't normal. It's terrible.’ Ben said, ‘Maybe dying could be normal and terrible.’”(Page 182-183)

            Walk Two Moons is a touching and inspiring story, that while we read, like Salamanca, we must decide if death is normal, terrible, or both. This novel stands out because it is a deep, but still easy to read novel. I would recommend this book for anyone looking for just that.

             

Fahreinheit 451Review

Fahrenheit 451, written by Ray Bradbury in 1953, is a fictional novel set in the future. The book addresses the problem of a futuristic generation changed by the outlawing of books. The intended audience for the book is teenagers to adults. This intense and exiting novel provides an interesting read, but asks deep questions that we must ask ourselves while reading.

            The main character of the story, Guy Montag, enjoys his job as a fireman whose job it is to burn books, and the houses that hold them. Then one day while performing a routine burn, he impulsively steals some books from a house. As he illegally reads these books in secret, he must decide for himself if ignorance less painful than knowledge. When he is caught, he must put his beliefs to the test as he is chased for his life by the government.

            The story is a very exciting one that has you guessing until the final page. Bradbury does a very good job of creating moments where you’re pulse quickens and you feel scared. While Montag is chased by a huge robotic mechanical hound, you can feel yourself breathing faster.

           

            “He turned and the mechanical hound was there. It was half across the lawn coming from the shadows, moving with such drifting ease that it was like a single solid cloud of black-gray smoke blown at him in silence. It made a single last leap into the air coming down at Montag from a good three feet over his head, its spidered legs reaching, the procaine needle snapping out its single angry tooth.”(Page 120)

            A theme that is developed in the novel is the differences of TV and books. In the world of Fahrenheit 451, TV’s cover parlor walls and are what people’s lives are centered on. Everything they know has been fed to them through this machine. While books on the other hand, make you think for yourself. In this book, people are against books because they create men that can think for themselves, and therefore create more problems. In the book, people believe all men should not be able to think for themselves. In this way they think they can create their version of happiness or “bliss” for all mankind.

           

            “We must all be alike. Not everyone born free and equal, as the constitution says, but everyone made equal . . . A book is a loaded gun in the house next door. Burn it. Take the shot from the weapon. Breach man’s mind.”(Page 58)

           
            Bradbury writes several things that seem very prophetic. When he wrote the book in the 1950’s, TVs were very small, and cars going 100 miles per hour, or being able to listen to music wherever you go seemed absurd. The book talks about all these things, which are now happening today. Another scary thing is that more and more people only know about what TV show is on, while being ignorant about a nuclear crisis in the world.

            Though the imagery in this book was interesting, it was sometimes hard to understand. While this was sometimes frustrating, imagery did help convey the feelings that were meant to be conveyed. Bradbury used many elements from our world today to help us visualize the futuristic world in the book. This is illustrated in a passage written about the firemen of the future.

            “It was a pleasure to burn. It was a special pleasure to see things eaten, to see things blackened and changed. With the brass nozzle in his fists, with this great python spitting its venomous kerosene upon the world, the blood pounded in his head, and his hands were the hands of some amazing conductor playing all the symphonies of blazing and burning to bring down the tatters and charcoal ruins of history.” (Page 3)

            Fahrenheit 451 is an exciting and intense novel. While the book can sometimes be hard to understand, Ray Bradbury wrote a great book about the issue of true happiness. The question we must ask ourselves while reading this book is if we will think for ourselves, or let others think for us. Anyone interested in reading about the predicted problems nearing our society today should read this interesting novel that is in some ways frighteningly prophetic.

           

                       

The Utah House

Recently I took a tour of The Utah House with some of my friends. We had fun flushing the energy efficient toilet and rebelliously turning on faucets. My favorite part of the tour was the cool skylights. There was one big one in the family room that seemed to light up the whole house. This is an essay I wrote about the Utah House:

The Utah house is a place where recycling and earth friendly practices are used to build a comfortable and attractive house. The Utah house helps the environment by making the house special in 6 different aspects:  sustainability, saving energy, conserving water, improving air pollution, and modifications for people with disabilities. In these five ways, the Utah House is helping to promote healthy habits that can save the earth.

The Utah house promotes recycling through its sustainability aspects. The aspects include carpet located in the office and bedroom that has been made from old plastic bottles. In this way, less plastic is thrown away, creating less garbage on the earth. The carpet is also made of individual squares than can be taken out if damaged. This makes it so the whole carpet will not have to be replaced if a juice stain gets into the carpet. Another way the Utah house promotes better building is in its energy saving technology.

Energy saving is an important part of keeping our earth healthy. The Utah house has several energy saving features that are not only good for the environment, but save money as well. The light bulbs in this house use 66 percent less energy than incandescent light bulbs, this cost 30 dollars less per bulb in a lifetime. Energy star appliances found in the home save water and energy, reducing utility costs as well.  Also, the bulbs in the house are partly powered by solar panels on the roof, saving even more energy.  And skylights on the roof that let in sunlight not only conserve energy,  but provide a beautiful lighting effect.

The Utah House saves water through the use of utilities that use less and save more. The washer and dryer in the home use 1/3 of the water and energy that others use.  The water that melts off the roof at the house is stored underground in a tank and is used to flush the toilet. The gravel surfaces on the driveway create ground that water can go through to moisten the ground.

The Utah House creates cleaner air by using paints low in chemicals to decorate the walls. There is also ventilation which lets off fumes from the kitchen which prevents mold from growing. A Carbon Monoxide detector and a ventilation system in the house also promote clean air. The features in the house that help people with disabilities include easy to get into entryways, a shower with no door, and bars to grab onto in the bathroom.

The Utah house is a great place that sets an example to the world about eco-friendly living habits. It promotes 6 different aspects:  sustainability, saving energy, conserving water, improving air pollution, and modifications for people with disabilities. These things come together to make a great house and an even cleaner world.

Getting a Job at Cherry Hill

            In the past summers I have had informal jobs working for some of my neighbors mowing their lawns. I have enjoyed having a job that helps me become more reliable and hard working. It is also nice to have your own source of money. And now that times keep getting harder, I need money so I can pay for my mission and help pay for college. Because of all this, I needed too get a more steady summer job. I didn’t want to work at Lagoon because you have to work on Sunday, and I wanted something closer too home. So I filled out an application for Cherry Hill Water Park. Since I am only a Freshman, I can only work on the grounds crew, which mows the lawns and things like that.

             I was feeling pretty good about the application, but my Mom doubted that I would get the job, owing to that there are a lot of people that want to work there. I was pretty happy when I got a call from Cherry Hill saying they wanted to interview me. From what I could find out, the interview was like the second test, only some people got an interview, and only a fraction of those got the job. So on a snowy Friday after wrestling, I went to Cherry Hill to have my interview. I didn’t think I would have to dress up that much, so I just put on a collared shirt. My interviewer was wearing jeans and a t- shirt, so I thought I would be okay. The interview went well, but when I came out I saw Farmington Junior High’s Student Body President in a shirt and tie going in to have his interview. I doubted I would make the cut because I didn’t dress up, but I did! I got a summer job mowing lawns at Cherry Hill Water Park! This summer should be awesome!

Romeo and Juliet Epitaphs

These epitaphs could be written on Juliet's and Romeo's respective tombstones:

Juliet

I lived a life of lies for love

No one could understand my pain

The pain that comes from two houses

Both alike in hatred and death

Cast off thy spirit of contention

This feud that puts an end to life so sweet must end

Romeo, whither art though? Deny thy name.

He is a rose that cannot smell as sweet

Now in his grave

We were married, yet no one knew

Time spent apart, we hoped was few

And yet, twas not to be

I would die twice to have his love

And so I did

Yet I hope, now in this place

To reunite with my one love, my all, my hero

My Romeo

Romeo

I lived for her

The fairest creature on all the earth

I died for her

Seeing her to be dead

I died with her

Drinking that deathly draught

To its very last drop

To die for my very own love

My hand resting upon her shimmering cheek

Our time in each others arms together adds to but a week

Yet feels not a minute

O, I am fortune’s fool

Caught up in rage, I killed Tybalt at a rapier’s point

Yet the pain and sacrifice for love

Is swallowed in the ripe reward of being with

Juliet in death

The Symbolism in Seedfolks

            The vacant lot garden in Seedfolks brings people from different races gradually together just as the plants grow gradually every day. When Kim plants the first seed in the garden, she plants the seed of friendship and unity that spreads and grows until the community has found something that they have in common despite their many differences. As Korean Sae Young says that the garden made her feel, “very good inside. Feel part of garden. Almost like family.”(Page 39)

            The garden is a symbol of the world in that people from all over the earth plant there and live close to people from a different race. The garden was at first separated in to sections of different nationalities. But as time went on, people started to mingle with people from different races. The earth is smaller than it seems, and because of this, we all need to learn to get along with people from a different place. This is what happens in the garden. There will always be problems, like the people dumping tires on the lot and people stealing the vegetables, but if we work together, we can make the world a better place.

            Not only does the garden grow fruits and vegetables, but the seeds of friendship are planted and nurtured until everyone in the garden are friends with those who they had never been friends before, as shown in Amir’s experience with a fellow gardener. This woman had before criticized him for not giving her the correct change and had called him a dirty foreigner. But then, after the garden, everything changed. The woman praises his eggplants, but then she is reminded of their bad past by Amir,

            “Her eyes became huge. She apologized to me over and over again. She kept saying, “Back then, I didn’t know it was you….” (Page 64)

            As the garden grows, many people also learn important lessons that shape their life, such as Maricella, a pregnant teenager, who learns the importance of the baby growing inside her.

            “She said how it wasn’t some disgrace to be part of it. She said it was an honor. I stared at the squash plants. It was a world in there. It seemed like I could actually see the leaves and flowers growing and changing. I was in that weird daze. And for just that minute I stopped wishing my baby would die.”(Page 57)

            A theme that is illustrated in the events of this garden is that people from all races, nationalities and cultures can come together as one through a community garden. The people that worked in the garden found friendship that enriched their lives and their community. This happened because they began to be less wary of people from different races. The garden made it easy for them to reach out to others. It is the same way in our world today. Many wars would never start if we stopped to understand and get to know other nationalities before being scared of them. Through the simple act of understanding before judging, we can make the world a better place.