As we cling to our childhood we may just be letting go- To kill a Mocking BirdA

In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee Scout is a girl who is dealing with the confusion of letting go of her childhood. Boo Radley is the character who represents her youth. Throughout the entire book Boo is the hidden mysterious neighbor. He is the spark to their fun and the adventure to their day. In the beginning of the book Boo is one of the main subjects, Scout, Jem and Dill spend their days trying to get him out of the his house or reenacting when he stabbed his fathers leg.

As the story progresses Boo becomes more of a figure in the past. Scout still thinks of him sometimes but it doesn't really cross her mind that often. Showing Scout is growing little by little. No matter how little she thinks of him though Boo Radley is still hidden deep somewhere in his house. On page 227 Jem says "Scout I think I'm beginning to understand something. I think I'm beginning to understand why Boo Radley's stayed shut up inside the house all this time... its because he wants to stay inside." Boo is afraid of the outer world. What happens if he goes outside and doesn't like what he sees but when he tries to run back inside the door is locked and there is no way of getting in. Scout doesn't want to let go of her childhood, its her spark and adventure. She is afraid that if she grows up she will become a boring adult.

On page 207 after Boo saves Scout she see's its him and says "Hey Boo." And then finds she should correct herself and say "Mr. Arthur." Mr. Arthur is saving Scout by going out of his house and putting himself in danger to help a little girl. Scout's childhood is saving her from the real world. She is coming out of this little world and taking a step into another planet. She is taking a huge step and is about to fall. When her youth pulls her back and helps her over the big crack separating one world from another.

A big step I had to take was stop sleeping with my night light. I always thought things would come and get me at night. My night light was one of the things that kept me safe. If I had to get up in the middle of the night it would guide me through the darkness of my room. But when I started sleeping without my night light it was scarier at night I would keep bumping into things every time I got up at night.. Sometimes I would have to plug my night light back in to avoid a stubbed toe.  My nightlight was my youth. My guide, and when I stopped using it I could get hurt, but little by little I learned to guide my way through my dark, dark room.

Harper Lee shows that growing up is the slow transition from childhood to adulthood. And its not about becoming a whole new person. Or changing the way we live. Its about becoming the improved versions of ourselves. More understanding, and even if we need a little help from our childhood being an adult doesn't have to be that hard.

As we grow we begin to think - To Kill a Mocking Bird

In the book To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee, Scout is a little girl with a short temper. She always finds herself in fist fights. Her father then tells her to stop using her fists and swallow her anger. On page 102  her cousin is insulting her father, and as she is about to attack him she thinks of her father. And she walks away. She says "It was the first time I ever walked away from a fight."

She backed down a fight. Something she would have never done a year ago. But she grew, she really thought about her fathers words. She may still just be a little girl, but she took a big step up by thinking before she did. If she hadn't she would be betraying her fathers trust, and taking a step  back in her process of growing up. It may have felt like it was something she needed to do it didn't mean it was necessarily the right thing to do. It shows she knows that now. Scout has come to an age where she can think, not just do.

When I was younger every night I would sleep with my stuffed dog that I named Black Dog. If I didn't have him it was impossible to sleep. At my house, at my grandmothers house, at a friends house, any where I was I had to have him. It was scary alone, because I felt a big connection to him. He may only have been a stuffed animal, but I had a theory that when I wasn't looking he would come to life. And at night when I was asleep he would stand guard and protect me from all the monsters. One night I went to a friends house and she lived about 45 minutes away. Before we went to sleep I realized that I didn't have Black Dog with me, and home was 45 minutes away. I had to be brave, that was the first night I had ever slept without my stuffed animal. It was a little scary but I had made it through the night unharmed. After that little by little I started to stop sleeping with my dog. It was a big step up for me. Just like it was for Scout we both had to give up something we did regularly, for her it was fighting and for me it was sleeping with a stuffed animal.

As we grow we think about things and give things up. We think we are keeping ourselves protected by doing these things, but as we get older we take down those shields, and find other ways to deal with our problems.  It may be hard and feel weird, but it is just a part of growing up. Learning how to defend/protect ourselves the right way.

Saving the Earth for your Image

Article Source/ URL: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/on-facebook-some-friendly-energy-rivalry/?ref=technology#

The article On Face book Some Healthy Energy Rivalry is about how the company Opower is using face book to keep people green. Keeping green has become less about saving the earth, but more about doing it to keep people thinking good of you. When you use a light bulb (that isn’t green) or electricity you are trapping carbon dioxide in the earth. If your neighbor see’s that you don’t use a green light bulb they might somewhat judge you. Nobody wants to be judged so they do whatever possible to fit in. It might not be what is morally right, but still it’s saving the earth! Opower has an app on face book where you get a certain number of points every time you use electricity. That way since everyone can see people, try and use a little as possible to not seem environmentally selfish.

The author of this article is trying to say that, to save the world from electronics we need electronics! We don’t care about what is important anymore just what other people think of us. Leslie Kaufman says “way that such information plays off social relationships and creates peer pressure” its what society does to us! Everyone pays attention to what others look like, the trends, ways to be cool. No one focuses on the true ethics anymore!

I think that its good that Opower thought of this! Millions of people use face book every single day! Including myself. This could become a big part of saving the world! I just find it frustrating that the only reason why  people really try and help the earth, is to keep their image good. People think the world is too big to help. But if everyone thinks that no one will even bother helping. And everything will just get worse. Then what will people think they will tell themselves “ its not my fault what could I do?” they could of made a impact even if it were a small one it could catch on!

The powerful have no power without the people

I am reading Witch and Wizard- The fire by James Patterson. This book is about two teenage brother and sister who are wizards and live in a world where they are being hunted down. This world is ruled by a man called The One who is The One, he banned books, art, music, dance, and any type of uniqueness! He believes if you do anything wrong you deserve to die. The girl Wisteria has the power of a million, and has a mission to destroy The One. He either wants to combine his power with hers or kill her.

Wisteria knows she is the most powerful person in the world, she feels the energy of her magic rush through her. But yet defeating The One seems impossible for her. She has him in her grip and cant bring herself to look at what she has done to him. She doesn’t want to be that kind of person, that kills for what they want. When she turns away he rises again even stronger. It shows he thrives off weakness. For that moment she showed no mercy he was powerless. Everyone was always afraid of him so no one stood up to him and stopped him. When someone finally does prove their power over him, he doesn’t believe that he is stronger. She doesn’t want to become him, someone who knows they have power, and that people should look up to them. She feels that by looking at him she will become a monster that it would take to kill someone. But to be that monster you have to kill because you just want to.

I have never liked people who thrive off power. The ones who put themselves on a throne above everyone else and expect to be respected. And they are, no one knows really what to say to them. I had a friend who did that, was mean and controlling to everyone and expected them to still be friends with her. After about five years everyone got sick of it, even her closest friends. People told her she wasn’t acting cool but she ignored them, and thought how dare they say that to me! Its not until everyone just left her did she realize, wow how have I been treating these people? Its like a chair, you need it to sit at a table, be high up and supported. Without the seat or legs of the chair you fall and get hurt. They don’t support you anymore so you cant be higher than them! 

Our classes get bigger, but our brains get smaller

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/03/26/elementary-students-in-large-classes-tripled-report-shows/?ref=nyregion

The article Elementary Students in Large classes Tripled by Anna M. Phillips is about how in the past three years due to the recession there have been budget cuts in schools leading to lays offs. Which means there are less teachers but the same amount of students, so there are bigger classes with 30 or more kids in them. In the past 3 years about 5,300 teachers have been laid off. In some school districts up to 20% of the classes have more than 30 students! And a just a couple of years ago in 2009 the average fourth grade class was about 23 students!

Anna M. Phillips is trying to say that the recession has not only hurt the economy but children’s education. With so many children in one class, the teacher doesn’t have time to focus on all of them and give each one of them the attention they need. In the sixth paragraph a man named Mr. Lander said “ Both the data and common sense tell you that having a kid in a class of 30-plus means the teachers can’t possibly focus on them.”  And its not the teacher or the student, it’s the budget cuts. But everything affects everything. The economy lays off teachers, children have a worse education (due to bigger classes) and then we are left we unemployed people. Its not like they get another teaching job easily, no one is hiring.

I think that the children of the present are accomplishers of the future, and education is the beginning root to a good future. We have to know things to succeed. Learn how to interact with people and have more knowledge. The doctors, teachers, politicians, police men/woman, mothers and fathers of the future, need to have gotten their share of attention just as they were beginning to grow. Its like our life is a cake recipe. One of the most important parts of a cake is the flour, the ingredient that we start off with. Without it, after the cake has been taken out of the oven its just a pan of hot goop. And how can we get anything of that? Or a plant, it needs roots to take in water. And they may not be visible, but they are there. And without the roots the plant dies. It has nothing to keep it supplied. And nothing to even just keep it propped up!

The five stepping stones to understanding

Bohemian Rhapsody- Queen

Is this the real life?

Is this just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide,

No escape from reality

Open your eyes,

Look up to the skies and see,

I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy,

Because I'm easy come, easy go,

Little high, little low,

Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to

me, to me

Mama,

I just killed a man,

Put a gun against his head, pulled my trigger

now he's dead

Mama... life had just begun,

But now I've gone and thrown it all away

Mamaaaaa oooh,

Didn't mean to make you cry,

If I'm not back again this time tomorrow,

Carry on, carry on as if nothing really matters

Too late, my time has come,

Sends shivers down my spine, body's aching all

the time

Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go,

Got to leave you all behind and face the truth

Mamaaaaa oooh,

I don't want to die,

I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

(Guitar solo)

I see a little silhouetto of a man,

Scaramouche! Scaramouche! will you do the

Fandango?!

Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening

me!

Galileo, Galileo

Galileo, Galileo

Galileo, Figaro - magnifico

I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me

He's just a poor boy from a poor family,

Spare him his life from this monstrosity!

Easy come, easy go, will you let me go

Bismilah! No, we will not let you go

(Let him go!) Bismilah! We will not let you go

(Let him go!) Bismilah! We will not let you go

(Let me go) Will not let you go

(Let me go)(Never) Never let you go

(Let me go) Never let you go (Let me go) Ah

No, no, no, no, no, no, no

Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia, let me go

Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me, for me,

for meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

So you think you can stop me and spit in my

eye?!?!

So you think you can love me and leave me to

die?!?!

Oh, baby, can't do this to me, baby,

Just gotta get out, just gotta get right outta

here!

(Guitar solo)

Nothing really matters, Anyone can see,

Nothing really matters,

Nothing really matters to me...

Any way the wind blows...

Life and death is the scariest thing to think about. One moment you are there, then your gone. You don’t have a say in it, it just happens, which is one of the worst things about it. When its over, its over, vanished, no longer.The song Bohemian Rhapsody -Queen, was written by Freddie Mercury who wrote it as his goodbye song when he was dying of aids. Through out the song Freddie goes through the five stages of grief, Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance all in different order. Which is confusing but life can be confusing.

Freddie Mercury is a person that shows that taking grief step by step just helps you get through it. In the first verse he goes through the stage Denial he says: “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy? Caught in a Landslide, No escape from Reality.” He feels that either way he looks at it, he is trapped by this disease. He wishes he could just close his eyes and be free. In the second verse he goes through depression and regret he says: “Mama... life had just begun, But now I've gone and thrown it all away.” He was just beginning to learn about life, he wasn’t done with it, and he wanted to complete the journey.  He feels that if could just undo his mistake then he would have everything back, and finish.  In the third verse he goes through the stage of acceptance he says: “Goodbye, ev'rybody, I've got to go, Got to leave you all behind and face the truth.” That is the hardest thing to do accept the fact that you wont live forever. It means you lost hope, but if anything it makes you stronger, you don’t hide from the truth. You breath it in. In the fourth verse goes through the stage bargaining he says: “Scaramouche! Scaramouche! will you do the Fandango?!” He is saying I am an idiot, who isn’t careful. Who bets anything and expects to be safe and protected. In the seventh verse Freddie Mercury goes through anger he says: “So you think you can stop me and spit in my

eye?!?! So you think you can love me and leave me to die?!?!” He is saying you led me on kept me going and now, life, you are just letting go of me when I need you most.

Nobody likes the thought of not being here, and no one should. But we don’t remember anything from before we were born so how can we remember anything if we don’t exist anymore. Your life is a memory the first time you rode a bike, or took your first steps. Not the first time you sat alone in a room for the rest of your life, doing nothing, thinking nothing, completely brain dead. Your heart may be beating but you have no life in you And that is what everyone loves, having life flow through their veins, having the experience and the memories. The five stages of grief just help you understand that it doesn’t matter how many memories you may have, (because its not like you can remember them all) but just how important they are and with how much life do they fill you with?

Sacrafice- Harry Potter 7

        In Aztec Culture people would sacrifice themselves to their god. They believed that human blood would help sustain the earth. They need the earth to survive without it they would be floating around in space. It keeps them sheltered, happy, protected, and alive. It is irreplaceable. In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows without sacrifice, love does not exist. Love is the root of sacrifice, and love is believing and caring in someone. Throughout the whole Harry Potter series everyone makes huge sacrifices, and that proves just how strong they really are.

        First, Harry’s mother, Lily Potter sacrificed herself because she loved Harry. She wanted Harry to live not only because she loved him but because she knew he would go on to do great things! She knew he had a strong power in him, and he was young, and had his whole life to live.

         Second, in chapter 36 the Malfoys sacrificed their relationship with Voldemort and the Death Eaters so they could leave and be a family with no one over powering them. They not only left a dangerous psychopath but created a possible enemy. They turned on someone they once worshiped. But they did this for love. Voldemort had completely split up their family. He tried to turn Draco into a murderer, and take over what they had of a family!  Belatrix, may understand love but in a different way than good, its not sacrifice but selfishness. She “kisses up” to Voldemort because she wants to be his favorite. The one that will always be safe, and Voldemort would never kill. She loves herself too much to understand or even pay attention to other people. It’s not even Voldemort she loves. She does all these evil deeds for her own benefit.

          Third, in the big battle (chapter 36) Belatrix Lestrange is about to kill Ginny and Mrs.Weasly jumps in front of her and kills Belatrix. She truly showed sacrifice. Like Lily Potter no hesitations, it took her a second to decide. I love my daughter and I can’t loose her. Her decision didn’t only save one life but so so many others. If Belatrix hadn’t died then, she would have killed many others not only in the battle but after it. We make choices for the ones we love, we can’t go back and regret because love beats regret.

           Fourth, everyone thinks of Neville as a forgetful coward, but in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows he proves them all wrong. While Harry, Luna and Ginny were all gone he took over! In chapter thirty four pg.695 Neville says “Harry, you’re not handing yourself over are you?”  He knows that so many people will die in this battle and possibly including himself. But he wants to fight and sacrifice himself for what he believes in. For what can truly change the world.

             Fifth, as Harry was walking to the forbidden forest he thought about life and death. How so many people had died for him, and dieing for him right at that moment. He thought about how so many times he had come so close to death. But he had sacrificed himself to stop a horrible person. He didn’t need time to think it over he just knew what was the right thing to do. But on his walk to death he thought a lot about it. For the first time in his life he was really scared. He couldn’t face Voldemort with a hope that he would defeat him, he was going to die no matter what. But he did it any way and that proves that even without hope sacrfice beats all.

We do crazy things for the ones that we love and look up to. But really are they crazy, or just brave? 

An extra Push-Tween Bot Kacie Kinzer

 In this photo, what seems to be a little cardboard robot with a wheel is being pushed by a persons hand. This reminded me of a tween, they have their arms forward and are ready to go with a smile on their face. Happy and excited to discover the world.  But it can be scary trying new things.

 The world is a big place, and you never really notice how big it is until you open your eyes. Have you ever seen a picture of a room or a place and then actually gone to that place and realized WOW this is a lot bigger than I thought it would be! Well that is what it can feel like!

This feeling can be scary alone in the big world. But there is always someone behind you. They might be giving you that extra push, but you can still fall back onto them. Like when you first learn how to ride a bike. I remember when I was learning how to ride a bike, my dad kept on holding the back of my bike seat pushing me a little bit harder little by little. I would keep on looking back at him seeing if he was still holding on. Every time he would let go, I would stop the bike. But finally I forgot to look back, and I realized, I was riding a bike! It was scary at first but with trying again and again, made it fun and interesting!

Now I know I wasn't a tween in the 2nd grade but getting out there and exploring a new thing is just like taking your first step out of the world, but you always have someone to help you in the end!

Allstar mentor Gabi A Club House for Books

I think that the all star mentor is Gabi! I love all of her posts, i find them meaningful and interesting, always a new thought uncovered. She takes an idea and makes logic of it, but in such a way that it is something to really think about. I love how in all of her blogs she goes the extra mile. Especially in this past one Owing People. I think its great because she has such an interesting way of writing it. She goes into the story and explains it, but then comes back out and writes about what she thinks. Then she will say a sentence about the story. To go back to her main point. I feel this is SO IMPORTANT! With out this you lose the root of the idea. And i think its a GREAT way to keep an idea alive, with out repeating yourself! I think I can learn from her to write my posts in more of an interesting way!!!

The other side- Pseudonymous Bosch SPOILER ALERT

In the book I'm reading 'You Have to Stop This' one of the main characters (Cass) has a mission. To discover a secret that her enemies (the Mid Night Sun, a group of scientists who have discovered the secret of eternal living) are also after. When she does, she is in a certain dream portal like state. She encounters an ancient mummy and asks him "Why did the ibis cross the Nile?" she feels as in his answer the secret will be revealed, he answers "To get to the other side of course Hahahahahaahaha!" Cass feels helpless she went all this way to find the secret and nothing, just a lame joke, but that is what she is stuck with.

I feel that she can dig deeper into this secret. The whole point of this secret is life. This secret when plainly looked at is saying "Life is a joke" but really if you dig deeper it says you are this ibis life is the Nile. And the Nile over all is much stronger than the ibis. But the ibis has no choice but to cross it. So as it treads through the water it will encounter some hungry alligators, or some harsh current. But it has to stay strong and not let itself be drowned by the Nile.

Life is a long journey that takes a long time to complete. And it isn't easy, sometimes it feels almost impossible. You just think to yourself wow time goes by so quickly but the years move by so slowly. So saying that the ibis crossed the Nile to get to the other side makes sense. You begin your  life to complete it. And that is what they are saying to the midnight sun you begin your life to complete it not to make it last forever.

Siblings Going Deeper- Pseudonymous Bosch You Have to Stop This

I am reading you have to stop this by Pseudonymous Bosch. In it there are two men who are twin brothers fighting against each other, for one is preforming horrible deeds. He pretends to have stopped preforming these deeds and tries to gain his brothers respect, he does. But not for long. They soon find out that the man was lying to his twin. The twin who been lied to has a look of sorrow in his eyes as he yells at his brother telling him to leave.

I thought this is how strong family stays together. Even if they hate each other more than anyone in the world.  They have such strong hate because they love them. I know this may sound confusing. But if a sibling does a horrible thing and the other one realizes it they absolutely despise their brother or sister its because now they can't bear to look at them. They had such strong love that when it was broken by this problem they hate them for it.

I know that if I ever lost my sister over an argument, I would feel horrible. And any chance I got to reunite with her I would take it. But if i found out she was lying to me about reconnecting, the tape I used to put my heart back together would just be washed away.

Once a couple years back I went into my sisters room looking for pennies for the penny harvest at my school. I saw a box on her shelf that was old and weary. I thought to myself
"Maybe this is where she keeps all her money and loose change! I won't take too much but just a few pennies and nickels." I took the box off the shelf and opened it hopeful. But then I found a pack of cigarettes. I was heart broken. She had always told me how smoking was such a horrible thing, and to never ever do it." I had trusted her word on it, but when I found out she had lied to me, I couldn't stand it. I closed the box and placed perfectly where it had been before, just another secret to keep. I didn't want to mention it because I was scared she would get mad at me for looking through her things. I loved her and didn't want to mess up our relationship.

I know that smoking is a big problem people can have (luckily it isn't for my sister.) And it can be addictive but everyday people stop smoking. Like a problem with a sibling your love for each other is so strong no matter how many times your trust has been broken. The problem can be broken.

Kind of a spoiler alert- They always come back- Harry Potter Year 2

He grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down.
 "This is what you have to do," he said. He raised the gnome above his head and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso. Seeing the shocked look on Harry's face, Ron added, "It doesn't hurt them - you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to their gnome holes." He let go of the gnomes ankles: It flew twenty feet into the air and landed with a thud in the field over the hedge

In this paragraph Ron and Harry are deGnoming Ms.Weasleys garden. Ron explains that the gnomes will come back even after they are launched out of the garden. This made me think of problems in life. If you just push them out of the way the will come back. What you need to do is kill them and zap them out.

Its like the gnomes they will get dizzy and for a while not be able to find their homes but dizziness doesn't last your whole life. They will find their home again. And i know this may sound intense but if they could just zap them with their wand, the gnomes wouldn't be able to come back. And the worst part is if you don't deGnome the garden regularly they will reproduce and overtake you whole garden.

So like if you just let a problem sit there in the air, just like all your other problems the will start to pile up and  become overwhelming.

A Big Famous Head- Bossy Pants- Tina Fey

In Tina Fey's book she shows a picture of herself now with a caption saying who I am now, and picture of her as a child with a caption saying who i long to be. I found this interesting how she was such a big star but could admit to having that secret dream. Not only that but she isn't scared to share things from her personal life. Like when she was little she got slashed in the face by a stranger, and still has the scar. But she didn't photoshop it out of the picture of her on the cover.

It just proves how strong a person she is, she isn't scared to admit the truth and show her real self. Other celebrities are scared to show their scars they take as if its something ugly they should hide from the world around them. Then they will look perfect.

This might 'help' them and their image, but they let things like that also ruin their image. If they didn't care the press wouldn't care. It's all about how you carry yourself. And when they spread their bigheadsyndrome people think thats what they should be like. So if they say cover your scars with this product people will think thats what she is doing? Ok I will use it too.

 The worst part is its the younger kids and teens who pay attention to these things. Adults don't pay as much attention because they have less pressure from society they know who they are! But kids and teens have only begun their life and they aren't sure how they want to live it.

The Closet -Bossy Pants Tina Fey

In the book Bossy Pants Tina Fey explains how she had a friend who was gay but he still hadn't quite "come out of the closet." People say "come out of the closet" but what really is the closet? A place to know who you are but not wanting to admit it to the world around you. A place to be scared of not being accepted. The closet is such a dark place and maybe it takes people so long to come out of it because they cant find the light. Without the light how can they find the door.

This society puts so much pressure on people for being different. But then why do they say be your self, if who you really are isn't good enough for them.  Coming out of the closet isn't that easy. It seems as if the closet would feel like a safer place to be, you alone accepting yourself. But if you accept yourself what does it matter what they think?

No matter what, you are a human being and you shouldn't hide from the world in a closet just because someone doesn't accept you. So really what " not coming out of the closet" means is the pressure that this society puts on someone will lead them to be something they aren't and make them hide their true emotions.

Partial Spoiler alert- The Sorting Hat- Harry Potter Year 1

I am reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. In one chapter Neville goes into Gryffindor house with his legs locked, after Malfoy had casted a spell on him. After that Neville says he doesn't deserve to be in Gryffindor, but Harry replies yes you do, the sorting hat put you here, and this is where you belong. I found this interesting how they all know the sorting hat is right. And he knows where you belong.

But really he just knows where you want to be, and that reflects who you are. For instance later on in the series I remember Dumbledor telling Harry, that the sorting hat had almost put him in Slytherin, but Harry had wanted to be put in Gryffindor so badly that they put him there. This shows Harry didn't want to be a dark wizard or be led to a selfish future, but he wanted to be noble and courageous. So if Neville thinks he doesn't deserve to be in Gryffindor even though he wants to, he is wrong.

Life isn't always about who you are, but who you want to be. What you aim for in life reflects your thoughts, and opinions. As long as you follow a path in life where you know is right and reflects your values then you are who you want to be.

Memories- Homecoming by: Cynthia Voigt

"Oh yes i loved my children. I had a lot of love to give those day, to my husband too. But it got turned around. I got turned around. I let myself get turned around." Her grandmother waved her hand lightly brushing away the cobwebs in the corner of the room.

 In this scene Dicey is speaking with her grandmother, who is telling the story of how she has no one to love in her life anymore. I thought that at the end when her grandmother brushes away the cobweb in the corner it shows she is brushing away the memories she once had with her children. A spider takes a very long time to weave her web. She has to be careful, this is her home. Just like memories you have to be careful, memories take a long time to be built. And what happened once will stay with you forever. 

A spider web will be destroyed in the wind, rain, or by human. But spiders rebuild them. So they are never without a place to live. Memories may be ignored but the essential ones will never be forgotten. Memories build who we are, with out them we have no experience no knowledge of right from wrong. Life can't be lived properly with out memories. Just like a spider can't live with out its web.

Her grandmother stills loves her children, even when she says she doesn't. If she didn't love them, then she wouldn't be lonely. Because she would know there was no one out there anymore that could make her happy again. But she knows they are still out there and more then anything she wants to see them. Her thoughts may say no, but her gut says yes.

I think its really interesting how Cass goes back in time to find a very important unknown secret. This secret could be anything! She doesn't even have an idea of its subject but yet her mind takes her back over 500 years to go on this adventure. Now her reason to this is the Terces Society needs this secret to go on with all of their missions.  But what I think is that she wants to learn about herself and her past. She recently found out she was adopted this filled a void she had for on long time, but not completely. She still didn't know who her biological parents were. I think that Cass felt if she figured out this secret then her life would be complete and she would know everything needed to know.

Not true. When she went back in time she spoke to the Jester (her great great great great... grandfather) and asked him for the secret. He told her he had no such thing as a secret yet and he would tell once he had one. They found a place were 500 years from now the secret would be kept safely. Under a special lodestone. After Cass had heard this she thought, I know where the secret will be now so my mission of the past is complete. Yet she stayed in the past world. I think she wanted to figure out more of her family. Just what would happen that would lead her to life.

Later on she finds the loadstone inside of it is a clue. It says
As Above So Below
She is confused. Later on she receives a package thats say her name on it dating from many many years ago (it was even on the mayflower) In it is a big treasure chest once it is opened she finds a million gold coins, jewels, golden goblets. But she is very dissapointed, this hasnt givin her any information on her past just riches. I think that the chest was a prize and that the clue inside the loadstone was the secret. As Above So Below means to me what happened once is connected to what is happening now so if you want to find the secret you don't need to go 500 years back, but you need to find what is most important and learn that if you look too closey at the past and what you wish for and can't have then you will not acomplish anything you have to move forward in life.

Just a Thought Away-Pseudonymous Bosch This isn't what is looks like

In the book This isn't what it Looks Like, there are 2 characters a boy and a girl, Cass and Max Ernest. They are apart of a secret society that deals with spies and cracking codes. Currently Cass is in a medically indused coma. In her coma she has dreams where she goes back in time to try and find out a big secret of her past. She doesn't know what its about, just that it is very important. I thought that it was very interesting that the most important things happening in her dreams would show up in real life. For example she finds a fortune teller who uses tarot cards to see her future. While she is dreaming this, Max Ernest is in the cafeteria having his tarot cards read aswell. The difference though is that the girl is making fun of him by lieing about that cards he has.

This really interested me. Thinking the path happening in the real world seems to be a big lie. Whereas in Cass's dreams its very true. This had me thinking, if everything is the opposite in sleeping and awake, then sleeping is just a distraction (not in the sense that people shouldn't sleep.) Cass is going in the wrong place to find the truth. Her mind is sending her to the place it is happiest in. If everything goes well in the dream world it mean nothing bad can happen so really, there is and never will be a secret.

If she came out of her dream state of mind, she could find the things that were wrong and didn't fit. Leading her to the secret. What i believe in is that to get rid of your problems you cant hide from them, and from then on expect everything to go right. You have to know that hiding from them will just delay you. And even though Cass wants to know the big secret, she is just the smallest bit scared to know.