Mikoo123's Blog

Book Report~There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock

mikoo123 — Mon, 24 May 2010 23:22:44 +0000

There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock is about this girl named Maisie Potter. She signs up for cheerleading, but doesn’t make it. Then, she signs up for the boys’ wrestling team. But, why for cheerleading? Why for wrestling? This is what love causes you to do sometimes. Just to do everything it takes until you get it. And Maisie Potter did all of this just because of Eric Delong.

To start with, she wasn’t never all that interested in boys. But, once in the pool, just him looking at Maisie with a smile changed everything. She started to feel something, something called LOVE. Well, this is what she thought. So, one of the tones, in my opinion is loving, adoring, and also dreamy. In the way the author shows how loving it is, is that he just describes every scene so simply you just get it. I also imagine and picture every scene, sometimes standing in the character’s shoes. This is how I feel it is loving and adoring. But, I also say it is dreamy because to start with, Eric Delong was with the most popular, cute girl at school. So, it was kind of obvious that Maisie couldn’t be with him. Even though she did everything to be near him, I thought it was almost impossible for him to get an eye at her. So, this is why I say it was dreamy. It was a ‘dream’ for Maisie to be with Eric Delong.

Even though there is this romantic, cute part of the story, there was a bad part also. Other tones I can say are disheartened and vengeance. I say this because her brother’s totally disgusted with her, her best friend drops her, her classmates ridicule her, and opposing teams forfeit rather than wrestle her. This made everything difficult to her. At a point that she wanted to quit everything. But, even though, Maisie Potter has a strong heart, and realizes she really likes wrestling, encouraging her to continue everything knowing it will be difficult. So, I can also tell the tone of the book is encouraging at times.

I think the theme that the book touches the most is about not giving up. About keeping on even though it is tough. Sometimes, the ways we choose are the most difficult, but the goal or the final point of this path is what makes us stronger. We can’t give up in the middle. If we give up in the middle of the way, we won’t never achieve what we want. We won’t be stronger as humans, as persons. Our own beings will be just weak, always choosing the easiest way. This is why, even though it is difficult, hard, we can’t never give up. Maisie Potter showed this. She passed a very difficult moment. She even lost her best friend, Helen, her teammates of wrestling always laughed at her, even the hole school made jokes in her face, but she didn’t give up. I think the book tells us about how to be, and how to act even in the most tough moments of our lives. The book comments on how to be, and realize that life won’t be that easy. Life will always have their risings and their drops. It is like a mountain: some mountains are difficult to climb, but once you reach the top it will be much easier to go down. Life is the same thing. You need to face your problems, try to solve them until you accomplish or overpass them, because by doing this, it will be much easier to continue. This is a very simple and easy to read book yet with a nice teaching.

At first I thought that this book was just about wrestling, about a girl in love, and a flirty, cute, popular girl, but that wasn’t it. Books afterall don’t just tell you any story, but also teaches you something, something you can learn.

There’s a Girl in My Hammerlock Post 3~!

mikoo123 — Mon, 10 May 2010 00:28:22 +0000

In my opinion, the most vivid scene in this book was the part when Maisie Potter told her mom she was quitting wrestling. She couldn’t handle it more. She was tired. Everyone talked about her, not in the good way, but in the worst way. Teasing her, until a point that she lost her best friend. She wanted to quit everything. She was tired of everything. She even asked herself: ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I wrestling?’ Her mom even told her that it was going to be a very hard work wrestling because she was being the first girl + coach had told her: ‘I’m not going to treat you different just because you are a girl, everyone that stands in the ring is the same. They are all wrestlers! There is no boy nor a girl here.’ And Maisie, with all her determination answered she knew that, she was going to do everything it takes. But..what happened? She was tired. She just wanted to quit everything. She thought everything she made was just ‘ridiculous’. But why do I say this scene is the most affective? I say this because after all she hadn’t quit. She continued. Even though she said she was quitting, even though she told her mother she won’t keep wrestling, some things just made her mind change. Some things encouraged her after all, making her continue even though it would be tougher. I liked this about her, her determination to keep continuing. That’s why I say this is the most vivid and affecting scene in the book. It just impressed me that someone, if has the courage to make it, they can make it.

There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock Post 2~!

mikoo123 — Sun, 09 May 2010 23:59:44 +0000

There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock is an easy yet nice book. A very typical teenage girl’s story who fall in love of a guy.

I think this book fits with many books I’ve read. My type of book are those about girls who fall in love of a guy. Generally talking, love stories. And yes, this is another love story. Maisie Potter tries out for the wrestling team in her junior high to get close to a boy she likes, but she soon finds out that what she really loves is the sport of wrestling. I think that what is unique about this book is that, at first, she was determined to do whatever it takes to be with this guy she is attracted to, Eric Delong. She even tried out for chearleading, something that is totally opposite to what she is. Then, she tried out for wrestling. Obviously, Eric Delong was there(that’s why she tried out). And the result of it is that she was actually good at it. She was good at wrestling. She started wrestling thinking this would approach her to him, but it results that she really liked wrestling.

Well, maybe this book is similar to other books. It shows the determination to get something. But I think it is different in the way that Maisie Potter finished her story finding out something better than getting approached to Eric Delong. She even realized he wasn’t a good guy, it was totally a ‘looser’. I like this book because of this, because even though it was a very difficult path to get to where she was, she realized after all that her effort counted.

There’s a Girl in my Hammerlock~ Post 1

mikoo123 — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:32:18 +0000

There’s a girl in my hammerlock is an typical teenage story in the age when a girl starts getting interested in boys. It is a book written by Jerry Spinelli. So..it talks about a girl named Maisie Potter. As all teenage girls, her hormones begin acting up around a boy named Eric Delong, and she gets attracted to him. Maisie Potter knows what she wants, knows how to get it, and is determined to get it. To start with, she have known him way before, but one day on the pool, as she was playing underwater with her friend Holly, she thought she had seen him thinking it was her friend and pulled his feet when she realizes it was a boy’s..Eric Delong. From this day on, she has been attracted to him. And well, at school, she quitted hockey just to enter cheerleader, thinking it was a chance for Eric Delong to notice her. But, she hadn’t made it, and patiently waits for next season’s sports to begin. This is when she enters wrestling, and surprises everyone with her endurance and skill. Of course, this is an all boy’s team, and obviously Eric Delong is in. She knows it will be hard, even coach tells her: ”I won’t be treating you specially just because you are a girl, you will need to do the same things as all the boys, train as all the boys. Just because you are a girl I won’t treat you like a girl. Here in the ring everyone is equal, and no one is exception. Do you agree?” And Maisie responds to him: ”That’s ok, I know that.” Maisie is an vibrant adolescence girl, with heart and determination. A confident, curious and very alive character: Maisie is determined to continue on under all the problems that she will face.

To kill a Mockingbird~! 2nd Draft

mikoo123 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:43:00 +0000

Atticus is a lawyer and an extremely morally upright man who deals with everyone fairly. Atticus is sometimes overly optimistic, but his hope in mankind and self-created role sustain him. I think that Atticus, as a citizen, is an admirable person. He represents all that is best in Maycomb as a citizen, a father, a Christian and a Southern gentleman. He stands out as a man of reason and courage. For example, he shows courage when he sits outside of Tom Robinson’s cellar and the mob comes in attempt to kill Tom Robinson, but even though he fights against them. They call him names such as ‘Nigger-lover’ but he continues there to defend Tom Robinson. A person to defend an African American at that times required much courage, because after all society didn’t permit for a white man to be with an African American.

Also Atticus, being as a marvelous citizen, is also a great father.He tries to make his own children see that it is better to use one’s head than to use its fists. Atticus teaches his values and beliefs to Jem and Scout by not only teaching them but by actually setting the examples. And that’s why Jem and Scout have perfect confidence in their father. He always tells them the truth, and they are secure in the knowledge that he loves them.

What I’ve noticed in the beginning of the book is that they didn’t see him as a very superior person. But as time passed, they have noticed who Atticus was and he really was a value for society.

Overall, I think Atticus Finch is a hero and a valuable man. There wasn’t who defended an African American, because those times people were created of racism and hypocrisy. But even though society made people think this way, Atticus Finch always fought for what was good to society. Not just good, but also fair.

Book Report~! Life at These Speeds!

mikoo123 — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 00:11:14 +0000

Life at These Speeds, by Jeremy Jackson, is just a great book. I think that there are various tones in this book. In my opinion, one of the main tone of the books is sorrowful, lament; in general, sadness. I think this so because as I started reading, almost in one of the beginning chapters, he have lost all of his friends, even his girlfriend Ellie. This happened one night, returning from a track meet, when the van carrying most of his friends home skids into the river and all on board are killed. ALL on board are killed, which means all of his friends. Imagine to lose all of your friends! To me, this would just destroy me. And to Kevin, this should be the same.

Another reason why I say this book has a sorrowful tone is because as I read, I realized Kevin Schuler didn’t like running. Even though he was such a great runner, he didn’t like it. He just kept running because he just had to. I think that running was the dream of other people, not his. I think he was running just to satisfy and accomplish some other people’s dream and not his dream. Who are these people? One of them can be the Superintendent Porporhesohln, Gregory, etc. These people wanted to Kevin Schuler to run, to represent their school, to represent THEM. Their school hadn’t win trophees years ago, and when they saw Kevin, they saw hope, which made them think a door was opening to them. In my opinion, that is what they was in him. They could train Kevin to represent them and rise again. Kevin Schuler did so. He ran, won, began a major, and everyone knew him. Everyone wanted him, everyone was impressed with how he broke all records.

I think that I really felt how he was feeling in each situation because he was the narrator of the book. I was very impressed in how well Jeremy Jackson has created a world through his first person narrator. The voice stayed. I saw out of the eyes of Kevin Schuler as he moved from 14 to 18. Along the way details came out about his life, the accident, his community’s response. Running was the governing metaphor. The ‘conclusion’ that I can take is that it showed the inner life of Kevin facing up to the trajedy that started it all off: that has merit and original honesty.

Now, in MY opinion, I think that the theme that the book repeatedly touched upon is that Kevin Schuler as runnern. He ran even though he didn’t like it. And, also, what touched upon was his memories about the past. Many times, in the chapters, there were times where he started remembering and having images about what he had lived in the past, before his life has changed.

I realized Kevin kept running, because he just found peace by doing it. He concentrated more when he ran. There is a part in the book that showed this: Andanda is the sophisticate high schooler intellectual that reported Kevin for her report. She followed him wherever he went for her report, and one afternoon, [like always Kevin was running], the tire of the bicycle she was riding went flat. She screamed and screamed for help, but Kevin ran so concentrated he didn’t hear and past directly. We see here that he showed total concentration when he ran. He says his feet were almost flying when he ran, and he was like in a bubble, very silence[as if it were another world]. He is literally running away from his disturbing past, by running every chance he gets. While running pervades this novel and the author clearly has an affinity for the sport, success on the track is not central to the conflict. Indeed, running becomes for Kevin the ultimate escape mechanism, through which he’s able to while away his adolescent hours and achieve admiration among his peers while avoiding his repressed trauma. I think that this book more observes life. Kevin rarely, if ever, seems in jeopardy of failure on the track, as if the emotional trauma he has sustained is so brutal that he’s become completely numbed to the discomfort associated with the intense training sessions and record-breaking performances that he ticks off with ease. This lack of emotion is effective in a literary sense, yet it renders the descriptions of training and racing somewhat hollow. Mainly, what really affected all of these emotions was the own narrator, Kevin Schuler. I think that these was the main fact which created all of the emotions.This narrative technique forced me to experience the same nearly-maddening difficulty establishing an emotional connection with Kevin as do his friends and family in the novel.

All in all, this is a strong novel with sufficient depth to satisfy the literary crowd and enough track and cross-country content to please readers of running fiction.

Life at These Speeds Post 3~!

mikoo123 — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 03:36:29 +0000

In this novel, in my opinion, what Kevin Schuler is trying to do is to try to find an ‘answer’ for all of these questions. What are these questions? These questions are those ‘nightmares’ he have been having. We know he had this horrible accident. Then, when he moved to this new life, everything changed. But, at times, he kept seeing this images of the past, yet he didn’t recognize it. He didn’t what were all of this things he remembered at times. He didn’t know it was reality, he just didn’t remeber it was his own life. I think Kevin wants to know what is all of this about, what are these images that come into his head.

In Life at These Speeds, while frustrating at times, this narrative technique forced me to experience the same nearly-maddening difficulty establishing an emotional connection with Kevin like his friends and family do so in the novel. The result is a powerful depiction of a psychologically fractured adolescent’s struggle to overcome a tragic experience and reawaken his dormant emotional core.

As time passes, Kevin just keeps on running. Many things happen until everything gets into his head. For example, running is the only thing is left, and he doesn’t have another track or choice just to keep running. Yeah, eventually, he remembers everything, what happened, the accident, the problems, his friends, his old school, but until he remember all, he waited 4 years. 4 years without knowing what was going on, what was all he had seen[from 9th grade to senior].

I think Kevin Schuler had a difficult moment. Seeing things that came into your head without knowing who were they, what was it, where was it, etc. T-R-A-G-I-C!

Life at These Speeds Post 2~!

mikoo123 — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 02:50:16 +0000

Life at These Speeds: a great novel~! The setting of the book is in a small town in Missouri, like I’ve mentioned in the last blog. To tell about how the setting of the book affects the story, we’re going to review a little bit of the book. Kevin Schuler lived in a town; we know he was popular, he hanged out with beautiful girls, and everyone knew him at school. But, this accident, when the bus crashed his friends, even his girlfriend, Kevin became a track phenomenon.

He changed school, all new friends, all new people around him; everything new. And I see in this part that the setting of the book affected, because by changing all, his life also changed. He had new friends, but he kept having this ‘nightmares’[images of the past] that kept him with questions that hadn’t answers. He remained isolated from other students and teammates in this new place, but as he ran, he became more famous, known by everyone by breaking all records. What is ironic is that he didn’t like running, but even though he setted new records everytime. As Kevin setted more records and became locally famous, the clouds that hung over him take on new forms and he needed to successfully navigate his own course through all the noise of the outside world, dodging those who would tempt him in different directions.

Before suffering this tragic accident, he was just a runner, he didn’t care much about running. There is a part in the book that showed this: he let another boy run in his stead in his best event: the 800-meter run. This showed he didn’t care about running. But, after all of the accident, he just returned as a phenomenon runner. He broke all records, and became famous because of running. Old Kevin didn’t care if he ran or not; new Kevin just broke all the records. Many things happened in the course. Definitely I think the changing of setting affected the story.

Life at these Speeds~! Post 1

mikoo123 — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:02:56 +0000

Life at these Speeds is a very interesting book. It is about Kevin Schuler, an eighth grader from a small Missouri town. He is a famous popular kid in the school, dating all the beautiful girls, being with the popular kids at school, plus he is very athletic. But his life totally changes and is shattered when the van that was carrying most of his friends home from a track meet suffers an accident where all of them are killed. Kevin Schuler, the main character in this book, represses almost all memory of that season. From this point of the book, Kevin’s life completely changes. He is transferred to a new school, and becomes famous from his athletic talent. There is a part in the book that shows this: Kevin runs and runs, winning all the tournaments and competitions one by one, and suddenly everyone is interested in him. Many people show up to him asking for signs, journalists come and want to interview him, many beautiful girls appear, people want to test his body, etc. This things show he is becoming famous; people seek at him. His success attracts a lot of attention from doctors, school administrators, girls and he becomes a local sensation, though not everyone’s interest in his progress is entirely ethical. But even though he has this great talent of running, he hates it. He just doesn’t like running. But, by changing to a new school, he finds peace in it, which makes him concentrate, so he just keeps running. In the book always said that Kevin really didn’t liked running, yet he always ran. He always kept saying to people: I don’t like running, or…yeah, I don’t want to run, etc. But it said he always ran. He just ran because he concentrated, he found peace. The first-person narration[which is Kevin] provides a glimpse into Schuler’s mind, yet the voice is detached enough that he remains almost as much a mystery to the reader as to other characters.

Book Report~! Mr Maybe!

mikoo123 — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:38:29 +0000

Mr. Maybe, a book by Jane Green is a hilarious book. If we talk about the tone or style of the book, there are many. For example, it is humorous, predictable, baffled, very loving and romantic, sorrowful, and ironic. As I read through the story, I found it very interesting.

As I started reading, I found it friendly yet sorrowful. Why do I say so? I say so because Libby Mason was a twenty-seven-year-old publicist that has a great job, wonderful and supportive friends. Isn’t someone who was wonderful and supportive friends happy? Yes, I think so. But, the sorrowful part of this is not her friends. It is the boy she meets, and always dates. Libby Mason is always tired of being the one who always suffers, ends up crying in all the relations she had. Is this just bad luck? Who knows how Libby treated the other guys. Or maybe, they were not the just the right guy. The point is, Libby has suffered a lot in her past. So this showed she had a sorrowful past[with guys, because we know she had supportive friends.] Another tone in the book I have mentioned is predictable. Mr. Maybe is one of those books where you couldn’t wait to see what happened, yet it was very predictable what would happen. And I knew along what would happen, the thing is I needed to know HOW it happened. For example, when Libby dated Nick, I knew from the beginning of their relationship that it wouldn’t last long. I knew that they wouldn’t be together for the rest of their lives. It was very clear that Nick was handsome, cute, just as Libby wanted, yet he didn’t have money, and his friends were totally the opposite of Libby. This just showed she couldn’t afford to be with Nick, because she felt uncomfortable. We know in a relationship that if you are with someone, you need to feel comfortable, and just be how you are. You can’t be changing or pretend to be another person, just to be with another one.

Another tone in the book is loving and romantic. It is very obvious that it is Libby’s love story. She meets Nick, who she fancied, yet she knew his living style didn’t go with hers. She fancied him, but he wasn’t ready for commitment. So then, Libby meets Ed, who she doesn’t fancy, but he totally does everything to be with Libby, and then Libby starts thinking: maybe this isn’t a bad idea at all.

One last tone I wrote was that it was ironic. I say it is ironic because Libby fancied I man that was rich, and had a big account in the bank. Here comes Ed, with much money, yet she doesn’t want to be with him. She just doesn’t want to. Even though she starts thinking about Ed as I read along, I find it ironic that Mr. Rich is right in front of her eyes, doing everything for her, and Libby isn’t so committed to be with him.

Now, about the themes, I think the book repeatedly touches upon Libby in her relationships. What it most touches is the part when she needs to choose between Nick or Ed. She knows she fancies Nick, but just his living style is not as perfect as Ed’s lifestyle. The book shows how Libby starts facing these problems. I personally think that the book comments on life, but also observes life. For example, it observes life by the way Libby is in love problems. I think this happened to many women around the world. Mr. Right just doesn’t come to their life, or just doesn’t appear. I think many women around the world suffer for not finding the right guy, or maybe, like Libby, they just suffer and suffer for not being with the right one. I think this book shows some realities of women. That’s why I say it observes life. But at the same time, I think it comments on life. I say so because it shows how a woman can suffer or how it affects when they don’t find the right guy. For example, in the book, there are many scenes that show this. It comments indirectly, yet you realize it is trying to show you how Libby suffered in her past.

I think the part where I remember the most is when suddenly Nick called when already he had told her he wasn’t ready for commitment. It made me think that maybe Nick really wasn’t ready for commitment at that time, yet wanted to, sooner or later, ready to be with Libby. His call had been when Libby started to think about being with Ed, when she started to think it wasn’t a bad idea at all to be with Ed. First of all, he was ready for commitment, he showed he wanted to be with her because he did everything. But then, she recieves a call from Nick, and Libby, proudly, tell him everything. I thought: is she ready to forget Nick? I also thought: does everything come to you when you least expect? It is rare to think it, but sometimes, when you least expect, things come to you suddenly. All what you wanted just comes to you at last, as it happened to Libby. It is very interesting how things happen when you don’t expect it to happen. It sometimes surprises you, or sometimes it just shocks you, thinkings: Why now! Why not before!