Author: Suzy

IRJE #8 – Fear

Right now I am reading a book called Fear and it was written by Michael Grant. In the book, a girl had fled the town because she thought she could not stay among the other people because there was a rule set in place that said ‘if you do something bad you have to leave the town’. However, she was forgiven because she saved many people. Still, she decided it was best for her and the rest of the people if she left. Right now she is living in the forest and she is in her camp just thinking about what she did.

Guilt was a fascinating thing: it seemed not to weaken over time. If
anything it grew stronger as the circumstances faded from memory, as the fear and the
necessity became abstract. (p. 18)

I like this quote because it is something that everybody has experienced. Also, it makes me think about how memories can warp to make it seem worse than it actually was depending on how long ago it happened.

PW #8 – My passion: Minatare set making

One of my favourite things to do is make miniature kits. In my free time, I really like making these DIY miniature sets. I like it because it’s really fun to assemble and it always comes out really cool. They always include a working LED light which makes the finished product so much cooler. So far I have made an; art studio, a cafe, a bakery, and a bookshop. I have collected them on my bookshelf. Sometimes I turn on the lights as a night light and they look like I am looking into a real shop because they are so detailed. My favourite part is assembling the lights, making books, and making furniture. I especially like making cabinets and furniture with cushions. However, my least favourite thing is making flowers because they are really messy and they never turn out good. I also HATE working with wire. Not like the electrical wire, but like the metal wire that I use to make railings, chair legs, and baskets. They come bent so it is difficult to make them straight, they are IMPOSSIBLE to glue together, and they always end up uneven, even if I measure them a million times before cutting. Anyways, currently, I am working on a chocolate factory that has a ton of gears and stuff. The thing I really like about this one is that it doesn’t require glue. the pieces just snap together and stay like that. But for this, you need very precise measurements made by lasers. Overall, I love everything miniature. Thank you for reading! (you should get me some) (I might make one for you) 

IRJE #7 – Plague

Right now I am reading Fear by Michael Grant. However, I have just started and don’t really have anything to write about. So, this one will be about Plague. In this book, there is a deadly virus going around and in the make-shift hospital, there are a lot of sick kids. Since there are a ton of kids vomiting constantly and all of the ‘doctors’ there are busy trying to keep the kids alive, a lot of all their poop and vomit have piled up in buckets.

Dahra said, “I like your boyfriend. Not many guys volunteer to
carry ten gallons of diarrhea and vomit.”
Lana laughed. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Yeah, well, he can be mine if he wants to be. He’s cute. And he carries crap.” (p. 216)

I really like this quote because I found it really funny. I also really like the character, Sanjit, because he is really nice and helpful (he is the guy carrying the crap).

PW #6 – How my cat died – Suzy

Before I start, I really should clarify that I don’t actually have a cat and never have. Also, out of all those non-existent cats, none of them have died. But, I bet you that title caught your eye, didn’t it? Anyways, to get to the story. Wait, I haven’t come up with a story idea yet… Maybe I’ll just type and see where I go. You know, sometimes it’s good to just let your mind wander and see what crazy scenario you come up with. I’ll tell you one of mine: I started really high above on a platform. Then I looked over the edge and saw a square. That square looked like it was just a chunk of a city but in the middle of space. Suddenly a unicorn charged at me from behind. We went flying over the edge and towards the ground. When I was spinning through the air the night sky turned neon green. Then I turned to face this octopus that falling with me, Carl, and he was eating a cantaloupe. Then, a bunch of balloons and confetti stopped me from falling and I came back to reality. I like doing that when I’m bored because it always turns out very interesting. Also, you might have realized now that a lot is going on in my head. Anyways, that is the end of my story. Bye 🙂

PW #7 – Hawaii (reversed)

Recently, I did not go to Hawaii. It was really fun not being in the sun. When I didn’t go to Hawaii I did not stay at a very fancy hotel. We did not go on a walk every day. On each non-existent hike, we ended up at a non-existent beach. We never saw a ton of lizards and geckos. We also never went swimming multiple times each day. Neither in the pool in our non-existent hotel or on the non-existent beach. One of my favourite things that we didn’t do on the beach was to swim far out with snorkeling gear that we didn’t have and a non-existent floaty. When we didn’t swim out we would not go and swim over coral reefs and look at sea life. My least favourite part of the non-existent trip was when my non-existent brother pushed me into a pool that did not exist. Overall I really liked my non-existent trip to Hawaii.

PR – Christmas Carol – Suzy

I rate the Christmas carol an 8/10. I really like this classic story. I like the Christmas theme and how it also includes ghosts to make it more interesting and like a fantasy book. It is something I watch with my family multiple times each Christmas. One of my favourite movie versions is Muppets a Christmas Carol By Brian Henson. My family and I watch this movie at least 3 times each Christmas. So, when I found out we were reading the original version I was excited to see how the stories would compare. I thought that the book started off very slow but as I got further in the book things started getting more interesting. My favourite character was Bob Cratchit because he is really hard-working even though he gets paid very little. He is also very kind and loyal. My favourite part was when he was with the ghost of the Christmas Present. I found him really funny and overall, cheerful. I feel like he made the most changes to Scrooge’s overall feelings towards Christmas. My least favorite part was when Scrooge and the spirit of the Christmas Present went to visit his nephew and he was making fun of Scrooge. I also liked how Marley (in some way) was trying to help Scrooge not make the same mistakes that he did. I found it funny how to Scrooge it felt like a lot of time had passed when really he just woke up the next day completely different. I really like this book because it has some great lessons. One of my favourite lessons is that money won’t buy you happiness.

IRJE #6 – Plague

Currently, I am reading Plague by Michael Grant. It is the fourth book in the Gone series. Currently Albert (see from previous IRJE) has been attacked by two boys from the Human crew (also in a previous IRJE). He was attacked by them because he has so much wealth and food. He also isn’t very nice which lead him to get attacked in the first place. When a boy named Howard found him almost dead he called the healer, Lana to save him thinking that Albert would be in his dept.

“About as close as you can get,” Lana said. “But no: he’s not dead. And this kind
of thing, at least, I can heal.”
“Boy’s going to owe me,” Howard said.
“You’re a trip, Howard, as my dad would say,” Lana said. “You are definitely a
trip.”
“You’ll tell Albert I brought you, right? You’ll tell him it was me, right?” (pg. 375)

This shows that even if a life is on the line most people will only think of themselves.

PR – The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I would rate the story a 6/10. I liked this one. It wasn’t as confusing and I liked the added mystery. It Had some confusing words and a lot of quick and not very marked character changes. However, I really liked the big plot twist at the end because I was really surprised and I didn’t know it would be that kind of book. I didn’t really like the characters though. I also didn’t really understand why Dr. Jekyll decided to do it in the first place. Also, I thought it was pretty random a times. But overall, I liked it because it seems like something that might happen in real life but then when you find out that it includes shapeshifting, you become really surprised.

One question of mine was; What was the point of writing his will to Mr. Hyde? Because since they are the same person they would die at the same time. ( Not including the fact that Hyde “died” before Jekyll )

IRJE #5 – Plague

I am reading a book called Plague right now. It is the fourth book in the Gone series. In the book, a kid named Albert has become the ‘boss’ of the FAYZ because he has brought back currency. However, people don’t like him because he has a reputation for working people a lot, yet he is one of the only people who is able to control himself.

“There is no wind in the FAYZ, you…” He stopped himself from saying ‘moron’. Albert had a certain reputation for being in control of himself. (p. 49)”

When we read this it makes us believe that even in the worst scenarios people will still do anything to keep their reputation.

PW #5 – Dagger

It was a cold winter night. From the open window, you could hear the voices of the choir singing loudly and the sound of the wind whistling through the cracks of the window. I lay there looking outside from under the blanket of my bed. The clouds were dark grey but covered by white spots that I knew would eventually cover everything under the clouds. Nothing I could do but wait for morning. BANG! A sharp feeling in the back of my head. I curl up away from the window clutching my head in my hand. It felt like my head was pierced with a flaming blade. Suddenly, it was just gone. I let go of my head and lie on my back wondering what it could have been. I get out of bed to get a glass of water. As soon as my feet hit the creaky floorboards, it happened again. I fell to the floor creating a large thud. My eyes shut, clutching my head and wishing the pain was gone. But this time it felt ten times worse. When it was gone, my parents rushed in and helped me to my feet, looking concerned. Lead me to my bed while asking me if I was ok. Just before they sat me down I noticed a giant wave approaching my house. I yelled to my parents that we had to run or the wave would wash us away. I looked at my mom, who wasn’t moving and she looked at me worried and confused. Then, I looked at my dad who just said ‘What are you talking about sweetie? There is nothing there.’ I yelled back ‘What are you talking about there is a huge wave coming!’ Then, I just sprinted. But I tripped on the doorway and I blacked out.

IRJE #4 – Lies

I am reading Lies by Michael Grant. Its the third book in the Gone Series. This series is about if one day, all the people over 15 disappeared. In this book there is a character named Drake Merwin and he is a complete psychopath. Later in the book when he came into contact with the main character of the story, Sam, his arm was burned off by him. Unfortunately this lead to him getting a ‘whip hand’ from a dark force. And Drake became even worse. Later in the book Sam (the main character) was confronting Drake for doing something bad. However, in that certain time and place they where in a Nuclear plant and if Sam resisted Drake he would wipe out the entire FAYZ with uranium. So for a long period of time, Sam was useless while Drake hit him so hard his skin spit open and he was bleeding a lot leaving him traumatized. And when Sam’s brother Caine, finally buried Drake, along with the uranium, Sam was able to put himself a ease. However, eventually Sam found out that he was alive, he was panicking.

But he had endured. And he’d lived through the next nightmarish hours, the
morphine hallucinations, the staggering, stumbling, needing-to-scream hours.
He had fought Drake again, but it was Caine who had finally killed the
psychopath. Caine had thrown Drake down a mine shaft that then collapsed on Drake’s
head. Nothing could have survived.
And yet, Drake was alive.
He’d coped since that day by knowing that Drake was dead, buried under tons of
rock, dead, gone, never to be faced again. That fact had let him cope.
But if Drake was unkillable . . .
Immortal . . . (p. 305)

Fear can change a person for the worse. In this text fear turned the strongest and most fearless person in the FAYZ into a mess who was terrified of everything.

PW #4 – King Pickle

Once upon a time, there was a pickle. The pickle was the king of all the land. He was brave, fearless, and salty. He lived in a castle that was maintained by fairies. In his realm, there were fairies, orcs, unicorns, the king pickle, and dragons. However, it was always chaotic because the unicorns and fairies were always being chased by the orcs who wanted to eat them. But the orcs were also always being chased by the dragons. one day as King Pickle looked down from his castle he came up with a great idea. He would separate all of the creatures by their species. He would have the unicorns live around the castles with his fairies taking care of them both protected by the brick walls. At the next layer there where the orc always causing mischief. In the last layer were the dragons. Nobody disagreed with the kings’ proposal because it meant that they would not have to live in the shadow of the predators. However, this meant that he could not go out himself. For if he did the unicorns would eat him in a heartbeat. But it worked and everything was at peace.

– 7 years later –

As King Pickle was on his deathbed and his son was yet to be crowned a terrible thing happened. The dragons chose to attack at his one moment of weakness. This drove the orcs crazy and they crashed the brick wall to escape. However, seeing the unicorns un able to run put them in a frenzy. They where blinded and even forgot about the dragon. The dragons set fire to the grass which caught the castle on fire in an instant. King pickle was helpless. All he could do was watch as his peaceful times went up in flames. But soon he couldn’t even do that.

What I think about Our Town

When we started to read Our Town I was curious and excited because it was different from the other things we had read. At the beginning I thought it was kind of boring because not much was happening and I was a bit confused mainly because I was still trying to figure out who the main character was supposed to be. When I finished part one I had started to like it because of the detail. However, at the beginning of the second part I got more confused on why they skipped 3 years and I was wondering about why they skipped that part. One of my favorite scenes was in the intro when Emily and Wally where heading to school and Mrs. Webb said that Emily could wear the blue dress that she had made ready for her and she said she didn’t like it because it made her look like a turkey. Also, near the end I felt it went from boring to overly crowded with all the deaths. Also, I found that they where introducing a lot of characters that they only showed once which made me confused because I couldn’t tell who was who. Overall I didn’t really like the story because I found it a bit boring and uneventful. However this is just my opinion and this is coming from a person who likes action and fantasy books. This is why I give it a 3/10.

IRJE #3 – Lies

Currently I am reading Lies by Michael grant. It is the 3rd book in the series. This series about if one day all the adults just disappeared. Without adults this leaves young teenagers to take care of young children who can’t take care of themselves. In the book they organized a daycare so that they can have all of the kids who have to be taken care of (not in a scary way) have a place to be. One girl stepped up at the beginning of the FAYZ (Fallout Ally Youth Zone) to take care of the kids. However putting up with the stress of taking care of 20 or more kids along with he bulimia (where she throws up after every meal and cant control herself around food) has caused her a lot of stress. Even with people to help her she just jokes at the sound of a break.

“Maybe I’ll go check on her,” Mary said. “In my spare time.” She laughed. It was a running joke that had long since stopped being funny.

This shows that everybody needs a break and its not good to pressure yourself too much. Especially when you still need to take care of yourself.

PW – #3

The tale of falling asleep.

I went to bed late yesterday because I wasn’t tired. I watched relaxing videos on my phone for a while. After that, I still wasn’t very tired so I went upstairs to the living room where my mom was watching something on the TV. She was watching a doctor’s show. I joined her on the couch and we watched the movie. My dad was doing his Duolingo in another room. Halfway through the episode, my mom got bored and went on Facebook to post photos of mushrooms she took. A while later my came and joined us. I looked at the time on my mom’s phone and realized it was kind of late. So, I went downstairs to try and fall asleep again. I wasn’t really tired still so I considered going back upstairs until I was. But then I remembered how I was always really tired in the morning. So, I got in bed and got comfy. About 20 minutes later I was still not asleep and I was getting hot. I shifted my position a couple of times but the only thing that was doing was pushing my blanket off of the bed. A while later my back was getting really uncomfortable. So, I ended up sleeping parallel to my pillows. Only then was I able to fall asleep 50 mins after I got in bed.

IRJE #2 – Lies By Michael Grant

I am reading the Gone series by Michael Grant right now. I am on the second book. So far, in the book, the adults have been gone for over 1 year. In the book, there are no firefighters, doctors, or parents, and the remaining kids have spun out of control without someone telling them no. Some kids even started to get powers. But a majority of the kids remained without powers. Some kids got jealous and thought they were ‘freaks’. Those kids then formed a group led by Zil. It was called the Human Crew. ‘Freaks’ that encountered the Human Crew met a deadly fate.

It wasn’t over. It couldn’t be over.
“Actually, I could use your help,” Zil said to Lisa. “I have plans.”
“What are you going to do?” Lisa asked eagerly.
“I’m going to put real humans back in charge. Get rid of the chuds. Run things for
us, not for them.”
“Yeah!” Turk said.
“The six of us, here? We’re just the start,” Zil said.
“Absolutely,” Hank agreed.
“Zil’s crew,” Turk said.
Zil waved that off modestly. “I think maybe we should call ourselves the Human
Crew.”

This shows that there will always be an opposing side, that not everybody will agree on everything, and that it is not a good idea to leave a bunch of teens (and younger) alone.

IRJE #1 – Hunger by Michael Grant

I am currently reading the Gone Series written by Michael Grant and recently finished reading the second book in the series, Hunger. Reading this book has taught me a lot about how much we depend on other people. Especially adults. The book is about when one day all the people over the age of 15 randomly disappear and a giant 20 mile wide dome it created. However near the end of the second book the oldest kid there named Sam who had become their ‘leader’ because of a heroic act he did a while before the ‘FAYZ’. However since he is only a 15-year-old he was overwhelmed by the stress and all the problems. So at the end his friends forced him to take a break and do his favorite thing.

“Under arrest? What are you talking about?”
“You are under arrest for trying to kill a kid named Sam Temple.”
“Not funny.”
But Edilio persisted. “Trying to kill a kid . . . just a kid . . . named Sam Temple. By
stressing him out with the whole load of the world on his back.”
Sam didn’t find it amusing. Angry, he turned back toward town. But there was
Astrid, close on his heels. And Brianna. Quinn, too.
“What are you all up to?” Sam demanded.
“We voted,” Astrid said. “It was unanimous. By order of the Perdido Beach
Temporary Council, we sentence you, Sam Temple, to relax.”
“Okay. I’m relaxed. Now can I get back to work?”
Astrid took his arm and all but hauled him across the beach. “You know what’s
interesting, Sam? I’ll tell you what’s interesting. A fairly small disturbance in deep
water, creating a ripple, a surge, can become a pretty impressive wave as it nearsshore.” (pg. 609)

This shows that pressure and stress can change a person. It also shows that no matter how important or busy a person it we are all human and we all need breaks.

PW #1 – Suzy

I am going to write about a dream I had recently:

It started with me in the grand library in the US that we went to (Portland, Oregon) and I went into one of the side rooms to ask where the bathrooms were. The lady pointed down to one of the other rooms. As I started to go down I noticed she was following me. She then guided me to the left. The sign on the entrance said emo and lounge. When she led me to the bathrooms on the other side of the room I realized it was filled with goth, emo, and punk rock people sitting in chairs with tables reading or talking quietly. When we reached the bathroom and went in, I realized instead of having the stickman and woman logos, I had a pink rockstar lady looking to the side on one and a blue rockstar dude also looking to the side. When I entered I noticed everyone that was there was an emo girl. Just as I was about to go into the stall when the lady dragged me out and we ran out and across the room. We then stopped in front of a pink door that said Good girls and a blue door that said, rebellious boys. When we entered the girl side the room was huge like Eiffel Tower tall and wide. The bathroom stalls were huge too. I felt like an ant in a normal bathroom. I started walking towards the end to find a normal-sized play mat and two babies in diapers were playing there. Then I went to one of the stalls to finally go pee and the lady was in the stall next to me. Thankfully the toilets were normal size. Just as I was finishing the lady started poking her head under the stall. I shoved her head back on her side. But later she came back so I grabbed her by the neck and I started suffocating her, but then that wasn’t doing anything to her. I shoved her back on her side and she came back again, so I pinned her to the floor and I started punching her because I didn’t like that she was being creepy and then I threw her over the giant stalls to hers And then she came back so I put her over my shoulder and then like a Javel and toss champion, I threw her over the wall and into oblivion. I was thinking at the at time that maybe I should be on the rebellious boy side. I was worried that she might come back to bug me again or just follow me so I left the bathroom and instead I ended up going to this party that was supposedly Elon Musks launch of something. I started eating a bunch of water melon slices while I was there but for some reason I was also looking for Lyla and Maya. I found her dancing. Then I started looking for Lyla but I instead found Elon Musk reading a book called wonder. I walked up to him to ask him what he was reading. He said it was a book of wonder. Suddenly Lyla appeared and she was reading a book too and then she said ‘personally I prefer fantasy’ then Elon musk got up and hugged a half human half goat person that was bigger than him, had Weird lines of lava running across his body and no pupil or iris. He introduced him as his son and me as his other. He asked me to stand on this small volcano that looks like just a crack in the ground and on his command to yell at the top of my lungs, he also ordered my brother to stand next to me. On his command I yelled at the top of my lungs and a huge rush of blue lava came from behind me. I turned into the blue version of my brother.  Suddenly a huge piece of rock floated to the sky. Elon Musk announced that to would be a battle between the brothers to decide who would take over the company. Who ever hit the ground first lost. As soon as he said go, my brother started launching lava spheres at me and rocks. He would pull  giant rocks from the ground and throw them at me, but thankfully, I was good enough to create a shield of lava. I tried to throw rocks back at him, but my aim was horrible and I couldn’t create big rocks Like him. I tried using a lot of sphere, but that didn’t work suddenly he charged at me and attacked me head on. Thankfully, I was able to dodge which led him to go to the edge, but he didn’t fall over. He kept on trying to throw more rocks at me, but what he didn’t realize was, he was taking the rocks from the ground under his feet. I took advantage of it and started throwing the little rocks of my own at him and trying to block his attacks with my small lava shield. The little attacks threw him off balance until I was able to push him off myself. I wanted him to get back up using his lava jets from his hands because that would be breaking the rules, but he didn’t in the end but I still won.

M+M What I think about it.

At the beginning of the story, I found it boring and hard to read because not much was happening. However, during the middle, it started to get easier to read and more interesting. At the end, I began to get hooked and started to wonder what would happen next in the story. And when Vasili gave his life for Nikita I changed how I felt about the book because I was not expecting that plot twist. My favorite character, I would say, is Nakita. Even though he is a drunkard, he is nice to everyone and sticks with Vasili even though Vasili was rude to Nikita and pushed him away on multiple occasions. But I also really liked Vasili because of his character development.

A get to know me

My name is Suzy. I was born on December 14th 2010. I grew up in Port Moody and moved to Langford four years ago. I was born in the same hospital as Lyla. I have a husky named Zulie. I love taking photos of flowers and observing mushrooms. I love art and biology. I also love watching movies, camping, and star gazing. My dream is to own a house with a huge backyard with a pond and all sorts of plants away from the city and spend all my time in the forest taking photos of plants and mushrooms.