Knowing When to Stop

Authors note: I wrote this essay on the themes of “Jump Ship to Freedom” and why I thought the themes fit the book right.

I couldn’t stand it the smoke was too thick, but then the door opened. I couldn’t believe that my plan had worked and the next thing I knew I was in the water.  “Jump Ship To Freedom” by James and Christopher Collier, show the adventure of the life time for Daniel Arabus. A fourteen year old slave brought on his masters ship to trade, but turns shocking when he overhears that he’s being sold away. Daniel has to make a plan not only to escape but how to get free. Theme’s of this book can range from segregation to determination, but I want to talk about justice / freedom.

First of all justice fits this book well because of how Daniel and his Mom deserve justice or freedom because they have the soldier notes to buy freedom but their master Captain Iveres won’t let them go. This book somewhat revolves around the whole theme about getting justice and becoming free. And for just this one thing Daniel take off with determination that some day he and mum will be free.

Next a theme that also fit well was courage and bravery, because without this Daniel would have never thought up the plan to get past Captain Iveres. This really was a big theme not only for the past reason but also for Daniel having the will to keep going and to get to Philadelphia and try to make things right. By the end all of that helped Daniel realize that he wasn’t just a dumb slave, he was something special.

Another book that had the same content and idea was a book called “The Captive” by Joyce Hansen. The Captive, is about a young boy name Kofi who is captured by poachers on the African coast. It also has somewhat same themes like, justice because towards the end Kofi get freed and is brought in a better family that doesn’t believe in slavery. Kofi also needed the themes of bravery and courage for when he ran away and was in hiding.

When you think about it most books have more than one theme, and looking back at “Jump Ship to Freedom” it does have multiple themes and there were points in the book where those themes were explained. Theme in every book is fun to find because just like Daniel you never know what you’ll end up with.

The True Underdogs (predicting essay)

Authors note: This story is a prediction essay on the book “The Underdogs” by Mike Lupica. It shows what I think is going to happen throughout the rest of the book and what it all comes down to.

Here’s the handoff and the back breaks loose there goes Will Tyler sprinting down the sideline 50 ,40, 30. The Underdogs by Mike Lupica, shows what 12 year old Will Tyler will do to have football in Forbes, Pennsylvania. My prediction for “The Underdogs” will result in Will the main character getting a team together, because not only him but other kids want to play also. Then after Will and the other boys get the team all organized they’re going to work really hard and make their way back to the championship, where they will take on the defending champs, Castle Rock. And when it’s all said and done Will is going to come out victorious.

First off this prediction is mostly accurate because, Will is a die hard for football and will do anything to get the team there wasn’t going to be back on the field. And to get back on the field you need a team. It’s a good thought that they will make it to the championship game, because the team knows they’re the underdogs of the league.

Secondly the prediction would make sense because one year earlier Forbes fell short of the championship and lost to Castle Rock and Will and his teammates want revenge. Not only is Forbs hungry for a championship, but the defending champs Castle Rock are looking to make it two in a row. That’s why my prediction also makes sense because Forbs knows that Castle Rock is out after them so they work hard and in return I think that will help them win.

Finally this prediction plot is very similar to the book Travel Team also written by Mike Lupica. In the book Travel Team, the main character Danny gets cut from the basketball team becomes the underdog, works hard, gets a new team together, and goes out and wins the league. When the season is all over and your looking back you realize, yes winning games is fun but you can’t win without a team.

What changes really matter

Authors note: I am writing this character development piece on Danny walker in the book travel team and how he changes/ evolves throughout the story.I chose this story because I think I could relate pretty good to the situations and changes and what's better for you in life.

If Danny could wish for one thing it would to be tall. Danny has always loved basketball. For example, he loves winning. But there’s one thing holding him back from being the greatest: his height.

But when Danny got cut from the local team his love for the game begins to fade. This is the first thing that changes throughout the book with Danny. He has to love basketball again, or he will never be the best. I think the relationship between Danny and basketball is different than other character changes in books. First of all because Danny loves basketball but then gets cut from the team and hates it, and finally his dad and him make a new team and Danny becomes the leader and loves it once again.

Throughout the book Danny has troubles getting along with his dad, usually because his dad is never around. This brings me to the second change Danny goes through in the book. Danny not only change his attitude towards his dad because he wants to, but he also changes his attitude towards his dad because he's the coach. Danny decides to change his attitude once his dad commits to coaching  and spending all this time for Danny and his teams sake. I think he does this not only because you have to respect the coach to be great,  but he does it as a thank you to his dad.

At the beginning Danny was just wishing to be tall. But after all the changes he went though, from love to hate and love again with basketball to his relationship with his dad as a father and as a coach, he’s changed a lot. And now Danny Walker has learned that is better to be in the direction that he’s going than growing a couple more inches.

Night Hoops retelling

Author's note: I wrote this piece on to give you a quick spin of the book night hoops and life for Nick Abbot

All Nick Abbot ever wanted was someone to notice his game, especially his dad. . When Nick’s parents get divorced he turns to one thing. Night Hoops. I read this book last year and thought it was really good. I would recommend this to kids ages 11 to 14, who like sports novels.

What would I say to our founding fathers?

 Before I can get to that let me tell you a little about them.  The founding fathers were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution and helped establish the United States Constitution. Our founding fathers also had part in signing the United States Declaration of Independence. Many consider the key founding fathers as a group of seven men. Included in this list is George Washington, one of the most influential people in United States history.

John Adams and Madison were both wonderful presidents who helped America. Then there are the men who almost knew. John Jay was our first chief of justice, Our first secretary was Alexander Hamilton and of course one of the great inventors Benjamin Franklin. You go to the mall use a credit card get in a car and drive any where you want you can thank our founding fathers for that.

One of the first things I would say to the founding fathers would be, what convinced all of you to come together and work to make this country a better place? Now, 236 years later if all those papers and documents they made/ signed are still working and in effect they obviously worked extra hard to make this country great.

America wouldn’t be the same if our founding fathers didn’t help us. Not enough can be said for all they have done. Living in Wisconsin and going to school every day and getting an education for my future is something we should appreciate more than usual. Our founding fathers loved America and wanted the best for it. These men did more than we could ever know so next time just remember that  it all started with 7 men.

All because of a fight- (the outsiders cause/ effect)

Authors note: every book has cause and effect, and in this book there just happened to be a lot. so I pointed out what I thought was the main cause/ effect.

“The Outsiders” a book about what life is like for Ponyboy, his brothers and his gang, so called greasers. It shows what they have to go through, having not a lot of money and other daily things. But one of the bigger things they have to worry about are the socs a rivalry gang of rich kids. And one event in the story changes the lives of everyone. This event starts when Ponyboy awakes in the open lot with Johnny in the middle of the night and runs home. As he walks through the door, Darryl  Ponyboy’s older brother is waiting for him. Darryl was so worried he got made at Ponyboy and hit him so Ponyboy left.

In the event of Darryl hitting Ponyboy, the effect would be Ponyboy leaving which leads up to lots of other events/ effects. After Ponyboy leaves the house he gets Johnny and they start to run away. In the event of running away they get caught by some Socs, who were looking to fight. Since the Socs wanted to fight they ended up almost killing Ponyboy. And the climax of all these events is Johnny stabbing one of the Socs, named Bob because of self defense. This climax event would later on have Johnny and Ponyboy flee to the country.

I was standing there on Pewaukee beach. It was very warm around this time in the summer, and I could see the last of the sun rays glaring over the water. I could hear the distant sounds of seagulls  across the lake and in the background there was a smell of cinnamon rolls from the bakery, that was so realistic that I could almost taste them . Right then it was very calm, but i could only feel this for a few seconds. Because my friends came rushing over the sand then and we all jumped right in the lake for a swim. 

One spooky night- (personal narrative)

Authors note: this story is for my personal narrative, it is about a time when me and my friends have a fun and spooky time.

The sound of shoes squishing on the wet grass as your walking up to the front door. You only her this when your sneaking up to ding dong ditch a house. Let me tell you of a time when me and some of my friends had the best ding dong ditching time ever.

I think it was 2 years ago on a Saturday night but it wasn’t any normal night, it was Halloween. We all got together after getting are candy around 7 o’clock, and knew that what we were about to do was perfect for tonight. After we gobbled down a good portion of our candy and sweets it was time. The group of us snuck around the backs of until we got to the best house, don’t ask how we knew it was the perfect house but it was.

Before anyone went up to ring the door bell there was a couple brutal games of rock, paper, scissors to see who was going up. The unlucky loser was my friend Conner who got it first time easy, all the house did was turn the lights on. By then Alec and I had worked up enough courage to get their house, not once but twice.

All of us could tell that they people were irritated, so the rest of us made Conner get them on more time. They obviously had had enough because the man came of his house and started yelling. It was one of the best times I had in a while and we did all of this before 9 o’clock. 

Travel Team conflicts

Authors note: in books there is lots of conflict and with conflict comes resolution, so I am going to tell you what the conflict for Travel Team is.

Danny walker had been called short his who life, and now he was fed up. The book Travel Team by Mike Lupica, is about a boy Danny Walker who loves basketball, but there’s just one thing wrong. He’s short like really short and he knows it. And just because he’s small people think he doesn’t have a shot in basketball, so he decides to prove them wrong. In this book there are a couple conflicts like coaches/ players not liking Danny or thinking he can’t play (person vs. person). Another conflict would be other team in Middleton also thinks Danny is no good and they don’t want him to play (person vs. society). And finally the last conflict would be Danny wanting to quit basketball because of all the pressure (person vs. self).

The first conflict from the book I said was simply gets resolved when Danny goes out and plays his best and shows the other player and coaches he can play ball. For the second conflict Danny resolves it by going out on the court and beating the other Middleton team in the finals, and they stopped talking bad about him.  And as far as the last conflict goes Danny just talks to his parents and decides to suck it up and not let his team down.

Summer ball retelling

Danny Walker a 5 foot, 8^th grade basketball prodigy, which led his team to a national championship and afterwards decides to go play at one of the top basketball camps in the country. I really enjoyed this book when I read it last year, it is a good book for anyone ages 10-13 who like basketball.

bulls

The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois, playing in the Central Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was founded in 1966. They play their home games at the United Center. The team is well known for having one of the greatest dynasties in NBA and sports history during the 1990s, winning six championships in eight years with two three-peats. All six of those championship teams were led by Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and coach Phil Jackson.

Carmelo Anthony

Carmelo Kiyan Anthony (born May 29, 1984), nicknamed "Melo", is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). After a successful high school career at Towson Catholic High School and Oak Hill Academy, Anthony attended Syracuse University for college where he led the Orangemen to their first National Championship in 2003. He earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award and was named the Most Valuable Player of NCAA East Regional. After one season at Syracuse University, Anthony left college to enter the 2003 NBA Draft, where he was selected as the third pick by the Nuggets. He was traded to the Knicks several days prior to the 2011 trade deadline.

Proffessional basketball

There is one player that changed the game forever, his name is the black mamba. This man is hot handed and cold blooded on offense, like michael Jordan and his defense. Kobe Bryant has changed the game winning shot forever with 7 clutch shots in the playoffs throughout his career. when you're this good you can’t be playin’ with no fly shoes so he made the KOBE IV. This year  kobe is trying to take the Lakers deep in the playoffs and even maybe win a title and get his 7th ring. 

Challenges keep coming

Authors note: I did my writing assessment on this novel because I like this book  a lot and it was a good book  that I could relate to. 

Summer Ball is when you have time to work on your game, get better and really have a chance to be good. But the one thing that you can’t work on or improve is the height you are given. When you’re the smallest kid playing in a big man’s game, the challenges never stop.

 

There is a lot of ways to play the game of basketball and being the smallest kid on the court never helps, trust me I know. When I say there’s a lot of ways to play the game, I mean it. First you have to now how to shoot and dribble, and as you get better there are other things you can learn. Like more complicated dribbling, shooting from farther out, passing, defense and being a teammate. Those are probably the most important things in this great game.

Throughout this book you see how Danny needs his friends to make it through the summer basketball camp. Not only would I need my friends to help me through it, I would also need my family if I was going away for a month. If you read this novel I thought it was good at showing kids that you have to be tough, make it through hard times and stick with the stuff that you love. In this novel it also shows that when your down and that is how you’re acting you’ll stay that way and it will only get worse.

As soon as Danny, Ty and Will (the three main characters) enter the basketball camp they are immediately forced to win by their coach. If you were someone reading this book, you’d think yeah it is fun to win but if your coach says the team has to win or you are done then it wouldn’t be much fun anymore. That is how Danny felt after his coach said that, and anyone else who plays basketball including me would not have much fun with that coach either.

Summer ball is a great book and I read it because it came after another good book Travel team, both by Mike Lupica. Both of those books say that it is ok to be small and play the sport. Because when you’re the smallest kid playing in a big man’s game the challenges never stop.

By, Jackson kunnert

Drilling in ANWR

Authors note: this essay is on the ANWR and why we should or shouldn't drill for oil there

Oil. It’s a big need in the United States. There is a need for oil in almost every country, and the U.S.A uses the most oil in the world every year. I think that the U.S.A could use a lot more oil, but at the same time we could also start using more electric cars.

One of the first things I will talk about is the environment, and how it will change the ANWR. Even right now the ANWR is very small and if we start to drill it this isolated area it will become smaller and the land will be weaker because it is open and non populated area. The U.S.A uses around 30% of all the oil used in one year, and if we were allowed to drill in the ANWR it would only give us about 3% of what we need. So that means we have to get 27% of the oil we need from different countries, and that could make the countries mad at the U.S.A and may make us a target for wars.

At the moment the U.S.A does not have one of the best economies, and I think if we (U.S.A) were to drill in the ANWR that it would help just a little with money and such, even If it only gives the united states around six months  worth of oil. Also if the government were to start drilling in the ANWR it would help the economy a ton by creating lots and lots of jobs. But at the same time drilling in this area would cost money, because you have to pay for the machines, the transportation to get to the ANWR and finally you have to pay the workers.

Throughout this whole essay we have been talking about the economy, and if we should drill or not but I think we should talk or ask the native people and the people who live inside the ANWR. While I was reading an article on the drilling in Alaska and if they should or not be drilling for oil in the ANWR, I saw a part that said most native people say it is ok but it would be better if they do not. Out of the few towns inside the ANWR lots of the people say it is fine just as long as it will not affect their life, but there are still a couple of them saying it’s not ok and that’s fine.  

Although the U.S.A could use more oil, if we used more electric cars we would not need all the extra oil. With this being said, I think it would be ok for the U.S.A to drill for oil, because it will open up jobs and lesson the debt we are in.

being brave

Authors Note: my friend told me to reed this book, and it was good so i decided to write the essay on it.

                The novel The Big Field by Mike Lupica is a great story that takes you through the life of a kid who just wants to play ball. Over the course of this baseball story, he notices there is more to life than baseball and needs to know if baseball doesn’t work out, he should always have a back-up plan.

                This book really made me think of my life. I want to play a professional sport but I know if I can’t get my goal, I need to have something in mind to do for a living and expect failure. About 99% of athletes as kids don’t make it pro. Anybody can do anything they imagine if they put their mind to it, no doubt. If everyone could achieve their dreams without working, there would be too many professional sports players in the world. That’s why you have to be elite to play a professional sport.

                When Hutch’s life gets tough, he has to be really strong.  Maybe people feel bad for him because his mom already died, and his dad is in the hospital. He is really brave and strong while living with his harsh uncle. If he wants to exceed in his baseball career, he needs to move back in with his dad, and he knows it. Every practice goes by, Hutch not showing for any of them. Hutch needs to be brave and strong though because in the end, his dad is going to be okay.

                Around 9/10 of kids don’t want to play shortstop because the balls are hit the hardest at them. Not Hutch though he likes it. Those same kids are the ones who don’t want to be the one in a clutch situation making the play because if they screw up, it could very well cost his team the game that is why they don’t play shortstop. Hutch is somewhat like me. I always want to be in a key situation to make the big play. I don’t worry about screwing up because if I do, I know I’ll be able to calm down  afterwards.

                In life, you always need a back-up plan. If you don’t have one your life takes a drop like a roller coaster at Six Flags. I hope that never happens to me, because I don’t  know what I would do without a back-up plan.

Travel Team

Authors note: i chose to write about the book travel team because the author really showed how the main characters acted and developed and how you would feel if something bad happened to you.

 If you loved a sport and were cut from the local team how you would feel? Well that’s what happened with Danny walker the main character from travel team. Right away I knew how I would feel if I was cut from the basketball team because I was too short, which would be terrible. One of the reasons I chose this book was the author Mike Lupica, I have read other books he wrote but this might be my favorite.

Throughout the book Danny develops and grows up; he kind of has to because his parents are divorced. There are other characters in in the book but they are not in here because this is about Danny  because there are lots of things that are similar between us. First  of all Danny and I are in 7^th grade, short, love basketball, and are dads coach basketball.

Finally, even though I liked this book and in some parts I could relate to it, there was other parts were I didn’t like. In some parts I didn’t like how a few of the character were mean or did bad things, and when they were talking about family and school it got confusing once in a while.

Just one last time image you being Danny and how bad you would feel if you were cut from the basketball team, and Even though I have never felt that bad about being cut from a team I am pretty sure I could imagine how sad you would feel. But I can’t say anymore unless you read it.

By, Jackson K.

The strange cloud

Authors note: this short story is about a boy who woke up on a cloud in a thunder storm, and how his day goes.


Boom! That is when I woke up in a split second. I was so freaked that I was on a cloud in the sky, that I didn't even realize that the cloud was in a storm. As soon as you can blink your eyes there was a big crack of thunder and lightning. Wow! then I woke up in my own bed and there was no cloud or storm, good. when I went down the stairs in the morning it was a perfect day sunny and no clouds. while i was on the bus my friend was telling me about how there was just one strange cloud, so I looked out the window and freaked cause that was the cloud from the dream. Almost the entire days I was thinking about the cloud, when i got out and walked home it was following me. That made me rush home . After a while I had to go out side I wanted to find out more. Then when I was playing hoops in my drive way, a big white gust took me away. It was amazing I was flying i mid air with the bright sun out, but how. It was the cloud it had to be magic or something, so for then on I was never bothered by the cloud again.    

Kevin Durant

Authors note: I wanted to make a creative piece of writing based off of a playoff picture of Kevin Durant, a NBA all-star.

 

Kevin Durant

Do you think this picture of NBA all- star Kevin Durant is pretty awesome? Well I do. And have you ever just wanted to jump up and dunk it like the pros? I have always wanted to do that. Maybe it’s because I love basketball and play/ watch it every day, or maybe I always have wanted to dunk because my dad is 6 foot 6 inches and was able to dunk in high school. I don’t know which one yet but I guess I have to find out.

            The first reason I chose this picture is cause of (KD) Kevin Durant, one of my favorite basketball player. Another reason is the dunk, it’s pretty good, and I like how the camera angle gets the whole court and shows him throwing it down. The main person, Kevin Durant, has played for 3-4 season and has never won MVP honors but has been the scoring champion twice. He is 6- 10 and can easily dunk.

            Some day do you think you could dunk, because it is pretty hard and I know that it would be great if I could?

you can accept failure

Authors note: this writing piece is based of one Michael Jordan's and Ken Griffy's famous quotes. 

"I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying."- Michael Jordan.

That is one of the great Michael Jordan’s quotes after a tough loss. Some people may not understand the quote, but I do and I can relate to it very well. It is saying that you fail and you have to at some point, but you can’t accept failure while not trying that is not acceptable. I can relate to this because in basketball your team tries their best but you end up losing to a better team, but in the middle of the game you can’t stop trying and fail that way, you have to keep going.

 "I can't play being mad. I go out there and have fun. It's a game.” – Ken Griffey Jr.

The reason I found this and put it on here is because it’s similar to the first quote by Michael Jordan. Ken Griffey’s quote is similar because you can’t play a sport mad, and if you do you will fail and then will not try. But if you go out and have fun you will fail sometimes but it will be ok, it’s a game. So next time you have a game for basketball, football, baseball or whatever, give it all you’ve and let yourself no it’s quite ok to fail.