News and Mistakes

What I said about daily posting...that started out well, but it kinda failed, I guess.  My bad.

Life was really busy, what with end-of-the-year projects, massive tests, and of course, finals.  Oh, finals.  Quite possibly the bane of my existence.  Or at least one of the banes.

So, anyway, now that school's over, I won't be posting about books or poetry every single time.  I know that might disappoint some of you, but don't worry, I'm still going to post!  Some of these might be about funny things, summer plans...you know, life in general.  But gimmie some feedback!  I want some reactions!  It seems like I'm just rambling on and on to the depths of cyberspace!

Hope you all have a great summer!
--SwimmerGirl

Outcast

I just finished a book called "Outcast", the fourth book in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver.  I've reviewed her first book on here before; it's called Wolf Brother.  Here is the link to the review.  "Outcast" begins with a scuffle between Torak and Boar Clan, who believe Torak has stolen antlers belonging to them.  When Torak gets back to the Raven Clan camp, the Boars are already there and demanding a fight.  This is when Torak's Soul-Eater tatto is discovered.  Since the original Soul-Eaters were cast out of their clans, there has been a Clan law stating that anyone else who bears the tattoo shall be cast out as well.  Much to Renn's dismay, Fin-Kedinn follows Clan law.  Torak must now survive in the woods alone, as anyone who tries to help him survive will be hunted down as well.  Can Torak survive and become part of the Clans once more?

I love this series, and I would recommend any of these books.  However, they may be a bit old for some readers.  I would suggest only reading them if you're above 12-13 years old.

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Magic Thief

Sorry I haven't been posting every day, I've been a bit busy lately.


I recently reread a great book called The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas.  It begins with the story of Conn, a young thief in the streets of Wellmet, a fictional city.  He attempts to pickpocket who he think sis an old man walking down the street.  However, the man is actually a local wizard named Nevery.  Conn accidentally grabs the wizard's locus magicalicus-- the stone that wizards use to control the magic-- and it knocks him out.  When he regains his wits, Nevery has decided to take him back to his house.  Conn serves as Nevery's apprentice.  Can he ever make it as a full wizard?  Read to find out!  There are three books in this series so far.  The first book is fantastically written, with lots of detail that enriches the storyline and brings the characters to life.  I would recommend this if you like wizards, magic, and adventure.

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Surprise!

More poetry!  :D

Tip tap type
Kids on old keyboards
Give dirty monitors a wipe.
Click scroll clack
Kids on mice
Use the left mouse button-- click that twice!
Ping ping ping
Space bar is hit
While writing blog posts that are full of wit.
This I hear and so much more
While working on computers, there're sounds galore!

--SwimmerGirl453

Guess What?

MORE POETRY!
I'm having a lot of fun with this.

Can you guess what is being described in my poem?

Mystery Beast
The beast lies asleep in its cage.
With a rumble and a groan it escapes into the open.
The beast is hungry.
With a loud roar, it travels the greenery for its food.
Its teeth chomp and gnash as it eats.
The monster leaves a path through the green
As it crashes and crunches through.
It traverses the entire yard, not stopping once
In its vicious quest for sustenance.
At last, we herd it back into its cage.
Now, it sleeps.
But soon, our lawnmower will be hungry again.

Did you get it?
--SwimmerGirl

And Still more Poetry!

Nature

the orb of dew
left from last night
'neath the cool sheet of dark
with faint starlight
sits on a leaf
where it twinkles and shines
in the beaming sunlight
as a diamond from the mines.
nearby, a tulip
fresh from the ground
is a bright splotch of red
in greenery all around.
it stands out
from the dark of the dirt
and grows tall and proud
leaves perked and alert.
this beauty of nature
as you can see
makes people smile
including me!


Tell me what you think!
--SwimmerGirl

And More Poetry!

The day outside is warm and bright
But I still have this poem to write.
It takes up all of my free time
Thinking of words that could rhyme.
I want to go outside and read,
Yet to my will I shall not cede.
But look!  My work is almost done,
So I may have some time for fun.
It seems my work's done for the day,
Now I'll go out on this beautiful day!

Tell me how you like it!
--SwimmerGirl

More Poetry!

This time it's some more original poetry!

What to Write
I have no clue on what to write.
For my blog post due; this is my plight.
What topic or issue should I choose?
My time is like a shortening fuse.
Do I rhyme, outline, or just write free?
Oh, what trouble this gives me.
A sonnet? A limerick? A haiku? A fable?
I can write all of these, I just am not able
To come up with a well-written poem
That I might not finish if I take it home.
Time’s nearly up, I quickly type that:
A submission that will possibly fall flat.
I hope you enjoy it, for this is my rhyme,
About what to write when there is no time.

This poem can be found here (and yes, StarGazer453 is my TeenInk name): http://teenink.com/poetry/free_verse/article/198291/What-to-Write/

I would love to see some of your original poetry!

--SwimmerGirl

Original Poetry!

Time for some of my original poetry.  This one is free verse, a type of poetry that has no set rhyme scheme or set line length or meter.  Basically, it's just writing about a subject!

dark when I wake
drowsy and half-asleep
shuffle out of bed
slowly getting lighter
things gathered and packed for the day
unlock the door
sun is rising now
onto the bus
hear all the chatter
higher in the sky
into the huge building
unlock my locker
can see it through the window
all my different classes
sit bored through long period
patterns on my desk
lunch with all my friends
continue through the day
lower in the sky
only last period left
finally I return home
clinging to the horizon
end of the day
crawl into bed
gone until the morning


So, how'd you guys like it?  Leave any comments below!

-SwimmerGirl

I Am Number Four

Another book review!
This time it's about a book called "I Am Number Four" bu Pittacus Lore.  It's about a race of aliens called Lorians, who came from a distant planet.  They are being hunted by a different kind of aliens called the Mogadorians.  The Mogadorians are intent on wiping out the Loric people and using their planet for its resources.  Happily, some Loric escape to Earth, where they live among the people there.  Unfortunately, the Mogadorians are hot on their tail.  There were nine to begin with, and can only be killed in a certain order.  Number Four is intent on avoiding being captured or killed, but first he must learn to survive high school.  The first book ends dramatically, and I'm eager for a second!

Here is the link to where you can buy the book!

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

If it's Love

Today I'll be reviewing a well-known book... "Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare.  It's a tale of love, fate, and misfortune.  The story opens with Romeo, a member of the Montague family, being depressed and unhappy.  The reason for this is a girl he loves, but she does not love him back.  Then his friend Mercutio suggests they go to the Capulets' party.  There is only one problem: the Montagues and the Capulets are enemies.  Romeo reluctantly agrees to go to the party, and there, he meets Juliet, Lord Capulet's daughter.  The two fall in love, and the rest of the book is devoted to how the two lovers attempt to stay together.  The tragic end, however, results in both their deaths, and the families mourning their losses.  I thought this book was good.  One of the more annoying things, however, was the fact that I constantly had to look at the guide to figure out what certain words meant.  The plot of the story and the characters were well-developed, and I found the book a good read altogether.  It may be tough to read at first, but you will eventually get the hang of reading his language.
Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Wow!

14 followers!  Thank you all so much!

Today I'm reviewing a book that I'm sure all of you have read.  It's about magic, dragons, flying broomsticks, and friendship.  Have you guessed?  Yup, it's Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.  Many of you already know how this book goes, so I'll review the series as a whole.  I couldn't put any of these books down because they were all so great.  The imagery described really created a whole new world.  I also like how Harry, Ron, and Hermionie are really good friends.  You really don't see plots like that anymore, and  this was a relief.  For me, "Order of the Phoenix" was a bit boring, but the story quickly picked up again towards the end.  If you haven't read these books, go out and get them!!!

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

More Haikus!

Over the past few days--well, day--, I've come up with some more haikus!
I also noticed that a user called "Jenn" had some great haikus that she left in the comments.  Keep up the good work!


Labs
Furry, floppy ears
Like to chew on everything
Black and yellow Labs.
_________________________
Softball
The crack of the bat
Thump of the ball in my glove
Dirt caught in my cleats
_________________________
Blue
Light as fresh water
Dark as the inky midnight sky
Many different shades.


Tell me what you think!

Life and a Good Book

Today was a relaxing day for me.  Softball practice in the morning-- windy and chilly!  We also have my cousins' Labrador retrievers until Saturday.  They're both pretty big, and LOVE attention and treats! :)

I just finished a book entitled "The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie.  It tells the story of Junior, a Native Americana living on the reservation.  His dreams are to go to Reardan, a school in a nearby town.  Unfortunately, the rez kids are not well-liked by the people not on the rez.  Can Junior adapt to his new life in Reardan?  Or will he be an outsider of both his new school and his home reservation?  I liked this book because it was cleverly written.  There were some pretty amusing illustrations scattered in the pages, and that added to the humor of the book.  I would suggest this to older kids.

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Haikus!

Here's post two of two, about haikus.

Haikus are short poems with a few simple rules.

Haikus can only be three lines.
There must be 5 syllables in the first and last lines and 7 syllables in the second line.
Here is an example of a funny haiku:

Haikus are easy.
But sometimes they don't make sense.
Refrigerator.


Haikus don't have to rhyme, but they should be creative.

Here are a few samples of my haikus:

An old pond sits here.
A stone falls in the water.
It makes small ripples.


The new leaves are green.
The sun makes them translucent.
Rus'ling in the wind.


The apostrophe there lets the reader know that a syllable has been removed.  Haikus do not have to be about nature, but mine were inspired by leaves and a pond, as you can see.
Challenge time!  I want you, my readers, to write your OWN haikus!  Post them in the comments after this post.  Looking forward to reading them!
--SwimmerGirl

Limericks!

Whoops!  I didn't post yesterday!  To make up for it, I'm going to do two posts today.  This is the first one.

Have any of you ever written a limerick?  It's a type of poem that I particularly enjoy.  Limericks are usually silly or nonsensical in some way, but they don't have to be.  Here is an example of a well-known limerick:
A flea and a fly in the flue
Were trapped, so what could they do?
"Let us fly," said the flea.
"Let us flee," said the fly,
So they flew through a flaw in the flue.


The rhyme scheme is simple and easy to follow.  The first two lines must rhyme with the last line, and the third and fourth lines usually rhyme, but in this case, they don't.

Here are some limericks I wrote:

This skeleton is nothing but bone
That never talks, but will groan
He must run from a pup
Or it'll eat his bones up
And that skeleton will then be unknown.


There once was a pizza named Fred
"I won't get eaten," he said.
But a boy went *much*
And his sister went *crunch*
To two children poor Fred had been fed.


Now, my readers, I challenge you!  I want to see your limericks!  Post them in the comments and I'll read them.  Looking forward to some funny poems!

--SwimmerGirl

The Anybodies

One book that I could read over and over again is "The Anybodies" by N. E. Bode.  It's about a girl named Fern who is strikingly different from her family.  She has known this all her life, but it only really sets in when a mysterious man who calls himself The Bone arrives at her door.  He claims to have mistakenly taken her parents' child, and in truth, the boy looks more like her parents, and she looks more like The Bone.  Once home, Fern is taught how to become an Anybody, a person who can change their looks to become anyone or anything.  She is quickly wrapped up in a world of magic and mysteries, but can she find her way out?
I really like this book because the author actually interacts with the reader.  They ask the reader questions and talk to them as if they were there.  Also, the imagery used in this book is fantastic, with illustrations scattered here and there among the pages.  I would recommend this book to anybody!  :)

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Teen Ink

Hello everyone!
This post is not actually a review, but it's about one of my favorite websites.  It's called Teen Ink.  It's a fantastic website where you can post your own artwork, poetry, stories and more.  Once they're on this site, anyone can read then, and they can rate your art and write reviews on it.  I have a few poems there myself!  My username for that website is StarGazer453.  Feel free to comment and review my stuff!

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Vacation!

Hey everyone!  It's school vacation week for me.  What a relief!

Just finished a book called "ttyl" (for those who aren't leetspeek-savvy, that's "Talk To You Later") by Lauren Myracle.  The story is told through the instant messages of three freshmen friends: Angela, Zoe, and Maddie.  Their IMs are funny, witty, and oh-so-true.  The conflicts are numerous and scattered throughout the book, and each is resolved in its own time.  The three friends are very different: Zoe is quiet and shy, Maddie is tough on the outside and the "bad girl" of the group, and Angela is crazy and fun.  Deep down, however, they are all fun-loving, happy teenagers.  I would recommend this book to young girls in their early teens, as it was a bit easy for me.

Keep reading!
--SwimmerGirl

Little Brother

Hello again!  I recently went to the library, so expect a lot more posts!

I'm reading a novel called "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow.  It's a futuristic story about a boy named Marcus who is a hacker.  He and his group of friends play a game called Harajuku Fun Madness, which involves both online and real-life playing.  While searching for a clue, the friends are caught in a terrorist attack and Darryl, Marcus' best friend, is badly hurt.  They frantically search for help, but end up captured by the Department of Homeland Security, where they are questioned and forced to reveal information.  Marcus, angered at the way he was treated (and the fact that Darryl was not released), strikes back, organizing groups of teenagers and twenty-year-olds who also hate the DHS. This story was a tale of how one boy fights for his freedom and rights.  I thought it was a good book, because it told the story realistically, and stayed in the viewpoint of a teenager.  It outlined the fact that everyone has rights, and they cannot be taken away.  This book is for older kids, maybe in their mid to late teens and up.  I enjoyed it and I hope you will too!

Keep reading!
--SwimemrGirl