emese b -- Blogmeister

In the Toronto Public Libraries some popular teen reads include Twilight Series, The Harry Potter Books and the Eragon Series.
To find popular books in London, I could not find a library online that had a list of popular books, so I went to www.amazon.co.uk and found a list of teen books that were bestsellers, I found the "Harry Potter series", "Noughts and Crosses", by Malorie Blackman, "Chicken Soup For The Teenage Soul", "Ella Enchanted", by Gail Carson Levine, "Where The Red Ferns Grow", by Wilson Rawls, and "Crown Duel", by Sherwood Smith.
From the New York Public Library they had a list of bestsellers for young adults some include "The Host", by Stephenie Meyer, "The Last Child", by John Hart, "Wicked Prey" by John Standford
In Sydney Australia I chose a library called The Surry Hills Library, popular books are "Hell has A Harbour Views", by Richard Beasely, "The Timeless Land", by Eleanor Dark, Puberty Blues, by Kathy Lette, "Poor Mans Orange", by Ruth Park
Vancouver Public Library some popular teen titles include "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer, "Alice, I Think" by Susan Juby, "The Princess Diaries" by Meg Cabot, and "Saffy's Angel" by Hilary Mckay.
These teen reads some are familiar to me and others are not. It is quite interesting what is popular in different places.

There have been land disputes over the years in Canadian history, between the aboriginals and the settlers. There are three in particular to compare, Ipperwash, Caledonia and the Oka crisis. These crisis's have happened not so long ago. This shows that nothing has really changed. Has anything been resolved in any of these situations?

Ipperwash was a land dispute which happened on September 4, 1995, at Ontario's Provincial Park called Ipperwash. Stoney Point Ojibway band was a group of natives who basically took control of the park in order to claim their land. Their reserve was taken by Ottawa in the year 1942 for military training. 53 years later the group of Stoney Point natives took over the park. The natives wanted to protest peacefully to get their land claim. But the police just started firing at the unarmed natives and running into the park. An OPP sniper, Kenneth Deane, took down one native named Dudley George. The government takes full responsibility for his death. Dudley George's family put a law suit against Mike Harris the former Ontario Premier The 56 hectares of land got returned to the Stoney Point First Nations in 2007. The Caledonia crisis took place in Caledonia, Ontario in the year of 2006. The residents of the Six Nations reserve protested and took over a construction site. The Caledonia crisis is being called one of the longest land disputes. The dispute is still continuing now.

The Oka crisis was a land dispute between the Canadian government and the Mohawk natives. This dispute took place in Oka, Quebec on July 11 1990 and ended September 26, 1990. The dispute was about the Oka golf course wanted to expand it's 9 hole course to an 18 hole. The Mohawk natives protested setting up barricades around their reserve, the army got called in by the mayor, the army set up barb wire around the perimeter. The Mohawk women have a rule do not fire until fired upon. Somehow guns got fired but it was unclear who shot first. There were three deaths. 1 direct and 2 indirect. One of the deaths was officer Marcel Lemay. The Mohawks got food delivered but it came damaged, most likely from the army. The army also cut their phone lines so that they could only call the army for negotiations. A women who was a Mohawk native who worked in the Canadian government got fired. The people of Oka were tired of their protest and were burning effigees.This crisis lasted 78 days, until the Mohawks came out from the perimeter, they were beaten and most were arrested. But the golf course did not get built.

Ipperwash is different to Oka because in Oka the people were going to build something on their land, where as i n Ipperwash they were taking a park back. Caledonia is similar to Oka because in both of the disputes the people were developing on their land. In Oka and Ipperwash people have died but in Caledonia there are no deaths. Caledonia dispute is still happening but Ipperwash and Oka have already ended. All three disputes have been over land.

These land disputes are very similar with minor differences. Will these disputes ever really end? If they're so similar, nothing has really changed. In a way history keeps on repeating itself. One land dispute is still happening. In the end will the natives ever have their own land? Or will they have to blend with the rest of society? These land disputes nothing has been resolved. Will there ever be a solution?

"TheStar.com | Canada | Ipperwash land returned to Indians." TheStar.com Toronto Edition - Breaking News, Sports, Entertainment, Business, Classifieds, Local and National News - GTA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 03 May 2009 <http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/287702>.

"CTV.ca | 'One Dead Indian' timely tale of Ipperwash crisis." CTV.ca | CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television. 02 May 2009 <http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060103/onedeadindian_movie_060103/20060103?hub=Entertainment>.

"CTV.ca | Ipperwash Inquiry: Looking into the death of Dudley George." CTV.ca | CTV News, Shows and Sports -- Canadian Television. 03 May 2009 <http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060210/ipperwash_inquiry_060210>.

"CBC News In Depth: Ipperwash." CBC.ca - Canadian News Sports Entertainment Kids Docs Radio TV. 03 May 2009 <http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/ipperwash/>.

"TheStar.com | Opinion | Exoneration of Mike Harris? Not in the least." TheStar.com Toronto Edition - Breaking News, Sports, Entertainment, Business, Classifieds, Local and National News - GTA, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 04 May 2009 <http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/220326>.

Canada Free Press - A conservative Free Press, News, Politics, Commentary. 04 May 2009 <http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/cover062206.html>.

"Globeandmail.com: Business." Globeandmail.com: Canada's National Newspaper. 04 May 2009 <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20060620.CAMPBELL20%2FTPStory%2FBusiness&ord=9092692&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true>.

I were a Mohawk native in the Oka crisis, I completely agree with the Mohawk nation that they should have their land. But no one has shown what it was like in the army, or officers perspective. What would it have been like for them during this situation?

Today is September 26 1990, we are back by the barricades by the Oka golf course. Perhaps today the Mohawks will finally give in. Do they think we will give in after they killed our fellow officer, Marcel Lemay? I don't think so. There is so much pressure from the Mayor of Quebec and the citizens of Oka. The citizens are all furious about this crisis. Everyone has lost their patience, today is the 78th day since they made the barricades. There always seems something strange going on, on the other side of the barb wire. Sometimes a goof also known as Lasagna yells and curses at us. Other Mohawks come to the front of the wire to recieve their food and money. One of the officers usually damages the food. It serves them right too. Why should they get free food and money? The don't do anything on their reserve. I, I risk my life everyday to make money. This needs to end, we need that land.

Later that night...

The Mohawk flag has been taken down, every officer watches in awe. Were they surrendering? We see the line of Mohawks coming over the hill from the forest. The were coming closer and closer. They reached the barb wire. We stared. They did not stop, they axed the wire and stepped over. This was no surrender.
"Capture them!" an officer yelled. Every officer rushed at them, arresting them. Some women fell on the barb wire. This crisis was going to end...now.

Diamonds are known to be a girls best friend, but I think that if everyone knew about conflict diamonds, they would not buy them. I never really liked diamonds, they seemed really boring and plain. Now I have learned about conflict diamonds and how they get into jeweler stores. I realized that there are more reasons to not buy diamonds besides that they're plain.

Some diamonds come from countries in Africa like Sierra Leone. Rebel groups such as the R.U.F which stands for Revolutionary United Front, invade villages making the people fear them by taking young men or boys to become child soldiers. They also kill or cause a lot of harm to the other people in the village. The R.U.F kidnaps not only the young men but the older strong ones. They take the older men to rivers to find diamonds, they use alluvial mining which is also known as panning. The R.U.F use the child soldiers to force more people to mine in the rivers. Most diamonds go through the Kimberley process but some get smuggled out and mixed with the conflict free ones making it impossible to trace back to where the diamonds came from.The diamond companies such as DeBeers buy all the diamonds they can find in order to stabilize the market. Stabilizing the market means they keep all the diamonds in storage so that they can put out the illusion that diamonds are rare. If diamonds are rare they can make the prices much higher. So diamonds are actually pretty common in Africa, it is just the illusion that the companies put out in the world. DeBeers goals are to convince people that diamonds are rare, they mean so much when you give it to someone, and a man must spend at least a months salary on an engagement ring with a diamond. DeBeers also got celebrities to wear their diamonds, this shows people that if you wear diamonds it shows you are wealthy and famous. The slogan for the DeBeers company is "A Diamond is Forever".

Why do women want diamonds? The diamond companies feed people with propaganda, making them think that a diamond is important. People still buy diamonds with certificates saying they're conflict free. Unfortunately there is no way to tell because some certificates have been forged, so there is no way to tell if your diamond is 100% conflict free. Diamonds are just a shiny rock, it is not worth a lot of money, but it could be worth someones life. This is why I think a diamond should not be a girls best friend.

In comparing Chanda's Secrets to Blood Diamond, there are some obvious differences and similarities. But when you look deep into the story you notice a few things that have similarities. Chanda's Secrets is a book by Allan Stratton and Blood Diamond is a movie with actors such as Leonardo Dicaprio. You can see there is one obvious difference Chanda's Secrets is a book not a movie. Besides this difference there are many things that are the same.

Blood Diamond is a movie which was released in the year 2006. Blood Diamond stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny Archer a diamond smuggler. Archer knows everything about conflict diamonds and how they get put into the market. Jennifer Connolly plays Maddy Bowen an American reporter in Africa who wants to write a story about conflict diamonds. Djimon Hounsou acts as Solomen Vandy a man whose family has been raided by a rebel group called the RUF. They destroyed his village and took his son. Solomen gets captured by the RUF and gets taken away to mine for diamonds in a river. Solomen finds a huge diamond and as the river is getting attacked by the military Solomen runs away with the diamond still buried by the river. Solomen goes to jail because they think he is a RUF, Archer was in the same jail for smuggling diamonds. Archer over hears a leader of the RUF ranting out Solomen saying that he found a huge diamond. Archer gets released and arranges for Solomens release. Archer and Solomen are partnered up but Solomen wants his soon back who is now a RUF child soldier. While Archer just wants the diamond. Archer and Solomen find their way to reporter Maddy Bowen who goes along with them to help them and she wants to take the story to the US to let everyone know about conflict diamonds. Archer is an anti-hero says he will help Solomen but he really just wants the diamond. Solomen just wants to reunite his family.

Chanda's Secrets is a book by Allan Stratton. The book is about a girl named Chanda living in Bonang a town in Africa. She lives with her mother Lillian and her step-brother Soly and step sister Iris. Her father and older brother died in a mining accident. Her mother has been with many men. First with her real father then with Isaac Pheto, Mr. Dube a nice man but he suddenly died, and Jonah her current boyfriend. Chanda questions whether or not Jonah is a good boyfriend. In her neighborhood there is a lot of gossip about one particular thing. AIDS. Chanda's neighbor Mrs. Tafa is someone who receives or tells gossip a lot. Chanda dislikes her but in the end Mrs. Tafa becomes a hero. Esther Chanda's best friend becomes a prostitute to make money so that she can get her family back together again.

Chanda's Secrets and Blood Diamond have smiliarities if you look at it closely. Danny Archer is basically a bad guy in the beginning of the movie only wants the diamond. You can say he is a little greedy. Mrs. Tafa the richest one in the village is the enemy at first to Chanda but in the end she helps Chanda with her struggle. I find that Mrs. Tafa and Danny Archer are similar anti-heroes. Solomen is similar to Esther because they both do whatever they can to get their families back together. Chanda's father and brother died mining for diamonds, in the movie the whole story is about how people die mining for diamonds. So that people in the western world can have them for weddings. Also in the movie there are a bunch of prostitutes who are similar to Esther because that is the only thing they can do to make money so they can survive.

Chanda's Secrets is very similar to Blood Diamond they are both great stories and they are very important to know about these things that are going on in Africa. Though the diamond trading is not all over Africa only in places with a lot of diamonds though the AIDS problem is all over Africa. They are both great and it is good to compare them to learn more about the struggle.

In the book Chanda's Secrets the author, Allan Stratton, uses symbolism in many different ways. It is hard to catch when you first read it, but when you think about it, you realize that in fact, it is symbolism. Symbolism is defined as representing things by symbols, or things with a symbolic meaning. A symbol is an object, picture or a particular mark which represents something by association or resemblance. For example the symbol for the disease AIDS is a red ribbon.

In Chanda's Secrets I found some symbolism. In the book when Esther is with men, Chanda or Esther don't mention exactly what she did with the tourists but the way they both act, you understand what happened. Another example would be the stork that Chanda sees when she's outside at night. This gives Chanda hope, that her Mama will be okay and return home. One more example would be when Jonah was found dead in the well, Chanda realizes that this may not be a suicide, but a murder.

Symbolism I find is a good thing to put in a book, because then when you read it it feels more meaningful. In the book I find that the symbolism made it easier to read.

In January, a photo of Michael Phelps was released in a British tabloid, the photo showed Michael Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe. The newspapers around the world are saying he acknowledged 'regrettable behavior' and 'bad judgment'. I don't think that there was even real marijuana in the pipe, its a photo, how much evidence is in there?

After reading more into this it seems that Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott was going to investigate Michael Phelps. I think that this Sheriff just wanted his minutes of fame. Lott said that this was not the case and it didn't matter who it was, they were going to be punished anyway. I disagree because not everyone is followed by cameras, so really it is not the same. Finally, the Sheriff said that there was not enough evidence to file charges, so Michael Phelps was officially out of trouble.

Even though Michael Phelps was in that photo, I still like him as an athlete. I think that this whole thing should not have happpened. It was just because he is a celebrity and some people had taken advantage of that. I hope Michael Phelps is doing well and that he learns that the cameras are always watching.

I like reading the Entertainment section the best in newspapers. So I thought this was a great opportunity to examine a entertainment writer. I chose Linda Barnard, a writer for the Toronto Star. She writes movie reviews I find them very well written because she clearly states her opinion about a movie, and gives you many reasons why. Linda Barnard not only states what the movie is about but some facts about the movie and the actors too. I like her style of writing very effective to convince you that a movie is good or bad. She also writes headlines that get you interested in her article. What is also great about the headline is that it states her opinion as well. This is why I like reading Linda Barnard's articles they are very interesting to read, and her opinion is said clearly about movies.

I was reading some reviews for Coraline and they have different opinions one from USA today saying the animation is great but the story lacks a lot of focus. The other one comes from the Boston Globe saying it is not suitable for children even though it is rated PG, and if you go and see it with your child be prepared to hire a psychiatrist. The Boston Globe story by Ty Burr says that everything else is great and that he enjoyed it. USA today story by Claudia Puig says that the story falters in parts but the animation was great. Claudia Puig makes the movie seem that it's plot was completely rubbish while Ty Burr makes the movie seem extremely unsuitable for children. They both have different point of views but I'm sure the movie isn't as bad as they say.