From looking at library websites on the Internet, I have found the favourite books of teens around the world. When I looked at the Toronto Public Library Website, I found that a favourite book of teens is "Potential: The High School Chronicals of Ariel Schrag" by Ariel Schrag. On the New York Public Library website, many teens recommended the book "Waiting For Normal" by Leslie Connor. In Vancouver, many teens are reading the "Twilight" series, by Stephanie Meyer. I think that this is interesting because it is also very popular here. In Sydney, Australia, a well regarded book that won an Ethel Turner Prize for Young People's Literature was "Two Pearls of Wisdom" by Alison Goodman. In London, many teenagers are reading is a book called "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor. The city in Asia that I chose to find out what kids were reading there was Tokyo. I learned that many teens loved the book Saiyuki Gaden, a manga book. I think that this is cool because the influence that Japan has on us has made manga books popular here. The city that I chose in Europe was Rome, Italy. I learned that the teens there love the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling as well. The city in South America that I chose was Sao Paulo. I learned that the kids there like to read English books that have been translated. I learned that they read The Gossip Girl series.

If I were one of the Mohawk people during the time of the Oka crisis, I think that I would responded the way they did by making a barricade.  I would have done this because it was a very effective way of spreading a message because the army was not able to do anything about it. With regards to violence, I think that I would have only shot back if the army shot their guns and teargas at me, which was what the Mohawks policy was anyhow. I would not have brought in the warriors as quickly ass they did because they only caused the problem to flare up and make the people of Quebec angrier. I would have been very angry if I was one of the Mohawks who had the government fire me from my job for the government just because I was part of the barricade. I would have also been very mad that all the shitments of food and supplies were tampered with or shut down completely from coming.  Overall, I would have been that the people of Quebec wanted to take away our sacred cemetery. I would have done what the Mohawk people did just with a little less violence.

Blood diamonds are diamonds that come from areas that are controlled by rebels who are against the government. Some of the countries that have blood diamonds include Sierra Leone, Angola, Liberia, Ivory Coast, the Republic of Congo and The Democratic Republic of Congo. In this essay, I am going to talk about the civil war caused by blood diamonds in Sierra Leone, the effect they have had on the people living there and my opinion of them.

From watching Blood Diamond and reading Chanda's Secret, I have found many similar aspects in them.  Chanda's Secret is a book that we read for novel studies, written by Allan Stratton.  It takes place in Africa, in a made up city called Bonang.  The main charecter is a girl named Chanda.  Blood Diamond is a movie, nominated for five Academy Awards.  The movie stars Leonardo diCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Housou.  The movie takes place in Sierra Leone and is about Blood Diamonds.  In this essay I will talk about each of these individually then compare their similarities and differences.

 Chanda's Secret is a book that takes place in a made up place called Bonang, Africa. It is about a girl named Chanda. Her first father and her two older brothers died in a mine while working. Her mother then marries a man named Isaac Pheto. Her mom and him have Iris together, but her mom leaves him when she finds him raping Chanda.  They do not have anywhere to go until Ms. Tafa, a woman who also lost her husband in the mine says they can stay at her house.  They live at her house for a while, until mama marries Mr. Dube, a hairdresser who lives next to Ms. Tafa.  He treats them very well and they have Chanda's brother Soly together, but one night he has a stroke and dies.  Chanda's mom then marries Jonah.  Together they have Sara, but she dies at a very young age.  Jonah is always drunk and cheating on mama.  Mama becomes very sick and although Chanda refuses to admit it because she is ashamed, she know her mom has AIDS.  Chanda's best friend Esther is a prostitute and ends up with AIDS from it. Many deaths take place but it is all part of everyday life their.  Throughout the book, shame, AIDS, death and prostitution are all common. 

Blood Diamond is movie that takes place in Sierra Leone during the 1999 civil war between the government and the rebels.  The movie starts with the RJF invading a small village and capturing and killing many people including SolomonVandy, who is forced to work in the mines searching for dimonds. His son Dia is also taken, being forced to be a child soldier.  While Solomon is working in the mine, he finds a huge diamond, which he manages to sneak out and hide in the ground, but while doing it his commander sees him.  Luckily at that moment the government launches an attack and Solomon and his commander are taken to a jail in Freetown.  At the jail, Danny Archer(Leonardo DiCaprio) a white-African who trades weapons for diamonds hears about the big diamond Solomon found and wants to find it because he thinks it will be his ticket out of Africa.  The movie is about him and Solomon trying to find the stone and Solomon trying to find his son. 

The movie and the book are similar in many ways, but also very different.  For example, in both book and movie, death is a common thing.  Chanda's father and two brothers both died in mines trying to get diamonds for wealthy people in the Western world. In both, people are ashamed of AIDS. For example, in Chanda's Secret, people will shun you if you have AIDS and people make up how there relatives died.  In Blood Diamond, this is the same when the prostitute is trying to sell herself to Danny and one of the first things she says is that she does not have AIDS.  This is because she is ashamed.  Another common thing is that there are prostitutes in both.  In Chanda's Secret, Esther is a prostitute and in Blood Diamond, the girls that are outside of the hotel that Danny  is staying at are prostitutes.  Something different about the two is that in Chanda's Secret, there is a lot less gun violence than in Blood Diamond.  The majority of the deaths are from health issues. One final similarty in the two is that globalization has caused a negative effect.  In Blood Diamond this is the case because if it was not for people in the Western world, this whole civil war would not have started and all the people that died would still be alive.  In Chanda's Secret this is the case because there would not be the need for the diamond mines and Chanda's father and brothers and many other people would not have died that way,

Overall, there are many similarities and differences in each, a lot of them being things that have a negative effect on the people there.  I think that a lot of the outcomes are caused by globalization. 

Throughout Chanda's Secret, there are many symbols. To me, symbolism means something that represents another thing without directly saying so.  I am going to give some examples of symbolism in the book Chanda's Secret.  one example is when Chanda asks Esther how she knows that every man cheats on his wife at one point or another in their life.  Esther just winks and says she knows.  This is because Esther knows that they cheat on their wives because she cheats with them.  Another example of symbolism in the book is when the stork comes.  This is symbolism because the stork represents good luck.  I think that the author chose to add this part because where Chanda lives, many people believe in spirit doctors and other good and bad luck symbols.  Having the stork in the book turned an ordinary animal into something more important.  Another example of symbolism in the book is with Sara's death. The author never directly comes out and says that she died of AIDS, but with many clues in the book, one can draw the conclusion that AIDS killed her.  There are many other symbols in the book that represent things that help you get a better understanding of the book.  Overall, symbolism in Chanda's Secret is very helpful.

The journalist that I chose to talk about is Roy MacGregor. He is a writer for the Globe and Mail and often writes about hockey although he also writes about news that is happening in Canada. Roy MacGregor has also written a series of childrens novels called the Screech Owls. They are about these boys on a hockey team, who go to hockey tournaments and always come across a mystery to solve. Roy MacGregor puts humour into his writing and still manages to be a great writer. He has been able to write for all ages, with the Screech Owls series being for younger kids, while his articles about hockey in the paper tend to be targeted at older children and adults. His articles about news taking place in Canada are aimed mostly at older people. Overall, Roy MacGregor is a great writer and I really enjoy reading his articles.  

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a great book written by John Boyne.  The book takes place during the Holocaust in Germany.  It is about a boy named Bruno who is nine years old, who comes home one day from school to find his maid, Maria packing his bags.  He finds out that his father has been assigned to move for his job.  Bruno does not know what his father does, except that he is a very important man, and according to his mother, "someone to be afraid of."  Bruno hates his new house.  It has only three floors, unlike their old house which was five floors.  There are always unfriendly soldiers in their house and he would much prefer to be back in Berlin and there are no kids to play with.  From looking out of his window he can see many people walking around in what looks to be like striped pajamas.  Whenever he asks his dad who they are, he ignores the question and says that in time he will learn.  You figure out that Bruno's father is the person who watches over this concentration camp.  One day though, Bruno cannot take it any more.  He walks to the fence and sees a boy who turns out to be his age.  His name is Shmuel.  Bruno and Shmuel begin to meet secretly everyday.  They become best friends, and Bruno brings Shmuel food and they sit on separate sides of the fence and talk.  The book is really good and I would recommend it.  I like the fact that it is written from the point of view of a nine year old that does not care that the two of them are supposed to hate each other and they are on different sides in the war.  Overall, I would give it a 9/10.

On Friday, January 23, the Leaside Wildcats played the Willowdale Redwings.  The last time these two teams played Willowdale won 4-1, but they controlled the game.  Their whole team is a year older than Leaside.  But this game, Willowdale did not dominate, in fact both teams had many chances to score and it was end to end.  Part way throug the first period, Willowdale, took the lead 1-0.  With thirteen seconds, a girl on their team took a great shot and scored.  In the second period, Leaside started out by scoring a goal.  Unfortunately, the referees were aweful at refereeing and did not see the puck go in the net.  A few minutes later, the girl who got the second goal for Willowdale, scored again, allowing them to take the lead 3-0.  The period finished with a goal by Willowdale, but a  the referees called it back because one of their players was in the crease.  The third period had many penalties and a lot of chances for both teams.  Leaside got a goal and kept Willowdale at three goals.  With one second left, with Leaside's goalie pulled, they got another goal.  For the second time that game, the refs did not allow it.  The final score was 3-1 for Willowdale.  Hopefully at their next game against each other they will have half-decent referees, unlike that game.  Leaside plays again tommorow against Brampton and Willowdale plays Brampton on Sunday.  Overall, the game was exciting.  We will have to wait and see to know what the outcome will be when they face off again on February 6.         

This week our school went to Northern and North Toronto to see our choices for high school.  I thought that the tour at North Toronto was okay, but I would have preferred if they had showed us more classes than they did.  Our group only went to the art room, the Latin room, the history class and the auditorium.  I thought that it would have been much better if we had spent less time in each class, but instead, we would have the chance to go to more classes.  I also think that instead of doing an activity in the classes, it would have had a greater affect on me if the teacher explained what we did in each of the classes, especially the courses that we do not have at Deer Park.  I think it will be nice to be one of the first grades to be in the new building if I go there.  I liked the size of the school and I thought that the buddies and teachers seemed nice.  I thought that the tour at Northern was very good.  I thought that it was well organized and that it was much better than the one at North Toronto.  I liked the fact that we went to more classes than we did at North Toronto and I liked that in the classes, we did not do an activity but instead the teachers talked about what we do in the class.  I thought that the tour was very worthwhile and it made think about going to Northern more than I was thinking about going before.  I went into both the tours with the likelihood of going to North Toronto, far greater than Northern.  I came out of the tours not knowing which school I wanted to go to.  I liked both the schools and I know people at both of them that really like it there.  I think that it will be a really hard decision to make.