Leap Day!

Hey! It's Leap Day! I love Leap Day because it really makes you think. For instance, thinking about Leap Day made me realize that when the next one occurs in four more years I will have already graduated from high school. Isn't that crazy? Well, it might not be for you, but it is for me!

This week is my February vacation, and so far I have thoroughly enjoyed my time off from school. I hate to say it, but it's true. A lot of adults have told me that my years in high school will be some of the best years of my life. Well, from all that I have experienced, this is not the case. High school for me has consisted mainly of stress and drama and bad teachers and homework and a lot of other stuff that I am not overly fond of.

The thing about high school is that you have to deal with four times as much drama as you did in middle school and all the years before that. In middle school (at least at my middle school) each grade is sort of in their own little world. You have different hallways, different classes, different teachers, different everything. This large amount of separation means that overall, you really only have to deal with the drama that occurs within your own grade level.

But in high school, everything changes. Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors are all mixed together all day long- same classes, same hallways, same lunch times, same teachers, etc. This means that at the end of the day, you are ultimately dealing with drama from all four grades. The drama itself is stupid, but it's also distracting and annoying and it's all people ever want to talk about! I'll be trying to have a conversation about books or schoolwork or whatever and they'll be like, "Have you heard that so-and-so broke up with her boyfriend?" And I just want to shout, "I DON'T CARE!!!"

Ten years from now, it won't matter who was going out with who, or what rumors people were spreading. What will matter is who you become and how you choose to spend your life. If you choose to spend the rest of your life gossiping, then by all means, get a head start now. But if you're hoping to do something productive and meaningful in the future, then stop arguing over whether that girl is pregnant or just fat! Stop spreading stupid rumors and poking fun at others and worrying about your social status! You can have fun and hang out with your friends and still have good grades and be a good person. Some people may think it's impossible or completely unachievable, but it definitely is not.

So this post that was supposed to be about Leap Day has turned into a rant about high school... sorry about that. And I hate to sound all negative, because some things have come out of high school as well. I've gotten closer to my friends and I've made new ones, and I've actually met some nerdfighters, which is amazingly cool. So maybe high school isn't all bad. It's just different.

Where will I be on the next Leap Day? I hope it's somewhere really awesome, with a library not very far away.

Yours,
NutFreeNerd

Confused??? Don't be!

Hello everyone! As you may have noticed, I have changed things around with my blog a little. This blog will now be called NutFreeNerd. I will also be signing my posts NutFreeNerd. Please understand that although the name I am using is different, I am still the same person creating this blog. I just thought it was time for a change, and this is what I have decided to do. Thank you for understanding, and thank you so much for reading my blog.

Hugs,
NutFreeNerd (a.k.a. Aceba)

Book Review: THE POWER OF SIX

Author: Pittaus Lore
Number of Pages: 406
Publisher: HarperCollins
Release Date: August 23, 2011

John (Number Four) and Sam are on the run with Six, a fellow Lorien. As they travel through the back roads of America, trying to shake the Mogs off their trail, they have no idea that Number Seven is out there in Spain, wishing desperately that she could somehow reach them. Who else is out there? Where are they? And most importantly: who will make it out alive? This is the sequel to I Am Number Four.

As with the previous book in this series, I couldn't put this down. Right from the beginning this book is action-packed, leading you to believe one thing and then taking a sharp turn so you don't know what to think. It has a perfect balance of everything- sci fi stuff, action, suspense, and romance. (Side note: I couldn't believe that Sarah did that. If you've read the book, you know what I mean. And if you haven't read the book, get yourself a copy and read it. You'll understand soon enough.) Overall, this was an amazing book!
My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) :0) 5 out of 5 smileys. It was that good!

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Absolutely! But first they would have to read I Am Number Four, the first book in this series by Pittacus Lore.

Hugs,
Aceba

Book Review: THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER

Author: Mark Twain
Number of Pages: 282
Release Date: 1876
This American classic tells the story of Tom Sawyer, a boy living in a town by the Mississippi River.

I have to say that this is one of the better classics I have read. I liked how Mark Twain used the vernacular of those days, giving the reader an idea of how people really talked back then. This book was fun and playful and although it wasn't terribly long, it was a very good book. I am looking forward to reading Huckleberry Finn, also written by Mark Twain.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys. Although I did enjoy reading this classic very much, there were a few parts that dragged on a bit. Other than that this was a great book!

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Definitely.

Yours,
Aceba

Book Review: FAHRENHEIT 451

Author: Ray Bradbury
Number of Pages: 176
Release Date: January 1, 1950

"Guy Montag was a fireman whose job it was to start fires. And he enjoyed his job. He had been a fireman for ten years, and he had never questioned the pleasure of the midnight runs or the joy of watching pages consumed by flames, never questioned anything until he met a seventeen-year-old girl who told him of a past when people were not afraid. Then Guy met a professor who told him of a future in which people could think. And Guy Montag suddenly realized what he had to do..."
                                                           - Goodreads.com
I read this book with my English class at school and at first I wasn't so sure about it. It got off to sort of a slow start, but once I started reading it it just got better and better. I loved how there were so many similarities between Ray Bradbury's futuristic society and our present day way of life. I especially like this book because it shows people how important it is to not only read books, but to also voice your own opinion. If everyone conformed to each other we would all end up like Mildred, Montag's wife, staring at TV screens all day wanting very little interaction with actual human beings. Overall, this was a great read.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

Yours,
Aceba

Book Review: PREP

Author: Curtis Sittenfeld
Number of Pages: 420
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Release Date: November 22, 2005

Prep is the story of Lee Fiora, a girl from Indiana who decides to go to a prestigious private school in Massachusetts for her high school years. This book describes all four years of her life at Ault School, the prep school she chooses to attend.

Okay, so let me start out by saying that I had really high hopes for this novel. The cover was simple and cool and the summary on the back sounded very promising. And normally, I really enjoy books about people at boarding/private schools. I liked everything about this book- until I started reading it.

This book started out okay, but as I progressed further it started to get worse and worse. Lee, the main character, reminds me of Holden in Catcher in the Rye. All she does is complain and whine and OH MY GOSH IT JUST GOT SO ANNOYING! Every time something good was on the brink of happening to her she would have to go and mess everything up and then she would wallow in self pity for another fifty pages. And then at the end. With Cross. I kept wanting to scream at her for being so idiotic. Seriously! How stupid can you be?

Overall, this book was not enjoyable to read at all.

My Rating: :0) :0) 2 out of 5 smileys. It was that bad.

Would I recommend it to a friend?: No. Absolutely not.

Yours,
Aceba

Book Review: THE YEAR OF SECRET ASSIGNMENTS

Author: Jaclyn Moriarty
Number of Pages: 340
Publisher: Scholastic
Release Date: April 1, 2005

One English class at Ashbury High is chosen to write letters to their rival school, Brookfield High. This Ashbury class includes three best friends- Lydia, Emily, and Cassie. When the girls find out that their pen pals are guys, they are really excited. Emily and Lydia seem to get along with their pen pals really well- in fact, maybe a bit too well, *wink, wink*- but Cassie's pen pal keeps sending her threatening letters. Can they get to the bottom of this dangerous pen pal mystery?

This book is entirely written in letter an journal entries. At first I didn't like the format it- it was a bit confusing- but once you get to know all the characters the writing is easier to follow. I liked how Cassie, Lydia, and Emily all had really different personalities in their letters. It made things a lot more interesting to read. I loved the twist at the end, even though I guessed the outcome beforehand. At times this book was slow, but it got better. Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable read.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

Hugs,
Aceba

Book Review: THE VIEW FROM SATURDAY

Author: E.L. Konigsburg
Number of Pages: 176
Publisher: Aladdin
Release Date: September 1, 1996

Four sixth graders are chosen to compete in a sort of battle-of-the-brains by their teacher, Mrs. Olinski, or so she thinks. Did she choose them, or did they choose her? These four kids (Noah, Nadia, Ethan, and Julian) all have different stories that are interconnected in unusual ways. What is the story behind this foursome winning the Academic Bowl championship? You'll have to read to find out.
Before I start talking about this book specifically, I'm going to talk a little about my obsession with E.L. Konigsburg. Ever since I first read one of her books in third grade I have loved her writing style and her unique ideas. So when I found this at the used bookstore I was REALLY HAPPY. Notice the extreme capitalization there. Anyways, I love all things E.L. Konigsburg, and this book was no exception. It was a great quick, easy read, one of those books that doesn't take you too long to breeze through but it was well worth it nonetheless. It was a little slow in some parts, but I think this is mainly because this is below my normal reading level. But all in all, this was a really good read.

My Rating: :0) :0) :0) :0) 4 out of 5 smileys

Would I recommend it to a friend?: Yes.

Yours,
Aceba