Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan

The series Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a modern day extended version of Greek mythology. Percy is a normal kid who has dyslexia and ADHD, and also he has been seeing a lot of monsters lately. He thought it was just his imagination, but that changes when his math teacher becomes a monster and tries to KILL HIM! He was saved by another teacher who held a bronze sword. Now Percy realized that there are actual monsters and something was just not right, and later on he realizes that he is a demigod: half human and half god. Most importantly he is the son of Poseidon, one of the most powerful and major gods out of all the Olympians.

The setting takes place mostly in New York but, there are fictional palaces and monuments. For example, the author describes Poseidon's palace somewhere under water in New York. His palace has mermaids and mermen, with sea creatures and architecture of Poseidon's palace has mosaic floors coral roofs, and much more.

Percy Jackson discovers he can navigate where he is in the sea, he can breathe under water, he can control the water if he wants to. He also realized that the handicapped teacher that had saved him from the monster was Chiron, one of the best trainers and teachers for warriors and heroes, who had trained all the famous heroes and warriors, such as Hercules and Achilles. Percy goes on death threatening missions with his friends Annabeth and Grover. Annabeth is the daughter of Athena, she knows everything and every creature/monster. Grover is a Satyr, and he can control nature with his reed pipe by playing certain music.
I think this book is great, because it has everything I like, Greek mythology, suspense, and mystery. I couldn't have found a better book then this.

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen

Why is the book called Flipped?
Well, I think it is because the main characters' beliefs flip. This is a book about two neighbors and their lives. The main character, Julianna, is a girl who is poor and dirty, who has a huge crush on Bryce (the other main character), but the problem is that Bryce is a rich kid who is very clean. So he wants no part of Julianna's crush. Julianna will do anything to get just a glimpse of Bryce's face, but Bryce will do anything to stay way from Julianna. Later on Bryce makes fun of Julianna's retarded uncle, which causes the Flip. Now Julianna tries to avoid Bryce and she will do anything to get away from him. Bryce, on the other hand tries to make peace with Julianna and would do anything to just say "Hello." Also their families flip. In the beginning you would think that Bryce has a great family and Julianna has a terrible family. Actually that is not true: later in the book you realize that, even though Julianna's family is poor and her house is messy, deep down this family is very much happy together, and Bryce's family is rich but his family always get into fights and his house is just generally not happy.
One interesting and mysterious part of the book is that Julianna's family is poor because her dad works hard for his mentally disabled brother to be in a nice mental hospital, (Julianna didn't know about her retarded uncle) and Bryce's grandfather really admires that. The problem is that Bryce's family are very selfish and the grandfather is really hoping that one day his family can be just like Julianna's family.
The book is a mystery, and the reader discovers some shocking things about the families, which makes it very interesting to read, such as how Bryce almost died because he was getting choked by his umbilical cord.
I think the lesson of the book is that you're not always happy when you are rich, because money does not buy happiness.

New Hampshire Camping Trip

Last Friday I went camping with my friend Michael and his family. There was of course 2 other families. It was a great experience, but there were tons of bugs biting, even though we had bug repellant on, its like they're immune to it. Also, one night it was pouring and water got into our tent, and my sleeping bag was like a swimming pool. Altough bugs were biting and my sleeping bag was a pool I had a great time. We told ghost stories, made s'mores and went on night walks. We also went to the lake and swam. We were going to rent canoes but they were all out, and on the trip back we had to go through a disgusting muddy trail. I also made a fire that was about 10 feet high, using lighter fluid. On our last day we saw the Northern Star the Big and Little Dipper, we also saw Orion's Belt. When I got home I thought that the experience was so fun I would risk all the bug biting and the wet sleeping bag to go again.

Michael Jackson DIED!

Michael Jackson was known as the King of Pop, and he was in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice. He sang, danced and wrote music that is still listened to, to this day. As a child he was poor and his father abused him. He was seventh out of the nine children and all of them became singers. When Michael Jackson was only nine he was in a group called the Jackson 5, which was four of his older brothers and him. They had many albums that were in the top 5 disco singles and top 20 hits, however the sales started to decline around 1975. The Jackson 5 split up in 1975 and left Motown. Even though the Jackson 5 split up Michael Jackson still sang, and in 1982 he made one of the best selling albums of all times, "Thriller." Later on in his life he was accused of molesting boys, although he was fortunately acquitted. After he was acquitted he married Lisa Marie Presley, but they got divorced in less than 2 years. A few years later he got remarried to Deborah Jeanne Rowe who had 2 of his children. He died in Los Angles on June 25 2009 at age 50.

One thing I didn't know about Michael Jackson was that his father was in a band called the Falcons with his brother Luther.

Title IX

I just read a book from the library about Title IX, which is a law that was passed in 1972, which states that no one in the United States can get excluded from sports and extra curricular activities in public schools. Women in the 1960's to the early 1970's protested against unfair treatments, such as women can't play in men sports,Girls in public schools couldn't use the fields when the boys were using, or the boys always had better and newer equipment. Now all of that has changed. and every man and woman is equal and they have equal rights and opportunities. There are professional women's sports teams, such as WNBA and soccer.