Tag Archives: Review

One Year of iPads by David

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My first post was about iPads. It showed what we all thought about them. Let me guess. You just went and looked, didn’t you? If you didn’t, you will not have the proper context. Now that I am at the end of the year, I do not have to ask. I am just going to tell what I think of the iPads, fully.

I really like not having to carry around as much stuff. I do not need a planner, so i just write all of my homework on Evernote. It lets me save stuff in the cloud, so I do not have to worry about using it. It is fast, and it would have been better than carrying around a bulky, heavy, old and slow laptop.

However, with great power comes great responsibility…….which is constantly hard to use. Lots of times, I have seen people misusing them for things like games in class, or nasty emails to other students. Not to put a black mark on them, but although the iPads are a great learning tool, outside of learning, they are often used in ways that were not intended. We will turn them in on Friday, May 31. Then, next year, we will be back these amazing tools (although not the same ones).

Thank you, Mr. Schaefer, for helping us get through this first year of iPads!

Davi’s Series Reviews: The Alchemyst by Michael Scott

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“The Alchemyst” by Michael Scott is a six book series. The series has many main characters but focuses on one pair of twins; Josh and Sophie Newman. Josh and Sophie are supposedly the twins mentioned in a prophecy and referred to as Gold and Silver. They are called this, because every person in the world has an aura of a certain color. Some people with strong auras can use them to do amazing and terrible things. Gold and Silver auras are said to be some of the most powerful and rare. Josh and Sophie are said to be, “the two that are one, the one that is all. One to destroy the world, and one to save it.” The question you’re probably having now is: who is going to destroy the world? The answer is coming up in the next paragraph.

A race of ancient and powerful beings split in two groups. Dark Elders hated the human race and wanted to destroy them. The Elders (not to be confused with Dark Elders, even thought they are both Elders) help the humans grow. Both groups of Elders became known to the humans as gods, the sources of most legends. The Dark Elders make humans immortal, in return for eternal service.

This series is a cliffhanger, much like Fablehaven by Brandon Mull.  No boring beginnings, awesome middles, and boring ends. The series will have you engrossed in the books from beginning to end. The only bad thing about the book is its repetitive language and overuse of the phrase “spoke in ____. A language that had not been heard in centuries”, and other phrases related to that one. Otherwise, this series is great. READ IT!!!!

The Hobbit: A Book Review By David

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 Photo by David P

Recently, with “The Hobbit” being made into a movie, with all of the memorabilia junk and such, it has been popularized. Over the past month or so, I have seen many more people carrying around a copy of it. However, I am proud to say that since I was six, I have been an extremely dedicated Tolkien fan. I have read almost all of his books, with the exception of an Elvish Encyclopedia, and I have the really old (cardboard thingy cover and map on the first page) version (you can tell because the text on the cover is starting to fade) of “The Hobbit”. I have read it at least twenty-five times, and I am reading it again (Near the end now!). I love Tolkien’s writing. It helps me escape from a world that is all too real and let my imagination be free.

A hobbit named Bilbo Baggins, who has never thought of doing anything out-of-the-ordinary or going outside of his comfort zone, has his house invaded by dwarves seeking to claim the treasure of Erebor, kingdom under the mountain. Their leader is a dwarf named Thorin Oakenshield, and he is the grandson of the King Under The Mountain, Thrain. Erebor was overrun by a dragon, and the dwarves are looking to recover Erebor. Poor Bilbo is dragged along on an adventure, in which he learns about the outside world while getting captured by goblins, traveling through caves and forests, and even meeting Beorn, the skin-changer. He learns about doing the right thing and being tenacious. All in all, it is a wonderful book and I recommend it strongly to anyone who asks, “Should I read it?”.

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Series Review Davi: Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

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Fablehaven

I’m going to review the series Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. I like this series because the suspense in the books is really good. I also like how Mull adds a whole different reality to our “normal” reality. It makes you wonder, are we really alone in this world? If not, then are the other being(s) sharing the world with us friendly or hostile? Mull creates this whole world that none of the main characters even imagined was real, and then hits them in the face with the news. “Hey, all the creatures that you have ever heard of in myths and legends are real. Have a nice day!!” I especially love the suspense at the end of his books. Mull ends with something crucial, like one of the main characters dying, or getting kidnapped, or the main antagonist in the series is suddenly free from his/her unbreakable prison. In conclusion, I hope you love this series as much as I did. But if you don’t, post a comment on this blog post explaining why.

Book Review on Sophie’s World By: Ashwin S.

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Sophie's World Book

From: flickrCC

First thing’s first, this isn’t a baby book like the title makes it seem like. The full title is actually, Sophie’s World: A Novel About The History Of Philosophy. As it the title suggests the whole plot has a lot to do with philosophy. It’s about a girl named Sophie who gets a letter one day which says, “Who are you? Where does the world come from?” and before she knows it she is enrolled in a correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre and beyond with a mysterious philosopher. But at the same time she is receiving a separate batch of equally unusual letters. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep on coming to Sophie? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must make use of the philosophy she is learning. But the truth is far more complicated than she could have imagined… This book also was the 1# international bestseller. All in all, if you read this, you need to be ready for some serious thinking.

One More Year by Ian L

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It has been a long year with a lot different things happening. The Tsunami in Japan, the death of Steve Jobs, the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, The Royal Wedding. All of these were huge things that defined the year, but some things that were more personal stood out to me. For instance, we got our laptops. This was a huge event for me because I had never really used a computer before 2010. Since than I have become very good at using them. Another huge thing in my life this year was that my uncle almost died. He was in a bike accident and flipped over the handlebars, puncturing one of his lungs. Also only yesterday I had my midterm exams. They were pretty hard, but I finished with a good grade. Like our teacher said, preparing for the exam is more stressful than actually taking the exam in most cases. It’s been a good year that I really enjoyed. One of the best of my life. I hope next year will be even better. Let’s hope 2012 is the best year yet!