Month: December 2022

(Background of The Shadow Series)
The Shadow Series is about the happenings of when the government decides that every family should only be subjected to two children at the most due to the country’s scarcely food shortage. Furthermore, if you did have more than two children you would either be forced to hide that child away from a dangerous group called the Population Police for their whole lives (because if the Population Police find an illegal child/adult, they will murder the child/adult and arrest the accomplices hiding that illegal), or your child would have to get a fake ID which states that they are a different person (a person that is legally accepted). Though these fake ID’s are highly expensive and really hard to get. 

For the month of December, I chose to read the sixth installment, Among the Enemy, of the science fiction series Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This story is about Matthias. Matthias is an illegal third child who was just trying to find his missing injured friends, Percy and Alia, though while searching outside an abandoned cabin in the woods for his friends, he finds himself in the middle of a crossfire between Population Police and rebels. The shock of the gunshots caused Matthias to save the remaining Population Officer, which leads to the Officer driving Matthias to the Population Police Headquarters in a battered, bullet-holed car. Soon enough, Matthias is instructed to become a Population Officer himself as he claimed that was why he was in the forrest all alone. To get the Population officer (that Matthias saved) to not be suspicious of Matthias, he claimed (lied) to the officer that he was just trying to find his way to the Population Police Headquarters to become and Officer himself. As always, Matthias believed he could escape the headquarters, but as the Population Police Headquarters is heavily guarded with guards and barbed-wire fences, that hope quickly died. Matthias was stuck, he wasn’t the smart one like Percy, nor was he the clever one like Alia, he couldn’t escape this property without their knowledge. Though he had to escape, Percy and Alia were still injured and still missing, they could probably be dead now, but there was no way he could escape, all eyes were in Matthias at all times now. Matthias was all on his own now, for the first time, and he was working with the people who tried their hardest to kill him and his loved ones all their lives. How is he going to pull this off?! How is Matthias going to take down the Population Police once and for all?!

My favorite quote is from page 188-189, and it states, “He thought about all the awful things that had happened that he felt responsible for… He’d never intended anything bad to happen. He’d been trying to keep everyone safe. But the Population Police did their evil deeds deliberately… I am not like the commander, Matthias thought. We have nothing in common… He’d been wrong to think that everything ended when he lost Percy and Alia. But those are mistakes I can fix, Matthias told himself. I can stop this evil, he thought.” This is my favorite quote because it shows how Matthias learned that even though he has made mistakes (with bad outcomes), he’d never actually had bad intentions while doing it. Unlike the Population Police who had every intention to do evil. This is really good for Matthias’ character development because now that he has finally managed to discover that he is not like the Popualtion Police (and stops subjecting himself to the bad side), he can actually try and help his friends take down the Population Police.

My favorite character is is Nina, and I say this because she is clever but also perceptive. One piece of evidence that shows Nina is perceptive is on page 204-205, “ (Nina says) ‘Matthias, it’s just that… Trey and—and the others… they don’t know you like I do. They’re a little bit suspicious, because you’ve had it so easy ever since you got here…’ (Matthias) ‘I lost my friends!’ Matthias protested… (Nina) ‘But don’t you see?…We all have—we’ve either lost someone we loved or left someone behind or been through some terrible experience.’… (Matthias) ‘You think I’m lying?’ … (Nina) ‘I believe you… Go back to the commander. Keep acting like—like his grandson or whatever, to make sure he still likes you. And Spy on him…’” This shows Nina’s perceptive side because not only did she her show her support and showed that she understood to what Matthias was explaining and helped him work through the problem to ultimately find the most liable solution, but she also showed her support and showed that she understood the others’ differentiating side too. Also she wasn’t afraid to point out that she agreed with and saw both sides of the argument in their own ways.

I recommend this book because you pretty much never ever know what to expect or where the story is going. Though once you start reading, you cannot put the book down. It’s impossible! There’s surprise character appearances from previous books that you would have never guessed would show up in some of these books’ scenarios. If you never want to get bored in a book, this is the book for you because every chapter ends with a plot twist or cliffhanger, and the chapters are short (10 pages is probably the most pages in a chapter)! Betrayal, murder, heroes, villains, spying, mystery, friendship, and much more all wrapped up into a 229 page, amazing book. Be prepared to never get bored and enjoy the wild ride when reading Among the Enemy. 

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I have been told I am to be the principal of my school for the day! I have a lot of great ideas! First I would make passing periods seven minutes. With this time, you are able to either finish an assignment before a class, eat something, go get your water bottle filled up, or go to the bathroom. Plus, you and me both know that it takes you at least five minutes to get to the restroom, find an open stall, go to the bathroom, wash your hands, and go back to class. Also what if your classroom is far away from the bathroom. Seven minutes is the perfect passing period time. The second thing I would do is have a normal school day be from nine-thirty to three-thirty. Normal schools start way to early, and it is so important for student at this age (especially since we’re growing) to get a lengthy amount of sleep each night. This schedule will make our students more energized, motivated, and ready to learn when they walk into their classrooms. Thirdly, I would have school run from September, 1st to June, 1st. In my opinion, school starting in August is ridiculous. August is the perfect time in summer for traveling (June is gloom, and July is alright), so people should be using their free time in August instead of in school. The fourth thing I would do, would be to lessen the extreme of dress coding. Girls would not be allowed to wear a strapless shirt, shirts that go past your breast area, shorts or skirts that are higher than mid-high thigh, and no see through clothing. Boys would no be allowed to wear any see through clothing, nor shorts that go past mid-high thigh. Hats, beanies, hoods, makeup, crop tops, shorts, etc would be allowed. The fifth and final thing that I would do if I was principal for a day would be to allow phones during break and lunch. Students should be able to use their phone during lunch or snack because it’s their personal property, and they can do whatever they want during their free time on their phones. EXCEPT take pictures of other students without their consent. There will be a strict rule for that. These are the five things I would allow/disallow if I was principle of a school for one day.

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Brock the Fish was always different from the other fish in the sea. Heck, when he was born he had won a medal for being the first fish to ever catch a worm as young as he was. Though that is not why he is considered different now. Brock the Fish loves to sing. He sings anytime he is left alone, and if you ask him, he’s pretty amazing at it. He can’t really show off his talent to anyone but himself though. See as a male fish your life is pretty much only expected to consist of practicing to catch as much food as you can for supper everyday as a boy, grow up to be a tough man, find a wife, have kids, and protect you family from any danger at all costs. But that sounded boring, like a waist of life, to young Brock the Fish. Brock the Fish wanted to be a singer.

To make it clear, Brock the Fish only had two really good friends: Gary the Fish and Sunny the Fish. Every time he’d see them again it was like another stab to the heart as he hadn’t told them his deepest darkest secret yet, even though they had been the bestest of friends since they were babies. Though one day, Brock the Fish couldn’t deal with the guilty stabs to his heart every time he saw them (a heart can only take so much), so he pummeled up enough courage to to finally tell them.

Swimming through the deep blue ocean, Brock the Fish wasn’t able to keep his mind from thinking awful thoughts, but feeling the warm water against his scales, seeing the rays of sunlight peering in from the top of the ocean, and the seaweed calmly swaying side to side like a boat rocking peacefully due to a tiny wave pushing it just made his mind clear up a tad. When he finally arrived at their secret hideout (it was just a small spot in the sand with rocks circling it, which they thought would protect them from any outside attackers) Brock the Fish greeted both of his friends with a happy toned voice that could be detected from miles away as a fake one, but he had more important things on his mind. Brock the Fish knew it was finally time to tell them. He ushered them to face him, and he continued with what he was about to say.

“Guys, I… have to tell you something.”

“Ooo, what is it” Gary the Fish exclaimed.

“Wait tell me first!” Sunny the Fish yelled.

“I’ll tell you both at the same time,” Brock the Fish took a deep breath, “I don’t want to be a regular working man, like every other male fish when I grow up… I want to be a singer!”

Brock the Fish paused, waiting for them to start questioning the life outta him, or even burst out laughing, but once he looked at both of their fishy faces, all he saw was two shocked, smiling faces peering back at him.

“NO WAY, is this a joke?!” Gary the Fish shouted.

“No, why would I joke about that?”

“No because I love singing too!!!” Gary the Fish was jumping up and down now.

Now it was Brock the Fish’s turn to be confused, but Sunny the Fish filled that silence of confusion with…

“OMG BOTH OF YOU GET OUT OF TOWN, I LOVE TO SING TOO!!!!!”

Now all of them looked at each other with surprised, shocked faces.
“I thought I was the only one with this strange secret.” Explained Gary the Fish.

“Same, how weird is that that we all had the same secret!?” Sunny the Fish replied.

“I’m just glad I’m not the only one.” Brock the Fish ended with a relieving sigh.

Then all of the sudden Sunny the Fish had a light bulb moment.
“Guys what if we were a singing group that made music, we can be ultra famous!”

“But what about telling our parents first before we make it official?” Brock the Fish was always the logical one of the three.

“Pfft it’s fine, we don’t have to tell them everything Brock the Fish, we can just practice here everyday after school. Then we can tell them when were ready.” Gary the Fish reassured.

“Ok, but if we’re gonna be an official singing group then we have to come up with a name, and I’ve been saving one for ages… it’s The Outcasted Harmonizer. But but but since there is three of us we can be called… The Outcasted Trio of Harmonizers!”

“Ok I love it, but isn’t is a little long, don’t ya think?” Brock the Fish always had his way of perfecting everything.

“Well I like it!” Gary the Fish chimed in.

“Well then it’s settled we are now…The Outcasted Trio of Harmonizers!!!” Sunny the Fish happily exclaimed.

Everyone was jumping around smiling. And when they started practicing then and there, they sounded like angels from heaven singing together. It was perfect. They could leave the scary days of telling their parents for the future, but for right now they happily sang as The Outcasted Trio of Harmonizers! They were gonna make it big one day!

(Background of The Shadow Series)
The Shadow Series is about the happenings of when the government decides that every family should only be subjected to two children at the most due to the country’s scarcely food shortage, and if you did have more than two children you would either be forced to hide that child away from a dangerous group called the Population Police for their whole lives (because if the Population Police find an illegal child/adult, they will murder the child/adult and arrest the accomplices hiding that illegal), or your child would have to get a fake ID which states that they are a different person (a person that is legally accepted). Though these fake ID’s are highly expensive and really hard to get.

For the month of November, I read the science fiction book that is Among the Betrayed by Margaret Peterson Haddix. This story is the third installment of the series: The Shadow Series. In Among the Betrayed we follow a thirteen year old girl by the name of Nina Idi (whose real name is Elodie Luria) who is an illegal child. The all-girls boarding school that Nina attends is filled with illegal girls though no one really talks about it because no one wants the Population Police to find out. One day when Nina is eating breakfast in the big dining hall, the Population Police unknowingly burst into the room and surprisingly arrest her. Nina first assumes that it’s because they have found out that she is an illegal child, and someone must’ve turned her in, someone who knew her secret. Though when she is thrown into a jail cell and forced to talk to a strange man they let it slip that the reason she was even arrested in the first place was that someone had betrayed her by stating that she was exposing other alleged illegal children. In fact the Population Police who arrested her don’t even question that she is an illegal child. Nina, in the end, is given an ultimatum by the Population Police to either prove that she is innocent or not. The ultimatum states that if she successfully convinces a group of young child prisoners (Matthias, Percy, and Alia), who were arrested for being illegal children, to trust her enough to fess up who was hiding them and where they got their fake IDs, she will be set free and Matthias, Percy, and Alia will be executed by the Population Police. Though if Nina does not follow through with this ultimatum, she will be executed by the Population Police. Will Nina choose to betray three young children prisoners for them to be executed, or will she not go through with the ultimatum and be executed herself?!

I recommend reading this book because not only are most of the chapters short (though the book is more than 300 pages), but almost every chapter either ends with a crazy plot twist you were never expecting or with a nail biting cliffhanger that leaves you wanting to read more. This story takes you on a wild ride which includes life-threatening decisions, astonishing character appearances, joyful times, heartbreaking times, betrayal, times of survival, and much more. This book often leaves readers questioning if they would be able to survive if they were an illegal child. I also feel Margaret Peterson Haddix (the author) did a phenomenal job of showing realistic characters. She showed that none of the characters are perfect, and they all have their relatable and unrelatable ups and downs of likability throughout the book.

My favorite character in this book would have to be Alia, and I choose her because she is clever beyond her years for only being around six years old, and as sweet as sugar. A quote that supports that Alia is clever beyond her years for only being around six years old is on page 137, “It looked like she was sawing at the wire, making the cut as jagged and rough as possible.” This is clever because as Alia explains when cutting a wire to escape from somewhere/someone, you don’t want to cut straight through the wire to make it look like a human(s) escaped. It is better to do what she is doing which is cutting the wire to make it look more like mice chewed the wire instead of a human escaped. Also she is clever beyond her years because a usual child that’s around six years old wouldn’t even know how to cut a wire with the type of knowledge Alia is using.

My favorite quote of this book is on page 24, “If she wasn’t Elodie anymore, if she was supposed to be this strange new person, Nina Idi, then she wasn’t Aunty Zenka’s little melody, she wasn’t Gran’s little sweetiekins, she wasn’t the one beloved ray of sunshine in an apartment full of tired old women. She wasn’t anybody at all.” This is my favorite quote because it basically sums up how cruel and dangerous the illegal third born law is. Children have to hideaway for their whole life, labeled as an illegal, and they don’t even get to experience any life outside. Even if they do get a fake ID stating that their a different person, a person who is legally accepted, it still will take a toll on the child by saying that in order for them to exist they cannot exist with the people they love, they can’t live with their original name, they have to hide so many secrets even when they do finally go outside into the real world, and it just leaves them feeling lonely. I think this quote also just shows how well Margaret Peterson Haddix (author) is at getting her thoughts across on how she wants the plot of the series to be interpreted: there is no easy way out for illegal third borns/illegal children to live freely.

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