Book Review #23 ~ Fever 1793

Alright so I realized that I haven't done a book review in quite some time, so I decided to write up another one. This book is actually quite an intriguing one, and although the beginning may be boring, don't be fooled; it's actually a quite wonderful story.
Fever 1793 ~ Laurie Halse Anderson

13-year-old Matilda is a confident and independent young girl who helps her mother run their coffeehouse. She lives in the hustle and bustle of Philidelphia, but then disaster strikes. People everywhere, all over the country start to fall over dead from the deadly Yellow Fever. It starts out as a topic for small talk at the coffehouse, then makes it's way up to the point where it's an epidemic. The once hustling, bustling Philidelphia now appears to be a ghost town, for everybody who isn't deathly ill has fled the town, fearing that they too may be a victim of the treacherous disease. Matilda also comes down with it eventually, and struggles to recover. She keeps fighting so that she may regain her well beign, and her strength of mind gives her strength of body, which makes her well again. When she recovers, she is with no one but her grandfather, who isn't in perfect condition either. They make their way back to the city after being attacked by highway men when they were fleeing. When she returns to the city, she starts helping with others that are sick, and as the people are slowly regaining their strength, Matilda faithfully presses on towards the deay when all of Philidelphia will be free from the horrible fever.

This book is actually based on a real event, and it has all the information about it at the back of the book. The book has quite a gripping plot, and it hooks you on to the story. However, it didn't hook you on immediately, as I would've liked, but later on in the book. It was still a great story, and I do recommend everyone to read it.

Thank you for tuning in, and come back next time for more!!

Comment

Hello universe! :)

So I've kinda' noticed lately that note a lot of people are commenting on my blog.

I just thought I'd make a post and let you know. Please feel free to comment. Whatever it is. Just tell me what you thought of my post or comment any questions that you might have for me. :) I'm happy to reply to your comments - Because I'm just that cool. I CARE ABOUT MY READERS!

It makes my day when I see a comment pop up on my blog, just because I'm glad to see that people are actually reading my posts! And for those who do not know how to comment on my blog, here is a set of instructions:

1. scroll down to the end of post and click '0 comments' (1 comments, 2 comments, whatever.)

2. Type in your comment in the box.

3. At the bottom, where it says 'comment as:' click Name/URL. You don't have to put in the URL, but you can if you want.

3. Click 'Post Comment.'

YAY YOUR COMMENT HAS BEEN POSTED!

So that is how you post a comment on my blog. Now that I have included the instructions in my post, please feel free to comment more often, folks!

Thanks! I'll see you next time~!!

The Rockies! Day 4

Although I haven't done a post on the Rockies in a while, I am still following up with it! So here I go with....
The Rockies! Day 4

So after sleeping at that horrible Lake Louise Campground, we finally made our way to the definitely not horrible Lake Louise. The lake really was as beautiful as everybody said it was. The colour of the water was simply heavenly. It was a blue-green colour, but had a turquoise hint to it. It had a bit of white thrown in too, so it made a lovely swirly colour in the water. The mountains in the backround just completed the scene, and made the whole place picture perfect.

 There was also a trail to hike, and that took us about thirty minutes. It wasn't too long, so I liked the hike very much. You basically just walk along the shore of the lake, so you always have a magnificent view while walking. After the hike, we looked around the Lake Louise Chateau (A Fancy Schmancy Hotel) and marvelled at all the wonderful items in the shops and around the hotel. We walked by the people eating lunch there a few times and my dad decided that we could eat there for lunch. Although the meal was a bit expensive, I loved eating there. The food was first-rate, and I loved the view of Lake Louise from the big windows inside the restauraunt. It was a beautiful hotel, and I ended up promising to my parents that when I got older, I would earn lots of money and send them to this hotel for their anniversary.

So after leaving the beautiful lake, we headed on to see Morraine Lake, the next stop on our list. Although it was quite lovely, I have to say that it was nothing compared to Lake Louise. When we got there, after walking a few steps down the trail with my mom, I got drawn to the gift shop and spent the majority of my time there, looking at all the small souvenirs that they were selling and trying on different sunglasses with my dad. The gift shop was quite fun, actually! After reluctantly being dragged away from the shop empty-handed, we piled into our van and drove on towards Banff Hotsprings. We were looking forward to sitting in that warm and pleasant pool after a long day of hiking and driving. After changing into our bathing suits, we went outside, and boy, was it chilly out. Certainly not weather to be running around in your swimming suit.

So I eagerly jumped into the steaming pool and relaxed as I thawed my body out a bit. I loved that you could see the snow topped mountains in the distance and all the lush green trees surrounding it. It was really magnificent to be there. We wanted to stay until the stars came out, but because we didn't have dinner yet, we were pretty hungry and decided to leave. So we made our way over to the next campground we were to sleep at : Village II Campground. Now this campground was ten times better compared to Lake Louise Campground. Although it did have a feeling of parking on a street and sleeping there, it was so much better. The bathrooms were much cleaner and bigger too. Some people might say that it lacked privacy, but since everybody was tucked up in their RVs all warm and cozy, we didn't feel that way at all. Our plans were to eat dinner and then return to the hotsprings to soak ourselves some more, but seeing that we were all exhausted, we decided to stay in and rest instead. So we gulped down our dinner and clambered into the van, eager for the warmth. Although it was much earlier than when we usually slept, we lay down snuggled next to each other as sleep slowly overcame each of us.

That was the end of day three, folks! Thank you for coming to read my post, and stay tuned for more!

I Have News...

Alrighty everybody. Hold your breath. I have news.
It's actually really big news.

I... I... I'm moving again. But no, not just to a different home. To an entirely different COUNTRY!

Yes, I will officially be moving from Vancouver, B.C., Canada, to L.A., California, U.S.A. We will be driving to L.A., seeing all the sights on the way. We will be saying goodbye to Vancouver for the last time on November 4. I am, actually pretty excited, but then there's that pang you feel, the one you feel whenever you move away from someplace you've been for a long time. In my case, I've grown up in Vancouver and spent my entire school life here. I have made all of my friends in Vancouver and they all remain in Vancouver. I wonder what I'm going to do without them when I get to L.A. But truthfully, I am completely O.K. with our move. Yes, I will miss Vancouver; and Canada. Yes, I will be pretty downcast to have to leave my friends. Yes, I am quite worried that I might not be able to adjust to a whole new country as well as new friends and a new school. But I am still excited to go. I always think of it as an adventure, and there are a lot of bright sides to going, actually. I will get to see what it's like to move from class to class and have lockers! I will be able to bask in the sun more often. I can visit Hollywood Blvd. as much as I want~! I can get more of Pinkberry, my favourite frozen yogurt stand. DISNEYLAND + UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!

As you can see, if you think about it, you can find the bright side in everything, although you may find a few bumps in the road!! (Remind me to tell myself that when I actually do come across 'a bump in the road.') I am especially excited for our trip there, when I think of all the sights that we'll see! But now that I have given myself a pep talk, here's what I'm worried about:

1. I will be going to a new school with a totally different curriculum than Canada.

2. New school means new friends. New friends are not always so easy to make.

3. The curriculum in the U.S. is harder than the curriculum in Canada.
4. How does the national anthem go again...?

5. What American history?

6. I will definitely miss going to the lush green mountains of B.C.

7. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually will miss the downpours that we get.

Those were a few of the many things that I am worried about when we get to L.A.

But as of right now, I'm happy that we're going. Part of the reason is because my parents promised that all three of us would get an iPhone 5. (Yes, it just came out a few days ago)

Anyways, I will tell you all about the trip there in November and how everything is going. But as of right now, I have to study up on Algebra 1, the national anthem, and American History.

Please wish me luck on our move!!

The Rockies! Day 3

The Rockies! Day 3
So I'm back to tell you about the third day of my trip to the Rockies.

As always, I was quite reluctant to get out of the warm, heated car to prepare to go to our next stop: Edith Cavell Mountain. Just to give you an idea of how cold it was: when you changed into your clothes in the morning after you got out of bed, your clothes felt like blocks of ice against your skin. Bascially everything in the car was almost frozen except for my family, our clothes, and our sleeping bags. I really didn't want to get out of bed, partly because it was so cold and partly because it was so early. But of course, there was no choice but to get up and move, so eventually I dragged my toasty warm body out into the cold (cold? More like FREEZING) morning air and prepared everything to go to the mountain. Edith Cavell was pretty close to our campground Wabasso, so it was convenient to go there. Edith Cavell was actually really beautiful. It had these lines on the sides of the mountains, like layers. When you got up there, it was pretty cold, but not exactly unbearable when we started walking up to the summit. It didn't take a long time, just a few minutes. And when we got up there, something really unexpected popped up in front of us. It was a lake that was frozen over. It was pretty thin ice though, so if you put any pressure whatsoever onto it, it would break into pieces. My dad and I had a lot of fun spending our time there, breaking off shards of ice and throwing them onto the ice,

watching them shatter on the surface. Although our hands got really red and freezing cold, it was still really fun to do. After we played there for a while, I caught sight of people walking up to a cave and decided that I wanted to go check out this cave. So we hiked up through the rocky path - it was literally rocky. Rocks everywhere. - to the cave. The cave was also frozen, and it had blocks of ice on the walls and ceiling of the cave that were dripping water onto the ground. It was actually really really cool, and the cave went deep into the mountain, but it was obviously too dark and dangerous to go through, even though I would've liked to.

So after taking a satisfying amount of pictures, we left for the Colombia Icefields, which is basically self explanatory. It's like a field of ice, and so we stopped there and ate lunch in the car, then hiked up to where the icefields were. You can actually pay to go with a group in a special car and drive around the icefields, but we didn't do that. We just hiked up. The hike up was pretty steep, and you wouldn't believe how windy it was. It was extremely windy, and the temperature was probably below zero. And as far as I know, windy and cold don't really make a great combination. But I have to admit, it was pretty breathtaking once you got to the top, and the windiness actually got pretty enjoyable, seeing your hair whip around your face in all directions. After being whipped around by the wind a bit, we hiked back down, taking baby steps so that we didn't fall and tumble all the way down. Then we drived and drived and drived until we reached the Lake Louise Campground. We had to wait in a really long line to get in, and I have to say, if I could describe it in one word, it would be... HORRIBLE. The campground was horrible. The showers sprayed all over the place and were cold, the bathrooms were small and dirty, you had share one big campground space, a train passed, tooting it's horn, making you wake up every few hours, and there were no lamposts or anything, so it was pitch black. The reason there were so many people there was because it was the only campsite in the area that had full hookups. I recommend that you keep driving until you find some other place, because Lake Louise Campground has so many things to complain about. I had a restless sleep that night, waking up every few hours because of that loud train...

That's it for today, folks, I'll see you next time!!

Mentorship

Hello, fellow readers~!!

So I have come back with somewhat- well, I guess pretty exciting news. I went to an interview to see if I qualified for a mentorship, and after a while of answering Ms. Milden's questions, she informed me that I was accepted into the program and that they would try to find a mentor for me to work with. The area of mentorship I qualified for is writing. I actually love writing a lot, hence the reason I started this blog. I actually started out just writing once in a while, but my love for writing grew and grew as I started writing more often on this blog. It was great to get the chance to be interviewed, and I loved it even more since I got accepted and will get to be with a mentor that would help my writing skills climb higher and eventually (hopefully) write a story!! You see, my main goal is to write a capturing story that makes the reader smile and be driven to tears and burst out laughing. Anybody can start a story. Not a lot of people can continue on and finish one. I'm kind of one of the people that can't figure out a good enough ending to finish it. Sometimes it's because my mind is completely blank and I'm just sitting there, trying to conjure up an idea from the back of my head. Sometimes I have a million things running through my mind but I just can't decide which one would stand out against the others. I could really use a mentor that would give me bits of advice here and there and help me to create a riveting story. Anyways, it's a really great experience that I am grateful to encounter! Special thanks to my teachers (from my old school and my new school) that recommended me for this program! I am forever thankful, and I often wonder what this word would be without teachers!

Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked.

Anyways, I just wanted to tell you that I'm beginning my mentorship, and I just thought that I would share the news with you!
Stay tuned for more, folks~!




                                                                                           
                                                                  Above: What a mentorship looks like. :)