Evan's Take

Melinda's Thoughts about Leo

Why is Leo so powerless?  He doesn't show any of his power.   He is very smart but he doesn't use his brain. I insult him, but he won't insult me back.   His dad is King Maggot and I am obsessed with him, and it's ironic that he one gets a father when I don't even have one.    Plus his father is King  Maggot, my idol.   He has no idea how awesome he is.    We come from two different sides,  he is a republican, and I am a goth.   He needs to get to know people who are goth.  He is worried about getting into Harvard and I am worried about Nebs injury.  He needs to just have some fun sometimes.  We are very different, but we are friends.

Leo's thoughts about Melinda


Melinda doesn't know that I don't insult her because the father incident.  I always feel bad to do anything mean to her because of that.   She is probably mad too because my father is Kimg Maggot, her idol.   She thinks that King Maggot is the coolest guy on earth, but when you have a father that just left you with your mom, you can't really forgive someone who does that.    And sure she is a goth, but the  music they listen to is crazy.   I am a republican and I worry about serious things like my future, while she cares about a band that is awful.

Sam's Take

I read BORN TO ROCK and I thought it was a really good book, but there were a few things that I did not like. These things were near the beginning of the book. One problem, that I found, was the fact that the main character kept referring to “McMurphy” and/or his “genetic hitch-hiker”. I found both of these terms rather confusing during the time at the beginning of the story in which they had not been clearly defined. The author should have started the book with the part in which both terms are defined. Another problem I had with the beginning of the book was that it was not as fast-paced as I like books to be. That is not, what I would call, a writing error, it is just an opinion, but it still diminished my enjoyment of the book in that the slow beginning made it harder for me to become interested in the story.

The main part that I liked about the book is that in the end everything turned out well. For instance Leo was able to obtain enough money to get in to Harvard. That surprised me because many of the other books I have read this year had what appeared to be an unhappy ending, at a glance. I have always enjoyed books that have a thoroughly happy ending. I loved this book, and I would recommend it to anyone.

Megan's Monster Cast List

Monster

Cast List

Steve Harmon- Craig Johnson

Kathy O’Brien- Meryl Streep

Sandra Petrocelli- Sigourney Weaver

James King- Chris Borwn

Richard “Bobo” Evans- Jason Derulo

Asa Briggs- Christopher Plummer

The Judge- Harrison Ford

Osvaldo Cruz- Jaden Smith

Jose Delgado- Taylor Lautner

Sal Zinzi- Keenan Thompson

Detective Karyl- Seth Rogen

Mr. Alguinaldo Nesbitt- Morgan Freeman

 Mr. George Sawicki- George Clooney

Danielle's Take

Born To Rock

Danielle

Dear Bernie,

 Or Dad. Or whatever I should call you.

You’ve set a kind of curse upon me, a rotten one, or so I thought. I’ve spent the last seventeen years of my life without ever meeting you. A simple greeting would have made my day, my month, or my year. But, me, as naïve as I am, thought my father was to be King Maggot? Ha, I should have caught on. He has too much of a heart to be you, anyway. With a mask on his face identical to yours, he could never be you.

The dirty, sneaky tongues you spoke to my mother, you spoke to my girlfriend, Melinda.

How dare you? Do you stoop that low? No matter the age…you knew Melinda was my close friend, and just turned eighteen the month before. But you did not care, correct? You went beyond boundaries. But, I guess that’s what all McMurphys’ seem to do, hm?

All of my life, well since I was eight, I’ve wondered who McMurphy was. Now that I am aware, I’m proud to say I’m a McMurphy because my Father pretty much IS King Maggot, the greatest. Other days, I have to stop seizing to remember that it is you, my “father”, and I feel ashamed.

Thanks for nothing,

Your SON,

The Young Republican

Ms. Caraway's guilt

The tangy aftertaste of beer. Music. The distinct smell of second hand smoke. Yes, the smoke. That’s what I remember the most. A cloud of it, surrounding me, filling me. No matter how hard I try to get rid of the smoke, it never seems to leave. I breathed it in the night I met Leo’s father, and I just can’t seem to exhale. There is not a day that goes by when I don’t feel immense disdain for my son. There is not a second that goes by that I am not thankful for him.

            “Mom,” Leo whispered. I couldn’t pull myself away from the 100-piece jigsaw puzzle I was working on. It was a replica of Frida Kahlo’s “Self portrait with thorn necklace and hummingbird” that seemed unsolvable at the moment.

            “Leo, I’m busy. Can this wait?” I could feel the smoke growing hot inside of me. Leo had just spent an entire summer with his father. A man I neither loved, nor hated. Honestly, the man was a mystery. I had spent years replaying his songs, over and over again, waiting for a spark that never came. His voice was completely foreign. The muddled chords were completely indistinguishable. I couldn’t meet Leo’s eyes because he now had more of a connection with his father than I ever had.

            Leo reached out and plucked the puzzle piece from my hand. I grasped the air, attempting to snatch it way from him. Without my puzzles, I was helpless. Without my puzzles, I would be forced to face the one puzzle that actually mattered, my son.  “Mom, it’s ok.” There was something about the way he gave a faint smile that made me exhale. The smoke leaving my lungs empty.

            “I’m sorry about you father, Leo.  I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I sat down then, out of breath and completely exhausted. 18 years of smoke will do that to you. Finally, I was able to breathe in new air. “But, there’s only so many times a person can say ‘I’m sorry.’” I shook my head, slowly, giving the air time to settle.  

            Leo laughed. There was no derision in his laugh though. “I know mom. I know.” I looked up at him as he placed the last piece of the puzzle into the open slot. He winked at me, then, ridding the house of whatever smoke was left. “I know,” he whispered. With that, he gathered his things and left to unpack two suitcases of rotting clothes. I swear to god, right then a cloud of smoke drifted from my mouth, out of the chimney, and into the silent night air. Drifting away. Far away. To another mother facing the tangy aftertaste of beer, music, and the distinct smell of second hand smoke.

Born to Rock Review

         Gordon Korman's Born to Rock is one of the best reading bowl books so far this year. A particularly good part was the way the author hinted at things that we did not yet know about throughout the novel, such as talking about the mysterious 'McMurphy' side of Leo in the beginning and alluding to the horrible cavity search throughout the book. One thing that was a little annoying was that Leo, who has known Melinda his entire life, only started liking her in a romantic way when she was revealed to be pretty. That detail was pretty shallow.
       An interesting part of the story that was enjoyable was how Leo's mother worked on puzzles when she was anxious. This sort of connected to the Book Thief and the accordions, and/or the lack of one. Leo's mom used the puzzles as a way of masking her guilt and anxiety for Leo and the family. She did not express her true emotion, and feelings bottled up inside of her until she was ready to explode. She did not have a metaphorical accordion, and that kept her from having a deeper connection to Leo.
        All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Born to Rock, and I felt a connection with the characters that made me sad to finish it. By Brooks

The Day I Got My Genetic Hitchhiker

Katherine Jordak

I found out about Marion X. McMurphy two weeks before my 4^th grade class was going to Canada, but my genetic hitchhiker surfaced the following weekend when I went to Florida with my Mom and Dad.

            The white foam rushed towards me as I stood on the beach. I walked up to the refreshing water to wash the annoying sand that had crept between my toes, but as I walked towards it, the ocean started retreating to its original watery world. I chased it, and when I reached it, I splashed, and jumped, and ran into the water. In order to catch my breath, I sat down. My bright orange trunks filled with the cool and salty water. Everything around me was salty, yet so sweet; the water, my skin, and the crisp air that had cooled down after a scorching afternoon. I scooted off of the sandbar, wanting to be deeper in the always-moving water.

            “I claim this water,” I said in barely a whisper, not wanting my dad to hear my childish statement. Was wanting to have my own part of an ocean that bad?   Water I could control and hold in the palm of my hand, only to have it slowly drip out, so that it could be filled with another handful. I loved this water, but I would never tell my parents that. They were so good at keeping what they loved, what they hated, and what they were jealous of to themselves, so shouldn’t I?  Whenever Mom gets nervous about something, she does a puzzle. I can’t tell whether or not she does it to express herself, or if it is a distraction. I guess you could say that the mixture of the two is what the ocean is to me. I can put my feeling into the ocean and distract myself with the sweet and salty water, too.

            “Leo, it’s getting dark outside and the ocean will be cold soon. It is time for you to get out, so we can go eat the lovely dinner your Mom made.” I heard my Dad shout just as I was about to swim farther out.

            “Dad, I’m mature enough to stay out here past 7. Please, just 10 more minutes?” I begged, already turning away from him.

            “ If you were mature, then you would be out of the water by now.” I could feel the tension and anger leaking into his voice. “Let’s go.”

            “Why don’t you come in, Dad?”

            “ I already took a shower. I’m not about to come in today.” He said, disgusted. “If you don’t come out now, I’m taking away your legos.” Fine, I thought, take them all away. I wiggled my fingers into the hardening sand, digging a hole. I had been hoping to uncover a metal pole buried in the sand that I could hold onto, so that I wouldn’t have to leave. My dad kept yelling out things that he would take from me, and the whole time I felt like the waves around me were getting higher and crashing down harder. I got up, kicked the water, and stormed out of my beloved ocean. My Dad had started folding the beach chair he brought and taking down the umbrella, and that’s when I thought of a good way to get back at him. I grabbed the beach chair from his hand and ran back towards the ocean. I threw it as hard as I could, but instead of watching it soar, I sprinted towards the waiting car.

            “We are never coming to the beach with you again.” he said, his words racing after the heels of my feet. The back seat door was open and I flopped inside and slammed the door shut, trying to leave the words outside, but they were too fast. This would be the right time to cry, but I was in no mood to show any weakness. Instead, I blamed the anger. I couldn’t have been the one who threw the chair. McMurphy, I thought, the man who ruined my life, my genetic hitchhiker. It was perfect, but back then the naming of my anger was definitely unconscious.

We drove home in silence, McMurphy sitting on my shoulders. I got home, was threatened about my punishment, and then sent into my room for the night. I didn’t cry because I knew it wasn’t me they were punishing; it was McMurphy. That night I slipped into my sheets. As I was drifting off, McMurphy climbed off of my shoulders and into my veins, swimming around inside of me. It was then that I realized that McMurphy was there to stay.