It's hard to not recognize the name LeBron James these days.  From the massive amounts of hype surrounding him as he left high school for the NBA, to his highly scrutinized lack of performance in last year's NBA Finals, LeBron James has always been under the microscope of the media and other people.  But does he deserve all of the criticism he has faced since his performance in the playoffs last June?  And do the Miami Heat have a chance of winning the finals this year despite all of the…

Last weekend, I found myself watching what I consider to be one of the scariest movies of all times, called Misery.  The film is about a famous author who nearly dies in a car accident during a snow storm.  A former nurse who is also a huge fan of his books saves him and takes him to her isolated farm home to help him recover.  But she refuses to eventually take him to a real hospital.  Instead she holds him hostage in her home and her psychotic and unpredictable behavior makes life…

Clay is a sixteen year old going to school at a rehabilitation center called Daytop where teens can get help for their drug problems while continuing their education.  When Clay's cousin Addison also shows up at Daytop, he is happy to be reunited with him.  But shortly after, Clay and Addison find themselves chasing another member of Daytop on the roof of a building in the projects over some gambling money when police officers gun down Addison, mistaking his gun-shaped wallet for an actual…

English is definitely my favorite subject for many reasons, but one sticks out to me in particular.  To me there is nothing better than a simple class discussion, in which the teacher asks some sort of question pertaining to the story being read, and then the students take turns responding and sharing their thoughts.  I feel like I learn so much from these discussions just by listening to my classmates, considering what they have to say, and then forming new and improved ideas of my own…

For this quarter's independent reading, I read Quiet Strength, an autobiography written by the recently retired Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy.  In his book, Dungy talks about his journey to becoming the head coach of a Super Bowl winning team, and how his faith and morals helped him along the way.  I found Tony Dungy to be inspiring because of his ability to stay humble as well his the way he perserviered even when things were not going well for him. 

If you ever…

While reading First They Killed My Father, I found it very interesting when Loung said that she wished that she could just completely forget about her family so that she would not be in so much pain.  On the surface this may seem like a rather inconsiderate comment that Loung said without thinking about first, but after dwelling on this idea that Loung presented during her narration of the story, I realized that I was able to understand and even agree with her opinion about…

In "My Antonia," we see how the prairie is very important to Antonia.  It is where she feels most comfortable being, and it is where she chooses to raise her children.  Antonia's love for the prairie is something we can all relate to.  We all have a place where we feel most comfortable, and for me that…

     After reading my summer reading books, I realized that there was one universal truth that nicely tied together all of the books that I read in a logical way: You never truly know someone, no matter how long you have been aware of their existence.

     In The Devil in the White City, author Erik Larson brings together two separate stories surrounding Chicago's 1893 World's Fair, an event that still influences modern culture today. …