Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Into Thin Air is a personal account of the Mt. Everest disaster in 1996*. Jon Krakauer dreamed of climbing Everest as a child. Climbing was his life but he decided to quite when he got married. When he got an offer at his job to write an article about climbing Everest as a first person guide, he immediately excepted. Joining an commercial expedition with Rob HallFaced with the challenge of the Everest disaster.


Though this is a nonfiction book it is written like a fiction adventure book. I highly recommend it. There is lots of cursing in this book, but I think anyone in our class can read it and should.

*Disaster struck on May 10, 1996 as four different expeditions all attempted to reach the summit. Guide Anatoli Boukreev took his team to the top early in the day, with Rob Hall and Scott Fischer’s teamclose behind. When a powerful storm came up suddenly, the climbers were trapped in a precarious position. Even strong and experienced climbers such as Hall and Fischer, both Everest veterans, could only struggle short distances down the peak. Boukreev descended to the nearest camp without his clients, ostensibly to be in a better position to rescue them. (In his book, Krakauer was highly critical of this move. Boukreev countered Krakauer’s version of the story with his own in The Climb, published in 1997.)


Hall and Fischer stayed with their clients but the continuing storm made everyone vulnerable to death as oxygen supplies ran out. Although technology allowed Rob Hall to talk to his wife in New Zealand by satellite phone, there was nothing that could be done to save eight of the climbers, including both Hall and Fischer, who could not make it back to camp. - http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/death-on-mount-everest

Poetry On Thursday

Poem one:

Coming in,

Breathing out,

Wondering. 

Darkness floods

through 

and around every 

corner.

Along

with the dark,

haziness, comes 

a memory.

Or two, 

a few.

Glimpses of

my past.

Staring out 

a window,

I am wondering.

As I walk away,

my memories go,

wandering,

 drifting,

then they

just slip

out 

the window.

Poem two:

A strip of purple.

Titled: The Logan School 

On top of windows,

Above doors.

In front of the 

building 

that is

forever 

etched

in

memory.

A tree,

splintering 

up, against

the 

hard,

grey 

sky.

Sounds Scary,

It is.

It is scary 

because

I have spent 

my whole life

with this

building.

And yet,

some hallways are

unfamiliar.

Only because

it has been 

years

since I walked through 

them.

Sitting on the grass,

looking back.

To that one

single

strip of 

purple.

Purple the color of

one single drop 

of grape.

How can 

a strip

of purple

know me?

How has it been 

able

to see me

grow?

From the first day,

until...

now, here

sitting,

looking back

to a strip of 

purple metal.

My Limericks:

1: written in the Lobby

There once was a girl from far away

but she had plans to stay.

But she saw her friend from long ago,

and leaping into their arms caused quite the show.

Now she went with her friend to explore the place she was to stay.

2: written in the C220 UFA:

There once was a girl from far away

The tiles in a hall were her family.

She recognized each one,

and had lots of fun.

But now she is grown up and she has left that hallway.

3: written in the UFA next to Tari's class:

There was once a girl next to a clock ticking,

behind her, the sun shining.

AT a table so familiar,

that she left behind her

as her legs grew longer and her life started running. 

Free Verse Poem

Poem 1: Max and Kam's class

I can hear people learning

I can hear collaborative 

voices

talking with each other.

Wondering

Answering 

Questioning

I can hear people learning,

pencils scratching

feet stomping

heads wondering.

I can hear people learning.

Poem 2: The Lobby

I keep drifting off

flashing back.

Back to me,

a four year old.

Hand in hand 

with my parents.

Walking in,

looking.

Seeing stairs leading

up to the unknown.

Seeing two hallways. 

Seeing the art room

I desperately wanted 

to explore.

Being lead 

down

the blue hallway 

to one of the 

best days of my life.

Back to me,

six years old.

Walking in with my parents

To a new hallway

that was hidden 

behind the stairs.

Back to the day

that I was terrified. 

Going upstairs for the

very

first

time.

I looked down the hallways,

to the front desk 

for a helpful smile

that I then received.

I embarked up the stairs,

no longer going back.

I am going forward. 

Poem 3: Library

I feel a piece of hard wood

right below my shoulder blades

directly on my spine.

My feet and head lean 

against a rainbow 

of book spines.

I sit on rough carpet 

the color people call grape.

I don't know why.

No grapes are the color

grape.

Above me,  the ceiling.

A house to

two lights.

I hid here. 

When I was small,

I liked the way the 

books made me feel.

They made me feel calm, safe.

I hid from all my worries.

I hid from the stress and newness

of the upstairs.

I was hidden between the

book shelves.

Maybe I just wanted to be read. 

13 Reasons Why

Hannah Baker is dead. Not on accident, because she killed herself. In her wake, she left audio tapes to be mailed around the thirteen people whose fault it was that she was dead. Clay Jenson wants nothing to do with the tapes, but finds himself on them.

I liked this book, but I didn't get sad, and I was expecting more emotion in the book. I did't attach to
Clay, so I couldn't feel his pain. I wish I could have gotten more into the book because it is pretty well written. Warnings: Most (if not all) of the people in our class can read this book, but it does have some advanced (per-say) topics.

:)

Occasional Poem

I feel my feet lift

And bound, 

There is no

Gravity.

What a great feeling 

To see the 

Earth and the

Stars as a whole.

To see the 

Whole world 

While putting

A flag 

In the grey

Dust.

What a great feeling

To be able to just

Lift your feet

And jump.

It feels like you are flying.

What a great feeling to

Put a flag

In the ground,

But this ground is

Untouched.

There is no wind.

Our footprints will be 

There,

Sitting there

Forever.

What a great feeling,

 but yet so scary to see 

your planet so, so far away.

I wonder...

Will I make it home?

There is worries,

But I feel alive.

Ode To Coco (My Dog)

Fluffy in the winter

Soft in the summer

Fast, running, jumping

A faint blur of black and white

Zipping By

Can you see her?

Going by so fast 

So determined to catch 

Catch just one

Squirrel or maybe a bird

Jingling with the tags in her collar

Pulling hard on the leash

She wants to run

and run and run

But I won't let her 

Won't let my little furr-ball run away

Zipping by on the fly

But then getting so sleepy

Lying in a itty-bitty ball

By the fireplace

She is all mine

My little puppy 

Haikus

The caterpillar

Climbed up the rather small branches

Getting ready to fly

The butterfly climbs

Up the branches ready to fly

Up and up and up

Bright vibrant colors shine

On the wings of this creature

Who flies with a smile

Unremembered by Jessica Brody

Freedom Airlines flight 121 went down into the pacific and all the passengers died. All but Violet, a teen who is perfect and has violet eyes. She was unharmed, but lands in the hospital with no memory at all. Then she sees this boy, Zen. He knows who she is - and says she has a different name and had anything but a normal past - but can Violet trust him? The only thing she truly knows is hers is a locket that reads: S+Z=1609.

I really liked this book. It has a slow start, and when the plot really started, I realized I was halfway through the book. It ends in a cliffhanger that I won't spoil, but I thought it was a great ending. My favorite character is Violet because I like how she tells the story. Jessica Brody wrote it so you were just as confused as Violet, but in a good way.

SOL April 8

A poem about yesterday:

Yesterday was yesterday

it is behind me.

The wind was flying through my hair

yesterday was yesterday.

I did throw a disk, 

I did some math,

I went to matrix,

and

I hoped it wouldn't rain.

Yesterday was yesterday.

A poem about today:

Today is now

I am going through it.

My hair is not flying,

I did not throw a disk.

Today is now.

I have sat at my desk,

gone to the library.

I have researched 

I have written.

Today is now.

A poem about tomorrow:

Tomorrow is the unknown.

I don't know what i'll do. 

Maybe some work,

maybe a trip to the library or two.

Tomorrow is the unknown.

I don't know what i'll do.

But I know I will explore.

Four By Veronica Roth

This is a prequel to the Divergent series. It is about Four, and his life as an initiate up to a few weeks after he meets Tris. It shows his opinions about his Dad, Dauntless, and Tris. He ended up knowing about a lot that he did not revel in the other books. I like the way his character was even more defined, it made you think back on the series and have different opinions about Four. It was a great ending to the series. Veronica Roth is a great author and I cannot wait to read more of her books.

TBR:

13 Reasons Why

5th Wave

Recommendations?