Figurative language is everywhere. It’s used in lots of stories and books. Examples are, similes, metaphors, and idioms. Figurative language is a great way of describing thing differently.

A simile is a comparison using ”as” or ”like”. It explains how something is similar to another thing by linking them together with an adjective. For example, blind as a bat, brave as a lion, and as cold as ice. It is a very interesting and affective way of making a comparison.

A metaphor suggests that two different things are the same thing. It elaborates on the fact that two, very different things, can have enough in common to be considered the same thing. Examples are, Life is a ladder, time is money, and the world is a stage. I think that metaphors are a wonderful way of describing things.

An idiom is when something means something other than it’s literal meaning. It takes a phrase that people wouldn’t typically use and change it’s meaning. For example, draw a blank, a grey area, and to give it a shot. A think an idiom is an inspiring and intelligent way of speaking.

To sum it up, I think that figurative language is delightful. I think it helps people understand that when someone says something, it doesn’t always mean hat it sounds like.

 

 

In the upcoming provincial election there are three main political parties. The NDP,  Conservative, and Liberal. Each party has elected a candidate  to run for premier. Each party also has a platform with explains what they would do if they were elected. The party with the most amount of votes wins the election.

NDP stands for New Democratic Party. Their candidate is Andrea Horwath. If she is elected she wants to enlarge hospital capacity and  shorten waits for surgeries, build 65,000, new affordable homes in the next decade, as well as, updating  and enforcing the Pay Equality Act to address the gender wage gap, and start using more renewable energy sources such as, solar, wind, and water. Right now she has around 37.1% of the total votes.

The Conservative candidate is Doug Ford. If he is elected he wants to, reduce gas prices 10 cents per litre, give tax relief to lower and middle class families, get 15,000, new long-term care beds, over the next five years and invest $3.8 billion in mental health, addiction, and housing supports over the next ten years. Right now he has around 37.2% of the total votes.

The Liberals are in power federally, and for the time being, provincially. Their candidate is Kathleen Wynne. If she is elected she wants to, provide $70 million for off-reserve projects for Indigenous children and families over the next two years, ensure all high schools have access to mental health workers, invests approximately $20 million over three years to launch Ontario’s Climate Change Resiliency Organization, and provide public land to build new affordable, rental housing in Toronto and Hamilton. Right now she has about 19.1% of the total votes.

There is also the green party which, at the time being, has 5.1% of the votes. The other 1.5% of votes is split between independent candidates running for premier.

Now that you have learned about the three main political parties and what they stand for I hope you vote for a party whose plan you believe in.

 

I’m doing my book review on Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Wonder is about how August Pullman starts school. The book is split into eight parts. Three of the parts are from August’s perspective and the other five parts are from other character’s perspectives. August has a facial deformation. His eyes are too far down on his face and his eyelids are to shallow so his eyes bulge out of his face. His nose is too big for his face and his mouth is a small hole. He had a piece of his hip removed and put in his mouth because he didn’t have a jaw bone. Before school starts August gets a tour of the school by three students, Julian, Charlotte and Jack. During the tour, Julian starts making fun of August’s face. After the tour August decides he wants to go to the school even though Julian made fun of him. On the first day of school, when August was going to his classroom people stared at him in the halls. When he got to class he sat in the back row. Nobody would sit next to him until Jack came.

At lunch, nobody would let August sit with them so he ended up sitting at an empty table. A few minutes after he sat down a girl with wavy brown hair came and asked if she could sit with him. August said yes. After she sat down one of the girls he had heard whispering about him called her over to sit with them. She turned them down. The girl said her name was Summer. August became good friends with Summer and Jack.

At Halloween, August told the class that he was going to be Jango Fett from Star Wars but on Halloween, he decided it was to much work to put it on and instead put on his “Bleeding Scream” costume from the year before. Once August got to school he went to his classroom where he heard some of his classmates making fun of his face. Then he heard Jack say that if he had August’s face he would kill himself.

The next part was Via’s part. Via is August’s sister. In her part, she explained more about August’s face and why it looks like it does. August face looks the way it does for two reasons. The first is that August inherited a gene which gave him a previously unknown type of facial disease caused by a mutation in the TCOFI gene. The second reason is he got an overdose of that same gene.

Via was starting high school at the same time August was starting middle school. Via’s best friend was named Miranda but on Via’s first day of high school she found out that Miranda had dyed her hair pink and was acting differently. Via stopped being friends with Miranda and started to hang out with a different group of friends. In Via’s new group of friends, there was a boy named Justin. Justin was interested in drama and convinced Via to sign up for the school play. Justin and Via started dating.

The third part is Summers perspective. In Summer’s first chapter she explains why she is friends with August. She said that she sat with August on the first day of school because she felt sorry for him but the reason she kept sitting with him was that he was nice. She also explained about something called the plague. The plague was a “game” that the school was “playing”. It was, anyone who touches August has thirty seconds to wash their hands before they got the plague.

During Halloween Summer got invited to the most popular girl’s party. At the party of the popular girl, Savanna (the popular girl) asked Summer why she is friends with August and asks her to stop being friends with August. Then after Halloween August says to Summer that she doesn’t have to be friends with him and he knows that the principal asked her to. Summer says that August is wrong and they get into a short fight over it.

The fourth part of the book is in Jack’s perspective. In Jack’s part, Jack figures out why August is mad at him and apologizes to August. Later Jack is talking to Julian when Julian says that Jack doesn’t need to be friends with “the freak” if he doesn’t want to. Jack gets mad at Julian for saying that and punches him. Then over winter break, Jack sends a letter to Julian apologizing to him.

During winter break Julian threw a party and convinced the whole school to stop being friends with Jack. All the boys stopped talking to Jack and that started “the war“.

Part five was Justin’s perspective. In Justin’s part, you learn that Via doesn’t want August to go to the play because she doesn’t want people at her new school to know that she has a brother with a deformed face.

Part six is August’s second part. People start being nicer to August and are getting tired of “the war“. August gets new hearing aides. August’s parents find out about Via’s play and get mad at her for not telling them. When August’s mom tells him that he is staying home for the play August gets mad and screams that Via doesn’t want him to go because she doesn’t want her friends to  know that she has a deformed brother.

August gets upset and runs to his room where waits for his mom to come get him but she doesn’t come and he gets worried. After a few minutes, Via comes up and tells him that mom has to take their dog Daisy to the vet because she is very sick. August goes down and says goodbye to Daisy. When August’s mom comes back she says that Daisy died.

August goes to VIa’s play and at the end of the play he gets lost and Miranda finds him.

The second last part is Miranda’s. In Miranda’s part, she says she dyed her hair because she wanted to be seen differently. She says that she misses being friends with Via and that she misses seeing August.

The last part is August’s. In August’s last part he goes to a nature reserve with the rest of the school and he gets bullied by kids from a different school. After he gets back he goes to his graduation.

I really liked the book. I thought that hearing how other characters saw August and hearing what they had to say about him was really interesting. I thought that it helped you understand the characters better and helped you understand the reason they did things. I would have liked it if Julian had a part because I would have liked to hear what he thought of August and I would have liked to know the reason he bullied August. The book taught me that you shouldn’t judge people by what they look like. I would rate it four and a half out of five.

I’m doing my book review on Wonder by R. J. Palacio. Wonder is about how August Pullman starts school. The book is split into eight parts. Three of the parts are from August’s perspective and the other five parts are from other character’s perspectives. August has a facial deformation. His eyes are too far down on his face and his eyelids are to shallow so his eyes bulge out of his face. His nose is too big for his face and his mouth is a small hole. He had a piece of his hip removed and put in his mouth because he didn’t have a jaw bone. Before school starts August gets a tour of the school by three students, Julian, Charlotte and Jack. During the tour, Julian starts making fun of August’s face. After the tour August decides he wants to go to the school even though Julian made fun of him. On the first day of school, when August was going to his classroom people stared at him in the halls. When he got to class he sat in the back row. Nobody would sit next to him until Jack came.

At lunch, nobody would let August sit with them so he ended up sitting at an empty table. A few minutes after he sat down a girl with wavy brown hair came and asked if she could sit with him. August said yes. After she sat down one of the girls he had heard whispering about him called her over to sit with them. She turned them down. The girl said her name was Summer. August became good friends with Summer and Jack.

At Halloween, August told the class that he was going to be Jango Fett from Star Wars but on Halloween, he decided it was to much work to put it on and instead put on his “Bleeding Scream” costume from the year before. Once August got to school he went to his classroom where he heard some of his classmates making fun of his face. Then he heard Jack say that if he had August’s face he would kill himself.

The next part was Via’s part. Via is August’s sister. In her part, she explained more about August’s face and why it looks like it does. August face looks the way it does for two reasons. The first is that August inherited a gene which gave him a previously unknown type of facial disease caused by a mutation in the TCOFI gene. The second reason is he got an overdose of that same gene.

Via was starting high school at the same time August was starting middle school. Via’s best friend was named Miranda but on Via’s first day of high school she found out that Miranda had dyed her hair pink and was acting differently. Via stopped being friends with Miranda and started to hang out with a different group of friends. In Via’s new group of friends, there was a boy named Justin. Justin was interested in drama and convinced Via to sign up for the school play. Justin and Via started dating.

The third part is Summers perspective. In Summer’s first chapter she explains why she is friends with August. She said that she sat with August on the first day of school because she felt sorry for him but the reason she kept sitting with him was that he was nice. She also explained about something called the plague. The plague was a “game” that the school was “playing”. It was, anyone who touches August has thirty seconds to wash their hands before they got the plague.

During Halloween Summer got invited to the most popular girl’s party. At the party of the popular girl, Savanna (the popular girl) asked Summer why she is friends with August and asks her to stop being friends with August. Then after Halloween August says to Summer that she doesn’t have to be friends with him and he knows that the principal asked her to. Summer says that August is wrong and they get into a short fight over it.

The fourth part of the book is in Jack’s perspective. In Jack’s part, Jack figures out why August is mad at him and apologizes to August. Later Jack is talking to Julian when Julian says that Jack doesn’t need to be friends with “the freak” if he doesn’t want to. Jack gets mad at Julian for saying that and punches him. Then over winter break, Jack sends a letter to Julian apologizing to him.

During winter break Julian threw a party and convinced the whole school to stop being friends with Jack. All the boys stopped talking to Jack and that started “the war“.

Part five was Justin’s perspective. In Justin’s part, you learn that Via doesn’t want August to go to the play because she doesn’t want people at her new school to know that she has a brother with a deformed face.

Part six is August’s second part. People start being nicer to August and are getting tired of “the war“. August gets new hearing aides. August’s parents find out about Via’s play and get mad at her for not telling them. When August’s mom tells him that he is staying home for the play August gets mad and screams that Via doesn’t want him to go because she doesn’t want her friends to  know that she has a deformed brother.

August gets upset and runs to his room where waits for his mom to come get him but she doesn’t come and he gets worried. After a few minutes, Via comes up and tells him that mom has to take their dog Daisy to the vet because she is very sick. August goes down and says goodbye to Daisy. When August’s mom comes back she says that Daisy died.

August goes to VIa’s play and at the end of the play he gets lost and Miranda finds him.

The second last part is Miranda’s. In Miranda’s part, she says she dyed her hair because she wanted to be seen differently. She says that she misses being friends with Via and that she misses seeing August.

The last part is August’s. In August’s last part he goes to a nature reserve with the rest of the school and he gets bullied by kids from a different school. After he gets back he goes to his graduation.

I really liked the book. I thought that hearing how other characters saw August and hearing what they had to say about him was really interesting. I thought that it helped you understand the characters better and helped you understand the reason they did things. I would have liked it if Julian had a part because I would have liked to hear what he thought of August and I would have liked to know the reason he bullied August. I would rate it four and a half out of five.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The title of the book I’m reviewing is The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan. The genre is Y.A. fantasy. The protagonists are Percy Jackson, Hazel Levesque and Frank Zhang. At the beginning of the book Percy has no memories and arrives at a place called Camp Jupiter where he meets Hazel and Frank, members of the third cohort. He also meets Reyna, praetor of the Twelfth Legion and member of the first cohort.

Percy is a son of Neptune (the roman god of the water) so he can control water. Hazel was brought back from the dead by her brother Nico di Angelo and kept having flashbacks of her old life. Her dad, Pluto (the roman god  of the underworld) asked Hazel’s mom what she wanted and she said all the riches i the world. When Hazel was born she had a curse that wherever she went precious pieces of metal would pop out of the ground, but they were cursed. Frank’s mother is dead and he doesn’t know which god is his father. After his mother died at war in Afghanistan he lived with his grandmother. On the day of his mothers funeral his grandmother gave him a piece of wood and told him that his life depends on it and if it were to burn he would die.

Frank finds out that Mars (the roman god of war) is his dad and he gets sent on a quest with Percy and Hazel to rescue Thanatos the god of death in Alaska because people and monsters aren’t staying dead . Mars tells him that he has a gift and that he needs to learn to use it. He gave Frank a spear with a dragon tooth blade and said that it had three charges. Frank has two bottles of gorgon blood one from the left side off the body with is a very lethal poison and one from the right side which can heal anything but he doesn’t know which is which.

Percy, Frank and Hazel have to travel in a small boat that a stupid person named Octavian gave them. Hazel has a blackout of when she died in 1942 so Percy and Frank bring on shore where they see an army marching toward Camp Jupiter. Frank battle three basilisks and finds out that if he plant the dragon tooth from his spear into the ground a skeleton warrior named Grey comes up and does whatever Frank tells him to.

They sail for Portland so that they can meet a blind seer whoo was brought back from the dead by Gaea (mother earth). He tells them that if they capture a harpy named Ella for him he will tell them where Thanatos was being kept. Percy, Frank and Hazel go to look for the harpy but find out that she has memorized prophesies and can remember anything she reads. Percy makes a deal with the seer. The deal is that the seer writes down where Death is and puts it in his pocket, than Percy gives him both bottles of gorgon blood and he choses which to drink.  Percy wins. They take Ella with them.

They go to the Amazon headquarters where Hazel gets a new horse named Arion who is super fast and swears a lot. They head to Franks house where Frank finds out that his gift is that he can turn into anything that is living. Percy starts to get his memories back. Franks house burns down. They head to Alaska. In Alaska they find Death and battle to free him. The battle at Camp Jupiter begins.

I really liked how Rick Riordan took greek and roman mythology and made it into a fantasy book for young adults. I would give the book a 9/10.

 

 

My spelling group is called Atwood, named after Margret Atwood. Margret was born on November 18, 1939 and is now 77 years old. She was born in Ottawa and grew up in northern Ontario, Quebec and Toronto. She married James Polk  in 1968 and divorced him in 1973. She has one child with Graeme Gibson named Eleanor Atwood Gibson.

Margret Atwood wrote lots of book one of her most popular ones is The Handmaiden’s Tale. She has written 14 novels, 7 children’s books, 1 graphic novel, 10 non-fiction books and many more. She is a great writer.

Pollution in our oceans has become a large problem over the last few    years. People have been littering more and most of the litter gets washed into the water. For instance, Henderson island which is basically in the middle of nowhere, is covered in trash that got washed up from the ocean.

Boyan Slat a twenty-year-old is trying together rid of floating plastic from the oceans. He started a foundation called The Ocean Cleanup. 10% of all thrown out plastic ends up in the ocean. The plastic gets eaten by animals who die because of it. People are dying because of it.

 

 

After breaking astronaut Jeff Williams record for 534 days astronaut Peggy Wilson became the longest American in space on Monday. She spent several months on board the International Space Station. At age 57 she also became the oldest woman to blast of into space. Peggy has been going into space since 2002. She was also the first woman to command the International Space Station. Peggy still has not come back down.

1. Go to China.
2. Read all the Harry Potter books at least ten times
3. Own at least twenty official   Harry Potter wands.
4. Go to Harry Potter world.
5. Ride the Hogwarts express.
6. Watch all the Harry Potter movies at least ten times.
7. Go to Japan.
8. Go to the Weasley Wizard Wheezes.
9. Get a Pigmy Puff.
10. Go to Egypt

February 8 2017 early in the morning an Air Canada flight to   St. John’s, N.L. was rerouted New Brunswick because of bad weather. All the passengers had nothing to eat and the Air Canada employee said that he was sorry but they could not get any food at the time because all the of the stores were closed. Just after he said it a WestJet employee came in carrying 4 to 5 pizzas.