Fearful Faith

Two tall men in blue uniforms stood outside Phoebe Wilson’s door. A loud knock on the door awoke Phoebe who was lying on the floor of her living room with an empty bottle of wine in one hand and a half empty pack of cigarettes in another. Before Phoebe could even walk to the door Child Protection Services barged into Phoebes home.  The two men quickly begin searching through Phoebe’s house and found a colossal amount of empty bottles of wine stacked beside the couch. One of the men took out a walkie-talkie from his belt pocket and spoke a blur of words. Soon three more men appeared at the door. They didn’t even bother knocking this time since the door was already open. One of them walked towards Phoebe explaining that a neighbor had called the child protection service giving over information that there was suspicion that Phoebe, an alcoholic, had been taking poor care of her child, Faith. Phoebe automatically knew what this meant: CPS was going to take Faith away from her. Her theory was proved right when she saw Faith being carried away by one of the men in uniform. Tears filled Phoebe’s eyes and she began to sob. Before she could even comprehend what just happened, CPS was gone, and so was Faith. Phoebe reached towards bottle of tequila yearning for it to numb the pain, make her forget about the loss of her daughter and help her cope with the fact that her daughter would be put up for adoption.

Zack and Kelly Miller waited in an adoption office agency filling out the last stack of paperwork. This is the moment the Millers have been waiting for since they found out Kelly was sterile. The Millers were taken into a room with five rows of babies. Zack and Kelly walked over to baby that looked about three months with a band around her ankle that read “Faith”. She had blue eyes and a full head of brown hair.  Zack and Kelly smiled as the held their new daughter for the first time and took her home excited for their new lifestyle that waited for them.

Faith woke up and found her parents next to her holding a cupcake with a candle in the shape of the number 18. They began singing the familiar song, happy birthday. Faith rolled out of bed, got ready for school, and ran to catch the bus. After a long day of school, Faith was eager to come home and spend the rest of her birthday with her family. When Faith got home she found a sticky note in the kitchen. On it was written:

Happy Birthday, sorry sweetie had to work late. There’s a surprise waiting for you in the study. We’ll be back around seven.                                                                                                                                     Love, Mom and Dad.

            Faith rushed to the study and started looking through the all the cabinets to find her surprise. As she was looking for her surprise she came across a manila folder with Faith’s name read across it. Faith wondered if this was the surprise her parents were talking about so she looked inside and found something peculiar inside the folder. She started analyzing the papers in the folder and staring at them for few minutes. Faith came to realization that the papers in her hand were adoption papers with Faith’s name on them. This clearly was a surprise to Faith. It was certainly not the surprise her family intended on giving her. Faith sat at the kitchen table in shock with news she just discovered. To Faith, now her whole life felt like a lie. She began to wonder what other secrets her so called parents were keeping from her. The parents she thought she knew now became strangers to her. Shortly, she began to research her birth-mother  On the adoption papers the only information given about her mother was her name, Phoebe Wilson.

           This news greatly changed Faith’s perspective on life. Now there were only two things she yearned. The first was to find her birth-mother  and the second was to get away from the roller-coaster of emotions brought upon by the adoption. She knew a solution to each of these problems. In order to find her mom she would continue researching, although the only solution to free her from the emotional roller-coaster was drugs.

            Faith walked in to school the next day with only one goal. There was a certain alley behind Bayside High School infamous for being occupied with stoners and druggies. Faith walked into that alley as a tense confused teenager and walked out with a small plastic bag that she thought was the solution to her problem. Faith made an appearance in the alley almost every day. The drugs made her body feel numb and blocked all emotions from her. After a few weeks of research about her birth-mother  Faith finally came across where she could find her. Faith yearned to meet her birth mother. She decided she was going to run away from home in order to find her.

            Later that night, Faith packed her gym bag with a few necessities and drove off to find her. The two-hour drive was sufficient enough for Faith to reflect on her behavior the past few weeks. After a long drive Faith finally reached her destination. Faith sat in the car for almost an hour waiting till she saw the woman from the picture. To make time pass faster, Faith made the immoral decision to get high. She thought this would make reuniting with her mother easier. She sat in the car waiting till she saw the woman who looked just like the woman in the picture that she found online. After another half an hour sitting in the car, a tall brunette with big blue eyes got out of her car. The woman had the same face as the woman in the picture yet she looked totally different. The woman in the picture wore and orange jumpsuit and had red swollen eyes. The woman Faith saw getting out of the car walking to the red brick apartment building looked very put together. She wore a navy blazer with a navy pencil skirt and a white cotton button-down top. Her hair was pinned back into a bun and she carried a briefcase in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. Faith knew she was her mother. Faith stepped out of the car and with a questioning tone she said, “Phoebe Wilson?”

            The tall brunette turned around and answered, “Yes? Who are you?” Faith immediately answered, “My name is Faith Miller.” Before Faith could even finish her sentence Phoebe’s eyes filled up with tears and she wrapped her arms around Faith and they both began to cry. In a low-toned voice Faith whispered, “Hi mom.” Phoebe walked Faith up to her apartment and when they entered Phoebe made Faith some tea, and they sat at the kitchen table. Phoebe began to tell Faith why she was put up for adoption. As Phoebe began to tell Faith what happened that afternoon CPS came to her house Faith burst out into laughter. At first Phoebe kept on ignoring this, but Faith continuously kept on giggling at every other word Phoebe said. The only feeling Faith felt now was lightheaded. Phoebe began to sense something and she asked Faith, “Are you high?” Faith denied it. She abruptly asked Phoebe, “Can we get something to eat?” Before Phoebe could respond Faith grabbed her keys and ran towards the door. Phoebe followed her and grabbed her keys as well because she was not going to let drive when she was high. Faith leading, Phoebe followed Faith to her car. Faith reached towards her pocket to take out her keys but before she could even reach for them Phoebe said, “I am not letting you drive high!” Faith responded, her tone automatically changed her tone filled with anger, “Don’t you trust me? What’s the worst that could happen? It’s the least that you could do after letting CPS take me away from you!” Phoebe just stared at Faith with a blank face and no response. She got in the car. It was the only way she felt she could prove she was a good mother, even if it meant risking her life.

            Faith uncontrollably backed out of her parking spot, Phoebe knew this was going to be a hazardous drive. Faith drove off into oblivion hoping she would find something to eat on the way. As Faith frenziedly drove onto the bridge, the car was silent. The ringing of Faith’s phone cut the silence. Faith reached towards the side and grabbed her phone, not noticing the deer in the headlights. The car screeched and Faith had no control of the car suddenly the car flew on its side. The glass shattered and flew into Phoebe’s stomach and Faith’s face. An Ambulance rushed to the car crash. Two paramedics pulled Faith and Phoebe out and carefully put them each on a stretcher. The ambulance took them to the hospital, and they both lay there unconscious.

            Faith woke up the next day not herself, not in the hospital room anymore, and not anywhere close to her mother. She was surrounded by a trees plethora of wild animals. She followed the noise of the creek and when she got there she looked down at her reflection. The face that stood in front of her did not look at all like her. She stood there on four feet, her face covered in fur with two big ears coming out of her head, two big black eyes across her face and a medium size nose with a black snout at the tip. Panicking, Faith started to run around in circles. It took a while to take in but faith had to cope with the fact that she was now a deer. The life of a deer is a life in despair; it was not the life Faith wanted to live. It would be extremely difficult learning to adapt to a life surrounded by predators. Before, Faith was living a life running way from problems, now Faith was living a life where her greatest fears were chasing her. 

Rochy by Sarah Baila Lederman

I’m Rochy, a fourteen-year-old spider who is, surprisingly, so excited for school to start! This year, I am finally old enough to enroll in Arachnid Academy, the high school down the block where all of my sisters went. My best friend and next-door neighbor May is also going there. We applied a week ago, and our acceptance letters should be in the mail any day now.
Ding-dong! I run to open the door, and I see May standing there, hardly able to contain her excitement.
“I got my letter today! Go check your mail!” She shrieked. I ran to my mail web and was back in a flash, glossy pink envelope in hand. We sat down on my living room couch and opened them. May took out the green piece of paper inside declaring her acceptance to the school, and I followed suit.
“Hey, what’s this? There’s another piece of paper in here, and it’s yellow.” May exclaimed. I took mine and unfolded it.
“Oh, it’s a list of classes for us to choose from. Look, it says at the top of the page to circle the ones we want and mail this list back to them.” I responded.
“Great! We can make sure to circle the same ones, and then we’ll be together the whole day.” May said happily. The first four options were the choices of regulars or honors courses, and those were no-brainers. May and I knew that we could pick the same ones without even looking at each other. We went down the list: history of spiders, regular; math, honors; arachnid anatomy, regular; and English, honors. The next option was a selection of second languages to study.
“I’ve always wanted to learn Spider’s Spanish,” I said. “Do you?”
“Sure.” May responded, circling it. “The next thing on the list is an elective. Should we take AP Weaving or join the soccer team?”
“You know how much I love weaving, May.” I said. “Maybe with this course I could even become a professional weaver one day.”
“Oh.” May’s face fell. “I mean, I know how much you love weaving but I love soccer just as much, and I was really looking forward to playing it every day.” We looked at each other, knowing that we shared the same thought. Every program that we had ever joined we did together. If neither of us were to join the other’s class, it could be the first time in our lives that we were not to be in the same group. Would our friendship be able to withstand it?
“Well, we will miss each other,” May and I start to say at the same time. I stop, and she continues. “But I think that we should each follow our own dreams, and at least we’ll have all our other classes together.” I agree and halfheartedly trace my pencil around AP Weaving while she circles soccer.
“Hey, May,” I called when I saw her coming down the hall. “That was a really nice play.” May had just scored the winning goal against Arachnid Arts School, clinching the championship for her team.
“Thanks! I saw your sunset weaving hanging in the art room.” May said. “It’s stunning!” We smiled at each other. We did miss each other each day, but we enjoyed our electives. Weaving has been a lot of fun, and I love my teacher, Mrs. Minerva. May and I headed towards our next class. It was history, our least favorite. The material is so confusing. I had no idea that spiders had done so many things before we were born. May and I have been dreading the final since the beginning of the year, but at least this is something we’ll go through together.
“Rochy, what’s wrong?” Mrs. Minerva asked, noting the glum expression on my face. It is already May 9, just one week before the AP exams. Last night, my parents apologetically informed me that they would not be able to afford $100 for the test. I pretended everything was okay and that I didn’t care so much about it anyway, but today I broke down crying and told Mrs. Minerva everything. I explained that I really wanted to take the test this year because I wanted to take AP Weaving II next year. I didn’t notice May standing in the doorway listening until she spoke up.
“Rochy, do you just need a fast way to earn $100?” She asked. I nodded silently. “Mrs. Minerva, our soccer net broke and we will need to hire spiders to build a new one before the championship. Do you think maybe...?” She trailed off. Mrs. Minerva answered.
“That’s a wonderful idea!” She exclaimed. “Rochy, if I talk to the principal about this, would you like to spend next Sunday weaving a new soccer net?”
“Oh, of course I would!” I cried delightfully. “Thank you so much!” Mrs. Minerva walked to the principal’s office while May and I went home to begin studying together for the history final.
It is June 1, and I am incredibly nervous. I got a 5 on the AP test and watched May win the championship, but the history final is today, and I am just as confused as I was a month ago. May and I studied together all night last night, and I guess we’ll both just try our best. We take our seats and look up in surprise as the principal walks in.
“Kids, I have an unfortunate announcement to make.” He said. “Yesterday Mr. Jove, the history teacher, fell ill with turn-into-a-dictionary-itis and was, well... turned into a dictionary.” He paused. The class gave no reaction. We were wondering what was coming next.
“There will therefore be no one to grade your final. In light of these unexpected developments, the school has decided to cancel your test and give all of the students an automatic A+. Since this is the last final of the year, school is officially over for all of you.” He left the room. We sat speechless, but not for long, of course.
“Yay!” “Yes!” “Woo-hoo!” Shouts of joy filled the room as we rushed out to breathe in the sweet smell of summer. I found myself walking contentedly next to May. She turned to me and said. “Well Rochy, I guess our friendship can withstand one hour a day of separation.”
“Yeah, I never thought weaving and soccer could go together the way it did. Let’s do something to celebrate our surviving through this year.”
“ I know! There’s a sale on high heels at the mall. Let’s go!” And off we went.

REVIEW FOR SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE HOUND OF BASKERVILLES

This is a brilliant novel, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lived during the years of 1859-1930. A famous author known for writing Sherlock Holmes Mysteries. Many adored reading his books. The Hound of the Baskervilles is about a curse on the Baskervilles family. The curse is a supernatural hound that hunts the family. When a Baskerville dies mysteriously, Sherlock goes on the case. Is the curse real or is there a murderer? I adore this book. I recommend the book to anyone who is wanting mystery,adventure, and a bit of a scare. Those that want to use their brains to try and solve the mystery before Sherlock Holmes does.

Review of Percy Jackon: The Sea of Monsters

Percy, a thirteen year old boy, who’s the son of the god Poseidon, had been having many strange dreams about his friend Grover being in danger, was worried about him. Mean while in Camp Half Blood, someone poisoned Thalia's tree- which protected the borders of the camp- so the camp was in a lot of danger. Percy, Annabeth, Clarisse, and Tyson went on a quest to find the Golden Fleece- which was the only thing that could save the tree- and to rescue Grover.
I recommend this book to others because it's a book that keeps you on your toes. I really liked how the book brings back al the fun fro, the first book.

"The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green-Review

John Michael Green, the author of ‘The Fault in our Stars’ is a young adult fiction writer, a You Tube vlogger, critique, educator and father. He was born on August 24, 1977 and grew up in Orlando, Florida. He went to Kenyon College and double majored in religious belief and English. Next he attended the University of Chicago Divinity School yet he also went to the local children’s’ hospital to volunteer. Being around Children with illnesses got him inspired to write ‘The Fault in our Stars’. Green wrote many other successful books such as Looking for Alaska, Will Grayson, Will Grayson, Paper Towns, Let it Snow, and more.

The Fault in our stars is story about a sixteen year old girl named Hazel who is diagnosed with remmisioned lung cancer. She is very reclusive and maybe a bit depressed. One time while she went to her support group, she met seventeen year old Augustus Waters. The quickly became best friends and begin to have picnics, watch movies, and read the same books. They even manage to have an amazing adventure.Yet the entire story completely turns over.

I think this story is the closest thing that you can get to knowing how people with diseases feel. The way that John Green writes really make you feel like you are in the persons shoes. In general, I think the story line was also very creative. I loved how this story connected together at the end. Even though this is an amazing book, it can be hard for some to read. It does have content such as illnesses and close to death experiences in it. It shows the sad part of people’s lives who have cancer.  Overall, ‘The Fault in our Stars’ is a sad yet unbelievable book that hopefully more and more people will read and get the experience that I did. 

"Mossflower" Review

The Mossflower by Brian Jacques 

Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool, England, where he lives today. He has worked at many 

different professions such as a longshoreman, a stand-up comedian, a long-distance truck driver, 

and a playwright. His most recent job is a presenter for BBC Radio Merseyside and host of 

Jakestown, his own program. In addition to the much-admired Redwall series, Brian Jacques’s 

works include Seven Strange Ghostly Tales and a storybook, The Great Redwall Feast. 

 Mossflower is about the plight of the woodlanders who live in Mossflower woods. Kotir, 

a tower outside of the woods, has been taken over by a group of wildcat soldiers who oppress the 

small animals. When a mousethief named Gonff is thrown into prison in Kotir’s dungeon and 

meets Martin the Warrior, the two escape and set out with Dinny the mole on a dangerous quest 

for Salamandastron hoping to find Boar the fighter, their only hope to set Mossflower free. In 

their absence, two baby hedgehogs are kidnapped. The woodlanders are left to rescue them and 

hold down the fort until the questing group returns, but are in the dark about the perils they are 

facing…  

 Mossflower is a highly entertaining and exciting read with colorful and humorous 

characters that lighten it up. I could not put it down once I started reading it, and I would highly 

recommend it for anybody looking for a fun thriller. 

Review of HOUSE AT THE END OF THE STREET

House At The End Of The Street, a novel based on a movie written by Lily Blake in 2012, is about a teenage girl, Elisa, and her mother moving to a new town. They moved to a new house which is located next to the house in which Mr. and Mrs. Jacobsen got murdered by their own daughter, and that’s why Sara (Elisa´s mother) was able to afford it. There is a rumor that says that Carry Anne, the Jacobsen´s daughter, had an accident in the past, so now she is mentally ill. According to the rumor, one night Carry Anne woke up in the middle of the night, and attacked her parents. Then she ran away into the forest. Ryan Jacobsen, Carry Anne´s older brother, still lives in the house where the incident had occurred. He believed that his sister still lived and was hiding somewhere in the woods, but why would a little girl murder her parents at such a young age? Was she really the one who murdered them? How can she possibly still live alone in the woods? It seems like nothing makes sense, Ryan must be hiding a secret, something that will change everyone´s belief of what really happened. Elisa is about to find out what really happened, but she is going to have to go through many horrible things that she would never expect to happen.