Mon Mar 18, 2013
Trimester 3 - Intro to Business
Trimester 3 - Introduction to Business
Mr. Seifer
(SCHEDULE SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Week 1 (March 18 - 22)
Monday - Welcome to Intro to Business, Getting to Know You activity ItB_Getting_to_know_you.pdf
Tuesday - Money and March Madness video, start Business Web Scavenger Hunt ItB_Scavenger_Hunt.pdf
Wednesday - Vocabulary Pre-Test, finish Business Web Scavenger Hunt
Thursday - Basics of Economics Economics_Basics.pdf Student notes Basics_of_Economics_Student_Notes.docx
Friday - Basics of Economics worksheet Basics_of_Economics_Worksheet.docx
March 25 - 29 Spring Break!
Week 2 (April 1 - 5)
Monday - Vocab 1-10 ItB_Vocab_1-10.pdf , 21st Century Economics (Wal-Mart part 1)
Tuesday - 21st Century Economics (Wal-Mart part 2)
Wednesday - 21st Century Economics (Life + Debt)
Thursday - 21st Century Economics (Fixing the Future)
Friday - Vocab 1-10 quiz, 21st Century Economics Final Project
Week 3 (April 8 - 12)
Monday - Vocab 11-20 ItB_Vocab_11-20.pdf , Wrap up 21st Century Econ, review for test
Tuesday - Econ test, Intro to Mean Jeans businesses
Wednesday - Packet 1: Check writing
Thursday - Vocab 11-20 quiz, Packet 1 quiz
Friday - No class
Week 4 (April 15 - 19)
Monday - Vocab 21-30 ItB_Vocab_21-30.pdf , Packet 2: Payroll
Tuesday - Packet 2: Payroll
Wednesday - Finish Packet 2: Payroll
Thursday - Packet 3: Purchasing/Billing
Friday - Vocab 21-30 quiz, Packet 3: Purchasing/Billing
Week 5 (April 22 - 26)
Monday - Vocab 31-40 ItB_Vocab_31-40.pdf , Packet 4: Postage/Shipping, Assign Job Applications
Tuesday - Finish Packet 4/Packet 5: Borrowing Money
Wednesday - Packet 5: Borrowing Money
Thursday - Vocab 31-40 quiz, Job Applications due
Friday - No class
Week 6 (April 29 - May 3)
Monday - Vocab 41-50 ItB_Vocab_41-50.pdf , get businesses, start making storefronts
Tuesday - Finish storefronts, prep for simulation
Wednesday - Finish prep (print files, print forms, prepare cashbooks and check registers), "Find the right business" activity
Thursday - July 2
Friday - Vocab 41-50 quiz, July 3
Week 7 (May 6 - 10)
Monday - Vocab 51-60 ItB_Vocab_51-60.pdf , July 5
Tuesday - July 6 (Last day of Workweek 1)
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: Accounting
Thursday - July 9
Friday - Vocab 51-60 quiz, July 10
Week 8 (May 13 - 17)
Monday - July 11
Tuesday - Vocab 61-70 ItB_Vocab_61-70.pdf , July 12
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: Marketing
Thursday - July 13 (Last day of Workweek 2)
Friday - Vocab 61-70 quiz, July 16
Week 9 (May 20 - 24)
Monday - Vocab 71-80, July 17
Tuesday - July 18
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: Business law
Thursday - July 19
Friday - Vocab 71-80 quiz, July 20 (Last day of Workweek 3)
Week 10 (May 27 - May 31)
Monday - Memorial Day, no school
Tuesday - Vocab 81-90, July 23
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: Entrepreneurship
Thursday - July 24
Friday - Vocab 81-90 quiz, July 25
Week 11 (June 3 - 7)
Monday - Vocab 91-100, July 26
Tuesday - July 27 (Last day of Workweek 4)
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: Sports Marketing
Thursday - July 30
Friday - Vocab 91-100 quiz, July 31 (Last day of Mean Jeans)
Week 12 (June 10 - 14)
Monday - Wrap-up Mean Jeans, final audit
Tuesday - Mean Jeans final
Wednesday - SPOTLIGHT: World of work
Thursday - Last day for Seniors, Mean Jeans reflection
Friday - Mean Jeans reflection due
Week 13 (June 17 - 20)
Monday -
Tuesday -
Wednesday -
Thursday - Half-day, Last day of school
Fri Mar 15, 2013
Computer Applications - Tri 3 2013
Week of March 18 - 22
Monday - Business Cards; Go over Business Lab rules and Computer Applications Syllabus
Tuesday - Letter to Instructor; Set up folders; Introduce and research for What's New Friday
Wednesday - Computers in the Future essay; Vocab pretest
Thursday - Proofreader Marks and activities
Friday - What's New and Computers in the Future discussions; finish Proofreader activities
Week of March 25 - 29
Spring Break - Enjoy!!
Week of April 1 - 5
Monday - Business letters
Tuesday - Practice timing tests; Business letters
Wednesday - Vocab activity, Vocab lists will be handed out and are also available at:
http://quizlet.com
Search for "Computer Application Vocab" by Suegoodson, it has 52 terms.
Thursday - Timing test; Last Business Letter; Work Day - all assignments due tomorrow! They are:
Letter to Instructor
What's New
Computers in the Future essay
Proof 1
Proof 2
Proof 3
Business Letters - Block 1, 2 & 3; Modified Block 1 & 2
Friday - Work Day. All assignments and REVISIONS due!
Week of April 8 - 12
Monday - Time test; Intro to The HUB; HUB Press Release (WRD-1)
Tuesday - HUB Waiver Form (WRD-2)
Wednesday - Time test; Vocab Activity - groups choose lessons and schedule lesson day(s)
Thursday - HUB Letterhead (WRD-3) HUB Envelope (WRD-4)
Friday - no school
Week of April 15 - 19
Monday - Time test; HUB Charity Letter (WRD-5)
Tuesday - Celebrity letter
Wednesday - Time test; Vocab Activity; Work Day
Thursday - HUB Memo (WRD-6), WRD-1, WRD-2, WRD-3, WRD-4, WRD-5, Celebrity Letter and Celebrity Envelope due by the end of the period tomorrow!
Friday - Time test - HUB Survey (WRD-7)
Week of April 22 - 26
Monday - HUB Membership plans tables (WRD-8)
Tuesday - Time test; HUB Entry form (WRD-11)
Wednesday - Vocab Activity - GROUP 2 PRESENTS
Thursday - Time test; HUB Emplyee personnel form (WRD-12)
Friday - no school
Week of April 29 - May 3
Monday - Time test; Word Unit Practice test; Work Day
Tuesday - Word Unit Test; ALL ASSIGNMENTS DUE BY END OF CLASS TOMORROW
Wednesday - Vocab Activity GROUP 3 PRESENTS and ALL ASSIGNMENTS DUE
Thursday - Time test; Start Excel unit; HUB Battle of the Bands (EXL-1)
Friday - HUB Web Site FAQs - (EXL-2) ALL WORD REVISIONS DUE
Week of May 6 - 10
Monday - EXL-3
Tuesday - What's New due
Wednesday - Time test; Vocab Activity - GROUP 1 PRESENTS
Thursday - EXL-4
Friday - Time test; EXL-5
Week of May 13 - 17
Monday - Time test; EXL-6
Tuesday - EXL-7
Wednesday - Time test; Vocab Midterm; Work Day
If you are finished with Computer Apps lessons here are some sites to use for "practice":
a. http://www.freetypinggame.net/free-typing-game.asp - check out the variety of typing games and skill levels – CHALLENGE YOURSELF!
b. http://www.armoredpenguin.com/wordscramble/Data/2013.05/1508/15083215.600.html
Thursday - EXL-8
Friday - EXL-9
Week of May 20 - 24
Monday - EXL-10
Tuesday - EXL-11
Wednesday - Vocab Activity - GROUP 5 PRESENTS
Thursday - Excel test part A
Friday - Excel test part B
Week of May 27 - 31
Monday - No school
Tuesday - PowerPoint 1
Wednesday - Vocab Activity - GROUP 4 PRESENTS
Thursday - PP2
Friday - Work Day; Introduce Presentations Project
Week of June 3 - 7
Monday - PP3
Tuesday - PP6
Wednesday - Vocab Activity - GROUP 7 PRESENTS; Presentation topic proposals due
Thursday - Work on presentations
Friday - Work on presentations
Week of June 10 - 14
Monday - Work on presentations
Tuesday - PRESENTATIONS START
Wednesday - Vocab Activity - GROUP 6 PRESENTS
Thursday - Presentations - Seniors's last day - CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK!!!!
Friday - Presentations
Week of June 17 - 21
Monday - Presentations
Tuesday - Presentations
Wednesday - Vocab test; Last What's New due
Thursday - Last Day - HAVE A GREAT SUMMER!!!!!
Friday - no school
Tue Mar 01, 2011
New Book Reviews from Library Staff
Thoughts from Trimester 2 library aides on a variety of books...
Not Without Hope
by Nick Schuyler
Reviewed by Stephen Thomas
This book is about a fishing accident that happened in February of 2009. This is what happened. Four good friends went fishing for the day. At about 2 o’clock in the afternoon it started to get stormy and the water got choppy, so they reeled in their lines and pointed the boat in the direction of land. There was only one problem, the anchor was stuck on the bottom of the ocean. They decided to try and yank the anchor free and gun the boat. That turned out to be a fatal mistake. When they gunned the boat, the back of the boat where the anchor was attached went under water. The rest of the boat followed until it was flipped all the way over. Now the four friends were in a predicament; they were caught in a storm with a flipped boat 150 miles from land.
The four friends were in the best condition of their lives, with little to no body fat on them. That cost them dearly. The storm grew rougher and they struggled to stay onto the flipped boat. By nighttime, the four friends were cold, hungry, thirsty, and were wondering if they were ever going to make it out of the ordeal alive. It was not to be. That first night, two of the four friends died of pneumonia. By the next morning, with the storm still going on around them, the two remaining friends were wondering if they were going to be found before they died. By noon the two friends were reduced to one.
The last friend was struggling to survive so he could tell the parents of the three dead friends what had happened. The last friend found it within him to survive, and on the second day after the boat flipped, he was rescued. He had to spend sometime in the hospital, but he recovered. The hardest part for him was attending the funerals of his three dead friends. He got a tattoo in honor of his friends so he would always remember them.
A Thousand Acres
by Jane Smiley
Reviewed by Nolan Bartlow
A Thousand Acres, written by Jane Smiley, is based on Shakespeare's renowned play, King Lear. King Lear is a tragic story of trust and mistrust, and it follows the latter life of the English king and his three daughters. A Thousand Acres, though it follows the plot of King Lear, is a great stand-alone novel. Having read both pieces of literature, I have a stronger preference for Smiley's book, because of its interesting character development and unique point of perspective. Also, its more recent setting allows for easier application and comprehension.
The story begins with some basic background information regarding Larry Cook and his three daughters, Ginny, Rose, and Caroline. Ginny, his oldest daughter, is the narrator of the story and the reader receives particular insight on each aspect of her personal life as a result. Larry owns a large farm of exactly 1000 acres which he obtained in his early adulthood mostly from hard work and good farming techniques. As he nears the end of his life, Larry decides to sign his farm over to his daughters in order to avoid a federal death tax. The remainder of the story is completely based upon this single decision, and the events that ensue become violent, heartbreaking, and even murderous. Disturbing family secrets are uncovered, old wounds are reopened, and friends, lovers, and relatives become enemies. This story puts to death the theory that the farm life is boring and uneventful. In this story, the Cook farm never sees a dull moment.
Jane Smiley does an excellent job recreating her own version of Shakespeare's play. This novel is a must read for anyone familiar with King Lear, but is definitely not limited to that number. Even if the reader is not fond of Shakespeare, this book offers a brilliant alternative to one of society's most relevant plays.
True Grit
by Charles Portis
Reviewed by Stephen Thomas
This book is about a fourteen year old girl named Mattie Ross whose dad was shot and killed by someone who worked for him named Tom Chaney. Mattie goes into town with a neighbor to pick up her dad’s body. She decides to stay in town for a couple days and sends the body back with the neighbor to give to her mom.
Mattie went to the local sheriff’s station and learned that nothing was being done about her father’s murder. She went up to one of the sheriffs and asked him why nothing was being done. He told her that they couldn’t do anything but the marshals could. Mattie asked the man where she could find the marshals and he told her that she could find them at the court house.
She goes and sees the marshals and finds one that is willing to do the job. The marshal’s name is Rooster Cogburn and he was the meanest and toughest marshal there was. He told Mattie that the fee for the job would be one hundred dollars and she told him that she would have the money in a couple of days. Two days later she has the money and she pays Rooster Cogburn and thanks him for helping her.
The next day Rooster and she head off on their journey. As they were leaving they meet a ranger from Texas who is looking for the same guy they are. He joins there party and they head off. They go into an adjoining territory were Rooster thinks Tom Chaney is. When they get to a small town, Rooster goes and talks to the sheriff. He learns that the bandit Ned Pepper and his crew were there just a few days ago. Rooster thanks the sheriff and rounds up Mattie and the Texas Ranger and leaves. They head to where Ned Pepper and his crew were hiding knowing that Tom Chaney was with them. That evening, they stop by a creek and set up camp. Mattie goes down to the creek to get water, and on the other side of the creek watering some horses was Tom Chaney. He looks up and sees her but it was too late. Mattie had drawn her dad’s pistol and fired. She shot Tom right in the side. That was the beginning of the end of the journey. Rooster Cogburn and the Ranger were on their way down to the creek but, Ned Pepper and two others were working their way down the other side. Ned Pepper made it down to the creek first and grabbed Mattie. When Rooster and the Ranger finally made it down to the creek it was too late. They started to get fired on. They immediately went back up into the trees.
Ned Pepper took Mattie up to his hideout and handed her to Tom Chaney. He rounded up his crew and told Tom to wait there while he and the others went to a different hideout. He told Tom that he would send someone back for him. After they left, Tom put Mattie into a dark hole under the hideout full of rattlesnakes. That was when the Texas Ranger showed up. He shot Tom and turned his back to look at what was happening out in the field. Rooster was charging at Ned Pepper and his gang, pistols firing. One bandit got away, but the rest died at the pistols of Rooster Cogburn, all except Ned Pepper. Ned shot Rooster’s horse right out from under him. The horse fell and trapped Rooster. That’s when a gun shot rang out and Ned Pepper fell dead on the ground. The Texas Ranger saved Rooster Cogburns life at the risk of his own. Tom Chaney was not dead like the Texan thought so Tom picked up a huge rock and knocked the Texan out. That’s when Rooster showed up. He shot Tom Chaney in the head and that was the end of it. Rooster dropped a rope down to Mattie and pulled her up. He saved two lives that day and made the world safer.
Dear John
by Nicholas Sparks
Reviewed by Katie Nolan
Dear John is a story of a soldier who meets the love of his life, a sweet southern girl. John is home on leave for the army and he goes home to South Carolina to visit his father. One day on the beach he sees a girl drop her purse into the sea from a pier. He jumps in the water and retrieves it for her. She gratefully thanks him and offers for him to come back to the house she and her friends are building for Habitat for Humanity while on spring break. Her name is Savannah, a conservative college student. They hangout on the beach and various places and end up falling in love.
When John has to go back to the army, Savannah is heartbroken. She promises to write him letters until they can see each other the next year. They write each other until he sees her again and he visits her, and then he signs up for another year of the army after the 9/11 attack. They continue to write, but Savannah’s letters become less frequent. She sends him a letter saying that it’s too hard for her to deal with him being too far away and breaks up with him. John’s heartbroken.
John then finds out his father is getting sick, so he requests to come back home to take care of him for a while. When he returns home, he finds out that Savannah got married to one of her best friends and that he is in the hospital with cancer and Savannah is having a really hard time. There’s still a spark between Savannah and John, they both still love each other, but nothing can happen because she’s still married.
Eventually, John’s father becomes sicker and ends up dying. John receives his father’s coin collection upon his death and sells the coins except for one, which holds sentimental value to him. He anonymously gives the money to Savannah to help pay off her husband’s hospital bills. John goes back to the army and serves for some time, then retires. John returns home and goes to Savannah’s house to see how she’s doing. He hides in some bushes and sees that Savannah’s happy with her husband who is now healed. There’s a full moon out, and Savannah walks onto her porch and looks up at it. In their letters, they promised each other that they would look up at the full moon and know that the other would be doing the same, so that they were connected somehow. He looks at the full moon as well. He never regretted loving her, nor did she.
I really enjoyed Dear John. It’s one of those stories where you cry, laugh, and want to keep reading. I love Nicholas Spark’s work, so I was happy to read Dear John and see the movie. The romance between John and Savannah is very sweet. The letters they write to each other are at times heart breaking, but they keep the story going. I also really liked the ending, I wish they had that ending instead of the one they had in the movie, but it was still really cute and it shows that even though they still love each other, they moved on and are living their lives.
The Lovely Bones
by Alice Sebold
Reviewed by Katie Nolan
The Lovely Bones is a story about a thirteen year old girl who got raped and murdered by one of her neighbors, and how her family copes with her death. After she dies, she goes to heaven where anything she wants or dreams is there. Susie, the girl, narrates the story, telling what’s happening on earth. She was murdered in a cornfield near her house and the only remains that the police could find was an elbow that a dog dug up. Mr. Harvey, a strange but friendly neighbor, is the culprit of the crime. He has raped and killed many women and never got caught. Susie’s father has a feeling that Mr. Harvey did something and throughout the book he tries to find Susie’s killer and have him arrested.
Susie follows the lives of her family members, saying what happens to them as they deal with her loss. Susie’s mother ends up leaving for California because she can’t handle her daughter’s death or the stress of her family. Susie’s first kiss, and the boy she loved, moves on. Her brother grows up without his mother for over five years, and her sister meets the love of her life and ends up marrying him. Her father has a heart attack, bringing Susie’s mother back to her family. Mr. Harvey fled from the town and the police never found him, besides evidence from other murders he committed and confirmation from some of his victims’ relatives that he did those crimes, always changing his name after he flees. Susie’s family lives their lives, remembering Susie and keeping her in their memories.
I really enjoyed this story; it’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. The way the story is written is beautiful, lots of description and metaphors, making the words flow smoothly throughout the book. The story is very interesting and it’s compelling in a way, because you see what’s going on with Susie in heaven and what’s happening to her family on earth, and she explains her yearning to be there with her family but she can’t, as well as wanting to tell the police and everyone who killed her. I would definitely recommend this book.
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley
Reviewed by Nolan Bartlow
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is a highly esteemed horror novel written in the late 1700s. Shelley began her novel with her husband and two other friends. Each of them decided to write one horror story and then judge which was the best. Shelley was the only one to finish her story, and being a gifted write, chose to turn it into a novel. The story of Frankenstein and his creation has been told over and over again since its publication, but its original plot and character development is rarely conserved.
The majority of the novel is told through Victor Frankenstein's point of view. People often confuse Frankenstein's name with his creation's name. Frankenstein is the creator; his creation, oddly enough, is never given a name. It is only ever referred to as “the creature,” which is contrary to popular belief. Frankenstein's life is full of tragedy, as he loses loved ones, struggles with potentially fatal illnesses, and contemplates the big philosophical questions of humanity. The average reader will likely be surprised when the creature enters in the story midway through the book. It is not portrayed as an evil, mindless brute as it is in most movies. At times, the creature will be viewed as a victim; other times, it will be viewed as an abuser. The final opinion, as always, will differ for every reader.
Frankenstein is a short, exciting story with the occasional thrilling element. The plot in the latter half of the book is so grasping, it demands to be read in one sitting. This book is strongly recommended for anyone who enjoys well written novels that force the reader to reconsider his or her views of the world and its people.
Tue Jan 05, 2010
New Book Reviews
Eldest
By Christopher Paolini
Reviewed By Ben Leslie
This book is the second book in the Eragon series, and in my opinion is better than the first one in many was. The first way is that this book was written to have more multi-plots instead of just having one goal that the hero works towards. The way that the author writes the story is different from normal as well, because it switches between Eragon, the main hero of the story, and Roran, his cousin and the sub-hero.
The book starts up right where the first left off, where Eragon had just joined the Varden and in now going to train to be a full dragon rider. He is to stay with the Varden for two months and then is going to travel to the elf city to complete his training. The war between the Urgles and the Varden had been won but their were still a few forces that were still in the mines, and a select group is sent to remove them from the caves. The leader of the Varden Ajihad is killed. They must now pick a new leader, and instead of waiting for the two months, Eragon is now to leave as soon as a new leader is chosen.
The new leader is chosen by a group known as the Council. After three weeks of deciding the council agrees that Ajihad's daughter Nasuada is to be the new leader. It is at this time that Eragon is sent to the elf city to complete the training that Brom started in the first book. He is to travel with Arya, and six Dwarves, including Orik whom he met in the first book and who saved his life just before the war. Orik is going on behalf of the dwarf King, Hrothgar.
After weeks of traveling they finally reach the elf city and are met by the queen and all of her nobles, and as it turns out Arya is the daughter of the Queen. Eragon's training was supposed to start right away but the thought was that it would be better for him to start training when he was fully rested and not weary from traveling. In the time before his training starts he is allowed to roam around the elf city.
Finally the day of his training is to begin, he is summoned by the queen, and she takes him to the forest where she has Eragon swear an oath never to talk about his training to anyone. When he agrees, he is met by his teacher, and travels with him to his home at the edge of the forest. His training begins and goes on for two months until he is summoned back by the Varden to fight in their fresh war. He travels back with Saphira to the Varden and joins the fight, it is here that he learns about a new warrior on the battlefield that is just as strong as he is, and maybe stronger.
The war is finally starting to come to an end, Eragon had sent away the new threat sent by Galbatorix, and it is now that he is joined by Roran his cousin with the entire village of Carvahall, who left their town because Galbatorix was searching for Roran to use him a leverage against Eragon.
With the added help of Roran and the villagers they are able to send off the last remaining forces and win the war. Roran are now reunited once again and Roran is also reunited with his wife Katrina. With Roran and Eragon together they now work towards the only goal that both of them share. To kill the Razac, who were the people who killed their uncle and Father.
This is the end of book two.
Eragon
By Christopher Paolini
Reviewed by Ben Leslie
First off I would like to say that this book were Amazing! When I first heard about this book I didn't really think that I would like it very much, because it was too similar to other books. After I had read it though, I realized that I was wrong and it is now one of my favorite books.
Eragon which is the first book, starts out with the introduction of Eragon in a forest on the side of a mountain known as the Spine. It turns out that he is hunting for the winter and hasn't had any luck. He has already been there for close to a week and he decides to return and would just have to buy the meat from the local butcher. On his trip back he is stopped by a flash of light just off the path and goes to investigate it. It is a giant blue sapphire, or so he thought. He gets back to town and immediately goes to the butcher, he doesn't have any money though and tries to trade the stone for food. The butcher refuses the stone as soon as it was mentioned that is came from the spine, and refuses to ever sell food to Eragon. The local blacksmith luckily chose that moment to come into the shop and paid for all of Eragon's food in return for helping him in his forge in the summer.
Eragon goes back to his house which turns out to be outside of town by 3 miles. As soon as he returns he goes immediately to bed. He wakes up in the middle of the night because the stone he brought back is now rocking back and forth. The stone then starts to crack and eventually a small creature crawls out of it. A dragon. He doesn't tell anyone about the dragon because they are supposed to be extinct. It's only after two masked men come from the kings city, kill his Uncle and destroy his house that he decides that maybe the dragon is why they came and leaves his home.
Eragon goes on a journey with one other person, Brom, the storyteller from town. They journey all across the land trying to track down his Uncle's killers. When they prove to be too elusive, he decides that rather than join the king, who everyone has decided that is completely evil, he will go to the Varden, an organization that is the resistance to the king on the southern border of the land. When he gets there he realizes that he will be working as a peace keeper between the Varden and Dwarf lands, the mountains.
When Eragon goes to the Varden though, he has enraged the king who searched desperately for someone to ride a dragon again. The king, who is a dragon rider himself, sent an army of Urgles to where the Varden are located to try and kill Eragon, the only free dragon rider. There is a battle between the Urgles and the men of the Varden there on the grounds, and in the end, the Varden are victorious. Eragon now believes that he can become the new dragon rider, and promises the Varden that he will serve them until he or Saphira, his dragon, are killed. This is where book one ends.
This book was really amazing to read, not only because the story drew in the reader. Also, because it was so well written, it wasn't very hard to understand what was going on. I really can not think of any cons for this book/series, other than the fact that it hasn't finished yet.
Outward Bound
By James P. Hogan
Reviewed by Currin Cruse
This book follows a juvenile delinquent in the near future as he transforms from common thug to space explorer. Linc is a common criminal working for a small town crime boss when he is picked up and sentenced for the maximum prison time. He spends a few weeks in a juvenile prison. When faced with a choice by his councilor, to stay there in a life of drudgery or join a voluntary group that promises nothing and gives no clue to its purpose, Linc jumps at the chance to get out of that dump.
What he finds in this new group of friends and enemies will shape him in a way he never though possible. He finds himself in a very intense training camp and soon finds a spot for himself in this home away from everything he knew or cared about. He soon comes to love the thrill and excitement of the intensive camp but is plagued by another volunteer who will stop at nothing to be alpha even at the expense of Linc.
I found this book very enjoyable and exciting to read at every twist and turn. This is the first book I have read by James Hogan but his imagination and creativity amazes me. I definitely recommend this book for any good reading list.
The Traveler
By: John Twelve Hawks
Reviewed by Currin Cruse
This book is centered around people called travelers. Travelers are regular people that can travel to another dimension and get a clearer view of our world. This ability is a gift passed down in families and because of it they have been able to move humanity forward. Travelers in the past like Joan of Arc, Jesus and other radical thinkers have inspired humanity.
The travelers have an enemy though, the Tabula, who have been a rich organization set up to kill travelers since the medieval period. They do not like the Travelers inspiring people and feel they are a menace and should be destroyed. Luckily the Travelers have protectors, the Harlequins, a fierce groups of warriors willing to sacrifice their lives to protect Travelers.
This story is about a traveler named Gabriel and his Harlequin protector named Maya. Maya who is one of the last Harlequins remaining now that the Tabula have gained a great power with the invention of the Grid or connection of surveillance cameras, credit cards, bank accounts, finger prints, and computer chip trackers. All the conveniences of modern life are tools of the Tabula in catching and killing the Travelers and their Harlequin protectors. As one of the few Harlequin remain, now Maya must take up her destiny and protect the next Traveler.
I like the writing style of the the author, John Hawks because of his descriptions and the many surprises in this book. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a good chase thriller.