Annie

Author: Annie (page 4 of 6)

Science Energy Transfer Design Project Blog Post #4 – Reflect and Share

March 8, 2023 / Annie / 0 Comments

This is my final product! Or at least, for the time being. I will paint it in my own time, but for the purposes of the assessment and the project, the wind chime is complete.

These are the photos that I took of my wind chime! I also have a video of it in action:

https://isbdragons-my.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/personal/annie_liu_student_isb_bj_edu_cn/Documents/Backup%20Folder/School/9th%20Grade/Science/A5%202023-03-03%2020.32.15.mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=kdvUsL

This wind chime works by converting wind energy (kinetic) into sound energy. When the wind hits the chime, it causes the chimes to knock against the knocker pieces, as well as other chimes. This process converts the kinetic energy of the wind into the kinetic energy of the chimes, which are being swayed back and forth after being hit by the wind. When the chimes come into contact with one another, as well as the knocker pieces, their kinetic energy is converted to sound energy, which makes the chiming noises. During this process, there will likely be losses of energy as parts of the kinetic energy from the wind and chimes would convert into thermal energy when they hit other objects.

One area that I succeeded in was the create and improve section. Usually, things are a lot easier in your head, and this is no exception. I encountered many frustrations and obstacles during the process of physically making my wind chime, such as the problem of how to connect the string, and I’m really proud of how I managed to overcome these obstacles. I found the process of learning how to use a drill and saw, as well as how to find the radius and center point of a physical circle very engaging, and I had a lot of fun arranging the beads in different colors for the finishing touches on my wind chime. Overall, I would say that this is a successful project.

One way that this project could be better is if it was painted. I originally planned on painting a nice cyan-to-midnight-blue-to-black gradient on the chime, perhaps with some white or gold bits for accent colors, but ran out of time. However, I did manage to include that color scheme through the beads I added as finishing touches. I would also like to find a proper ribbon for the chime, as right now it is just a piece of light-blue paper taped onto the end of a string. Another thing is that I should have made the upper knocker larger, as the wood pieces barely get close enough together to make any wooden noises. A possible solution is to swap the upper and lower knocker pieces so that the wooden chimes could make some noise, and since the metal chimes have more space to move, they would still be able to chime as well. I am also slightly worried about the lifespan of the loop on the top of the chime, where you can hang it up on a hook. The loop is made from the same type of string that I used for the rest of the chime, and it might fray over time and break. I plan on perhaps putting some masking tape over the loop, so that it would not fray, and can still remain somewhat aesthetically pleasing – usually, people don’t look at the top part anyways.

I would consider this project to be made from very environmentally-friendly materials – it does not need batteries to recharge, and the wood and metal parts are very easy to come by. Even if there are no suitable metal pipes available, the pipes could be easily replaced with recyclable materials like bottle caps, bits of tin cans, and more. The string is also relatively environment-friendly, as it is made from a fiber-like-papery material and would likely be able to decompose if left out in the wild. The wind chime is easily customizable to fit the aesthetic tastes of the client and would make a nice addition to a front porch or bedroom. It is also a fairly quiet wind chime, and would not make any annoying noises that would prevent people from falling asleep. In fact, the noise it makes is very similar in style to the sound of rain hitting a windowpane, which is a noise that I find very calming and relaxing. So, to anyone who would like an aesthetically pleasing and relaxing wind chime, this would be a nice product.

Science Energy Transfer Design Project Blog Post #3 – Create and Improve

March 1, 2023 / Annie / 0 Comments

This session, I started actually making the wind chimes!

The first thing that I did was to use a tool to find the center of my circular pieces, so that I can drill holes there.

Next, I drilled holes in all the places that needed holes! Including but not limited to: the center piece, the big & small knockers, and the individual chime pieces. I cut up the metal tube and the wooden stick, and then made holes on the ends of the chime pieces for the string to pass through. I used sandpaper to sand down the rough edges so that my wind chime wouldn’t become a safety hazard.

Then, I started adding the string! My original plan was to tie on the string and just leave it like that – however, soon I realized that it would make the chime parts rotate in weird angles, and that would likely negatively impact the weight distribution of the wind chime.

So instead I decided to make little loops with the string so that the chimes can still be upright while being connected by the string. I used hot glue to connect the ends of the string for the loops and used the string to connect the individual chime pieces, as displayed below.

I used a similar technique and more string to connect the chime pieces to the top piece. For the knocker pieces, I tied two knots on a longer piece of string and attached it to the top piece. I also decided to connect the extra string above the top piece from the chime pieces to the extra string from the knocker pieces, so that the wind chime would be more balanced. Then, after I assembled all the pieces, I added some beads and a paper tail for decoration, the wind chime is structurally complete and functional!

There are still some changes that I would like to make – namely, I want to add that painted gradient that I originally planned for the chime pieces, and I also want to add some cool patterns to the paper tail (perhaps some cloud imagery, to keep with the theme?). However, this is the last bit of class time that I have to work on my project, so I would have to do all of that in my own time. Even though my wind chime may not look as good as I want it to at the current moment, I am still happy with the progress that I have made, as the wind chime is now functionally complete!

Science Energy Transfer Design Project Blog Post #2 – Develop and Plan

February 22, 2023 / Annie / 0 Comments

Since I have decided to make a wind chime, I then moved on to actually designing the wind chime.

One of the first things that I did was to hop onto Pinterest for inspiration, where I found many different designs for wind chimes. After looking through some photos, I decided on several things:

First, I want my wind chime to be cylindrical. For clarification, there are many different wind chime designs that are very different from each other. For example, some wind chimes are made with the chimes tied to a piece of log in a straight line, while other wind chimes are made with the individual chimes tied in a circle underneath the top of the chime structure, hence the cylindrical shape.

A wind chime designed in a straight line. A cylindrical wind chime.

Next, I decided that I want my chimes to be arranged in a spiral pattern. It adds a flow of movement to the visual design, and altering the lengths of the chimes means that there will be more variation in the sound produced by the chimes.

I also decided that I want to have two layers to my wind chime, which means that there will be two knocker pieces and two sets of chimes. The heavier knocker piece would be at the bottom so that the weight distribution would still work, and I plan on attaching something to the knocker piece below in a classical wind chime “tail” fashion.

For the aesthetics of the wind chime, I decided on a midnight-blue plus gold accents color scheme. It’s one of my favorite color combinations, and I find it very visually appealing. I plan on painting the top piece, the knocker pieces and the wind chimes to make them blue – perhaps a midnight blue to cyan gradient? With bits of gold/white sprinkled in? If I have time, that is – and the string would provide the color contrast, as it is brown. Not quite gold, but the effect is still there. Additionally, I found that I really like the aesthetic of this particular type of string, so even if it doesn’t match the theme perfectly, I still want to use it.

I spent some time looking for materials that I can use on my wind chime, and listed them below:

A circular top piece, for the chimes to attach to (wood)
A smaller circle, for the top knocker piece (wood)
A slightly larger circle, for the bottom knocker piece (wood)
six pieces of cylindrical wood of equal length, for the upper chimes – they may not chime, but they add a different tone quality to contrast with the ringing of the bottom chimes! Originally I planned on using a solid metal stick, but decided against it as it would be difficult to drill holes through that, and it would mess with the weight distribution of the chime. I plan on painting the cyan half of the gradient here.
Six pieces of hollow metal tube of different length, for the bottom chimes. They make a very nice sound when rung, so I placed them at the bottom so that they have more space to move. I plan on painting the midnight blue half of the gradient here, as the metal tubes are already black.
six pieces of 17cm string, to hold the top chimes
six pieces of 10 cm string, to attach the bottom chimes to the top chimes.
One – or two piece(s) of long string (measurements undetermined) to attach the knocker pieces.
One ring-like object to connect the strings. This will also serve as a hook-able object so that the wind chime can be attached to ceilings on hooks.
Small beads to secure the string to the top piece so that they will not fall (hot glue will also suffice, but it looks worse)

I also have several additional decorations that I want to add to the wind chime, if I have time:

Decorations made from this really cool spool (?) of golden wire that I found
A couple of strange, transparent pieces of acrylic that I might be able to turn into mirrors if combined with aluminum foil
Perhaps paper stars? I have a lot of them at home and they would probably look really cool on a wind chime.

In order to make my wind chime, I would first need to learn how to use a drill, so that I can drill holes into the separate pieces for the string to go through. To learn this, I googled up a tutorial, and I plan on asking one of the Design teachers to help me drill some holes so that I can do it on my own.

My plan for the next few lessons is to spend around 2 sessions putting together the wind chime, and perhaps I can ask for feedback as I make the chime if I need to tweak my design. I plan on using the first session to cut out all of the materials I need as well as adding the string holes, so that if I’m behind schedule I can always take the pieces home and tie the string on in my own time. If I have extra time, I can add on the midnight-blue-to-cyan gradient with paint, and any remaining time would be dedicated to adding on extra decorations.

Below are my sketches and plans:

Science Energy Transfer Design Project Blog Post #1 – Define and Inquire

February 18, 2023 / Annie / 0 Comments

My task in this engineering project is to create a design that utilizes energy transfer/energy conversion.

I had several ideas of how to approach this project, the first being a waterwheel-powered light. Normally, this shouldn’t be a very time-consuming project, as electrical generators and waterwheels had both been constructed by other students before and therefore should be doable. However, one of my goals for this project is to make the final product look nice, which is why I originally planned on making a diorama around the contraption, with a fake river that goes in a cycle to continuously power the waterwheel. After some planning and consideration, I had to scrap this idea due to the amount of time it would take to make said diorama, as well as the fact that I had never made a diorama before.

Since I couldn’t make a waterwheel-powered light, I decided to look for other sources of power. One idea that I landed on was wind-powered. Instead of connecting the light to a waterwheel, I could rig it up to a windmill instead. This way, I wouldn’t have to make a complicated water cycle system, but I would still get to make a cool diorama with a light in it. However, this idea was scrapped as well since making the electric generator in the first place would likely take up most if not all of the time that we are given to make this project – and because I’m not sure how much windpower is needed to power a light, but most likely it would take at least a hairdryer’s worth of wind power, which would likely cause some damage to the diorama. Even if the diorama becomes stable, it would be difficult for the light to be of much use due to the large amount of wind power required to power it.

Therefore, I moved on to other ideas. Going with the theme of wind, I thought that perhaps I could make a rubber-band airplane toy. It’s certainly an idea; it’s relatively simple, it’s fun, and it shouldn’t be too time-consuming to make. However, it still didn’t sit quite right with me. Then I came across a new idea: wind chimes.

I’ve always loved the aesthic of wind chimes, and since there isn’t any complicated machinery involved, making one should be within my current skill set. They are easily customizable, so I can take some creative liberties when making them. Long story short, I love the idea of making wind chimes, and my enthusiasm is only fueled by cool Pinterest images of potential designs. Similarly to my other ideas, I had never made a wind chime before, but I’m very willing to try. There are many pros to this idea, the first being that it matches some of my goals for this project: making the final product look good, as well as being something that I would like to own in real life. Most likely I will be bringing my project home after the unit is done, so I wanted to make sure that whatever I make will be something that I would like to have in my room, and not tossed into a random corner of the storage room. As I mentioned earlier, I love the aesthetic of wind chimes, and I personally think that it would be really epic to own one. The second pro is that it is easy to design, and will not surpass the time limit given on the project. I can take creative liberties, while still ensuring that the wind chime can serve its intended purpose. Some cons of this idea is that it would be hard to find a target audience. Wind chimes are not particularly educational, and are mostly there for decoration. Therefore, the target audience would be very vague and hard to define, because it is hard to find one specific trait that fuels people’s need for wind chimes. As of now, the most likely target audience is people who likes wind chimes, like myself.

Below are some images that I compiled about wind chimes, as well as some other pictures that I found when I was looking for design inspiration:

This Is Very Not Fine.

This is my Capstone Video! Credits at the end of the video, along with a Special Thanks!

As I was making this video, I was most proud of the animation (especially the newspaper flick, that was very nice), because animating small movements was a lot harder than I thought it would be, and I really like how it turned out.

How Can We Keep People Safe, This Time Without Guns?

June 2, 2022 / Annie / 0 Comments

In 2020 alone, more than 45000 Americans died to a gun (BBC). That is not even counting the firearm deaths in the rest of the world, or how many people were injured in a shooting! According to the 16^th of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions, “People everywhere need to be free of fear from all forms of violence” (UN). That includes gun violence, lethal or otherwise. Although there are many reasons why people own guns, banning guns also has some benefits, and there are many alternatives to giving people easier access to guns for self-defense.

There are many reasons why people want to own guns. For some people that live in high-crime areas, owning guns could be one of the only ways for them to protect themselves (Foundation For). For example, in 2001, two people broke into Terry Pickle’s shop in Salt Lake City, and just immediately started shooting (Armour). However, Pickle and his son picked up their own guns, and fired back, successfully driving out the intruders (Armour). Some others believe that owning guns would help them keep their workspaces safe, and that having guns at work would discourage crime. In fact, Stephanie Amour stated that “Gun-owner groups say employers who ban guns are stripping away workers’ right to defend themselves on the job” (Amour). Another reason is that for some people, firearms – and the right to own them – hold great symbolic meaning. In the USA, the Second Amendment of the US Constitution states that “…The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” (Legal Information Institute). The gun culture in the US has been passed down through generations, and many see it as a symbol, for many different things. According to Henry Allen, “[Firearms are] symbols of protection of the home…equality…fighting for liberation and family tradition.” For them, it is part of their culture. The above are some of the most prominent reasons why people own guns.

Banning guns would reduce the firearm death rates, but if guns are not handled carefully, they will cause a lot of damage. First, the banning of firearms would greatly reduce the firearm death rates. For example, in 2018, 74% of the homicides were due to firearms (Aradhya). If guns were banned, these 74% of people killed could be saved (Aradhya). In 1996, Australia reformed their gun laws for a stricter gun control policy, and since the new laws were passed, the number of firearm-related homicides fell exponentially (Kiely). Not only did the firearm homicide rate fall, the suicide rate also fell as well (Kiely). On the other hand, if guns are not handled with great care, they can cause a lot of damage. According to Philip Alpers, “…New Zealand police lost control of guns when they stopped registering 96% of firearms. Now it’s those most common, unpoliced firearms which almost invariably turn up in day-to-day gun crime” (Hunt). Almost 40,000 deaths a year involve firearms in the US alone (BBC). Banning guns have been proven effective in reducing the firearm death and crime rates, while not carefully monitoring firearms has the opposite effect.

Homicide Rates In Australia, From 1996 to 2013. Image Source

An alternative to giving citizens guns for self-protection is by focusing on how to reduce crime. One way this could be achieved is by inspecting – and improving, if need be – the police system so that more citizens can place their trust in the police. In the article “Gun Control Comes from a Place of Privilege”, the author states that for people living in high-crime areas, a gun could be the only way for them to protect themselves, because the police had given up on the area. However, giving the public easy access to guns would make it easier for criminals to get their hands on said guns as well. In order to make these high-crime areas safer, authorities could work towards getting the police system to a place where the police would not simply give up on high-crime areas. After all, the whole point of the police is to fight crime and keep the people safe. If the police cannot be trusted to resolve dangerous situations, then the people would not be safe. Likewise, leaders could place a higher emphasis on security in general. For example, people could install security cameras in places where crimes frequently occur, to deter criminals from committing crimes in such areas. Additionally, authorities could increase efforts to deter crime in the first place. Some say that instead of gun control, people should work on tougher sentencing, harsher penalties and better parenting in order to reduce crime (Stezelberger). While that would work, these changes would take a long time to implement – especially better parenting – so in the meantime, tightening gun control would be a way to make communities safer as people work towards these bigger goals. The above are all possible alternatives to guns that would still make people safer, but would also let communities benefit from the extra security that comes with tighter gun control.

In conclusion, while many have reasons for owning guns, there are also many benefits that comes with banning guns, and instead of having lax gun control in favor of giving people weapons for self-defense, there are many alternatives that can still keep people safe and provide the added security of proficient gun control at the same time. Even though guns are very important and can certainly save someone’s life, they can just as easily take it away. Like all tools, if guns are not monitored correctly, they can cause a lot of damage. If the 16^th UN Sustainable Development Goal is to be achieved, then a certain amount of gun control would be necessary.

Works Cited

Allen, Henry. “Why Do Americans Love Guns? They’re Part of Our Culture.” Washington Post, 26 Dec. 2012. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2262466416?accountid=4047.

Aradhya, Venus. “Should Guns Be Banned?” Voicesofyouth.org, 8 July 2021, www.voicesofyouth.org/blog/should-guns-be-banned. Accessed 12 May 2022.

Armour, Stephanie. “Companies That Ban Guns Put on Defensive.” USA Today, Dec. 2004. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2265675219?accountid=4047. Accessed 12 May 2022.

BBC.com. www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41488081. Accessed 25 May 2022.

“Buffalo Shooting: Ten Dead in Racially Motivated Attack at New York State Store.” BBC News. BBC News, www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61452958. Accessed 15 May 2022.

Foundation For Economic Education. “Gun Control Comes from a Place of Priviledge.” CE Think Tank Newswire, Jan. 2022. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2626089963?accountid=4047. Accessed 12 May 2022.

“Gun Violence Must Stop. Here’s What We Can Do to Prevent More Deaths.” Prevention Institute, www.preventioninstitute.org/focus-areas/preventing-violence-and-reducing-injury/preventing-violence-advocacy. Accessed 25 May 2022.

Hunt, Elle. “New Zealand: Ardern Flags Further Gun Control Reforms after Firearms Charges Peak.” Wellington, Mar. 2021. The Guardian, www.theguardian.com/world/2021/mar/15/new-zealand-ardern-flags-further-gun-control-reforms-after-firearms-charges-peak. Accessed 15 May 2022.

Kiely, Eugene. “Gun Control in Australia, Updated.” FactCheck.org, Oct. 2017, www.factcheck.org/2017/10/gun-control-australia-updated/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwg_iTBhDrARIsAD3Ib5iErk0-cYRtEd5NdsXwr54ZOmwUnKETNWT4FqG_ucmUjWgymDrSyggaAl6cEALw_wcB.

Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School, www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment. Accessed 25 May 2022.

Stezelberger, Gerard. “Your View by a Gun Store Owner: Why We Must Stand up for Our Second…” Morning Call (Online), 6 Sept. 2019. SIRS Issues Researcher, explore.proquest.com/sirsissuesresearcher/document/2314112336?accountid=4047.

UN People. “Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions.” Sustainable Development Goals, UN, www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/peace-justice/. Accessed 31 May 2022.

Richard Didn’t Get Rich When He Went to America. Instead He Got to Fight in a War

March 30, 2022 / Annie / 0 Comments

My name is Richard. The full name is Richard Spencer Williams, but just call me Richard. For more than 20 years, I lived in the new lands across the sea, the place that is now known as America. I witnessed the first acts of discontent amongst the colonists, heard the splashing of the tea as it fell into the Boston Harbor, and marched with my fellow soldiers when the Patriots finally defeated us in Yorktown, in 1781.

This is the story of the American Revolution.

After the Revolution, many things changed. However, many things also stayed the same. For example, the rich, white men stayed in charge, and it wasn’t until many years later until the balance in power shifted. The Native Americans still got the short end of stick, along with women and the slaves. On the contrary, the American Revolution also created many new ideas that quickly spread across the globe – much like the corona virus. The first one of those revolutionary ideas is that “birth isn’t destiny”. Before the Revolution, the social status of an individual is decided the moment they’re born. If someone is born in a royal family, they would most likely remain royal for the rest of their lives. If someone is born a peasant, they stay a peasant. But in America, it doesn’t work that way anymore. People can ascend and descend the social hierarchy at any time, without their parents’ status deciding their fate. Another one of the more important new ideas is the creation of the title, “Mr.” or “Mrs.” President. Not “Your Highness” or “Your Majesty”. During that time, the word “President” is a fairly humble title, and for the leader of an entire country to be named “Mr. President” is virtually unheard of. Not only that, but the Americans also established their 4-year term plan, instead of having someone be leader for life. More of the novel ideas that came with the Revolution includes freedom of worship, the separation of church and state, a republican government, and giving the common people political power.

These new ideas from the Revolution will change how the world works, and the French actually had their own revolution, inspired by the Americans. All in all, the Revolution was well worth the trouble, even though there were some flaws that needs to be fixed. Eventually, though, everything settled down, and the world slowly changed and embraced the new ideas brought forth by the Revolution.

“Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death!”

March 15, 2022 / Annie / 1 Comment

“Give me liberty or give me death!” – Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775

Have you ever heard of this country called the USA? Well, it used to be part of Britain, and the US only became a country after a long revolution against its mother country in the 1700s. Before the Revolution, the Americans were just colonists settling in on the newly discovered continent of America, and while not all of the colonists were British – there were many different people from many different countries – all the colonists in the British colonies were under the control of the British Parliament. And the thing about the British Parliament at the time, is that they really liked putting taxes on people. They had their reasons, of course; they had just fought a long, 7-Year War with France and Spain for the rights to the new land across the sea, and wars are expensive. Now Britain needs to earn their money back, and they decided that they would do so by vigorously taxing the colonists. However, the colonists weren’t very happy with all the new taxes, and they demanded that they get some representation in the Parliament. In the meantime, the Parliament kept on passing Acts without the colonists’ consent, and through a series of riots, repealing, and passing new acts, all the tension eventually boiled over and started what we now know as the American Revolution. In this revolution, the colonists fight first for more freedom from the Parliament, then for the complete separation of the colonists and Britain.

In this video, we will explain the American Revolution in Plain English, and spoiler alert – though you probably know this already – the Americans win. But without any further ado, let’s get into the video. Enjoy!

Image from: History.com

Video edited with iMovie

Inspired by CommonCraft

Fatal Fever. Also Known as Deadly Disease.

January 26, 2022 / Annie / 0 Comments

Fatal Fever by Gail Jarrow is about typhoid, a deadly disease that killed a lot of people in the US around the 1900s. More specifically, the book is about the “first healthy typhoid carrier ever found in the United States”, the infamous Typhoid Mary. The story follows the stories of three people: Dr. George Soper, Dr. Sara Josephine Baker, and of course, Mary Mallon. Even though the book mostly focuses on Mallon’s life, Soper and Baker had major contributions in tracking her down, so that she wouldn’t infect others with typhoid. However, Mallon is extremely uncooperative, and caused a lot of problems along the way.

This is a really interesting book to read, and I found several central ideas as well. I apologize in advance for my handwriting, and welcome into my notebook! 🙂

The first central idea I got was that people should cooperate with officials about problems that might concern the health of the public. That isn’t exactly how I phrased it in my notebook, but the general idea is very similar. Personal freedom is important, but if a bunch of people are going to get sick because you refuse to cooperate with the health officials, then… not a good idea (does that sound familiar? *cough* COVID *cough*)

As I read, I found some sort of theme as well. Sometimes, you need to put down your pride. This somewhat connects to my first idea as well, that people should cooperate with health officials. Mallon refuses to believe that she is a typhoid carrier, and she stated multiple times that she “is a clean person”. I think she feels insulted when Soper and others call her a typhoid carrier, because she might think that they’re saying she’s “dirty”.

So why exactly is Mary Mallon more… problematic than other typhoid carriers? Why isn’t the other carriers locked up like she was? Personally, I think that Mallon is more of a problem to the New York City health officials is because she refuses to cooperate. For this page, I used a cause-and-effect sort of method to take notes. The bubbly boxes are some thoughts that I had while I was reading.

And that concludes this (very short) peek into my notebook! I apologize (again) for my handwriting, I had to cram words into a small amount of space quite a few times, so some things might look a bit squished.

To be honest, I thought about COVID-19 a lot while I was reading this book. Deadly disease/virus that spreads from person to person? Check. People not cooperating with the health officials? … Yeah. Unfortunately.

Thanks for reading!

Annie Discovers the Theme of This Book

December 16, 2021 / Annie / 0 Comments

This book is called Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and it tells the story of two boys: Aristotle (Ari for short) and Dante. Originally, Ari didn’t have any friends and mostly kept to himself. But then he met Dante, who managed to draw him out of his shell. The main theme of this book is to not be ashamed of who you are.

While this is a good book, I’m not sure if this is really the best book for this unit. This book’s storyline consists of many small story arcs, and personally I feel like it’s a bit hard to find the main theme overall. Another thing is that I just couldn’t really connect with the characters sometimes. I don’t know if that’s because I’m thirteen and they’re 15-17, or maybe they just don’t “resonate” with me the way some other characters does. However, it’s still a really interesting book to read, and I still enjoyed reading it.

Loves cats, drawing, and other things.