Survival

Life as we Knew it

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer

Water runs out so they decided to shut down the oil furnace and move to the sunroom. Miranda's brother, Jonny an her mom get sick so Miranda went to look for Peter but when she got to the hospital, they told her Peter was dead. Food was running out and Matt also got sick. Miranda decides to sacrifice for her family and gives them her food. She doesn't want her to see her die so she goes to town planning to never get back but she founds out a man who was giving food. She gets food to home every week and promise to never let her family alone. Their lives completely changed but they were happy because they were together.

There was no enough food to feed Miranda's mother and two brothers who were sick. She decided to die and give her food to her family. "I'd gone to town. There was no point going home, forcing the others to watch that happen." I don't think that is the best idea. If she dies, there will be no-one who will take care of them and if anything bad happens, Miranda wouldn't be present to help. It depends on the time or problems people are facing to see what they can really do. Before, Miranda thought that living her mother alone would be terrible and that she would never do that but now, because of what's happening, she is prepared to die for them. 

"But today, when I'm 17 and warm and well fed, I'm keeping this journal for myself so I can always remember life as we knew it, life as we know it, for a time when I am no longer in the sunroom." It's sad such a hard time Miranda and her family had to face. Miranda learned to survive. Surviving is in our blood, it's our instinct. Miranda did things she never knew she would do and find out who she really was. Miranda says she's keeping her journal, this book to remember the past. I think she doesn't want to commit the same mistakes she did and start a new life.

Surviving may get us to do terrible things but it shows us who we really are and what we are capable to do. Miranda can give everything for her family, even her life. She became a very strong women and wiser. Things happen for a reason and this might have happened because our society today, is rotten. This might have happened to teach people what really is important and Miranda understood. She learned to survive and to appreciate things. 

Be Thankful

Life as we Knew it

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer

It was already August and Miranda and her family started to worry about the food, it was almost over.  Miranda had a fight with her mom and almost leave home. Jonny gets back from his camp with dad and decided to chop wood for winter and he even gives them some food. One day, Miranda's mom fell down and hurt her ankle. People from the hospital didn't wanted to help her but Matt had a friend, Peter, who was a doctor. Peter told them her ankle was sprained and that she couldn't put weight on it for a couple of weeks. It was starting to snow and they needed to cover all the house to keep heat inside because there was no heating. They didn't knew what were they supposed to do and just waited for the best.

Miranda ate a whole bag of chocolates because she and her mom fighter and after they talked. Miranda's mom told her, "If we don't look towards the future, we have nothing to live for and I wouldn't have that." Miranda's mom is saying the truth. Everything we do needs to be for the future, people always need to be thinking before they act and look towards the future. When people make something, they don't think in the consequences the action will have, they only focus on the present but things don't need to be like that. We must change.

After the fight Miranda had with her mom, she started thinking about the death of her friend, Megan. Megan's mother had suicide for her daughter's death and Miranda realized she was never going to do that to her mom. "I've live. We'll live. I will never make Mom face what Mrs. Wayne faced. My existence is the only gift to give her (…)" I think that in this terrible crisis, the only gift she can actually give her is her existence. It is sad, many people don't even have mothers and others just think is insignificant problems such as homework. We need to appreciate the things we have and benefit from them. 

Many people may be facing worse problems than yours. Miranda and her family needed to deal from the cold form winter while others may just be watching TV. We always need to be thankful for the lives we have and try to enjoy them as much as we can. We always need to try to help others as much as possible, like Peter. He was the only one who helped Miranda's mom and everyone was very thankful with him. People must try to be better everyday and always be thankful for what they have.  

Crisis

Life as we Knew it

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer


The problem with the moon has gone worse. Volcanoes were erupting and ashes were all over the world, blocking the sun and making crops difficult to grow. The whole world as in an economic crisis and  everyone thought it was going to be the end of the world. People started buying everything they could from the markets, and fortunately, Miranda and her family got the supplies they needed. Miranda's brother, Matt, move with her for caution and to help her and her mom. Miranda's dad, her dad and her new baby are ok and luckily could talk with Miranda by the phone. Many schools, including Miranda's school, closed because they run out of food and Miranda started teaching herself at home. Miranda starts a relationship with Dan, a boy who swims in a pond as well as her but they didn't last long because Dan needed to leave town. Megan, Miranda's best friend was ill and very  thin because she didn't had enough food. Jonny, Miranda's brother decides to go to a baseball camp because he will be able to have fresh food. Soon Miranda finds out that Megan died and Megan's mother had suicide because of that. Miranda returns to her house and she apologizes with her mom. 

It was like the end of the world, everyone was acting like crazy and nobody deserves living that way. "I know Mom doesn't want us t die (…) But I think she doesn't want us to live either." Every mother wants the best for her children but sometimes things don't go as planned. Problems are inevitable but the only thing you can do is either run or deal with them. Miranda's mom and her family decided to deal with the problem as best as they could even though it was a problem that was going to change everybody lives. Nobody wants their family to die but if they were in a terrible situation where they are suffering, maybe they will decide to run from the problem by the easiest way, which is not always good.  

Before Megan died, Miranda was thinking about this whole horrible situation and started thinking, "I know Dan thinks I'm lucky that, I've been "untouched" by everything that's happened. And I know I'm self-pitying to think otherwise. But sometimes I wonder if the big cannonball horror of knowing someone you love has died is all that much worse than the everyday attrition life." Many people have watched someone they love died but the simple fact that Miranda faces the attrition life by her family that can lead them to death, is worse. I don't think she has been "untouched" by this problem, I think she has been less affected than others. Miranda and her family are going through very tough times, as everyone, but at least she has family who can help her and be by her side. 

Thinking about the end of the world, gives me goosebumps. Knowing that so much people is going to die and thinking all the suffering people are going to face is terrible. When the world ends, the most important things won't be the material thing or work, the most important thing will be people you love, that's why we always need to take care of them and show them our love no matter what. I think the right way to face such a big problem is to deal with it by help of your family. Love keeps family together and Miranda is very fortunate for having such beautiful people by her side. Families are forever.

Life can Change in a Matter of Seconds

Life as we Knew it

Author: Susan Beth Pfeffer

Miranda is a normal 16 year old girl with divorced parents, who lives in Pennsylvania. She has two brothers, one in university and one who's younger. Soon she will have a half-sibling and her preoccupation is that she may became her godmother. This week, everyone has been very excited about the asteroid that's going to heat the Moon, soon everyone will be able to see the asteroid with their naked eyes. When the event finally happened, scientists realized that the asteroid had moved the moon closer to Earth. This caused tsunamis and floods, most of the coasts had disappeared and islands had been covered by water. Miranda and her family were preoccupied about others but they knew nothing was going to be the same. 

Miranda wrote an essay about how people prefer watching the old stuff they are used to instead of the new and unknown discoveries. "Men were walking on the moon for the very first time in history and people preferred watching Dr. McCoy say, "He's dead, Jim," for the thousandth time." This weekend, we were able to see the lunar eclipse and it was amazing but I noticed that a lot of people didn't really care about it. Some appreciated the unique opportunity of watching this weird phenomena but others didn't really even care. Scientists said that this eclipse and red moon would be able to be seeing within almost 78 years from now but for some people didn't matter. Many other people couldn't see the moon and they were very upset about it. We need to appreciate the unique events we can witness and enjoy them. 

People fear about the unknown things, people, places, things, animals, events and much more things. "I looked out my window just now. I tried to look at the moon, but it scares me." Even though people know they will have to adapt someday, they always feel scared at first. Human nature forces us to act that way but we need to be able to control that, there are always going to be new things we will need to adapt to and we will not be able to do it if we live in fear. Large groups of people are moved by fear, many do things unconsciously just because they fear, which is wrong. Humans need to be conscious about what they do, and if they are doing it for fear, they must stop.

Our society has changed a lot over time but the factor that has stayed the same is the idea that old is better. A lot of people are used to certain type of things and don't pay attention to the new thing even though they might be better. New and unknown scares others. We should take advantage of the new technology or discoveries people are making and appreciate we are able to use and enjoy them. 

Boyfriends, Boyfriends, Boyfriends

Book: The Secret Language of Girls
Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell
Pages: 219-247

Boyfriends aren't always good when you are little. After Kate and Andrew spent a lot of time together, people started to think they were together, as a couple. One day, Andrew called Kate to talk about that and told her that he thought it wasn't bad that what people were saying would be true. Kate said that she wasn't bad with that and they really became a couple. Everyone in school knew about their romance but Kate didn't really felt comfortable with that. She started to avoid Andrew because she didn't wanted other people to watch them being together and worse, watch them holding hands. Andrew notice that and called Kate to see what was wrong. Kate told her that she didn't felt comfortable about it and they broke up. The next day, Kate wanted to avoid Andrew as much as she could but when she got to school, she went to talk with him right away. She wasn't going to avoid him her whole life so she decided to deal with it that day. Andrew was playing basketball with some friends so Kate went running to them and started playing two on two. When the bell rang, Andrew told Kate that he thought she didn't wanted to do more things with him and Kate explained him everything. She told him that she wanted to do things with him but just as friends because she's not good at holding hands and that stuff. Andrew took that really well and both stayed as friends. 

The last day of school, Mazie, Marilyn's friend, wanted to humiliate someone and she picked Kate. They were going to ask Robbie, one of the most handsome boys in school, to write her a note asking her to go out with him to the movies and Marilyn wasn't going to accept that but she didn't had other option, she didn't wanted to loose her friends. Marilyn putted the letter in Kate's mailbox and Petey, her brother, found out the plan and got the letter so that Kate didn't get it. Before school, she told Kate's mom to tell her that everything was a joke. When Kate got to school, Marilyn told her if she got the message from her mom but she was really confused because she never got the letter. Robbie went to her and asked her what was her answer but Kate was really confused about everything. Robbie finally aced her if she wanted to go out with him to the movies and she said no, even though she didn't knew it was a joke, she humiliated Robbie. That day, everyone signed her school book but this time was different, everyone told Kate that she was cute and wanted to know her more. When she got to home, she want to call Marilyn to thank her but Marilyn called first and demonstrated that her friendship would never end. 

"…Kate had no interest in romance, she never cared what other people thought. Now, it appeared, love was turning her into a rotter human being." Love is something beautiful, she shouldn't feel like that. She shouldn't let society change her because love would never do that. You always need to be yourself, no matter what. It's true that rotten human beings are the ones who care and always listen to what others say. The truth is that, it doesn't matter what others think because if you love yourself, everyone else will. The only person you need to satisfy is yourself. 

"Love is more complicated than people think." As we grow, we start noticing that relationships need to be balanced, you need to give some time to yourself and some time to your partner but always in a balanced way. Love is the most strong feeling a human can feel, therefore we need to be very careful with it. It can begin in a second but it can also end in another. Love is fragile and when little girls start having boyfriends at a young age, love defrauds them. It's not good for little girls to have boyfriends because that only ends with the friendship both had. Love is a part important of our lives and we need to take care of it.

People change all the time but the things that always stay the same are the love for people we know, even though we think they don't love us back. Little girls are not ready to have boyfriends, love is complicated and we need to make reflection about it. The secret language of girls is complicated but we always need to concuss about we do and our actions. Friendship is forever, believe it or not, family and friends are the most important people on our lives and we always need to take care of them. To conclude, people who are important to us always stay by our side and give us advice of everything we need.

ROTTEN

Book: The Secret Language of Girls
Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell
Pages: 160-219

Every girl has fell in love when they were in school, this year, Marilyn and Kate did. On Marilyn's first game as a cheerleader, she met Wes Porter's brother, who had cancer and had lost one of his legs. Marilyn thought he was really cute but never admitted it. Wes invited Marilyn and her friends to his house for a party. Marilyn accepted and was very excited about it because it was her first party with all of the popular guys and though she was finally going to have her first kiss. For her surprise, Wes' brother, Tyler, was there! Everyone was in the basement and Tyler was there. He was really nice with Marilyn when Wes started bothering her and she started to get excited. Everyone started to play spin the bottle and in one of the turns, the bottle pointed to Marilyn and in the middle of Wes and Catherine, one of Marilyn's friends. Everyone said it was pointing to Tyler even though he wasn't actually playing. Tyler didn't had a problem with kissing Marilyn but Wes got angry and said that it wasn't fair so he said it was his turn to kiss Marilyn. She was upset because she really wanted her first kiss to be with Tyler but Wes ruined it. Wes kissed her but she realized it wasn't a big deal, he barely touched her lips. On the other hand, Kate was going with her dad every weekend to his basketball practice. There, she met with Andrew O'Shea, one boy from school. They started to spend a lot of time together, watching the practice and Kate fell in love with him. Both girls started having new feelings and new experiences. 

Now everyone cares about what we wore and sometimes they don't realize that the most important thing is what we wore on our inside. "Marilyn wished her mom had dressed I'm seat and tennis shoes like all the other mothers…" Marilyn should appreciate that her mother was there and shouldn't care about her outfit, that should be the last thing she notices. I hate when my parents don't assist to one of my basketball game or a violin concert because I don't have a person who I care to show them my effort. The only thing that matters is that your parents care and support you. 

"Marilyn wondered if looking at people playing sports made him sad. Although for all she knew he could play whatever spot he wanted to." Ty had cancer and one of his legs was fake. I had read "The Star Won't Go Out", which is a book about a girl with cancer. I had learned that their lives are really hard but that they live more than the people who actually are healthy and don't have to worry of death. No one has the right to tell them what they can do or cannot do. I'm sure Tyler could do whatever he wants to if he puts effort in it.

Our society is so rotten nowadays that we even care about what we wear, people judge others just because of their outfit without giving them a chance. Our society is so rotten nowadays that people don't care about love affections, they think a kiss not a big deal, when a kiss can make every single feeling turn on. Our society is so rotten nowadays that people think that cancer people are unable to do things and think that a pretty hair can make them bigger things. People should think about their thought because then they become actions and every action has its consequence.   

Imperfection is Better than Perfection

Book: The Secret Language of Girls
Author: Frances O'Roark Dowell
Pages: 109-160

Friendship is forever, believe it or not. Flannery convinced Marilyn to do the cheerleaders audition to enter with her and she accepted. Marilyn's aunt was also a cheerleader so she gave Marilyn some advice for her. While they were talking, Marilyn accepted that she felt in love with Mr. Kertzner, her science teacher. Her aunt encourage her to invite him for dinner so she did. Days after, Marilyn had her audition and she did really well, it wasn't a surprise that they accepted her on the cheerleader's team! Marilyn started to become one of the most populars on school and left Kate. Mr. Kertzner went that night to Marilyn's house for dinner. Marilyn's aunt and the science teacher, fell in love but Marilyn didn't noticed it. Marilyn was very happy but Kate

wasn't so much even though she had a lot of other friends, she missed Marilyn. 

When Marilyn was started to become a cheerleader, Kate said to her that: "… it's more important to care about your brain than to care a about your hair. " It may sound ridiculous but if you look to its real meaning, it is something true. Some people think that just some simple things will get them to be big, which is not true. The things that get people to be big and worth-full are their work and effort. The ability to solve problems determines people's intelligence, not their hair.

"Most things in life were ragged edges and weird bumps ... no matter how perfectly they looked from distance. Even love. Even your best friends." Things may look perfect but the truth is that nothing is as perfect as it seems. We all need to accept other people's weird bumps and enjoy them. The point of love and friendship is to accept the other person even if they have ragged edges. Love and friendship are beautiful experiences but they wouldn't be like that if they don't have ragged edges, it's our job to fix them and that's the beauty about it. 

We want everything to be perfect when we don't notice that if things were like that, nothing would be fun. Everyone should appreciate their friends and never let them go. Neither friends or love is perfect, we should accept that and enjoy it. Everything we do, determines the persons we are and our effort and intelligence should be always good. Our values will make us the persons we want to be so we should have clear our values since we are little. Finally, never forget that nothing is perfect but the characteristic that make things perfect are their imperfections.