A Child Called “It” is a true story written by Dave Pelzer, who is himself a victim of extreme child abuse. 

This book is an educational and inspirational story that talks about the constant abuse Dave had to face growing up. I won’t go into detail about the story since it’s extremely graphic. But this is just a review. 

I read this book in about a couple of hours. Most of the time I felt uncomfortable reading it because of how descriptive and detailed it was, I felt obligated to put it down every once in a while just to give myself a break. This is definitely a book to pace yourself with. 

Dave’s family life started out calm and peaceful before it took a drastic turn. His father was a firefighter and his mother stayed at home to take care of him and his two older brothers. Since his father was away on shifts the majority of the time, Dave was often left alone with his mother. There’s only one calm and understanding chapter in this book. After the first chapter, it immediately dives into the reason for the mother’s abuse. And as Dave grew older, the more intense the abuse grew. 

From being starved nearly to death to being stabbed by his own mother, Dave overcame nearly everything his mother threw at him. Not only was he ridiculed by his own family of bystanders, but by his school as well. They understood and knew what he was enduring in his own home and refused to report. This book concludes with Dave’s ending resilience and acceptance of his past. 

I do not encourage this book to just be read but to be understood. His story deserves to be heard.

This movie is about an ex-UFC fighter named Elwood Dalton most known as Dalton takes on a new job as a bouncer in the Glass Keys.  Dalton has past trauma from an accident that happened while being in a UFC fight. This movie is based on “Road House” released in 1989.

Dalton is shown as a hidden guy who doesn’t want to be seen in public. However, he meets a woman named Frankie who offers him a job as a bouncer at her bar called “Road House”. Dalton had a lot of second thoughts about the job and then he decided to take the job. 

He will eventually arrive at Glass Keys and encounter the owners of a bookstore. A girl named Charlie and her dad Stephen. Dalton will become friends with this family because of the kindness they showed him. 

The first night Dalton was working at his new job he got to work on trying to stop a group of men from trashing the bar. However, this group of guys will cause a lot of trouble for Dalton. The boss of the group of guys is sending men to destroy the roadhouse to be able to build his new resort for rich people to come and admire the amazing view that Glass Keys offers.

They will try everything in their power to try to scare Dalton from staying in Glass Keys and stop him from ruining their plan. Throughout the movie, they will try any possible way to get him scared and run away. 

“RoadHouse” is worth giving a watch. This movie has a lot of action and humor. Dalton changes a lot from the beginning and at the end of the story. He seems nice and a cool person who is very quiet. However, towards the end of the movie, they show his angry side and it seems he is completely different. 

One thing I liked was the villain character of Knox. He was a helper in trying to get Dalton to leave town. Knox’s character was to act like a crazy and buff fighter who wasn’t scared of anything. It’s funny because the actor is Conor McGregor. He is a UFC fighter in real life and he acts similarly when it comes to his fights. 

I would rate this movie a 4.5 out of 5. I would recommend this movie to anyone interested in action movies and who likes fighting scenes.

The top teams are battling it out, with predictions adding to the excitement and suspense to each upcoming game in each bracket’s series.

The action is INTENSE! OKC Thunder leads 2-0 against the Pelicans, displaying their dominance on the court. Meanwhile, rising star Anthony Edwards has been performing to his highest ability for the Timberwolves, he is fueling up his team’s energy and skill to their game. Executing very well on the court and potentially making it to the next round.

On other hands; talented teams like the Lakers and Suns have faced unexpected challenges, leaving fans and sportswriters surprised by their struggles. Although their roster is full of stars, injuries and other obstacles have tested their strength in this year’s playoffs.

The playoff bracket remains unpredictable, with each game presenting new opportunities and challenges for the competing teams. However, I and many others have their eyes on the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are strong contenders for the championship title.

The playoffs for these teams are a true test of skill, strategy, and focusness. Anything can happen on the court, the Thunder’s performance so far is a strong team to watch out for.

As the playoffs continue, fans are excited to see what happens in each game. Every match brings unexpected moments and victories, forming the new winners…crowning the new champions of this league.

One thing Shai needs to focus on is his three-point shooting percentage. While he has shown that he can make the shot beyond the arc, consistency in this will elevate his game to a whole other level! Improving his three-point shot will not only make him more dangerous offensively but also give his teammates an opportunity because they’ll be so open trying to stop him.

Even though he has room to improve that shot, Shai’s strengths as a point guard are pretty evident. His ball-handling is quite smooth and well-paced, which is exceptional. It allows him to create scoring opportunities for himself and his teammates. Also, his court vision and basketball IQ are quite advanced, allowing him to make split-second decisions on the fly, smartly and effectively.

Offensively, Shai’s game is often shown by his ability to score from anywhere on the court, whether it’s driving to the rim or stopping and popping for a mid-range jumper. His skill set is very crafty and diverse, keeping defenders on their toes. However, if he consistently finds his outside shot, this will make him even more dynamic as an offensive threat.

Defensively, Shai has the potential to be a lockdown defender. His length and athleticism allow him to be there in passing lanes and have enough reach to contest any shot effectively. With focus and effort on the defensive end, he has the skill to become one of the league’s leading perimeter defenders.

In conclusion, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is a rising star in the NBA, leading the OKC Thunder with his work ethic, talent, and leadership. Even though he’s still young and has accomplished a lot, there is still room for improvement. By focusing on areas such as his three-point shot, Shai has the potential to become one of the league’s most elite point guards of the century.

I overly enjoyed this read, it was fast and easy to follow. First I watched the movie starring Shia LaBouf (2003), then I found out it was an adaptation of the novel. Like most book adaptations, they leave a lot of things out. Stanley’s character is an overweight kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, causing him to go to a correctional facility deemed as a “camp”. Casting Shia LaBeouf, he was nothing like the character described in the book. 

That was my only complaint about the movie and the book, I think Stanley being fat was kind of a crucial part of his character, he was treated differently than in the book because of his physical appearance, and it didn’t have the same treatment. Other than that, it was both fun to watch the movie and read the book. 

This book also has a lot of hidden meanings. This “camp” for teenage boys was deemed to be a correctional facility for troubled boys to learn their lesson. Sound familiar? This camp has a lot of similarities to modern-day prisons. Inmates are forced to work without pay in prison. In the book, they are reportedly supposed to dig one hole each day, 5 feet wide, five feet deep in the blazing heat. If they find something interesting (valuable), they are to report back to their “counselors immediately”. 

Within modern-day prisons/ correctional facilities, inmates ‘Today, more than 76 percent of incarcerated workers surveyed by the Bureau of Justice Statistics say that they are required to work or face additional punishment such as solitary confinement, denial of opportunities to reduce their sentence, and loss of family visitation. They have no right to choose what type of work they do and are subject to arbitrary, discriminatory, and punitive decisions by the prison administrators who select their work assignments.” Stated by ACLU in their piece “CAptive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers”.

This book starts in one of the most disturbing parts of history, the Salem witch trials. Where women were often accused of being witches and were either hanged or burned alive at the stake. Located in Wickham Village, Massachusetts, 1692. 

Taking interest in a 16-year-old girl named Susanna Goode, she was by far the prettiest girl in her village and often was scorned for her looks by her mother and other female figures in the village. Susanna was constantly in fear due to the accusations of witchcraft that went around her village. She was brought up to be very modest for the sake of staying innocent in front of the witch killer of their region Benjamin Fier. 

This book had nothing but downs, it just got worse and worse. The reader instantly understands that Susanna is marked for death someway somehow. She is put in situations beyond her understanding or her control, which was very common back in the day. I had characters to fear and look for. 

I grew up with R.L. Stine’s books and have read through his pages throughout childhood, his unpredictability was nothing new, his writing was sharp, clean, and easy to imagine in your mind. Each character had a unique quirk to them and most had a well-deserved ending. 

This book was a very short read and was hard to put down. There was no real message beneath the words, it was just a story that was easy to read and was written for 10-year-olds. So nothing stood out to me.

One thing that never changes about generations is that to be normal is everything to a teenager. Staying in style and a comfort zone through the awkward stages of changing. Surrounding yourself with people who make you comfortable, and feeling well-liked. 

This novel follows a 16-year-old boy named Leo Borlock. Like most teenagers, he avoids change at all costs. In his world bound by nothing but his conscience, comes along a ‘freak’. A girl who dresses in nothing but colors that stand out, who acts out in every way that one would describe as embarrassing, mental, or weird. And yes, I personally experienced a lot of moments of cringe during this read, but it only proves the author’s point. Humans are doomed to labels and assumptions. 

Stargirl is an unpredictable offset, creating a problem only designed as a social construct for the people at her high school. They give her all sorts of stories and labels to figure her out and make out what and who she is. Instead of finding out themselves and asking her to her face, they were far more comfortable talking about her to create rumors and stories for their entertainment. 

This book exists to call out how teenagers are and how they’ve always been. Too in their heads to do anything different. Keep to themselves, think to themselves, and try to be themselves in the midst of it all. This book just had an influential character with an obvious heavy impact. It felt a bit unrealistic to me, but as it was published in 2002, that’s to be expected.

This novel revolves around a 16-year-old girl from Australia named Biz. She struggles with every emotion that comes her way, not knowing how to feel in the moment, only to feel it later. She talks a lot about her father’s death that happened when she was very young, around 7 years old. 

She talks very openly about her mother and little siblings, and the adaptations they had to make through it all, focusing on her mother. Something I found interesting was how she mentioned her mother’s first date after he died. Biz comments how the sacred last kiss of her dad would be forever gone if her mother kissed someone else. Gnawing at the tragic fact that everything can erode, even if you can’t see it. 

To cope with her father’s passing in her way, she imagines him in the present. She can imagine him in any situation she’s in, knowing what he would say in the moment, and seeing when he would leave. She talks to him through memory, trying to understand everything around her.

This novel includes identity crises, teenage torment, and seeing how a death through a young person’s eyes can shape someone for the rest of their life and how they view themselves and everyone else. Death is something so certain and sacred, yet it’s the one thing humans won’t ever fully understand. 

Ingredients

• 1 pound sweet rice flour
• 1 stick butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ½ cup shredded coconut (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350℉. In a large bowl, add rice flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt and mix until combined.

2. In a separate bowl, mix milk, eggs, and vanilla until fully incorporated.

3. Pour the wet mix into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined.

4.  Melt the butter, and add the coconut milk and butter into the dough and mix until smooth.

5. Grease your pan.

6. Pour dough into the prepared pan and sprinkle with coconut if desired. Bake for around 1 hour or until golden brown and crispy on top.

7. Let cool, and enjoy!

This story circles the life of 15-year-old Miriam. She has no intellect of what the outside of her little town is like. She is a very negative character, but then again so are all 15-year-olds. She acts very grown up to her friends and to her mother (she seems to hate all of them). She experiences the ultimate lows of what it means to act grown. 

She eventually finds a circle of friends she associates with, they convince her to take a rebellious road trip only to eventually take a turn for the worse. 

Though this book didn’t stand out to me, it had a great representation of what being a confused teenager can look like. As Gen-Z, we grew up with teenage shows that show almost everything but the realistic struggles of being a 15-year-old kid. 15 is the teenage dark period. I think that’s why I didn’t enjoy this book as much because it reminded me of all the weird stuff that happened as a 15-year-old. 

This book is also a bit stereotypical, Miriam has grown up in a small town, where nothing ever happened, everyone already knew her, and nothing ever seemed to change pace. Her character is a constant daydreamer that night and day, dreaming of something bigger. 

I guess dislike is too strong a word for my feelings toward this story, but it had its relatable parts. It represents a lot of LGBTQ struggles and dicey feelings masking friendships and relationships and such.