Current News #1

"Halloween returns to tramatized Pennsylvania town" CNN news

This year Oil City, Pennsylvania will be celebrating the traditional, after dark trick or treating in 16 years. Due to the kiddnapping and murder of an 11 year old girl on Halloween in 1992, the small working-class town has been shaken ever since. To step up securtity of another tragity like this happening again, the town passed a bill saying that for safety's sake, only trick or treating before sundown was allowed. However, a fifth-grade student was able to get enough signitures from Oil City residents that they considered bringing the tradition back again for the first time this year Halloween. Her two main points included the fact that many people are not home during the afternoon to pass out candy, and that halloween decorations are always better at night. There will be extra security around every corner this friday in Oil city, and parents are encouraged to come along. Hopefully this year Halloween will be able to be a tradition the town will carry on for more years.

Black like Me

Recently, I remembered one of my favorite books I read for a report last year- Black like Me by John Howard Griffin. It was a very interesting true life senario, where a white man temporarily dyed his skin dark brown to pass as a black man in the South. John Howard Griffin came up with this experiment in the 1960's and carried out his plan to live a black life for six weeks while he reported back for "Sepia Magazine". So in 1959, Griffin moved away from his family in the typical white subburbs, to deep into the black side of Louisiana. Through his journey, he moved from Louisiana to Mississippi, Alabama, and then to Georgia. At that time, the South was the worst place in the country for segragation and race unequality, but Griffin relied on the love and warm hospitality from the african american people he met through his month and a half as a black man. Some of the stories he recalls are very sad, being that he was not always treated fairly from white people. I would absolutly recommend this book to other people, because it gives a very interesting perspective, being that Griffin had seen both sides of the story. On the inside page was the poem Griffin had used as inspiration for the book's title:

Rest at pale evening...
A tall slim tree...
Night coming tenderly
Black like me.

Woman Heroes

Throughout the past few centuries, several women have broke the barriers of men's superiority, and have made their mark on history.


Anne Frank



Although Anne Frank was still a young girl when she died, she made a huge impact on the way we look at the Holocaust. Her diary gave us a very true look at the horrors of living in hiding, and was found after her small appartment was raided by Nazi's. It is today a best selling autobiography, loved by all ages.


Princess Diana



Princess Diana of England was played a huge part in volenteering and helping the needy. She used alot of her wealth to support causes that she believed in and helped so many less fortunate than her. Although she died in a car crash over a decade ago, her sons continute on her legacy, helping people throughout the world.


Oprah Winfrey



Oprah Winfrey, grew up with alot of hardship, facing abuse and a miscarrige. Today, Oprah is now a world renowed talk show host, ambassador, and is one of the wealthiest women in the world. She has made the most of her wealth by donating it to several charities and organizations over the years. Her rags to riches story has inspired so many people to go after their dreams.


Lucille Ball



Lucille Ball was a huge comedian and well known actress in the 1930's through the 1970's. She starred in and produced one of the best knows sitcoms from the last century, "I Love Lucy", alongside her then husband, Dezi Arnaz. Lucille was known to have one of Hollywood's longest carriers, and continues to give inspiration to many of today's comidians and actresses.


Amilia Earhart



Amilia Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. Being that air travel was a new thing during the 1930's, Amilia made huge headlines in an industry where it was mostly men. In 1939, Amilia took a plane trip in which she never returned. Still, her bravery will always be admired.

Click - "one novel, ten authors"

With its long list of authors: David Almond, Eoin Colfer, Toddy Doyle, Deborah Ellis, Nick Hornby, Margo Lanagan, Gregory Maguire, Ruth Ozeki, Linda Sue Park, and Tim Wynne-Jones, 'Click' ended up being a very interesting book. When I started the book over the summer, I wasn't really sure what it would be about since the discription was so confusing. I didn't understand how so many authors could colaborate to make one cohesive story. The book was about a girl, Maggie, who had inherited a box full of things that had belonged to her grandfather. Being that he had been a world renowned photographer, many of the things were from all over the world and were very hard to figure out. What made the book so interesting is that each chapter of the book had been written by a different author, and told of many different time periods, describing different charecters thats lives had been impacted by Maggie's grandfather. In the end, Maggie ends up learning even more about her grandfather after he was dead, just by visiting the people and places he had been through his career.