Somebody I look up to as my hero is my mom. My mom is my hero for so many reason but here are just a few. My mom takes care of me and my family everyday. She loves us all unconditionally. My mom is very caring and kind. She always puts others before her self. When someone in my family is sick, she always does her best to take care of them. She cooks yummy meals for us everyday. She also is a great multitasker. She could be doing house work while cooking us a yummy meal. She is very responsible and likes to get things done. Another reason my mom is my hero is because she takes us wherever we need to go like our sports practices. Even though she has a busy schedule, she always puts us first. Wherever we need to go, she always makes sure we get there safely. The third reason my mom is my hero is because she is always there to help me. My mom is super intelligent. Whenever I need help with my homework, I know I can always go to her. I am so grateful to have my mom in my life.

In December, I read the book The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han. This book is about a girl named Isabel who goes by Belly. Every summer, Belly stays at Cousins beach with her mom and older brother Steven. There, they hang out with their mom’s best friend Susannah and her two sons Jeremiah and Conrad. These people mean the world to Belly. Susannah is like her second mom, she’s been best friends with Jeremiah and has had a crush on Conrad for as long as she could remember. During a bonfire, Belly meets a boy named Cam and it turns out they’ve met before in elementary school. When Belly starts dating Cam, it takes a big effect on Conrad and Jeremiah. But who does Belly want to be with?

I recommend reading this book because this story has a very exciting and unpredictable plot. Every chapter has something new to offer which will make you never want to put this book down. There are also very many small details that you have to pay attention to as they could change Belly’s point of view as well as the reader’s. Every character in this story has many different character traits that will make you love them or hate them in different situations. Every character in the story has a complex personality that makes the book interesting.

My favorite character is Susannah. Susannah is my favorite character because she loves her family and friends more than anything. She always wants the best for those she loves and just wants them to be happy. She always supports her family and friends no matter what it takes. She always thinks about others and doesn’t ever want them to worry. Susannah always tries to spend time with her sons whenever she can. She truly cares about her friends and family. One of Susannah’s character traits is thoughtful. A quote to prove this character trait is on page 252, “My mother nodded, wet her lips. ‘You’re right. She’s still Susannah. She does things her way. She didn’t want you kids to know. She wanted this summer to be perfect.’” This quote proves Susannah just wanted them to have a perfect summer, just like every other summer at Cousins. Even though she was going through a lot she still wanted the best for her loved ones and wanted them to still have a good time.

My favorite quote from The Summer I Turned Pretty is on page 215, “Cam looked perplexed. ‘Why? Your nose is cute. It’s the imperfections that make things beautiful.” This quote is meaningful to me because the quote explains how being perfect doesn’t always make you beautiful, sometimes it’s the little imperfections that gives you beauty. This quote shows that nothing has to be perfect to be beautiful. Perfection doesn’t always define beauty.

This month I also read It’s Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han. This story is about a girl named Isabel who goes by Belly. Every summer, Belly along with her mom and older brother Stevan stay at Cousins beach. At Cousins beach, they stay at Susannah’s beach house with her two boys Conrad and Jeremiah. Susannah is their moms best friend. Susannah and he boys are like family to Belly. This summer, something changes and nothing feels the same.

I enjoyed this book as the plot was more exciting and tense as compared to the first book The Summer I Turned Pretty. Throughout the story, there are many tense parts when you just want to know what’s going to happen next. The many different personalities of the characters helps put the story together. Another enjoyable thing in this book is the story is told from not only Belly Conklin’s perspective but also from Jeremiah Fisher’s perspective.

My favorite character is Belly. Belly is my favorite character because she cares about everyone and wants to know what their going through so she can better understand them. Belly is also very trustworthy. Belly is always there for her companions so they can go to her whenever they need help. Conrad and Jeremiah can always rely on Belly to be there whenever they need it. Belly is also not afraid to say what she’s feeling. One of Belly’s character traits is caring. A quote that proves this character trait is on page 244, “Crossing my arms, I glared at them and said, ‘I’m tired too, you know. But look at the clock; it’s already one. We’re gonna have to work all night and leave really early tomorrow morning.’” This quote shows how much Belly cares about the boys. Even though she’s tired, she’s still willing to stay up with them to help Conrad study for his exams.

My favorite quote from It’s Not Summer Without You is on page 254, “But I loved that house, and I hated to say good-bye. Because, it was more than just a house. It was every summer, every boat ride, every sunset. It was Susannah.” I like this quote because it shows that everyone has somewhere that is their home away from home, somewhere they’ve made a lot of memories. Or maybe it even represents something, someone. For Belly, the summer house at Cousins beach is like her second home. Over the years, Belly has made so many lifelong memories that she will remember forever. The summer house is somewhere that will always have a special place in her heart, somewhere she will always remember and want to come back to.

My word of intention for 2023 is efficiency. There are a few reasons I am going to focus on efficiency this year. I would like to be more productive and be able to work smarter and not harder. This will help me eliminate time consuming tasks. I want to get the most out of my time as well as reduce the time I waste. Reducing the time I waste meaning spending less time doing things that are not important like watching TV or YouTube. Being more efficient will allow me to get more done in a less amount of time. Hopefully, this will allow me to have more time to focus on other hobbies away from school work. One of my hobbies is tennis. I would like to practice more at tennis and do more work off the court. This is so I could perform better on the court. Hopefully being efficient will help me to not procrastinate and not wait until last minute to get things done. In the end, I hope efficiency will help free more time for me to focus on other hobbies and activities besides school work.

I have been told I am to be the principal of my school for the day. First, I would make it Pajama Day. This is because who doesn’t like being comfortable and cozy all day? Wearing your pajamas to school also prevents you from having to get dressed in the morning. For me, getting dressed is very time-consuming. Secondly, I would make break and lunch longer. I feel like break and lunch right now are too short, lunch is 30 minutes, and break is only 10 minutes. If we have a longer break, we could maybe do some of our homework during break. We also would have more time to socialize and chat with our friends as well as eat. Another thing I would do if I were the principal of the day is I would make sure there is no homework. Homework just takes up more of your time outside of school when you could be doing something else. For example, your hobbies, like sports or hanging out with family and friends. If there was no homework, you would also have more time to just relax at home. When I’m principal for the day, I would shorten the school day by ending early and starting later. I would end the school day sometime around 1:30 pm and start school around 9:00 am. To make this happen, I would shorten the class periods. Since the holidays are coming up, I would make our winter break longer. I would also make us get out earlier so we wouldn’t get out so close to Christmas. This will give us more time to spend time with family. We could also help around the house to decorate. A final thing I would do if I were the principal of the day is let students pick their seats in all their classes for the day. This is important because some students only have a few classes with their friends and it’s important for them to interact with them. I understand if they are goofing off they shouldn’t have this opportunity but if they have behaved they should have this option. I would love to be the Principal of the day!

Once upon a time there was a monkey who loved to dance. Every day, he would perform a new dance for his fellow monkey friends. His fellow monkey friends however, weren’t interested in his dancing. Sometimes they laughed at him and made fun of his dancing. But the monkey didn’t care, he kept dancing because it was what he loved to do. One day, he wanted to show one of the other monkeys the new dance he came up with. The monkey had worked very hard on this dance but still didn’t perfect it yet. But the other monkeys just laughed and told him he looked goofy. He even told him he was really bad at dancing and shouldn’t do it anymore. The monkey was devastated. He had worked really hard on that dance. Dancing was his hobby and the other monkeys were making fun of him for doing what he loved. He didn’t like that and so he kept dancing to prove the other monkey wrong. There was no way he was going to let the monkey throw him around like that, he couldn’t quit. He danced for hours every day just so he could practice his moves. The other monkeys laughed at him and teased him day after day. But one day, when the other monkeys came around, the dancing monkey showed them his improved dance. Surprisingly, they liked it. They didn’t laugh or make fun of him. They just watched him dance. From that point on, the other monkeys never made fun of the dancing monkey ever again. Never let somebody else stop you from doing what you love.

In November, I read the book Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai. Inside Out & Back Again is a historical fiction book about a young girl named Há who has to flee her home in Saigon Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Há has only ever known Saigon where she has her very own papaya tree. Saigon is where her home is, her traditions her friends and everything she’s ever known is in Saigon. When Há and her family has to board a ship hoping to find a new home, she has to leave almost everything behind including her papaya tree. Inside Out & Back Again is written in a series of poems about Há and her family’s moving journey trying to find a new home.

I enjoyed reading this book as Há’s experience was similar to my grandparents. My grandparents also had to flee from Vietnam during the war and stayed in a Refugee camp, which eventually brought them here. It was interesting to learn more about that difficult time from somebody else’s perspective. Lots of the food Há and her family ate me and my family also eat. My family also celebrates Tết similar to Há’s family. During Tết we eat sugary lotus seeds and rice cakes. We also eat Báhn chưng and báhn cuốn. The imagery and descriptions make the items in the book come alive and help make a picture in the readers’ mind. The way the author used the five senses to describe what Há was experiencing at different times made me feel like I was experiencing what Há was experiencing. The author also did an exceptional job not only describing what was going on with Há and her family but also what was going on around them.

My favorite character is Há’s mom. Há’s mom is my favorite character because she always takes care of Há and her brothers. Even during rough times she always finds a way to support her children. One of her character traits is hard-working. A quote that proves this character trait is, “On weekdays Mother’s a secretary in a navy office, trusted to count out salaries in cash at the end of each month. At night she stays up late designing and cutting baby clothes to give to seamstresses” (14). This quote proves Há’s mom is hardworking because she is always working to try and make money so she can support her kids. On top of her job, she designs baby clothes trying to make extra money while having to raise four kids at the same time.

My favorite quote from the book is on pages 63 and 64, “Everyone knows the ship could sink, unable to hold the piles of bodies that keep crawling on like raging ants from a disrupted nest. But no one is heartless enough to say stop because what if they had been stopped before their turn?” I like this quote because it shows how everyone just wants to get to safety and even though other people know if more people board it could make the ship sink, they don’t want to stop them since if that was them they wouldn’t want to be stopped. I also like this quote because it shows the hardship of trying to feel from your home country.

It is the time of year when we are thinking of being thankful. One thing I am thankful for this year is my family. My family is always there for me when I need them. They help me with lots of different tasks and provide me with the resources I need to be successful. My dad always takes me to play tennis so I can improve my game. I love spending time with him this way. Even though I get frustrated sometimes, I appreciate his help. My mom always helps me with my homework and helps me prepare for school and tennis. I appreciate their help and am so thankful to have them in my life. Even though my siblings sometimes annoy me and drive me crazy, I am still very thankful for them. We like to go outside in our backyard and play pickleball or make up different games. I like to read, shop, play tennis and draw with my little sister Mia. With my little brother AJ, I sometimes read with him or play games like hitting a balloon around. My grandparents all live close by and I enjoy seeing them. They always cook me yummy meals like noodle and rice dishes. They take me to fun places and I appreciate the love and joy they give me. I love spending time with my cousins, Audrey and Cora. We love to make up fun games to play together. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Marcus live in Texas and I love spending time with them every time they come to visit. I love playing board games with them and decorating Christmas cookies. Every year they take us somewhere for our Christmas gift and I always have such a good time. Some places they’ve taken us include ice skating, mini golfing, watching shows and so much more. I can’t wait for this Christmas! I am also thankful for my friends. I’ve met so many new friends throughout middle school so far and it’s been so fun getting to know all of them. They are all so fun, kind, intelligent, caring, and so much more. I love sitting with Sofia, Sydney, and Margaret at lunch. It’s been so nice getting to know all of them and their fun personalities. They are always there for me when I need them. They constantly help me better understand my homework and are always there to support me. They always bring me so much joy and laughter. I’ve also made many friends through tennis that I am very thankful to have met. Being able to play with friends just makes the game that much more enjoyable. I am so thankful for all of the friends I’ve made. Another thing I’m thankful for is my education and all of my teachers. I am thankful to be able to read and write. These skills will help me become a better student and eventually a worker. I am very thankful for all of my teachers this year and all the years in the past, they have been amazing. They have helped me so improve my knowledge in so many different areas and I appreciate all they do for me and so many other students. Without their help, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I’ve learned so much from all of them that I will take with me for the rest of my life. There are so many things I am thankful for! What are you thankful for this year?

If a genie had given you three wishes, what would you wish for? One thing I would wish for is to have my own private jet so I could travel to anywhere in the world whenever I want. I want to be able to travel the world with my family so I would want the jet to be pretty big. Some of the places I would want to travel to is Italy, Australia, Greece and many countries in Asia. The countries in Asia I would love to travel to is Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and more. I would also like to be able to travel to Maui, Hawaii every year with my family. Currently, I travel to Maui Hawaii every other year with my family and always have such a good time! Some of the things I like to do in Maui is snorkeling, surfing, eating shaved ice and so much more! My second wish would be to have a big house with a tennis court and pool. This way I could play tennis and swim whenever I want. I won’t have to wait for a court when they’re full. I could also invite some of my friends over to play tennis with me and have pool parties in the summer! My big house would be two stories with a big living room. The house would have eight bedrooms. The bedrooms would be for me, my little sister, my little brother, my mom and dad, and all of my grandparents. We would all live together in one big house and spend lots of time together. My third with would be to have a golden-doodle dog. Golden-doodles are so cute and it would be a dream to have one of my own! One time me and my family babysat my dad’s friends golden-doodle dog named Suki. Suki was very hyper but also very cute and entertaining! Even though dogs are lots of work, I would have my sibling to help me take care of the dog.

In October, I read the book New From Here by Kelly Yang. This is a story about a family with three kids named Bowen, Knox, and Lea. Their home in Hong Kong gets hit by a virus, who no one knew would eventually turn into a worldwide global pandemic. When the virus hits Hong Kong, his mother decides to make a last-minute move to California where she thinks they will be safe. But there is only one problem, their dad can’t come with them, since he has to stay behind to work. Knox Wei-Evans a ten-year-old boy with ADHD, manages his way through his challenges from dealing with siblings to online school. The family struggles to connect while separated thousands of miles apart. In California, the kids are starting at new schools and struggling to be the new kids while facing hate at the same time. They learn that during these tough times, love and kindness will always be the solution to their problems. Love and kindness are what the world needs, especially during this devastating time.

I enjoyed this book, as the mood was very clear and the emotions were well-written. The situation was also very real as the COVID-19 pandemic did happen these past years. Kelly Yang did a phenomenal job at really describing what the characters were feeling during different situations in the book. These characters went through many different emotions while being separated from their dad and the emotions were well described. I also really liked how she ended each chapter with a thought that kept the reader thinking about what was going to happen next. This made me never want to stop reading! Throughout the story, the characters showed change not only in personality wise but also in the way they approached different situations.

My favorite character is Knox. Knox is my favorite character because he always tried his best to help even though things didn’t always turn out how he thought they would. Sometimes Knox has ideas that work in his head but don’t turn out too well. I like that he always tries to help his family to the best of his abilities. One of his character traits is loyal. A quote that proves this character trait is on page 272, “‘Hey! That’s my brother!’ I interrupt. ‘Stop it!'” This character trait proves he is loyal because it shows that he will always stand up for Bowen and support him. Knox always stands by Bowen’s side during good and bad situations. Even when Bowen is feeling down, Knox tries to echo him and support him even in during times when Bowen doesn’t want it. This is why Knox is my favorite character.

My favorite quote from the book is, “Hand in hand, we walk up the hill in our face masks with our parents. Things might be completely unpredictable. One day, we might be in the middle of a pandemic. The next day, we might be swimming in toilet paper. But somehow, we’ll pull through it all as a family.” This is my favorite quote because it’s the ending of the story and when the family reunites after a long time being apart. This is when they were eating breakfast and they were sad because their dad already left for his flight back to Hong Kong. Then, their dad came back because he changed his mind and decided to stay in California. This quote shows that sometimes, you just need to keep persevering and keep going even when it’s rough because good things will happen over time. This ending made me happy because they were happy to reunite with their dad.

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could trade places with any famous person of your choice for a day? If I could trade places with a famous person for a day it would be Jessica Pegula. Jessica Pegula is an American professional tennis player that is currently ranked number three in the world by the WTA. She is twenty eight years old and plays singles as well as doubles. In my opinion, it would be fun to do what I love at such a high level. I would want to play a match on center court with lots of people watching. I would like to get to meet some fans and sign autographs. When I went to watch a pro tournament, I got 14 autographs on my big tennis ball. In fact, I also Jessica Pegula’s! It was cool getting to meet all the players and they were all very nice. If I got to trade places with Jessica Pegula and be a pro tennis player for the day, I would want to be playing at a tournament far away like in Australia or Asia. WTA players get to play so many different tournaments all around the world. One of the cool parts about being a professional tennis player traveling on tour, is you get to travel all over the world and do what you love at the same time.