Happy and Free

People are like schools of fish;

Too ofter going with the flow.

Colorless and dazed they swim along;

Appearing so unhappy as they go.

Myself I'm like a dolphin

Alive with color and unknowns

Each day a new adventure

As I break off on my own.

So programmed and robotic

I shall not be...

But rather like a dolphin

Swimming happy and free.

Lily's Crossing

Once again, Lily is going to spend her summer in Rockaway, were her family's summerhouse is next to the Atlantic ocean. This year is going to be different though because Word War II is effecting everyone. Including Lily's best friend, Margaret, she had to relocate to a war time factory town. And just when things couldn't have gotten any worse, or so she thought, her father is now going overseas to fight in the War. "Now what am i going to do all summer," Lily thought, "her there isn't anyone my age to hang out with." But there was one upside to her summer, Margaret had given her the house key so she could go in whenever she wanted to! There was also some one different in town this year, a boy around her age, named Albert, who is a refugee from Hungary. Most of Albert's family have died, and the only other person left besides him would be his little sister who had to stay beck because of how ill she was. When Lily and Albert finally get to know each other Lily goes off lying of how she would be able to climb aboard a war ship to go find her father, and now Albert wants to come ,too. Lily was just acting brave, she didn't know what she was saying, but Albert still believed her. So when she said that they wouldn't be able to go, she meant it. But he just thought that she was a trader and didn't want him to come along. When she realized though on a stormy night that he was going to go anyway in a little rowboat, she went after him like a mad dog! Unsure if she would return she left a note on the table that read;"Dear Gram(a.k.a. grandma) I love You." Finally she had almost caught up with him when a huge wave came over him and crushed the boat into little pieces.... but where did Albert go... all of a sudden she saw his head poke up through the black night time waters, she started rowing frantically again. Finally, she got him into the boat, and paddled quickly back to her cabin, that looked as if were on stilts.

Albert left a couple weeks before the end of summer in 1944, Lily's father had now returned, so they went back home for school again. Lily made a promise to herself that she would never tell another lie again. By the next summer, everything was back to its normal way, Margaret was back this summer.... but Albert was gone... or so it seemed. The night that they got back at Rockaway, her family went over to the Orbans' place, and to her surprise Albert was there, but he wasn't there alone, he had brought his little sister with him.... THE END!!!

Pictures Of Hollis Woods

When Hollis Woods was only a few days old, her parents had left her near the woods in a small basket, with a torn off piece of paper that read; "Please name her Hollis Woods." Now she is a 12 year old girl who is know to her recent foster parents as "A mountain of trouble." Again, Hollis is off to a new foster home with the Regan family! In the family there is Izzy (the mother), The Old Man (the Dad), and Stephen (the Son). So, far she loves this family, and they love her too, but to Hollis's surprise, they had decided to adopt her! It had only been a few days since she had been officially a member of the family, and now she climbing all the way to the top of the mountain, and the only person who know of this was, Stephen. But on her way up she slipped because of how muddy the dirt road was today, and twisted her ankle. Unfortunately it was bad enough that she couldn't get down the Moutian alone. But to Hollis's surprise, Stephan showed up with the old pick-up truck. They were on their way down when the tires slipped, and Stephen yelled, "JUMP HOLLIS!" The next thing she remembers is running for help then ending up in the emergency room, with Stephen much more injured than herself. She got to go home that afternoon, but Stephen wasn't so lucky. Hollis thought that she was the problem of the family and decided to run away back to the orphan age, to just be placed with another family. The old man tried to get her back home, Hollis really wanted to, but she just felt like she couldn't, and a couple days latter she was headed off to a new foster parent named Josie, who is old and loosing her memory by the passing of days. The Mustard Woman (known by that name because she is always wearing sweats, and seems to have trouble keeping food of them!), and Hollis are finally driving up to the house. Hollis never seemed to care,and always acts like she doesn't. Any way, on their way into the old woman's house Hollis noticed that there was a remarkable amount of art everywhere, and it turned out that when Josie was younger she had been an art teacher. Hollis is also a very artistic person, and LOVED to draw whenever she could. Josie with her memory loss never has helped anything, once her dearest friend moved away things just got worse! The Mustard Woman was now going to take Hollis away from Josie because of her memory troubles. But now, Hollis has decided to take her to a beloved summer house that belonged to the Regan family. In a couple days it will be Christmas and they don't have much to eat. Now Hollis thinks that for a good dinner, she will go and catch some fish from the river, that isn't completely frozen over yet. What feels like hours, Hollis still without fish, begins to doze off, untlile a loud nise in the bushes across from her cunch. What ever it was had froze in its tracks, and obveously had seen her. Scrambling to her feet Hollis runs without stopping back to the house. Then relizing that she had left a swetshirt that she had been wearing, and the fishing pole back by the river. Well, it didn't matter any more,and Josie's memory was getting really bad, and hollis was thinking about turning herself in. Tomarow was Christmas, and the house was decorated up sp beautifully, it was wonderful! And for dinner that night josie had found some pancake mix, and some died milk. But where could she have found it anyway, Hollis new that there wasn't anything like that in the cubords. "Where did you find the Milk and Pancake Mix, Josie?"Hollis asked. And in reply Josie said, "Oh, Santa Claus brought them for us!" Some how that just didn't seem right, that wasn't the only thing though that didn't make sense, how did all those evagreen branches just end up pn the porch? Hollis was unsure, so she went out to look. She herd a snowmobile in the distance, and suddenly she new who it could be... she ran as fast as she could to the nearest road, just in time for the snowmobiler to see her. Suddenly, it stopped.... the person got off, and went to her. Taking off the helmet, she could see it was stephen, and then all she could think about was how happy she was to see him! Once they had talked for a while, they decided that it was about time for her to move back into the house. So Hollis called Josie's friend, to get her to come back home, and them the Mustard woman to tell her that she was moving back in with her closest to original family, and she lived happily ever after!

Indian Captive, The Story Of Mary Jemison

Mary Jemison is a 12 year old girl who was captured by the Seneca tribe of the Iroquois of western New York. They came and raided her house. Mary (also called Molly), her family, and Betsey Wheelock with her children, were captured by the Indians. They had to walk for days, with hardly anything to eat. Soon they came to a resting place. The Indian chief, Shagbark, took off Molly's shoes and replaced them with moccasins. Then Davy Wheelock was brought to the chief. He had already been given moccasins to wear. In a low and sad voice, Molly's mother told her that she and Davy would be taken on a long trip. Molly's mother told her to never forget her name or her father's name and certainly not to forget her own name. She also told Molly to pray at all times and to remember to speak in English.

They were taken to Fort Duquesnes, a French/Indian fort. Shagbark painted their faces with blood, and then sent them to a nearby lodge to live. Davy was then taken away by a white man and Molly never saw him again. Two Indian sisters named Shining Star and Squirrel Woman came to trade, and Molly was taken to their village. Molly was considered part of their tribe, though she didn't feel like she belonged there. She was given the name Corn Tassel because of her hair was so golden, and look like a tassel of corn. She was then bathed, her clothes were thrown into the river and she was given deerskin clothes to wear.
Molly 's first friend is a young boy named Little Turtle. He is to become a great warrior when he grows up. Molly worked in the fields and had to carry Shining Star's son (singing Bird) for her. Little Turtle goes to the chief and talks to him on behalf of Molly. He tries to explain how lonely and unhappy she is because she has lost her true family. Molly is treated a little more fairly because of Little Turtle. She continues to live and work and learn the customs of the tribe.
After more than a year, white men came to the village and want to trade for Molly. She is given the choice of staying with the tribe or going with the white traders. Molly decides to stay with the Indians because they have made her a part of their family. She also knows that her white family has been killed. The white traders are surprised by her choice. They told her that she would be given the opportunity to go to school and relearn the way of the whites, but she doesn't change her mind. She decides that she will live and die with the Senecas.
A special ceremony is held and Chief Burning Sky tells Molly that her name , Corn Tassel, had been given to her by her Seneca sisters, but now she had earned a new name "Little -Woman -of- Great- Courage." From that day on, Little -Woman- of - Great -Courage lived as a Seneca Indian...
My opinion: I thought this was a magnificent book. Most of the time it wasn't sad, but it definitely had some unhappy moments. To conclude, i also think it was good because it gave many details about how the Seneca Indians live on a day to day basis. The book described the way clothing was made, how they farmed, and the utensils used for the tasks done by the men and women of the tribe.

301 pages