90 Minutes in Heaven

90 Minutes in Heaven is a 207 page novel that will keep you wanting to keep reading. Don Piper died in a car accident in January of 1989, but miraculously came back to life by prayer. This story tells about the crash, his hour-and-a-half trip to heaven, recovery, and finding the purpose God had for him when Don went to heaven. If one does not believe in Christ, this book will get them to believe not only in God, but how through Christ, anything is possible.

The Phantom Tollbooth

The 256 page thriller, The Phantom Tollbooth, tells about a boy who experiences the ultimate adventure. Milo has never been interested in anything, but one day, he came home from school expecting just another boring afternoon filled with nothing. That all changed when a box holding a majical tollbooth showed up in his room. This tollbooth took him on an adventure to a weird world, where he was set on a quest to restore peace to the world. I recommend this to anyone who enjoys a weird novel filled with suspense and exitement.

Track and Swimming

So I know all I talk about on this blog is books, but now I will talk a little bit about me. Today I ran at the Junior Fresno Relays track meet. I was only running the last event, so I got there later. Sasha, Cierra, Cecelia, and I were on the 4 by 400 relay together, but Sasha, Cierra, and I had not seen Cecelia all week. When I got to the meet, I thought I would see Cecelia ready to run the race. It turns out that no one could find her anywhere, so we needed a substitute. Thankfully, Alexis was still there doing triple jump, so we asked her to run first. The order was Alexis, me, Sasha, and then Cierra as anchor. We were all ready and lined up about to take the track, and then Sasha vomited. I was so worried that we would have to find yet another sub. Sasha was really tough and said," I am just nervous. I'm fine." She ran the race, and did very well. Our team got 3rd, and we qualified for the Valley Championships!! Although a few obstacles popped up, we performed fantastically!! I am so proud of my teammates!!
As you might have guessed from my user name, I am a competitive swimmer. Last weekend, like I usually do once or twice a month, I competed in a swim meet out of town. This weekend, the meet was held in Bakersfield by the swim team there. On Saturday morning I hit the road with my Mom at seven o'clock to be there at nine for warm-ups. When were we half way there, I realized that I had absentmindedly forgotten my swim bag that had everything I needed for the day. My five towels, cap, and goggles were all sitting at home after I forgot to pack them into the car. Smart me.
We arrived in Bakersfield, and I just asked my friends for stuff to borrow. I had a cap, pair of goggles, and a towel, so I was set for the meet. Normally there is a warm-up warm-down pool separate from the competition pool to swim in before and after races to warm-up and warm-down, but the pump was broken in this one, so it was really cold and contaminated. We couldn't swim in it, so the races were stopped after each set of events for about two minutes when everyone quickly warmed-up or warmed-down.
The main goal in swimming is to improve on your time, or, in my case, qualify for the Junior Olympics. I am in the 11-12 age group, and the competition is tough. I swam four events, and had not qualified for JOs yet. My fifth event was 100 back, my best event. I was one second away from qualifying. After I hit the wall, adrenaline rushed through me as I looked at the score board to see my time. I had made it by one whole second!! This day, again, had a few obstacles, but I turned out good and I am going to JOs!!

The Giver

The Giver, by Lois Lowry, is 180 pages about a community excluded from all normal life. No color, feelings, pain, or fear inhabits this community. Jonas was just another one of these people, but when he was chosen to receive all of the memories of Elsewhere when he turned 12, his life changed forever. Much pain, fear, and feeling are in these memories, and Jonas learns all that his community is missing out on. Gabriel, a little baby, is living with Jonas' family unit, and when he is about to be released, Jonas runs away to explore Elsewhere and takes Gabe with him. Do they make it to Elsewhere, or die trying? Read this weird, exciting, interesting thriller to find out.

Dragon Road

Dragon Road by Laurence Yep is 285 pages of a bumpy road called life. It was always Calvin of "Flash's" dream to play basketball with the big guys. When he gets his chance, he travels the west with the all Chinese team, the Dragons with Jack as the head coach. Bieng Chinese in this time also was an obstacle. Life wasn't always nice on the road, but it all worked out, and the team stuck together and rode the Dragon Road.