Focus on a Student: Dannan Murphy

By Nadja Anderson-Oberman

 

Dannan M. in her classroom.

This school year, Lisa Pack, the fourth and fifth grade group teacher at Project Learn School (PLS) has a class of only eight kids. One of the new, younger students, Dannan Murphy, likes being in such a small class. “When there are less kids in my class, I feel  like I have more focus than when there are more kids,” Dannan commented. “With less kids, Lisa can focus more on me than she could if she had 15 other kids that also need help,” she added.

  One thing unknown about Dannan is that this isn't her first year at PLS. Dannan went to PLS in 2009, but left in 2010 to go to Greene Street Friends School. “I didn't like going to Greene Street Friends. The teachers were really strict. That’s one of the reasons that I left and came back to PLS this year (2014-2015),” Dannan said. Even though Dannan was at Greene Street Friends, her brother, Jimmy Murphy, continued to go to PLS.

  Outside of the classroom, you can often find Dannan hanging out with her friends or dancing. Dannan is currently taking jazz lessons at the Wissahickon Dance Academy. She used to be interested in ballet, but now she is more interested in jazz. She’s been dancing for about three years.

 Inside the classroom, you can find Dannan enjoying herself the most during Social Studies and Geography. Overall, she loves all of her classes. So far, she really likes Lisa’s group, and Lisa of course. Dannan loves Lisa’s classroom, and feels like it’s an ideal learning environment for her. She is happy that she decided to come back to PLS and enjoys laughing, playing, and learning with Lisa and her group.

Climbing to New Heights!!

By Ian Holbrook

Years ago there was a metal climber at Project Learn School (PLS), which was removed in the summer of 2009 after a tree fell onto it. The loss of this climber upset the students. Last year, the Development Committee held some fundraising events intended to raise money for a new climber. There are four people on the committee:  Aubrey DiSanto, teacher of 2nd and 3rd grades at PLS who is currently on maternity leave, Laurance Rosenzweig, father of Mei R, sixth grade student at PLS, Melissa Klein, mother of Tani K, 3rd grade student at PLS, and Kathleen Karhnak-Glasby, mother of Tim and Alma K-G, fourth and second graders at PLS. First there was a book fair, but this did not work to raise money because the committee did not know that it would only get Scholastic credit. Next the Development Committee asked for donations by using letters given out at grandparents day; this fund raised $3,500 when they were only looking for $3,000.  The money was raised very fast.

A dome climber was what the students were interested in. It was to be installed before school started this year but there was not enough clearance space. Clearance space is the safety space needed so kids do not bang their heads on the nearest object if they fall off the climber.  The committee's solution for this problem was to add to the existing climber instead of purchasing a new one. This extension will need to be installed by a specialist from Kompan, the playground experts. The committee is investigating what kind of extension can be bought with the amount of money that was raised. New insurance will not be needed to get the new climber. 

Students at PLS hope to see a new climber soon and also appreciate the Development Committee’s great efforts to work towards this goal.  

Fridays Are Lunch Sale Days

By Tia Simone

Donna Waxler in line for mashed potato and topping sale.

Mashed potatoes, spaghetti, taco’s, and soup - oh my! These are the things that you can buy on Friday’s at Project Learn School (PLS). The eighth graders Ma’ayani GK, Kennedy AL, and Jim M, host weekly lunch sales in order to raise money for their trip to Costa Rica in April. These weekly sales have been going on for about four years. Going to Costa Rica requires a certain amount of money and these sales help provide that money.

      Food sale ideas are generated by the kids and when there’s one that everybody likes, then the sale is repeated. This years have been tested, with the help of the teachers, Liam Gallagher and Joan Fox. They all run smoothly. Last year, there were ten eighth graders and this year there are three, so it is a little bit easier to cook. However, since there are so few eighth graders, the seventh graders help serve.

      Joan is in charge of buying the ingredients. She uses some of the profit from the week before to purchase them. The teachers try to make it a goal to have a reasonable price for the sales, plus make enough profit that helps the cost for Costa Rica. The cost of each weekly meal is five dollars. The teachers make it a goal to not go over that price.

    Project Learn has recently gotten a new kitchen. Teachers and students have said that it’s a great help to the lunch sales, and using the kitchen in general, because it’s more spacious. The new stove, because it is a six burner, helps also because some of the meals require big pots. The old stove was too small, so the pots wouldn't always fit. Now that there is a bigger stove with six burners, cooking with bigger pots runs a lot smoother.

    “It’s kind of happier in there. More cheerful. The space just makes your spirits higher, you know, cooking is more fun in there. The sink also has been more helpful because it’s easier to wash dishes.” Joan says.

    Check out the weekly sale - it may just be the perfect meal!

Kitchen Changes for the New Year

By Penny Rhoads 

Portfolio Elective kids cooking in the new kitchen.

Last spring Ian Holbrook’s dad, John Holbrook, contacted Roni Anton, Project Learn School’s (PLS) Administrator about an IKEA grant for $ 10,000. The grant, sponsored by IKEA was for IKEA materials and design expertise for a given project. The staff thought it would be a great way to get the older kitchen remodeled. Daily votes was the way to win the grant. Roni sent out an email to the PLS community asking each person to vote. She sent reminders each day to go onto the IKEA website and vote for Project Learn. The results came back and PLS had the most votes. This meant that PLS won the ten-thousand dollars worth of IKEA planning and cabinets and hardware. So began the summer renovations of PLS’ old kitchen.

    Joan Fox, PLS’ art teacher, describes the old kitchen as old, dirty, and dingy. There were no doors on the cabinets and at one point, Roni brought some from her house.

    Roni says it took all summer to demolish and rebuild the new kitchen and they had to hire people to help put in the appliances. Lots of people came in to help put together the kitchen. Some of those people were Joan, her daughter Annie, Fran her mother in law, Roni, John Holbrook, Zulette Henry, and James Strauss, Aidan and Cora’s dad.

    Joan says that even before the remodeling the kitchen was used a lot. She says that cooking is a big part of PLS but the new kitchen has made it a lot easier.

    Nadja Anderson Oberman in sixth grade says,” It’s made cooking a lot easier. The new set up makes the kitchen look much bigger and the new kitchen has improved cooking at PLS, so much.” Cooking is a big part of PLS, but with the new kitchen  cooking is much easier.

     Roni says that five or six years ago an anonymous person donated a large amount of money to PLS. In the end, PLS only had to use a small portion of it to help offset the cost of the kitchen. With the extra money it was decided to buy new water fountains for the first and third floor.

     All the groups who cook in the kitchen agree the remodel has been a perfect addition to PLS’ cooking adventures.

Book Review: Wonderstruck

By Sylvie Goodblatt

The characters of the book Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Rose and Ben, seem to have nothing in common, other than that Rose is deaf and Ben is deaf in one ear. They are from different time periods and places; Ben from Gunflint Lake, Minnesota, in 1977, and Rose from Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1927. Even though Wonderstruck is historical fiction, it is told in a way that I think, even people who don’t like that genre can enjoy.

Rose and Ben’s stories are even told differently; Ben in words and Rose in pictures; though both are pretty amazingly done.

    When Ben’s mom dies in a car crash, he moves in with his aunt, uncle, and cousins, and his house is left to be dealt with by his aunt and uncle, although he doesn't want them to sell it. On a stormy night, he visits the house and finds what might be information about his long lost father. Trying to contact him by phone, Ben gets knocked out by a lightning strike. He is sent to a hospital and his good ear is damaged. Then, without anyone knowing, Ben sneaks out to  New York City to find his father.

    Rose spends her time looking out her bedroom window at New York City and making models of the buildings she sees. She keeps a scrapbook of an actress named Lillian Mayhew, who is actually her mother. Her dad does not like Rose going out in the city, as he feels it’s not safe for a deaf girl to be out alone. However, Rose sneaks out to the movies anyway, and then sneaks out to New York City to see her mother. Lillian Mayhew gets very annoyed and gets someone to bring Rose back, but she sneaks back home by herself.

   These two stories intertwine in unpredictable ways, not unlike the way the characters in Brian Selznick’s last book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick takes Ben and Rose, and joins their stories together, helping both protagonists.

Wonderstruck has slight mystery, and even though it is short, it is very thoughtful.

Brian Selznick has found a creative new way to write books for kids.

    I would rate Wonderstruck three out of five, because even though it is very good, it is a little too short in my opinion. The concept is so thoughtful, I would have liked to have read more. In the beginning it was also a little hard for me to get into the book because of all the illustrations.

 I think Wonderstruck is good for a lot of different ages. From a nine year old who is a good reader and who wants a more interesting story, to an eleven or twelve year old who wants a quick read with pictures, that still has a good story.

Jr. High Engineering Challenges

By Ian Holbrook

      What does Rube Goldberg and Project Learn school junior high have in common? They both designed machines.

    This year, in the beginning 2014 Project Learn School spring electives, eleven kids and two teachers walked up Germantown Avenue to create art with senior citizens at the Germantown Home. While they were doing that, the rest of the Junior High, nine of them, stayed at the school and made Rube Goldberg machines and potato cannons, in what was called the “Engineering Alternative.” Most of the kids enjoyed this. Most of the kids made a section of the Rube Goldberg machine and one just helped other people. This alternative was a good combination of fun and learning.

 The kids also made a potato cannon. A potato cannon is a cannon made out of PVC pipe with an igniter taken from a gas barbeque grill, to set it off. The name is self-explanatory but a potato cannon is basically a cannon that shoots out a potato at a very fast speed. These cannons are pretty dangerous, but sometimes things need to be dangerous to be educational. The pieces of the cannon were secured with PVC glue.

    The Rube Goldberg machine students built moved a marble from one place to another. The machine included a weight going down a string like a zip line. That weight then hit a golf ball pushing into a tube; the golf ball came out of the tube and hit a domino that set off a domino chain. That went up stairs made out of blocks. The last domino hit a marble that went through a marble track and fell out at the bottom.

    Rube Goldberg was an artist who made comic drawings of machines that helped people do everyday things in unnecessarily complicated ways. Goldberg did not make the machines, only drew them. Then people were inspired to make the machines. He was born in 1883. Rube Goldberg’s comics were syndicated in the early 1900s. He won the Pulitzer Prize for cartooning in 1948. Rube Goldberg died in 1970.

    The machine did not work the first time because they are complicated and take a lot of patience. The participants learned how to make an effective machine while having fun, too.

  

Jr. High Does Art with Seniors

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

For ten Mondays, during January, February, and March,  Project Learn School’s (PLS), Jr. High students walked up Germantown Avenue to do art with Senior citizens at The Germantown Home. Lots of their projects had to do with nature and other earth elements. The last project they worked on was collaging pictures they found in magazines that fit the genre and the projects went on a wooden canvas.    

    Jill Sherman, the founder of this program, is an artist and a teacher of college students. Jill, being very comfortable with college students, originally started this program for them. Fortunately for PLS, she decided to use Jr, high students instead. Jill is new to working with seniors and middle school children but, said she enjoyed the experience. Having her own kids, Jill has always enjoyed the interaction between age differences, and feels as though everyone experiences something positive when leaving her program.

    Jill’s program took some preparation before she got it started. She needed to write an essay on what her project was about and show some example of her own artwork.  A jury then judged it to see if they thought it was a good idea. If it’s okayed the program would be official, and would run. Jill didn't have much trouble with the program, it was a little difficult deciding the lesson plan and sticking with it consistently. The project had a few bumps in the road, like lots of snow days. But went quite smoothly, for the most part.

    The kids also enjoyed the project as much as the adults. “ I like the senior citizen project because I am able to work with people outside of my age group, and helping them do stuff that might be difficult on their own,” said Nasya, one of the kids who attends the senior project.

    Project Learn was very grateful to be  apart of Jill Sherman’s project, and hopes to be able to participate in other activities like this very soon. This art project was fun and allowed the kids to interact with new people in their community. Everyone involved will remember their experience with fondness.  

Art in the Community

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

For ten Mondays, during January, February, and March,  Project Learn School’s (PLS), Jr. High students walked up Germantown Avenue to do art with Senior citizens at The Germantown Home. Lots of their projects had to do with nature and other earth elements. The last project they worked on was collaging pictures they found in magazines that fit the genre and the projects went on a wooden canvas.    

    Jill Sherman, the founder of this program, is an artist and a teacher of college students. Jill, being very comfortable with college students, originally started this program for them. Fortunately for PLS, she decided to use Jr, high students instead. Jill is new to working with seniors and middle school children but, said she enjoyed the experience. Having her own kids, Jill has always enjoyed the interaction between age differences, and feels as though everyone experiences something positive when leaving her program.

    Jill’s program took some preparation before she got it started. She needed to write an essay on what her project was about and show some example of her own artwork.  A jury then judged it to see if they thought it was a good idea. If it’s okayed the program would be official, and would run. Jill didn't have much trouble with the program, it was a little difficult deciding the lesson plan and sticking with it consistently. The project had a few bumps in the road, like lots of snow days. But went quite smoothly, for the most part.

Margaret and Elya making art
together.

  The kids also enjoyed the project as much as the adults. “ I like the senior citizen project because I am able to work with people outside of my age group, and helping them do stuff that might be difficult on their own,” said Nasya, one of the kids who attends the senior project.

    Project Learn was very grateful to be  apart of Jill Sherman’s project, and hopes to be able to participate in other activities like this very soon. This art project was fun and allowed the kids to interact with new people in their community. Everyone involved will remember their experience with fondness.  

Junior High Ski Trip

By Ian Holbrook

The Project Learn school (PLS) Junior High-only ski trip is an adventure to the Pocono Mountains that occurs annually in February. If you ski or snowboard, this trip is for you and, takes place at Jack Frost Big Boulder Ski Resort. The mountain is small but as a new skier or snowboarder, it will seem big and very entertaining.

Map of Jack Frost

    Liam Gallagher, teacher at PLS and sometimes chaperone for the ski trip, said the trip is at the mountain for about 5 hours. In the past, Liam would help get equipment for the kids and then hang out in the lodge. Liam hasn't been at PLS long enough to have never gone to Jack Frost but he said that one year they did not go. Liam said there have been injuries in the past and that two people have broken their wrists on the ski trip. He added that the food is not good there.

    This year, Aisha Anderson-Oberman, Junior High Social Studies teacher at PLS, Sean Leber, who teaches math for the 5th through 8th grades at PLS, and Rebecca Zeldin, the PLS Junior High English and Spanish teacher, were the teachers who went on the ski trip this year. The parents who joined were, John Holbrook, Linda Pollson, Tanyikia Alston, David Brommley and Brian Murphy. Two former PLS students, Sarah and Emily Grubb also joined the trip.

    Aisha Anderson-Oberman said  this was her first time going on the trip. Aisha really enjoyed the trip because she thought it was fun spending time with and talking to parents outside of school. Aisha was hoping to go tubing but the tubing section was closed. Aisha would like to go again and she hopes that the tubing will be open the next time.

    This was Sean’s first ski trip since he is a new teacher at PLS this year. He had a great time! Sean skied and he thought he did really well, even though he hadn't skied in six years. While the kids were skiing, he went down the green slopes and when they were not skiing and were doing ski lessons, he went down the blue and black slopes. Sean said it was hard for him to remember what it was like to learn how to ski so it was hard for him to help people ski. Sean was excited to go on this trip so he could see all of the new skiers attempting to learn a new skill.

    Rebecca Zeldin, also a new teacher at PLS, went on her first PLS ski trip and had a good time. Rebecca wishes she could do it every week. This was not the first time Rebecca has skied and she really enjoyed herself. It was hard for Rebecca to help kids who kept falling but it was easy for her to ski with people who had skied before. Rebecca skied down all of the slopes and she was excited to ski with people she liked hanging out with. She would go again in a heartbeat!!

     Fae Lobron is a first year Junior Higher, so it was her first ski trip and she had a blast! This year was Fae's first time to ever ski and she fell a lot. It was her first time skiing. However, she thought it was very fun. Fae thought it was easy to put the skis on but the actual skiing was hard for her. Fae went down a green slope -- only once. Fae was excited and wants to do the trip again.

    Jake Grubb is a eighth grader so this was his second ski trip because there was not a trip when he was in sixth grade. Jake has always liked the ski trip. Jake snowboarded and he did great. It was not the first time he had snowboarded. Jake had a hard time learning to get his balance in the air. He went down black diamond and terrain (ramps, etc.) slopes, which were very challenging. Jake was excited to snowboard and he would do it again.

At the mountain there are, five green circle slopes, seven blue square slopes and eight black diamond slopes. Green circle slope are the easiest slopes, blue square slopes are harder than green circles but not the hardest, while black diamond slopes are the hardest. The mountain also features a Slope style run. 

This trip is a very entertaining trip.  Many kids look forward to being in the Junior High just so they can go on this trip.

Focus on a Teacher: Sean Leber

By Evan Spann

Sean is a teacher at Project Learn School (PLS), he teaches math to the fifth grade through Jr. High groups. This is not his first teaching job, he has also taught at two high schools: Olney and Nueva Esperanza.

Sean found out about PLS from his brother-in-law Ari Miller, who used to go to PLS and told Sean about it. Sean was born in 1984, he is 29 years old. Sean is married to Kelilah and she is a rabbi at two colleges; Swarthmore College in (PA) and Stockton College (NJ).

Sean Leber, PLS teacher

Sean loves PLS because it lets students follow and learn about their own ideas.  

Focus on a Student: Ma'ayani Kaplan

By Fae Lobron

    Ma’ayani is twelve, and she is in seventh grade at Project Learn School (PLS). She is super funny and great friend.

Ma'ayani in the Jr High

    An interesting fact about Ma’ayani is she lived in Israel until she was seven and then she and her family moved to America. Her dad, Avi, was born in Israel and met her mom, Tresa, at the University of Michigan. They moved to Israel together, got married and had Elya and Ma’ayani. Ma’ayani says changing countries was a big move for her because she had to leave her friends, family and school.

    In Israel, Ma'ayani went to the Democratic School which she said was similar to PLS. She says that at that school some of the teachers were more strict than others, that she got to pick out her own schedule, and every Friday her school had an all school meeting to vote on decisions with each student having an equal say.

   At PLS Ma’ayani’s favorite subjects are social studies, science, art, and lunch. For Social Studies Ma’ayani said, “I like learning about places in the world that I normally wouldn’t know about, and learning about different cultures is really cool for me.” For science Ma’ayani said, “I am always amazed by science, because there are so many things our earth does that I can’t wrap my head around.” For art, she said, “I like art class because we get to do so many creative things that are challenging and fun.” Finally for lunch she remarked,” I love lunch because I am always really hungry, but also because it is a chance for all the Junior Highers to interact with each other and just hang out together.” One of the reasons Ma’ayani likes PLS is that she likes the fact that each student gets individual attention. Ma’ayani says that PLS and her old school are alike but so different at the same time.    

Some of Ma'ayani's hobbies, besides hanging out with friends, are dancing and singing. Ma'ayani loves to dance because she says it makes her happy. Modern, ballet, and jazz are her favorite types of dance and the ones she takes most seriously. She has five classes each week to learn more about those dance styles. She also loves to sing with friends for fun. Ma'ayani is a great, smart girl who like to dance, sing and hang out with her friends.  

  

Focus on a Student: Shayla Allen-Gerald

By Sophie Gala

Shayla in Aubrey's Group

Did you know that there only two girls in Aubrey’s group? Shayla Allen-Gerald is a third grader in Aubrey's group and is in her third year at Project Learn School (PLS). She has two siblings, Jessica and Emma Allen-Gerald  of whom are both older. Her family found PLS by coincidence when her mom LaCresha was looking for a school on the internet, for Shayla to attend after The Caren Center where she went to Pre-K and part of kindergarten.

    Shayla’s favorite subject at PLS is art because of how you can look back on what you made when you get older to see the progress you made over the years. Shayla likes to read and her favorite book is “Amelia Rules” because it is written in the point of view of the main character Amelia.

    Shayla and her mom  live on Provident Street in Philadelphia and it takes her about six or seven minutes to get to school in the morning. Shayla was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She and her family own two guinea pigs and her hobby is making Rainbow Loom Bracelets.

Book Review: The Fault In Our Stars

By Kennedy Alston-Lucky

The Fault In Our Stars is a book by the author John Green. John Green is a thirty six year-old young-adult author whose works include: An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska and many others. John Michael Green was born August 24,1977. He is an American author, a Youtube blogger, and an educator. He won the 2006 Printz Award with his book Looking for Alaska. In 2012 The Fault In Our Stars became number one on The New York Times Best Sellers List.

The Fault In Our Stars is about two teenagers trying to get through life while dealing with cancer. Hazel Grace Lancaster, the main character, is a sixteen year-old girl with stage IV cancer. Hazel Grace is what you call a “couch potato”, She never goes out as it concerns her mother.  After a while her doctor diagnosed her with depression making her go to a support group. Hazel is not to fond of the idea and find it boring and pointless. Except for her acquaintance ,Isaac, who's been going through trouble of his own. That is until one day she finds a new member in her support group, a teenage boy shamelessly staring at her. This boy’s name is Augustus Waters,a friend of Isaacs. Hazel and Augustus become close friends over time, going from place to place and facing tragedies along the way.

    The Fault In Our Stars is a zany and hilarious book that will make you cry, laugh and everything in between. The book is highly recommended for any young adult and older.

Focus on a Family:The Pollack-Johnson's

By Jamie Polson

Linda, Jamie, and Bruce Pollack-Johnson

Project Learn School ( PLS) has lots of family members who live all over Philly. Bruce and Linda Pollack-Johnson are two members who live in East Mt. Airy. They are the parents of this reporter and have been in the PLS community for 17 years.  How they first heard about this magical school, was from their neighbor Danny Miller ( who works for NPR), and whose daughter Karin, went to PLS. Bruce and Linda were looking for a place for their oldest son Ben.  Once they saw PLS they knew it was the right place for their family.

     Many parents of PLS students, devote their time to help run the school.  The jobs they do are called Co-oping jobs.  It is necessary for each family to do a co-oping job.  Some of these jobs include, helping in a classroom, taking out the trash, shoveling the front stairs and sidewalk when it snows, and working on a committee, like the Administrative Committee.    

     Bruce is a co-oper on PLAC (Project Learn Administrative Committee)  which is the planning committee for the PLS Town Meeting.  He is also, the current treasurer of PLS. Bruce said that being treasurer is, “stressful for me, but that’s just who I am.”  Bruce loves PLS, that's why he works so hard to make it a better place.  Bruce will not be treasurer next year, because his son will be graduating in June.  Bruce is also a math professor at Villanova University.  He enjoys working at Villanova where he teaches, does research, writes articles for journals and is an advisor for math students at Villanova. Some of Bruce’s hobbies include:  biking, singing with family and friends, tennis,  games such as Boggle, juggling, candlepin bowling, running, and running a coffee house.

    Linda is an Italian translator for written documents, and interpreter for spoken word at CHOP and other area hospitals.  She enjoys sewing, knitting, swimming, biking, arts n’ crafts, cooking, reading, and traveling.  Linda grew up in Roxborough and said “ When I was a kid all my friends lived in Mt. Airy, so when I was old enough to buy a house I moved to Mt. Airy.”  Linda’s co-oping jobs are that she counts the box tops that are collected from the community, and drives kids on field trips.

 Bruce and Linda said, “After 17 years we’ll really miss the Project Learn community because we've known them for so long, they're  like family.  We know that we don’t have to dress up or anything for you guys because you know us well enough.”  Project Learn  will miss Bruce and Linda and it won’t be the same without them.     

   

Book Review: The Giver

By Zack Waxler

    The Giver, a Newbery Award-winning book, by Lois Lowry is fantastic. It is about a futuristic world where the government has taken complete control. Everybody is assigned a job when they reach the age of twelve. Jonas, an 11 (as people of the age of eleven are called) is almost twelve and is very nervous about getting his job. When the ceremony of twelves starts, he gets an unusual job, Receiver. This job has only ever been given to one other person, The Giver. The Giver’s job is now to fill the Receiver’s mind with all the memories of the world so they are not forgotten. Some of the memories Jonas receives are filled with pain such as war, hunger and cold. It is a very hard job because people rarely ever experience pain in this futuristic world.  As soon as they do, they take pain medicine which instantly removes any pain. Jonas has been given this job because he has a unique ability, he can see color. Throughout the rest of the book, you learn how Jonas’s life works, and how scary the world he lives in turns out to be.

    In the series there are four books: The Giver, Gathering Blue, Messenger and Son. In 1994 The Giver won the Newbery Award. The Giver has sold over 5.3 million copies in total. The movie of The Giver is scheduled to be released on August 15, 2014. 

The Giver series is one of my favorite series. I like the fact that all four of the books tie into each other very nicely. In the first few chapters of each book, you realize the connection to the book preceding it. The Giver is great for anyone who likes books about futuristic worlds. I would not recommend it to anyone below the age of 10, however, because they might not be able to understand parts of it.

Movie Review: Frozen

By Cece Mulcahy

Frozen, the newest animated movie from Disney, is about two sisters, Anna and Elsa who live in Norway. It turns out Elsa has special powers; she can turn anything into ice. Her parents lock her away, to protect everyone else, because she uses her powers on her sister, by mistake.

One day, when the sisters were playing in the throne room, which Elsa had turned into a snowy place, Elsa accidentally zapped Anna on the head instead of making a snow mound. From that point on, all the adventures begin. Ten years later, it’s Elsa’s coronation, and the gates are reopening. Anna only thinks about the guests, while Elsa concentrates on controlling her powers. Anna thinks it’s her chance to find true love, and is tired of being in the castle. During the coronation, Anna meets Hans, and thinks that he’s her true love. After a marriage proposal, Anna and Hans go to get Elsa’s blessings for the marriage, and even though Elsa says no, Anna presses on. Elsa gets angry,  sets off an eternal winter, and  runs off to a high, snowy mountain where she builds a castle of ice.

The thing I enjoyed most in this movie was Anna’s character because I like how she stands up to her sister. If you’re looking for a movie like Brave but still like some aspects from Tangled, both of which are other Disney movies, then this movie is for you. This movie is rated PG, and is appropriate for a young crowd. I would rate it 5✰ out of 5✰.