by Mason West

Swallowing Stones, by Joyce McDonald, Is a book about two high school students, Michael and Jenna. On Michael’s 17th birthday he got a gun from his grandpa, later that day Michael and his friend Joe go into the woods and fired off the gun into the air. On that same day Jenna’s father was fixing the roof, Jenna went to tell her dad that lunch was ready when he was brutally killed by that very same bullet fired off by Michael. Swallowing stones is a story about the life of Michael and Jenna. Michael is always trying to keep his life normal but is controlled by guilt. Jenna is constantly searching for the killer of her father and struggles as she goes through many stages of grieving. I would recommend this book to people who like mysteries or just a good story.

http://youtu.be/Ea6UIcfyk2s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2IiAiahOqs

The Best Day Ever

That night was never ending. It took way too long for the darkness to turn to day, but when it did the realness hit me. My vacation had started, finally after all those countless hours of school, it started. On the road was not as amazing as I thought it would be, but we got to see some awesome things on the road like the Mississippi river.
In Florida we stayed in a huge condo. I didn’t want to leave our room at first, but the hot sand and the crashing waves were too good to stay indoors.
At the beach me and my brother boogie boarded and skim boarded. The waves were huge so we went along way when the waves came in. afterwards we went to eat at a seafood restaurant that was absolutely amazing.
The next day was even better, we all went to the beach when we woke up and played until about noon. after that we went to the condo, cleaned up, then went to the huge outlet to school shop for the rest of the day.
Are last day we stayed on the beach as long as we possibly could, because in the morning we would all have to leave this wonderful place.
That experience helped me understand how much time I wasn’t spending with my family.

There was a man!
That once said I have a dream!
There was a man!
That once said no matter the religion or race!
There was a man!
That died for what he believed in!
Don’t stop believing!!