Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo By: Luca Caioli

Was born and raised on the Island of Madeira which is about 860 kilometers from Lisbon, Portugal. Cristian comes from a poor family. His Father is a gardener for the town where Cristian was born. His Mother Maria Dolores cleaned houses in Paris, France.

Cristian when he was twelve years old he tried out for the team " Sporting of Lisbon" that is was huge achievement. Cristian was a great idol of the masses, who was the most loved, and talked about player in the world.

Cristian next played on the English Team that is known as the Red-Devils from Manchester, England.

Cristian became the best goalie in the Portuguese League. Cristian wore on the back of his soccer shirt #28. Cristian's Mother suffers a lot of emotions when her son is playing soccer. Cristian has a new Coach called Fernando Santos from Turkey. When Cristian was on a English Team his Number on his soccer team was # 7.

Cristian returns to Yakarta for a dinner to raise money with the Veep of the Soccer Team for his Dad, whose name is Dinis Aveiro who was 50 years old, who dies in a Hospital in London. Meanwhile, Cristian was in Moscow. Cristian returns to his home town , Madeira for the funeral of his Father.

Cristian is thirty years old, so he then returns to London, and a woman accuses him of assulting her sexually in his Hotel Room .

April 22/2007 Cristian is nominated the best player of the year. Cristian had a convertible that was very showie.Cristian decides to quit the team and leave Manchester United Soccer Team. Cristian is offered to play on the Team in Madrid. Cristian goes to Madrid's Team July 1, 2009. On his new Team he plays for Madrid, and his Soccer shirt on the back is #9. Cristian wears a crucifix around his neck as he descends from the plane, and arrives in Madrid, Spain.

Cristian goes directly to a Clinic to get his right ankle checked. Cristian cannot play soccer for 3 - 4 weeks. The scandal paper in Paris claims that Paris Hilton was the girl friend of Cristian. Portugal soccer team, and Spanish soccer team were the two teams the public wished Cristian would consider.Cristian had a baby, but didnot want anyone to find out the Mother.

Pepe Jeans were represented by Cristian Ronaldo Co. from London,England.

Soccer is a group game where the teammates on the team help each other.

Cristian plays defense for the Valencia, Spain. His nickname is Messi, who is the world's best player of the world. Cristian is also a good singer. He does jingles for adds which bring him money.

Cristian retired from soccer, but so far does not want to be a coach for any team. This novel is a good read. LRD

A Good and Useful Hurt by Aric Davis

This is an adult mystery/horror story with older teen appeal. The story centers around Mike who is a gifted artist. He practices his art by creating elaborate tattoos. Lately he has been adding ashes of lost love ones to the ink thus making a permanent memorial on the receiver. Mike has tried a few times to start a shop of his own and to work for others. Its only recently that things came together. Now his shop with Lamar as piercer and tattoo artist, himself as special request artist, Becky who does the sterilizing of equipment, the books, the appointments and so on their shop, located in a popular shopping area has a growing reputation. Mike, only a short time ago, lost a girl friend to a drug overdose so he wasn't expecting to fall in love again when strong willed, independent Deb shows up and asks for a job as a special piercer. She does some pretty strange stuff. He does fall in love then loses her to a serial rapist/killer. He is encouraged to make his own memorial tattoo from some of her ashes. He actually single handedly exhumes her, removes a finger, burns it to get the ashes. After he tattoos a small heart in the web of his fingers Deb appears to him in a dream and instructs him to find her killer, with her help. He obtains ashes from all the killer's victims and creates tattoos. They appear separately and collectively in dreams until the killer is identified and justice is served. This killer was very brutal and the way in which justice is served is very graphic and brutal too. Just a warning. There is so much caring and loving among the tattoo shop employees and for Mike. Its easy to like these people, cheer them on and approve of the justice. Reader's who enjoyed Joe Hill's Heart Shaped Box will likely enjoy this book too. JDW 7/23

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

I think this may appeal to readers of gritty urban lit but I think they may not discover it. Its an adult book with teen appeal since it centers on two teenage characters. Skeeter who owns a fabulous female fighting pit bull he had bred with tragic results and Esch the only female in a male household. Esch has chosen to let the many male friends of her brothers have sex with her rather than fight their never ending passes and is pregnant. Esch's mother died in childbirth several years previously. The family lives in a swampy, wooded area outside of New Orleans just before and immediately after the destruction of hurricane Katrina. And so this family of survivors, does what they can to survive yet another set back. Its a tough book to read but despite the squabbling, poverty and alcoholism and Katrina there is love to be found here. This has gotten very positive reviews and is well worth the read. JDW7/23

Fear: A Gone novel - Michael Grant

It has been a year since the barrier went up around Perdido Beach, California and everyone over the age of fifteen vanished into thin air.  Most of the kids trapped in the FAYZ have survived, but not all.  The group of survivors has split in two with one group living by the lake lead by Sam, and the other group living in Perdido Beach lead by Caine, Sam's brother.  Astrid, who has been living in the desert for the last four months, notices a black mass growing on the dome.  She heads back to tell Sam and the others about it. She's not the only one who's noticed the black on the dome.  The kids fishing, along with Cain and the others in Perdido Beach have noticed it too.  Outside of the dome Connie, Sam and Caine's mother, works with the Army to take down the barrier.  When she is told that the Army is going to nuke the dome, she comes to the realization that it will kill everyone in the FAYZ.  She really wants to get the word out to stop the nuke from detonating, but if she does her Army friend will go to jail.  Back in the FAYZ the black mass continues to grow and envelop the barrier.  Not to mention that Drake/Brittney entity possessed by the gaiaphage is on the hunt for Diana who's pregnant.  It wants to rise from the underground and plans to use Diana's unborn child to be born.  Is this the end of the FAYZ as Sam, Astrid, Caine, and everyone else have come to know it?  Will the Army nuke the FAYZ and risk killing everyone inside? 

I've been enjoyed this series and book five did not disappoint.  It brings up more and more questions about what the FAYZ really is.  We still don't know the truth about the gaiaphage, which seems to have its own agenda.  All we know is that most of the kids believe it is evil, and the kids under it's control see it as God.  There will be a sixth and final book of the series coming out in 2013.  No publication date has been set yet. 

T.B. 7/17/12

"Once" "Then" and "Now" by Morris Gleitzman

This is a series of three book (the fourth is coming out in a few months) that first follow a boy in the Holocaust and then jumps to his life seventy years later. The first two books are amazingly emotionally charged while the third book loses some of the magic. It is still a great series.

Once begins with a naive Felix who was sent to an orphanage by his parents three years ago. He receives what he believes to be a sign from his parents that they're coming for him but instead sees men (Nazis) coming and burning books. Fearing that his parents (booksellers) are in grave danger, Felix leaves and tries to warn his parents. For most of the novel Felix believes this horrible situation is about book or specifically Jewish books. Along the way he meets Zelda, a six-year-old whose parents he discovered shot dead. He rescues Zelda, only to be caught by the Nazis. He is rescued along with Zelda  and hidden but is still under the illusion that his parents are out there and he needs to find them. When he finally realizes the truth, he is devastated and with the Nazis in town, he has to find the strength and courage to save himself and those he loves that he can still save.

Then begins right after Once. Felix and Zelda are on the run from the Nazis. They both know the truth about their parents and now believe the only way to survive is to find new parents. With a few more shocking discoveries about what the Nazis are capable of, a kind woman finds the children and brings them into her home, dyes their hair and passes them off as her niece and nephew. It sounds easy enough, but when Felix makes an enemy out of a town bully, he has to be extra careful not to be caught with his pants down (literally). With the Nazis always around, Felix knows that even with the help of a friend in the Hitler Youth, the only way to protect his loved ones is to leave, but can he save them before it's too late?

Now jumps about 70 years and changes narrators. Now the story is about Felix's granddaughter Zelda (obviously named after his childhood friend). She's living with Felix in Australia while her parents are saving lives in Africa. As the new girl in school, she suddenly becomes the target of bullying, a fact that Felix is extremely sensitive about. All of that gets put aside, though, when a horrible bushfire starts and threatens to destroy the town, forcing Zelda to be brave like her namesake.

The first two books have an amazing voice. Felix is only ten and believes in storytelling and how with the right story anything is possible. His naivety is so believable you feel horrible that he's experiencing all of this without realizing the severity. The first two books just have so much emotion that you get sucked in and cannot put it down. You are one with these characters to the point that I was yelling at the second book when certain events took place. They are powerful and what's nice is that they are a really quick read. It's great storytelling to get in that emotion in under 200 pages. Something gets lost in the third book, however. The voice isn't as strong in the third book. The story didn't draw me in as easily as the first two books, quite possibly because it didn't have the back story of the Holocaust to have this constant threat to the characters. It did pick up when the bushfire started, which is based on Australia's Victorian Bushfires of 2009. Maybe there is something to be said about background knowledge when reading books because I knew nothing about those fires so I had no connection to that storyline whereas I do know about the Holocaust so I was able to connect more to those books. That's not to say that the third book doesn't have it's positives. When the fires start the story gets bumped up a notch. Zelda also does have a unique voice - she really wants to please her grandfather and is a bit paranoid, which is why she desperately wants to be brave like the original Zelda. She's just not as strong a character or storyteller as Felix.

I really enjoyed this series, especially the first two novels. All of the books are under 200 pages so they're all quick reads but with a lot of depth. The third book is the only one that seems to lack something but this is definitely a series that should be read.
MMK

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl - Jesse Andrews

Greg has kept to himself most of his high school life.  He isn't that good looking, and trying to talk to girls or get them to notice him has blown up in his face.  He is nice to the jocks, the geeks, the stoners, and everyone else.  His only real friend is Earl.  They have been making movies together since middle school.  Greg's first day of senior year goes really well until he gets home.  His mom tells him Rachel has acute myelogenous leukemia.  Greg hasn't really spoken to Rachel since sixth grade when he tried to get with one of her friends by flirting with her.  His mom nags him to call her and hang out.  When he finally does call the conversation is very awkard.  Each day for the next week he calls Rachel, but she just hangs up on him.  One day she doesn't hang up and invites him over to her house.  Greg starts hanging out with Rachel, and some of the time she would come over to his house.  Greg's mom lets it slip that he and Earl make movies, but lets no one see them.  At school he and Earl start hanging out with Rachel and a few of her friends.  Greg and Earl visit Rachel the night before she goes in for chemotherapy.  The next day they head to Earl's house and Greg gets into a scuffle with one of Earl's brothers and Greg goes to the hospital with a broken arm.  When Earl visits he tells Greg that he gave Rachel ten of their movies to watch.  His whole family visits him in the hospital and so does Rachel's friend Madison.  She tells him what a good friend he's been to Rachel and how happy she is.  Greg doesn't believe her, but her friends have seen how happy she is.  He visits Rachel before he leaves the hospital and she tells him how good the movies are.  He thinks she's just being nice, but Rachel really believes the are good.  After he leaves the hospital he continues to visit Rachel, and his grades and school work suffer.  In the midst of all this crazyness Madison approaches Greg about making a movie to cheer Rachel up.  As much as Greg has tried to remain invisible through out high school, this movie will make him be remembered for a long time. 

I really enjoyed the sarcasm and snarkyness of Greg.  I really felt like I was back in high school again.  The book was written in a way that made you feel like you were there in the story right along with Greg, Earl, and Rachel.  I recommend The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.  Here's the link to my review I did earlier this year: http://www.poplarcreekspeak.blogspot.com/2012/01/fault-in-our-stars-john-green.html

T.B. 7/10/12

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon

This is a unique novel written from the point of view of a fifteen-year-old boy who has a form of autism, probably Aspergers (although he is never labeled in the book). The storytelling style does take some getting used to, but in the end it's a good story.

When the story begins, the narrator - Christopher - discovers that his neighbor's dog has been killed with a garden fork. Christopher decides it's up to him to discover who killed Wellington (the dog). However, his father tells him to mind his own business. Christopher is a very logical person yet sometimes doesn't completely understand what people say to him, so he finds loopholes in what his father means by "mind his own business" and continues to investigate. He makes some shocking discoveries that lead him to run away from home and start on another adventure into an "unfamiliar" world all on his own. On this journey a simple train ride becomes nearly life and death for Christopher who can't handle loud noises and a lot of people.

This novel does a great job of getting into the head of a person with Aspergers. The author gives Christopher a great voice to the point that you can hear him telling the story. One way the story shows Christopher's unique way of thinking is by what I considered "tangent" chapters where Christopher started talking about math or computers. These chapters don't really have anything to do with the Wellington mystery but they show how smart Christopher is and how he doesn't necessarily think like the rest of us. For a person who likes a fluid story these chapters made it difficult for me to get through the novel but at the same time, I understand why they were in the novel. I liked the mystery and the revelations and the relationships between the characters. You could sympathize with their frustrations and you wanted to see Christopher succeed because the world was against him and there wasn't anything he could do about it. It ended with me wanting more closure but, then again, what I wanted closure on wasn't what Christopher thought was most important so it worked for the narrator.

This really is a unique book that might take some getting used to. It did a great job getting into the narrator's head and if you get past the "tangent" chapters, there's a great mystery and journey for Christopher.
MMK