When I first started blogging I was nervous mainly because of the word limit, I overcame my fear and realized that I can talk a lot more than I realized when I write about something that I enjoy. I thought I wouldn’t have enough to talk about since I picked the topic of reviewing movies and tv shows. I do have a lot of passion with watching TV so I knew it would be a perfect topic to blog about. I learned that writing about something I loved made me a stronger writer than writing about something I could care less about. After getting into the groove of blogging, I loved it. It was something simple, easy, and overall just something fun for me to do for a grade. Some teachers give word searches for fun but Mrs. Lore does blogs instead, some of my class did not like the idea of blogging but we were given a lot of creative freedom to do literally whatever we wanted which is what made it actually fun.

I would like to think that I will have enough time to continue with blogging but with the crazy busy life that I have of working 2 to 3 jobs all summer and going away to college, I will not have the time more than likely. But maybe I can make the time to blog, give myself a break from my crazy life to just step away and clear my head. I used this blog for TV reviewing and maybe the younger classes and others who find this blog will find some movies or shows that they think they may like after reading my reviews, I know that I always run out of things to watch so I reach out to others for recommendations. I want to thank all of my readers for coming to my blog to read what I had to say for my movie and show reviews and I hope you found something that you wanted to watch. To the future classes, I will leave you with this message for blogging, have fun with your blog, be creative, write about something that you are passionate about no matter how “stupid” you think it may be. It is your last year of high school so have fun with your school work and get an easy grade.

Signing off for now,

Cara McClellan

Class of 2022

1. How did you like the book? Do you like the genre of science fiction? 

I read the book We Light Up The Sky for this sci- fi unit, personally I enjoyed this book a lot. Although sci- fi isn’t really my genre of choice, I gave it a chance and I am very glad that I did. This book showed a lot of real life issues and I was able to connect with the main character Luna. I connected with Luna because she shows a lot of real world that I myself experience or have experienced in the past. Luna deals with the death of a very close family member and the book has a big focus on how that affected her mentally and socially, I connect with that because I have gone through the same situation in my life and so I understand her struggles. Since I have gone through the same thing I feel like that may be a big reason on why I did enjoy the book. I always thought that sci- fi was all about fake things and I didn’t think that real life connections could be made in the genre.

2.What was your experience reading the book through the different critical lenses? What are some themes or DNs/CNs you noticed in your book because of the critical lenses? 

Throughout the book I was a lot of critical lenses that could/ were used. I feel like focusing on one lens a week really helped my analyze the book and see what different real life critical lenses were going on. The lens’ I saw the most was psychological and social. Many of the characters have mental and internal struggles going on and you see these problems not only in the book but in real life as well. Looking at the book through that lens, makes you realize that even in literature you can see things that happen in the real world. These problems occur is all of our lives everyday. The social lens is used a lot with the different social classes in the book. Raffa is in the lower class and he is homeless but Luna is in the higher class. It is not typical for the different classes to mix together but Luna breaks that narrative and she is friends with Raffa. Pedro on the other hand is in the lower/ middle class but he also has a job so he works for everything he has along with giving his mom money for bills. Everyone seems to think Pedro has money and is in the higher class but he is not like the other kids. Pedro works for everything he has while the other kids get stuff from their parents so they do not see the struggle for having to work for what they want and need in life.

3. Write 2 inquiry questions that you want to explore tomorrow during our last discussion and write some emerging thoughts about how your book might answer those questions. 

• At what point do you break for morals for someone and when do you need to stay true to yourself instead of worrying about others? Raffa did not what to go after Luna when she started to follow the visitor but Pedro convinced him that they are family now and you do not leave family alone. Raffa was worried about his actual blood family while they were alone but someone Pedro convinced him to break what some may call his morals, I feel that Pedro was able to do this because Raffa seems to have feelings for him now.
• Is seeking revenge more important that saving someone else? Luna wanted revenge and to kill the visitors for wearing her dead cousins “skin” but there were cops that needed her help but she left them to try and kill the visitor instead.

Today I’ll be talking about what the Christmas holiday means to me and my family along with what I did over break. Christmas time is one of the hardest holidays/ time of year for my family. We lost both my grandma and grandpa in December so there are a lot of sad emotions that come with the holiday and the whole month in general. Losing a family member is hard as it is but having it occur the same week as a major holiday makes it even worse. You are supposed to spend the holidays with family but when that family passes away it really makes you realize how much you miss them.

Enough with the heavy emotions. Christmas to me is about being thankful for what you have and what new items you receive, spending time with those you love and that always have your back, and for giving to those that are in need. I like to try and help as many people as I can though the whole year and especially during Christmas since it can be really hard for many people and families that are less fortunate than some may be. Something as small as saying Merry Christmas or holding the door for someone can make the biggest difference. I try to compliment people as much as I can to make someone smile, seeing the look on someone’s face after saying you love their shirt or that they look really nice, is just truly an amazing feeling.

Over Christmas I was super busy. I worked a ton, helped an elderly women with housework after she had surgery, baked lots of goodies, and of course squeezed in some time for as many Christmas movies as possible. My favorite Christmas movie series is the Santa Clause series of course and favorite Christmas movie is Elf for sure. I’ve watched these movies on repeat every Christmas season and they will never get old. There is nothing better than snuggling up with a nice popcorn tin from Abe’s candy shop, hot chocolate and a cozy blanket with some Christmas movies on.

You is the name of a Netflix TV series that I am watching. The series first was released in 2018 and new seasons were release this year. The series was very strange to me and I was not sure if I was interested and wanted to continue watching or not. I was interested but in a weird way which I am not sure makes total sense. The show starts with the main character named Joe Goldberg. Joe sees a girl named Beck walk into the book store he works at, as she walks in he says “hello you” which is where the shows name comes from. Joe instantly starts to analyze her and profile her based off of her body language, looks, and the books she was looking at in the store.

From the moment Beck walked into the book store and Joe was analyzing her, I knew something was off with him. Joe started to follow Beck around, watch her through the window of her apartment, and was just overall just a creep. Joe ended up kidnapping and holding Beck’s boyfriend hostage because Joe thought it would be best to remove Benji (the ex) from Beck’s life so Joe could make it better.

Beck and Joe got together and dated and Joe thought it was great but it had some issues. Joe ended up killing Peach, Beck’s best friend because Peach was obsessed with Beck and once again, Joe thought he knew what was best for Beck so he “removed her”. Joe made the killing of Peach seem like she committed suicide. After killing Peach, Joe and Beck were still together but ended up breaking up and then back together again. Beck ended up getting held hostage by Joe once she would out the truth about Peach ad Benji, long story short Joe ended up killing Beck and framing the therapist for all the murders.

I am currently at the end of Season 2 and Joe has taken on a new name and the persons name he took he held hostage but actually let him go. He also killed and ground up the body of someone named Jasper and killed a man named Henderson “on accident” after trying to get him to admit to drugging girls and taking nude pictures of him. Joe also tried to make that murder look like a suicide which doesn’t seem to be working as of right now.

Overall rating 9.9/10

I read an article on dealing with teen depression found on the help guide. org website. The article was written by Melinda Smith, M.A., Lawrence Robinson, and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D. The article talks about what depression is and how to help cope with it. I know personally many adults act like teens do not have a reason to have depression which is not true. You do not need to have adult problems and struggles to have depression. Teen depression should be normalized because teen years are hard on the mind and body and teens deserve to be treated equally. 

I read a poem about life written by Joanna Fuchs. The poem has a lot of meaning behind it. The main story is about the fact that tomorrow is never promised so you need to live life to the fullest. Do not live in the past, do what makes you happy, do what you want to do, be who you want to be. 

In the month of November I started a book Dear Evan Hansen written by Val Emmich. The book is about a teen boy named Evan who struggles a lot with anxiety. A boy named Connor committed suicide and Connor had a letter that Evan wrote for his therapy session on his body when he was found. Connor’s parents thought that  Connor wrote the letter for Evan. Since they thought Connor wrote it, they thought that Evan and Connor were best friends. Due to Evan’s anxiety he played along with it by accident. Every time he tried to tell the truth it just ended in more lies. Eventually Evan was in so deep with the lies that there was no going back. By the end of the book Evan finally was able to tell the truth and Evan feared that they would take it horribly but they did not. They forgave him and did not tell everyone else the truth. The apple orchard that The Murphy family went to when they were younger, the same orchard Evan lied about when telling stories about Connor and his friendship, became a memorial for Connor. 

Over break I started and finished a book from my childhood, The princess and the pea. The story is about a prince who is on the hunt for a true princess to marry. One night during a storm someone claiming to be a princess asked to stay til the storm passed. The prince’s mother put a pea under twenty mattresses for the “princess” to sleep on and in the morning they asked how she slept and she replied by saying she did not sleep barely any all night because there was something under her mattresses. Since she did not sleep because of this pea, the prince knew she was a real princess so they got married.  

I know this is not my usual blog topic but in the holiday spirit I decided I would write about the holidays and what they mean to me. Personally my family does not really get together and have a big gathering. I wish and always have wished that my family did all gather together and talk like they do in the movies. Thanksgiving in my house still means a lot to me though. Even though it is usually just the people who live under my roof attending but my dad always says, the only people that matter are the ones under this roof.

On thanksgiving, my mom and I spend the most time in the kitchen. My mom and I have always been really close and I think the holidays bring a lot of bonding time, laughs, and memories. We cook stuffing, deviled eggs, pickle rolls/ raps, ham (normally since my mom cannot cook a turkey without it coming out dry), and pie of course. My mom’s stuffing will always be my favorite and when she does pass, I know around the holidays when that stuffing is made it will make my heart so full and happy.

Around my household, the holidays are very difficult due to the loss of family members and just seasonal depression in general, so we try our hardest to think about the good and happy memories we have to try and keep in better spirits. Watching Thanksgiving and Christmas movies will forever be one of my most favorite part of the holidays because after a long day my whole family piles into the living room with hot chocolate, popcorn, and baked goods and it is always a good time. We watch the same movies every year but they never get old. I love when all of my family is bonding and getting along for once. Memories being made that will never be forgotten and that is the biggest thing I am thankful for.

Today I’ll be reviewing the twilight series, I’ll start with the first one. To start off I want to say that the first movies in the twilight series have terrible graphics and a weird blue filter was added over the entire movie. Yes the movies were created in 2008 and technology has improved since then but it was really bad lol. The first movie was just really cheesy and a little emo like. I am someone who has watched the series so many times that I know all of the words to all of the movies and I still cringe to the movies since some of the scenes are so cringe worthy.

The second movie is called new moon which was released in 2009. The second movies deals with the starting issues of two guys named Edward and Jacob loving the same girl, Bella Swan. Bella was a little confused during everything since she did not really see Jacob as more than a childhood friend but Jacob has an intense love for Bella. Edward leaves Bella and moves away because he wants to keep Bella safe. Bella becomes this depressed teen with terrible nightmares but once her and Jacob start hanging out they go away. Jacob helped Bella out so much when Edward was away and Jacob thought things would change and she would love him but she didn’t.

The third movie is called eclipse, released in 2010. This movie is when the wolves and vampires come together to fight the new vampire clan. The wolves and vampires have always been enemies and never liked each other but they came together for the greater good. This showed a major development in the series which helped them in the future for the rest of the movies.

The last movie was a part one and part two called Breaking Dawn released in 2012. In this movie Bella and Edward get married and somehow Bella got pregnant even tho they thought vampires could not procreate. Bella ended up having the baby but it technically killed her but with the help of vampire venom she was turned into a vampire. The wolves tried to kill the baby but Jacob (who is a wolf) wouldn’t allow it. After the volturi got wind of the baby they came to investigate but didn’t win the argument due to them finding proof of another vampire human baby living a normal life and not being a risk. Alice also showed them their future and they were more than happy to leave them alone and let them go on with their lives.

Overall I rate this movie series a 9.7 out of 10

So I’m going to keep with the theme of Halloween. This week I’ll be talking about a Netflix series call the Legacies. The show is about this school for the supernatural. The school is full of vampires, witches, werewolves, and many others. Starting off with the beginning episodes there is a new wolf they welcome into the school and a boy they thought was just a normal human turned out to not be so human after all.

They didn’t know what he was because he was something completely different than their “normal” creatures. You would think they wouldn’t freak out over not knowing what he was but they did. The school thought they knew everything in the book because they are all the supernaturals that people don’t even think are real, they kind of have the mind process of “we are supposed to be the weird ones how do we not know about all of the supernatural creatures”.

Hope was also a supernatural that they never knew was a thing. Hope comes from an original vampire, family of witches, and a werewolf family line so she is a werewolf and a witch. Before Hope and her family there was only all separate creatures not someone who could have qualities of many different supernaturals. Hope connected with Landon the not so human human because she was different like he was.

Connecting this series to the real life, many can connect with this especially when it comes to high school. The creatures in the school were all different but Hope and Landon were really different and were outsiders. In the end Hope and Landon played a huge roll in the survival for the town of Mystic Falls and the Salvatore Boarding School. This all shows that it is okay to be different because you are just as strong and able, no matter who you are you can make a difference.

I rate this an overall 9.2/10

In the spirit of the now second official day of fall, I’d like to start off with talking about one of my absolute favorite movie series to watch during Fall/ Halloween times. I have watched these movies for as long as I can remember, they are older than I am and some may think they are cheesy but I enjoy them a lot. There are are 4 movies in the Halloween town series, my personal favorite out of them all is the Halloween town High movie from 2004. The first movie came out in 1998 and the last one came out in 2006.

I think all the movies are great but as the movies go on and the older I get the more I relate to them. Yes the movies are about monsters and the super natural but if you look at the meaning it is way more than that. In the Halloween town High movie it is about the super natural kids going to normal kid school, they are different than the other humans there but Marnie believed they would fit in and show the humans that it is okay to be different. In non movie world I think that what the movie is trying to show us is that we are all different and that is okay. Normal is boring and the world would be a better place if people accepted everyone for who they are regardless if they are “different”

Quote of the blog post today is ” Be yourself everyone else is already taken” -Oscar Wilde

Overall I would give this movie series a 9.5 out of 10.

Hello! My name is Cara, my last name is complicated for most to spell so my family and I just go by the Mcluvn’s ( hints to the Mcluvn- It). I am a seventeen year old high school student. This blog is for a year-long English assignment to encourage us to strengthen our writing skills. I plan to use this blog to review shows and movies to feel productive about my TV watching addiction. I am pretty anti-social, when I am not working I’m usually in bed with my dog watching TV instead of hanging with friends, so this blog will make me feel more okay or have an excuse to watching TV all day. I also want to add quotes that I find that I think are powerful, funny, inspiring etcetera.

I tend to rewatch shows and movies that I have watched before over and over again because I know that I liked it and there usually are not any surprises although I do see small details that I did not see the first or even the third time I have watched it which I enjoy seeing all the things I missed. Fun fact, I know every word to all the Twilight movies and I have watched Vampire Diaries seven times in total now because that is how obsessed I am with vampire shows.

I am into many different types of tv/ movies so I am going to be able to review a little bit from each genre of media so that you as readers can see a little of everything so you can look through everything and maybe I can inspire you to watch something you usually would not usually watch. I have watched a lot of vampire shows and fictional shows with witches, werewolves, and many other fictional characters. When it comes to reading books I only like real-life books that seem like they really happened in real life so I have a little diversity between books and TV.