BOOK REVIEW!!!

Goal!: The Dream Begins by Robert Rigby hypnotized me by his fascinating story of Santiago. This novel discusses how Santiago went from being another kid on the streets with a dream to play professional soccer to actually getting a shot to play with the professionals. This novel teaches the lesson that dreams can come true if your willing to work hard enough to make them reality. Robert Rigby style is strait forward and he doesn't go on and on about one specific topic.

Santiago lives in L.A. He works hard because his family does not have very much money. Santiago also loves soccer with a passion. He is one of the best in the city and finally gets noticed when a man from England is watching one of his games and gives him a trial to play for a soccer club in England called New Castle United.Just like anyone in the real world, Santiago has to work to get money. He works more than ever so he can pay for a flight to England.

The setting starts off in Mexico when Santiago and his family are escaping to America when he was a little kid. Then the novel skips to when he is a teenager in L.A. The story stays there until he flies to England and that is where most of the novel takes place.

After he arrives in England, he has to work harder than ever to make the team. When he does finally make the team, some problems start to occur with his family back home and for him while he is there. Then when he finally gets to play, he makes something amazing happen that finally makes his dad proud of him for once, and soon after a bad thing happens to someone close to him. Sadly I can not give away what happens.

This novel is suspenseful and a good read for anyone who likes soccer. It is an easy read and quickly draws you in. There is also a second book, but I have not read it yet. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a good read about soccer.

Materialistic

Too many people are materialistic now. Being materialistic means that you are more concerned with material things other than your own values. People now think that they have to fit in to what everyone else is doing and think that they have to have everything that everyone else has. The media consumes us now through the TV, magazines, and advertisements in hope to make us want things that we do not need.

This issue used to not be a problem. Everyone used to work for everything and just got what they actually needed in life, but now that has changed. People spend money on worthless possessions just to look better, show off, and for no reason but just to have them sometimes. Too many now have changed their values.

People focus more on their wants more than their needs. This gets many people into financial holes that they can not get themselves out of. More people need to think twice about what they think about buying or wanting and remember that their needs need to come before their wants. Materialistic people often start judging others based on what they have. This causes many to be like them. Most of our society has turned into being materialistic lately.

Junior Year

My junior year has been filled with ups and downs along this first semester. School feels pretty easy this year.

Classes go along quicker and easier now that I am a junior. It seems as though there is less work involved now. I like most all of my classes but have to worry time to time about one of my classes, chemistry, because it is real hard for me. Chemistry is the only class that gives me a lot of trouble. I'm just not to good at it i guess. Algebra and Spanish two are going really well and I thought they'd be the hardest.

Sports started off pretty hard for me. In March, I broke my femur in half during a soccer game after scoring a goal. I was out until the middle of June. Around the middle of June I started jogging, running, and working out again. People say that I recovered quick, but I don't think so because when football started i still couldn't go one hundred percent. I got real mad during practice when I couldn't go as hard as I thought I could. The first few weeks sucked, but it got better and I started the first game of the season.

My year has been pretty good over all, but could have been a lot better. Next semester is going to be great because it will be time for soccer. I love soccer. Its my favorite sport. I can't wait to get back on the field.

character John Procter

John Procter works very hard. He is a good man that wants more in life. John trys to do the right things but sometimes it doesn't work out in his favor. He does some bad things such as saying soft words to another girl while he is married, but Procter is a good man that thinks about things to the full extent. He thinks that Parris is just trying to get money and talk about things that scare the people of salem and he does not like this. In the end he dies for something and is not very good.

again ...more bullying

The novel that I am reading now, The Crucible, has the theme of bullying in it. This book is filled with drama and tells of the Salem witch trials.

Many characters bully in this novel. One case of bullying involves the girls against Mary Warren. Mary Warren tells Procter and the judge that the girls are just pretending and that everything that they are doing is fake. The girls argue and yell at her and pretend more in court to make Mary look like she's ling.

Another case of bullying is when people confess to witchcraft just so they cannot be hung later if accused. This I think is wrong because they could confess and accuse someone else who hasn't done anything wrong.

This novel definitely has to much drama for me. I would recommend this to someone who likes literature or just likes to read but i did not like it to much.

The good and the bad..

In the novel I am reading, The Kite Runner, the main character, Amir, goes though some rough and also good times.

Amir is a boy who grows up what some would call a nerd because of things he likes such as writing and books. Amir's servant ,Hassan, loves for Amir to read books to him. Amir takes advantage of this and makes up storys sometimes. Amir lies so that Hassan cannot go with him to America. Later on when he comes back, he finds that Hassan is his half brother and finds how much Hassan cares for him. Amir then tries to make things right in his life by finding Hassan's son.

Amir loves Hassan deep down, but couldn't show it until he was gone. This novel reads easy and is a little long, but it really makes you think about the way you approach things.

Bulling

My novel The Kite Runner is a good but long book. One topic which is discussed in this book is bulling.

Bulling is something that should not ever happen but it always does. Amir, the main character, and Hassan, Amir’s half brother, both get bullied in this book. Amir bullies Hassan by not allowing him to read or write when he knows that he could teach him how to but he doesn’t. Amir gets bullied by the other kids in the village. When the other kids try to harm him, he becomes inert and Hassan steppes in to fight his battle for him.

This is a good book and its easy to read but it makes u think about life and how you approach things.