100 Degrees: An environmentalist story

“And it used to snow every winter, Emma, every winter. Back then.”
“I don't believe you. I've never seen this 'snow' you keep talking about,” she said, weaving the quotation marks into her voice. “My teachers haven't even seen it. And some of them are your age.”
Mom chuckled. “I can imagine.” She sighed, and ruffled my hair. “The only reason I've ever seen snow is because when I was your age, my parents took me to a mountain top. That was the only place that snow still existed, back then.” She looked into space, as if she could see the scene, but far away. “But when Gramom was just about your age, it snowed every single winter. It was much colder then.”
I pouted, and slumped over on the couch. It seemed so exciting to have little flakes of ice swirling around you, all white and soft, and then that big blanket of millions of those flakes on the ground...just like in those old, old movies, where Christmas and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa were covered with that icy white blanket. I think there was one -- what was it called? -- Home Alone, that was it! Christmas with snow. Even a cold Christmas was impossible to imagine. A Christmas that wasn't just like springtime...
I wished I could see this “snow”. But mom said that there was none left at all anymore, not even on the mountain tops. She said that it disappeared completely about ten years after they went to the mountains.
“But how? If it was as wonderful and glorious and...especially...as irreplaceable as everyone said it was, then wouldn't anyone try to keep the world cool?”
She sighed again. “I think they did. But the people with the power, like the presidents and people in the government, well, most of them...just didn't care enough.”
Stupid. I thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid . Who would be stupid enough to think that we wouldn't care? That we wouldn't make a fuss about, well, I don't know, one of the world's greatest phenomena disappearing into thin air?
“Huh,” I said. It was all I could say. Nothing seemed to make sense about that snow. Mom put so much detail into her description of snow that I could start to believe it, but I still didn't like the idea that the people who were ruling our world -- our presidents, prime ministers, and, well, everyone else that really had a say in anything -- didn't care about something as huge as the disappearing of snow. Didn't they have enjoyment, too? Didn't they also love the snow? Or were they really just all business?
The next day at school, I came in, and having been elected as class president the day before, wrote on the board 9/8/2208. Why couldn't I just write '08? I thought. It's not like anyone thinks it's 2008.
* * *
WHO KNOWS? This could be the actual, real-life, honest-to-goodness scenario of a girl some 200 years from now. Do we want it to be? You decide. Your decision can make a difference if you try.

The Tale of Derperaux

Have you ever felt that you were different than everyone else? Well, that's what Desperaux Tilling, a small mouse with a big heart, feels everyday of his life. He falls in love with music, and stories of a brave knight who saves a beautiful princess. But most of all, he is in love with a princess named Pea. But he is not the only factor to this story. Roscuro, a rat who loves light, is forced to live in the dark dungeon, and he is a big part of this story. And lastly, it involves Miggery Sow, unintellegent as she is, she clutches to a longing wish, that is impossible. They will all enter an adventure that takes them through a caliginous dungeon, and up to the light and where all of their desires await.
The Tale of Desperaux is a great book, full of adventure and new points of view. Be sure to add this book to your reading list!

Homecoming

Homecoming (written by Cynthia Voigt) is about a girl named Dicey, a very responsible, intelligent girl, and her four younger siblings, Maybeth, Sammy, and James, who unfortunately, are the oddballs in the neighborhood. But it gets worst, when their mother had run away, abandoning her children after losing her jobs.
By leaving her children in a parked car in a shopping center, she then puts her troubles onto Dicey's shoulder. Dicey must travel to her Aunt Cilla's house, seeking a place to stay. Along the way, they must camp out at beaches, stores, and, besides her siblings, she has no idea who to trust. She must take charge of her family, fearing that she and her family may be separated for life. Only her grandmother may be able to help them now. But will she?
This book is exciting from the beginning to the end. It is as equally enjoyable as to how lenghthy it is.

Walk Two Moons

Salamanca Tree Hiddle, a country girl at heart, is a teenager who goes on a trip with her Gram and Gramps from Euclid, Ohio to Lewiston, Idaho to visit her resting mother. Along the way, she tells her grandparents about her experience with Phoebe Winterbottom, her missing mother, and the lunatic. In Sal’s story, Mrs. Winterbottom runs away after loosing her job, receiving a few strange letters from the lunatic, and being mistreated by her daughters Phoebe and Prudence. Sal plays a big part in Phoebe’s life, going to the police with her, tracking down the lunatic (who, Phoebe thinks, kidnapped her mother), and keeping Mrs. Winterbottom’s absence a secret. Sal realizes that Phoebe’s situation is very much like her own experience from a long time ago, and learns that you can’t judge a man until you’ve walked two moons in his moccasins. Understand life in a better way with Sal and her story.

Beach Soccer

Have you ever heard of beach soccer? Surely you've heard of regular soccer, or in other countries, it is known as football. But beach soccer? Here are a few different things about these to similar but different sports.

• Beach soccer is played without soccer cleats, shin guards, or socks. They either play with special beach socks, or bare feet.
• Naturally, beach soccer is played on the beach, on the sand, but it is very hard to run on.
• The ball is lighter than a regular soccer ball. It is about as light as a volleyball.
• There are no offsides, so you can go as far behind the defence as you want, and you can score from any part of the pitch.
• The pitch for the game is measured 28x37 meters. 
• Usually a goal in the game is scored every 3 to 4 minutes- 11 goals per game. 
• When the ball is out of bounds, you can either throw it or kick it in, unlike regular soccer, you can only throw it, and throw it a specific way.
• You can't score from the sidelines.
• Instead of two halves of a game like regular soccer, the players can either choose 1, 2, or 3 periods of play per game. 
• Beach soccer started in Brazil, and has grown to be an international game.

Beach soccer is such an interesting sport, combining good old soccer or football, and the challenge on the beach. So next time when you go to the beach, bring a volleyball, and try dribbling and kicking it with your own bare feet. It's not as easy as it looks.