hole in my life, pgs 110-140

This section of the book has been my favorite so far and it has been about how he got caught! Rik, Hamilton, and Jack now had to sell all of the hash to people before Jack could make his share of the money and leave. They stayed at the Chelsea hotel when things started to fall apart. Rik informed the guys that the last sale was ready to be made. Hamilton left to work out the deal while Jack stayed at the hotel when suddenly Jack started to hear screaming and fighting going on lobby. It was the FBI and they were attempting to arrest Hamilton. Scared out of his mind, Jack when pack up to his room and packed his stuff to leave. He was able to get himself to the subway system and eventually the Amtrak station without being discovered. Jack then took the train to Florida where he went to stay at his old motel where he lived for a year during high school. Eventually he called his dad and found out that the FBI is all over his family trying to find out where Jack had gone to. Jack's father set him up with a lawyer in New York and after talking to the lawyer Jack decided that it would be best to turn himself in so he headed back to New York. At first it looked like they would have little evidence against Jack but after meeting with the prosecutor they found out they were wrong. While Hamilton and Jack were sailing to New York with the hash, Rik was arrested and Rik confessed about his operation that he was doing. Rik then decided to help the FBI by continuing the operation so they could arrest all the people who bought from them and also arrest Jack and Hamilton. Rik turned out to be the snitch the whole time. The FBI had photo of them on the boat and unloading the hash. The next few weeks Jack passed his time in the Chelsea hotel waiting for his sentence day to come to find out what the punishment would be.

Considering that Jack had made a plea agreement with the prosecutor they are hoping that Jack will only get probation. I do not think that he will get that lucky and he will have to spend just a little time in prison. It is really amazing to see the kind of life that Jack Gantos had before he became a well a know writer. It is a great book so far.

hole in my life, pgs 66-110

I am liking the story more and more as it goes on. This section of the story was about how and why he got into smuggling hash to the United States. He also talks about his journey while smuggling the drugs. Jack who always wanted to go to college never really had the funds so when an opportunity to make a lot of money came around he decided to take it. He was offered to join another man to smuggle hash from St. Croix to New York City. After completing the job he would receive $10,000 dollars and this was enough money for him not to think about the consequences too much. Jack figured that afterward he would be able to take that money and go to college somewhere. That day he told his family that he found a sailing job and would be leaving the island. After a few practice sailing trips Jack and Hamilton, the other man sailing with Jack, set out for New York. There were several rough moments through the trip considering that Jack had little experience with sailing and the weather was not great at all. They almost ran out of fuel once but fortunately they ran into a large Japanese fishing vessel and were able to barrow some fuel. They also once found their way into military water and had to be directed out by the Coast Guard. Hamilton had a strong disliking for Jack looking like he was always guilty of something. Eventually they made it to New York and found a place to keep their sail boat. Rik, the man who planned the operation, met them at the dock to pick them up. They met with some people and then later came back to the boat to get the rest of the hash. There was a huge storm the day before and caused the sail boat to unhook from the dock. The owner of the marina said that some people boarded the ship and anchored it down for them. Jack immediately realized the anchor was next to all the hash and whoever saved the boat saw the hash. They were able to get back on their ship and there was nothing unusual with the ship so they were safe and went to put the ship at a different marina.

So far they have come close to getting caught several times. My prediction is that the people who saved the boat called the cops and the cops set up a sting operation to catch them in the act with the hash. Either way I am super curious to see what happens to Jack and how he gets caught. It is kind of sad that he had to try and go to all this trouble to go to college and that he could not find a better way to get the money. Must have been some really hard times.

hole in my life, pgs 33-65

After living in the motel for a year while Jack was going to high school, he decided it was time for a change. His original plan was to take a few day trip around Florida to find inspiration to write before he would go to St. Croix and work with his dad again. Before he left a friend asked to stay with him for a couple days and he agreed. He also convinced Jack to invest his money and they would sell some weed to make some money but unfortunately this did not pan out and Jack lost his money. He then began his trip to around Florida looking for inspiration to write. When he eventually made it to St. Croix a tropical storm had hurt the city's tourist area. There also began racial tensions between whites and the blacks of the island. The blacks wanted to exterminate the whites. This hurt the island and Jack's dad's business since he was in construction. Instead they had to build crates for people who wanted to leave the island that had growing tensions.

I find the story okay so far but nothing really huge has happened so far in the story. He mainly has been moving around and talking about everyday life. He talks about the drug use of the island and how casual it was. The police payed little to no attention to it. His job of building the crates gives me the suspicion that this is how he will get involved in drug smuggling since he will be talking to many boat owners who might be involved in smuggling. I am sure the book will get more interesting as it goes on.

hole in my life, pgs 1-33

The book starts out with Jack talking about him being in prison and how violent it was. Then Jack talks about how his dad had a keen eye for spotting criminals but he never pegged his own son for being a criminal. When Jack was nineteen his family decided that they would move to Puerto Rico since his father found a job. Instead of going to school in Puerto Rico he got a job doing electrical work for a hotel and this is when Jack's downward spiral began. He had a lot of freedom while working this job because he lived in the hotel and had maid service. He was also allowed to drink. After a while he wanted to go back to school so he was sent back to Florida to live with the Bacon family and to go back to his old high school. Unfortunately Jack's behavior was too much for the Bacon family and he was kicked out of their house. Jack then found a place to stay in an old motel. He started to turn around a little bit and started to think about becoming a writer. He would write in a journal when ideas came to him. One day during school some prisoners came to the his school and talked about the life that got them into prison. Jack thought he would never be like them.

So far I have enjoyed reading this book and I am curious to see how he eventually ended up in prison. He never really thought that he would have to go through times like that. Jack had lived interesting childhood because it seems that he did not have much supervision.

I Am Number Four, pgs 392-440 (end of the book)

There was a lot of fighting at the end of this book. Many times John was close to dieing but some how he would be saved and stay alive. Unfortunately Henri dies during the fighting. John is able to defeat the Mogadorians because he realized he could communicate with animals. The Mogadorians had a 30 foot monster and John was able to convince the monster to stop attacking him and to attack the Mogadorians. After this a scout is about to kill John when suddenly Sarah stabs the Mogadorian in the back and saves John.

John later wakes up in a hotel where he is recovering from all of his injuries. He also finds all of his things packed up because he knows that he will have to leave the city and find a new a place to hide. John and Sarah are heartbroken that they have to leave each other. Sam and Number Six are also going to leave with John to find a new place to hide. They all three leave after they cremate Henri.

Sadly I did not like the end of this book because the fighting to me seemed to drag out way too much. I lost interest in the fighting and found myself not understanding what was happening. I liked how it set up for a new book at the end but the fighting could have been much more interesting. I would probably read the next book if there is one or is going to be one.

House

Dan Martensen and Shannan Click's gentle admiration for nature is expressed in the decoration of their New York farmhouse. The home is secluded and surrounded by nature. All that can be seen around the home are bovine plants of green. The owners have a garden of their own and are shown picking some vegetables from the garden. The home is consisted of wood walls and lacks any modern attributes seen in a typical home. The home reminds me of an old country house secluded from the rest of the town. The dog in several pictures shows the admiration of animals. All in all, the home expresses a love for nature.

Spring Break Story!!!

For this spring break my family went to New Smyrna Beach, Florida for the fourth year in a row. This beach happens to gave the highest shark bite incidents in all of the United States.  It started with two other families and has grown to six families all together. This year my friend's family decided they would invite their cousins family to come this year. One of the boys of this family, Adam, is 16 years old. While I was relaxing on the beach, Adam, Luke and Nick went into the ocean to swim. The three of them came back towards us minutes later but for some reason Adam was limping a little and Luke yelled out, "Adam was bit by a shark!" Adam with a squinted face walked past us and I saw the bottom of his foot was covered in blood. We then followed Adam off the beach and up on to the deck of the condo where we stayed. My dad, a doctor, then took a hose to clean off the wound that he had. Adam, not liking the pain, had to bit on a towel. The wound was one small puncture wound that bleed really well and a few scratches that had no bleeding at all. Luckily it was not bad enough that he had to go to the hospital and he was able to stop the bleeding and put a band-aid on it. The reason we believe it is a shark bit is because Luke and Nick said that they saw a fish (maybe two feet) swim away after Adam began to jump up and down. This provided some humor to our trip since Adam did not get hurt too bad and it makes for a great story.