David Greenberg - Author's Visit

It was a couple of weeks ago that this happened. Everything was going on like it always does, every day. Then, out of no where, our teacher suddenly announced that a real live author was coming to our school to visit us in a couple of days! Some of us were really exited about the news, and some were...well...not. So anyways, I was really exited; I'd never seen a real live author ever in my life before! And obviously, we pestered our teacher (actually we asked and she told us, but pestered seems more...lively and...exiting, I guess you could call it) to tell us who the author was. And she told us. It was David Greenberg. I had never heard of the guy and was honestly hoping for someone like J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter) or Rick Riordan (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes Of Olympus, and The Kane Chronicles) or someone like that, not guy-whose-name-I-already-forgot. My excitement ebbed away, leaving me sorely disappointed. 

The day came. David Greenberg was giving a speech, and we all had to go to the auditorium for it. The only good thing was that we got to miss math. And then the guy came up on the stage. If you asked me, he did not look very special. He just looked, well, ordinary. I mean if you passed this guy on the street, you wouldn't even know he was a writer. He had gray curls and he wore clothes that were...well...normal.

David Greenberg introduced himself and started talking. His speech was really fun and allowed us (the audience) to interact with him. Mr. Greenberg was also really funny and silly. I began enjoying his speech. He also read us a couple of his books (he writes picture books and poems). David Greenberg gave us writing tips, encouraged us on our writing, and told us about how it was never easy being an writer. By the time his speech was halfway done, I had already become a huge fan of him and his work. Here is a bit of his speech:

When he was done, Mr. Greenberg gave out autographs (I got one!!!) and later, I also had my photo taken with him. It was soooooo fun!!!!!!!

One of the things that made this event really special for the entire school is that David Greenberg is our first and (so far) only visiting author. The other thing is that he came from nearly the other side of the world just to visit our school (and sell books and sign autographs and all that other stuff).
                                                                                                               

Ella Enchanted

Ella is a girl who lives in Frell (a town in the kingdom of Kyrria) with her mother and household servants. Her father, Sir Peter, is a successful merchant who travels a lot and is usually out of the town. As a result, Ella doesn't see him often. Which is just fine with her, as her father is not a kind man. He only cares about himself and is selfish, not caring about anything but money (well, he cares about his wife - Ella's mother - a bit, I guess). She would be like just about any other nobleman's daughter in Frell if she was not given a fairy's blessing - well, more like a curse, actually - at the time of her birth. This fairy's name was Lucinda, and she gave Ella the 'gift' of obedience. Which meant that Ella had to do everything that was told to her. It had to be a command - a wish or request won't work. It could be anything from 'Ella, eat your meal' to 'Ella, cut off your head'. And Ella had to obey it.

After her mother, whose name was Eleanor, dies, Ella is left with her father and her fairy godmother (of course nobody except Ella knows that she is a fairy). Before she dies, she commands her daughter not to tell anyone about the curse, as they could take advantage of Ella if they knew. So after his wife's death, Sir Peter sends Ella off to finishing school with Hattie and Olivia. They are Dame Olga's daughters (a friend of Sir Peter). In there, Hattie gives Ella a miserable time, because she discovers Ella's secret (she has no idea why, but she knows that Ella has to do everything she is commanded to). Running away, Ella encounters evil ogres, huge giants, charming princes, and reluctant fairies as she goes on a quest to find Lucinda and take away the curse upon her. Will she succeed? Or will Ella have to spent the rest of her life always doing whatever anyone tells her to do?

I really like this wonderful, enchanting book which is written by Gail Carson Levine. Levine weaves an unforgettable tale which is humorous, funny and completely enthralling. I like this book because of the plot and the way it is written. Levine keeps me in suspense and her way with words keeps me completely hooked until the end. This book is a real page turner and a total must - read.

The Wahbah Crater

Last weekend, my family, a friends family, and me all went to this crater called the Wahbah Crater. It was a five-hour drive from where we live. We started climbing down to the bottom, but about 1/5 of the way we stopped, and my friend, her dad, my dad, and me continued to the actual bottom of the crater.

The Wahbah crater is a 250 m (820 ft) deep and 2 km (1.2 mi) wide crater located on the western side of the Harrat Kishb plateau, Saudi Arabia. It is formed by an underground volcanic steam eruption generated by magma coming into contact with underground water. The bottom of the crater is covered with white sodium phosphate crystals, which is a kind of salt crystal. Since the crater is surrounded mostly by non-climbable cliffs, we took a path down to the craters bottom from the North side. It's the only prepared path there. This crater doesn't usually get many visitors, even on weekends. We only saw about 3-4 groups, apart from our own, and it's hard to miss people down there when you are going up or down.

So, mostly we had fun. It was great to go down. I loved it! Especially the view from the top. Amazing!