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Showing posts from December, 2015

New Year's Traditions

New Year's Day Holiday History New Year's is one of the oldest holidays still celebrated, but the exact date and nature of the festivities has changed over time. It originated thousands of years ago in ancient Babylon, celebrated as an eleven day festival on the first day of spring. During this time, many cultures used the sun and moon cycle to decide the "first" day of the year. It wasn't until Julius Caesar implemented the Julian calendar that January 1st became the common day for the celebration. The content of the festivities has varied as well. While early celebrations were more paganistic in nature, celebrating Earth's cycles, Christian tradition celebrates the Feast of the Circumcision of Christ on New Year's Day. Roman Catholics also often celebrate Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a feast honoring Mary. However, in the twentieth century, the holiday grew into its own celebration and mostly separated from the common association with religion.

Teen Book Review: The Young Elites

The Young Elites review by  JK: The novel The Young Elites by Marie Lu is a very good book to read if you are interested in fantasy. I would highly recommend this book to young adults. This novel follows the journey of a very special blood fever survivor. The blood fever was a deadly illness and most adults died including many children. But some children survived and came out of the illness with strange markings and scars, These markings and scars earned the children the name "malfetto."A malfetto is shamed, but some are also very valuable seeing as how some select malfettos were gifted with special abilities. These malfettos created the Dagger Society, they protected malfettos and recruited those who had useful abilities. The King wants all malfettos dead regardless. So, he organizes the Inquisition, they hunt malfettos and protect the royal family. This book follows Adelina Amouteru who is a special malfetto with the ability to create illusions and manipulate vision

Golden Globe Nominations

The nominations were announced for the 2016 Golden Globe Awards. Here is a list of the nominees: Best Motion Picture - Drama Carol Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant Room Spotlight Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical The Big Short Joy The Martian Spy Trainwreck Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama Cate Blanchett, Carol Brie Larson, Room Rooney Mara, Carol Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama Bryan Cranston, Trumbo Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl Will Smith, Concussion Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Jennifer Lawrence, Joy Melissa McCarthy, Spy Amy Schumer, Trainwreck Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van Lily Tomlin, Grandma Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical Christian Bale, The Big

Teen Movie Review: The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games Movie : a Review by ND The original movie in the Hunger Games was a very good and action filled movie.  It is good for people who like to see action and are okay with seeing some gory scenes. It is very thrilling and exciting to watch. I would recommend it for people 12 and up with a 9 out of 10 rating. This is a movie that may very likely cause you to get very emotional. I liked the movie a lot because it made sense to me and I love movies with a lot of action and violence. It was an overall great movie and one of my personal favorites. In my opinion, it is the best out of the series and it is definitely a movie I would recommend. This would be a great movie to watch on a rainy night and is even better in theaters. In  this movie, there are a lot of big decisions and shocking moments to keep you on edge. It is an intense movie that has tons of thrilling moments. I do not suggest any people under 12 see this movie. I also suggest people who can't handle any

Teen Book Review: Keeping Safe the Stars

Keeping Safe the Stars: A Review by D.A. Do you love reading books about hardships and struggle? If you do, then Sheila O'Connor's Keeping Safe the Stars is a book about how three orphaned kids in the care of their grandpa but then their only kin is hospitalized which leaves them having to learn to be self reliant. The oldest child Pride Star takes upon herself to keep her younger sister Nightingale and brother Baby happy and safe and resolves to keep her family troubles a secret from the outside world. But soon she dear that their happy days as a family are drawing to an end. I would give this book 5 stars because it teaches the reader a lot of life lessons such as how these kids survived and also it is important to learn to be independent. It showed the struggles many children go through at a very young age. This book is a very inspirational story which grans the reader and doesn't let go of them. When I first read the book, I was so interested in it that I completely

December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) has been commemorated since 1992 to promote awareness and mobilize support for critical issues relating to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in society and development. The Day works to promote action to raise awareness about disability issues and draw attention to the benefits of an inclusive and accessible society for all. Governments, UN agencies, civil society organizations, academic institutions and the private sector are encouraged to partner with organizations of persons with disabilities to arrange events and activities to commemorate the Day. Theme for 2015: Inclusion matters: access and empowerment for people of all abilities Below is a very short list of organizations here on Long Island that provide services and aid to persons with disabilities:     ACLD AHRC Aid To theDevelopmentally Disabled American Council of the Blind DevelopmentalDisabilities Institute Helen Kel