Book Talk: Black Widow Forever Red

The book I am reading is called Black Widow Forever Red. The genre of this book is Action and Adventure mixed in with some mystery. The main setting of this book is Brooklyn, New York, 8 years after the main character Black Widow saves a little girl from a terrible incident.

The main character, Natasha Romanoff is trained at a very young age to become the world's most lethal assassin and is given the name of Black Widow by the man that trained her. You may recognize this character when she is played by Scarlett Johansson in 2012 Avengers movie. She decides she doesn't want to be used for evil so she joins S.H.I.E.L.D. Which means Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate. Now children in Eastern Europe go missing so Black Widow must find a way to save them with her new ally Ava.

The mood of this book was very ominous. It kept me on the edge of my seat and wondering what happens next. I really enjoy reading this book and I best remember the beginning of the book because it shows you Black Widows way of strategic analysis when under pressure and i think it's really cool and plus the didn't give you Black Widows origin story because they assume you know it already.

I would recommend this book to fans of Marvel Comics because this book captures all of the detail just like a normal comic book. I am very excited to read the other books in the Black Widow series and other books like it.

Murders in Chicago are getting out of hand

Chicago, Illinois. It’s an amazing city with beautiful sites to see and interesting history. Yet, who knew that Chicago is considered the Murder Capital of America. Yes, it’s true, according to Time magazine, “The murder rate in the U.S. is projected to rise by about 13% this year, but almost half of that increase is due to violence in just one city-Chicago.” That was only at the beginning of the year and these murders have been happening since the 1800s. Now we are near the end of 2016 and the murders never stopped. As a matter of fact the longest Chicago has gone without murder is 5 days.

Why does this happen?

Well Jens Ludwig, the director of Crime Lab at the University of Chicago says “Chicago’s Police Department, overwhelmed, can respond only to the most serious problems, leaving citizens to feel responsible for their own security.” What he means by this is that the citizens of Chicago feel like they’re on their own.
since officers are not handling all of the cases that obviously means that there are not enough of them to help others.

Who's responsible for Chicago's history of murder?

It’s no surprise to anyone that there are tons of gangs and mobsters running about in Chicago. You never know who's in a gang until it's too late. However, it’s not only gangs that are the problem. There are some people who think crime is the solution to their problem (such as a breakup, loss of money, etc.) These men and women are like lost dogs trying to find their way in the world but, if you get in their way they’re way then they are bound to pounce. Then there are just crazy people such as H.H. Holmes who is known as America's first serial killer.

He was known for his crimes against humanity and his home the “Murder Castle”. H.H. Holmes was a notorious con man so he bought a pharmacy under a fake ID and decided it would be a good idea to lure his victims into the pharmacy (that he made into a giant death trap) and killed them. He was then captured and executed in 1896 (death by hanging).

Then there was the king of gangs Al Capone. He was a child from Italian culture and grew up to become the infamous leader of the Chicago Mafia. He was best known for illegally selling liquor during the prohibition. People even considered Al as a Robin Hood. He is most known for the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre where he killed the men of Moran McGurn a rival gangster.

 Although, Capone met his fatal end in 1947 and Holmes in 1896 many people actually look up to them because they think they were cool or made easy money. That ends up creating a person who will kill in the near future. All of these gangsters and other criminals are all poisoning this city with so much violence.


Is there any hope?

It seems like as though there is no hope for anyone in Chicago. Tio Hardiman wrote an article for the Huffington Post and he said “In order to stop a killing, one must have a relationship with a would-be shooter in which that person will listen to reason before taking a life.” This would be extremely difficult and would take a lot of effort. The person would need to realize that their friend/family member/ or partner will take someone's life. Most people don't realize this until it is too late. Then someone is taken from their family and can never be brought back. This is a serious issue and there needs to be a better way to take care of this.

However, in most of the cases in Chicago the murders were school drop-outs, drug addicts, or had mental disabilities. These are things that people can treat such as making sure students stay in school and get a good job, find drug dealers in Chicago and destroy their stash of whatever drug they deal, and giving people with mental disabilities proper treatment and care. So in a way there is plenty of hope for Chicago we just need to use it to our advantage. The number of cops are increasing and the speed of responding to 911 calls are increasing.

Weird violations of human rights #20 right to assembly

This will be about the violation of human rights #20 “the right to assembly.” There's no doubt that with people terrorizing countries and others that are being kept as slaves that there are violations of human rights. However, around the world there are very strange and odd violations of human rights. This blog will be focusing on some of the most outrageous and ludicrous violations.



In St. Petersburg, Russia. A Russian woman by the name of Yelena Borisovna Mizulina. She decided that it was best for the country to have a ban on homosexual propaganda. If you are seen with anything rainbow or something related to homosexuality then the authorities will not hesitate to take charge. The reason this violates the right to assembly is because in Russia there are homosexuals that can't express who they are because of this law.


In North Korea. Kim Jong-un outlawed talking on the phone during the 100 day mourning period. The have this time to mourn over the death of their last leader Kim Jong-il. If anyone caught using a phone during this time is punished as a war criminal. Punishments for war criminals are very harsh and shouldn't be used on civilians. This violates the right of assembly because groups of people on their way to work during the mourning need to use their phone for business issues.

Nonfiction blog

For a nonfiction book I decided to get a book about the world famous and historic singer Ella Fitzgerald. She was a jazz singer who was born in Newport News, Virginia on April 25 1918. She began her career when she got noticed at an amateur show. What makes her so famous is her amazing voice and dance moves.

Even though Ella Fitzgerald was one of a kind and extremely famous even she had obstacles in her path of stardom. On page 59 it says “Chick Webbs death in 1939 cast the future of his band in doubt. “I felt like quitting,” Ella Fitzgerald said, “[but] the fact that people like me and I like people...kept me going.” She had a huge problem when Chick died because he was such an inspiration for her. However, she found a way to keep going.

I've  learned so much about Ella and the world of jazz in the 1900s. I am a big fan of all types of music punk rock, classical, orchestra, rock and roll, etc. With so many bands and so many different genres there are some that take the cake for each genre. Such as Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis Presley, and Michael Jackson. Each of them inspired people with their music even after their death. These deceased stars will always be in the hearts of their fans.

Gratitude blog

This blog will present all the things im grateful for. There are so many things things that i'm so thankful for. Such as an education, family, a roof over my head, and items that brings me happiness. I would first like to talk about my education. I am so grateful to learn new things every day. There are so many kids around the world who don't get to go to school. That only makes me feel so lucky to have the education I get.

Now I would like to thank my family for everything. I wouldn’t have an education or a home. Without my parents I wouldn’t even be around today. Also, they gave me a home and allowed me to have a good childhood. In a way, they even allowed me to have friends by going to the schools that I went to. If I never gone to those schools then I would never make the friends that I have now.

Finally the last of example of gratitude is my friends. Without them I would be so lost and alone. They make me laugh and help me get through the day. There are friends that I’ve known since preschool. They still call me by my old nickname (Bobby). Then there are the friends that I’ve known only for a little bit. Just like school i'm always learning something new about them.


I commented on Emilio's blog

AOW review

Today in ELA I learned about many things going on in the world. These topics ranged from the recent election and the ninth planet found by scientists. My favorite topic is from Jesse Segura. His was about the ninth planet. He said some very interesting things such as “Planet 9 is slowly moving into our solar system and messing with the gravitational pulls.” This is amazing for the entire word to know because this ninth planet is affecting earth and is supposedly 10 times bigger than earth!

Science wasn't the only subject of topics I liked. I also enjoyed hearing about how students voted for Hillary Clinton in a mock election from Dena Ahmed. She said that “students voted Hillary more than Trump and this also affected how the community saw Trump and actually gave Hillary the votes that count.” This shows how one thing can change so many people's minds. Im sure the students didn't expect people to change their votes because students thought Hillary is better.

Election reflection

What are your thoughts on this election in general?

I think that the election was kind of rigged. If you think about it if Hillary Clinton won she would become the first female president in history. That would've been great for the country and Hillary also had good ideas for the country's well being. So it kind of seems off that Trump suddenly and quickly achieved a higher number of electoral votes than Hillary.

Would you like to be more involved in politics? If so how?

Yes in fact I would even like to be an elected official such as Mayor. I have an understanding of politics and it's inner workings. That knowledge could land me a spot in the government as an elected official. I even have some ideas for the town of Berwyn. Some are making sure that parks stay clean by increasing the number of trash cans. Or increasing the number of service hours either from criminals or student volunteers.

Some of you will be voting in the NEXT election! Are you excited? Why or why not?

I'm kind of in the middle because my opinions count on the candidates that we will have running for president. If Hillary ran again I would vote for her and hopefully she will win. If she doesn't run at all then I will have to vote for the candidate I think is best for the country. I know the problem has its problems. Such as corruption in the government. I would vote for a candidate that will do full background checks for people who become part of the government.