Book Report on Hurricane Song

 

    This last month my class has been reading Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi. The book is about a boy named Miles and his father named Pops during hurricane Katrina. Pops is in love with music and Miles loves football. In the beginning of the story we learn that Pops loves music more than Miles. During the hurricane Pops and Miles are in the New Orleans Superdome. Inside there is a lot of gangs and no control, Miles and Pops escape to find that outside is no better except the smell. In that short time period Miles and Pops create a great relationship. The claim of the story is that you shouldn't abuse your advantages.

    In the Superdome gangs such as Cain's, took their advantages when people were scared and had to help, they took the people's money and lit their things on fire.They had the advantage of chaos because everyone was scared and out of control. Instead of trying to help Cain and his friends made even more chaos and more people became scared. This is how people in the Superdome abused their advantages.

    Outside after the hurricane there were a lot of stealing from shops and gunfights because there were no police. This is an example of abusing your advantages because when people evacuated people took things from shops with no police instead of trying to keep things safe. This is how people outside in New Orleans abused their advantages.

    In conclusion, Hurricane Song by Paul Volponi was a depressing book about hurricane Katrina and what damage it left to New Orleans, but it was also about Pops and Miles relationship. The claim though, is that you shouldn't abuse your advantages which is using chaos to get what you want instead of trying to stop the chaos. You shouldn't abuse your advantages because even though Cain's group got money, they were still beat up and maybe even killed because they abused their advantages. This is why you shouldn't abuse your advantages even if it seems like there is nothing to lose at the time.

Book Report on The Maze Runner

 

    This week I read the book The Maze Runner. The book is about a boy named Thomas who just appears in a box. When he gets out he finds himself in a weird place called the Glade and is surrounded by other Gladers. Thomas has forgotten everyone he knew in his old life and only knows the people in the Glade. He tries to get information about what is going on but many of the people don't give him advice. The next day Thomas is taken on the tour and finds out that outside of the Glade is a huge maze that keeps on changing. The only people who are allowed to go into the maze are the Runners because there are weird animal/machine things called Grievers in the Maze. Later that day a girl comes out of the box which is weird because a person only comes every thirty days and there has never been a girl in the Glade. Later that day when the doors to the Maze are about to close one of the leaders is stuck outside and Thomas goes into the Maze. They all survive and now the ending of the Maze is near so every night one boy dies. Finally Thomas knows how to get out of the Maze and with everybody's help he does it. The main idea is that you have to think outside the box. 

    Thomas had to think outside the box when he had to think of a way to get out. He did this by going through the changing on purpose to get ideas of how to get out. He also put wax paper on the maps to find letters to spell out the secret code in the Griever Hole. These are two ways how Thomas had to think outside the box. Thomas also had to have a teamwork to get out of the maze.

    He used teamwork when he was trying to get to the Griever Hole, he had to have a team because the other Gladers held the Grievers off while he got to the Griever Hole. In the Griever Hole he needed teamwork because the girl had to type in the words while he held off a Griever. Chuck, (who was the other kid in the Griever Hole) also helped because when they were about to die he found a button that turned off the Grievers and got them home. This is how Thomas needed teamwork.

    In conclusion, The Maze Runner was a great book that was about a terrible future but it still showed how basic things like teamwork can make huge changes. To be able to make the change you have to think outside the box too. Thomas was going to die but he thought outside the box and used teamwork and he got his old life back and didn't die. This shows that even in the future you have to use simple things like teamwork.

Book Report on Mockingjay

 

This week I read Mockingjay which is the final book in The Hunger Games series, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. This amazing book is about a place called Panem, or what used to be North America. Panem was split into 13 districts, with the Capitol ruling over all of them. One day, the districts rebelled against the dictatorial Capitol. Unfortunately, the Capitol won the war, and district 13 was destroyed. To keep a revolt from ever happening again, The Capitol set up The Hunger Games, a disturbing game in which 24 children had to fight to the death with all of Panem required to watch. The main character, Katniss, a survivor has won two of these games with her companion Peeta. In this book, Katniss becomes the leader of the latest rebellion against The Hunger Games and the Capitol. She and all the other rebels are determined to fight for their freedom.
  

Throughout the story, Katniss has grown and matured in so many ways. She stepped up to the challenge of becoming the "Mockingjay", or the leader of the rebellion. She went through so much pain mentally and physically being in the Hunger Games, facing The Captiol, witnessing so many deaths, and still she remains a tough determined girl.

In the book, Katniss's sister Prim dies. Katniss loved Prim more than anyone in the world and when she died Katniss still had to be the leader and the face of the rebels. This is an example that she went through tough times and still had to be strong. 

In conclusion, The Hunger Games series is a great trilogy and when you read it it gets you hooked and you can't stop reading until you finish. Suzanne Collins is an excellent writer, and although it may seem  violent, I highly recommend it.

Book Report on The Running Dream

 

   This week I read the book The Running Dream by Wendlin Van Draanen. The book was about a girl named Jessica who lost her foot in a car accident. Before she lost her foot she was a runner and was heartbroken and knew she couldn't run again. After a quick recovery she learns she could get a prosthetic running leg like Oscar Pistorious. She starts to believe she could run again and her track team starts doing bake sales and car washes to raise enough money to get the leg. In the end they raise enough money and Jessica runs again. I think the main idea is that you should always believe.

      Evidence of this from this book is when Jessica saw a video with Oscar Pistorious and believed she could run again. In the beginning of the book she didn't think she could walk again but now she was believing she could run. Jessica's track team never stopped believing even when they found out that the running leg cost $20,000. If the team gave up then Jessica would never run again. this is why i think that the main idea is that you should always believe.

     Some other evidence from the book is when at the end, Jessica wanted to pull her friend who couldn't walk 10 miles so she could feel what it was like to cross the finish line. Jessica had to pull 100 pounds (her friend) when she was only 130 pounds. Without the determination and belief Jessica would never have made it. This is evidence that the main idea is that you should always believe.

     In conclusion, The Running Dream showed me that you should always believe because without Jessica and her team's belief and determination the running dream would never have happened. If they didn't believe Jessica would never have run and her friend would never have crossed the finish line in a race. Without belief nothing would have happened.

Poem Report on The Road Not Taken

     This week my class read The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. The poem is about a person who comes to a fork in the road and has to make a decision about which way to go, even though he cannot tell which might be the better choice. He looks down both roads as far as he can but still can't see what is a better choice. In life you have to make choices that you don't know what is the better choice and you can't return to make the other choice.
    In the poem it said "two roads diverged in a yellow wood" which is a metaphor that means that in your life you will have to make a decision and take it. Sometimes the choices won't be easy and you will want to "look down as far as I could" which means you will try to look into each choice to see if one is the better choice until you can't look any farther. This is why I think in life you have to make decisions.
     An example of not coming back in the poem is when it said "I doubted if I should ever come back" shows that after making your decisions you won't be able to make the same decision again even if the decision you made was bad, you just have to live with your choice. It also says that "yet knowing way leads on to way" which also shows that you have to live with your decisions. This is why I think that you can't return to make the other choice.
    All in all, The Road Not Taken was a great poem that was about a man who is at a fork in the road, but the metaphor is that in life there will be hard decisions you will have to make which is like the fork in the road. You want to look down each road or in life try finding out which choice is better. Then in life once you make your decision you can't go back and choose the other choice. This is why I think the main idea of the poem is that you have to make hard choices in life and you can't go back to change your choice.

Book Report on Tangerine

     

     This week I read a great book called Tangerine. The book was about a boy who has thick glasses and is not respected as much as his brother who is a star football kicker. The reason why the boy, named Paul has big glasses is unknown until the end. As Erik the football star meets new friends strange things have happened including the death of Paul's friend's cousin. I think that the main idea of the book is that you shouldn't keep all of your secrets to yourself.

    An example of this is when Erik and Arthur stole a lot of jewelery from people and they kept it to themselves. Later when they were caught, the townspeople didn't like that they stole and that they didn't turn themselves in. This shows that you shouldn't keep everything to yourself because if they hadn't kept it to themselves then they wouldn't be in such big trouble.

     Another example of a lie in the book was when Paul's parents told Paul that he has glasses because he had stared at the sun too long. What really happened was that Erik had sprayed spray paint into his eyes but the parents didn't want Paul to know and hate his brother. This is another reason why you shouldn't keep all secrets to yourself because now Paul hates Erik even more then he would have if his parents told him earlier.

     In conclusion, Tangerine was a great book that showed me that you shouldn't keep all of your secrets. Some examples of this are when Erik and Arthur stole and kept it to themselves and got in big trouble and when Paul's parents lied to Paul and kept the reason for Paul's bad eyesight to themselves so he wouldn't hate his brother. The book makes me wonder, if everyone had been more open in the past would Erik and Arthur not have gotten in trouble? Or if Paul's parents had told Paul, would Paul not hate his brother now?

Book Report on Dunk

    This week I read the book Dunk. It was about a boy named Chad who lived near the New Jersey boardwalk. One day early in the summer, he and his best friend Jason walked past the dunk tank on the boardwalk. The bozo was insulting everyone and got them to try and knock him off the board. After that Chad wanted to be the bozo. Later in the book Jason gets sick and almost dies, the bozo named Malcolm is his neighbor and a girl Chad likes almost gets arrested. I think the main idea of the book is that anything can happen.

     I think this because in the book Jason (who is really fit) just randomly gets sick and is acting weird and passes out. Then the cops see Jason and think he's on drugs so Jason and Chad get arrested right in front of the girl Chad likes. This shows that anything could happen because Jason was playing volleyball at one moment and then the next he is going crazy and getting arrested and eventually goes to the hospital.

     Another reason why I think that the main idea is anything can happen is because when Chad was about to ask out Gwen, the girl he likes, he finds out that Anthony is dating her. Anthony is a thief and does drugs and now he just met Gwen and Chad doesn't want Gwen to become a drug addict. Then after that Gwen tells Chad that she is going to a party at Anthony's brother's house. Chad knows that Anthony's brother is a drug dealer and that they were going to get caught and everyone was going to get arrested so he told Gwen not to go. After that Gwen didn't go and everyone at the party was caught. This is another example of the main idea that anything could happen.

     All in all, Dunk was a good book and showed me that anything can happen. It showed me this when Jason got really sick and almost died while Chad was falsely accused of using drugs. It also showed me this when Gwen started dating Anthony and would have got arrested if it wasn't for Chad. Because of these incidents, I think that Dunk was about that anything can happen.

Book Report on Fallen Angels

    

 This week I read Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers. The book is about a teenager named Perry who goes off to fight in Vietnam. When he gets there, he meets four other Americans and they become his best friends. Throughout the book they see horrible things and save each others' lives. In the end, Perry and his friend Peewee get wounded and they get to go home. A main idea of the book is that war is a terrible thing.

     An example of this is in the beginning when Perry just met this 15 year old named Jenkins. Later that day, Jenkins was just walking back to base when he stepped on a mine and got a piece of metal stuck through his chest. This shows that war is terrible because it causes unnecessary deaths such as Jenkins's.

     Another piece of evidence is when a Vietnamese family was walking outside near the army base and one of the kids steps on a mine, while the kid's mom and the sibling were also shot in the same moment. The only reason they were killed was to show that the Vietnamese army could kill the same people that the Americans were trying to save. This also shows that war is terrible because it causes innocent people to die.

     In conclusion, Fallen Angels was a good book and showed me how life is during war. It showed me that war is a terrible thing and it gave me many example of it with Jenkins and the Vietnamese family. There is still more evidence that war is a terrible thing in this book. This is why I think that the theory of the book is that war is a terrible thing.

Book Report on Gods of Manhattan - Part II

   

     This week I finished Gods of Manhattan. I still believe that the main idea is that you can't trust everyone. In the end of the book, Rory goes to tries successfully to get the key but when he gets into the vault, he questions Hex, the magician. After that, everything goes crazy, Hex escapes and Rory is caught and has to lie about his name until his sister saves him. Then they meet the Rattle Watch and try to save each other. After that, the Rattle Watch all go to a bar but then Albert, a Rattle Watch member tries to kill them. Albert tells them that he is going to kill them so they trapped him and brrought him back to jail. Then Hex wants Rory to turn the key again but when he gets there he gets the truth out of Hex and doesn't turn the key. Instead of helping the Indians as Hex said, he wants to kill them. I think the main idea is that you can't trust everyone.

    This is the main idea because when the Rattle Watch was getting close Albert tricked them so they would die and become a God of Manhattan. If the Rattle Watch trusted Albert then they would have died and then the evil gods would win and take over Mannahatta. But they didn't and they put him in jail and the evil God didn't take over and the Rattle Watch helped a lot with that.

    Another example of this is when Hex wanted Rory to turn the key because he said he wanted to save all the Indians. Rory knew that once the Indians were freed they would try to kill the mayor but would get killed trying to do it. If Rory trusted Hex then instead of saving the Indians he would kill all of the Indians forever.

    All in all, Gods of Manhattan was a great book and showed me many examples of the main idea, which is that you can't trust everyone. In the second half of the book, it showed me this with Albert when he turned his back on the Rattle Watch and when Hex wanted all of the Indians killed. There were also many more examples in the first half of the book. This them continued throughout the book.

Book Report on Gods of Manhattan - Part I

   

  
    This week I read the first half of Gods of Manhattan. The book was about a boy named Rory and his sister. In the beginning, we found out that Rory didn't fall for any magic tricks untill Hex, a new  magician did an impossible trick. After seeing Hex, he went to his house to try to see how he did the trick. On the way there, they ran into a stranger. The stranger was only about six years old but then out of the blue the stranger came and attacked Rory. The stranger bit Rory with his razor sharp teeth, making him unconscious. When he woke up, he was with Hex and he told Rory that there was a place called Mannahatta where if you were remembered enough, you were reborn there. Right now in the book Rory is trying to set Indian spirits free in Mannahatta. I think the main idea so far is that you can't trust everyone.

    One example of this is when they met the stranger. He kept saying "come" and he looked so harmless, but Rory learned that if you followed him he will bite you with his razor sharp teeth and eat you. If Rory had followed him or if Toy, Hex's son didn't save him he would have died. If Rory trusted the stranger he would have died. This shows that a main idea of the book is not to trust everyone.

    Another piece of evidence from the book is when the Munsee Indians made a deal with the mayor in Mannahatta. The deal was that they wouldn't fight if the Indians had lived in Central park. When the Indians stepped into Central park, a blue force field came up and trapped the Indians in forever. If the Indians hadn't trusted the mayor then they wouldn't be stuck in Central Park for eternity. This is more evidence from the first half of the book that the main idea is that you shouldn't trust everyone.

     In conclusion, Gods of Manhattan has been a great book so far. It gave me lots of examples of the book's thesis which is that you should never trust everyone. If Rory trusted the stranger he would have died. The Indians already trusted the mayor and got stuck in Central park for an eternity. This is why I think the main idea is that you shouldn't trust everyone.

Book Report on Key to Rondo Part 2

     Now that I've finished Key to Rondo, I realized that the main idea wasn't actually about not trusting anyone as I thought last week. The main idea was in fact about never giving up.

    In the end of the book Mimi and Leo went to a cottage and found a hero who brought the them to Conker and Freda who were trying to get them earlier in the book. But they tell  him that they are trying to help them and give them a bed to sleep. But in the middle of the night, Conker locks them in and barricades the door. Leo thinks that they are locking them in so they can kill them but really they are going to get his dog without their help. They get out from the locked room to go save their dog by themselves. When they get there they get locked and stuck in the Queen's bedroom. When they are about to give the Queen power by giving them the ring, Conker and Freda come save them. In the end they survive and get the dog. I think that the main idea is that you should never give up.

     This is the main idea because when they were locked up in their room they thought they were going to die but still, they didn't give up and found a way out of their locked, boarded up room. If they had given up, they would probably not have gotten the dog back and never returned to Earth. This is why I believe the main idea is that one should never give up.

    Another reason why I think that the main idea is to never give up is when Mimi was stuck in the Queen's bedroom. Mimi was forced to give the key to the Queen which meant that they couldn't get back to Earth. Still in the tight situation Mimi stalled and waited for help. When help came she got her dog back and kept the key. This is again the theme of the book because throughout the book Mimi tried getting her dog back and never gave up on the goal.

    In conclusion, Key to Rondo was an interesting book with a very tense end. The main idea is to never to give up as shown when Mimi didn't give up when she was stuck in the Queen's castle or she and Leo were barricaded in their room. This is just some of the evidence that shows that the main idea is never to give up.

Book Report on Key to Rondo Part 1

This week I read the first half of Key to Rondo. The book is about a boy called Leo and his cousin, Mimi who have a ancient music box. The music box says only to wind the box three times but Mimi winds it four times and a queen comes out and takes Mutt, Mimi's dog. Mimi wants to get the dog back so they get sucked in the music box world. In the world, everyone is trying to get them because they started an earthquake. First they meet a guy but he turns out to be on the queen's side. Then they meet a guy who they really think will help them but he doesn't and now they are in the forest running away from their old “friends.” Even though I am only in the middle of the book, I think the main idea is not to trust anyone.

This is the main idea because in the beginning of the book when the queen came out, Mimi almost trusted her into going into her world. When she refused, the queen took her dog and went back to her world. If Mimi took her hand she would be stuck in the other world and be trapped forever. Even though the queen promised great things Mimi still didn't do it. Also, in the other world there was a suspicious man who said he would help but Leo didn't trust him and they escaped him. This is why you shouldn't trust anyone.

Another example of this is when the guy they met told them that he knew where they were from and told them that he would help them get her dog back from the queen. But as they began to trust them he kicked them into the forest. Now right where I am, the guy they trusted is hunting them down to turn them into the police. This is why I think that the main idea is that you shouldn't trust anyone.

In conclusion, I think that Key to Rondo tries to show you that you shouldn't trust anyone. There are three examples of this in the first half of the book. One was with the queen, the second was with the suspicious man and the last one is the one who knew they needed to get back the dog. They were different people but they had one thing in common: they all betrayed Leo and Mimi. This is why I think that the main idea is not to trust anyone.

Book Report on I am Number Four

   

This week I read an amazing book called I am Number Four. The book is about a alien from another planet called Lorien and he lives on earth because his planet was taken over by another alien race called Megadorian. They are trying to kill everyone from Lorien. When the planet was being invaded, the Lorien sent nine kids and nine adults to care for them. The kids could develop powers and could only be killed in order. The adults had to train them and change their ID's every time one was killed.

So far, the first three died and the main character is number four. In the book John Smith (number four) is in Paradise, Ohio. He just moved and is starting to develop his powers. He makes two new friends and a enemy. One of them becomes his girlfriend and the other is Sam Goode who is obsessed with alien stuff. John's first powers are lights that come out of his hands, the ability to resist fire and telekinesis. At the end of the book, he lets Sam and Sarah (his girlfriend) know he is an alien and saves their life. When the Megadorians come they are stuck in their school and number six comes and they fight the Megadorians. When they beat them John and number six leave with Sam Goode. I think that the main idea is that there is always hope and that you should always believe.

This is the main idea because John's adult, Henri keeps reminding that once you lose hope you lose the war or die. This is important because when John was outnumbered he remembered not to lose hope and he beat the Megadorians. I think that at that moment, hope kept him alive. Also in the Lorien/Megadorian war, even though the Lorien were outnumbered they still kept hope and fought until the last man standing. This is why I think that you should always stay hopeful.

Another example is that throughout the book, every Lorien was hoping that the kids would fight back against the Megadorians and bring back the Lorien population. Also the John and the other numbers were hoping to stay alive and not get killed by the Megadorians who are hunting them until they die. This is why I think that the main idea is hope alive.

In conclusion, I am Number Four is a great book and shows us that you should always believe in any situation. It was important to have hope in this book because every number had to hope that someday they could go back to Lorien. This is why I think that the main idea is hope and to always believe.

Book Report on Forest Gate

   

 This week I read a depressing book called Forest Gate by Peter Akinti. The book is about a brother and a sister who come from Somalia in Africa and now live in England because their parents were killed.  When they get there, they face a lot of racism but one kid named James doesn't tease them. Ashvin the brother makes friends with James. Suddenly Ashvin starts acting strangely and then James and Ashvin kill one of the kids who bullied them. After that Ashvin and James do a double suicide but James survives. When he is in the hospital Miena, Ashvin's sister ask if he wants to live with her and he says "yes" because his brothers at home are drug dealers and mean to him. At the end of the book, James learns that his oldest brother killed all his brothers and then killed himself. In the book everything goes wrong for James.

    One example of this is when James attempts suicide with Ashvin but Ashvin dies and James doesn't. James knows he can't attempt suicide again. Another example is when James is a suspect for killing the Ethiopian kid (which he did) just as they are trying to start a new life. This is a problem because now he has an inspector on his tail. This shows that everything goes wrong for James.

    More examples of this are when James is in his new life and everything is good until he learns about his brothers' deaths and suicide. Another example is that all of his brothers are addicted to drugs and they are drug dealers. This is important because this is what shaped his personality and he is respected from most of the gangs because of his brothers.

    All in all, Forest Gate was a great book showing how racism is still alive today and that being poor is really tough. In the book it shows me the poverty in James's familyand how the brothers get money from selling drugs. It also shows the teasing and bullying towards Ashvin's family. I've learned from this book that racism and poverty still exist and what they can cause harm to people.

Book Report on Silverfin

 

   This week I read a young James Bond book called Silverfin. In the beginning, James Bond enters a race called the Hellebore race. In the race you have to swim, shoot and run. The competition's sports were swimming, shooting and racing because Lord Hellebore's son was in the competition and those were his three best sports. During the races, George Hellebore took white pills. But at the end of the story, George doesn't win even after he cheats in the running race.

     On vaction, Bond goes away to his home in Scotland and coincidentally, so does George. Bond meets a boy called Red who snuck onto the trian to Scotland. Bond and Red go find the Hellebore castle to see what was there. While James snuck in the house he was captured and Lord Hellebore tells him that he is trying to make a perfect fighting human. The pills to make the perfect fighting human are the white ones George took. In the end, James escapes and Lord Hellebore is eaten by the killer eels who are really powerful because they ate the leftover pills. It seems that the main idea of this book is that if you cheat you might not get what you want.

    An example of not getting what you want when you cheat is when it was the race in the Hellebore competition, James saw George take short cuts to get in first. Still James kept to the road and caught up to George. George tried to trip James but James avoided it and George fell. In the end of the race, James got first and George got third place. He lost at his own race, even after cheating. This  shows that if you cheat you might not always get what you want.

    Another example of this is when Lord Hellebore is trying to make the perfect human and tries his pills on his brother but it doesn't work and his brother turned into a monster. Later, after James escapes from Lord Hellebore, Lord Hellebore was about to kill James right by the river for destroying his lab. Then his brother Algar comes in and tackles Lord Hellebore and they fall into the water. When they come back out they are covered in blood and the eels start to come to eat them. When they go under, there are a lot of eels around them and when they come out again they are covered in eels. Then they go under for the last time and the eels eat them. This again shows that if you cheat you might not always get what you want.

    All in all, Silverfin was a great book and showed me that if you cheat you might not always get what you want. It showed us this in the race when George got third after he cheated, and at the end of the book when Lord Hellebore was killed by his brother who he made a monster after he made him take the pills that make you a perfect killing machine. These two pieces of evidence demonstrate that if you cheat you might not get what you want.

Book Report on Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie

  

  This week my class read an amazing book called Drums Girls and Dangerous Pie. The book was about an eighth grader named Steven whose brother Jeffrey gets leukemia, a type of blood cancer. At first, he thinks that it is only a joke and it was just a mistake. But as time passes he realizes that it's not fake and that he should spend time with him and sometimes Steven should make personal sacrifices for him big and small. 

    Steven made personal sacrifices such as when he had to kick Renee out of his house because he didn't want Jeffrey to get sick and have a greater chance of dying. This is a personal sacrifice because he had a crush on Renee and he had to get better grades in math and she was his tutor. She had a little cold and Steven didn't want to risk Jeffrey's health so he kicked her out and she had to walk through the snow back to her house. This proves that Steven has matured and made personal sacrifices.

    Steven also made more important sacrifices for Jeffrey, one example of that is when he was in the middle of his big concert he was practicing for all year. In the intermission his brother threw up, before the concert the doctor had said that if he threw up, he had to go to the hospital. Steven promised that he would stay at his brother's side. He had to skip his big drum solo to stay with his brother. He knew that his brother needed him to be him. This shows that Steven matured throughout the book and  he made big personal sacrifices for Jeffrey.

    Throughout the book Steven has changed. At the begining of the book he thought that his brother didn't have cancer and that it was just a mistake. Now, by the end of the book Steven had matured by having made big and small personal sacrifices for Jeffrey. The examples I used were just some of the many sacrifices Steven made for Jeffrey. I wonder would have happened to Jeffrey if Steven haven't made personal sacrifices.